Day 128

WHO KNEW IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL?

Tahoma National Cemetery

I never really thought of this cemetery as being a destination. It was just there. I had no need to see it. But this morning I drove out to see The Fuchsia Lady to purchase 3 fuchsias to hang in front of our house. On the way I drove right past the cemetery and thought, hmmmm, it is a beautiful morning and I am a bit early for the nursery to open, so I drove on in. What a sight. It seems like it has only been around for about 10 years, but to my surprise it opened in 1997!

I found this on the Tahoma National Cemetery website:  

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Tahoma National Cemetery was established Nov. 11, 1993, and opened for interments on Oct. 1, 1997. The cemetery was dedicated on Sept. 26, 1997. A small expansion projects was completed in March 2006, the $6 million project included over 12,000 new columbarium niches, more than 5,000 pre-placed crypts, road improvements, new signage, a third committal shelter and a third funeral cortege lane at the Public Information Center. Phase II expansion project was completed June 2014, the $24 million project included over 14,000 new columbarium niches, more than 9,000 pre-placed crypts, more than 6,000 in-ground garden cremation sites, two memorial walls and an ossuary. Two new roads for accessing the new burial sections were constructed using permeable asphalt. The three new columbarium complexes contain rain gardens and bio swales to help mitigate the need for storm water runoff and retention ponds.

Monument and Memorials
Tahoma has a Memorial walkway containing 36 memorials that commemorate soldiers of various 20th century wars, donated by various service organizations. At the northeast corner of the walkway is the POW-MIA flag. At the southwest corner of the walkway is a carillon that was donated by the Navy Fleet reserve Association Seattle branch 18 and was installed in 2010, dedicated to the volunteers of Tahoma National Cemetery.

A Blue Star Memorial is located south of the Public Information Center. The marker was originally part of a banner that families displayed in their homes during the 1940s to signify that they had a loved one fighting in World War II. Today, the marker honors all veterans.

Once again, who knew!!?

There were several different sections like this. Full of tombstones

This is where they have flag ceremonies

Look at Mt. Rainier peeking through

Look at all those names...and on and on it goes

Alphabetically organized

Day 127

BINGO!

tonight was bingo at the clubhouse

I didn't play bingo tonight but thought I would walk to the clubhouse and say hi to the ladies who were playing. My neighbor knocked on my door earlier to drag me with her, but I declined. Anyway, I wanted to get a photo of some of those who were playing so I could write up something for our June newsletter. I think residents like to see a photo of themselves in the newsletter.

On my walk back to our house I decided to stop by the neighbor's home across the street, Erik and Laura and say hello. They had their patio area enlarged and enclosed and it looks amazing! Her mother was visiting and she may want to move here, so I told her about the house kitty corner to ours which will be for sale soon and another one that is not yet on the market. Estelle would make a good neighbor so I hope they can work out a deal with our neighbors. Our little neighborhood within Leisure Estates is wonderful and we want it to stay that way! No bad or unfriendly neighbors, please!

Day 126

CLEMATIS LOVE

Mine is a small plant with big flowers....so far

Day 125

HAILEY'S FIRST GRADE SINGING PROGRAM

and there are 5 first grade classes in her school

Dave and I were so pleased to watch Hailey sing tonight. The photos only show part of the kids since it was such a big group of kids and Hailey was smack dab in the center front. She shined! We discovered just how much rhythm our girl has and she did great.The kids had to memorize SO MANY songs!! All about ocean life. Lobster song, jellyfish song, shark song, whale song, bi-valve song, and others that I can't remember. It was a jam packed half hour performance. I love being a gramma!!

Day 124

WHAT DOG WILL WILLINGLY

roll onto his back while on your lap to be held like a baby while he naps?

Mine will! Our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Absolutely THE best!!

Beemer!! The wait was worth it. 

Day 123

LAST THING BEFORE TURNING IN

shutting down our computers

Day 122

SUCH A BIG CRATE

for such a tiny puppy

Day 121

A FINE TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

at the fundraising auction for missionary organization

Since I worked to procure donations for the auction, donated a few items that I had made and provided one of the purchased desserts for the Dessert Dash, it was fun attending and seeing how it all worked out. There were supposed to be 10 at our table, but Dave bailed since we figured someone needed to be on dog duty. This affair happens before Beemer's dinner and play time. He will need to go potty and it is just too soon in this process to leave him crated. One day soon I'm sure he will be trained and reliable.

Day 120

PRESCHOOL ART SHOW

Charlotte's last year at The Garden Preschool

I'm so proud of Charlotte. She had missed this week due to having a staff infection on her face as well as impetigo and yet she was willing to do the dances even though she missed some practice sessions. She did GREAT! Even had to instruct the little boy she danced with when he was confused. Sweet.

Day 119

WHO KNEW!

Dave and I were finalists in the Renton Recorder's Best of Renton??

We didn't even know we were nominated! This isn't my photo, because I've been slammed for time today trying to care for the new puppy's needs and getting our neighborhood newsletter out. One of my friends took the photo of the news article and sent it to me. So now you know as much as we do! HA! I guess we have a few friends in Renton!!

And here is the list of all the volunteers that were nominated for this recognition:

>

• ·        Ann Grinolds

  ·        Bonnie Fitzgerald

  ·        Carole E. Baker

  ·        Carrie Bergquist

  ·        Charles Seil

  ·        Charlie B Schmidt

  ·        Chris Spahn Birthday Dreams

  ·        David and Sandy Young (Valley Medical Center volunteers)

  ·        David Fleetwood

  ·        Don Jacobson

  ·        Elva Shultz - Valley General

  ·        Kevin McQuillar

  ·        Marcie Palmer

  ·        Mary Market

  ·        Norma Cugini

  ·        Norma McQuillar

  ·        Officer Reynolds

  ·        Pam Teal

  ·        Sally Cummings

Day 118

NAP, PLAY, NAP, PLAY, NIP

This boy likes to chew and sometimes he goes for my finger instead of his toy

It has now been about 30 hours since Beemer has been in our home. So far so good. No potty accidents. Yet. He has lots of toys, some of which were Frodo's. Both Dave and I have called Beemer "Frodo" just like we used to call our kids each others names or the dog's name. 

When Beemer is awake he likes to play hard. I'm worried that he will do something that will injure himself because he will jump off anything, bangs his head into the metal coffee table legs and loves to run, run, run. But when he is done, he is done. Just like that he will crawl on my lap and go to sleep. That is the best thing about this breed. They truly are lap dogs.

It is almost 9:30 pm and in another hour it will be time for Beemer to be tucked into his kennel for the night. Sure hope we have as quiet a night tonight as last night! Wimpering now and again but not a bark out of him. Yet.

Day 117

BEEMER HAS ARRIVED HOME!

There has been a bit of wimpering as he adjusts to leaving his siblings behind

Dogs always love Dave! Sebastian (facing the camera) is Beemer's grandfather. The other one looking up at Dave is an older retired-from-breeding female.

Dave holding Beemer, ready to go home from Oregon

I mean, really, what is not to love?

Beemer wimpered for about 5 minutes as we drove off, then settled right into napping in my arms, with the occasional kissing session.

I'm pleased to report that this guy wore himself out playing after we got home so needed a little nap. I AM IN LOVE AGAIN!

Day 116

SAY CHEESE!

When you are in Tillamook, you must stop at the Cheese Factory

Tillamook, Oregon. Unfortunately it was not open. Disappointing for sure. We did see the cheese factory and it was fun. And free!

Day 115

MEAL PREPARATION

Sometimes it is a pain to go away overnight when dieting

This is day 7 of my Ultimate Reset, aka cleansing diet. Everything is going great but I can't eat normal food. Let me clarify. I can't a a normal American diet for 3 weeks. Instead I am eating tons of healthful vegetables and fruits. It is really going well and I'm very lucky in that I enjoy most vegetables. So in the morning we will be driving down to Oregon for a little get away overnight and Tuesday morning we will get our new little pup and return home. Easy Peasy. Except that I needed to prepare some food to take with me so I can remain on my regimen. Mostly cleaning and chopping. Anyway, it is all in the refrigerator, ready to go.

Can't wait to see our new little boy! I feel like we are going to adopt a child! :)

Ha! Look at the piece of Romaine that fell onto the dishwasher handle! I removed it but forgot that I had already taken a photo with it there. Ah well.

Day 114

ONE MORE DAY IN PARADISE

Thank the Lord!

What a lovely day! This morning I pinned the quilt layers together on another project that I began several years ago. Now to quilt it and attach the binding. I seem to have misplaced the binding I had ready to go. I think it got lost in the move. Bummer. I used to pin my wallhangings and quilts to the carpet in our other house. Now I don't have carpet in a big enough area so I simply tape the bottom layer (backing) down and hope for the best!! Always begin pinning from the middle. Since my knee replacement I cannot kneel on that knee. Ouch! So I sit on the floor and scoot along. Works for me.

Never mind that it looks crooked. I just whacked the batting off unevenly. The quilt top is straight.

The landscapers arrived this morning and YIPPEE! Our yard is done. The two young guys made quick work of digging out the 5 Rhody rootballs that Dave had cut down as well as the remaining roots of the 2 ugly Juniper Tams that Dave cut out. These guys worked FAST! They used pick axes (Maddocks type with one end flattened to cut through roots and stuff.) That is your new word for the day. Anyway, they planted several plants to replace the overgrown rhododendrons that Dave had cut down. If Dave had tried doing what these guys did, he would now be in the hospital!

While the landscapers did their thing, and after I had my quilt top pinned, I began reorganizing our shed. I love to organize things. Dave is always hesitant to change anything, but I was tired of tripping over stuff because things were not stored properly. Success! Next up....someday soon.....will be the pantry and then my clothes in our closet. It's time to toss some stuff. I hate that but it has to be done.

Here is how the yard shaped up after all the work the guys put into it. And it looks so much better since we had the house painted!

Uh Oh, looks like they bumped the awning. Oh Dave.....can you please see if you can fix it??

Day 113

IT HAS ONLY TAKEN ME 4 YEARS

To shim up the china cabinet so it doesn't lean in toward the wall

Oh yah, It needs to be straightened. Maybe tomorrow. Or next week. Well, today was the day. Really such an easy task so why ever did I put it off so long??

I unloaded the hutch but left some things in the bottom that I was sure wouldn't shift and break. Then cleaned the glass, added the shims with Dave's help, loaded everything back in and....

Voila!

Day 112

BEAUTIFUL DAY, BUT....

I stayed in my sewing room for part of the day

I did go out and water my plants. I can't quite comprehend that I am watering my garden in April! Dave stopped by Squak Mountain Nursery for me on his way home from coffee with Don in Issaquah. I was waiting for a new shipment of Strawberry Vanilla Hydrangeas and this morning they called to say they had arrived. I ordered two of these lovelies and was pleased that Dave could pick them up so I didn't have to make a separate trip out today. Phew. They were $49 per plant, so they better thrive in our yard. 

Right there is $108 in plants. 

This is a picture of the Strawberry Vanilla Hydrangea. Looks good enough to eat!

 This was today's sewing/embroidery project.

Day 111

CHARLOTTE DOESN'T LIKE HER PHOTO TAKEN

Then again I don't like it so much either!

Charlotte wanted me to come see her this morning so I arrived in time to play a couple games of "Trouble" before lunch. I love living nearby so I can see these grandkids often. She is in preschool, so Shauna had to take her to school for a 12:30 start. 

Day 110

DO I NEED GAMBLER'S ANONYMOUS?

Between Bunco and Pinochle I may need an intervention. 

Bunco this evening. I won $3.25

Day 109

ULTIMATE RESET DAY ONE

It is time to change the way I'm eating and feel better

I admit it. I love food. And I am lazy. Of course, it is easier to grab something that is less nutritious than to clean, peel and slice something that is more healthful. For the next 21 days I will be committed to making the proper changes in my eating habits so that I will feel less sluggish, more mentally focused and hopefully lose a few pounds to boot!

Shauna did this reset program last year and had wonderful results so she and I are both starting it today, on a Monday. I am posting this on Tuesday because I forgot to get it done last night after we got home from Bible Study.