Live from 12/12/12

Welcome to a wild and wacky Wednesday...

Today is 12/12/12 and happily it's my birthday.

And here in Thoracic Park, the gifts runneth over...

• I am not as sick as I was
• Seriously, I am improving
• I hear I am going out to dinner tonight
• my daughter sent me a Monty Python spam sketch on Facebook!
• I threw caution to the wind and carried my Seahawk purse to work today!
• Best of all, Saturday morning, my beloved and I will climb in the car and take a little mini vacation to one of our favorite places in the whole world....
• It's not Ireland
• But we will enjoy a lovely Irish Pub!

We're off for two days to Victoria!

Quiet, early morning walks around the harbor and Beacon Hill park...

Photo adventures....

Lovely pub food...

Massage...

Holiday lights...

This is our little deep breath before the holidays.... a time to celebrate my birthday and our anniversary which is later this month. Since he'll pretty much be working the rest of December, we'll squeeze as much celebration into a quick weekend as possible!

I would just like to take a moment to thank The Old Goat for making it happen. There's no one I'd rather climb in the car with for an adventure!

AG out!

The Adventure

Saturday morning, K3 and I got up at the butt crack of dawn and made a mad dash over Puget Sound and Hood Canal to catch our ferry to Canada. We were cutting it close and called from the outskirts of town to let them know our arrival was imminent... I think they held the ferry for us! It was an absolutely beautiful morning and as we left the dock, the Olympic mountains were stunning!

The sky and the water were dazzling and K3 humored me by letting me take her picture up on deck!

Ninety minutes later, as we arrived in the inner harbor, we couldn't believe all the boats and activity. One of our fellow passengers told us it was the classic boat festival! It was beautiful!

We had a beautiful morning in town and lunched at one of our favorite pubs. When we came back to get our hotel room, we found we'd been given one of the nicest suites! The view off our balcony of the Olympic mountains was utterly stunning.

The weather was perfect and along with the abundant flowers, we enjoyed the entertainers down on the harbor, shopped for sunglasses and other fripperies and lazed in the grass listening to the blues festival on one of the piers!

Yup, that's how we roll!

More mother/daughter fun to come...

AG out!

Ghosting

Before we left Canada Sunday morning, we drove down by the water. It was quiet and foggy and we were in that moment where we were delaying our departure, not wanting to leave and yet knowing we had to get going if we wanted to make the early ferry...

As we sat talking about all the times we've walked along this road, spotted seals in the water and leaped from rock to rock at low tide, we were both surprised to see this misty shape...

A moment later, we can see it's a ship... looking ghostly in the fog. And perhaps we were ghostly as well... no longer really 'there' and already moving on to the next adventure.

AG out!

For those wishing to read the concert review, you can find it under the Living with Asthma tab! Or you can click here.

Oh Canada!

See you soon!

AG out!

Getting Ready

This morning is staff meeting day, so I'm out of here soon.

Yesterday was a tough day with the break in and burglury at work. We lost over $3000 worth of landscaping equipment including adaptive equipment. Its hard for me to think of the crews and how they'll work with fewer tools, but it's also difficult as the fundraiser to think of writing grants to replace the equipment. And yeah... it makes a dent in my holiday spirit as well. Ugh.

In the meantime, TOG and I have plans for the weekend. We're leaving in the morning to see Roger Watters in Canada tomorrow night. Something about Pink Floyd.... And yes, I will be seeing the lovely Baroness as well.

I might be am far more excited about that than the concert!

What are you excited for this weekend? Help me out... my holiday spirit needs a lift!

AG out

I have to tattle on K3... she was selected Student of the Month at her transition program AND she was rated uber cooperative at her volunteer position at the foodbank! And Christmas is right around the corner! Life is good for our little K3!

The View

The view looking south from the tip of Vancouver Island is nothing short of amazing. I've shot it in all sorts of weather; summer, spring and winter and I never tire of it. The Olympic Mountains of Washington State make a fabulous backdrop to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

I think the cloud above looks like a tornado!

The weather was extraordinary and TOG and K3 loved exploring the rocks and tidal pools.

They look so tiny out there!

I think K3 was looking for critters in the rocks.

Barnacles...Not as exciting as seeing fiddler crabs, but we'll take what we can get!

TOG was really hoping to see seals. Although we saw some on the ferry ride, they didn't stop by during this visit.

The weather on this holiday weekend is blah. In Seattle speak, "we'll be lucky if it doesn't rain"... and rain... and rain...

Since TOG is working, I'll be looking at these shots over the weekend and remembering what a lovely time we had. It just doesn't get any better than this!

What are your plans for the weekend?

AG out!

The Alley

While in Victoria, we took K3 to see Fan Tan Alley, promoted as the narrowest "street" in Canada. Given that you can't get a car down it, I don't see how it qualifies as a street, but who am I to quibble?

I'm a non-quibbler... it's part of my endless charm.

That and ability to be functional on very little sleep!

Back to the alley... which is filled with adorable little shops. I saw this cutie guy. I thought he was calling my name...

Yes, he's blurry. As it turns out, he was surrounded by incense, thus the lungs seized up and I took this picture as I was hurrying out of the shop, without adjusting any of my settings. Bother!

So we loitered in the alley, my inhaler and I, waiting for my husband and child.

Yet another one of my charms... the ability to loiter inconspicuously while I wait for the inhaler to kick in!

I am also able to multi task by snapping even more pictures while I loiter in the alley. I loved this door! I thought it said Hogwarts for a moment, but no... Still a very appealing door!

The view of the alley looking the other way. I love the light seeping in!

And then this shot....

Best name for a store EVAH!

No, I didn't go in, I was still wheezy and TOG had to walk me down by the harbor to re-inflate my lungs! But next time, I'm skipping the incense shop and going in here. Because that bare bulb, just inside the shop...? It's calling to me!

Happy Thursday!

Wide Open Wednesday

Here's a blurry pic of K3 I snapped going out the door to dinner in Canada. She did a little shopping and was very happy with this outfit. I even loaned her my sandals so she could feel extra groovy. She promptly fell in love with them and inquired about whether I really liked these as much as I thought I did. Twerp.

As an update:

We did not make the deadline for the insurance in terms of getting K3 in for tooth rebuilding. We are now in appeals mode.

The guardianship paperwork is nearly complete. But without a firm diagnosis of her disability, the outcome is iffy.

Thus a referral has been made (Thank you Dr. M for coming through yet again) to a neurologist who will examine K3 and tell us who-knows-what.

I made K3 sit with me and help me fill out the questionnaire the neurologist sent. I don't know which is more depressing, the dang questionnaire or the flippin' guardianship application.

We are seeing more frequent incidents of her disability sneaking into our daily lives... little blank spots that come up when confronted with new challenges... situational anger over changes in her environment, or even discussion of any potential changes. Any rosy picture I had of the guardianship is evolving daily.

I wish I could bury my head in the sand and pretend that we didn't have to deal with this. But instead, I'll keep pretending to be courageous and resolute.

I'm in discussion with one of the other managers at work who deals with the county we live in. It seems like it would be to our advantage to allow K3 to be evaluated by our local government disability counselors following the resolution of guardianship, something I swore I would never do after the birth to three debacle. But, there may be some short term funding available for at least a year. Which would be awesome as I'm totally disgusted with the school districts transition program and would like the funding to access an outside vendor, specifically the agency I work for.

So there you have it... a series of ugly conversations headed our way... doctors, judges, court advocates, disability counselors...

I'm totally and completely gloomed out just thinking about it, but hopeful that it will all benefit K3 in the long run.

She's totally worth it.

AG out!

PS~ In terms of K3 in the pub, we're not encouraging her imbibing alcoholic beverages. She had a sip of cider and that was about it. She prefers soft drinks and is really only there for the pub grub!

Girl in a Pub

On this trip to Canada, K3 was finally 19. Which in BC means she's old enough to sit in the pub with her parents!

Which she did! There are a few pubs that we frequent where we can get a table in the main dining room with an underage child. But this one pub does not allow that. And she desperately wanted to go here...

Why?

Pub Grub!

From the left to right... Salt and Pepper Ribs, Four Cheese Irish Pizza (with Guinness Irish cheese) and Guinness and Crab Bisque with Irish soda bread.

The dry ribs, or salt and pepper ribs are a family favorite. lightly herbed and floured boneless rib meat deep fried until just tender, well drained, tossed in kosher salt and cracked pepper and served with a spicy Asian plum sauce for dipping! If only they did this in Seattle!

While TOG and I indulged in a beverage, BC Growers peach cider for me, Caffrey's ale for him, K3 stuck with a coke!

And they lived happily ever after!

Triple Shot Friday

Back to the Canada shots today for Triple Shot Friday. These photos were taken in Beacon Hill Park. I love this Columbine!

This California Lilac was amazing. We have one at home in shrub form and it never occured to us that it could be trimmed into a tree! Look at the trunk!

Finally, this guy here, who acted like I was dinner! When he realized I wasn't going to feed him, he wanted nothing more to do with me!

After major tech upheaval the last two days, I have even more today. I'm so looking forward to the weekend!

Hope your day is lovely!