Delusions of... Everything

Anderson Island - The Friends

It's time for the Anderson Island recap!  I went there with my friends for a little woman and wine time.  We had a blast!  I took a ton of pictures so I've decided to do this in parts, starting with the most important part, the friends.  I debated whether the most important part was the wine tasting or the friends, but only for a fraction of a second.  The wine tasting wouldn't have been as fun without the friends!

I spent a wonderful weekend with my girlfriends.  Every woman should have girlfriends.  Every woman should have girlfriends like these.  We share a long history.  We share the same ideals.  We share the same attitude about so many things.  We share a lot of conversation when we are together.  Seriously!    We talked so much and we talked about EVERYTHING!  The only time we stopped talking was when we were sleeping.  We also share many laughs.  I really love these women!

Jennifer took this really great picture of me.

Here is the cabin we stayed in.  I took both these pictures from the beach.

Jennifer, Jude and I arrived Friday evening.  We unloaded, made some food and watched a movie called Bottle Shock.  If you love wine (or if you just love Alan Rickman) you need to watch this movie.  It was so good.  I learned a few things about wine and was reminded again why Alan Rickman is one of my favorite actors.  Bill Pullman is also very good in the movie.

By Saturday morning Kristin, Sherri and Fred had arrived.  We started right in on the wine drinking.  Just kidding.  We waited.  Kinda.

Saturday was still a little chilly with mostly hazy sunshine, but that didn't stop us from sitting out on the deck!

There is one thing about all of us that is probably a lttle strange for women.  We are not girlie.  For the most part none of us wear make up, although we do all shave.  I have always painted my toenails, especially for the summer.  I used to get my fingernails done too, but then finances became a little tight and I had to give up nails and lattes.  Jennifer recently started getting pedicures so she thought it would be fun to bring some polish for the weekend!

She got busy doing Kristin's and Jude's toes for them.  The rest of us already had our nails done!

Don't they look pretty?!  I really wish I would have taken a picture of all of our feet, all of them together!  That would have been a great shot.

Sunday the weather was amazing!  We spent most of the day out on the deck and we savored every minute of it!

Isn't the view spectacular?!  I'll be doing a view and beach post later in the week!

Tomorrow will be all about the wine!

Surprises

Some unexpected things happened today, the day I'm supposed to be getting my pictures from Anderson Island organized, edited and ready to post... Handy Man came home for a long lunch and decided it was time to paint the bathroom and I was to be his helper.  Consequently my bathroom looks good, but I'm way behind on organizing, editing and composing.  The weather is also very lovely, so I've also been going outside and pulling weeds when I need a break from the computer.

Another really cool thing happened.  I was drinking my morning coffee while looking out the window and spied an envelope addressed to me!  I did a card exchange with Daryl and because she is more on top of things than I am she got her cards to me pronto.  I just mailed hers today.  I was only going to send her some cards I have that my mom made, but I decided to make a few myself and throw those in with the ones my mom made so it took a while to finish that up!

Come along as I open the envelope and discover what's inside!

As I open and look through them all I'm amazed by how much I love every one of them!  However there are two that I love so much I will probably never part with them.

Of this set the one of the Chrysler Building is my favorite.  When we stayed in New York for our 25 anniversary that was almost the exact view we had from our room!

In this set it's the flower box card I will not part with.  I love everything about that card, I love everything about flower boxes and this one is simply gorgeous!

Thanks so much Daryl!  Your cards are in the mail!

Now it's back to work on my Anderson Island posts, I promise!!

I'm Back

I'm back from what was a very relaxing, fun, therapeutic, educational, wine filled, sunny island weekend with the best women I'm lucky enough to know!  Today I'll be doing my best to sort through photos and prepare posts for this week all about the weekend.  I also hope to get caught up with all of you.  I have to be honest though... The weather is beautiful today and the back courtyard area will be calling to me today.  Handy Man worked hard this weekend to get the bog filter for the pond constructed and running.  I'm so pleased with it!

In this picture if you look to the right you can see water running over the slate into the pond.

Work is not completed yet.  Handy Man will get a shorter hose and bury it.

This picture shows the bog area in back of the pond.  Please don't ask me to explain how it works, I really haven't wrapped my brain around that yet.

The area where the grass is will be covered with either rocks or more slate and that material might be changed out to some kind of batting type material.  That area serves to catch any particles before they go into the pond.

The sound of the water falling into the pond is so soothing!  I'm so happy with it!  It's pretty isn't it?!  Want to come over for some ice tea?  We can sit around the pond and be soothed by the sound of falling water!

 

46

I stole this from Chronicles of a County Girl, cause I'm sneaky like that.  I thought it would be fun for a Sunday that I'm away.

Answer each question by typing in your answer on Urban Dictionary. You MUST use the first definition!

1.  Your Name:  Tammy

A sweet girl-next-door type. A girl who would be your best friend. And if you're lucky she'll fall in love with you too. Think of Debbie Reynolds in the "Tammy and the Bachelor" movies.

 

Mike: I'm sick of the big mouth sluts with attitude in this school.

Joe: Perhaps you need to find a Tammy. Good luck with that.

I was named for the Tammy character portrayed by Debbie Reynolds.  It was either Tammy or Gidget.  I'm glad my mama picked Tammy.

2.  Your age:  46

A ho. Pronounced "four six", not "forty six," and is derived from the letters H and O on a telephone touch pad. H is on 4, O is on 6.

 

Adam: "This party is a sausage fest."
Bill: "Ya, let's get some 46's over here."

 

Who knew 46 was the year of the HO?!

3.  What should you be doing?  Working

A term to describe the tedious and boring indentured servitude that most people are forced to endure to get money. Generally, not a pleasant experience.

 

I like my job I just don't anything to do at the moment!

 

4.  Favorite color?  My absolute favorite color is the reddish/pinkish/orangish/purplish color of the sky at sunrise or sunset.  So I'm going with Sunrise and Sunset as colors...

 

Sunrise: 

When you're laying in bed first thing in the morning and you get a boner for no apparent reason; the name is derived from the time of day at which it occurs

 

I woke up early this morning when I rolled over on my sunrise

 

Sunset: 

In corporate doublespeak, sunsetting something means stopping to do something, eg. a project or different aspects of the job.

We need to sunset that initiative we started last year.
I can't believe they want to sunset the dental benefit!

Those morning boners are so inconvenient!

 

5.  Birthplace?  Seattle

 

The Emerald City, a gem to the Pac. Northwest. Home to the Space-needle, Bank of America tower, Key West Arena, Safeco Field, and Seahawks stadium, it is truly an up-and-coming city.

It also happens to be a haven to people with -all- interests and styles of life, as shown by another definition to Seattle.

And ohh yeah, we're smart, too.

I'm so glad to live in Seattle.

I truly am glad to live in Seattle, I love it here!

 

6.  Month of your birthday?  December

 

The month in which the hottest women are born.

That girl is FINE! She must have been born in December.

Uhhh duh!

 

7.  Last person you texted?  Scott

 

An incredibly cool person.

That is guy is such a Scott!

Again... duh!

 

8.  One of your nicknames:  teevee

 

word used when not explaining what was said to Adam

adam:what were you guys talking about?

others:We were talking about teevee........?,.,.,

Wha?!

 

9.  What are you doing this weekend?  Going to the beach

 

shitting; due to the tradition of releasing fecal matter into the ocean when no other rest room is available

Luis: "Bro, Im going to the beach . . ."

Joel: "Just remember to spray the air freshner."

Wow, just wow!

 

10.  Random word:  Mesmerize

Something that is Fascinating.

The words that are wonderful to you.

And there you have it!

 

 

 

Sing-a-Long Saturday

This edition contains songs that really hit the spot over the past couple of weeks.  These songs made me stop and say... "Ahhhhh"!

Home - Zach Deputy

Under Pressure - Queen and David Bowie

Lovely Rita - The Beatles

Wonderwall - Oasis

Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

Madman Across The Water - Elton John

Flightless Bird - Iron and Wine

Hunger Strike - Temple of the Dog

Dancing Queen - Abba

Norwegian Wood - The Beatles

Upcoming Weekend

I'm going to Anderson Island with my friends this weekend.  Anderson Island is the southern most island in Puget Sound. It's absolutely gorgeous there!

I'm so excited!  The weather is supposed to be warmer and drier than it has been and I'm really hoping it is.  My friends have a wonderful home right on the water, we will have the beach to ourselves.  I'll be spending time searching for agates and other treasures on the beach and of course taking lots of pictures! 

Oh and I'll be drinking wine.  We planned this trip as a women's weekend wine tasting getaway.  One of us is somewhat of a wine "professional" and she's going to teach others of us, like me, about wine.

We are each bringing a $15-$20 bottle of wine, of our choice.  I know that I like Merlot and Italian Reds.  I also know that I like berry, cherry and vanilla flavors in my wine.  I don't care for dry wine.  Based on all that I found a $24 bottle of Merlot on sale for $15.  I'm feeling pretty thrifty!

I've prepared a couple blog posts to publish while I'm gone.  This is the first time I've tried it, so hopefully it all works.

I hope you all have a great weekend!  I know I will.  I'll catch up with you all when I get back.

Mamarazzi's Favorite Things Swap

I'm determined to get in on the next Mamarazzi's Favorite Things Swap over at Dandelion Wishes.  I'm excited to share my favorite things with someone else.  I so enjoyed seeing what everyone else got last time.  Go check out the details by clicking on the link below and see if it's something you'd like to participate in!

(I really hope I did all the linking correctly!  I'm kinda link illiterate, especially when buttons are involved!)

Sky Watch

The sky out my window.  April 16, 7:00 am.

Stop by sky watch central for other amazing sky shots and add one of your own!

Decisions, Decisions

In the Fall of 2007 we bought a new house and instead of selling our old house we decided to try renting it out first.  We had no experience with either end of renting.  Aside from 6 months that we rented a condo when we were newlyweds, we have either lived in military base housing or owned homes.  As any 21st century person who is plugged in would do I turned to the internet for laws, advice and forms.

We had 19 years of accumulation and wear and tear so there was much work to be done, mostly cosmetic, and so much cleaning and clearing, oh my!  We put out for rent ads, interviewed prospective tenants and became scared s***less.  We saw all kinds of people.  People with kids, people with dogs, people with alcohol on their breath at 10 am, people who tried to negotiate rent, people who just wanted to rent one room, people who are on Section 8 (government covers rent) who wanted us to lie about the amount of rent, the list goes on and on.

So we put the house on the market and the market died.  To say we were unhappy with our agent/banker would be an understatement and is a post for another day.  With much apprehension we put the house back up for rent.

This time we got lucky, very lucky.  We found a woman, Susan, who needed a home just like ours to move in with her ailing mother, Gladys.  Susan wanted space for her mom and a separate space for herself to have some privacy.  Since the house has a full daylight basement with living room, bedroom and bathroom it was perfect for her.  They moved in and immediately wanted to change it, good changes.  She wanted to paint everything a neutral color, put shelves in the garage and install a gas fireplace for her mother to enjoy.  She also hired a gardener to keep up the yard.  We loved her, she loved us.

When we went over to do maintenance on the house we would sit with her mom on the deck and chat with her, she was a very sweet lady.  Gladys thought Handy Man was THE Handy Man not the landlord.  She didn't know they were renting the house she thought they bought the house.  We played along.

Gladys died the first part of March.  Her health had taken a bad turn after the first of the year.  Susan let us know she wasn't doing well, so we knew it was only a matter of time.  It was a blessing that she passed and was relieved of the pain she was in.  Now Susan wants to move on with her life.  She's a single woman and wants to buy a small house, our house is too big for her.  She's willing to honor her lease, which isn't up until the end of November, but would like us to make moves to find a new renter.  We really want her to be able to move on so now we have decisions to make.

Our original plan was to put the house on the market next spring.  Now we have to decide if we want to to put in on the market now, or keep it and try to try to refinance our primary residence which has high interest rate compared to what's available now.  It's possible we owe more on our primary residence than what it would currently assess at.  Selling the rental would allow us to pay down some of the primary mortgage so we could refinance.  However we would love to keep the rental for retirement purposes.  It will be paid for in 9 years well in advance of retirement.  But will we find a responsible tenant?  We know we've been spoiled with Susan and her mom.  So many decisions!

We have appointments set with a real estate agent and a refinance company.  I'll keep you posted...

What A Difference A Month Makes

For the past month I've been photographing the blooming progress of the small cheery tree in our front yard.

Taken March 12, 2009

April 4, 2009

April 9, 2009

April 14, 2009