Okay, I have a confession. Tom sent me this hugely long blog several weeks ago, and because of computer issues, doctor's appointments, a busy schedule, and me just being so dead tired when I get off of work, I took this long to find photos to go with the posts so they could finally go live. Yes, I know; totally lame excuse. Hope you enjoy. I tried to post a ton of pictures here to make up for the fact that the blog has been such a disappointment.
-Amy
Our spacious 800 sq ft apartment has seen as much traffic per square foot per day as SeaTac airport. (and 97.24% of statistics are made up on the spot)
Amy’s family came to town in March, just one event in a month that’s left our heads spinning, hence the reason for our nonexistent posts.
Nearly the whole gang showed up. We played host to Amy’s parents, her brothers Jeff, Devin, Jeff’s wife and two kids, and Amy’s sister Summer.
Only Summer actually stayed with us, but everyone spent plenty of time here. We really missed Matt and his family, not to mention Tanner (who’s teacher deserves whatever she gets for not letting him come).
Anyway, I don’t think our place could have held too many more.
We had a lot of things on our itinerary, and very few things on that list went undone. We didn’t actually spend much time in the apartment.
On our first day out in the city, we went down to the waterfront. Nothing went quite according to plan, but we all had a good time. We spent some time browsing at Elliott Bay Book Store.
Kim and Becky stayed there entertaining themselves while the rest of us headed down First Avenue, stopping for a Cow Chip cookie, and browsing around at the Utilikilt store.
We even paused for a photo op in front of the totem pole in Pioneer Square.
We headed back to the cars and I picked up Kim and Becky so they could join us for lunch.
We all headed out to Discovery Park (no relation to the famed cable channel) and had a weenie roast.
Jeff and Ryan worked at impressing each other with handstands. Some of us threw the Frisbee.
The next day we were back in Seattle and we all took a ride on the Bainbridge Island ferry. Ella and Leo had fun imagining mermaids swimming in Puget Sound.
We all loved the great view of the city, and the Olympic Mountains were bold and clear to the west.
We had a great picnic lunch on the waterfront and took a look around the oddities and tchotchkes at Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe. I was especially impressed by a highly detailed model of an English village made entirely of cork.
The next day, Jeff and his family, Devin, Ryan, Amy, and I went to Boeing museum of flight. It had been some time since I’ve been there, and there was more to see than we could get in. I was especially geeking out over the new World War I exhibit.
Everyone pitched in to help buy and cook meals and nobody had an excuse to go away hungry. By the end, I think everyone was exhausted, but pleasantly so.
We had a great time hosting everyone and showing off our new stomping grounds. For us, it was also a great excuse to get out of the routine and experience the beautiful place we live in.
Amy and I have been getting through life just fine. It’s been a struggle to adjust our routines and get back into the groove of things. Our efforts for fiction have been woefully neglected as a result.
We had Amy’s brothers and a friend of theirs staying for a short time while they get their work situation figured out. It was quite a fiasco for them. As for us, we just enjoyed having company around. Ryan stayed with us for a few weeks, and I must admit I especially enjoyed that. I’m used to being completely alone during the day, which is fine, but it was a nice change to have someone else in the room. I worked on my articles and Ryan worked on his manna or whatever it is they do on World of Warcraft.
To further shake things up, Amy recently changed her work schedule. She cut back a little on her hours, which she badly needed to do. Now she gets a somewhat shorter day on Thursday. She also starts earlier on Saturday and finishes at 5 pm, which is great. It’s good to see her a little more often and I think it’s working wonders for her to see daylight more often.
I’ve been getting more clients these days. When it rains, it pours. The orders seem to be coming in all at once, so they’ve been keeping my fingers flying. I guess that makes a decent, relatively plausible excuse for getting behind on the blogs. I re-repledge to do better in the future.
Bringing us to the present . . .
This weekend has been another adventure. My cousin Carrie and her new husband James have been in town for a family party. Abby and Jeremy were in town, not mention my Dad who was here to visit his new Granddaughter. You’d think it was Christmas time with all the family buzzing around here these days.
Amy had a great birthday. We went out to dinner, did a little shopping. My brother made her a great big cake and I gave her a good, long, full-body massage. The perfect gift from the husband who has no money to the wife who has no energy. We had a nice evening renting movies; Julie and Julia, and Where the Wild Things Are. We’re pretty wild and crazy people, we know, but quiet evenings suit our budget and our disposition.
-Tom
