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BLOG DESCRIPTION:
   Shi Blogs Too: from out of the mountains where I live. I will now be keeping a journal. This is something new for me. I have no idea what I am doing, just that I am diving in. This should be an interesting journey for me. Mainly because I consider myself to be a semi-private person. I live with my fiance and our two kitties, in what I have come to recognize as a small community in a somewhat remote area. Retirement has it's own life style and livelihood. Far away from the norm.       ![Merit Badge in Blog Camping
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Sorry for outbidding you in the [Link To Item #2113623] ...I'm not a fan of bidding wars and feel bad about it. I know this isn't the same thing as the package itself, but it's the least I could do. *^*Smile*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Blog_Camping-1788309_13.gif) If you want to find out more about me...read my Author Bio ~
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I'm feeling better today. My spirits are up, and I'm leaving in the morning to go visit my kids. I'm looking forward to having a good visit with them all.I'll be staying with my daughter for a few days. We plan to have a nice dinner at her house tomorrow and my sons will be attending also. I'm not sure of how many of the grandkids will be there, but it will be great to see the ones that will. I've been really busy on the site here. Auctions have been closing and I have been fullfilling my donations. It's always time consuming, but really a fun thing to do. Entries for my monthly contest have started coming in. It's great to have an entry from COUNTRYMOM-JUST REMEMBER ME  for the first time! She is a dedicated lady here and fabulous poet. Her poems are awesome.Got to get off of here now and rest my computer eyeballs.   |
| My two youngest sons - Patrick and Matthew(Pat and Matt) are moving into a bigger place this weekend. It is a large duplex they have told me. The bedrooms are bigger and the living room is very large, so they tell me. I am glad that they will be moving from the small apartment where they are now into this much roomier place. I am sure that they and their children will enjoy it more. I will get to see it when I go down to stay a couple of days with my daughter. I'll be taking the train out of Mount Vernon on Monday for that visit. I'm looking forward to getting away for a few days. I really need something like this right now to lift my spirits up. It brings to mind that Beatles song "Help Me. " The words keep going through my head..."Help me cause I'm down and feeling sad...won't you please, please help meee!" There's nothing that can do that better than those great big hugs from my kids and grandkids. |
| Happy Valentines Day to everyone! Here's a little poem that I wrote a while back for The Valentine's Day Contest. I hope that you enjoy it.
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| Well, today is Friday the 13th, and I am not even superstitious, so don't ask me why I even mentioned it! Somehow it just popped into my head as the title for this entry. Maybe, that's because my life has become rather boring as of late and I have nothing new to say here...  I realize that that is not even funny...so why am I laughing? Who knows perhaps something interesting could happen to me today. But, I wouldn't wager on it that's for sure. This mountain life has really gotten to me these past several months. First it was cabin fever from being snowed in for weeks on end, and now I think it is just plain boredom. Co-existing with a partner who is pretty much a loner does not present a social life to one like myself who used to thrive on it's healthy attributes to my well being. There I got that off my chest. Now, do I feel better? Not really, I can't seem to shake this overpowering feeling of isolation living in this beautiful, but remote mountain community. I find myself looking forward to more visits away from home than in previous years. I am more than ready to hop the train again and visit my daughter next week for a few days as we planned. Her hubby will be gone out of state then to teach some classes through the Naval Shipyard where he is a Journeyman Shipfitter in Bremerton. She is looking forward to having me there overnight with just her and the kids while he is gone. I am sure the visit will do wonders for cheering me up also.  |
| I had a wonderful time visiting my with my kids and grandkids in Port Orchard. The weather was sunny and fairly warm for February. I was able to see all of my kids and several of the grandkids too! My son Matt brought home four big pizza's for us the first night I was there. I couldn't get over how much the kids had grown since I saw them last in November. It just amazes me that they can actually grow that much in only a matter of months. My oldest grandchild Tyler turned eighteen on January 5 th. He is 5' 11'' now! I think he grew about a half an inch since I saw him last! Patrick wanted to come home with me for a visit this time. he had never been to our home here in Concrete yet. So I went online and bought two Amtrack tickets for us for Thursday evening. We took the train from the Edmonds ferry up to Mount Vernon and there Ron picked us up. It was much easier for him to drive to Mount Vernon rather than all the way down to Edmonds. We didn't get to see much countryside because it was so dark by then. Pat stayed with us until Saturday morning, then he took the train back down. The Amtrack Station is across the parking lot from the ferry terminal, so that just worked out great! Looks like I will be taking the train from now on. All day Friday it was foggy here and we could not see the mountains. Then when we got up early Saturday morning, there was Sauk Mountain in all her glory. As we made the turn onto Concrete Sauk Valley Rd. he got to see beautiful Mt. Baker too. That really made his visit even better for him. |
| I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go see my kids down in Port Orchard. I will be leaving the house around 9:00 a.m. to catch the 11:30 ferry out of Edmonds. I should arrive in Kingston at noon, then another 40 minute drive to Patrick's apptm. I can hardly wait to see them all again . We did not get together for Christmas because everyone was snowed in for weeks! Atleast I was abe to ship their gifts by UPS for them before Christmas. I left my camera over at Moses Lake at Ron's sister Pat's ~Windsong~  's house two weeks ago though, so I won't be taking any pictures this trip.I'll be gone for a few days, but I'll be able to get online. My son bought a new computer! So I hope I can get near it...lol. Ron's sis Pat and I are Army Angel Buddies. We entered the contest here -
We had to write a story together. She wrote one segment, then I wrote the next, and so on until we both had three segments then we combined and entered our story! It was a blast! You might want to check it out in there. |
| This morning we were awakened at about 5:30 AM. by the bed shaking. At first I thought that Ron was shaking the bed from dreaming...and that he was going to roll off of it! Then I realized that we were having an earthquake! He thought at first that one of our cats had jumped on the bed! It did not make any noise...but moved one side of the mirror on my dresser. It lasted less than 30 seconds, but it was enough to wake us and keep us from going back to sleep that's for sure! It registered a 4.5 and centered West of Seattle in Kingston. We are hearing that it was felt as far away as Victoria, B.C.(Canada) I called my daughter because she lives in Port Orchard and it is only a 40 minute drive to Kingston from her place. She said that they did not feel it , but that something woke them all up and her dogs were barking. My sons (in Port Orchard)said they slept right through it and didn't even know about it. That doesn't surprise meIt was the strongest earthquake that I had felt since the one in 2001. That one was a 6.8 and split my home in half! Needless to say... I don't like earthquakes. This one however, did not scare me. |
| While I was taking a nap today my phone rang and it was my son Patrick. He had some good news to tell me. He said that he had heard from the Department of Social Security and that they told him he was approved for his disability. This is great news! I have been praying so hard for this for him. He sounded so happy and relieved to get such good news. They will be giving him a monthly benefit that will include his children also. He knows the amount he will receive each month but he hasn't heard yet how much is retroactive. I know now, that this will make his life so much easier with less stress, as to him ever losing a job again because of his severe asthma and struggling to make ends meet. Especially with the economy as bad as it is. So far he has managed to keep his asthma in control since his horrible attack in November. His spirits are up and he continues to think positive. His whole outlook on life is so much better now than before that attack that landed him near death's door. I continue to pray for him and his children. God is good. |
Boy, have I ever outdone myself with reviewing here. Yesterday I did two port raids for The Angel Army. Ten for my Newbie Oldwarrior  and ten for the Author of the Month in The Angel Army - skymac . As if that weren't enough, today I raided ~Windsong~ and ended up doing six for her and gave her three awards on top of it!Gosh, I can't believe I did all that reviewing in just two days. I have to admit it was fun! Plus, all the rewarding GPs in return made it very rewarding not just for the reviewee's but for me also! I just may be doing more of those port raids in the future. |
| Well, we were finally able to make it out of our driveway and over the mountain pass...lol. We left home at 9:00 am.Tuesday morning. Drove over Stevens Pass and into Eastern Washington, stopped in Leavenworth for lunch (yummy burgers and homemade fries) then wound our way down past the Wenachee River and on down past Wenachee heading for Moses Lake and Ron's sister Patricia's house. She's ~Windsong~ . It was seven hours later when we arrived knocking on her door. She's written a lovely entry in her blog here -
Saves me from typing... my poor fingertips are aching tonight...and that blog reminder popped up again in my email.  |
| We went to visit Angella and the girls last week. The twins have grown so much and that baby girl has gotten much bigger. She is, however, tiny for her age - 8 months. She was about a month premature so that's to be expected. What fun the twins are to be around now. They sit on the couch with us and carry on conversations now. They love to tell Grandpa little 'secrets'. Things like "My Mom hates Adam." Adam is their cousin and several years older than they are! Grandpa has a good laugh with them. At first Annalyn cried when I looked at her. She didn't know who I was. Yet, she could never keep her eyes off of me and would strain her neck to turn to see where I was at all times. She did warm up to me and let me hold her and give her her bottle. What a little cutie she is. Grandpa took some pictures of course. He did not get any of Angella this time though. Before it was time to end our visit; four year old Madisen said to her Grandpa "You didn't take a picture of my Mom!" Here are some that he did take. ** Image ID #1516728 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1516726 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1516723 Unavailable ** |
| Today my 'Sis' Patricia became a Rising Star. She is ~Windsong~ . Of course I am her proud Sponsor . She so deserves this honor. If you haven't been to her port already you may want to drop in and check her out. She has a port filling up fast with her wonderful writings! She has even been featured in a few newsletters here for her poems. CONGRATULATIONS SIS! I love you. |
| This entry is for those of you who love cNote Shops. Over the course of a few months now I have been asked by some to create cNotes Shops for them. They have been paying me well in GPs for the shops. All have been very grateful and pleased with the cNotes that I have made for them. I made one shop and gifted it to Ron's sister who is ~Windsong~ . She loves the shop! You can find it here -
Because of my success at pleasing the shop owners, I decided to make it a public service, and opened up a Speciality Shop where I can be commissioned to make cNote Shops! You can find it here -
You may want to check it out. |
| Some of you have probably heard about our bad weather here in Washington State. There has been so much flooding of rivers in the western half of the state. All of it is due to the heavy snowfalls, and then the many rainstorms coming in to drench us from the warm Pineapple Express systems in the Pacific Ocean. Many of the rivers reached record flood levels and caused some major flooding in ares. We are above the flood plain where we live. The Skagit River is close by us...but it never did reach the flood level that they had predicted. Thank God. Although, there was some minor flooding down-river from us, it was no where near the catastropic event that it could have been. The main problem with our area was mudslides. One elderly woman in downtown Concrete rode out a mudslide when the hill that her home sat on gave way, and her house with her and her dogs in it came crashing down the hill falling on her son's car! She lived through the ordeal with only bruises and scratches! Her home was completely flattened except where she sat when it came to rest upon her son's car. That video made the National News. When my family members saw it my phone began ringing of course because I live in Concrete. I had to explain to them that we live on the South side of the Skagit and are above the flood plain; with no slopes near our home. We were, however, snowed in for days. Our four wheel drive got stuck in our driveway several times. It is now unstuck again. I am tired of looking at the snow and it is not melting fast enough to suit me! |
| I'm not one to make resolutions every time a new year rolls around. I suppose that is due to the fact that I am left dissappointed whenever I end up breaking them. I did, however, make some for this New Year. This is the Dear Me letter that I wrote for StoryMaster's Dear Me Contest. I hope that you enjoy it! Dear Me, It’s that time of year again for you to make your personal New years Resolutions. You must be aware that I am writing this letter to remind you of this; just in case you have forgotten. We both know how forgetful you can be anymore. You know deep down inside that you can resolve those things that you have previously promised yourself and have yet to fulfill. I for one, am hoping that you will at least try anyway. So, I am challenging you to get off of your ‘duff’ and get started! I’ve helped you pick a list of your most optimistic predictions. You can turn these into realistic goals for 2009 and get fantastic results, if you just set your feeble and forgetful mind to it. Do something successful for a change. Use these goals to motivate yourself. You will be amazed at what an improvement they can make in your everyday life if you just stop telling yourself that you are after all a Senior Citizen and can’t be expected to reform and perform like in years past. It might be a good idea for you to tack this list up somewhere at eye level so that you don’t have to do any searching for it. We both know how you tend to loose track of things when they are out of sight lately. I hope you don’t mind the title I have chosen here for your list. I just wasn’t able to come up with something better - I HOPE YOU’VE ENJOYED THIS LIST 1. I will not allow our cat Bentley to sit at the table any longer without wearing a bib. 2. I will workout more by going shopping in NEW places. 3. I will focus more on my faults and less on others faults. 4. I will mope less about my own faults. 5. I will not worry about my weight gain...I'll eat whatever I like. 6. I will build new relationships… by spending more time playing with the cat. 7. I will not sit at my computer in the office all day in my pajamas…instead I will move my computer into the bedroom. 8. I will improve my profanity…by learning cusswords in a different language. 9. I will get into a whole NEW rut! 10. I will spend my summer vacation in cyberspace right here at WDC! 11. I will spread out the priorities beyond my abilities to keep better track of them. Oh, and last but not least… 12. I will never make New Years Resolutions Again! Signed, Your Wiser Side Of Yourself  |
| I can't believe that I haven't had an entry in here since Christmas Eve, and it is New Years Eve already! We really get caught up in the Holidays. It is snowing here again tonight. We've already had an inch fall within the past few hours. Just when we were beginning to thaw out some. I guess we may as well settle in and expect a long WHITE winter here. Today is my daughter's birthday. She was born at 7:14 P.M. on New Years Eve thirty seven years ago. My goodness it doesn't seem like it was that long ago, and she certainly doesn't look that old. I talked to her on the phone today. She said she was staying home tonight and having company in. She still has a lot of snow at her house too. I imagine the roads over on the Peninsula are somewhat treacherous still. She told me they had some strong wind over there the other day. One big gust blew down a 50 - 60 foot fir tree that came within several feet of the corner of their house! That's the second time this has happened since they have lived there. They cleared a lot of the trees away from the house a couple of years ago. Their home sits on two and a half acres of thickly wooded property. I hope that is the last one to fall that close to the house. Well, over the course of the Christmas Holidays I have beaten Ron in TWO games of chess! The very first time in over five months of playing chess with him I got him in checkmate at last. Victory was sweet believe me. I must have jumped up and down atleast a dozen times before I grabbed him and hugged him! The last game we played I was cleaning up on him and he finally just resigned, so that was my victory again. He told me that my playing chess on the computer is paying off finally. I have learned to be more aggressive like he is. Well I hope you all have a very  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  My daughter Julie (I took this picture in October, 2008) |
| It's Christmas Eve and we have had another big snowstorm here! It started snowing sometime after midnight and it is still snowing here at almost 4:00 p.m. The snow is absolutely beautiful. We are staying home and staying warm. Is there no end in sight. We definately aren't going anywhere for Christmas this year. Just, he and I, and the two kitties will be snuggled up in front of the fireplace...that is if we are lucky enough to still have our power tonight! Here are some more pictures I took today. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! ** Image ID #1508704 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1508705 Unavailable ** |
| We have been issued a Winter Storm Warning which is in effect from 4:00 p.m. today, Saturday, untill Sunday evening. Many areas of Western Washington and those closest to the mountain passes have also been issued High Wind Warnings. This all combined with the temperatures of the Artic air already here ( it was 9 degrees here at home this morning!) adds up to power outages and dangerous wind chill factors. We are not looking forward to a power outage. But, we are prepared just in case. Over on the Kitsap Penninsula where my children all live they are expecting anywhere from 8-24 inches of new snow! Added to the snow already on the ground there...some places could see as much as two feet like we have here. I have already made a big pot of homemade chile just in case we lose our power.  We will have an easy meal to heat on a one burner propane stove.So, I guess we just sit back and wait for the snow to fly! We are definately going to get our White Christmas here. |
| Oh, my goodness we have two feet of snow now! It snowed all night and dumped on us. It is absolutely gorgeous out there. Ron was out packing down the snow in our back driveway with the four wheel drive. He even helped the neighbors by packing theirs also. He cannot get out the front driveway, because of the snow plow being used where the mailbox is. I took some updated pictures of the snow this morning. Here they are ** Image ID #1506888 Unavailable ** the front deck now! ** Image ID #1506891 Unavailable ** Snow on our deck at noon. |
| This morning we awoke to about six inches of snow! It is really pretty out there. Snow is still coming down and will probably continue to fall the rest of the day here! That means that we could see a foot of snow by nightfall! We don't mind it though, because we are prepared for it this time. More snow will be falling between now and Christmas. It looks like we will be having our White Christmas for sure. ** Image ID #1506469 Unavailable ** Snow on our deck. ** Image ID #1506473 Unavailable ** Snow on our hottub. |
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