A day in the life of Chris and Linda

Ahh, what a beautiful Saturday in July. I often hear, "What did you and Dad do today?" Well here is a typical day-off for the two of us. First we decided to pick up some salmon for our Sunday dinner straight from the source, or almost. We know this fish guy who has tribal rights, being from the Nisqually tribe. The fish is so fresh that just hours prior to our purchase the salmon is happily swimming in the river. Yummy. This time when we stopped the old guy was gone and some other guy told us, "no problem" he would get the fish for us. He used a fork lift to get down this big bin-type container, opened it up, and voila, FISH on ice! We were so excited. We told him we'd take one and he told us to just get it--just pick out this big fish with our bare hands--a whole fish. Unfortunately we know very little about filleting, etc. and his fillet-guy was not around. "Sorry," we say and are forced to buy our fish at Costco.

Next we had lunch with Margaret Densley, an old time member of the ward (92yearsold) and Chris's home teachee forever, who moved to Patriot's Landing, a retirement type place to live out her last years. She is the most wonderful, interesting AND entertaining person you can imagine. She took us to lunch in their dining room. We had a lovely time. Lunchtime invariably brings naptime for Dad. He napped in the Fred Meyer parking lot while I shopped--a perfect solution for the both of us. Don't tell him but while he was napping I found a really cute dress and sweater.
Then we went car shopping for me. I kind of like the cute little commuter cars, but haven't really decided. Dad wants me to get something much cooler than a Fit or Matrix or Yaris like an Infinity or a Lexus or a BMW. Who knows?
On to Dave and Jen's to try out their new Love-sac. Yes indeed it is wonderful. Maybe we can have Dave negoiate a purchase for us too. They are amazing bargain hunters. Dave and Jen then took us to the Ballard Seafood Festival. We had delicious seafood and other yummy treats. It was great fun. We proceeded into the city of Seattle for the Torchlight parade. Chris and I stood in some bushes to see the parade, but ever resourceful Dave and Jen found a relatively comfy location sitting right in the front row. After our fill of the parade we said a brief good-bye to Homer, returned Dave and Jen to their cute place and headed home. A near perfect day in the Northwest.

Just a side note--how come my "preview" never looks like the "publish post"? The pictures and text are always goofy! Help!

Good-day sunshine?

Oops, I guessed I wished for the rain a little too soon. Now I'm wishing for the sun. This weather is really perfect for us Washingtonians as Blake pointed out so accurately, because we love to talk about the weather. What would we do without our weather?(and our Mountain and the Mariners). For myself I am very glad it is cool and rainy. I love it. I almost made myself a cup of hot chocolate today--in the middle of July! I was just on Steph's blog and she had 14 comments. Sometimes I wonder, Is anybody out there?

Send in the clouds

I was so happy today when I looked at the sky and there were clouds. I don't care what the weatherman reported I know we hit 100 degrees here in Steilacoom yesterday and that's not right. After yesterday's heat wave I'm thinking of relocating to Alaska. Anyone want to join me?

New York New York

Wow, did I ever have the best time in New York--not only one of the most exciting and interesting cities in the world but one of the most amazing and wonderful two children and awesome mom and dad in the world too. I just can't say how great it was to be there. First off, we have all heard the story of Blake and the washing machine so I took pictures. I for one, am really impressed with Blake's ingenuity--the way he twisted those pipes around the tub inspires confidence in his new chosen profession. Stephy forgot to mention the actual washing machine. It's a washer/dryer all in one. What a sweet gesture of love and consideration for Steph and the fam. Ok, enough about the washer/dryer (although it was totally amazing). Here's a list of all the fun things we did: walked the neighborhood, Prospect Park and Zoo, saw Nancy Drew movie, Museum of Nature History (where Night at the Museum was filmed), fed ducks, went to Coney Island and aquarium, ate Nathan's hot dogs, Brooklyn Bridge Park, water taxi, Grimaldi's Pizza (fantastic), Seaport area, Wall Street, NYSE, Trump Towers, Times Square, Ground Zero, wax museum, fashion district, rode the subway, watched many episodes of "Snapped" (check it out on WE), ordered chinese food, and had the most awesome time hanging out together. As you can see our days were filled with fun. It's hard to believe I was only there for one week. Stephy is the perfect hostess always, and Blake always gracious with the onslaught of family and friends.

This post would not be complete without some pictures of the fun. You'll have to figure out for yourself where we are and what we are doing. One last word--thank you Steph, Blake, Evy, and Dane--I love and miss you tons.