This pick for my fall work was the best ever! I was able to achieve all of my core requirements AND get some overtime. I do NOT have to go to downtown Seattle. They are closing the bus tunnel, which currently allows busses to bypass traffic on surface streets. The closure will be for two years as they retrofit the tunnel to include light rail. With all the extra busses on the surface, I didn't want to be there for the holidays.
My next hope was to NOT cross any bridges. The two major bridges between the Eastside and Seattle get very congested and busses get way behind schedule during rush hour. I will be staying on the Eastside and do not have to cross the bridges.
At the same time I was also able to get almost three hours a week built in overtime. That sure helps the paycheck. As I've said to others, this has been my best pick yet. I am truely watched over! I still will be working "nights", but will be home by 9pm on all but one evening. Life is good!
Visiting Heidi 08/21/05
By Daryl Lawrence
The visit with Heidi was short and nice. She took me to the Air Force Base where she works and showed me around. Of course I took my camera with me, and forgot to take even one picture... Sorry about that. A
very nice Base too, RIGHT on the water of Tampa Bay on a Peninsula, with
walking paths and little piers for the service people to fish from.
Heidi tells me she has seen several Dolphins swimming right there in
front of her too. Of course an excellently groomed golf course there
too.
We ate at Church's Chicken (make mental note -stick to KFC in the
future), then back to her apartment. Got to play with her new kitten,
Chloe. Kittens are always cute, lots of jumping around and "I want to
chew on your fingers", very cute cat though.
Major thunderstorms on the way back to Ocala, so had to slow to around 40mph quite a few times,
couldn't see anything on the road, and lots of puddles to hydro plane
in...
When it rains... 08/19/05
By Chris & Erin Lawrence
When it rains it pours!!! This time around it's all good news. We're praying that it stays that way!!
Click here and read the whole story.
Project Finished! 08/18/05
By John Schmit
The South side of the yard has it's main work completed. The retaining wall and fence are done. Tonight we just sat outside and enjoyed our new privacy. The concrete walk around the house will be appreciated when the rainy season starts (next week, I think). Looks like the worst of the summer is over here. Those first two weeks in August can be rough! Still, plenty of near 80 to keep that summer feeling for a while.
With all the yard work, we decided to skip planting this year. We will get fresh winter plants for the front and back gardens. We are also looking at trees. In the Great Northwest it's hard not to. But we would like to plant a nice shady tree for the patio in the back. We've seen a few we liked at the nursery, but still have to make a decision. Next, we have to put the plants back in the front garden and get the North side rock and junk dirt removed so we can plant there. Yard work pictures were recently added to our picture pages.
Allen was with us last Wednesday and was saying that too many people in the family have had computers crash lately. First Frank, then us, Susie got the Slows and even Allen had a motherboard burn up. MMMMMMM! We just went and replaced ours with a new, multi-media machine so we can easily burn family movies to DVD's. We even got a new printer to print right on the disks for that cool, professional look. At least the neat stuff is getting cheap enough we can afford it.
Keep sending those wonderful news items for the website. We all enjoy keeping in touch!
The Monster 08/18/05
By Susie Devries
Hi There,
We are still in the slow mode of computers but email is useable. A bit on the slow side, of course, but it could be worse.
Summer is going in all it's glory giving us terribly hot days with a bunch of humidity. Thankfully we are about 1/2 way through August, September will be hot also, but not like August. Oh man!!
Here is a picture of The Monster. Every year I put that plant outside and it just goes nuts! In the fall I trim it way way back and put the cuttings in a bucket out front with a sign that reads: FREE!! TAKE ALL YOU WANT!! People see that, take some starts and go on their way. I will do the same with my spider plant. The little red begonias grow so well here but do not over winter. This year I put them in the strawberry pot. Squirrels eat my strawberries so I didn't bother with them this year.
Hope all is well for all of you in different parts of our world. Take care.
Susie
The Slows 08/12/05
By Susie Devries
Hi Everyone,
We have the slows. Our nice fast computer got sick and died. It needs a new motherboard which will be here some time next week. In the mean time we are using the 'old' computer and dial up Internet. Oh man is it ever slow. Judie, I don't know if we will be able to chat or not!! In the meantime, please don't think I am ignoring anyone, I am simply not willing to waste so much time with dial up. Please be patient with us, this computer has a mind of it's own.
John and Cheryl, Michael and Bobby went to Mansfield MO. last week to visit Grandpa and Grandma McWilliams. Bobby has pictures on his digital camera that we are going to load on our computer when we get the new mother board. We will then send some pictures of their trip. They loved every minute of it and I think one of the highlights was Grandma's cooking.
It's hot here in AR. Today at 5:25 PM it was still 101, and that was actual temp, not a heat index figured in. Needless to say, I've stayed in quite a bit. I've had to water due to lack of rain, but that is to be expected in this area at this time of year.
Hope all is well with everyone. We are doing OK, the family is doing OK, kitties are doing OK. the twins are now 13 months old. Baby Michael had a hearing test on Wednesday and he passed it. That was good news. Apparently they have a special machine to test a baby's hearing when they cannot verbally respond. Fascinating what they can do now. Praise God, the babies are still here and growing.
Will let you all go for now. Take care. I hope to be back in the running again soon with the new mother board. Until then------well, it's the slows. You know, it's hard to soar with eagles when you fly with turkeys. :-)
Love to All,
Susie
Daryl Plants Trees 08/07/05
By Barbara Lawrence
Daryl just planted these five trees - 3-5 gallon ones in the middle and a 1 gallon one on each end. They grow from 8 - 10 ft. a year and if they do good this year, Daryl is going to buy five more next spring and stagger them with these but put them just a little further out towards the west. With the strong winds we have here, we can't take a chance of them blowing over on to the house. Daryl put "bubblers" on each tree but I felt so sorry for him because it was 102 when he was digging the holes for these trees and then planting them - with no breeze. Now the wind has come up and looks as if it could rain any minute - which we're supposed to have this afternoon.
I will take pictures the first of each month because once the freeze comes, they lose their leaves for the winter. The leaves on these trees are HUGE so once they get some height, they should be some good shade for the house - at least eventually and also once he plants another row of them further out.
See the picture here.
Busy Summer 08/07/05
By Cheryl & John Schmit
Daryl visits, yard work begins, many HOA Board meetings, and a major computer crash were some of the exciting events of just the last four weeks. Some we enjoyed, some we wanted, and others just happened. While there is still much to do, things do seem to be getting better. A very active Summer so far.
For the rest of the story, click here.
