I stopped at McDonalds to pick up a sausage egg mcmuffin and since I had to stop at Sue's to pick up her gift for Jacob, I thought I would surprise her and Paul with a breakfast sandwich too. Man! There was a time you could scoot on through paying about a buck a sandwich, give or take, but my total bill was $11. Oh well, it is the season, after all.
Driving was a little tense as I faced that bright morning sun in my eyes the whole way. Still, I was thankful I wasn't having to deal with snow or rain. The roads were kind of icy looking, however, so I drove two-fisted most of the time. The center wasn't open so I called a friend to talk a bit, straightened up the inside of the car, took a picture of the timber that had been cleared next to the lot, watched a couple guys use the port-a-potty, and when the host for the center drove up, I decided to go inside and see what the place looked like. It was kind of interesting. A few old pictures of Chimacum and Quilcene scenes, and various Jefferson County maps along with some books they had for sale. Since I had copies of my book in the car, I decided to donate one to the book shelf. If nothing else, it will give me some exposure and maybe some money for the center.
Our next stop was at Jenny Ericksen's house in Bremerton to pick her up. First time I'd been there although I'd heard about the house for years as Mary and "her group" take turns going to each other's homes for various functions and parties. I loved the place. Cozy, cozy, cozy! They not only have a water view but they have their own beach across the street where you can swim and where they keep their boat. Jenny and Eric both teach school in the neighborhood. Something new I learned that day.
Traveling with these three ladies was solid entertainment. It tickled me to see how they interacted with each other (they've been a group since junior high). They gossiped, argued, laughed, and talked nonstop. Jenny told me everytime she has to scrub a pot, she remembers the time I taught her and Mary how to clean a pan. I don't remember that at all, of course.
I wish I could remember everything they talked about. I should have had a notebook 'cause I knew it wouldn't stick with me. They did share stories about their Christmases as a kid. Tami said she had a system for checking out her gifts ahead of time by always having five kinds of scotch tape on hand so she could match whatever type her mother used to wrap her gifts. She said she finally outgrew peeking when it got too hard to "be surprised" on Christmas morning.
They're all big on baking and cooking so that topic came up often too. I mentioned to Jenny that I loved this salad she brought to a party at Shari's at Halloween and when we got back to her house, she ran in an gave me a bottle of Garlic Expressions that she mixes with lemon juice and Gerards. She uses croutons and mozz. cheese as garnish and it was delicious. I'll have to go buy Gerards as I've never heard of it.
In no time at all we were on the freeway and headed for Renton. Took about an hour and a half. This was the only part of the trip I didn't like. Well, that and having to drive against the sun earlier. I do hate freeways and my hate for them has only intensified over the years. It's made my world a lot smaller and I regret that but I don't think I'll ever feel at ease going 60+ miles an hour with people changing lanes on both sides of me. I always feel like God has given me a reprieve every time I find myself relaxing a little by entering onto an exit ramp. I don't think I'm as afraid of dying as I am being in a damn accident and having to go through recovery. I've had more than enough of trying to mend my body in physical therapy.
My shoulder, which was causing me a lot of grief for a few days this past week, has eased a lot and I can't help but wonder if the rain contributed to the problem. I'm still not 100% but I probably never will be. As long as I can sit here and type, I'll deal with it. I'm halfway through my cookie baking. I made a batch of orange sugar cookies with frosting, a pan of fudge, and a large batch of chocolate chip. Tomorrow I'm making almond cookies and this bar cookie recipe using multiple ingredients in layers. I've had to put everything away in containers so I'm not tempted to sample the goods.
Tuesday I'm seeing my doctor and Wednesday, Joyce Lee and I are driving to PT so I can deliver gifts and cookies, do some browsing downtown, and have lunch. Sunday, I'll host Jenni & Sue for a lasagna dinner. Catie will be in town too so that will be a nice addition to the party.
Now I'll post the video and pictures I took yesterday. Not all of them as I ended up with 83 and several of those went straight to the recycle bin. Same with the videos. I had 13 separate videos but kept only five. I'll probably post them all on here eventually even though they're only half a minute to a minute long. Takes a long time to upload even one short video to Youtube and I have to do that for each video in order to attach to my blog. At least that's the only way I know how. I'd like to post on Facebook but I think I still need to put on YouTube first in order to do that. Anybody know otherwise?
He actually turns one on Dec. 23 so I'll send off a card later this week. I don't see how Mary manages to pack him around because I couldn't hold him for any length of time. Too heavy for me. Was amazing how good-natured he was for the entire three hours. Mary did send out a "post-party" meltdown picture after we left, however. It was sooo cute. Well, cute to me anyhow....
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