Thankful

As part of her Thanksgiving celebration, my friend Kristine is posting something she is thankful for everyday on her Facebook page. Today I am going to play catch up and list some things I am thankful for. Everyday types of things that we don't always think about but we always appreciate. These are in no particular order.

1. I am thankful for Charlie's rain coat in this wet & muddy weather.

2. I am thankful for working windshield wipers.

3. I am thankful for 24 Hour Fitness and Eric, my trainer--even if I can't walk up the stairs right now. (On a side note, I am not thankful for wall sits)

4. I am thankful for my hair stylist who can squeeze me in on Monday.

5. I am thankful for Tillamook cheddar cheese in the little snack size.

6. I am thankful for my Costco membership.

7. I am thankful for spare beds.

8. I am thankful for my Swiffer and the wet mop refills.

9. I am thankful for my DVR.

10. I am thankful for blogs that keep me laughing and inspired.

11. I am thankful for friends who cook me dinner and encourage me to try new foods.

12. I am thankful registering the car takes only 5 minutes at the DEQ station and only has to be done every other year.

13. I am thankful I have a very large recycling bin that fits all the empty floor board boxes.

14. I am thankful we have an extra room downstairs to put all the stuff we had to move out of the upstairs so I can still get to my sewing machine.

15. I am thankful I finally finished Seann's Halloween quilt and I never have to do a hexagonal binding again.

16. I am thankful for having two other team members working in toys with me when I closed last week.

17. I am thankful for the treadmills with built-in TVs which make an hour go by very quickly.

18. I am thankful I was able to get on the Beaverton sub list and had my first job yesterday, even though it was middle school.

19. I am thankful Stacy is hosting Thanksgiving and that we'll all be together for the first time in four years.

So that catches me up to today. I'll try and continue on Facebook. We'll see how it goes.

Dahlias

Way back in April I planted ten dahlia tubers. I ordered them from Swan Island Dahlias here in Oregon. They arrived in a small box, each about 1-3 inches long. I planted them in front of our staircase in the front yard where it was nice and sunny.

Then it rained. A lot. And I worried that my lovingly planted dahlias might not make it.

But they did. All except one. They grew and grew and grew. They took over their little plot of land and probably would have taken over more were it not for the lawn. And they gave big beautiful flowers in a variety of colors. There were giant white ones and really pretty deep red ones. Some grew in clumps of smaller blooms. I cut blooms and had fresh flowers in the house every week. I loved them!

First bloom!

And I learned a lot. For instance, the small plot of dirt was too small for the nine plants. I needed to stake the dahlias as soon as they were tall enough. I actually had stakes in the ground but I failed to tie the dahlias to them in time. I should have written down which variety was planted where for future planting. Lots of little things.

So now is the time to dig up the dahlia tubers and store them for winter. Tubers are too fragile to leave in the ground for the winter--especially in a place as wet as ours. So I cut down the stalks and got out the pitchfork and started to dig.

I wasn't really expecting to pull up a hug clump of dirt and mud! My little 1-3 inch tubers multiplied like crazy! No wonder they were cramped!! I dug out all nine plants and then worked, in the rain, to get the dirt and mud off the roots and tubers. For the smaller plants it wasn't that hard. But for the bigger ones it was horrible!!! I'm still not sure exactly how I am going to store them this winter since the box I originally planned on using is way too small.

I can't get the stake out!

That's a lot of dividing to do!

But before I get to the box, I have to let them dry and then I have to divide the tubers--a task I have never done and one that is now looking way more daunting than it did when I read the instructions. This growing dahlias thing ended up being a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. But the flowers were beautiful and I can't wait to plant them again next year--assuming I don't accidentally kill them over the winter!

Disneyland and other catching up

Lot's to catch up on!

Way back in September Seann went to Yosemite for a week to go rock climbing with Stewart. The funny story about Stewart is that Seann and he had chatted online in one of the climbing forums and Stewart had even bought a pair of the Russian Aiders Seann was making. They had never met. Then, a few years ago, we went down to Mary Jane's wedding and ran into Stewart! He and Mary Jane had gone to school together at Whitman. Small world. Anyway, Stewart and Seann spent the week climbing in Yosemite and then Seann came back while Stewart picked up his girlfriend and did a little traveling. The trip went very well and Seann got to try out a new ledge he made. They even had a feast when they reached the top!

 

A month later two of my dear friends, Sally & Sabrina,  made the trek up to Portland from Merced. We had a lovely weekend of sleeping in (Sabrina estimates it has been about 6 years since she'd been able to do that!), Wii and IKEA. We hit downtown too and went to Powell's and Saturday Market. Voodoo Donuts had a line around the block and we just weren't into that. Sabrina had never been to IKEA so we couldn't resist. The intention, of course, was to just look and get ideas etc., since they had flown and couldn't exactly carry on a sofa! In the end, though, both Sally and Sabrina managed to buy a few things for the kids' rooms and barely squeezed them into their luggage. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures on my camera since both Sabrina and Sally were taking pictures. Sabrina posted a few on her blog (see sidebar). It was a wonderful weekend and I hope we get to have many more!!!

Seann & I love Disneyland and aren't ashamed to say it! We hadn't been in a couple years so we decided this year to go for a few days to celebrate our anniversary. But we also wanted to see the Halloween decorations so we went a few weeks early.

We stayed at a Best Western right across the street so we didn't have to rent a car or anything. It was nice not to have to deal with parking! The hotel was also next to a Denny's which provides a much better and cheaper breakfast than what you can get at the park. They serve their side of fruit in a fancy glass mug. It was pretty amusing since it was just grapes, bananas and apple slices.

On Sunday night we had dinner at the Blue Bayou in the Pirates of the Caribbean. They gave us yummy free dessert for our anniversary. We also got offered free champagne at a restaurant in Downtown Disney one day but we opted out. Somehow champagne and Space Mountain don't seem like a good mix. I guess wearing the "Happy Anniversary" buttons paid off!

We went on Splash Mountain and got soaked the very first night we got there. And of course we didn't learn our lesson and proceeded to get soaked for the next three days--on Splash Mountain and in California Adventure on the Grizzly River Run or whatever it's called. For the record, five times on the Grizzly Run is probably one too many. But you meet such interesting folk!

We'd never been to this place before but it was a great find. Super yummy BBQ ribs and chicken, beans and coleslaw. Served family style with drinks in mason jars. We'll definitely be going back next time we're in Disneyland.

Space Mountain monitor fail

 The trip was a blast and a much needed break from the floor project! Since the main room and our bedroom are both pretty much done and we've moved back into them the floor hasn't been a priority. We both got sick after we came home from Disneyland and we just weren't feeling super motivated. But we are now back on track. Seann finished the repairs he needed to do and we got the plywood down in my office. Steve came to help today and he worked on getting all the plywood done in the bathroom. It was a lot of fussy cutting and I'm so glad it's done. Steve did a great job. Now we just have to pick out new tile!

With the plywood down in both spare rooms we could start actually laying down boards. Seann face-nailed the first row and we put down a couple more rows before our energy levels failed us. Now that the first rows are in the rest of the rooms should go very quickly. Then all the main flooring work will be done! As Steve said, it will be a huge milestone.

The family/dining room. It's all done now but I guess I don't have a picture of it.

But there will still be a ton to do. We have a lot of transition pieces to put in and all of the trim and baseboards will need to be done. Then we have to tackle the stairs and once we are all done with that we still have the tile in the bathroom and the new railings and banisters to put in! It will be busy for a while! But it's a good busy and once the bedrooms are done we'll be able to move stuff back upstairs and get organized again!

The family/dining room from a different angle. The furniture is back in here now. Yay!

Oscar keeps an eye on us when we're working on the floor. He really likes how cool it is--I think he's afraid we'll put carpet back!

Today's accomplishment. This is the first run in the spare bedroom. It continues straight into the other spare room (my office). The first row takes a TON of time so getting four rows in was huge. The rest should go quick.

That's what's been going on the last couple of months. I'll try and be better about posting! Heather will be here this week and I'll be heading to CA for Thanksgiving. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures and some great Ally stories!!