luvteaching

Good Afternoon and Happy New Year's Eve! We're in for a string of days that show clouds and sun but by the end of the week rain and even a few snowflakes are showing up. Today I finished "de-Christmasing" the house with everything packed up. Now to get the boxes put away and when DS comes over he'll put the tree out in the shed. No plans for tonight as I tend to stay home, get comfy cozy and probably won't even make midnight. Best wishes to all as we finish out 2023 and all the best for a brighter and better 2024. Karen

That's it for me. Thanks everyone! See you in 2024.

It says 64F there and I'm at almost 60F in the Pacific Northwest!

Checking in! The map shows Sky Princess on the move.

Good afternoon, Back from errands (bank, Hallmark and grocery store) and lunch at a fave Mexican restaurant with friends and DS. There were 6 of us and we had a nice visit. I have my chicken enchilada to have for dinner tonight. @dfish Glad to hear you're home and doing as well as can be expected. @Niagarawine Alaska is very doable with a mobility scooter. My DH did it for many years and we went everywhere we could. He rode the tram in Juneau and did the trail to Nugget Falls at Mendenhall. He was all over Sitka and Ketchikan and rode the train several times at Skagway. If you want to do the train make sure you book the handicapped car. It has a life to get you in and it's less crowded. DH stayed on his scooter and I had a seat. Have a nice evening! Karen

Good morning, Getting back into the routine today with water aerobics and a few errands. We have a couple of nice zoos at Seattle and Tacoma but haven't been in years. My favorite is the San Diego Zoo. We have a family fruitcake on DH's side. It's never come out of the tin but years ago I picked it up at an after Christmas sale. On the bottom of the tin we put the year and who hosted Christmas and then it gets passed to the person who hosts the next year. We've kept it going well over 20 years but, since Covid, we're not sure who has it. I'm hosting DH's side of the family in late January (we don't stick to just December for our celebration) so will put out the call to have everyone check their cupboards and see if we find it! Yesterday, for Boxing Day, I went north of the border and spent some time with my longtime girlfriend and her family. We were in each other's weddings, I'm godmother to her two adult children and we've been friends over 50 years. The border was very easy each way (less than a minute) and it was the nicest afternoon. I'm glad I did it. Enjoy your day! Karen

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I think I'm ready for the day. DS and DDIL will be over when I let them know I'm up and moving. They come in their jammies and we'll have a relaxing morning opening gifts. They'll head home to have a bit of a break and then be back for dinner. They're supplying appetizers including shrimp, BLT's and stuffed mushrooms. Dinner tonight is a spiral ham (thanks Costco), cheesy scalloped potatoes, honey ginger carrots, and fresh homemade rolls. Cookies are dessert. @ger_77 Happy Birthday! Tomorrow, which is Boxing Day in Canada, I'll head up and spend a few hours with my god-adults (can't call them godchildren anymore as they are 35 and above). That will be fun. Have a wonderful day everyone! Karen

Good morning, @grapau27 Happy Birthday to Sarah! It's a colder morning here and I have no plans to leave the driveway unless I run to recycle. DS is coming over around 10:00 to fill outside bird feeders and do a few other "son-do" tasks for me. Today is getting the house cleaned and some dinner prep for tomorrow. I'll have 9 around the table Christmas Day so a full table. Had the nicest afternoon and evening yesterday. DS and DDIL had me over for appetizers, games and homemade manicotti. A couple of their friends came as well. One game we played was Blank Slate and it was fun. It's in my Amazon cart at the moment as a gift for my god-daughter and her husband. The manicotti was delicious and it was a nice afternoon/evening. I got out to the car totally iced over so had to wait to thaw it and I took my time coming home (it's only a 10 minute drive if that). Happy Christmas Eve to all who celebrate. Karen

Good morning from a soggy Pacific Northwest! The rain is really coming down at the moment and today is supposed to be wet but then we get clearer days. I'll be taking cookies to a few friends today as well as doing the last minute shopping. I'm hoping that will be my last trek to town until after the holidays. I should run to the recycle but that's a backroads, get out for a drive, event and can do that Saturday or Sunday. Yesterday I got almost all the wrapping done - just need to do the stockings for DS and DDIL. Now it's on to cleaning the house and getting organized for Christmas Day. Since all our cruises have been to Alaska out of Seattle I've been to Ketchikan close to 23 times. One cruise, on the Nieuw Amsterdam in 2021 (after the restart) we had propulsion issues and limped into Sitka. We ended up missing Ketchikan and making a courtesy stop at Victoria (couldn't get off) before getting to Seattle. The issue was fixed there and the next sailing continued on. Happy Friday! Karen

Check out @richwmn's new blog on the boards about sailing on the Volendam for the next 134 days. As he goes along I'm pretty sure you'll get lots of information.

146 shortbread cookies done 48 candy cane cookies completed as well as two peppermint sticks. I think I'm baked out for the day. Oh yeah - now comes the cleanup. When DH was home and able to he did the dishes since he said he got all the fun of eating the cookies. I guess it's all up to me now! It's also raining and time to get the trash out for pickup tomorrow. Karen

Good morning, It's a rather dreary day today and we're in for showers and heavier rain at times. It's a good day to be home. I plan to be here most of the day but may have to run to town to mail the Christmas cards. It's a stack and I don't know as I want to leave them for the mailman but we'll see. I'll honor yesterday's cookie day as I plan on baking today. My two for today are candy cane cookies which are a bit finicky and my English Shortbread. I can't find berry sugar so will grind up regular sugar and it works. I have sent all the Canada gifts and am tracking them through UPS. I get "dinged" for duty and I'm not happy about that as they are gifts but who can you argue with? If you are in the US and shipping to Canada Netparcel is a great resource. It's quicker and less expensive than the USPS and they'll even pick up off the front porch which is nice since it's a trek to town for me. Have a good day everyone! Karen

There are 17 titles in the series and I'm on #16. It does help to read them in order but that's my way of doing things. Enjoy! Karen

@POA1. I admire your reading streak! I tend to go for hardcover books and read on my Kindle app on vacations. I enjoyed the Richard Osman series as well. Have you read the Rhys Bowen "Her Royal Spyness" series. It's set in England and Scotland in the early 1930s and I found them very enjoyable. Thanks for taking us along on your trip! Karen

I'm multitasking. I got two boxes of gifts ready to ship to Canada. They are sitting waiting to go out tomorrow for pickup. I have resisted the urge to dust though. Instead I may play Wordscapes to pass the time. Karen

Checking in!

Good evening everyone! I made it home, almost in daylight, from my visit with my Mom. For 97 she's a going concern. The border was no problem with about a minute wait in both directions (I go through the one at Aldergrove/Lynden which is often quieter) and I made good time both directions. We got her errands done, got two gifts bought at "The Gap", had lunch at White Spot (shrimp sandwich on multi-grain for me and chicken burger and Zoo sticks for Mom) and then some tea and a visit at her place. Those of you who know White Spot know how good their shrimp sandwich is. I brought home 1/2 the sandwich and some fries so that will be dinner probably tomorrow night as I'm still full. Now to relax! Karen

Good morning, I'll take anything covered in chocolate as long as it's dark chocolate. Not a big fan of milk chocolate. Today and tomorrow we're having sun and clouds but the rain returns on Monday. The last few days have been busy here with wrapping, baking my English shortbread, water aerobics, etc. Yesterday was a potluck with a local Widows Support Group. It's more of a social group and some nice people. There were 35 of us. A couple of them are classmates of DH. Today I'm heading to Canada to see my mom and take her gifts up. I'll ship the rest on Monday for nieces, sisters and great-nieces. It's too much for my mom for me to take them to her. She's 97 and a going concern. Today I'm to take her to Old Navy and The Gap to shop for my niece and then she wants to go to White Spot for lunch so we can share a shrimp sandwich. If you know White Spot you know that their shrimp sandwich, on multigrain bread, is delicious. I have warned her that I'd like to be closer to home by dark so it will be a shorter visit but I'll be back up in a few weeks. Have a good day everyone! @rafinmd I think writing your own obituary is a great idea! I did DH's and it took many drafts and I still feel like I left things out he may have wanted included. Karen

Good afternoon everyone, It's a cloudy day here but no rain at the moment - it must have all happened yesterday! The symphony was wonderful last night. I saw two instruments I wasn't familiar with. One was a celesta and was used during the selections from The Nutcracker. The other was a contrabass saxophone. That thing was so big! It was almost as tall as the gentleman playing it (in You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch) and I think a small child could have fit in the bell. What deep tones it had! Today is hang out at home, get some cards and wrapping done, and watch the ships leave Port Everglades. Karen

Checking in. Hearing some deep toots.

Checking in from a windy and soggy Pacific Northwest.

Good morning from a very soggy Sedro-Woolley. The wind is going and the rain is coming down - some of it with snow mixed in. The snow is just a momentary 'blip" but the wind and rain are the forecast for most of the day and into tomorrow. It's predicted to be at least an inch of rain today. I mailed the Christmas cards for Canada yesterday but still have the US ones to do. Today is sorting out purchases and organizing to get a couple of boxes shipped to BC. Still have a few things to come so can't ship to mid-week at the earliest. Tonight is the Skagit Symphony for the Christmas concert and looking forward to that. Meanwhile I'll stay in the house (except to walk to the end of the driveway to get the mail) and watch Mother Nature make life interesting. I also plan on watching the Port Everglades sail away today. Karen

Good morning, IT's actually a dry day here - at the moment. We're in between atmospheric rivers. The local rivers crested just below flood stage and are now receding but still have road closures, etc. I'm high and dry so don't have to worry about flooding. I enjoy crossword puzzles and make good chocolate brownies. Today is also our DS's adoption day. 45 years ago he came to us. He was 2 1/2 years old, almost potty trained and a red-haired ADHD child (undiagnosed at that time). He has added grey hair to my head but the last 5 months, since DH's passing, he's been an invaluable support as has DDIL. Today is getting the Christmas cards in the mail that go to Canada and England as they take close to 2 weeks to arrive at their destination as well as a couple of errands. Tomorrow night I'm joining a friend at the Skagit Symphony's Christmas program and looking forward to that. Rain comes back tomorrow - oh well. Karen

Good morning, We're experiencing an "atmospheric river" in our area of the Pacific Northwest. The rain is coming down hard and the gutters are overflowing. Our local river, the Skagit, is under Flood Warning and the town of Mount Vernon is erecting the flood barriers on the revetment. Fortunately I'm high enough I shouldn't be affected unless one of the small rivers goes over. I'll find out when I go to town for physical therapy in a bit. The tree is up and most of the dust collectors are out or ready to be. I need to get the Canadian Christmas cards done because it takes almost 2 weeks for the cards to get there! I'm still working on the Christmas letter but aim to finish in the next day or two. @cunnorl Congratulations on the arrival of Maeve Grace! She's gorgeous and what a dead if dark hair. Have a good day and stay dry! Karen

Checking in. It's a very wet day in the Pacific Northwest!