November 30, 2013

Using up the last of the turkey for a soup with garden fresh veggies and rice.  I also made up these crispy, gluten-free, cheese wafers for dipping.  Very tasty dinner!

Fox Island, Washington

November 29, 2013

Our Thanksgiving visitors had to travel back home for their planned weekend activities.  As they were leaving Sean commented that he thinks Diana purposely forgets something only so she has an excuse to get together again.  Well, here it is.  The cranberry crockery was left behind.  I guess I'll just have to go north to Anacortes for the winter break.  The sock was courtesy of the pups....

Fox Island, Washington

November 28, 2013

This is what Thanksgiving is all about... coming together to celebrate with family and friends.  There are never too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to making this feast!  For Solene, a French foreign exchange student, this was a first.  She had never experienced cranberries, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, bread stuffing, sweet potato casserole (with marshmallows!) and.... gasp!.... mashed potatoes!   She also participated in her first (and possibly last) Turkey Trot Thanksgiving Day 5k run.  What a wonderful, blessed day!

Fox Island, Washington

November 27, 2013

We're ready for our Thanksgiving celebration.
Fox Island, Washington

November 26, 2103

Here's my spot for the evening.  I already know I'm a wimp about the cold.
Fox Island, Washington

November 25, 2013

Our friend Mack stayed with us over the weekend to have some quiet time after getting his eyes worked on.  I was driving him back to school this morning when we hit this traffic delay.  I really thought I had left behind all the silly, stupid Obama motorcade stuff when we moved away from Hawaii.  Apparently not.  Funny how I find it just as annoying here as I did in paradise....
On the up side...  I did get to have coffee with my girl.  Thanks, baby, for helping me find my Aloha again.

Seattle, Washington

November 24, 2013

It was awfully cold this morning when I walked the pups.  Everything had a thick layer of sparkling frost and the fog was rolling in.  Sunrise was bright, magnificent and full of color.  Then the clouds rolled in.

Fox Island, Washington

November 23, 2013

Look what arrived at my front door today!  Chocolate covered strawberries, apples and bananas -- my favorite!  Thanks Brian and Jeanene.  Mack can stay with is anytime.

Fox Island, Washington

November 22, 2013

This was a big deal in Seattle last month.  For years and years the big red 'R' sat atop this building,  but during renovations it was removed.  Apparently the owner thought it wouldn't be missed.  Wrong.  People in the community relentlessly hounded them about the historic, iconic symbol until it was restored to it's rightful place.  

Seattle, Washington

November 21, 2013

That's frost.  Yep, frost.  My darkness run was in 29° crisp air.  A quick, early morning run turned into so much more than I expected.  This will be my last darkness run.  I don't like the dark and I don't like the cold.  

Fox Island, Washington 

November 20, 2013

Yesterday was the pups birthday.  They're 2 years old.... or 14 years old in dog years!  They each received one of these caterpillar dog toys with 10 separate squeakers.  Levi likes to keep his close by to snuggle with while Remi has spent the past 2 days clawing away at his, determined to remove each and every noise maker he can sniff out.  We decided to forgo the dog birthday cake this year because they just happened to get ahold of the last 2 sandwich rolls while I was walking Sam to the bus stop in the morning.  That's enough of a special treat for them.  Happy Birthday boys!

Fox Island, Washington

November 19, 2013

For daylight savings my running group is holding a fun challenge.  Of course we must run or walk a certain number of times each month, attend a regular group run session and take part in a few organized runs.  There are also points awarded for conditions such as rain, wind, puddles, snow, darkness, falls, blood, animal sightings and a couple of other things.  On top of that, each week a bonus challenge is thrown at us.  This week it's "Every 10 minutes or mile mark, stop and either do 12-20 push-ups or 60 seconds of plank."  Ruth and I decided to run 6 miles at Pt. Defiance Park for this on so we would have various  paved spots for or strength challenge.  This was my last set.  At this point, I could barely do 12 push-ups, but I was so thankful for each 'break' because they hills were killing my quads!

Tacoma, Washington   

November 18, 2013

Rain, rain, rain.  The weather fluctuated from drizzle to downpour and back again.  Everything seems to be covered in the wet stuff.  It was a great day for soup.  And racking up some points for my running group challenge -- I now look forward to running in cold, dark, rainy conditions!

Gig Harbor, Washington

November 17, 2013

Wanting something sweet in my house means baking from scratch.  Once again, Sam was directed to the pantry to put together a dessert.  He came up with these 'cute as a button' chocolate shortbread cookies.  It was the perfect day for running the oven because it was cold and rainy outside.  These are great with hot tea or cocoa.

Fox Island, Washington

November 16, 2013

We were up and moving early today.  Zach was fortunate enough to get an interview and lab tour with a UW professor to complete an assignment for his High School Anatomy and Physiology class.  He was almost giddy just getting to talk to someone who shares his interests in Bio-mechanical engineering and it's future uses in the medical field.  Nate, Sam and I walked the campus to keep warm and pass the time.  We also made plans to meet up with Jordan and her sorority sister for an early dinner.  Here they are outside of Red Robin trying not to freeze.  Thanks for being so patient with me!

Seattle, Washington

November 15, 2013

Gig Harbor high school had a blood drive today. Being that our entire family consists of universal donors, Zach was very excited to be able to participate. Unfortunately, Zach also inherited the low blood pressure gene from his mom. To complicate matters even more he presented with a low grade fever. Even though he was unable to donate today, they gave him this t-shirt for his efforts.

Gig Harbor, Washington

November 14, 2013

Absolutely gorgeous sunset this evening. It's just sad I was taking it all in at 4:20pm when I was picking up Sam from school.

Gig Harbor, Washington

November 13, 2013

We had some sun today!  Here's a shot from the end of our little island looking down the gig toward the Narrows Bridge.
Fox Island, Washington

November 12, 2013

When we lived in Belgium these glass jars and vases were popular finds at the nearby TROCs.  They were used mostly in Italy for local home wines and olive storage.  Despite my many searches at the second hand stores both in Belgium and France, I never found any of these treasures at a reasonable price.  I had so many other wonderful finds and memories of our time living in Europe to outweigh this loss.  

I have recently become friends with another Navy transplant, Ruth, who has kids the same ages as mine, loves to run and understands the military lifestyle.  They have also done a couple of tours overseas.... in Italy, of all places.  Fortunately for me Ruth couldn't pass by when she saw these beautiful glass vessels had been hauled out to the curb for trash pick up.  Apparently, her collection is vast. She gave me these three in exchange for the gallon of fresh pressed apple cider.   I LOVE THEM!!!!

Gig Harbor, Washington

November 11, 2013

Boy Scout Troop 282 from Gig Harbor conducted the annual Veteran's Day Ceremony at Skansie waterfront park today.  In previous years, the weather has ranged from sideways rain to light drizzle and always frigid cold.  We were due for a sunny one and that's exactly what we received.  Every Scout from our troop had a part in honoring our veterans today.  Zach was in the honor guard, firing the 21 gun salute, Sam spoke on the history of the United States flags and Nate participated in the flag disposal service.  Since we only have a bugler (who did perform taps), a young firefighter volunteered to play the bagpipes for us.  Thank you veterans.

Gig Harbor, Washington

November 10, 2013

So... I had no intention of posting about food (again) today except....  the other evening my boy went to great lengths to prepare a nice pasta dinner for me.  They obviously had ulterior  motives.  The dinner request for this evening was spaghetti stuffed calzones.  Interesting idea.  Unusual but it was a hit, of course.  How can it not be.  The big guys filled up on the new dish while Sam had his regular open faced calzone and Jordan and I shared a cauliflower crust veggie pie.  

Fox Island, Washington

November 9, 2013

Dave returned this morning from another quick trip to Japan.  For each trip he takes Dave tries to bring something back from the area for us.  Needless to say, the kids and I get to enjoy plenty of goodiesfrom around the world!  The boys have taken a liking to the unusual and sometimes bizarre flavored Kit Kat candy bars available in Japan and specifically ask for them now.  Here's what Dave found for this last jaunt - Wasabi, Strawberry Cheesecake, Chili Pepper and Rum Raisin.  I really thought the Wasabi would pack more of a punch, but kind of disappointing in that department. Not a bad taste though.  Surprisingly, my favorite is the Chili Pepper one!  It has a mild afterburner kick and is dark chocolate.  Yum!

Fox Island, Washington

November 8, 2013

Dinner prepped by the boys.  Gotta love it when a man can cook!
Fox Island, Washington

November 7, 2013

Nate had his last High School water polo match for the season against Auburn Riverside. It was an unusual situation in which the Varsity played the first half of the match and the JV played the second half.  The parents made the call that the Varsity had a tough match and lost, but JV is classified as a win.  Long story and I'm not up to explaining.  Regardless, it was great to see both teams play a clean match. 

Auburn, Washington

November 6, 2013

My first batch of hard cider ready for consumption after settling in the bottles for two weeks.  It looks just like the stuff we'd buy in the store!
Fox Island, Washington

November 5, 2013

Extremely high tides today.  I've never seen our gangway from the walkway to the floating dock this horizontal before. Red sky at night.... hopefully it means I won't get rained on for my run tomorrow.

Fox Island, Washington 

November 4, 2013

It was a balmy 38°F this morning for my run.  That was at 9:00am.  If I hadn't set that appointment time I think I would have stayed in the house and been a slug all day.  Not very inspiring for those I work with.  But... I did get out in the cold weather and now I've decided it's time to start making all those warm soups I love.  Zuppa di pasta e ceci is a hearty warmer that is perfect for a Meatless Monday meal.  A couple of the boys though it needed a little something extra so they added sausage meatballs to theirs.  Kind of defeats the purpose.

Fox Island, Washington

November 3, 2013

This weekend we had the honor and privilege of having the Anacortes French foreign exchange student visit our home.  Mademoiselle Solene is living with our friends Sean and Diana while attending school at Anacortes High School for her senior year.  It was an absolute joy meeting her and getting to spend some time with her.  It was also a nice treat to get a great trail run in this morning with Diana.  Thank you Solene for helping us with our French.  We now have a(nother) reason to go back to France..... we haven't visited Aix-en Provence yet!

Fox Island, Washington

November 2, 2013

November is here and we're beginning to see frost on the ground in the mornings so I decided it was time to bring in any remaining vegetables from the garden.  This little pumpkin will make the perfect pumpkin pecan pie for our Thanksgiving celebration!  I also realized I'm going to need to get the soiled turned before the ground freezes into a solid rock.  Add another task to my to-do list for the week.

Fox Island, Washington

November 1, 2013

We welcomed November with cloudy skies.  At least the clouds were beautiful and the sun was breaking through!

Gig Harbor, Washington