It was getting really hard to schedule stuff because December was so busy. I did manage to set aside some time to make Christmas cookies with Barlow at her house. I also had a list of all kinds of stuff to get done while I had a few hours to get it all done. December has gotten difficult to plan around because of so many birthdays and whatnot as well. Those days usually get filled up for you. Our calendar this year for December was literally off the wall!
Saturday, December 17th
That morning Ben went to shift, and I slept in until about 9:30. I ate a quick breakfast and loaded up the Escape with the recycle and my cookie baking stuff. I double checked to make sure I had everything because I wasn't coming home after my errands.
I drove into Rainier to get rid of the recycle and called Mom to see if she wanted to meet me in Rainier to walk the trail. Some of my caches were missing and I had to fix them before I got any more hate mail from cachers. She said she would. I didn't want to park at the trailhead behind the store because I had some valuables in the Escape. Instead, we parked at the school and walked over to the trail. I grabbed what I needed and realized I had forgotten my gloves once we were walking. Lame. Now, my hands are going to be cold.
The first one we had to check on was Rainier Trail Cache (GC8MCG5) because it was missing. In fact, after some searching, it was missing. It was a huge bummer because it is really hard to replace rock hid-a-key caches now that they are really expensive to buy and replace. Now the cache is a film cannister and I hope it sticks around longer than the other one did. It's annoying having to replace them all the time. Especially, when it's a special container.
We continued walking down the trail west towards Tenino. We walked past a guy who was walking his dog and said hi to us. Since we were walking past The 507 Series: Rainier, Wash. (GC3AMVX), I decided to check to see if it was still there or in the correct location. It took me a while to find it because people moved it around. I did eventually find it and only replaced the logbook. I moved it to where I had hidden it originally.
The last one, We Don't Do That Here (GC4ZT8D) was about a mile walk from where the Escape and Mom's Expedition was. It was nice that we could get a walk in before the busy day started up. In several of the logs people had said that the container was getting cracked in half due to the hiding spot. No big deal, I had a new container and a logbook ready to go. I just wished I would have remembered to bring my gloves with me. We walked back to the school. I thanked Mom for walking with me and told her how the rest of my day was going to go. She went home and I drove into Tumwater.
My first stop was the cemetery. This was the first time visiting both of them since Grandpa's passing in October and his funeral in November. I brought them the wreath I made a couple years ago for Christmas time. It was surreal visiting both of them at the cemetery. I sure missed them. I was very lucky to have them in my life growing up. Not many people get to have their grandparents in their lives into their mid-thirties. Grammie has missed so many important things since August 2018. Grandpa missed a bunch of stuff but at least got to see that I was getting married. I told them a brief summary of the stuff that was happening and how busy we've been in December. They said they remembered being busy in December getting ready for the holidays all those years. It would be my first Christmas without the both of them and it made me sad. I told them I missed them and I would come back again to visit soon.
I got onto the freeway and headed to Celete's salon to donate the toys I got for the toy drive that I kept forgetting to give to her. It was a quick go in, dump off and leave. I drove up towards the mall and stopped at TJ Maxx for a specific item before they were all gone. I found what I was looking for but the line to check out was insane! People were really doing some crazy Christmas shopping. The line actually went quicker than I thought it would. Afterwards, I did some browsing at the Goodwill to see what kind of treasures I could find. I found some cute tiny shirts to go along with Wes's birthday present.
I was hungry and decided to go to Five Guys since it's been several years since I've been there. I had forgotten how expensive it was. I ordered the basic burger and small fries and got it 'to go' so I could sit in the Escape and eat it and drink my Pepsi Zero. I chatted with Trish for a little bit to see what she was up to.
I wasted enough time and drove the short distance to Barlow's house. I sat in the driveway for a little bit because I wasn't sure if they were home or not. I texted her and she texted me back stating that they were home, and I could come in with all my stuff. I had to make several trips but Justin helped me.
We did a mini birthday present party, he got a bath and then went to bed. Barlow found two cookie recipes and I found two prior to showing up. The ones I picked were no bakes and mint chocolate chip cookies. She picked peanut butter cookies and snickerdoodles. I was over there until about 1:30 a.m. We cleaned up, I took my stuff back out to the Escape, and I thanked her for hosting cookie night.
I got home, unloaded the stuff out of the Escape, put some of it away, took a shower and went to bed by about 3 a.m. I was tired.
Sunday, December 18th
The next day Ben came home late from shift, and I got up around 9:45. I made breakfast, and we got ready for our day.
We had made plans with Walter and Wendy about a month ago asking them if they could make us an ornament stating, "Our First Christmas Engaged" and they agreed to do it. I spend a few weeks making a mockup of what Ben and I would like to see. We both agreed that it should contain mountains and trees because we got engaged in Leavenworth, where there are tons of mountains and trees. I got a final version of it done and Ben said it looked awesome and to send it off. This would be Ben and I's ninth Christmas together and each year we get a ornament with a year on it.
I sent it to Wendy via email and she and Walter figured out how they were going to create it with their wood printer. I checked in with them about a week later and asked when they would be available so we could visit with them and pick up the ornament. She said, because it was almost Christmas, they were busy doing craft shows/fairs all over western Washington. She said she was going to be in Eatonville in the middle of December and I told her that was perfect. We could meet them in Eatonville and then drive into Puyallup for Ed's birthday party at the Ram. Wendy said that would work.
We hopped into the Escape and drove out to Eatonville. It actually started snowing a little bit as we got closer to the Eatonville Eagle's building. We parked and went inside. There was so much craft stuff crammed into that room! Holy cow! We found Walter and Wendy's booth and looked at all the stuff they were selling. They gave us our ornament and it turned out great! Walter explained to us how he made it. I asked him how much I owed them, and Ben and I each paid them for their materials and labor. They even made us a keepsake box to put it in.
We loitered around, got a picture with Santa and even looked at some of the other crafts people had made.
We thanked Walter and Wendy several times for our ornament, gave them hugs and told them we needed to get going if we were going to be on time for the birthday party. We told them, before we left, that we needed to hang out again soon. They agreed.
We got back into the Escape and followed Hwy 161 all the way to Puyallup. It snowed a little bit as we got closer to Graham. We got to the Ram near the mall, found a place to park, grabbed Ed's present and went inside. Of course, we were a little late and they were seated already. I was upset at Trish because she didn't save seats next to her and Amy so we had to sit down at the other end of the table basically by ourselves with people we didn't know. We were bored the entire time but got to watch Tom Brady lose to the Bengals so the night wasn't a total loss. I had a chicken sandwich and Ben ordered pretzel bites and cheese and then a turkey club sandwich and fries for a meal.
Trish did come over and visit with us a little bit. Ed opened his presents...we got him an Apples to Apples boardgame he wanted. We thanked everyone for having us and we headed home. We stopped at Walmart to pick up some shower curtain stuff for Doug since he cleaned the shower for the first time since he moved in October 2021, so that was progress. We relaxed for a bit and got ready for the upcoming work week before the crazy Christmas holiday.
Next Adventure: Figgy Does OMD Yet Again...At Home, Teleworking, Yet Again
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