It’s been busy here the past few weeks. Illness, school finals, weekend trip to Seattle, weekday trip to Beaverton. So! A little catch up blog.
I caught what I thought was a nasty cold. After being a snot factory for over two weeks, Jerry insisted I see a doctor. It turns out I had a sinus infection so I now have antibiotics and am feeling much better. Of course, I was sick during finals week so two of my tests I bombed on. However, I did all right with the final grades.
Jerry, Peggy, Hobbitses and I went to Seattle to see the Eldar. (My dad doesn’t look nearly as good at 87 as Aragorn did.) We had a delightful visit. We departed the City via the ferry to Bremerton. Lots of fun. The Hobbitses had never been on a ferry so the hour voyage was doubly enjoyable. We then retired to a motel with a swimming pool which was utilized that evening and the following morning by the Hobbitses. As we drove the back roads home, we stopped and fed the fish at a hatchery, then we had our lunch in the parking lot. Here’s a small gallery for your viewing pleasure.
Three days later I was off to Beaverton to visit the rest of the family. Very relaxing as the antibiotics had kicked in and I felt human once again. I was able to accompany Heather, Lindsay, and Emery on an excursion to the zoo. Had a great time. I also made a computer recycling run with three computers and five monitors. Nice to clear stuff out!
One last weekend then the spring term of school begins. Easter weekend will be fun though. Barney, Heather, Lindsay, and Emery will be making an appearance here. We’ll celebrate Pepere’s birthday so the food and special desserts will flow freely. We do know how to eat well. 
When Peggy moved in last December, she moved into the back bedroom in the daylight basement. An adequate guest room to be sure. However, it is not quite the livable space for every day. There are limited electrical outlets because of the firring on the concrete walls, the window is rather shadowed so not a lot of light comes in, the closet is small, and there is no real carpeting just pieces placed to cover the concrete floor.
She’s moving to the big bedroom; large walk-in closet, wall-to-wall carpeting, and numerous electrical outlets so she will not be limited as to where she has to place furniture. There is also a lovely window seat with a nice view of the forest and pond.
A wise decision; I do believe she will be quite comfortable there. Now we just have to train Gabriel to go to the correct bedroom during the night if he goes looking for mom…
My blessing are many. In no particular order here are just a few of them:
- daily hugs from Hobbitses
- smiles and giggles from RG, Hobbitses, and RK
- spur of the moment overnight visits from TR, MM, and kidlings
- easy, comfortable, family time with all
- RG talking about caring for RK and I as we age
- TR gifting me with a new laptop, out of the blue
- Maidenette telling her folks “we really should go to Memere and Pepere’s”
- Pippin and I driving to school together twice a week
- Merry running and throwing himself at me with delighted glee in the mornings
- RG making sure there is a hot dinner on the table most evenings
- RK loving me as much, if not more, as he did 32 years ago
- Little Ranger’s gutteral laugh
- Swinging Hobbitses
- RG and Hobbitses giving me much needed breaks from schoolwork, just for a hello and a hug
The list could go on and on….
RK handed in his resignation of the HS coaching position yesterday. Being how we were both in town at the noon hour, we met for lunch. Very pleasant.
As the conversation ensued, he spoke of not coaching the Classic (competitive) league teams any more either!!! Oh my! He’ll still be involved with the league as head coach, facilitating clinics for coaches and such. His maintenance of the fields will also continue, and the soccer camps. However, the evening practices and weekend travel commitments will disappear. Oh my oh my oh my!!!!
Can you tell I’m thrilled?!? OK, I did grouse about his time commitment to soccer but I also know that it is his passion. And we must all have a passion; be it soccer, running, writing, kidlings, or what have you.
Ever on…
Wait! There is no time out in soccer. Well, looks like we will change that.
RK has been coaching the local high school boys team for nigh on ten years. He enjoys it, there is no doubt of it. Anything soccer he enjoys. Now that we have the Hobbitses and RG living here, RK’s priorities have shifted. He is looking to relinquish that coaching position to spend more time at home. He intends to speak with the athletic director this week. Yea!!!
And! My daunting task of soccer camp registrar may be significantly diminished. For the past three years the local soccer league has been using a company to facilitate on-line registation for the regular recreational season. I was reluctant to hand my camp registrations over to them until all the bugs were worked out of the system. Looks like the bugs are gone and the time has come to hand it over. With school taking most of my waking hours, the thought of adding the job of registrar had me quaking in my boots. And my boots are sturdy!
As I have said before, in other venues, we are all settling fairly smoothly into our new roles in life. Those RG and little Hobbit hugs, smiles, and giggles are so worth the changes!!!!!
Namárië
Now that RG and Hobbitses live here, they are all exposed to the LOTR paraphernalia around the house. Pippin has shown keen interest and wants to know about the people in the posters, the statues, the action figures.
So! RG has begun reading “The Hobbit” to him, and LOTR.
This morning, Pippin parked himself on the sofa and was “reading” about Bilbo Baggins. He was looking at the maps in the book and talking to himself. Observing this prompted me to print out the two maps from “The Hobbit” so he has larger ones to look at.
Never too young to enjoy the works of The Professor!
RG and I had a pleasant evening Friday. We made a special trip (with the Hobbitses, of course) to Costco and bought the cheesecake that we did not buy last Friday. Not the same one, mind you, just cheesecake in general.
After a lovely spinach salad for dinner, lots of playing with Hobbitses and then tucking them into bed, we splurged. RG and I each had a generous piece of cheesecake and watched a “girlie” movie. What fun!!
RK is out of town this weekend for corporate meetings. I imagine there will be some cheesecake left when he returns tomorrow evening, but I’m not placing any bets!! 
It’s like a drop in the pond. One tiny splash that redounds throughout the entire body of water.
A family reunion was in the offing this summer with RK’s side of the family. We all planned to gather in the beautiful state of Maine for a week of extraordinary fun, festivities, fellowship, and food. Things change. RK’s older sister passed away January 2, 2007. The pull to Maine has been significantly diminished. A number of family members have made it known they will not travel to Maine. One of my nephews, Iain, age 25, wrote and asked if he could come to our home this summer for a week. He needed to get out of the city. “Sure!! Come early, stay late!”
That was the drop in the pond.
TR thought that if Iain comes, his sister, BIL and niece should also make the drive from the south. And if they travel, their parents will surely want to join us. Maybe their other siblings will come too. And Tom and Joanne from Massachusetts. And, and, and…
Voila! A family reunion at our house this summer! Nothing is set in stone yet but the way this family works, I can easily envision a house full, and tents full, of family for a week come the middle of summer.
I can do galleries, after intense instruction from TR.
Here’s the one for recent activities.
Greetings from my corner of Fangorn.
DS Tall Ranger (aka TR) built this blog for my posting pleasure and leisure(?!). I shall attempt to record aspects of my life here. Maybe even add some pictures!!
Fun weekend. Having the whole family here makes this home a beehive of activity. MM, Maidenette, and Little Ranger arrived shortly after noon yesterday. TR came a bit later. The Hobbitses, RainGirl (aka RG) and I were here to greet them. So wonderful to have the cousins get together and play.
My RangerKing (aka RK) is in heaven having so many Little People to interact with. The current project is to move part of the fence so two very obliging Ents may support a beam from which a swing will hang. The sand box was last week’s project.
There is much to be done.