Fiction Friday...3

Jess sighed as she left the diner. Barry had been right. She was tired. Not just physically, but emotionally. Going to work at the diner was always hard. She had let Barry think that she really needed the job when she had asked him for it. He would never have agreed to it if she told him the real reason she wanted to work there. Of course he had given her a job, as she had known he would, but he had put his own set of rules in place that made things all the harder. For one, she was not allowed to call him Dad or Daddy while working. She had gotten used to calling him Barry over the last six months of working at the diner, but she didn't enjoy it. Calling him by his name put a certain, distance between them, which had been his intention.
Barry had always had big dreams for her. Dreams of her leaving the small town life behind and going off to college to make something great out of her life. He had held that dream out there and planned her whole life around it, and she hadn't minded. The small town life had always seemed small to her. Until she met Rob. Neither of them had counted on Rob.
Rob was three years older than her and had moved in to town to open up a garage there the summer she had turned 18. College loomed ahead, and he had been a welcome distraction from the stress of leaving home. She hadn't expected to fall in love, but she had.
Rob had supported her in her dreams of college. He would have gone with her, but he had taken out a significant loan in order to get his own dream of a garage started, and he couldn't just leave without making a go of the business. Still, he had supported her and it was at his insistence that she had headed off to college that fall. They kept in touch with letters, with phone calls and with emails, but it had just not been enough for her. She came home for Christmas fully intending to stay. Barry had been furious of course, and she had relented and returned to school, but only missed Rob more. After that first year was over she had come home and nothing, not Barry's anger, and not Rob's quiet urging for her to stay in school could get her to go back. She and Rob were married that summer and she transferred her university credits to the Community College and eventually finished her Bachelor's degree through Independent Study. She had thought that finishing her degree was what Barry wanted, but she had been wrong. He had wanted her to find a better life, away from this town.
Rob's garage was doing well. He was the only mechanic in town, so he was kept busy and his business prospered. Jess had hoped that Barry would consent to spend some time with them once she completed her degree, but his anger went deeper than she had realized. She had asked him for a job as a way to see him, to keep him in her life, hoping that he would soften over time. Now that time was running out as her due date grew closer. She had to find a way to get through to him before the baby came.
Jess sighed again as she crossed the parking lot to where her car was parked. It was a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS that her husband had spent the last three years restoring. Thinking of Rob working on the car made her smile. He had insisted that she drive it when he found out they were expecting the baby. Somehow he thought that it would be safer than her "tin can gas sipper" as he called it.
The engine roared across the early morning silence as she started the car, pulled out of the parking lot and headed for home. The house Jess and Rob lived in was a few miles outside of town. She loved the way the edge of town just seemed to blend into a scenic forest. The drive home was one of her favorite parts of the day because of that, and because she knew she would be seeing Rob soon. She was distracted by her thoughts and was not prepared when a figure stepped from the forest and into the road, arms raised.

Wordless Wednesday...Bugs

A ladybug we saw on our walk Sunday. This photo was taken with Macro, and has not been edited at all. You get a better idea if you click on the picture and look at it full size.

Four dragonflies on a log, also on our walk Sunday.

Family visits

We have just been having company left and right lately! We thought that when we moved to the beach our families would want to come and visit us more often, but generally that hasn't been the case. Its still almost a two hour drive for our nearest family members to come and visit us, so other than D's Dad, we only get visits a couple of times a year.

This last week though, we were able to enjoy a visit from my sister, her husband, and their three kids, and then yesterday my parents came over for the day and had dinner with us. Today we are expecting D's Dad, sister and her family, and next Monday my younger sisters are coming as well. I thought I would share a few highlight pics from recent visits.


First of all though...Happy Birthday #2! You can see a Birthday tribute to #2 on my other blog.

Cousins playing in the surf

Baby G staying warm at the beach

My parents hamming it up.

My Dad shows his serious side.

Something to do if you are bored...

Looking for a fun craft to try with the kids? You can make packing peanut sculptures! This will only work with the biodegradable cornstarch packing peanuts. All you have to do is get them slightly wet where you want them to stick, and stick them together.

D and I tried this activity for our date night, and we are sure the boys would love to try this out too. The packing peanuts we have are the S shaped ones, but I think that the plain cylinder shaped ones would work better. As you can see from the pictures, D is definitely the more artistic of us. My first attempt at an igloo ended up too wet (you do need to be careful not to get your project too wet or it will dissolve-we used paint brushes to get ours wet, and I have heard of people using a wet sponge also.) I tried flattening the peanuts out and also rolling them into cylinders to make a little hut that turned out pretty pathetic, but better than my igloo. My third attempt I decided to stop trying to be artistic and just went for something fun. The boys have dubbed my creation Gumby.

I have actually seen colored versions of the packing peanuts for sale at craft stores, but if you don't mind not having a color variety you can pick up a large bag of packing peanuts for fairly cheap. (Again, remember that they need to be the cornstarch kind NOT the foam kind). The best part is that once you are done with your projects and have displayed them for an appropriate amount of time you can put them outside to dissolve in the rain, or you can toss them and you can have an environmentally clear conscience.

Some friends of ours also did this for a family activity once and wrote about it on their blog. You can see their creations here.

Try it out and see for yourself! I think this would be a great way for people who don't get snow to make some fun snowmen in the wintertime and its sure to be a hit with the kids.

Fiction Friday...2

"Jess...Jess! Table three needs more coffee."
The words brought her back from her thoughts and she shook her head slightly before turning towards the owner of the voice.
"Sorry Barry," She said, standing up from where she had been leaning against the counter. One hand drifted almost unconsciously towards the small of her back as she started across the diner.
Barry felt guilty for being the one to make her move. She had looked almost serene for a few minutes as she relaxed, but coffee didn't serve itself, and she was the one getting paid to serve it. Besides that, he couldn't stomach the idea of seeming soft to his customers, it was bad enough that other employees at the diner were always taking up her slack.
He had to force himself to turn the other way and not watch her as she served table three's coffee and made the rounds to check on her other two tables. She was a beautiful girl. It seemed like such a waste to have her working here, but he hadn't been able to refuse when she came asking him for a job. He never had been able to say no to her, even when she was a little girl.
Jess finished her round and returned to her place behind the counter. She glanced sidelong at him while he tried to pretend that he didn't notice. After a few moments she sighed and he knew that she had returned to her thoughts. He risked a look and watched her for a few moments. She looked tired. A few strands of her dark hair had escaped the ponytail and fell softly across the curve of her cheek. He resisted the urge to reach over and tuck them safely behind her ear. Those days were long gone.
He wasn't sure when his eyes had left her face and travelled to the roundness of her belly and the arm she seemed to drape protectively across it. When he glanced up again her eyes were on his face and he was taken by surprise at the depth and understanding he saw there. Blue eyes. Her mother's eyes. His chest seemed to constrict for a moment and then he looked away and stood up a little bit straighter. He glanced at his watch and then out the window where light was just beginning to creep above the horizon.
"Why don't you call it a night Jess." He said it flatly, more of a statement than a suggestion. She stood up a little bit straighter and he could sense that her pride was hurt. He half raised his hands, the fingers wide apart as if defending himself. "Now don't go getting all worked up. Its a slow night. I can take care of the customers we have right now, and Susie'll be here in less than an hour. I don't think there is going to be a big early morning rush." He could sense that she was still going to refuse he so he threw the sucker punch. "I can tell you're tired...think about the baby."
Her hand went to her belly again and she looked away, torn. He knew he would win though because that baby was her weak spot, just the way she was his. Finally she turned towards the door, hanging up her apron as she left. She paused as she opened the door and half turned back towards him.
"'Night Daddy."
He closed his eyes. "Goodnight Jess."

Wordless Wednesday: North Head Lighthouse

The Nice Matters Award

Lisa over at A Backstage Pass awarded me with a Nice Matters Award. This is my first award on this blog. Thank you Lisa! What a nice surprise!

This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends & those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award.

There are many bloggers who are qualified for this award. Its the choosing that is hard...

DaPoppins is one of the nicest people I know, and I should know because I have known her for 20 years! She is also a great blogger and was one of the people that got me interested in starting a blog of my own.

Daring Young Mom is of course well known to many in the blogging world. She is also a very nice person in general and this award describes her in every way.

Scribbit is a great influence in the blog world. She rarely misses a day of blogging and not only that, she often emails people in response to their comments and has great tips on her blog. If that isn't nice I don't know what is.

Annie at Anniethology is so nice she inspires other bloggers to travel across states to meet her. She has brought many bloggers together, and she has inspired many to join in the Good Mail revolution.

Temporary Insanity always has something nice to say and is always supportive. She is a good friend, who I would not have as a friend if not for blogging.

A Happy Heart is a friend of mine from back in our single days. I think I have known her for close to 20 years as well. We were also in a band together once upon a time. I had lost track of her since she got married and was pleasantly surprised to find her again through blogging.

Calamity Jane is relatively new to blogging. Her blog is about her own personal journey through weight loss and what worked and didn't work for her. Her blog inspires good feelings and inspiration in me, and even though I don't know her well, I can tell she is nice.

Update...For those of you who don't know yet...Carrot Jello is one of the nicest bloggers there are. She has been a positive influence on the blogging world by bringing her family into it, and they are ALL nice people. I always feel happy when I read her blog.

A rare opportunity

We had a lovely day on Friday visiting with D's mother, step-dad and brother. It was great to spend a day with them, especially since we generally only get to see them once a year, and usually for just one day.

They came over on Friday morning, and we took a nice walk on D's favorite beach, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. There were very few people there so we had the beach mostly to ourselves.

After our beach walking, we came home and had lunch, then we were off to the Washington side of the river where we went and looked at some lighthouses. We took the picture at right and if you look just over my mother in law's shoulder, you can see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse in the distance. There is a better picture of the lighthouse on this Wordless Wednesday post.

We came back home and enjoyed a nice dinner and just hung out before they had to head back to their hotel. They left for Utah the next morning to attend D's Grandpa's funeral. Thank you all for the good wishes and the comments regarding D's Grandpa. We will not be able to go to the funeral but will be thinking often of Grandpa and the rest of the family over the next few days.

The second picture is of D, me and the boys. It was taken on the trail to the North Head Lighthouse.

Have you called your Grandparents lately?

D's Grandpa passed away this morning.
It wasn't totally unexpected. We knew that he wasn't in good health so we were somewhat prepared for this. In some ways it is comforting to know that he is finally able to be with his wife again. It has been ten years (to the month) since she died, and I know that he was very lonely without her. He has been frustrated at the limitations that come with growing old, and it is comforting to know that he doesn't have to worry about those physical limitations any more.
Of course, there is also regret. Regret that we didn't write or call more often. Regret that we were not able to visit more frequently. Regret that he is gone from this life. We will miss him.

The first time I met D's Grandpa was when I went to Utah to visit D when we were engaged. D was attending BYU, and I was living in Vancouver (WA). D's Grandma and Grandpa picked me up from the airport and I spent the first night of the weekend at their house.
We had only been married a little over a year when Grandma W passed away. We often made drives up from Provo to SLC and spent time with Grandpa. He let us do our laundry there and I cooked real food for him whenever I got the chance. I remember clearly that he always had a good appetite and was able to compete with his Grandsons in the eating category. He always appreciated a good meal. He was generous, always asking after our welfare, and he nearly always sent us home with a box of food from his food storage. It was comforting to have him in SLC since all of the rest of our family was back in the Northwest. Grandpa loved gardening and kept a large garden for as long as he was physically able. The yard was always planted with beautiful flowers, and he kept it looking nice. Grandpa was also an avid fisherman and loved to take his family fishing. He would always notice little things and loved it when he saw D and I holding hands or hugging. He loved to see people in love show that they were in love. I often thought about how much he must miss his own love over the last ten years. I am going to miss Grandpa W. Even though he is D's Grandpa, I really came to love him as my own Grandpa during the time we lived close by him.
Finding out that he passed away today made me think of my own Grandpa in Colorado. I have been meaning to call him up for a while, but I kept putting it off. Today I stopped putting it off and gave him a call. It was nice to talk with him for a while. Are your grandparents still alive? If they are, maybe you should give them a call or write them a letter. I wish that I had done that more often for D's Grandpa.
I will probably not be posting for a few days. D's Mom and step-Dad are in the area and we are spending tomorrow with them. Saturday we will be celebrating my Mom's birthday in Vancouver. I don't feel much like writing an entry for fiction Friday right now anyhow. I will be back in a few days.

Worldess Wednesday

A rose by any other name...

Only in Oregon

Oregon is a beautiful place to live. There are great hiking trails, beautiful vistas and just plain lovely scenery. Sure, it rains here, but its worth it for the extraordinary amount of green we get out of it.
I love blackberries. However, in Oregon, most people consider blackberries to be a weed. I will admit that there are times when I cringe as blackberry bushes start to creep into our yard more and more. All it takes is some perseverance to keep them under control, and you can be rewarded with big, beautiful berries like the one pictured at right. Berries like that and even bigger than that grow right in our own backyard. We also love walking down the dirt road behind our house, or down by the river where even more blackberries grow. It is one of the joys of summer.
Unfortunately since so many people consider them weeds the city often sends someone to mow along the roads and along the river walk where we usually pick berries. They tend to do this right when the berries are at their perfect picking time. There is nothing more frustrating than going out to pick some berries and finding that someone has mowed all the bushes down and the berries are gone. Luckily, the blackberries are hardy and they always grow back. There is always next year!

'Tis the season...

The season for shopping for back to school. I don't know what is wrong with me this year. Usually I love shopping for school supplies. I have a confirmed obsession with buying office supplies and saving them for a rainy day. Most years I am giddy over all of the good deals I can get on crayons, paper, pens and glue. I always make sure to buy extras of the really cool stuff so I can use it for stuffing stockings when the time comes (my Mom, one of my sisters and I stuff each other's stockings at Christmas every year. Its great fun to actually be surprised by what I get instead of just stuffing the leftovers in my own stocking). Its also nice to know that if I need a box of 24 crayons I don't have to run out and spend $1.20 or more on it (Small town living) because I have already stocked up on an assortment of crayons ranging from 12 to 20 cents a box. Last year I think I must have bought 20+ boxes, and I thought I would use them all, but somehow we didn't and when I counted what I had left over from last year and added them to what I bought yesterday, I somehow came up with 34 boxes of 24 crayons. This is AFTER I took out the crayons the boys have to have for school. I guess I don't need to be so stingy with my crayons this year. We will certainly have plenty of crayons for making our own crayons when we feel like it.
Thinking back over the last few weeks, I have been excited to go shopping for school. I think it must have been something to do with taking five boys with us to WalMart (it is over an hour away to get to the nearest one) on a quest for cheap jeans and cheaper school supplies. The three younger boys have gotten to the stage where they want to pick everything out themselves. Surprisingly enough the older two don't care so much if they have their favorite cartoon character on their rear end and they are also perfectly willing to let me pick out the least expensive sneakers I can find. The other three however, were pickier about their shoe choices, and didn't want to wait and shop somewhere else for less expensive shoes. (Okay...I didn't spend more than $16 a pair for shoes, but I am usually a deal shopper and try not to pay more than $10-so it seems like a big difference to me.)
This year we will have four of the boys in school. This means that there are more school supplies to get, and unfortunately the WalMart we went to was less than well stocked. I did manage to find some crayola crayons in their regular home since the ones in the school supply section were gone, but some of the other good deals were empty, and there was only one pair of jeans in #2's size that I was looking for. They were out of quite a few things we were wanting to get, and when you have to travel more than fifty miles you don't really want to try to come back later. I should have listened to Carrot when she said WalMart is bad. We should have driven the extra 15 minutes to Target...but we were lured in by the cheap underwear, socks, jeans and school supplies.
It wasn't only WalMart's lack of friendly staff (there were not nearly enough registers open for the amount of people in line) and understocked shelves that got me down. It was having the boys there. Don't get me wrong, they were actually pretty well behaved, but there were a few moments where I just wanted to cry. They were trying to be helpful, bringing me things they thought they needed for school (which they did, but I needed to see the prices). It is very distracting to have up to five little boys showing you different things all at once. I won't even go into details about the near fist fight in the snack foods section of the store, except to say that two of my boys in particular don't get along very well with each other, and shopping with both of them is nearly always a disaster. Considering the amount of time they went before they started arguing, I thought they did pretty well.
Maybe next year I will take a day to shop on my own. I hate giving up a Saturday of family time though. Saturday is our day to get things done, and to spend time together, and a shopping trip to Longview always ends up taking most of the day because not only is there evil WalMart, but there is also Winco, land of affordable groceries. By the end of the day I was tired, and I wished for peace and quiet, but I am still glad we chose to spend the day as a family. It was worth it.

Fiction Friday...1

I am trying something new. Please bear with me. It has been a very, VERY long time since I wrote any stories or did much with my writing at all. I was trying to think of a blog post, and this just came to me. Fiction Friday. I honestly don't know if I will be able to come up with something every Friday or not...I may ditch the idea if I can't think of things to write about. Of course, I am by no means a professional, or even close to being an amateur. My grammar and punctuation are probably not up to par, and I didn't take the time to really edit this little piece. Its just a way to get myself to write SOMETHING, and its not meant to be polished or perfect.



She collapsed, gasping for air, every breath filling her lungs with ice. She could not be sure how far she had run. Fear and adrenaline had made her careless, and she had thought of nothing but escaping, of getting as far away as she could. She had tried to listen for pursuit as she ran, but heard nothing but her own breathing, and the breaking of twigs and branches as she crashed headlong through the trees, heedless of the trail that ran nearby. Running had been her only thought, and she had run until she could not run any longer.
Now she pulled herself up to her knees, trying to quiet her breathing, straining to hear if she was followed. Where was she? How far had she come? She tried to think, but her heart continued to beat rapidly against her chest and the fear clutched at her again.
The woods were silent; unnaturally so. She forced herself to breathe in slowly through her nose and exhaled quietly. The damp night air felt suddenly cold against the sweat on her forehead and at the small of her back. She could hear the surge of her blood in her ears. Eyes closed, she willed herself calm and continued to listen.
Long moments went by, and the silence stretched on. Then she heard it; A single sharp crack of a fallen branch being stepped on, accompanied by a muffled curse. Slowly she turned her head towards the sound, straining to see in the darkness. He was on the trail, standing just yards away from where she hid. She could sense him more than she could see him. The place where he stood was like a darkness that was deeper than the night around them. Her heart fluttered in her chest, and she suppressed the urge to get up and run; As much of a monster as he was at heart, she knew that he could not see well in the dark. Slowly she bowed her head down, letting her hair fall forward to obscure her face. There was just enough of a moon above the trees that it might reflect against her pale skin in the darkness.
The minutes seemed to stretch on, both of them waiting in silence. At last she sensed him turning away from where she hid. He didn’t bother at stealth as he followed the path back down the way he had come from. She knew that he was smiling as he left, that he was unconcerned that he had not found her. He had known that she was nearby, and he knew her habits. She had never eluded him for more than a day or two, and he was a very patient man.
Once she was sure he was away, she crawled carefully out of the trees and made her way to the trail. She stood for a few moments, facing the direction he had gone, then turned resolutely and continued down the path in the opposite direction. He would be counting on her not asking anyone for help. She had never asked before, it always seemed too dangerous to bring anyone else into the nightmare that was her life.
The trail turned to run parallel to a narrow road as the sky began to lighten into predawn. As soon as it was light she knew that he would follow her crashing path through the woods, and that he would know where she had hidden. She took some small satisfaction that he would feel a pang of frustration at how close he had stood to her hiding spot, but she knew that he was patient, and that the frustration would be fleeting. Her heart started to beat harder as the sky grew paler, and her time to get away was running out.
Then she heard it; A car in the distance, coming down the road. She struggled for a few moments with the urge to retreat farther into the trees, then made a decision and stepped from their shelter and onto the road, raising her hands as she stood waiting.

Wordless Wednesday

Anyone want to roast some marshmallows?

Having a cold in the summertime is just not right...

That's right...I have a cold. A miserable, nothing is draining out of half of my face, feel like my head is going to explode cold. I thought colds were banned during the summer. Apparently I was wrong.

I know exactly where I got this cold. I got it from D despite my efforts to stay away from his germs last week while we were on vacation. It should make me feel a little bit better that I didn't get the cold until we were back from all the camping and all the fun, but somehow...all I can think about is that he feels better now, and I feel like crap. (Oh no...I think I may have just changed the rating of this blog by using the word crap in it! OH NO! There I go again!)

Really I shouldn't be whining. Things are not that bad. In a couple of hours I can go sink my head into the oblivion of my feather pillow, with my box of antibacterial Kleenex nearby (see? I even got the antibacterial tissue because I am a sucker). I hope you will all take a deep, cleansing breath through your nose and think of me.

Recipe: Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

When I was a teenager there was this really great cookie place in the mall in Vancouver. It was called The Cookie Cutter. I loved going there to get a cookie dough cone (just like it sounds, raw cookie dough scooped into a sugar cone-mmmm!) My favorite cookie that they sold there was a chocolate marshmallow cookie. It was soft with a thick layer of marshmallow in the middle and chocolate frosting. After a few years the Mall got a remodel and they decided that the only food places they would allow had to be franchises. The cookie cutter was a one owner, one restaurant kind of place, so they were forced to close down and were replaced with Mrs. Fields.

Years later I was still thinking about those cookies, and after I married D, I found out that they were also one of his favorites as well. I set out looking for a good recipe for chocolate marshmallow cookies but to no avail. That is when I decided to take matters into my own hands. I had been making cake mix cookies for a while, and if you have ever made them you know that they turn out a soft cookie. I started out with a cake mix cookie as the base of my recipe and went from there. Today I am passing my recipe along to you. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Chocolate Marshmallow cookies

preheat oven to 350

1 chocolate cake mix (we prefer devil's food or triple chocolate chip)

1 cube of butter (or margarine if you prefer it)

2 eggs

1 T vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips (optional but preferred)

18 to 20 large marshmallows

Chocolate Frosting of your choice (I use the Fluffy Chocolate Frosting recipe from The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook, but because of copyright I am not going to publish it here).

In a mixing bowl cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add the cake mix, eggs and vanilla. Mix until well mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips and drop the cookie dough by spoonful onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 9 to 10 minutes. While the cookies are baking cut each marshmallow in half with a pair of clean scissors or kitchen shears. Remove the cookies from the oven and press one half of a marshmallow sticky side down (the sticky side will be where you cut through the marshmallow) on each cookie. Place the pan of cookies back in the oven for one minute. Remove the cookies again and use a spoon to flatten and spread the melted marshmallow across each cookie (this works best if you lightly butter the back of the spoon, re-buttering it as needed to prevent sticking). Allow the cookies to cool and frost with the chocolate frosting of your choice.

These cookies have gotten raves anywhere I have ever taken them, and people regularly request them from me. They are actually very easy, and very good. I hope you enjoy them! Let me know how you like them if you try them!

Vacation Pics

Mt. St. Helens from the North side and a neighboring lake. If you look closely you can see some steam venting above the volcano.

Here we are exploring the Ape Caves. It was pitch black down there except for the lantern and flashlights we had with us. Luckily the lantern light and the flash were enough to make this picture come out okay.

Here is one of the yurts we stayed in.

A family shot taken at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery in the Columbia River Gorge.

Bloggy Lunch...

I had a wonderful lunch yesterday with Thoroughly Mormon Millie, Emma Sometimes and my old high school friend and fellow blogger DaPoppins. We enjoyed a lovely meal at the Olive Garden and spent the whole time chatting and laughing. Pictures were taken, but out of respect for Emma and DaPoppins, I am not going to post them. When lunch was over and I was getting dropped off back at my parent's house, I did not want to get out of the car because I was enjoying the company and the conversation so much. Thanks girls for the great afternoon!

Handbag Heaven!

(I will post some pictures from our camping adventures tomorrow.)

After we got done with our camping trip, D and the boys dropped me off for some fun with my family! My Mom, my four sisters and I spent the evening eating good food, shopping and sewing the placemat purses I mentioned in my previous post. I thought I would share some pics of the fruits of our efforts.

The handbags were a little bit tricky to make at first. Most of our problems seemed to be with making sure the ribbon we used to attach the handles stayed where we wanted it while sewing. Once we got through that part (which although frustrating was not really difficult) the rest of it was quite easy.

(Please forgive the unprofessional quality of the photography.)

Well, I tried...

My efforts to get a post out for Wordless Wednesday were unsuccessful. What I did was to forward my email post to my Mom, and she was going to forward it to the blogger address that I am able to publish my blog to. Unfortunately it would not go through for her so I missed my chance!
I am still not home, although I am back to civilization. I am typing this blog from my little sister's computer. I will make up for the lack of a wordless Wednesday this weekend after I am home. We took a lot of pictures while we were camping and doing things around Mt. St. Helens, so there should hopefully be some decent shots that I can post.
Right now I am at my Mom's house, and I am having some me time. This week has been our first vacation in a long time, and D has been working a lot of hours at work lately. I needed a break from the boys, as much as I love them, so I am staying the night at my parent's house. D and the boys dropped me off this morning and headed for home, and my father in law is kindly going to take me home tomorrow afternoon.
Tonight's plan is a girl's night with my Mom and all four of my sisters. We are going out for Chinese, and we are planning to make placemat purses. I got the instructions for the purses from Scribbit's blog, and thought it would be a perfect girl's night activity. We are also going to wax nostalgic and watch some old TV shows from our childhood (think The Hardy Boys, and LaVerne and Shirley).
Tomorrow I have a lunch date with DaPoppins, and then I will be heading home. I will try to post some vacation pics and updates on Sunday. See you all then!