Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday, May 23

I was so excited to have a long weekend even though I've been working from home for about a month now and the weekends just don't seem to have the edge like they used to.  Since I don't leave home very much anymore, except to go local geocaching and grocery shopping, the weekends just don't give me that refreshed feeling anymore, the "we finally made it to the weekend", **exhale**.  Work is home and home is work but I can't complain.  It could be worse.  It could always be worse.

I called Mom to ask if we had any plans for the weekend.  Last year we spent this weekend moving from the first house in Lacey to the house we are currently in.  That was a lot of work but it was nice to have the long weekend to do it.  She said she didn't really but Dad most likely did.  I ended up talking to him for a while and he managed to talk me into helping mow lawns on Saturday.  He even talked Doug and Erika into helping as well.  The more people the faster it will get done.  We set up a time of 11 a.m. to all meet over there.

Ben was on a 24-hour shift at the fire station and he left in the morning around 6:30.  I slept in until about 9:45.  I got ready, ate some food, packed up my lawn mower in the Escape and then went and picked up Doug and his lawn mower.  Apparently, Jenn needed the car for some errands.  We then, drive into Rainier and to Grandma's house to start there first.  We unloaded everything as Mom and Dad showed up in the truck with their lawn mower and the weed eater.

Grandma came out to move some stuff out of the yard and we spend some time getting rid of the mole hills and the small rocks on the lawn.  Then we all started in.  I got the riding lawn mower on top of the hill going and at one point we had all four lawn mowers going.  It went quick and painless.  Dad ran the weed eater for a bit and then the leaf blower just to get all the grass off the stairs, porch and cement area.  The yard looked really good when we were done.  Grandma thanked us for coming over and doing the lawn. 

We loaded everything back up and drove over to Grammie and Grandpa's house to do his lawn.  His was going to take more time because he has more open spaces than Grandma does.  This time Doug ran the riding lawn mower and everyone else ran the push lawn mowers.  Dad did some weed eating and stacked some wood out back so it could be brought in easier.  We knew Grandpa appreciated our work and he always offered to pay for lunch but this time we declined his offer.  We told him probably next time since we still had some stuff we had to do.

Somehow Dad talked us into driving over to our Great Grandparent's property on Tipsoo and mowing that lawn.  That property hasn't been mowed in over a year or more.  Luckily, the grass wasn't extremely thick but it still took us all a while to get it all mowed because we had to go over a couple sections twice because of the dandelions.  

The last memory I have of this pick up truck, named Waldo, (before it was left here) was of my brother, dad and I, and we were driving it from our house to our great grandparents house and a couple dozen bees flew out of the dashboard.  Luckily, no one was allergic to bed and surprisingly, no one got stung.

By the time we were done I was exhausted.  I walked over 20,000 steps and I could definitely feel it.  We loaded all the mowers into the Escape and the back of the truck and Doug and I headed back into Lacey.  I dropped him off, he mowed his yard that evening and I went home, unloaded my mower and ended up vacuuming it out.  I showered, ate dinner and then relaxed.  It was nice to finally be done for the day.  I worked on my blog and watched some shows.  I called Erika to find out what kind of food Zach wanted for his birthday tomorrow and she said tacos.

Sunday, May 24

I got to sleep in, Ben came home early that morning and then took a nap.  I called Mom to see if she needed to go to the store and she said probably.  I told her I needed to get some stuff for the tacos we were going to make for Zach for his birthday party later on that day.  I convinced Mom to drive out to town so we could go to the Hawks Prairie Walmart.  She agreed only because the Yelm Walmart had been pretty cleaned out and she was getting tired of not being able to find the stuff she needed.  We brought our masks and stood in line to get in.  We got the stuff we needed and found a couple of things for Zach's birthday.  We got back to my house, Mom dropped me and my groceries off and told me she would see me in a little bit.

I put everything away and then started getting stuff ready for his party.  I mowed the front lawn and then I had Ben get all the tables, chairs and fire pit out front.  As it got closer to party time, I started making the taco fixings.  We were only going to have nine people over but made sure to make enough so Dad can some food over to Grandpa on the way home.

Everyone arrived around 6ish and I started to bring the food out to the tables and we dug in.  I haven't made this volume of taco fixings in two years.  The tacos hit the spot.  They were delicious.  We got into the birthday party portion of our party and Zach wore the birthday hat and opened his presents.  We tried to get him some stuff that he could use whether it was food or clothes.  We tried to get some ideas from Erika.

I started the fire in the pit and got it going so we could make s'mores and hang out around it.  It didn't take me long to get it going because I know how to make a fire.  I've had lots of practice over the years.  I've actually been complimented on my fire making skills.  We let the fire die down a bit so we could roast our marshmallows in the coals.  I am not one of those people who like my marshmallows on fire or burnt when I squish it together with my graham crackers or chocolate.

Around 8ish is when everyone was ready to head back home.  They helped me fold up the chairs and tables and brought some stuff into the house.  We all said our goodbyes and everyone went home.  Ben and I finished up the cleaning and putting stuff away.  I ended up spending time working on my blog and watching some shows while Ben got on his game and played with Josh.

Monday, May 25

I was so happy I didn't have to work today.  We slept in and made some breakfast.  Ben was on call at JBLM today but other than that we had no plans.  Since Erika moved out, we decided to make the extra bedroom into a guest bedroom so that meant we had to go mattress shopping eventually.  I wanted to clean the rugs so I got out the carpet cleaner I had bought a few Black Friday's ago because it was a great deal and I knew we would need something like this since we had pets and carpets.  Ben helped me move stuff off the area rug in the living room.  We found all the fans and I started with the carpet in Erika's old room first.  I made sure I vacuumed it pretty well since Emmett spent a lot of time laying around in this room.  I got that one done and then did the smaller ones in the hallways.  

I took a short break, cleaned out the soap and water vessel and started in on the main area rug in the living room.  This one was going to be especially dirty with all the traffic that comes through here and the cat and dog butts.  This would be the first time cleaning it since we got it.  The water I dumped out of the vessel was pretty gross.  I went over it one more time just because.  

I cleaned out the carpet cleaner and let the stuff dry and then got the fans all placed and sat on the couch and chilled with Calvin while we watched some television and rested.  I worked on some other stuff throughout the day that I've been putting off and worked on my blog some more.  I was determined to get caught up finally since most of our stuff at this point we had planned were being canceled or postponed until next year.  I was super disappointed and inside my head I was screaming about how stupid this all was.

We got some laundry done, ate dinner and got ready for the upcoming short work week.  We got a lot accomplished this weekend but again, it's never long enough.    

Next Adventure:  Geocaching in Hawks Prairie and Lacey with a Monsoon

A Birthday Party and Some Geocaching

Wendy text messaged Ben one day to have her call her to catch up.  It's been a while since we've talked to them and since God Damn Covid we really haven't see a lot of people except family members.  Ben called her back and she invited us to come into Puyallup to celebrate Chris's birthday and to meet their newest kid, a girl who was born about a month ago named Tiffany.  They already have a boy named Danny who just turned 4.  Now they have one of each.  We asked Wendy if we needed to bring anything and she said if you wanted to bring chips or something, that would be great. 

Due to Wendy's health problems I was surprised they wanted people at their house during God Damn Covid.  We asked her when we talked to her and she said they don't have it and neither did we.  They trusted us.

Ben and I got up, it felt nice to sleep in, ate a quick small breakfast, got ready and headed out the door around 1ish.  We were suppose to be there by 2:30.

We did stop by Safeway on Canyon on our way there to get Chris a gift card for his birthday.  We got him a Target one because that was the only one that they could buy anything from instead of some sort of restaurant one where you're limited.  We paid for that and the chips and then continued down Canyon until we reached the turn off we needed.  We got to the house right at 2:30 and noticed that no one was there yet except Walt and Wendy.  We walk up and knock on the door.  They welcomed us with open arms because we hadn't seen each other in a while.  Since we don't do the haunted house anymore we don't see them as often.

We sat in the living room and visited for a while.  We had to wait until Chris, Rosa and their kids arrived before we could start lunch.  They showed up about 40 minutes later kids in tow.  Danny was a lot bigger than I remember him being and he was talking more as well.  He will definitely be bilingual since most of his sentences were in Spanish and part English.  He was very shy too which I can relate to that since I was when I was a kid his age

Wendy had all the stuff on the table so we snacked on some finger foods while Walt started grilling the hamburgers.  We talked about all kinds of things while we waited for the burgers to get done.  We talked about God Damn Covid and how it has affected our lives.  I told them about working from home, being home with my cat all day while I work, the sweatpants, not having to drive anywhere, saving money on gas...my list went on.  Ben on the other hand, told them nothing's changed except for the mask and gear protocols for both jobs.  I told them about my trip being canceled and everything else we had planned and paid for was most likely going to get canceled as well.  They talked about their jobs, the stuff they've been doing and then we talked about Tiffany for a bit.  She was a very quiet baby.  It was weird.

The burgers were done and we got up and fixed ourselves a plate and headed over to the dining room table.  I was hungry so I scarfed mine down.  It was a nice visit.  We were probably over there for about three and a half hours visiting.  We told them that we should think about heading home because it was Sunday and we had to get home and get ready for work.  That included getting Ben's laundry and stuff done.  They understood...besides the baby needed a nap soon anyways.  We thanked them for their hospitality and we would have to get together again sometime soon.  We gave out hugs and then we started back home. 

I asked Ben, since we were out here can we pick up a few caches on the way home?  He said sure.  I told him there were about five of them along our route we can stop and get.  He said okay. 

The first one I directed him to was called 400 (GC3BBXP) and it was off the main road down a short neighborhood road.  We parked literally right next to it.  We got out and I was like 400 huh, well this sign says 400...maybe it's behind it?  Bam, signed the log and put it back.  I'm sure the house across the street watches everyone who stops by to grab this one.

The next one was up the road a little ways.  We turned down a neighborhood and parked right in front of it again.  This time it on tucked on the ground next to one of the gate partitions.  It was an old shotgun shell and we weren't sure if this was the original container or not.  We signed the log for 426 (GC6PQ56) and put it back.

I searched the app for the next one we didn't have and that took us to one called Cool Bean!!! (GC50JWR) so we had to drove back to Meridian and we parked near a Starbucks and walked along the sidewalk to see where the cache was.  We had to wait a few minutes until muggles went away so we could see where it was.  I could see it where we were standing.  It was an electrical face plate.  I had Ben grab it when the muggles walked across the street.  I pretended I was on the phone because the people in the Starbucks drive thru could see us as well.  We signed our names and quickly put it back before someone asked what we were doing.

We got onto the other cross road back towards Canyon Road and made a stop we've made in the past.  This time there was enough daylight to actually search thoroughly for View of the Mountain (GC37PHB).  Ben found a place to park and I got out.  He was listening to Josh's podcast on his phone while I looked.  I felt like I checked all these places last time but again, I was trying to hurry because we were running out of daylight.  I gave myself about five more minutes and if I didn't find it, we would have to come back a third time and look.  I finally found the container and I don't think it was suppose to be where I found it.  I can't believe I found it in that mess of a bush.  It was a little moist and looked like water had leaked into a few times.  I got the log signed and put it back a little better than I found it.  I was glad to have that one finally off the list.

Our last one of the day, Test Subject 255 (GC6DGQF) we drove up to and found a place to park off the main road.  Ben stayed in the car while I ran out to get it.  It was a short jog.  I got to the spot and found the cache on the ground.  I assumed it was behind the sign as well.  I picked up, signed it and hooked it back to the fence so the next cacher could find it.  I let the cache owner know that I found it on the ground when I did my logs.  I jogged back to the car.

We headed home after that, listening to Josh's podcast all the way back to our house.  We started getting ready for the work week and relaxed for a few hours before getting ready for bed.

Next Adventure:  Memorial Day Weekend

Erika Moves Again

Erika met Zach during the fall of 2018 and as they dated and gotten to know each other we knew at some point she would want to move in with him.  Last spring, we got booted out of the house on 59th Street because the landlord wanted to move back into her place.  That meant we had to feverishly find a place, spend a lot of money, move and settle in all within two months.  That was a lot of work because Erika was living with us at that house but the rental company had no idea.  We kept it a secret because she needed a place, we had the room and we needed the money at the time.  So with that in mind, we had to find a place with a fenced yard, at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms within $1800 or less.  We got super lucky.  The place we moved into was literally across Ruddell Road from the place we moved out of.  With Erika living here we were also able to save some money and Zach was here just about every weekend hanging out.  They decided they would get an apartment in the Lacey area to start out with.  Over the next year or so maybe find a house to live in but we will see.

We knew it was coming but just didn't really know when.  I threw out the idea of Zach just moving in and rearranging our house but they didn't want to.  We could have saved so much money!

She gave us a date of May 10th, which was a Monday.  So I took the day off from work to help out.  Plus, I didn't want any of my stuff walking away.  Erika also had the day off from school so she spent a lot of time over the past few days going through stuff and making piles.  Dad brought the trailer over the day before so we could spend some time loading it so it would be ready Monday late morning-ish so we can start taking her stuff over.  We had to wait until Zach got off work to drive to Lakewood to load up his stuff.

I woke up around 10ish and got ready.  Erika was up thumping through the halls putting stuff into boxes and bags.  I helped her put some of the boxes into the trailer.  I can't believe Erika had that much stuff once we took a few minutes to actually look at it all.  She had a little bit of furniture which was mostly shelves, a dresser and a desk.  She was going to buy a new bed at some point after they moved in so we didn't have to pack up that.  She went through a lot of her clothes and books which a little less than half of them will be taken to the Goodwill at some point when it opens again.  God Damn Covid.  

Dad arrived shortly after 11 and we helped him attach the trailer to the truck.  We tossed in a few more things and locked it up so it was ready to go.  We put some more things into the Escape and her car.  I think we were ready to take the first load over to the apartment. 

We were all not prepared for the millions of stairs we had to do.  For some reason the angle in which the stairs were made it super hard to go up and down them carrying boxes and bags.  We were all really sweaty by the time we were done.  It wasn't all that cold of a day to begin with but there were some bits of showers here and there.  We got done unpacking her stuff around 1:30ish.  We started talking about lunch.  We agreed on sandwiches so Erika drove over to Fred Meyer and bought us some sandwiches from the deli and some Cokies.  I had chips at my house so we took about an hour or so and ate while Erika kept in communication with Zach.

Around 2:30, we all got on the freeway and headed north towards Lakewood.  Erika rode with Dad in the truck.  I barely remember where he lived but I knew of the general area just in case I got lost.  We got to his apartment around 3:30 and most of his stuff was ready to go.  

We started loading the furniture first and then the random boxes in the trailer and then putting the important things like computer screens, laptops, wall hangings etc., into the Escape.  He didn't have as many things as Erika did but he still had a bunch of stuff.  He also had little piles of stuff he was going to drop off at the Goodwill.

We got everything packed up and I was exhausted at this point.  Sooo many stairs!  We all made sure everything was secure and off to Lacey we went on I-5.  Traffic wasn't bad which is weird because we've gotten used to how bad traffic is through here during normal times but not during God Damn Covid.  

We got to the apartment and unloaded the stuff out of our cars first since they were the most delicate.  Erika said to put them in the computer room for now.  Then we unloaded the trailer once again.  This time we had another person bringing stuff up so it went a little bit faster.  My legs and thighs were going to be sore tomorrow.  We got everything up in the apartment and Erika thanked us so much for helping them out.

There was still some stuff Erika left behind that she will have to go through in the next couple weeks and Zach had to go back to his apartment to finish cleaning it up.  I took Erika back to my house with me so she could get her car.  She threw some more stuff in the car before she headed back to the apartment.  Now, they get to spend the next few weeks to a month setting everything up.  I'm sure Emmett is tired of moving from place to place.  Since she got him in Germany they've lived in 6 different places.

I know we probably will be moving people again sometime in the next couple years and I am thankful Dad has a trailer and people are willing to help people move.  We probably would have had more people helping but since it was a Monday everyone else was working.

Next Adventure:  A Birthday Party and Some Geocaching

Bonney Lake Adventures and Mother's Day Weekend

Since both of us wanted to celebrate our Mother's this weekend we planned out the weekend to spend time in Bonney Lake to hang out with Trish and for me to come home and spend time with my Mom on Sunday.  We called Trish and told her the plan and she loved it.  Everything worked out perfectly.

That Friday, I worked until 4 but since I was working from home because of God Damn Covid, I was pretty much ready to go by the time I was done with work.  I had gotten ready during my afternoon break.  Ben had the day off, he got up late, ate breakfast and then he and Josh drove into Steilacoom to play disc golf and found out that it was closed because of God Damn Covid.  So instead, they turned around and played at Woodland Creek for the rest of the afternoon.  Afterwards, they went to Wendy's for a late lunch.  I asked him if he was going to be hungry at dinner time.  He said he should be.

I packed up everything in the Escape and then made sure to pack up the bacon, strawberries, chips and drinks.  I stopped by the store to grab beans and a small thing of milk.  Ben got home shortly after I left.  He got his stuff ready and wasn't too far behind me.  We drove separate because he was staying on Sunday and I was leaving on Saturday night to come help Erika pack and to spend time with my Mom for Mother's Day.  I drove down Yelm Hwy, to Reservation Road and got onto I-5 at Mounts Road.  The traffic wasn't too bad.  If this was during normal times there would be much more traffic, but God Damn Covid.

I really wanted to grab a cache so I found one off the freeway that was fairly easy to get off I-5 and then back onto I-5.  Rock On, Smiley, Rock On! (GC89H30) was at the Ponder's/Woodbrook exit at the gas station right off the freeway.  I parked the Escape as close as I could to the cache, walked over, grabbed it and signed my name.  It was an easy park and grab.  

I got back on I-5 and made my way to Bonney Lake via Hwy 512, 167 to 410.  I made it to her house around 6ish.  I spent sometime unloading the Escape and Amy helped me bring it all in the house.  I had gotten a plant for Trish for Mother's Day so we carefully took that out of the back and put it in the front porch.  

Trish was out back mowing the lawn so her flowers would still be a surprise.  I walked out to the back yard and hung out with her while she finished the lawn.  I made fun of her the entire time and she is a pretty good sport about it.

Ben arrived about half hour later so we helped him bring in his stuff.  Trish finished the lawn and put everything back and cleaned up a bit.  She asked if we were hungry and we said we sure are.  She called the teriyaki place and ordered food.  It would be ready in about a half hour.  Trish, Ben and I piled into her car to go pick it up.  I sat shotgun because I called it first.  We drove to Honto Teriyaki, which was over by the Walmart, paid and got back in the car so we could take it home and feast like kings!

I nommed so hard on mine.  I haven't had food since 11:30 so this sure hit the spot.  We visited while we ate our food.  It was nice.

After we cleaned up, we talked Trish and Amy into playing Jackbox with us for a while.  Ben hooked up our Firestick to their TV.  It took them a couple rounds to figure it out but all and all they had fun and would play these games with us again.  Next time we will have to get Ed all up on it too.  We turned on Disney+ and started where we left off on the Star Wars saga.  Ben and I started watching them all in order starting on May 4th.  Whenever we both were home and had the time we would pop one in.  We watched  Star Wars:  Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.  I've only seen this movie one other time.  Out of all the Star Wars movies I hate Episodes I-III.  They are terrible but you gotta watch them when you're watching all of them in order.

After the movie, I was so ready for bed.  Getting up early and staying up late was killing me...plus it was a very warm day so downstairs was going to be super hot.  Ben grabbed the airplane fan, I call it that because it sounds like an airplane taking off, and found the night light so when I get up to pee in the middle of the night I don't die getting out of the bed.  We got ready for bed and tried our hardest to get comfortable on that horrible mattress.

Sleeping was miserable.  I probably woke up at least four times tossing and turning to get comfortable.  I got up to pee once.

The next morning I got up around 9:40 because we had to get up so we could eat breakfast and get ready to take Ben's car into Korum for his 15K maintenance. Trish was making French toast and bacon and it smelled good.  After breakfast I took a shower and got ready to go.  We both drove down to Puyallup and dropped his car it off with the service center.  I brought the Escape just in case it took a while to do and we weren't stuck there.  We chatted with Sandra for a while and then walked to the Fred Myers so Ben could get nose spray because his allergies were kicking his butt.  We used the restroom and walked around the store for a bit.  I ended up getting a few things.  By the time we were done at the store, Korum called to let us know that his car was done.  We walked back over and Ben paid.  We thanked them and then I asked Ben if we could go get two caches while we were down here.  He said sure.

The first one, A View of the Ocean (GC7X68W), was over by Grayland Park.  We both parked in the lot and walked across the street to the Meineke Car Center.  It was hidden in a fence end cap.  It was the only place it could be with where the coords took us.  We signed the log and put it back.

The other one we had some time to grab was, Old Knotty (GC8MVRB), was over by the fairgrounds.  That was an easy park and grab however, I could see this cache disappearing pretty quickly with its location and how it was hidden.  It's only a matter of time.

I felt like a Slurpee from 7-Eleven since it was a fairly warm afternoon for the beginning of May.  I knew there was one up on South Hill but we checked our phones to see if there was one closer.  There was but both of us didn't remember there was one across the street from the fairgrounds.  We were literally less than a block away.  I got my red cherry Slurpee and Ben got his blue raspberry but mixed in a lemonade kind in with it.  He is so fancy.  

We pulled out onto Meridian and got onto Hwy 512 and headed back towards Bonney Lake.  I stopped at Walmart to see if they had Pine Sol and the mop and bucket mom needed for work but they didn't have any so I went back to the house.

I did a few things on my computer while Ben worked on the kitchen sink.  That was his Mother's Day gift to his mom as well as fixing the towel bar in her bathroom.  Trish, Ed and I played some Phase 10, I won!  Later on I helped Ben with the sink and towel bar for a while.  He needed me to hold stuff.

Around 5ish, Trish started cooking the burgers on the BBQ and we helped by getting everything else ready and even set the table for her.  We ate, cleaned off the table and then played Scattergories, I won that game too.  We played contract rummy, I didn't win because I had two bad hands and ended up going from second to last place!  

I decided it was probably time for me to get my stuff ready to go and head home.  I needed to go home, get cleaned up, sleep and then get up the next day to help Erika pack up stuff and load it into the trailer that Dad is going to stop by and drop off.  I thanked Trish for letting us come and visit and gave out some hugs and told her Happy Mother's Day.  She appreciated my flowers and was happy Ben and I could spend some time with her over the weekend.  I told her we would have to plan a weekend where she comes and visits us.  She said we will have to to do that.

I got home around 10ish, unpacked my stuff, got a shower and went to bed.  I was tired after sleeping on that awful mattress the night before.  Being in my own bed was so nice.

The next day around 11, Dad stopped by with the trailer and we helped him take it off the truck and park it in the driveway.  We thanked him and he went home.  The rest of the day we spent putting already packed boxes into the trailer.  We wanted to get a head start for the next day.

Around 4, I called into Dirty Dave's for some pizza for Mother's Day.  I had set up tables in the front yard because I haven't mowed the back yard yet and didn't have that much energy to do so.  I had everyone come over around 5.  I drove down to Dirty Dave's in Erika's car, because mine was filled with her stuff, and sat in the parking lot and waited for my order.  God Damn Covid has really inconvenienced everything and I could not wait until it was gone.  It was slowly taking away all of my things I had planned for the summer.  They brought my pizza's out and set them in the back seat of Erika's car.  I drove back up and most everyone was here.  I had bought plants and cards for mom and Grandma and we all ate pizza and salad for dinner. 

Everyone stayed for a couple hours and then I cleaned up the front yard and then Erika and I resumed going through things and packing up her stuff.  

I took tomorrow off from work (so did Dad) so I could help her and Zach move to their new apartment off of Slater-Kinney.  Ben stayed at his mom's house for a while and didn't get home until after 9 p.m.

It was a busy weekend.  Happy Mother's Day!

Next Adventure:  Erika Moves Again