17 July 2008
Happiness
I just was sitting here at work and realizing that I am actually very happy right now, so I thought I'd write it down for those times I forget to be happy. Why am I happy today? Well, why not? Yesterday was fabulous - I woke up early, remembered to water the lawn while getting ready for work, got to work early, left work early, and went kayaking in Lake Sammammish with my family & friends. Today I slept in half an hour later, was able to drive Dan to/from the dentist so he could be in time for his work group going to see the new Batman movie, and tonight I get to tutor and play volleyball. I'm listening to a capella music while I work. The sky is cloudy, but expected to clear up for this weekend. Life is good.
16 July 2008
Huh?
Anyone else see something wrong with this?
You may need to open the link and view the picture a bit larger in order to read the sign. In the third picture, Dan is illustrating the effects of obeying the sign.
You may need to open the link and view the picture a bit larger in order to read the sign. In the third picture, Dan is illustrating the effects of obeying the sign.
14 July 2008
Front and Back Yard
This is for Beth at The Carver Crew.
When I stand on the front doorstep, this is what I can see:
When I stand a step outside the back door, this is what I can see:
The bushes near the front door are really a good thing. They block the direct view to and from our nearest neighbor's front door, giving the illusion of privacy and space. Plus I love rhododendrons!
When I stand on the front doorstep, this is what I can see:
When I stand a step outside the back door, this is what I can see:
The bushes near the front door are really a good thing. They block the direct view to and from our nearest neighbor's front door, giving the illusion of privacy and space. Plus I love rhododendrons!
Invasion! Help!
Well, it's the start of an invasion, at least. I noticed it today when I was watering. I took pictures from outside the house and inside the garage's attic (where I discovered really old linoleum, green shag carpet, and possibly a dog toy).
I'm not sure if the bees have only build what I can see from outside or if they have perhaps built something back into the eaves. I suspect that it's only what I see because there weren't a whole ton of bees there - yet.
I'm not sure if the bees have only build what I can see from outside or if they have perhaps built something back into the eaves. I suspect that it's only what I see because there weren't a whole ton of bees there - yet.
07 July 2008
Tall Ships
On the 5th of July, the three of us woke up, got ready, and drove into downtown Tacoma. After parking at the Tacoma Dome, we took the shuttle down to the street along the waterfront. The shuttle dropped us off right by the Museum of Glass, so we went up on the pedestrian bridge to check out some of the sculptures. There was a whole wall of glass sculptures. We saw some other people there - they were clearly headed to the Tall Ships too.
Then we went and bought ourselves wristbands that would let us tour some of the ships.
There were a lot of lines to wait in, but we made it down to the docks. There was one large dock where the small to medium ships were, one dock with the "free" ships that anyone could go see, and one dock with the bigger ships. At the first dock, we toured all of the smaller ships. We got to meet their crews a bit, climb around deck, and play with the wheel or the (fake) guns.
Then we headed back up from the first dock to find some lunch. Hot dogs and strawberries on a stick make a great lunch! We looked for the shuttle, but the lines were so long that we decided to walk to the next dock. It was only half a mile or so away - definitely worth skipping the long line to ride the shuttle. At the next dock, we toured the Adventuress (on the left) and the HMCS Oriole (HMCS = Her Majesties Canadian Ship). On the Adventuress we could go below decks, where we saw just how crowded the life of a sailor could be. I personally think no one over 5' tall could fit in those tiny bunks, stacked three high. I think that the Adventuress fit 37 hands!
We were a little disappointed that the Lady Washington was not giving tours that day - the Lady Washington was the ship used in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie as the fastest ship in the navy - the one Jack Sparrow decided to steal. While it would've been really cool to go on the ship, we did get to see her sailing in and out a couple of times taking people on cruises. The ships are so much more beautiful under full sail that I decided to be happier seeing the Lady Washington sail instead of walking all over her. The first video I like because of the cool music one of the sailors was playing while we watched the two ships pass. The second video has a better view of the Lady Washington - it was on the far side of the Hawaiian Chieftan.
And here is just a good picture of the Lady Washington.
Then Jen and I waited through the really long line to go on the dock with the really big ships, and Amy went to look through some of the other festival displays. There were pirates roaming the line, handing out treasure for those with a good ARRRRRR! We toured the HMS Bounty, the Nina (I don't know how to make the n have the tilda above it), and the Kaisei. I think the stamps were supposed to go in a passport book; I didn't have one, so I improvised. The HMS Bounty was also in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies - primarily as the ship where Elizabeth was held captive and later as one of the ships in the navy fleet.
The last ship we didn't tour - after six hours we were done waiting in long lines, and the line for Coast Guard ship The Eagle was probably another hour or more long. So I took a couple pictures, including the friendly ladies of the Coast Guard and people climbing the rigging.
Exhausted and a bit sunburned, we left the Tall Ships and headed home.
Then we went and bought ourselves wristbands that would let us tour some of the ships.
There were a lot of lines to wait in, but we made it down to the docks. There was one large dock where the small to medium ships were, one dock with the "free" ships that anyone could go see, and one dock with the bigger ships. At the first dock, we toured all of the smaller ships. We got to meet their crews a bit, climb around deck, and play with the wheel or the (fake) guns.
Then we headed back up from the first dock to find some lunch. Hot dogs and strawberries on a stick make a great lunch! We looked for the shuttle, but the lines were so long that we decided to walk to the next dock. It was only half a mile or so away - definitely worth skipping the long line to ride the shuttle. At the next dock, we toured the Adventuress (on the left) and the HMCS Oriole (HMCS = Her Majesties Canadian Ship). On the Adventuress we could go below decks, where we saw just how crowded the life of a sailor could be. I personally think no one over 5' tall could fit in those tiny bunks, stacked three high. I think that the Adventuress fit 37 hands!
We were a little disappointed that the Lady Washington was not giving tours that day - the Lady Washington was the ship used in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie as the fastest ship in the navy - the one Jack Sparrow decided to steal. While it would've been really cool to go on the ship, we did get to see her sailing in and out a couple of times taking people on cruises. The ships are so much more beautiful under full sail that I decided to be happier seeing the Lady Washington sail instead of walking all over her. The first video I like because of the cool music one of the sailors was playing while we watched the two ships pass. The second video has a better view of the Lady Washington - it was on the far side of the Hawaiian Chieftan.
And here is just a good picture of the Lady Washington.
Then Jen and I waited through the really long line to go on the dock with the really big ships, and Amy went to look through some of the other festival displays. There were pirates roaming the line, handing out treasure for those with a good ARRRRRR! We toured the HMS Bounty, the Nina (I don't know how to make the n have the tilda above it), and the Kaisei. I think the stamps were supposed to go in a passport book; I didn't have one, so I improvised. The HMS Bounty was also in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies - primarily as the ship where Elizabeth was held captive and later as one of the ships in the navy fleet.
The last ship we didn't tour - after six hours we were done waiting in long lines, and the line for Coast Guard ship The Eagle was probably another hour or more long. So I took a couple pictures, including the friendly ladies of the Coast Guard and people climbing the rigging.
Exhausted and a bit sunburned, we left the Tall Ships and headed home.
06 July 2008
Fourth of July, Part 1
Although I am changing the date on this post to pretend it was written a month ago, it wasn't. I just kept putting it off. Now I have lots of posts to do - the 4th of July weekend (which really needs two posts), the twins' birthday party, the Microsoft picnic, and maybe an update on the garden. Well, for now I'll start the 4th.
Some people, and I am one of them, are lucky enough to find a group of college roommates who become best friends. Now we're all spread out across the nation, but three of us got together for the 4th of July weekend. First, Amy came in from Las Vegas. I picked her up at the airport and we went straight to the Ballard Locks. I haven't been there since I was a little kid, so I made sure to check the maps carefully. After all that, there were signs posted telling you where to turn and everything.
We watched the boats coming in the big lock. The gate to the lakes remains closed while the gate to the Puget Sound is opened. Then the boats come in and fill up the lock. They tie themselves side by side, paying a lot of attention to getting the lines pulled tight enough so that no one will shift around a lot when the lock fills up with water. The locks fill from a nifty system underneath the surface of the water (a sign tells you all about it) and then the gates open, letting the ships into the lakes. This took most of an hour. Then the process is reversed, with ships traveling from the lakes coming in and waiting to be let out into the Puget Sound.
We also walked across the pedestrian bridges to go see the fish ladder. Big salmon were trying to swim upstream. From above the water you couldn't see very much. Okay, I couldn't see anything - but there is an inside room with windows where you can watch the fish fight to make it from one section of the ladder to the next. There are only two entrances between sections of the ladder - a fish can swim along the top of the water and make it over the gap in the wall, or it can swim along the bottom and make it through the hole in the wall down there. The kids near us were cheering the fish on.
We wandered through the botanical gardens for a bit before heading back to the car. We saw some cool flowers (like these ones, I think). We followed a path and then came to a little nursery, where Amy tried to make friends with a squirrel.
As we left the gardens, I just had to take one more picture. I didn't know these still existed! Yes, that is a real phone in there.
Next we started looking for dinner. We ended up getting hot sandwiches from Safeway - the guy making the sandwiches was really nice and let us switch out parts of the meal for potato salad (not me) or add extra blue cheese (me). We ate and then went to meet the sisters-in-law plus one of their younger sisters at the chocolate cafe, but it was closed. This was very sad, but we rallied and made ourselves a fondue night instead! Chocolate on bananas, strawberries, cookies, marshmallows, caramels, and gummi worms! And lots and lots of talking.
The morning of the 4th we first went to my ward's picnic with the most perfect flag raising ever - there was a trumpet to play the national anthem and the scouts presented the flag. We saluted, we sang, and that was the program. Along with a pancake and sausage breakfast. Amy and I left soon after the picnic and drove down to Steilacoom, where we waited to see another one-time roommate Jennifer. Amy and I found parking and headed downtown to see the parade - we were looking out for the librarian book-cart drill team with Jen in it! There were little kids, big kids, girl scouts, soldiers, political parties, tons of really cool cars, and more. It's hard to even figure out what parts of the parade to show you - it all seemed so cool!
MUSIC
CARS
PEOPLE
LIBRARIANS!
After the parade we had a fun dinner with Jen's family - one of her relatives provided the after-dinner entertainment with card tricks and stories. Then we headed to another relative's house on the Port of Tacoma, where we had a gorgeous view of various fireworks displays around the port. The commentary on these movies is, perhaps, lacking - but we were having fun!
Then, after all that, we went back to Jen's place and watched Northanger Abbey (the new BBC version, I think). And Persuasion. Just like old times.
Some people, and I am one of them, are lucky enough to find a group of college roommates who become best friends. Now we're all spread out across the nation, but three of us got together for the 4th of July weekend. First, Amy came in from Las Vegas. I picked her up at the airport and we went straight to the Ballard Locks. I haven't been there since I was a little kid, so I made sure to check the maps carefully. After all that, there were signs posted telling you where to turn and everything.
We watched the boats coming in the big lock. The gate to the lakes remains closed while the gate to the Puget Sound is opened. Then the boats come in and fill up the lock. They tie themselves side by side, paying a lot of attention to getting the lines pulled tight enough so that no one will shift around a lot when the lock fills up with water. The locks fill from a nifty system underneath the surface of the water (a sign tells you all about it) and then the gates open, letting the ships into the lakes. This took most of an hour. Then the process is reversed, with ships traveling from the lakes coming in and waiting to be let out into the Puget Sound.
We also walked across the pedestrian bridges to go see the fish ladder. Big salmon were trying to swim upstream. From above the water you couldn't see very much. Okay, I couldn't see anything - but there is an inside room with windows where you can watch the fish fight to make it from one section of the ladder to the next. There are only two entrances between sections of the ladder - a fish can swim along the top of the water and make it over the gap in the wall, or it can swim along the bottom and make it through the hole in the wall down there. The kids near us were cheering the fish on.
We wandered through the botanical gardens for a bit before heading back to the car. We saw some cool flowers (like these ones, I think). We followed a path and then came to a little nursery, where Amy tried to make friends with a squirrel.
As we left the gardens, I just had to take one more picture. I didn't know these still existed! Yes, that is a real phone in there.
Next we started looking for dinner. We ended up getting hot sandwiches from Safeway - the guy making the sandwiches was really nice and let us switch out parts of the meal for potato salad (not me) or add extra blue cheese (me). We ate and then went to meet the sisters-in-law plus one of their younger sisters at the chocolate cafe, but it was closed. This was very sad, but we rallied and made ourselves a fondue night instead! Chocolate on bananas, strawberries, cookies, marshmallows, caramels, and gummi worms! And lots and lots of talking.
The morning of the 4th we first went to my ward's picnic with the most perfect flag raising ever - there was a trumpet to play the national anthem and the scouts presented the flag. We saluted, we sang, and that was the program. Along with a pancake and sausage breakfast. Amy and I left soon after the picnic and drove down to Steilacoom, where we waited to see another one-time roommate Jennifer. Amy and I found parking and headed downtown to see the parade - we were looking out for the librarian book-cart drill team with Jen in it! There were little kids, big kids, girl scouts, soldiers, political parties, tons of really cool cars, and more. It's hard to even figure out what parts of the parade to show you - it all seemed so cool!
MUSIC
CARS
PEOPLE
LIBRARIANS!
After the parade we had a fun dinner with Jen's family - one of her relatives provided the after-dinner entertainment with card tricks and stories. Then we headed to another relative's house on the Port of Tacoma, where we had a gorgeous view of various fireworks displays around the port. The commentary on these movies is, perhaps, lacking - but we were having fun!
Then, after all that, we went back to Jen's place and watched Northanger Abbey (the new BBC version, I think). And Persuasion. Just like old times.
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