Trish's Birthday, Cougar Football and Work at the Rental House

Friday, November 22nd

Ben and I wanted to celebrate Trish around her birthday.  She does a lot, and we wanted to do something nice for her even if it was just a dinner out as a family.  That is the only thing she would agree to.  Ben and I both finished up work however, he got off work late trying to figure out his insurance stuff.  I got my overnight bag packed up and finished icing the cake we promised Trish, we would make her.

I folded some laundry and did the dishes as I continued to wait for Ben to get home from work so we could go.  He finally got home, he packed up his duffle and we loaded his car, since it was his turn to drive, with Thanksgiving stuff and our overnight bags and hit the road.  We left around 6 and headed to I-5. We weren't sure how traffic was going to be in the rain. It wasn't that bad but there were some people making bad decisions.

We got to Bonney Lake a little over an hour and made our way to Mazatlán.  Trish wanted Mexican food for her birthday dinner. Trish, Ed and Amy already had a table, and we walked over and joined them.  Amy had already polished off an entire basket of chips to herself.  We ordered drinks and food when our waiter came back.

I had a blended strawberry margarita and a chicken chimichanga.

We hung out, ate and chatted about the latest and greatest going on in our lives. I shared more about my DJA and the kinds of things I was learning and getting better at each week. Ben shared his work endeavors, Trish still was trying to adapt to retired life, Ed was doing Ed stuff and Amy was still comfortable with her routine but needed a change of pace.  We paid for our food and decided to head back to the house afterwards.  Ben and I had to go to Safeway for a few things first.  We didn't have time earlier that week to pick up some Captain Morgan for her birthday gift.

We met them at the house and had a mini birthday party.  She opened gifts and cards and had some of her cake we made her.  She is a German chocolate and coconut pecan frosting.  It is not my cup of tea, but it makes her happy.

We played a card game called Superheroes and a round of Ticket to Ride.  Ben always focuses on getting the longest train every time we play.  

Trish had a little bit too much rum and tea and ended up bringing out her old yearbooks.  We looked at them for about an hour while she told us stories about her friends and former classmates.  We all went to bed super late.

Saturday, November 23rd

The bed downstairs is uncomfortable, but we made it work. I got up around 9:30, got in a quick shower, got dressed and convinced Trish to go to Costco with me. I needed to get potatoes since Trish was going to host Thanksgiving this year for the family.  We got into Ben's Edge and drove the short distance to Costco.  It literally is like a five-minute drive from their house.  

Costco is always packed no matter what time of the day it is.  We found a parking spot and went inside.  Trish said she hasn't been inside of a Costco in a while. We grabbed a huge sack of potatoes, got in line and headed back to the house. Ben and Amy were still in bed.

Trish and I started the pancakes, turkey bacon and scrambled eggs. I worked on the scrambled eggs with my spatula while Trish used her griddle to make gluten free and normal pancakes. Amy emerged from her bedroom. I went downstairs several times to attempt to get Ben out of bed.  I told him he better come up soon or Amy would eat all the food. He grumbled and got out of bed and dressed. He went upstairs just as the food was being served. 

Breakfast was delicious as always.  We chatted about the random things that have been going on in our lives. I asked Trish and Amy what they were doing the rest of the weekend.  They said they were going to chill and watch some football and maybe get a few chores done. We helped Trish clean off the table and Amy did the dishes.

We stayed for a little bit longer and hung out.  When it was time to pack up everything, I went downstairs and changed out the bed linen and made sure we had all of our stuff. We brought it upstairs and shoved it into the Edge. We said our goodbyes and in less than a week we would be over again for Thanksgiving. I was actually excited when Trish offered to do Thanksgiving this year.  We gave out hugs and were on the road by 2:30. I was meeting up with our neighbor Rhonda to go to a Cougar watch party at River's Edge in Tumwater. 

Traffic wasn't that bad on the way home and we made pretty good time. I had about a half hour to change into some Cougar gear and meet Rhonda at her house across the street. She had her car running and she was still inside the house.  I opened the passenger door and took a seat.  I texted her that I was in the car waiting for her.  She said she'd be right out in a jiffy. 

She brought out with her two gifts and her purse. She got into the car and said that they were asking for gifts to donate at the watch party, and she had two with her.  She said she had one for me as well.  I thanked her for thinking of me.  We drove into Tumwater talking about how we thought the season was going thus far.

We found a place to park and went inside.  We donated the toys in the box and tried finding a table to sit at.  There was one by the window occupied by a middle-aged guy.  He seemed friendly enough.  He invited us both over to sit with him.  He introduced himself as Keith. He went on to tell us about himself. He is a WSU grad from the 1990's and that he is a part owner of the Top Rung Brewery in Lacey. We also found out that he shares mutual friends with Rhonda. He talked our ears off and was smitten with Rhonda.

This was our first year as the Pac-2 Conference, us and Oregon State, because the rest of the Pac-12 abandoned the conference due to greed and believing the grass is greener on the other side.

Just before halftime we ordered some food.  I had a beer and one of their sandwiches. Keith offered to buy us our food, so we let him. We also took a group photo in front of the fireplace.  There almost wasn't enough room for everyone but we got one.

The game was promising at the beginning. We both assumed this was an easy win because it should have been with the way we've been playing so far this season and our lineup of teams.  I know, being an athlete, you can't assume you have any game because you can lose to the weakest team in your conference if you let your guard down. Our team did let its guard down and we lost in the 4th quarter 38-35 to New Mexico State.  Ughh.

We thanked Keith for dinner and letting us sit with him and we left around 8.  Once we got in Rhonda's car, she told me that he slipped her his number.  She said she may or may not call text him, time will tell. We got back to her house, and I thanked her for driving us to Tumwater.  I told her I had fun even though we lost. We said we will have to do it again soon.  I agreed.  I walked across the street and got comfortable at home.

Sunday, November 24th

The next morning, Ben and I got up, made some breakfast and got ready to go to the rental house in Rainier. We still had a ton of stuff to do, and I had no idea how long the roof and ceiling were going to take.

We spent most of the early afternoon finishing up the trench that stretched across the yard from the house to the shop.  The previous renter decided to dig in the yard and severed the powerline.  Then he didn't tell my Dad what he did. It was irritating that we had to do all of this extra work because the renter didn't want my Dad, who owned the property and the house, to come and fix things because he thought his privacy was more important. 

Ben and I were able to finish the trench, place the wire and partially bury it before the rain started to come down. We made plans to come back over the next Saturday to start the wallpaper in the kitchen with Mom. On the way home, we stopped by Arco for some gas and the store to pick up stuff for mini pizzas and more cat food for Wade and Oliver.

We made dinner, did a load of laundry, watched football and got ready for the short work week.

Next Adventure: Thanksgiving Weekend

Val's Birthday Week

It's wild to think that I was going to be 41 this year.  Time does fly by faster than you anticipate.  You get busy living, working and having fun and forget how quickly days, months and years pass by. As a kid, you think the adults around you are kidding when they say, make the most of your time while you have it and you're young because it does go by quickly.  Not that I've had a mid-life crisis, but I do understand how they surface in individuals.  I'm in that weird demographic where I'm still young, but in some instances, I am considered old.

I've thought about this more after my developmental job assignment opportunity, returning to work on Thursdays and being around people I haven't been around in four years or more. We've been so isolated working from home.  I'm torn though.  I enjoy working from home, but I do enjoy being around people occasionally.  

This would be the first time in probably five or more years that I had to work on my birthday because it was in the middle of the week.  It's hard to take off a Wednesday and have that consecutive three or four-day weekend you want.  I was alright with it because I wanted to be a good asset to the new opportunity I was given.

Friday, November 8th

I took Friday off to have that four-day weekend since Veteran's Day was on Monday.  It was so nice to sleep in and not be in a rush to do anything.  I got ready, went for a walk around the park and then finished getting ready for my hair appointment with Celeste on the westside.  I desperately needed a haircut since the last time was the previous spring.  

It was a nice visit with Celeste.  We talked about the usual things, reminisced about the weddings, told her about my DJA and the stuff in between.  It's always a nice chat with Celeste and she does a great job on my hair every time I go to the salon. I paid, thanked her and did some errands while I was in town.

I drove over to Trader Joe's to pick up some gluten free items for Ben.  They had the breads, cookies and candies that were reasonably priced for gluten free items.  I was in and out quickly because the place was super busy.  I got on the freeway and decided to go see Erika and Brian for a little bit, but I needed a snack.  I stopped by the Albertson's for some Cheez-It's and a pop for Erika.  I got to the house, and we hung out for about an hour.

Since I was out, I decided to do some shopping at Winco.  I got gas and went home.  

Saturday, November 9th 

We were invited to Heather's father's funeral.  He had passed away a few weeks ago with a long battle with Parkinson's.

This is what I wrote about that day:

This afternoon, we had the honor to celebrate the life of Michael Iselin, at a lovely venue outside of Tenino.

Ben and I left a little later than we wanted to but made it to the venue just in time.  There were a lot of cars and trucks in the parking lot, and it drizzled as we approached the barn doors.

We entered the hallway and Michael's family members lined each side welcoming everyone to the event with handshakes, hugs and smiles.  It felt homey.  Heather told us that we were going to sit at a family table and to go find Josh, so that's what we did. 

We sat down and introduced ourselves to the family members we didn't know.  Everyone got settled in, some small talk was had and within a few minutes, Heather and her siblings went up to the front with the microphone.

Heather thanked everyone for coming, said a couple of things about her dad, the order of events for the day and wasn't sure what else to say because she really didn't prepare a speech. She just decided to wing it.  She came back to the table and asked if it was okay, we told her she said all the right things and it went well.

Table by table, we all got up and filled our plates with Costco sandwiches, entrees, veggies, fruit, dips and chips.  It was a nice spread.  There was also an array of drinks, water, coffee, and many different types of sodas. For dessert, there were cupcakes and Michael's favorite candy - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Roca and three different kinds of Mountain Bars. He wasn't supposed to have chocolate, but he snuck it in anyway.

While we ate, we watched a 20-minute slideshow on Michal and his family throughout the years.  You could see the love in each and every photo and the way his eyes lit up every time he held his newborn child or grandchild. It was amazing to watch the photos progress year after year and all the good times he and his family had together. Heather has shared some of these memories with Ben and I over the years.

After the slideshow, we listened to whoever was brave enough to stand up in front of everyone and share their stories about Michael. Some of them were very touching and emotional and some were hilarious.

I, personally, didn't know Michael that well, but both Ben and I did go camping with him and his family last summer. We spent three days and two nights with them.  I remember how much he loved his sweets. I brought banana bread with us and gave him a small piece before dinner time. He wanted more.  Theresa told him no more until he has eaten dinner that night. He looked disappointed, but Thresa was right.  He did end up having more pieces of it as the weekend went on.

I was able to connect with Trina and Mark.  I haven't seen her in person since Covid.  We caught up and shared stories. It was a nice visit.  She has known the Iselin's for many years.

We thanked Heather and her family for inviting us to Michael's memorial and we were happy to come support her in any way we could. Heather, you had an amazing dad, and I am happy you have many memorable moments with him throughout your life. Hold onto those and cherish them!

Sunday, November 10th

That morning, I got up and went for a walk around the park in the freshly fallen leaves before breakfast.  I was happy it didn't rain on me.

That afternoon, Ben and I went over to the rental to get a couple of things accomplished. We worked on getting the cabinets over the stove area down.  It took a while, but with some finesse, we finally got them down.  I got another section of the wallpaper trim off in the dining room area and clean up the mess I made.

Mom and I did some math and figured out how much wallpaper to purchase for the kitchen and we measured out how big of an area we had to purchase backsplash for behind the sink. 

Ben worked on the trench some more and I picked up limbs in the yard and put it in a pile so Dad and Doug could haul it away on Wednesday. It was a lot of work picking up the branches, but I am glad I got it done before it rained and got dark.  I was not a fan of the upcoming dark, dank days of a pacific northwest fall and winter. 

Monday, November 11th

We had the day off so all of us went over to Grammie and Grandpa's house to start getting rid of stuff that wasn't worth anything.  We got there around 11a.m. and Dad had jobs for everyone.  We went through a lot of the boxes in the living room.  Most of it was Goodwill and stuff you would toss.  We packaged it all up and divvied it out into a Goodwill pile and a throw away pile.  I still can't believe how much random stuff they had tucked away.

Going through loved one's personal items is never an easy task.  A lot of the things we went through that afternoon reminded us of our grandparents and the memories we share with them inside that house.  I know it's just stuff they can't take with them, but it still reminds you of people you miss seeing and talking to every day. 

We packed up a load of it into the trailer.  The house looked weird with the stuff missing, but I knew it was something we had to do.  We all went to the Goodwill to help Dad unload the trailer.  It really did suck giving away my grandparent's stuff, but they didn't need it, we didn't need it but maybe someone else needs it?

We all went to Mr. Doug's for a hamburger.  That was Dad's way of thanking us for helping him. We drove back to Grammie and Grandpa's house, did a few things and then went home.  I got home around 5.

Tuesday, November 12th

Due to being off the day before because of the Veteran's Day holiday, we did find out that morning the Comagine did work. It was my least favorite day, a double Tuesday.  I knew it was going to be all day long too because of the waiting for stuff to come over.  So, while I waited, I did my DJA stuff throughout the day, so I had something to do.  

With this new opportunity that came my way back in August and started in October, I was thoroughly enjoying learning the new information in another business area and honestly, I was slowly checking out of my UR job.  It just wasn't something I wanted to continue on doing, especially, if my supervisor was going to continue taking my work away and not replacing it with anything else. I started seriously thinking about what it would be like to work in a different place.

I did not get done with my UR work until about 3:20. That pushed into my DJA time, and I was only able to get 40 minutes of DJA work in before I left for the day.  I went for a walk around the park and thought I could make it to and from without it raining.  Luckily, I had the umbrella and was wearing my rain jacket and new waterproof hiking boots. 

Wednesday, November 13th

I can't believe I am 41.  This age seemed like it would take forever to get here and now that it's here, what happened? It's like, did I let my guard down or is life is really moving faster than I think it is?  I can tell you one thing; life is extremely unpredictable and throws you some pretty hefty curveballs. 

A year ago, life was different.  I had just turned 40 and Ben and I were eight months away from getting married.  Erika was also 3 months pregnant with a potential niece or nephew.  Our lives were changing slowly every day and so were everyone else's around us.  We were a few years removed from Covid, and I was still working from home.  I had a different mindset than I did then too.  I was comfortable with being mediocre even though I knew I should be doing something better with my time. I had no idea my life was going to change a little less than a year later.  It is amazing what time does to people and the potential possibilities it gives.

Anyway, this was the first time, in a while, that I've had to go to work on my actual birthday.  The last 6-7 years or so, it's fallen on a weekend, near a holiday or near a weekend.  This year it was on a Wednesday - that's a hard day to take off.  Well, a hard day to take off to make it worthwhile. So, this year I got up and went to work.  

I did my UR work in the morning, went to lunch and then did my DJA work in the afternoon.  Liz and Sandra wished me a happy birthday on TEAMS, which was a great surprise, and Liz spent about an hour teaching me how to do the preparing for collections spreadsheet. She explained that it was a piece that customer service usually does but because they are short staffed our team does it currently.  She said it may change somewhere down the road, but they wanted it to get caught up, so it was weekly instead of several months behind. I told her I would do my best with the time I was allotted to get as much of it done as possible.  I truly believed I could get this stuff back on track.

Ben came home and we got ready and drove out to the westside for some Buffalo Wild Wings!  This was our first date night to BWW since we got married. We got our usual and used some of our gift cards to pay for our meal.  It was fun to go out and eat dinner for my birthday.  

We hit up Costco and Walmart on the way home and got home around 7:30.

I know I've said this before, and I will say it again; it's just not a complete birthday without my annual birthday song from Grammie. 

Thursday, November 14th

I was in the office.  I started going into the office when I started my DJA.  This week had been odd because of the holiday on Monday and the double Tuesday with my UR work. The days in the office seemed to go by really slow, especially in the mornings while doing UR work.

I was out the door and made it to the office at a decent time do to "past Val" for getting everything ready the night before.  I got all of my stuff set up and started in on my work list.  We didn't get the DE's right away and that bummed me out, but I was able to work on my other stuff.  I took a quick walk around the campus loop and then stopped by Jamie's desk and chatted for a little bit.

I did a couple more hours of work, we got our work list done before 11:30 and finished the first version of my DJA spreadsheet.  Liz added more to it.  I am determined to get them caught up so we can move onto the next part.  We met up with Jamie for lunch in the cafeteria.  The conversations are always hilarious.

That afternoon, I sent out a bunch of citation emails and now that I had done it a few times I felt like I was getting quicker at it.  I was able to finish them before it was time to go and even got to work on the spreadsheet for a half hour or so.  I logged off, gathered all of my stuff and went to the YMCA to work on my basketball skills for the upcoming RHS Alumni game.  I needed to work on my shots and dribbling skills because it's been a while. 

Friday, November 15th

I was so glad it was Friday.  I got all of my morning work done and had a little bit of extra time to start my DJA afternoon work.  I was able to get my collections list done before the end of the day. Ben and I had finally hammered down dates for our honeymoon.  We were going to do it the last two weeks of February and started planning what we were going to do.  I thought I would be considerate and let my supervisor know three months in advance. It did not turn out the way I imagined it going. She basically said that it was great that I had a plan and next time give her and the team a heads up.  Then she continued with, that we are a group of people with various time off needs, but it was obviously great that I had a plan. I sat there going, what?  Next time give her a heads up?  Were three months not enough of a heads up?  She's never had an issue about me taking time off ever.  This was the first time she was rude to me about it.

I was so frustrated and angry that I called Debbie for a few minutes to vent. Debbie didn't understand either. Then I called Liz to get a supervisor perspective on it.  She said she would love to have that much of a heads up if one of her teammates was going to take an extended leave. She didn't understand why my supervisor was being like that.  It sure ruined the rest of the day and set the tone for the weekend.  

I logged off of work, went for a walk to clear my head.  I did get some joy out of the afternoon with my annual front yard mushroom Smurf photo shoot. 

Saturday, November 16th

Ben and I went over to the rental house in the early afternoon with at least one goal in mind, finally getting all the trim in the dining room off the top of the walls.  It took about two hours, but we were successful. We can prepare it for painting, and I bought some wallpaper for the kitchen on the internet.  Once it comes in the mail, we can figure out a day to start doing that.  Ben was able to work on the trench a little bit and hopefully soon we can have power back in the shop.

Later that evening, I met up with Julie to watch the Cougar game at River's Edge.  

Her friend Alaina joined us after work.  We had some great and hilarious conversations while we watched the game.  It was awesome to finally meet up with her after all the time that has passed. The Cougars didn't win but we still had a fun time.  I am hoping this is something we can do every year.

Sunday, November 17th

I planned out my own 41st birthday party with my family.  Erika and Zac were willing to host because it was easier to do it at their house than have to bring Brian and all of his stuff to someone else's house.  We decided to eat white people tacos and have gluten free Funfetti cake.  I provided the hamburger, taco seasoning and the tortillas, Erika cooked the food and had cheese, sour cream and cilantro, Doug and Sonya brought chips and Trish, Amy and Ed brought tomatoes and lettuce. Mom and Dad didn't come because they were sick. Grandma drove herself into town.  We made sure it was in the middle of the day so she could get home before it got dark.

The food was good, and the cake was alright for gluten free cake. I got a couple of cool gifts - a book from Grandma, a curling iron from Doug and Sonya, a panini maker from Trish and Erika got me some penguin D&D dice for our campaign with Nicole and Del. 

I helped Erika clean up, thanked everyone and Ben and I drove out to Rainier to hang out with Megan and the kids.  

Hung out with Megan and her kids for dinner and game night.  She made us a yummy dinner and then we played a Superhero card game and then beard ball.  

There was a lot of giggling. We thanked Megan for a great time and headed home because we needed to get ready for the upcoming work week.

Next Adventure: Trish's Birthday, Cougar Football and Work at the Rental House