This month's calendar                         Archives                            Our Google Calendar                   

December 19, 2014

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

It's getting closer. Christmas will be here in less than a week and I am still not ready. Can I put an extension on the holiday?

We drove into Portland on Monday to do a little shopping and make our plane reservations for our upcoming trip this summer. The travel agency is in downtown Portland and finding a parking place took a little effort. After driving around the block a few times, we got lucky and found a place that was just around the corner from where we had to go. Normally, we would have made the reservations from home but it was a little complicated as we had enough "rewards" from our credit card to pay for one roundtrip ticket but we had to have the travel agent book the other ticket at the same time so we could sit next to each other on the plane. It was a little stressful, but we now have our airline tickets reserved for July.

After the travel agent experience, we headed out to Beaverton as I wanted to go to the Beaverton Bakery to get a few goodies to give to the neighbors and also to get some of their cookies. I don't bake during the holidays anymore, too much other stuff to do. I dropped Dave off at his favorite woodworking store while I did the bakery stop and Trader Joe's. When I came back to pick him up, he had his basket loaded with stuff and I told him that his "time was up". Doesn't he know that Christmas is just around the corner and he should wait for Santa?

We then headed to Clackamas Town Center to buy some last minute gifts. The mall wasn't too crowded and we found a parking spot real close to the entrance. While we were at the mall, I had to have my semi-annual check-up and cleaning for my diamond earrings so I can keep up the warranty. While I was running around doing all the other shopping, I gave Dave a break and told him to sit in front of Nordstrom's with a cup of coffee and his cell phone so he could "people watch". It took me a little longer than I expected, the lines to check out were longer than finding the right gift! Where did all the people come from? After waiting impatiently, I got all the stuff I needed to get, met Dave and we "got out of Dodge" before the rush hour traffic started. We went over to Lara's for dinner before we headed back home. It is always fun to take a break and see the grandchildren. What a day though, we are not used to all this gadding about. I think I will pick up what I have left to do on the internet, it's a lot easier.

I told you about the table saw episode last week. Well, after calling Home Depot and explaining that the broken saw weighed 300 pounds and that it was impossible for us to load it up and return it, two nice big husky guys showed up from the Beaverton Home Depot on Sunday morning in a truck with a new table saw and they even took the broken one back. Dave took a couple of days to assemble the new saw and he kept telling me how bad the first one must have been as this one went together much easier. So now Dave is as happy as can be and he can continue on with his woodworking projects that he had to put on hold.

One of Santa's reindeer must have gotten lost. We were in the kitchen and looked out the window to find this young buck having lunch on my laurel hedge! He didn't seem to mind us yelling and waving our arms at him - Dave was able to snap this picture before he finally pranced off! The deer are always coming down in the yard as there isn't much from them to eat this time of year.

Thursday afternoon, I opened the freezer door and told Dave that I had to figure out what I was going to make for dinner that night. He happened to be reading his email at the time and read an entry that said it was "Pasta Night" at one of our favorite restaurants. I don't think he had the words out of his mouth when I slammed the freezer door and sat down at the table, asking what time we were going to leave for dinner! Penne Pasta Bolognese! Yum!

We hope the holidays are not being too stressful and you are able to take a break and just take the spirit in. Have a very merry Christmas and I'll talk to you after the holiday.