Another full Saturday


After a very busy week at work Saturday is always something to look forward to. Sometimes they must include a honey-do chore but when done as a team, they aren't so cumbersome and time-consuming. Unfortunately, being the homeowner and parent of many, I am usually the one needing the assistance on my project and have the most projects needing doing.

This week was calipers on my car. I was limping and jerking my way to work all week and hopefully it was stuck calipers, that's what we replaced anyway.
While we were working on the car Rick's friend Steve showed up while he was waiting to meet up with other friends at a tavern called Draft Choice. He was teasing Rick for changing his style and having his bike suitable for a female companion. His group was making a circuit, visiting a number of taverns and finally meeting up at the Yella Beak in Enumclaw.

So after getting the car fixed we suited up and hit the road. We headed out to Roy and McKenna on mostly back roads but some highway. Rick went to all the work and expense of putting on a detachable windshield for my comfort and then a nice cushy seat, also for my comfort. But the cushy seat sat me high enough to put me above the deflected area created by the windshield, so it didn't add to my comfort unless I hunkered down. We'll get it right eventually. Anyway, we tried to find an old workmate's house but were unsuccessful. It was a fun ride though. On the way back we stopped in Orting for a beer and people-watched from the "beer garden" part of the tavern, there were tons of bikes out, it was a nice day, mid 60's. From there we headed to Enumclaw to see if we could meet up at the Yella Beak with his friend from earlier that day, he wasn't there so we headed toward home. I mentioned that I had burrito fixin's ("burrito guts") so we headed for my house.


We got to my place and started making the burritos when Rach showed up, everyone was at Denny's as usual. She went back and then Kevin and Denny showed up with Denny's poochie, Gage. I think Rach blabbed that I had burrito guts and that's why they came over. They stood there visiting and looking back and forth at each other, then at the food, then back and forth again. I told them I would share it with them and Kevin remarked that they don't eat half, they eat ALL. Then Denny quietly put the lid on it and snuck it out and was gone.


Once we ate we grabbed my laptop and went back to Rick's. He snoozed (he's getting over a cold) and I started playing with my new scanner on my laptop, one that will scan larger size slides and negatives. It does an awesome job, it has the software that does auto color fix and dust removal, etc. I did a few from 1966, apparently when Dad's family visited and we went to San Francisco.
I left Rick's about 9:30 so he could go to bed, he looked pretty worn out, I hope he feels better today. I got home and there was no one home so I grabbed my tape of Grey's Anatomy and laid in bed and watched it. All in all a pretty full day.

Must-do's, wanna-do's, stuff with Rick, stuff with kids. Good day.

the Monster Within

Oh boy, Rach got these great shots of us on Saturday. Just thought I'd share them to show what I have to deal with. And since a picture is worth a thousand words - I'll just let them do all the talking.





A fantastic Saturday!

The weather forecasters had been predicting Saturday to be about 70º for days and for once they were right. Fantastic! When Rick and I heard the forecast we started planning a bike ride.

But first I had to get the rest of the necessary gear and I happened to have some spare funds. So we got out early and made it to the leather goods place in Tacoma at opening time. I got some chaps and gloves, both were size small which made me very happy - but as many of us already know - "small is the new medium". Either way, my ego enjoyed it.
Next we hit the Tacoma mall for Rick to find some new shoes, which he didn't. But I was planning to look for some shades for Keith since he kept using mine whenever we were in my car together. I found some for half price, good deal. And he totally loves them.

We finally got back to Rick's and suited up for the drive. We started by going to a local cycle place where I got some new glasses to use for riding. My sunglasses let the air flow in and my eyes would just run like a river. The new glasses worked great and were only $10. So we were finally prepared to hit the road. First we went to the Harley place in Tukwila to get a free lunch and so Rick could get some bushing / spacers for his new windshield. Turns out it was an anniversary and the place was jammed. But we got the free lunch and enjoyed people watching and checking out the other bikes. They had a live band that was pretty good too. We continued our ride by driving back on the hill toward my place. It was so warm and nice. I got smacked by about 3 bugs.

We went to Denny's place and the kids got to see me in all my new cycle gear. Shirley seemed to enjoy it as well. We decided to have a BBQ so Rick and I went back to his place again to change out of our cycle gear and buy dinner.
It was Rach, Tony, Denny, Heather and all 3 grandsons beside the 2 of us. The steak was good, Tony did a good job of cooking it. Someone came up with the idea of bringing Denny's trampoline down to his place. I had brought it to my place a while ago, when they were contemplating moving and Heather was pregnant. It was in pieces so it was easy to transport but it had to be assembled. To move it out and down the street 5 houses we decided to keep it together but we had obstacles to get around / over. We ended up lifting it up and over my house. Then we stuck it on Rick's car to bring down to Denny's. We had been planning to use my car but when the time came it was at Rick's so we used his instead. So he slowly drove his car down with a trampoline on top and we all walked behind, it looked like a parade, people, toddlers, a bike, a dog and 2 two strollers. Quite an interesting thing to do on a Saturday afternoon.

After dinner Rick and I went back to his place to watch a movie. What a great day! But was I bushed, I slept in Sunday AM til 10:30.

Introducing . . .


It appears that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, at long last. It seems that this week everyone has finally found out that Rick and I are a couple, one way or another.

I told my family and friends over the last few days. My kids have known since about 2 weeks after we started seeing each other. His family and friends have known for some time, I guess nearly from the beginning. And our bosses approached us today to let us know that they know (but not in such nice terms). We've also been letting some of our coworkers know over time.

So for those of you who haven't yet met Rick, here he is.

He's a total computer geek, although he's reigned it in lately, down to only 3 computers in his home. Photography has been a long time interest of Rick's. He rides a Harley whenever the weather and mood suits him. He spent 6 years in the service after graduating from Auburn high school, serving in Turkey and Italy in communications. Boeing was his employer for about 5 years and he's been working at LaCroix for 5 1/2 years. He's a native Washingtonian, specifically to this very area, Auburn and Algona. He's gonna hate the picture I put with this blog but it's just his handsome face, sorry babe. Rick's about 7 months older than me, which is so cool, we have all the same memories of TV and music, clothes, etc, at the same age. He has a 17 year old daughter living here in Auburn with her mom and a grown son with 2 babies in California. He has a great sense of humor and was even given a local award for the funniest employee in the area, that's while he was working at Boeing.

Of course there's much more to him than just that but for now I'll keep it at that.

Oh yeah, he's crazy about me and I'm crazy about him.

About Me

My photo
After 2 unsuccessful marriages I spent 12 years as a divorcee, only to fall prey to another man's wiles. We had a fun 5 years together and then he decided he wanted more freedom so once again I'm single.

So I'm freshly divorced at 57 and have 5 great kids and now 7 grandkids. My kids are still a major part of my life but I'm busy helping my aging parents on Kauai.

I've lived in California, Hawaii and Oklahoma before finally settling here in Washington. I love Washington and come back to visit family, friends and take care of my garden often but will be temporarily a resident of Kauai.

I've moved 30 times in my life (no, my parents weren't in the service, at least not since I was about 2) and finally planted roots when I got my little house that I've owned since '91.

My family are Jehovah's Witnesses, I've been one since '72.