40 Years and Counting

On August 6th my brother Todd and I celebrated our 40th high school reunion.  Wow - 40 years! 

The party was held at Roland's Winery. Had never been there so it was a handy opportunity to check it out. Inside decor was pleasant but the best part was the outside garden area with seating, which was ideal due to the sunshine and heat. Appetizers and hand-crafted pizza was available to eat along with a variety of wines and beer.

Lots of alumni attended but sad to say my closest friends did not attend. However, due to Facebook I've now become chums with people I rarely spoke with in high school.  Was weird when several of these people came bounding up to give me a hug as if I was their long lost best friend! Someone had brought several yearbooks so used those as a cheat sheet to figure out who were some of the attendees.

Sad moment was when I visited the memorial room which included yearbook pictures and names of the graduates we lost, including my bestie Lynn. 

It was great having Todd there as he's always the life of the party. He stayed the night at our place so it was fun catching up.

Last Thursday met up with friend Marie at Lake Sacajawea to listen to the last summer concert of the year. Tons of people and sweltering outside.

Jordan and Sam sent me recent pics of themselves. Hard to believe these handsome grown men are the little tykes that ran me ragged just a few years ago.

Sam

Jordan before

Jordan after

Last Sunday Manny and I visited Willow Grove so I could pick up more driftwood, wade in the water and soak up the sun. After leaving the river, we decided to visit Guadalajara restaurant to have chips and margaritas. We looked at the drink menu and ordered a "regular" margarita for myself and merlot for him along with bean dip and guacamole for the chips.

The margarita they delivered was HUGE!  Like a gallon milk jug size. I asked if it was regular and the waitress said yes although they have a small size, which she failed to tell me about when I ordered. I drank about a quarter of it before I gave up.

We were so astounded by the size we asked how much were the drinks especially since the price wasn't on the menu. That margarita was $18! Yowza! The worst part was when I got home, ran to the bathroom, and expelled from both ends that overpriced chip and drink mixture!  We've decided that's the last visit we will pay to Guadalajara!

Crafting Update

Update on the crafting! Wire figures, driftwood, plants and lighted birdbath, and hubcaps!

A New Adventure Begins!

About 7:30pm today (a day in the 90's) we finally finished up moving all of Manny's items over to my place and cleaned his duplex so it's gleaming. Big kudos to Sam and Jimmy for helping us move the larger items to the house. Today Sam brought out his drill, saw, and hammer to remove Manny's air conditioner and install it in my bedroom. So now we have AC in the living room and the bedroom. Still have unpacking to do but we are excited to start this new adventure together.

Yesterday we attended Jimmy and Lexii's baby shower. I snagged a bunch of baby girl gifts from Ross and made a dad basket and a mom basket. I even won a diaper raffle gift! Can't wait to meet baby Hazely!

Has all this activity stopped me from crafting?  Oh hell no!  Have been into creating wire figures. Picked up a Goodwill boat, added a sail, then attached a wire fisherman.

Made a wire figure wrapped in twine but wasn't sure what to do with it. Jordan suggested a harbor seaman with buckets of fish so I decided to go for it. No yellow vinyl at Joann's so picked up yellow felt and used iron on vinyl treatment. Used clay for boots, gloves, and a pipe. Picked up a fish mold from the candy section and used liquid Sculpey to create them, finishing them off with paint. Grabbed a couple of baskets then attached the harbor man to a piece of Willow Grove driftwood.

Grabbed a couple of 70% off birdhouses at Michaels, painted them, and hung them in a tree out front and in the back.

I'm beat so it's time for bed. Enjoy your Monday tomorrow!

Garage Sale, Rope, and Cascade Locks

Time flies way too fast when you fill up your life with activities and adventure!

Busy, busy, and more busy with work! Still short-handed so I've had to tackle more in-depth projects, including reviewing client leases and agreements to determine if a client's operator is in compliance with insurance requirements and, if not, what they need to implement in order to be compliant. Lots of due diligence, review, and advice.

In performing this role, I've learned a valuable lesson. Even if a person has the title of CEO, Executive Director, or even Attorney, this doesn't make them smart or fully understanding of business. I've had to explain some technical details and advice in very simple terms in order for these people to achieve full understanding. At first I was anxious during client teleconferences as I feared I'd be out of my league. Well, blew that thought right out of the water! Nice boost to my self-esteem to communicate so effectively with the upper echelon!

Enough of work! Manny and I are still going strong and we are taking the plunge to move in together on August 1. Will be great to share rent and utilities plus he loves to cook, clean, and even does my laundry. This last weekend I organized my garage and we had a yard 

Manny with his garage sale face

My clean garage

sale at his place to get rid of duplicate furniture.  Proceeds from the sale were sorely lacking but once we started marking tags as Free customers came out of the woodwork!

We recently paid a visit to Willow Grove just to walk in the sand and for me to look for treasures.  

On July 4th we stumbled onto the Longview Go 4th parade. Entertaining.

Here are a few more pics, including flowers with which he surprised me.

Homemade yeast rolls I baked

Manny's Portugese pea stew

Even though I'm busy, I've still fit in crafting! Lots of nautical rope projects, sand painted plastic castles, wreaths, and even wire art. 

Vintage berry baskets filled with DT floral and attached to a board

Wire anchor frame covered in beach wood vase filler

After sandcastle project

Ethel Mermaid wire and driftwood art

Rope Wreath

Made an outside table out of two Dollar Tree metal waste baskets and a platter

Coffee can covered with rope art

And another container covered with rope

Dollar Tree Sandcastle Art

DT starfish frame wrapped in rope

Last weekend we celebrated brother Jay's wedding reception in Cascade Locks. Sunshine, blue sky, and all my siblings together for the first time in years. It was an awesome day. Poor Manny was overwhelmed by all the names he tried to remember.

Congrats Jay and Linda!

The gangs all here!

Another plus is Manny gets along great with Jordan and Sam.  Last night we spent the evening playing pool with Sam at his boss's house and had a blast. Found out Manny is a top notch pool player.

I'm ready to relax this coming weekend! That garage sale took a lot out of both of us!!