All Quiet on the PNW Front

Yep - not a lot of excitement going on right now.  For the most part everyone seems to be getting along, no one is pregnant and there are no weddings in the plans.  We're all working and paying our bills.  But here's the few things that have come along that are worth mentioning:

Dad had a heart attack a couple weeks back that could have been a much bigger, life-changing event but thanks to being informed they did everything right and it became somewhat of a non-event.  I know that it wasn't and still isn't a non-event for the folks but at least there isn't any major happenings going on because of it.  They handled the attack right, got to the hospital quickly and dad's doing good in spite of a 100% blockage that could have been a real tragedy.  He still has to find out what they want to do about the remaining blockage and has to correct some diet and activity.  But all in all, it was mostly a wake up call.

Both granddaughters are now walking.  Elise is much more mature in spite of the mere 5 months age difference, she walks like a long-time walker.  Taylor is still getting her walking legs.  But they're both extremely cute little girls.  It's been so long since we had girls that it's surprising how cute they are!  Sure, the boys are all definitely cute as well but girls are just different.

Rach is planning major surgery for the end of the year and is going through all the tests, etc, that are necessary before it can be done.  She'll also be my companion on my annual trip to Kauai this year so I get to be the tour guide once again!  Yahoo!  It's no fun to go see places I've seen before by myself.  Let's see, Waimea Canyon, Polihale Beach, Salt Pond Beach Park, Kalalau Valley, Secret Beach, Queen's Bath, Hanalei, Kilauea Lighthouse...

Rico and I joined the Boeing Photo Club and got to share some of our shots for their critiquing.  This last week Rick shared a shot of a globe thistle with a bee and actually got really good comments and 2nd/3rd place in the popular vote.  The competition has begun!

Rick's done with his training at work and actually got to work OT this weekend.  He's supposed to do that every 3rd weekend but with an impending strike he's gonna see if he can do it more often.

Oh!  Denny recently tried to get a new truck and I ended up as a cosigner or something and got a real credit rating for the first time in my life.  For once I got an actual number, I've always just gotten records of my on-time payments month after month.  This report said; "Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850".  Then on another line: "Your credit score: 000826".  WOW!!!  Nice number!

Right now and for the next couple months I'm part of a 4 member team whose job it is to inventory the Auburn School District's elementary schools' libraries.  All 14 of 'em!  It's actually a fun job except for the fact that the bookshelves are situated low for the little kids.  We're crawling around on the floor half the time.  I'm a Grandma - that crawling on the floor stuff is exhausting!  But I'm paying for my trip to Hawaii and getting my mom's "Sweet 16" ring fixed with the $$$.

I'm rather excited about our upcoming trip to Ireland.  I have our itinerary set up, maps to all the places we'd like to see and included maps to thrift stores ("Enable Ireland") and Kingdom Halls.  I have rooms for all but 4 nights, 2 are at hostels, one at a hotel, one at a CASTLE, one at a B&B and one at a "guesthouse" on the NW coast.  I've been driving around on Google maps to see what we'll be facing when we go to find some of the more obscure sights that I hope to see, castle ruins and the like.
  
Oh, and speaking of Google maps, Rick went to Google Earth and looked at our place and saw this:

They managed to get "the Stump" while it was in the extraction process (the other red circle is the dead neon in the driveway).  Kinda funny...

So, while no news isn't great for blogging purposes, it means life is just moving along - peacefully...