Thanks for a great year!

My oldest son Gary just called me to tell me he just landed a silk screening job! I am so happy for him. You see, he is going to school full time for graphic arts. This is his first art related job. I couldn't be happier for him. The hours are around his school as well.
Preston and I are going to see Area 51 in a few minutes and Applebee's for ribs, yumm. I thought it was a nice way to close ou the year.
Today was my last day in the Planning Department. On Monday, I start a new position in Public Works. I am so greatful I still have a job to go to after a large layoff.
Amy is coming up tomorrow on Amtrak. This will be a great start to a new year. Most of you know, I was so blessed this year...A new house, A trip to Disneyland with Preston, an amazing 3 week get away to Europe, and a fantastic 5 day trip to New York. And, reconnecting with Amy from Highschool after 27 years.
I have so enjoyed reading and being encouraged by my family through blogging. Thanks for helping me get started. I love you, God Bless you and Happy new year!

Counting my blessings instead of sheep...

Trying to put the breaks on...

There are SO many things this season that can keep me spinning, it's crazy. I haven't wrapped a single present yet, still looking for a specific present fo Dylan and planning a trip to Corvallis one more time this year. Preston will be out on Christmas break on Friday. I am training for my new position, His Aunt who has been an angel by picking him up and dropping him off all year is suffering with phunomia. I have to make this quick, I have to take Presto to school. I was at my men's group last night. We were finishing up a serioes about faith and "getting out of the boat". We are sponsering a family. I just reminds me how tough of a time we are all gowing through.
For me I am trying to put on the break to remind myself of the blessings of this year, the graciousnes of God, sending Jesus and for a sense of this life I am living. I pray Shelley and Eric will be able to relax and enjoy Christmas with Carmen and Leo. Amy, you are a wise woman, I know you and Jurgen will come to have unity on the house. Everyone, take even 5 minutes today and put on the breaks just to breath and be thankful...All my best.

Jingle Bells

Well, don't count on me to be the next American Idol, but today at work a group of co-workers and I had a laugh or two by caroling all 7 floors of City Hall. It was a nice break from the mood around here since the layoffs were anounced in late October.

I am finished with my window painting for the season. I did very few this year, but it was still fun. The tree is up, lights are hung, and I bought a variety of Christmas cookie supplies last night. Amy will be coming up this weekend. The church is having its Christmas concert this weekend, and we also will be seeing White Christmas at the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle.

Heck, I might even do a little Christmas shopping. This morning, I receivied a picture of my great niece, Hannah's picture she painted form a canvas and paints I gave her for her birthday. It is wonderful and it sure made my day.

I hope you all can be as lucky to have something or someone make your day.

Jingle Bells

Well, don't count on me to be the next American Idol, but today at work a group of co-workers and I had a laugh or two by senading

Area 51

I read from my sister Shelley's post that her husband, (my Brother-in-law) Eric turns 51 today. Well, Eric is an outstanding guy. I just want to tell him happy birthday too. He's been a great friend to me over the years. I trust your day is blessed. Rock on Eric.

Green House and Gravestones...

Over the weekend, I took the advice of my sisters (I know, kinda amazing, if you think of it!) and decided to transplant all of the currently healthy geraniums into a leantu shaped greenhouse I build just for that purpose. I have to be thankful for the extended Indian Summer we have been blessed with, but at last the signs of the fall are upon us. So, I had several spare cedar planks I found in my Beach House attick and used them to make a functional greenhouse. It is roughly 3 ft by 6 ft. and nicely framed in with a clear plastic enclosure. Before I enclosed it, I planted the geraniums in good tilled soil. Then, covered them up in staw and watered the plants. So far so good. It weathered a good windstorm. I also left an area that I could get a hose in to water occassionally if need be. We'll see if this experiment worked out next summer. I also planted a box of 70 mixed colored tulips in the front. Should look great next spring.
Now about the gravestones...
I had 6 leftover used cedar planks which I got for free on Craigslist for the trim work in the beach house. I was using other leftover pieces for bond fire wood over the summer. But, I thought of another use for the final left over pieces. Since it is near Halloween, I decided to poke a little fun and created about 15 or so funny (play on words) tombstones. I got quite the reaction form my neighbors. Well, it was a fun way to recycle the old fening material. Well, make it a great day wherever you are and whatever you are doing...

Geraniums galore

I am on a break at work so I'll make this short. It is a crisp clear beautiful day in the northwest. I am starting to see evidence of the fall colors. I scored bigtime with the City Hall landscaper. He was changing out the planting beds by the City's marque. He was throwing out all the geraniums (hundreds!) They still had full blooms on them. I asked him what he was doing with them... "Tossing them". Well, being a resourcfull kind of guy (it's in my blood), I picked up as many as I could fit in my trunk. So after work, I will transplant these beauties in my yard. They hold up very well as they are very hardy plants. Thanks landscape guy!
My girlfriend Amy is coming up this weekend. Look forward to sharing qulity time with her again. She is such a blessing. I plan to plant as many bulbs as my budget of $35 can afford. Since I am in the gardening mode, the addition of the geraniums will be an extra bonus. To my sister Amy in Germany, I wish you well in your seemingly never ending struggle with the cold. Having a family of seven is a lot to get through a nasty cold. You're in my prayers. To my sister Shelley, I am glad you had a time out with Eric in Florida. I still can't figure out how to comment on your blog. It's probibly just me. Dianna, I hope you enjoy your time with Bridget, Chris and the kids this weekend. Happy fall everyone!

I Heart NY

For an extended weekend in the fall, we did New York. Gary and I flew to New York last Thursday and flew back Monday night. What we did to fill the days and nights was a list that could fill a travel book. Suffice it to say it was great, fun, and an out of the norm trip for us. Here are some highlights:
After taking a shuttle bus from Newark to Grand Central Station, we met up with my niece Carmen who was gettign off her work at a swanky-retro hotel called the Ace Hotel in uptown. The hotel was hosting an "after party" for the band, U-2. Saw saw several celebrities at the event. Since we were newbie's to the subway, she met us at Grand Central and introduced us to NY and it's subway system. I'm proud to say we can get pretty much anywhere now without much problem.
To Brooklyn we went. She has a 600 sf (large by NY standards) 2 bedroom row house apartment. It is very charming. The view of the city on the roof top deck is very cool. There is no elevator and they live on the 4th floor. No wonder Carmen and Leo are in such great shape.

Friday, we headed out on our adventures. We went to Liberty Island. Very cool! The view of Manhattan was great as it was a beautiful day. We took the ferry back and walked over to the financial district after a good gyro and beer. We took photo opts of the city and the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we headed uptown to her hotel to meet up with Leo. After some great coffee, we headed over to Times Square. Loved it! Then, we headed over to Rockefeller Center and up to the top of the rock, the 69th floor. I highly recommend this. The views were amazing with a panoramic view of teh enitire city, including the Empire State Building, Central Park and all the burrows. You can't see Central park from the Empire State Building. Then we headed to Greenwich Village and had dinner at an understated pizza house, simply called John's Pizza. Real good authentic NY pizza. We then caught up with Leo again for a glass of wine in the village while listeng to a blues band at an outdoor cafe. We then walked through Washington Park near NYU and saw a replica of the Arch de Triump in Paris. Gary was noticing and photographing all grafitti in the area. He recognized several artist from Seattle. It was a good day.
Saturday, we headed to Williamsburg (the new Village according to Carmen) for brunch with her and Leo. We met up with some of their friends. Again, a great understated place with fantastic food. Gary and I took off on our own from there. We found ourselves in Queens on a graffitti quest. Gary hit the jackpot in an area called 5-point. It is a warehouse district dedicated just for that. Some amazing art is found there. After several hours and hundreds of photos later, I began to appreciate Gary's facination of this art form. We then made our way toward Uptown and Central Park East. We stopped in to see Leo at his work at the largest Apple store in the country. I loved the architecture of the store. A glass cube leading to an underground store. It is located next to the Plaza Hotel and Central Park. After a visit, we walked through Central Park towards the Guggenheim Museum. We spent hours experiencing that. I saw works by Picasso, Monet, Manet, Degault, Van Gough, Kandinsky, and others. I loved it! Did I mention that I loved it!!! After that, we headed back to Brooklyn and ordered Thai. Another amazing day.
Sunday, we heard some soulful gospel organ in the neighborhood pentecostal church down from Carmen's on our way to Central Park West and onto the Museum of Natural History. There we spent hours checking out all the dinosaurs and other great features. We also enjoyed the enormous planetarium. We then headed over to the Bronx. We knew we weren't going to get tickets for the Yankee's, but instead, we experienced a tavern near the stadium. Saw the game from there and enjoyed the atmosphere of the locals enjoy their home team. The Yankee's clinched the Eastern Division title with their win over their hated rivals, the Red Sox. It was a festive time to be there. We hung out longer after the game and got souvnirs', and more photos.
Carmen told us about a great hamburger joint on the West Side, so we tried it out for dinner. We later met up with her in the lower East Side. Along the way, Gary took hundreds more graffitti shots. We met her at a saki bar in the Soho area and then out for some great gellato. Finally back to Brooklyn.
Monday, after we slept in, we made it ovefr to a fun and yet another unassuming coffee house. We went to her work to drop off our bags and went over to ground zero at the World Trade Center site. There wasn't much to see but a new construction site. It was still a moving experience. Then we zipped back toe the Ace Hotel to collect our bags and off to catch our bus back to the airport. We made it just fine. The flight was good and we made it back home just in time to tuck Preston into bed.
I will always be grateful to Carmen and Leo for opening their place to us and for being such wonderful hosts. In all the time, the best of it was simply the quality time I shared with Gary and seeing him so inspired from the sights and sounds of New York. No regrest, no worries! So, in the end we did New York and loved it.

I love New York!

New York, New York!

Well, it dawned on me that I am taking an extended fall weekend to experience New York with my son Gary. Neither of us have been there before, but thanks to my lovely niece Carmen and her fun husband Leo, the time has come to take it in. They live in Brooklyn and have offered their 2 bedroom apartment as a place to stay. We hope to share some fun times with them in return. I also want to extend my home when they make it back to Seattle. Gary turned 21 in August, so this is really an excuse to celebrate his coming of age. I couldn't think of a better place to experience a long weekend with him. We're jazzed for sure!
So we fly tomorrow and will return on Monday night. There are so many options and we have no commitments, but just to have fun. I think that can be accomplished.
Hope all is well in your world. I feel so blessed to share this time with Gary. He starts his Graphic Arts program in Seattle next week. Hopefully this will be an inspiration for him. What better than the energy of New York! Thanks to my network of friends and family to care for Preston in my absents. Love you all!

Paint, It's what I do!

At my work today, we had a team building day which offered optionally four different activities to build team spirit while providing community activism. There was a group of coworkiers who workd a food bank, some who cleaned up park trails, some who helped some downtown small businesses, and finally some graffitti clean-up. I could have been happy in any of these options, but I chose the graffitti clean-up. Afterall, paint, is what I do...
We painted over an elderly lady's 50 ft. long concrete brick wall and a section of a noise wall on I-405. With nine of us doing this, it took no time at all. But, it was a fun experience and later we will have a bareque to celebrate our total group effort. This is just another reason I appreciate the wonderful group of people I work with.
For many of us who have kids returning to school, perhaps you have already experienced an early bout with the flu. My poor Preston has been hit pretty bad. He has missed 3 days so far. The fever is gone, but he is still pretty weak. Pray he recovers to his energetic self. I miss that!

20 years

All of us remember 911 for lost lives of so many innocent people in New York. I as well, that was tragic and we all changed in some ways because of it, but there is also an anniversary which I choose to remember for other reasons.
Twenty years ago I stepped into Renton City Hall and was introduced as a new employee. It's amazing to me to think it was twenty years already. I'm a little greyer, my infant son is in college and two others came along the way. I have been married a second time since, and the world has changed. But twenty years at the same place, that seems to hardly happen anymore. A long standing job with the same company, but for me it has happend and I am very grateful for this blessing. I think what has been the best part for me has been the people whom I have had the privilege to work with. I love what I do, it is very gratifying and in some way I feel as though what I have done over the past twenty years has contributed in some capacity to the betterment of the city which hired me. It just is a good feeling and I wanted to share this with whoever reads it.

Thank God for Facebook!

Yes, this has been an amazing venue. I'm so glad someone told me about it. I used to poke fun of my friend Mike at work for using it... no more. I have reconnected to many (and hopefully more) friends from the past via this site. In fact, I am dating the most wonderful woman I could imagine for me as a result. I can't even take credit for it. Amy found me. Thank you Amy for finding me! I have been blessed indeed. Thank God for Facebook.

Mom Wanted

Yesterday, when I came home from work and asked my son Preston what homework assignments he had, he showed me a particular assignment entitled, “Mom Wanted".
At first it pierced my heart. Most people who ever read my blog will know that I am a single dad for the past 3 years. Preston's mom has had no contact with him in over 2 years. So, you might get a glimpse of my heart for him at that moment.
But to tell you the truth, he amazes me all the time. He made terrific lemonade!
He told me, "this is a stupid assignment, I already have a mom."
So, we decided to have fun with this and this is what he came up with...
WANTED, A MOM WHO IS KIND, FUNNY AND A GOOD COOK. SHE MUST LIKE VIDEO GAMES AND FISHING. ALSO, DOESN'T LIKE SHOPPING AT THE MALLS. MUST GIVE GOOD HUGS. CALL (206) 327-5321 IF THIS IS YOU.
In the end, we had a good laugh. But I can't help but wonder what his mom is really missing out on. Our kids are so precious and we only have them in our homes for a short time. Well, I love my life and those who are in it. There are T-shirts that say, "Life is Good", but I say, "God is Good!"

Labor Day is for laboring...

Preston and I enjoyed the long weekend in Corvallis, and a considerable time in Albany and Newport for that matter thanks to the company of Amy. It really was a blessed trip. Mom rediscovered her office and Paul, Dianna, and I were able to help that not so easy of task become a reality.
After a great day at Agget Beach, Amy blessed me with a visit to our past one night. While Preston entertained himself on the Wii, we passed the time looking at yearbooks from junior and senior high together. It was an amazing treat to not just see the pictures and relive memories, but better yet to see my own words written nearly 30 years prior speak to how I still feel towards Amy and our friendship. It's hard to really describe, but suffice it to say a real blessing.
Another treat was enjoying a bit of Shelley's plum tart. We spent a short, but fun time with Eric and Shelley at her house. She really is into her canning. Way to go! You have a lot to be proud of. All in all, this was a very good holiday weekend.

School Daze!

Oh yes, the official start of school is upon us. Had a very busy night. It was a Dylan night (every Tuesday) all the running and traveling that that involves. I made a visit to Big Lots to get final supplies for Preston and found an amazing find for the guest beach house. (I’ll keep it a surprise for now).
As you know Travis,Sandy and their boys lived with Preston, Chris and me all summer. Well, they moved up north yesterday. Travis will join them on Thursday in their new house. Their house won’t be available until then so Sandy and the boys are staying at a friend’s house up in Woodinville. Travis didn’t want to stay at yet another friends house even for a few nights. That's fine. Travis and I are going to work on the beach house tonight. School starts for their kids in Woodinville today as well so it makes sense that they left when they did. We all survived! He and I shared a bottle of Merlot last night and a great conversation. The house was noticably more quite and relaxed. It's all good!
Preston was already up when I left for work so I gather he must be a little excited even though I doubt he would never admit it. His Aunt Melody has made it possible to pick him up in the morning and drop him off after school for the year. I am grateful for her willingness to do this. When I took him to an open house on Monday, I not only met his new teacher, but signed up to be a class helper for his first field trip. It’s next Thursday at the family Fun Center. It’s a great place to hang out with go cart racing , mini golf, video games, and more. It’s just for the 5th graders. Not a bad start to the year!

Sleepless in Seattle...

What an awesome weekend! Amy came to visit Preston and me. That in it self was significant, but the time we shared was fantastic. I got to play tourist in my own city. Before she came, and after I realized the guest beach house wasn't going to finished, I decided to "summer clean" the house and yard. Good thing, I think it made a great impression on her. It was a long time coming anyway because I have had so many guests over the summer with Travis and his family, Dylan leaving his mark and the occassional drop-in of Gary, it made for a good cleaning. Heck, I even cleaned the carpets (they needed it). I guess what I'm saying here is that the house looked good inside and out.
We went to Alki Beach Friday night after a dinner out. A great view of the city, and nearly got soaked by the park spinklers. Had a good laugh before heading home. Since the guest house wasn't ready for guests quite yet, She got my room and I got the floor in Preston's room.
Saturday morning she was welcomed to my famous Saturday breakfast in bed spread. Preston and I took Amy to Snoqualmie Falls for the day. It was in the mid 80's. After a great picnic at the base of the falls and a good relaxing 2-3 hours enjoying the water we hiked up the trails to have a fun dinner at a Mongolian Grill resautant. We enjoyed a movie at home, (Wild Hogs) with Preston and called it a day.
Sunday was an over the top day. Still amazing weather, we went to the early service at New Lfe so we could make our 11:00 bording on the Argossy Smooth Jazz Cruise on Elliot Bay. That was awesome. great food, great music, outstanding views of Seattle and even better views of my special guest. After a 2 hour trip on the sound, we walked around the Seattle water front. Then another 2-3 hours enjoying the Pike Place Market. Picked up some fresh veggies and a bouquet of flowers for Amy. We then found our car after a good hunt in the wrong parking lot (guess I was distracted) and drove home to meet up with Gary.
I put on the grill a decent spread of steak Kabobs. I also made a cucumber, and tomato salad. (Just like in Cyprus). Amy picked out a great bottle of Chardony and after a nice dinner of laughter and conversation of hearing about Travis's road trip of yester year to Tiajuana, we enjoyed a good hot blazing bon fire, and some smores.
Gary really enjoyed himself and I think he was impressed by my guest.
Monday came too soon. Preston and I had a dentist appointment in Kirkland. We took Amy with us. While she paitentlty waited for us, she walked to Juanita Beach near my old stomping grounds in Kirkland. Again another beautiful day. No cavities!
We took Preston to the Kirkland waterfront and had lunch on the Marina. When we returned to Renton only to have to say goodbye at least for now.
So yes, it was a very good weekend. Thank you Amy for making it special.

Progress!

I am inspired! I think my inspiration gets ahead of my abilities some times. What am I talking about? Well, it's like this. I am a single dad and all that that implies, it's all on me to take care of the issues of life in my household. I have invited additional guests to stay at my home for the summer and a nephew who lives in my home as well. Well, that has been a crazy mix for sure. I am not complaining it's just a lot to take in for an extended period. But to my point. I am in the process of painting my guest quarters. The Arie Beach House. (All is good , no worries beach house). I am so inspired, but just can't seem to paint it all at the speed of my life. So, last night at midnight, I came to this reality and now have peace that it will get done when it gets done. No more stress, no more worries. I have real peace about it and my inspiration for a tropical get away isn't fading, it's just not going to be complete as soon as I wanted it to. A delayed gratification is alright by me. So, somewhere in this message is a lesson for me and perhaps all who read it.

21!

At 4:02 Pacific Time, yesterday morning my amazing son Gary turned 21. While age doesn't define us as a man or woman, there are certain milestones that seem to be noticed more than others. I knew that he would choose to celebrate this evining with some close friends so I was not dissapointed at all. He has grown wiser over the last year and his goals are very encouraging. I salute you my son! I love you and am very proud of you! I look forward to our weekend in New York!
While Gary and some of his longstanding friends enjoyed the night, I spent the evening on a sailboat with coworkers sailing on Lake Union on a beautiful August night in Seattle. Hundreds of sailboats converged for a non-competitive race course around the lake. The views were amazing with the Seattle skyline as the backdrop and the sunset reflecting on the skycrapers.
Preston spent a rare eveing with his grandparents. All in all it was a great day. It endend with a wonderful conversation with my sweetheart in Oregon. I am a happy man.

Let there be carpet!

Last night, I went to Lowe's and bought the extra thick carpet padding for the beach house. I figured since the carpet was free, I could go the extra step to get a better quality pad. So for all my future guests, I trust they will appreciate the difference!
I am excited to start the painting process this week. What I come up with is still in my mind, yet I hope to reveal it soon enough.
I read my sister Amy's blog today and would encourage anyone to view it as well. Go to, heymann-joural.blogspot.com The Health Care system is at stake and the proposed actions in this current administration would be disastrous! Especially to all of our parent's generation. We would be cutting our own throats.
The summer has been grand. I plan to go camping this week at Mt. Rainier with Preston on the way down to Corvallis.
If I don't write anymore this week, Make it great. AND, pray for our administration to get a clue!

The Beach House

I am inspired to convert my extra 14 ft x 14 ft. out building into a beach house. My excellent friend Travis and I are in the process of making a beach house inspired room, complete with a beach mural and whatever inpiration that comes my way along the process. We made good progress this weekend.I will be sealing the concrete flooring tomorrow because all of the texturizing is not quite finished. I can so see this happen! You know, I have been creating places and murals for so many other people, but haven't done something for me in recent memory. I was partly inspired from my recent trip to Cyprus. The views I saw were amazing! I plan to add an additional window on the "garden side" of the room to add more light. I think this room will act as my guest house and a place for me to listen to my jazz uninterupted. I just knew there was something I loved about having this space to work with. I look forward to sharing pictures in the near future.

Mui Caliente!

Hot! huuuuuuuwh!
I'm not unique here, we are all feeling it in the northwest. I downed 64 oz of water yesterday and still was thirsty. Atleast, I had something cool. I have a good friend who's AC went out on his $40,000 high end truck, he's spending the day tinkering to get it fixed. Played tag with the boys last night at 11:30 I think the the temp at midnight was 85 degrees.
I know we are wimps anymore, so glad I don't live in Florida. Nor Arizona anymore...
Preston went to Vacation Bible school last night with the neighbor kids.
Me, I talked to my reconnected friend Amy all night. Can't get enough of her. She just makes me smile.
I think tonight the lake is calling my name...
You know, I just am rambling today, but life sometimes leads us that way. No real issues going on and I don't need to manufacture something. Glad to make headway on mom and dad's place in prep for the big event on August 8th to purge the 37 plus years of accululation.
I am hoping to take Gary for a 4 day trip to New York to celebrate his 21st! If not there, some place fun, just us and another great memory to look forword to creating.
Thanks Chris, for helping your sister out this week.
Pray for Paul, he needs some rest and time to recover from a mild stroke. A deffinate wake up call for him.
Well, I think I will get back to life and stop rambling on, but hope all is well in your lives, God Bless... stay cool.

It's Friday!!!!

Well, it's been awhile since I posted, but not so much because I didn't have something to say, just that on my post settings for some reason, I accidentally defaulted to another language...Hinu! No offense to the Hindi's, I just didn't know how to change it back to something I could read let alone understand.
I am especially happy about today. I really enjoy the summer festivals, but there is a particular one of interest to me, The Bellevue Art Festival. I go to it every year. It is a Mini Disneyland experience for me. 300 plus juried artists show their stuff in one place. It is a artistic collage of stimulus to my art appreciative senses...say that five times fast!
I always find something interesting, purhaps a new technique I notice and always with a opportunity to network, and speak with other artists. To share ideas, and just take it all in. I usually treat myself the weekend, but since I am heading down to Oregon to help out my parents, I am limiting it to just Friday. In fact, I am doing this alone, Preston is at the sitter. He's going to the trout farm today. And me, I will off to Bellevue sortly. Ah yes, Happy Friday!

Blip.FM.com

A friend of mine told me about this website called BLIP.FM, Wow, how cool!
I can download endless music possabili

No worries...It's Just Paint!
...and a lot of it. Over the last few weekends, I have been taking on a huge task. I have been painting a enormous house (approx. 4,200 square feet!) Plus a 3 car garage to boot.
Well, 80 gallons of paint later, it is nearly done. I need just to finish on side of the house in trim on the upper gutter area. YeaH!! A sudden rain storm had me stop short. It will be done by Wednesday eveing, at least that's my goal.
I am not complaining mind you. Afterall, this was a barter of sorts. A good friend helped me get a business venture started a while back and well, this was his payback. I think it is good that services are still a viable way to exchange between friends. And if I was ever afraid of heights, that's no longer an issue. It's a good thing I like to paint. No mural this time, but still a work of art!

Neighborhood Spirit

Last night after work, I was blessed for a rare night of not having to cook OR better yet, not having to clean up! My neighborhood had a block party, complements of of the City of Renton. A very good Jazz band played, there was face painting, plenty of food, door prizes, a fire truck for the young kids to climb all over, a football game, and plenty of time to relax and get to meet more of my neighbors. All in all a fun time. This was sponsered by the city I live in. Not bad I'd say. A good time for sure. One of the council members is on a quest to serve 5,000 cups of lemonade with a smile this summer. A worthy goal. My city sponsers several events throughout the summer. It's a nice community building event. Anyway, hope all is well in your neighborhood. Make it a great day.

Friends

I offered my house up to invite a dear friend of mine and his family to stay with me for most of the summer. They were seeking temporary refuge to relocate to a more affordable housing situation before the fall. At first, I have to admit I was worried how the dymanics would all work out. I already have my oldest son staying for the summer (not at all complaining about that!) and a nephew and my youngest son in a 3 bedroom/ 1 bath house. But in reality, it has been a great blessing for me to open my home in such a way. So far, so good. Infact, thanks to Travis, I have a newer set of washer and dryer he was able to salvage from a construction job site of his and furnish my son's out building/clubhouse/ extra bedroom, with newer carpet. He also rescued my oldest son from a dead alternater in Seattle when I was out of town on Sunday.
I don't know who is blessing who. Then again, I never kept score. I am grateful to finally be in a position to be a blessing to others... it certainly has been recipricated. It is good to have and be a friend.

Finally some rain!

My grass sure could use it. I have been a little frugal with the watering this summer. Well, as you can imagine no water, no green. So, as I woke up to overcast clouds and a light sprinkle, I am not complaining. We have had so much sunshine since I came back from Europe, it's been rediculous. I don't think it has rained for over 2 months. The last time I checked I didn't have a San Diego address?...
You know that song, "Take it easy", by the Eagles, I all the sudden feel I can relate. I have met so many women lately it's crazy. I definately am going to slow way down. I am no Don Juan, and besides, balance is always good. There are too many wonderful lady's out there. If someone ever says to me where are all of the good women? I'm just going to shake my head. I am patient though to sift through the sand to find the "Right fit". I am in no hurry. My friends and family can attest to why I should not be in such a hurry. But hey, it sure is nice meeting new people and I know when it will be right. Hope your day is great. And, a little rain is alright by me.

July 5th

4th of July

Hey, I don't know about you, but I am very grateful for the blessings I have living in this country. I enjoyed my day with friends at his lakeside home. Mt. Rainier in the background great smoked ribs, chicken, desserts, the works! A good bon fire, and enough fireworks to rival any town USA fireworks display. It was a good time for all. My oldest son bought a used car yesterday. It's not his first car, but it is his first 5 speed. With that in mind, he isn't the best stick driver in the world. In fact, he just began to learn five minutes after he bought the car.
He's getting it, after a few stalls at intersections. Hey, anyone who's ever driven a stick knows about that experience...
Anyway, he just called me from Seattle, stuck trying to go up a hill. I am too far to help him, but I sent a friend to help him out. Let's hope it goes well.
Me, I'm spending the afternoon in Yelm, a small town 30 miles south of my house, near Ft. Lewis. My sister is visiting her daughter (my niece)for the weekend. So, I feel a little helpless in this. I pray it turns out well.

It's hard to come back...

I learned so much about myself on this trip. Some, I'll just keep to myself. Others, well why did I wait soooo long to visit Europe. Thank's Amy and Jurgen for making this happen for me. There were so many memories, so many expreriences I will never forget. I realize this this is merely a practice run for futre trips, but wow, how fun!
So I'm sitting at my dest at work (at lunch) and I am still enjoying the memories. Everyone here was so excited for me when I returned and makde so many commets of how tan and relaxed I have been since I returned. The candy and pictures were a great hit.
The weather in Renton has been just great (75 F) since I've been back. I took Preston and Gary to the lake after work yesterday. It wasn't the Medierranean, but it was still water and a lot of fun. A BBQ with hot dogs toped off the night. Life is good!
When I can figure out how to post pictures, I will. We'll talk again soon.

Welcome to my blog

Are we in Paris yet?
It seems to me, the hardest thing to find in Paris is a parking stall. It’s great if you ride a Vespa. Then again if you do, you better have a good will. They're crazy! I on the other hand was a guest of my sister in Paris and we drove very comfortable in her 8 passenger Mercedes van. While there was room for everyone, parking was a bit of a challenge. I was fortunate enough to catch this shot while my sister was frantically trying to secure parking. Later in the day, we found ourselves on the top of the tower...What a view, what a city! It truly was a great day and great start of a fantastic vacation.
Throughout the next 3 weeks, I hope to write more about the places I saw and people I met along the way. Bye for now...