Lisa Ann Writes

I didn’t write anything yesterday- I think I had to just really think about what I wanted to say. It was such a good day- yet it really made me realize how much time has gone by…

This trip is, in part, a celebration of 28 years of marriage. Thinking about our wedding my mind went backto the people who were in my life at that time. One of them always has remained dear to my heart. I remembered that soon after Jim and I were married she and her family moved to the Seattle area. So- thanks to google…I found her!

I called her on Monday and left a message on her machine. I left my maiden name because I thought she would remember me better that way. I wasn’t even sure that it was her number, but a few hours later I got a return call from a very surprised old friend.

She and her husband lived in the town I grew up in and I knew her from church. She was always so kind to me- giving me rides to church even though it was out of her way- just being an adult friend who had good advice and I always knew she wanted the best for me.

Yesterday she came to my hotel and picked me up, just like old times LOL, and we just drove all over and she showed me the area and we talked about years gone by. People we remembered- people we forgot-

What I learned was- as a 16/17 year old girl I was very lucky to have this person in my life. She really watched out for my best interest back then. I realized that I never knew how old she was, I never knew what she did for work, I never knew anything about her really other than she taught me the gospel and trusted me to be her friend. Yet she cared about me to know things about me.

Just talking with her again and spending the day with her and her beautiful granddaughter really has given me so much to think about. The direction our lives go- the people that are on the path we choose- the timing that seems to make things just fall in line with the greater plan of things. What little steps take us in which direction.

It was an day that no picture could describe- (plus I forgot my camera!)

I feel like this trip here has so many reasons for happening- I am so glad that I was able to come to Seattle- but I have to tell ya-

I am a weeee bit homesick. I was waking up today thinking about how wonderful it is to open my eyes and see the beach right out of my window. I don’t even have to get out of bed- just open my eyes. I love that. But… I am really starting to wish I could wake up and go into the living room and see my grandbaby. There is magic in the ocean but nothing to compare with the smile and the out streached arms of Camper wanting Lala to hold him. I even missed being spitup on.  Well- maybe not that much.

Today the plan is to hang out in my room- get some more writing done and the when Jim gets back from work we are going to go do laundry.

Time goes on…… 28 years since I have seen my friend and just days till I see my grandbaby. All good stuff.

Freak me out! Do you know how much people pay to go out on boats to WATCH for whales!

I get to see it for free! Right on my hotel room wall!!!!

Gotya! You thought I was out on the deck sitting and a whale jumped out of the water. Be serious- when would anything that exciting happen to me? This is actually a picture on the wall of our room. I guess some time there was a whale out there- good thing someone got a photo! LOL

And how about this one??

 

I have NO IDEA what this is…. but it bugs me. sorta looks like a little scary thing coming out of rocks or something.

I vote they change the art work…..

Ok- so now I will go back to chasing the two flies that flew in cuz Ieft the patio door open….

Never a dull moment!

Oh, before I forget Erin wanted to know what kind of camera we bought- it is a polaroid a530 5.0 megapixels. Cute little thing perfect for dad to take fishing once we get home. It was about 50 bucks at target. The most difficult thing about using it was getting it out of the package. I also might take it on our trip to blog stuff- I like this vacation blogging.

So today Jim had to go in and do whatever it is he is here to do. That little thing called work… poor guy. He is missing a great sunny day!

I got up to have breakfast with him before he left and then took a long hot bath and decided on my plan…

I knew I could walk to Joanne fabrics from here but I really wanted to go to a quilt shop- after all we have Joannes at home. I wanted a shop that we didn’t have there. One thing I love to do when I travel is to find local quilt shops and a half yard of fabric. One day when I make it into a quilt I can remember the trip.

So… I went on line a googled quilt shops. I found one really close! However- I am walking so I thought I would stop in at Joannes to confirm that the store I was looking for was there and how far away it might be. The sales lady was very nice. She gave me walking directions to the quilt shop- and along the way what do you think I found?

RIGHT! A Hallmark! How exciting was that! So- I went in. (I guess you don’t know it is exciting if you don’t know that is where I work at home- so NOW you understand!)

It was a nice shop- they even had an ingraving station! So, you notice I have a bag from there right? What did I buy? Robin will find out at Christmas. Hope I don’t forget to give it to you! It is something perfect for my friend Robin- and we don’t carry it at our store. So that was a plus- one Christmas present done!

Next I walked for awhile to get to the Material Girls Quilt Shop- (cute name isn’t it!) It was worth the walk.  The store had examples of quilts all over- very nice stuff. Shirley- the lady working the floor this morning- was more than helpful. She seemed excited to chat about the shop hops and the stash bash. I think it was called a stash bash- it runs for a couple of days and only like 6 local shops participate. Their shop hop lasts over a week and over 60 stores in WA take part! That would be a lot of fat quaters! It was fun to chat with her and I was able to find….tahdah….

 

My Washington fabric! I just love it! I have no idea what I will use it for but I love it!

also I found….

 

some project fabric! I am going to use some of these in the quilt that I am making with my three friends. I wrote about that in an earlier post if you want to check out what other fabrics they will be mixed with.

Also….

 

A new quilt pattern book…. a girl can never have enough of those!

It was a fun “little” walk- now I am just gonna sit out on the deck and read the next in the series.

 

Later- Lisa

So today we continue the adventure. We checked out of the hotel in Seattle and went back into the city to go to the Science Fiction Museum. It was so cool! But sad to say they do not allow pictures to be taken- but there were so many things to see it took us a couple of hours to go through it all. They had robots – ones I remember was: Robot (danger danger Will Robinson!) from Lost in Space. The metropolis robot- R2D2 from Star Wars-

There were Borg and stormtroopers- apes from planet of the apes-

new found planets and amazing flying machines! The space suit worn by John Lithgow- and the suit that Matthew L. from the new Lost in Space wore. (he is much shorter than John Lithgow!) And Farrah costume from Logans run was there…. whowhooooooo tiny little piece of fabric.

There were homemade costumes that people had made for scifi conventions and had won contests with. those were pretty cool- discovered a new use for vacuum hoses!

There were masks for Planet of the Apes, Clingons and Far Scape.

There were original scripts for Star Trek and you could see where the actors made notes in them.

Old Sci-fi comic books and also weapons from Flash Gordon to Aliens! Plus… examples toy weapons from back in the 50s. Like the dreaded Ray Gun……

The list is just too long. It was a fun visit!!

Next we got on the Ferry to go to Bainbridge Island.

Here are some Ferry pictures:

Seattle Behind us

 

Jim and I heading out on the Ferry

 

Caught a seagull in flight- with the sun shining through- cool hu?

 

Just a cool shot of a piece of the Ferry?????

 

We got to our next hotel room and this is the view we see out off of our balcony.

So we went for a walk on the beach!

The beach is covered in rocks and shells. My job this next few days is to find a heart rock! I have lots to look through!

I decided to use this piece of driftwood as my surfboard! Didn’t work that well!

 

Jim checking out the ocean life

 

I could say that it is the fold of my shirt that makes me look fat… but no—- I am just fat. But I still like this picture. LOL

laying on a big piece of rock lovin the sun! Next time I will wear my shorts!

 

It was then that we discovered the sand fleas and decided to go back to the room for showers.

We also found our church this afternoon and was able to attend Sacrament meeting. It was in a singles ward and we had jeans on- but we were welcomed none the less.

PLUS…. get this… from the hotel I can WALK to the fabric store! AMAZING!

Well, I am off to shower and watch the sun set over the ocean.

Glad I am here-

Today we drove to Portland OR to find my sister’s grave. It was a weird feeling seeing it there- but I brought some sand from the beach near the house where we grew up in CT and some shells and soil from the house we grew up in. I guess I was trying to bring some of home to her.

We found the stone and delivered the parts of home I could bring to her. I also tooksome soil from her resting place to  take back to CT and leave with my parents at their graves. I don’t know- somehow this all makes me feel better- seeing that she has some honor given to her.

I will post the pictures here so family can see them if they want. It was a beautiful cememtary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only other thing we did today was laundry and Jim fixed the computer. It has been a very relaxing day. Tomorrow we switch hotels to get closer the where Jim will be working next week. It is closer to the beach for me. Just hope the sun shines while we are there.

Also, still looking for a quilt shop to check out.  It is never far from my thoughts!

When Jim came in back from work this morning we decided to head off to see some things. We realized that we didn’t bring a camera so the first stop was Target to get one. This is a picture of the left overs from trying to get the stupid thing out of the package! The car keys came in handy just to open it! So off we went into the city.

 

 

 

 

 

I was pretty amazed at just how big- but yet clean Seattle is.

 

 

 

 

 

 Also amazing was that we found a place to park this close to the Space Needle!

 

 

We started the tour at “Ride the Ducks of Seattle”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was happy to see the life vests… but then I wasn’t sure. Would I actually need one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before getting into the water part of the tour we did some downtown Seattle sight-seeing. I loved the old part of town and all the historical buildings.

Then there was the public art everywhere. Can you find it in the picture? It is a sculpture of the rock- next to the rock. There were tons of other weird ones too!

 

 

 

This is a view of driving over the bridge in the duck mobile to get to the lake that the land/water thing would be “driving” in-

amazing isn’t it!

 

 

 

Captain Lou asked if we wanted to go into the water fast or slow- we all yelled FAST! But he had to go slow anyways…. silly Captian!

 

 

 

 

 

There were some boats by the landing where we cast out to sea.

 

 

 

 

This would be the Ride the Ducks hair-doo. Even Natalie couldn’t fix this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This would be Ride the Ducks face…. cute isn’t he!

 

 

 

 

up next some sights to see on Lake Union from the Duck ride

 

boat from the first season of Deadliest Catch

 

 

 

 

 

an old gas plant that had a fire and they just put a fence around what was left and called it “public art”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Hanks stood on the deck of this house to film Sleepless in Seattle….. can you see it?

 

 

 

 

A view of the Space Needle from Lake Union-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is such a cool old boat- but what I really loved was the rocking chair top-side!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the difference between a boat house and

 

a house boat

 

 

NOW those are house boats!

 

 

 

 

Ride the Duck tour over so we decided to go up into the Space Needle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t know why…but my hair looks so red! That duck ride messed me up! Or is my hair always this color and I need to be on top of the Space Needle to see it!

 

 

 

 

Trying to get a “couple” shot…..

 

 

 

 

 

still trying…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

That one will have to do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey! We could see the car from the top of the Space Needle! It is the red one! Looks like some guy was gonna break into it while we were watching! He didn’t though- but how funny would that be!

 

 

 

 

 

The view from the top! Such a nice day for this!

 

 

 

 

 

This was a weird thing….we took a picture standing on top of the Space Needle facing the glass so it was a reflection of the city and us- it is sorta strange in that if you look you can see someone inside walking around- I was sure I didn’t have a random arm poking out of the front of me!

We also walked around the park around the area a bit. Here is a quote I like carved into a rock…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the last photo…. my favorite one

I took this! I shall call it “can’t see the Space Needle for the trees” by Lisa

It was an adventure filled day! Jim is snoring and the hot tub is calling!

More tomorrow from Seattle- this is Lisa signing off…..

p.s. if you click the picture I think you can see them bigger!

So, here we are on our vacation to Seattle- I am all messed up time wise. It feels like crazy man! I want to eat at 4 am and sleep at 4 pm! I told Jim maybe we should try to stay on that schedule then when we go back home we wouldn’t have jet lag. He said he has tried that and it doesn’t work. Oh well. He is off to work this morning and I am just doing what ever I want. I like this vacation idea! Wish Jim could join me. LOL

Now- the two reason today of why I am so smart. #1 before Jim left for work we went out for breakfast. In the elevator there was a guy who was going to get out on our floor- except then he realized then he had hit the wrong button so stayed on. He started talking and I said- your’e from New England- “yes, Connecticut” he said. I said “you sound like closer to RI like Pawcatuck” His eyes got big and he said “I lived in Pawcatuck!” “Yup- I knew it! Groton area now?”  “yes!” that didn’t take too much though cuz he was here and I am sure he is here on business – doesn’t take much to figure out. I think I either freaked him right out or he thought I was a spy. Either way- I am so smart! The #2 reason I am smart today- I figured out how to hook my ipod into the laptop so now the laptop will play my music while I work. AND Jim didn’t even show me how to do that! Just too good today! I am playing at the top of my game!LOL

The ice in the ice bucket keeps freaking me out though. It keeps making noises… those annoying ice melting noises. Other than that this hotel is nice. Now I have to figure out what time it really is and maybe take a nap before they come in to change the sheets. 

When Jim gets back from work today I think we are going out to dinner and just watching movies tonight. Easy- no stress fun. Nothin better!

It seems like all I did yesterday was fight off the urge to get angry at stupid things that happened all day. I had to decide to be happy if it killed me! It seemed like once I made that choice- I was tested all day to see if I could do it! The story of the broken washer was not resolved until after 6 last night- that went down like this…drove to sears- sales guy told me about 3 washers that I would think about- when I went back later to get one I had to bring Jon and the  truck- we picked it up and got it home only to find a dent…a big dent in the front of it. Called the phone number- talked to forty five machines and then it went it went into speaking Spanish for no reason… threw the phone in the yard and had the boys ( john & jon) put the washer back into the truck- got it back to sears open and sliding around a bit- went in and told the sales guy it was dented- he went into this thing about a number to call blah blah blah….  I said.. “it is in the back of my truck right now- I need to return this” oh well I would have to take it over to returns..like I can carry a washer into the customer service or something? So I said “no- you need to fix this.” So he ran his fingers over some magic keys on the cash register and poof I had a return receipt- now I had to drive back around the building to the return place- when I got over there they had brought out a new one….. without realizing they needed to take the other one…. the salesman appeared from no where and explained so they took the dented on and I had them open the new one- gave it a once over and it looked fine. Got home and drove the truck back into the backyard again- and Jon and Jim took it down into the basement. Jim hooked it up only to wonder why water didn’t go into the washer when you turned the knob and pulled it out….. hummmmm so this one was cleaverly designed to be a broken pretty washer. He called the number this time and I just had to walk away…Meanwhile the rest of the day was just as crazy- I went to get my eyebrows waxed only to have my right one look different- or maybe the left one looks different- in any case they look different from each other. Got my pedicure and the person doing it sat and gazed off into the bubbles instead of getting the dead skin off my heels…. my toes are painted yes- but I still feel she must have missed some meds that day or something… hello you have someone in the chair here….. I know it is a lot to ask but how about that pedicure I am paying for. Honestly! We did finally get the washer to wash- Jim took out some screens or something- and we have water now. did 3 laods last night. One is running now. Good thing I decided to be happy all day or I would have missed how cute the grandbaby was last night. He was so happy and just smilin! Then I held him and he fell asleep. I love that. Then by 7:30 I was ready for bed with my one wrong eyebrow- my red toes and my I am done attitude. I was going to lay in bed and look at quilt patterns for my next project- but why risk a paper cut!