Time Flies!

Time is flying by. Where does it go? Hmmm.... Could it be because Mom came to visit in late September...and then we went to Hawaii in October...Or maybe the stresses at work? Hmmm..

The visit from my Brother....Olivia's first birthday...Peyton's arrival.. the halau Christmas bazaar..Thanksgiving with the fam (and very cold weather)....whew.. imagine...where could the time go?

And if anyone can help me figure out a way to get these pictures in differently it would be appreciated. I am sure it is easy...if one knows how. So start at the bottom of the pictures and go up as you read the text. That is the order they will be in! Happy Holidays fellow bloggers...!

Jim's Birthday

I meant to post this on 9/14 but was otherwise occupied. This is a picture of my Brother Jim. We lost him to lung cancer in 2005. He would have been 60 today!
Can't remember why this one went on.. But pretty cute. Navy housing, Barbers Point Hawaii. Teri, Lisa Henry, Jen and ?.

Airline Customer Service

We have all heard the complaints about the airlines. It appears it just goes with flying. You fly, you take what you get. No choice.

In June, 5 of us flew to Branson, Missouri on United Airlines. We were late getting back due to a late plane into Branson from Denver. As we were getting close to Denver (close to 2 hrs late), many questions were asked by passengers about connecting flights. There were a few answers but mostly, "I don't know.. you will have to check with customer service when you get there....I don't have that gate number", etc, etc.

There were 3 in my party of 5 who had to make connecting flights. Not once did any personnel on that United flight step forward and ask people if they had a close connecting flight and if anyone who had lots of time could let off those people off first. My group of 3 got to the gate just as the door was closing. Had they been let off the plane first, they would have made that flight.

I had been redirected in Springfield to Redmond, Or and then to Portland. As we were getting into Denver they announced that the plane I was on would be proceeding to Portland. And I was going to Redmond, why? I got off the plane and asked the agent who was at the door why I why going to Redmond? "I don't know.. we may be full but you can go to customer sevice down the way and ask them". My reply was that the plane to Redmond was ready to leave and if I went down to customer service I would most likely miss both flights. Her reply was.. "well, I guess you had better go to Redmond then". There was never a ...sorry for the inconvenience, let me see if I can help you , or anything like that for any of us.

I did go to Redmond along with my Sis-in-law who was supposed to go there. I got home 2 + hours later than planned but at least I got my luggage. The 3 who missed their flight to Pasco were routed to Salt Lake City first. Their luggage did not come until the next day. And the one person in the group who did not have to change her flight in any way.. well her luggage went to San Francisco.

Compare... August.. flight from Pasco to Seattle, WA (and back) on Alaska Airlines (Horizon) for 7 of us. Short flight but many on plane with connecting flights (not us). In the 40 or so minutes we were in the air, inquiries were made asking people about connecting flights and requests to those of us who were not in a hurry to let them off first. No drama, just courtesy and consideration for the flyers on the plane. Guess what airline I will fly when I have the chance?

Changes

Change is hard. Lots of changes going on at work. Everyone on edge. Waiting for the ax to fall. So I just try to look at things that make me smile.

Branson

Just a couple of pictures of our trip to Branson. Too tired to detail it right now. My Sis in Law Lynne (top) and then my Sis In Law Diane, my Sis Mary, my Mom and my Sis in Law Jan.

Rain? Maybe not so bad after all.

Maybe it is time to stop complaining about the rain. Maybe it is just an annoyance to us, not a real problem. On the plus side... we haven't had to figure out how to use our sprinkler system yet. We haven't even really had to water. My allergies are almost non-existent because of the cooler, wetter weather. We haven't had to worry about water saving or rationing.

The negative.. well here it is, almost summer. We have had 1 day of 80 D weather. Our nice summer days are generally short anyway, but I suspect this year we will transition to fall/winter without the feeling of having had a "great" summer. So be it.

The picture with this note.. No, it is not here in the NW. It is in Houston, Texas in 1976. Just S of Hobby Airport. Taken from the house we were living, looking across the street. We hadn't been there but a week or two when we awoke to this. We found the water almost to our front door step. It was quite an experience. A lot of fun was had by the kids and their parents playing in the streets. But.....you didn't catch me in the water.... snakes!! I'll take the PNW anytime. There is a reason we are green and beautiful.

Two Strong Women

Yal.. I know. I have already blogged about my Mom before. But maybe some things are worth doing twice. Actually, this is my Mom and Larry's Sis.. Lolly. And they are two strong women.

My Mom.. well you know about her if you read my other blog. Lolly is something else again.

Breast cancer in 1998.. so now a 12 year survivor. Long history of Crohn's Disease. A very hard thing to live with. Life threatening and life changing for sure. Her husband Craig was diagnosed with colon cancer a year after she finished her treatment for the breast cancer. He passed away a couple of years after that. Get the picture? Well, I am not done yet.

Lolly spent most of her adult life working as a broker for King County Medical. She should have had a great retirement, no worries. But some things don't work out as we plan them. She left work early, taking a big loss in her pension, to take care of her husband while he was ill. She would make the same decision again.. but it was another life changing event.

After he died she sold their house and moved into a great retirement mobile home park...a place she planned to stay forever. It was sold about a year after she moved there; big plans for condos. She could buy into that but it was too expensive. There is alot more to the story than that but to make this story short... she lost most of everything in that investment.

Then she decided to move to Vancouver from the Seattle area, to be closer to Larry and me. Since moving here she has been in the hospital multiple times. She had a horrible flare up(s) with her Crohn's, the gallbladder surgery from hell and multiple other issues. She started on a great medication for her Crohn's.. and it controlled the symptoms better than anything she had tried yet. But now two years later she has been diagnosed with congestive heart failture....quite possibly as a result of an unlucky side effect from that medication.

Has she given up? No way! She just keeps plugging away, fighting and figuring out how to configure her life to each new obstacle. I am not sure I could be that strong or keep going but she does. So she has earned a place in my blog for her tenacity and lust for life. To celebrate her, I proudly wear a breast cancer icon on my left ankle.

Rain Rain Go Away

A beautiful sky in BattleGround!

My Mom

Instead of writing a story and adding a picture, I have decided to choose a picture(s) and add a story. This is my remarkable Mom. She has macular degeneration, which means limited vision. She can't really read, can only watch TV with binoculars and of course can't drive. She lost her husband, my Dad a few years ago. She also lost a son, my Brother, to lung cancer. We had to find a way to keep her busy and motivated. That something turned out to be travel!!

She likes to sit in the sun. Most of the females in the family inherited that from her!! The picture of her lounging in the sun was taken in Hawaii a couple of years ago. But it doesn't matter. We were there last year in March too. 27 of us to celebrate her 90th birthday. Her kids, our spouses, our kids, their kids. 27 of us. An amazing trip. And that wasn't enough. My husband and I and Mom went back to Hawaii in October.

Oh.. and she (we--her kids and our spouses) also went to Australia 2 years ago. Two 18 hour flights and she didn't fare much worse than the rest of us. It took us forever to recover from that one! And we have been to North Dakota and the Black Hills of South Dakota with stops at Yellowstone and other places of interest. One trip took us to Los Angeles for a graduation with a side trip to Las Vegas. A year and a half ago we made a trip to Florida. This summer we will be visiting Branson, Missouri and later in the summer Alaska.

Did I mention she has a personal trainer and goes to the gym 3 times a week? Most of her friends are gone now. But she keeps as busy as she can. She still lives in her own house, takes a local bus to get her hair done and her nails, and even to her medical appointments. She has learned to "read" by listening to books. She is truly amazing and an inspiration to the rest of us. And I am here to tell you her potato salad ROCKS!! It is the best!! We love you Mom! Thank you for making the past four years memorable and fun.

PS.. I am still learning how to set this up.

Like I Really Have Time To Do This

Since all three of my daughters do such a wonderful job with their blogs... I am assuming that they came by their wit and talent naturally. So if that assumption is true, then that means I should be able to do this... no problem.. right? Hmm.... not necessarily. My middle daughter, Teri, has shown an enormous talent for blogging and the pictures that go with it. I am not even going to try to compete with that! But.. will give it a go for a little fun. So.. I have figured out how to load a picture. And here we are.. about a gazillion years ago!