Mother's Day

It was shaping up to be another hot Mother's Day again this year.  The newscasts we saw shared that our area could get up to 85 degrees.  Since Erika was getting closer to her due date, I asked her what kind of food she wanted for her almost first Mother's Day.  She did not hesitate, hamburgers!  I made a menu, assigned everyone an item to bring and emailed them with the info.

The Friday before, I had taken off a half day so I could work on my wedding dress with Mom, we also went shopping for our Mother's Day gathering.  We thought we'd hit two birds with one stone.  It was nice to get that task out of the way so I could focus on cleaning, mowing the lawn and putting away stuff the next day. 

On Saturday, I got some much needed sleeping in time, got up, ate breakfast and did a couple chores.  I went outside and did some yard work and got the lawn mower out and did the front yard first, followed by the back yard.  I am so glad it doesn't take very long to mow the yard.  Rhonda was out in her yard, so I went over there for a bit and chatted it up with her.  She said she was having a small Mother's Day gathering with her family later on that day instead of on Sunday.   

I finished up the yard work and put everything back.  Ben got ready to head to his shift at the racetrack.  He wasn't too thrilled into going because he's always the person who steps up and volunteers his time when people are needed. I still don't understand (to this day) why they didn't make it a requirement for everyone to pull a shift at the racetrack.  I will never know why.

I spent the rest of the day and evening organizing the house, cleaning and finally relaxing.  I spent some time blogging, working on wedding stuff and watching my shows.  We were almost two months out and had so much stuff left to do.  I made several lists.  It seemed like it was never ending but I knew we would get everything done before go time. 

That morning, I got up around 9 and started finishing up everything.  We got the tables outside, Ben brought out the chairs and we set up everything and had to tape the tablecloths down...for some reason, the wind knows when we're having a party outside.  As it got closer to food time, Ben got the grill going and I went inside to get the hamburger condiments and veggies all cut up and organized.  I had to wait for the tomatoes and the onion because Grandma and Mom weren't there yet. 

Everyone showed up around noon, but Grandma and Mom still weren't there. I called to see what was happening and Mom answered and said they got distracted but they were almost to Lacey.  I told them to hurry because I had to finish getting the food ready.  I had Ben set up a couple extra card tables outside so we could put the Mother's Day presents and the desserts on them.  Ben and I provided the burger, beans, cheese, lettuce, pickles and condiments, Mom made the potato salad, Erika and Zac brought the Oreo cake, Doug brought chips, Trish brought fruit and as always, I had everyone bring their own drinks. 

Once Mom and Grandma got there, I was able to get the onions and tomatoes cut up with the mandolin, assembled it on the platter and got a large spoon out for the potato salad.  As the burgers got done, I had everyone help me take out the other food to the tables.  Ben said the burgers were done so we all dished up and found a place to sit down.  As we ate, we all realized that some of our burgers were still mooing.  I asked Ben, are you sure these are done?  He said, they should be.  They weren't.  I ended up eating mine, but Mom, Erika and Amy had a hard time with theirs.

We finished up and ate the delicious Oreo cake Erika made.  The mom's and mother to be, opened their gifts. Erika got a bunch of baby things while the rest of the mom's got flowers and other fun things.  I got my mom a new Mariner shirt. I was so happy the weather was gorgeous for a fun day with our family out in the back yard.  I asked everyone before they left, to get a group picture in the front yard in front of the Rhodie.  Everyone agreed.  They gathered up all of their stuff and started getting ready to go.  I grabbed the selfie stick, got everyone together and snapped a picture.  This could be our last family picture before our newest family member arrived!

Everyone thanked us for hosting and some hugs were given out.  Everyone went home to get ready for the work week.  Ben and I spent some time cleaning up the kitchen and putting everything away from the back yard.  It went quickly with both of us working on it.  The rest of the day, we relaxed, did some laundry and worked on some more wedding stuff. 

Next Adventure:  Memorial Day Weekend:  Good Food, Wedding Dress, Errands, Zac's Birthday and Hanging Out with Josh and Heather

Yes to a Dress, Errands and Some Northern Lights!

A few weeks ago, Mom and I were talking about what we were going to do with my dress situation.  I wanted to incorporate my dress with Mom's dress and Erika's veil. We were running out of time. Mom suggested that we go take a visit to the place that she and Erika went to last summer in Centralia.  We booked an appointment online and waited for the day to come.  I asked my supervisor if I could take a half a day, and she said sure.  I put in my leave and gathered up the stuff we needed for the appointment. 

I logged off at 11:30 and went to go let Murphy out.  I don't normally let him out on Fridays, but Rhonda and Brad were on their way to New Zealand for his several weeks-long hunting trip.  I drove out to Rainier and picked Mom up.  She was actually ready to go this time when I got there.  We drove the back way through Bucoda because I didn't want to drive down the freeway on a Friday.

We got down there super early so we took a detour to Fort Borst Park to see if we could find the cache, Borst-ing with Love (GCABWXH).  We parked as close as we could inside the park, got out and walked to ground zero.  The coords were so bad.  We didn't end up finding it because we ran out of time to look.  I will have to go back soon and look for it when I have more time.  We walked back to the Escape and headed into downtown Centralia. 

We found a place to park, at the many free areas near the train station, grabbed the dress and walked to Doria's.  It was locked.  We looked at the sign and it said they were with a client and to call to have her let you in.  We were super confused because our appointment was at 2 and it was literally minutes from 2.  Mom called the lady, and she let us in.  It was a weird exchange because she acted like we weren't supposed to be there.  We explained that we booked an appointment online for this afternoon at 2.  She went to look at her computer and she said, you're right, you have an appointment at 2.

She asked what we were looking for and we explained.  She looked at us like we were crazy, and we probably were not allowing that much time for her to do anything with the dress I was holding.  She added that it was not going to happen because she was going to be on vacation most of June.  We thanked her anyway and she gave us a refund on our consult visit with her.  We decided to try elsewhere, and Mom called another dress altering place.  The lady was out running errands, and we didn't want to wait.

We took the dress back to the Escape and Mom said she was hungry.  I asked her where she wanted to go.  She said the same place on the corner where she and Erika ate last summer.  I asked her, which is?  She pointed it out and I was like, they have an O'Blarney's in Centralia?  Apparently, they do.  We walked over and went inside.  We were immediately seated, and our server was eccentrically entertaining.  We both ordered strawberry lemonades, burgers and fries.  We talked about a bunch of stuff we still had left to do for the wedding while we waited and ate.

As we sat there, I saw a man and a women sitting a couple tables away and she looked super familiar, but I could not figure out why or how I knew her.  She kept looking at me too.  We both finished eating about the same time and paid.  Mom and I got up and I noticed the man and woman also got up.  She was on her phone, and we walked out the same way.  She got my attention and showed me her phone.  She asked me if I was Cougarcach24 and showed me a recent picture I posted in Instagram.  I said that is me.  She follows me on Instagram, and I follow her on Instagram.  Her geocaching name is Dovekc (Karen), and she geocaches with Nicsac (Nikki).  I met them years ago during geocaching events in Thurston and Lewis County.  I haven't seen her in years and I kinda felt like a celebrity that afternoon, especially when people know me in random places. 

Mom and I decided to check out the Goodwill and get some gas at the Arco while Mom used the restroom.  I bought a Pepsi Zero while she was inside the store.  We got onto I-5 and drove north towards Olympia.  We went to JC Penny's, Macy's, the Seattle Sports Store (obviously not for a dress), and other places before I settled on a dress from Macy's for $40.  They were having a Mother's Day sale, and my dress was originally $50 but with the discount, it was $40 and some change. 

Mom wanted to go to JoAnne's, so we drove over there.  Mom found some fabric she needed.  Afterwards, we went to Tumwater and did some grocery shopping to get it out of the way.  We hit up Walmart, Costco and Fred Meyers and then afterwards visited Grammie and Grandpa at the cemetery. We went the back way to Rainier to drop Mom off.  I drove home, showered, did some laundry, other random things, did some blogging, listened to some of my podcasts and ate some popcorn.

I remembered that the northern lights were supposed to be visible that night.  I went out around 11 that night and it was awesome!  You could see it with your naked eye during some parts of it, but you could actually see the vibrant colors if you took pictures of it with your cell phone.  It was an amazing experience.  I've always wanted to see the northern lights from Alaska or Norway, but to be able to see them from our backyard in the Pacific Northwest?  Utterly amazing!  I told Ben to get off his butt and to come outside to see it.  He was glad he did.  He said it was a memorable night!

I went outside off and on for the next couple hours to see if it looked any different.  It wasn't as vibrant as it was at around 11-11:30 that night. It was definitely once in a lifetime from Washington State.  I eventually went to bed after a long day of choices and watching the northern lights!

Almost two more months until the wedding!

Next Adventure: Mother's Day

Trish Finally Retires!

Last May, while we were at a geocaching event, Trish called Ben with some exciting news.  She is going to try her best to retire from 25 years at Korum in Puyallup. She has been working most of her life and she knew this was going to be a huge transition.  Ever since I've known her, she was not able to take a lot of time off, when she did, she came back to work severely behind because the management would not hire a team of warranty specialists to help her.  She did the job of three or more people for years.  She missed a lot of family memories as well because she worked some of her weekends away.  Memories we won't get back.

Of course, I couldn't help myself and we NEEDED to have a retirement party for her.  She was reluctant but she eventually agreed.  I asked her to think about what she wanted to do with family to celebrate her on her special day.  She tried to downplay it, but I told her that retiring is a huge deal!  

We had a little bit of drama right before we were supposed to celebrate it.  I was on the calendar first, but she let her co-workers grab the same day.  Luckily, they ended up doing something the Friday before so it wouldn't conflict with our day.  She wanted to do a family thing at the Olive Garden in Puyallup.  I let everyone know and decided to meet up around 2.  Yes, we made sure to get there relatively early because the Olive Garden is always so busy! 

Ben and I stayed up way too late the night before.  We had Josh and Heather come over for dinner.  We had BBQ chicken, potato salad and rice.  We played Most Likely and marbles. Heather struggled staying up since she gets up at like 4:30 to go to work.  We all had fun.

I got up around 9:30, fed the cats and took a shower.  Ben stayed in bed, and I had to bother him to make him get up and get ready.  He finally got up, shaved and showered.  I did my hair and make-up and wore jeans.  Since Covid, that is super fancy for me.  Ben got dressed and I told Erika that we would be over to pick her up around noonish.  Zac was in Vancouver with his brother helping their mom, Nancy, with some stuff.  We didn't invite Doug for various reasons. 

We picked Erika up and we all went to Fred Meyers to get Trish a gift and a card, yes, we waited until the last minute.  Erika ended up getting a Starbucks and had a hard time with the barista.  Then we had to wait for Erika who was getting impatient with the barista.  She eventually came out; we drove around and picked her up.  She was getting closer to her due date and had a hard time waddling around.  We got onto I-5 north and the freeway was super busy.  We got stuck in Dupont/JBLM traffic for a while.  The weather was really poor, and it rained a lot.

We got into Puyallup around 1:30, found a parking spot and Ben went inside to make sure we had a table.  Erika and I got organized and went inside.  Mom, Dad and Grandma arrived about the same time we did.  We all waited in the lobby until our table was ready.  Ed showed up shortly after we did, and Trish and Amy were late.  It actually was beneficial that they were a little bit late because then I was able to decorate the table with a few retirement decorations.

They arrived just after 2 p.m.  Our waiter got our drink orders and then the food orders.  We spent the time waiting to talk about random things.  Trish told us about her last day of work and how she was celebrated the day before.  We ate a lot of breadsticks and salad and then got our food.  I got the chicken alfredo, and it was tasty.  I am glad I remembered our gift card we've been sitting on for over 5+ years.  It came in super handy.  We paid for Trish's dinner, and she opened some gifts, cards and received some flowers.  She appreciated all of us and thanked us for coming. 

Mom, Dad, Erika and Grandma went home, and Ben and I went over to his mom's house to visit for a bit.  We hit some poor traffic on Hwy 410 going up the hill into Bonney Lake.  When we finally got there, we chatted with Trish about her last day more in depth, talked about the wedding and everything in between when it came up.  We got talked into playing two rounds of dice...I lost.  We chatted with Amy about some of her issues, more about the wedding stuff and asked Trish about Ben's grandparents' personal items.  She was able to find a couple things for me.  I stuffed them into a bag and took it out to the car after we said our goodbyes.

We headed home.  The traffic was light, so we were able to get home quickly.  Ben wanted a Blizzard, so we stopped at the one near our house.  I got an Oreo, and he got a peanut butter cookie party.  We got home, changed into comfy clothes, Ben played his games, and I worked on my wedding vows.  We went to bed after 1 a.m.

May the 4th be with you!

Next Adventure:  Yes, to a Dress, Errands and Some Northern Lights!

Bachelorette Party Weekend: Packing Up, PDX and Home

After some not-so-great sleep, but got a little bit of sleep, I got up around 8 a.m. because I heard people downstairs thumping around. I used the restroom, got dressed and started packing up my stuff.  I went downstairs and the girls were making the rest of the breakfast we had the day before.  We wanted to eat as much of it as possible, so we didn't have to pack any of it home.  I added the orange I brought to my breakfast ensemble. 

Megan and Fitzy had gone for a walk earlier than morning and were on their way back for breakfast. We ate as much food as we possibly could and packed up the rest.  I told Celeste that Ben would eat the rest of the sausage, so I packed that up in my cooler.  We spent the rest of our time, packing up food, packing up our belongings, shoving everything into the cars and checking off our list the Vrbo owner had us do before we checked out.  We did find some weird stuff in the house while we were cleaning up after ourselves. We had to start a load of towels, closed the windows, adjusted the thermostats and made sure the garbage was out.  I think this is a little excessive since they probably hire someone to clean up after guests, but whatever.

You could tell Erika was done and needed to leave.  I was thankful she made the journey down to spend time with me and my friends.  She needed to get out of the house and be around people.  Who knows, maybe my friends will become her friends for certain gatherings.  I guess we will see.  She was the first to leave the house.  She thanked everyone, made sure she had everything packed up and got in her car.  I told her to text me occasionally to check in and to make sure she got home safely.  She said she would do that.

We all made sure everything was packed up in Megan car and my Escape after one last sweep of the house.  I thanked everyone for everything they did for me that weekend.  I haven't been the center of attention in quite some time and honestly, it felt pretty good.  I am usually the person doing things for everyone else and it was nice to be on the other side of that for a weekend.  

Megan, Celeste and Nicole drove north towards Astoria and Fitzy, and I drove south towards Seaside.  We stopped at the Shell gas station and got gas.  It was super expensive.  $4.45 a gallon!  Megan paid for the gas because she appreciated the ride to the airport.  We hit the Hwy 26 junction and drove east towards Portland.  It's been a while since I was on that highway.  I told Fitzy stories about when I lived in Oregon for a year.  It rained a couple times.  We talked the entire drive about politics, abortion, the wedding, moving, her job, my job, family, etc.  We hit a lot of topics during that two-hour drive, and it was nice to visit with her since I don't get to see her very often because of distance.

We got into Portland around 12:30. The traffic wasn't that bad which was nice. We got to PDX rather quickly.  I thanked her for coming over, she told me she had a great time and thanked me for picking her up and dropping her off.  I helped her get her bags out of the back of the Escape, we gave each other a side hug, she went into the airport, and I drove off.

I got onto 205 and then onto I-5 north.  I chatted with Ben and Mom and hit many rainstorms along the way, which was a bummer, because I wanted to stop and pick up some geocaches.  I didn't want to get soaked so I just went all the way home with no stops.  I got home around 2:45, unpacked the Escape, showered, did some laundry, put stuff away and relaxed for a few minutes.

I got my grocery bags in the Escape, grabbed my list and headed out to go grocery shopping around 4 p.m.  I went to Costco first, bought some comfy slides, and then to Walmart.  I bought a pizza because I was feeling like a pizza.  Ben came home from visiting with his mom, sister and aunt Shelly.  He made himself some meatloaf for dinner.  We watched the Canucks and Predators, ate some pie, I did some internet stuff and folded laundry.

Over the weekend I found four caches and 13 waypoints, hung out with my friends and sister, made tons of memories and it was just...fun.  Plain and simple.

I wrote this post on Facebook, so everyone knew that I have pretty awesome friends.

"Wow, what a weekend!

I would love to take this opportunity to thank my friends and sister for putting together a bachelorette/girls/getaway weekend for me. It was everything I thought it would be and more.

I am not used to people doing things for me, or being the center of attention, as I am usually the planner, arranger, the get stuff done person in most, not all, of the gatherings I am a part of. This includes family and friends. I kinda felt like a bum, but it was good to see what it was like, and feels like, from this end of the experience.

They planned and executed it well. They had the perfect games, food, drinks, snacks and even let me take them geocaching, even though all of them would rather play Pokémon Go, lol. We probably stayed up way too late, later than people normally go to bed, but I loved the laughs and funny memories we will share...and keep sharing, for years to come. I am thankful to have friends like them in my life.

Thank you to Nicole, who helped organize and come up with our fun activities, you always make parties fun and exciting. Awwww yeaahh!

Thank you to Celeste, who helped with planning the menu, cooking and making sure everything was on track, including the itinerary. It was really hard not knowing what was being planned on the secret Facebook event. I pledge allegiance, to the flag...

Thank you to Megan, who helped drive, reserved the house for all of us to share, making food and aided in the planning and execution of the girl's weekend. Oo-De-Lally!

Thank you to Fitzy, who flew out from Spokane to hang out and spend time with all of us, that was quite the journey you took. We will never forget you almost taking out the fridge while pretending to be a magnet.

Thank you to Lindsay, who wasn't able to make it, but she contributed with snacks that she dropped off prior to the weekend.

And, thank you to Erika, who agreed to be my maid of honor, even though she is 8 months pregnant. You were a trooper!"

Next Adventure:  Trish Finally Retires! 

Bachelorette Party Weekend: Seaside, Geocaching, Dinner, Bonfire and Games

I got up in the middle of the night because I had to use the restroom.  I am so so so thankful I brought my earplugs because I could hear Nicole snoring through the door.  Thank you, past Val, for packing them in your backpack!  High five!

I was woken up by the super early morning risers but managed to sleep in until about 7:30. I got ready for the day and went downstairs to hang out with Celeste and Megan who were making food.  Fitzy was out running; Erika was hanging out and Nicole was still sleeping, but not for much longer.  

The kitchen got busy with the clanking of pots and pans and packages of food being opened.  Remember that stick of butter I brought just in case?  It did come in super handy.  Celeste asked if anyone brought some spray, butter or oil and no one did.  Sometimes Airbnb's, Vrbo's and rentals have stuff like that in the cupboards, but this one didn't.  I spoke up and told I brought a stick of butter.  Celeste and Megan were relived and thanked me for bringing it or the food would have been ruined because the pots and pans were not the best quality. They prepared a full breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, toast and fruit.

Fitzy wasn't back yet, so I texted her to let her know that food was almost ready.  She said she was on her way back to the house.  We ate, carried on and thanked the girls for making us food.  It hit the spot.  We all pitched in to clean up the dining and kitchen area.  We loaded our dishes into the dishwasher and let it run.  We walked down to the corner to the coffee shop.  Everyone got a hot beverage except me; I am not really into tea or coffee.  We walked back to the house.

We all got ready to go into Seaside for the afternoon.  Erika decided to stay behind and guard the house from the couch. 

We all piled into Megan's hamster car, which was a bit snuggy (we didn't want to bring two cars), got onto Hwy 101 south down to Seaside.  It was about a 12-minute drive.  I haven't been to Seaside in quite some time, so I had forgotten how busy it was...even in during the spring.  Trying to find a parking spot was a nightmare but we eventually found one near one of the free public lots.

We spent a few hours walking around to the many shops, made a bunch of 420 jokes, we took pictures, they let me geocache and do a couple of Adventure Labs, it was super windy, but we had a lot of fun hanging out together.  I am glad I dressed for the occasion.  I found the virtual cache, The Explorers (GC9P66E) and all I had to do was take a picture of myself with the statue of Lewis and Clark.

We had way too much fun walking into the shops.  A few of us purchased things here and there.  I know Ben hates it when I bring home a new stuffed animal every time I go somewhere.  This time I bought a stuffed seagull.  Yes, it even made the seagull noise.  It was awesome.  We needed to get back to the house so before we left, we hit up the large saltwater taffy shop because, you know, it's not a beach trip without saltwater taffy.

I knew Erika wanted some and wasn't sure if she was going to be able to visit the shop when we came back for dinner, so I gave her a call and systematically grabbed a couple pieces of the kinds she wanted.  It took a while, but it was fun learning about all the fun flavors.  We paid for our taffy and wandered back to Megan's car.  It was a quick drive back to the house up Hwy 101.  Erika said it was nice to hang out and get some reading in.

We had a few hours to kill before dinner, so the rings were hidden again, and we went around the house looking for them.  I found more this time than I did the first time.  Some were hidden very well.  I'm sure we left some behind that other guest will be finding for years.  Nicole, Fitzy and Erika stayed behind while Celeste, Megan and I walked to the beach.  There was a cache I wanted to grab, Beware of Rip Currents (GC5MMJH).  I knew where it was, and I had them try to find it.  I told them it was in plain sight.  I played hot, warm and cold with them, but they eventually found it.  I wrote my name on it and put it back.  They thought it was a clever hide. 

We walked onto the beach for a brief few minutes to take in the view and the amazing fresh beach air.  Then we started back; it was super windy.  I was so glad Celeste brought a bag because we walked past several pine trees and saw there were tons of pinecones.  We needed pinecones for wedding decorations!  We all picked up the good ones and filled the bag as full as we could make it.  

We walked to the small RV store to purchase firewood for the pit.  Celeste went in and she came back out and told Megan and I that if she was about to star in a scary movie - being inside that little store was the perfect setting - she said even the guy at the register was creepy.  We grabbed our two bundles of wood and made our way back to the house.  

We got there just in time because a rain squall made its way through the area.  We hung out and we talked about wedding plans.  I went through the schedule and answered questions if anyone had any.  The bridesmaids talked about their shoes and dresses. 

As it approached our dinner reservations, we all got ready to go.  We took two cars this time because we were not going to be able to cram everyone in Meagan's car.  Erika and Fitzy rode with me and Celeste and Nicole rode with Megan.  We got onto Hwy 101 and drove south to Seaside again.  This time there were more parking spots to choose from.  We parked as close to the main drag in town as possible.  We all got out and walked the short distance to Finn's Fish House.

Celeste had secured us a reservation so we would have a table when we arrived.  We were seated right away, and our drinks were ordered.  I had water, Erika had a soda and an Italian soda, Megan had a coke, Fitzy had a beer, Celeste had a margarita and Nicole had a Russian.  They were delivered and we were all ready for food.  I got a fish and chips, Erika had chowder, fries and a salad, Megan had tuna poke, Fitzy had a beat salad with soup, Celeste had fish tacos and shared steamed clams with Nicole, and she also had a crab patty and fries.  The food was delicious, and we had some great conversations over dinner.  They paid for my food, which was generous of them, and we left.  We walked around town for a little bit and then got back into the cars and drove back to the house.

We rolled down the driveway and we all noticed an eagle eating a fish near the bank of the "pond" near the house.  We all spent probably 20 minutes watching him rip up the fish.  It was pretty cool.  

We gave the evening a few more minutes and then we piled into Megan's car again, Erika stayed behind, and rolled up to the beach so we could watch the sunset.  It was cold, the clouds were in the way but, it was an amazing moment to share with my friends. I am so thankful to have them in my life. We got a few pictures and hopped back in the car because the wind was cold!

We got back to the house and settled in for the night.  Just after it got dark, I went out and started the fire in the pit.  Celeste helped me put chairs out for everyone.  Everyone grabbed their drink, blanket and sweatshirts and we hung out by the fire pit sharing stories and hanging out. As it approached 10 p.m., we put the fire out safely and went inside.  There, we had the penis cakes Erika made, followed by penis straws, sashes and games.  Erika played one game with us, Bachelorette Party, before heading to bed for the night.  We learned a lot about each other that we already didn't know. 

Don't Laugh, was another game that was absolutely hilarious.  We had to do things in certain situations trying to get everyone else to laugh. We laughed so hard when Fitzy ran at the refrigerator pretending to be a magnet.  It was awesome and totally threw us off guard!  We cleaned up, settled down around midnight.  I showered and got to bed about 1:30. I made sure I had my ear plugs!

Next Adventure:  Bachelorette Party Weekend:  Packing Up, PDX and Home