September Already

I really can't believe it is already September! Most schools have started (except some Universities) and fall is in the air!

We had another busy but very fun weekend.

Friday evening we went to Seattle and visited my friend Laura at her "homestead". She and her husband Francis have a fabulous place in Burien with lovely gardens including a "secret" one! They also have an adorable Pug named Yolanda and a super cool kitty (asian shorthair) named Sushi. It was very fun to see their place and hang out. From there we stopped in on our old neighbors Jeff & Sam at their place in Des Moines. Their kids Izzy & Beck are getting so big and definitely kept us entertained. Isabella had a big breakdown because she couldn't come home with us that night for a sleep over but we've promised that she can come over soon!!

Darin borrowed the panel van from work so we could make a dump run on Saturday - I'm so happy to get that 320lbs of garbage (carpet & pad from the basement etc) out of here. He also used it to transport the door for our master bedroom down to the shop so that he can build a frame and sidelight for it. YEAH!!

Saturday (after the dump run) we worked on cleaning up in the garage. Before we bought the house, the previous owners had a french drain put in all the way around the house including inside the garage (then carport). That meant cutting out about 3 feet of concrete all at the edge of the garage next to the house and leaving a pile of dirt/gravel behind. Well - we finally got that all taken care of and filled in with pavers and it makes such a HUGE difference (pics below).




Garage sale donations have been rolling in! Special thanks to our neighbors James & Tamara (lucky for us, our sale is coinciding with their organizing/sorting activity), Garry & Nancy, Tim & Megan and Laura & Francis. Look at this pile of stuff! We also have a growing pile in our own basement from our own "sorting" efforts.



Sunday at lunch we met 3 of my Fred Meyer co-workers for lunch. For those of you who don't know this - I worked for Fred Meyer my senior year of high school and all 5 years of college. I made some dear friends in those 5 years at the Broadway Fred Meyer on Capital Hill in Seattle. Shortly after we moved to Bremerton I was trying on "undergarments" at the Macy's in Silverdale and the recognized the voice of the woman that came to the door to ask if I needed any assistance. It was Beth - who I had worked with at Freddy's all those years ago. Come to find out Beth is our neighbor - just down the road. Well through this connection with Beth I was also able to get back in touch with Randall and Tobi. The two of them came over from Seattle and met Beth & Darin and I for lunch at Anthony's. It was so much fun to see them. Tobi and I not only worked together but lived in the same apartment building and attended the UW. It was so neat to see pictures of her kids - they are 10 & 9 (last time I saw her she had just found out she was expecting the oldest one). I am just so happy to have re-made these connections. Randall also attended the UW at the same time and now works in International store development for Starbucks. Good Luck with the London opportunity Randall - we'd love to come for a visit! So thanks again Randall and Tobi for driving over here and making the time to get back in touch and for Beth for making the connection. Here are a couple of photos of the 4 of us. Also - special thanks to Darin for patiently listening to the four of us talk for several hours about people he doesn't know and for being the official photographer! From left to right on the top photo is Tobi, Jean, Beth & Randall.




And - just for good measure - here's a photo of Watson the lap dog!