happy birthday, david!

He's a renaissance guy...

it could happen

This past week we saw Christina...



and David...



It is just now occurring to me that we might have a future in Vegas.

thanks for voting...

The photo of Christina snagged second place in the Tulip Photo Contest! There were 502 entries! (I think the prize is braggin' rights.)



List of the 5 winners here.

an experience of a lifetime

Yesterday I had a glimpse of heaven (without having to go through a pesky near death experience first). Yep, yesterday was the Carole King and James Taylor concert in Seattle. I keep searching for an adjective to describe it, but keep coming up short. AMAZING will have to do.

Mike, my mom, and I met Christina and David in Seattle and had lunch -- at which time Mike revealed a surprise. We had purchased our tickets back in January (and I was excited they were floor seats), but unbeknownst to me Mike had done a significant upgrade for my mom and me for Mother's Day. For a charitable donation (a yikes! amount but for a good cause), he got us access to CK & JT's sound check session, a reception with hors d'oeuvres, and Stage Seats -- and ours were in the first row!

At the end of the sound check session, Carole and James came and talked to our group for a bit. We got James' autograph on our commemorative book, and he signed David's CD too. Way cool! The concert was, seriously, the best one I have ever been to. Carole is my favorite performer of all time (and James rolls in at number two), and they were just incredible. I could go on and on... but I'll just share some of the pictures I took.







And here are a couple of pictures taken by the stage seats...





(Mike is up for "Best Guy Ever" award, by the way!)

vote for christina!

Christina has a photo entered at the Tulip Photo Contest. What could she win? I have no idea! But it would be cool if she won, so go vote! :)

old home movies

One other thing I did while on my "blogbatical" was play around with old home movies from my childhood -- using some of that footage to create new small movies. For example, I found a section which included my cousin and I made him a video birthday card.

Continuing the theme from an earlier post of giving my mom a hard time (!) -- here's a little movie I did saluting her parenting skills. It's especially fitting with Mother's Day right around the corner. Enjoy!

catch up

Yep, I'm going to catch you up on some of the things I did while on my "blogbatical"...

In March the fam went to Las Vegas for spring break (in honor of David's 21st birthday). Here we are walking around the Wynn Casino:



Actually the setting there looks sort of Pacific Northwesty, so I guess we could have stayed home for that! We had a great time though -- went to lots of shows, etc. As a family we broke about even on the gambling (due to the superior blackjack skill of Christina -- Who knew?!)



Every trip my mom usually makes one attempt to do me in.
Blog readers might remember this from a trip to Alcatraz a few years ago:




On this trip, my mom made her move when I got a little too close to the edge of one of the ponds at the Flamingo...



My mom is a wily one! :)

festival update

Christina is home (well, back at college that is) from a great week in Reno where she participated in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. (She is in Region 7 which includes Alaska, Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.)

We were so excited for her -- She made her way to finalist for the prestigious Irene Ryan Award. Although she didn't win the whole shootin' match, what an accomplishment and honor to get that far (one of 16 chosen out of 230)!

Yep, we're proud!

back to back birthdays!

And today it's my mom's birthday. I think we should celebrate with a parade!



(She's the one on the far left side.)

holiday happenings

On Friday we went to Portland to do a little shopping (key word: little), dinner at Jake's (key word: yum), and a visit to The Grotto, a Catholic shrine and botanical garden (key word: pretty). (BTW, the picture above was taken on our way back to a parking garage in downtown Portland.) The Grotto has had a Festival of Lights for many years, but this was the first year we actually got around to going to it. In addition to the Christmas lights, they have music performances, a petting zoo, and a puppet show. (Puppet show, not so good.) Anyway, it would have been perfect with a little dusting of the white stuff, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. (And I shouldn't complain due to the really nasty weather other parts of the country are experiencing.)

I did just finish reading about snow though -- in the book Christmas on Mill Street. Part of why I liked the book was that it is set during the winter of 1962, when the main character was nine years old. (I was six then). I'm usually up for a little nostalgia this time of year. Anywhoo, it's a warm 'n cozy, feel-good Christmas story which I would recommend if you're into that genre.

what I've been up to...

I'm glad we got an extra hour today, because the time has been whizzing by. (Actually I could use a few extra hours -- wonder how I could arrange for that.)

We were in Bellingham to see WWU's production of The Mistakes Madeline Made, described on the Western Theatre site as: a story of love and dirty people. The play follows a girl who toils away in a soul-crushing job as a personal assistant as she begins to battle all things clean after developing ablutophobia – the fear of bathing. Soon her smell starts to overwhelm her co-workers and her many casual lovers. A fantastic story about finding one’s self, the play raises the questions: Is it a political act to live dirty? And is it even feasible to live clean in our current times of unrest?

I knew very little about the play going in, and I was surprised at both how funny and how sad it was. Directed by Rich Brown, the play was simply outstanding. The set, the sound, the costumes, the acting -- all top notch. They could (they should!) take this on the road.

Christina played Beth, the tightly-strung manager of the office whose function is to run errands for a rich family (who are never seen). The character of Beth provides a lot of the comedy in the play (and Christina has a real knack for comedy), yet the character also evokes pathos (and Christina has a real knack for that too).

Here's Christina as Beth: (I *ahem* "borrowed" this picture from her facebook page)



Then last night (back home in Longview) we actually went to a Halloween party -- in costume no less! And (speaking of time whizzing by) today is the 29th anniversary for Mike and me. Here's a weird part -- lots of the anniversary cards are looking familiar since we've given so many to each other over the years!

feel the love

I discovered a treasure trove of old pictures in a trunk at my mom's. The picture above, taken in 1968, is of me at age 11 with Katze (my first cat). I like how calm and happy I look -- in direct contrast to Katze's "get me the hell out of here" expression.

Katze was usually a mellow cat. For real. But I remember when this picture was taken, Princess (our newly adopted Boston Terrier) was being held by my brother about 2 feet away. Katze was not amused.

just askin'

Is it mean to point out that C&D are saying goodbye to this...





and this...



and saying hello to this?



Yeah, I thought so.


-----------------------------------------------
googled the library picture; the rest are mine!

end o' summer

C&D (Offsprings #1&2) are only home for another week, so we are cramming a whole lot of summer into the remaining time. Yesterday we went to the zoo where I made a new friend (and looked very touristy in the process):



Today it was 'fun in Portland' day and tomorrow we head for the coast.
Hope everyone is having a good Labor Day Weekend!

check out the pretties

Offspring #1 has just launched a shop on Etsy, the "global marketplace" of handmade items. She created some nice earrings which you can see here. Don't feel obligated to buy anything, but do feel obligated to visit her site! :)

happy b-day to me

Yep, today is/was my b-day! Offsprings #1&2 came home and we went to the concert at the lake where we listened to bluegrass and had a picnic dinner.



Here's me with my mom and Offspring #1:

And here's Hubby and Offspring #2:


Later Mr. Tumnus helped me open presents.


And there you have it!

mr. tumnus' new apartment

It has been a summer of moves! First my mom moved from her house into a condo, then Offspring #2 moved from his 'slanted floor' college apartment into a nicer (and level!) one.

This past weekend we helped Offspring #1 move from the Apartment of Darkness and Mold up two flights to the Apartment of Sunshine and Happiness.

Mr. Tumnus likes this one better too. He can monitor the comings and goings in the parking lot.



If he wants to take a break from his Guard Cat duties, he can snooze on his Stairway to Heaven.



Playing "Heh, heh, just try to get me out from under the bed" is good entertainment too.


(pictured: Offspring #2 & his girlfriend Tien)

only a slight exaggeration...

This weekend we moved Offspring #2 from his old college apartment into a new, improved college apartment! The older apartment had one major flaw. The floor slanted like one of those anti-gravity houses.



This photo is from an old postcard (which sadly isn't in my collection) of the Cosmos Mystery Area in South Dakota. Cosmos is still in business, and their website says "Have you ever experienced a place where the laws of nature seem to have gone completely berserk?"

After being in Offspring #2's old apartment, I can answer "Yep!"

Happy B-day to this guy...

Yeah, I kinda like him.

concert snapshots

Before the concert:





During the concert:



Typical "demographic" at the concert:



But I'll admit the ol' geezers put on a good show.