where'd they go?

this is HI-LAR-ious!!! this guy disguises himself and goes through the drive-through, but the people at the window don't see anyone. too funny!

back home

our little vacation was very nice and just the thing to relieve tension and stress. the 100-year old house we stayed in was decorated beautifully, but i was displeased by several things (soap container in downstairs bathroom was almost empty, overhead light in downstairs bedroom kept not working, there were no pans in the kitchen -- skillets, but no pans -- plus a few more things) so i would not recommend it; i mean after all, the owners in the multi-million dollar house next door weren't as giving and conscientious as the place we stayed last year or the year before, so phooey on them. the girlfriend didn't have the objections i did, but hey.

we spent time in anacortes and found a FABULOUS restaurant called ADRIFT. if you're ever in anacortes, for god's sake you need to stop there and eat. the place next door was also supposed to be very good -- gard-a-deli or something like that, but we didn't have a chance to stop there.

the library in anacortes is thriving and is open every day of the week. our library has truncated hours and isn't open in sundays, so i was jealous of the anacortes libray.

we drove down to oak harbor (kinky downtown area) and again found a good eating place -- seabolt's smokehouse seafood & deli. that's where i found the three micro-brewery beers, in cans (from colorado), that i brought back to the hubby. i don't drink but the husband offered me a sip and i thought the scotch ale was particularly tasty. we drove on south through coupeville and freeland, then headed back to the beach house.

we got there on monday and explored anacortes, stayed-in on tuesday and read all day since it was grey and dreary, went out and played in sunshine on wednesday, then packed up and played in sunshine on the way home on thursday.

we stopped at the coop in mt vernon where i transferred the girlfriend to her hubby. i also picked up some sticky rice and checked out the boobies of one of the checkers. she had tattooed landscapes from several beloved places she had lived as she was growing up. it was colorful but strange in the extreme and i was reluctant to stare and observe her statement, since i'm not a man (girlfriend's husband got the story).

we had gotten our flu shots, which we try to do when we're out in late september, a pretty good haul of used books, got caught up on family and problems, and ended up having a really great time! yay, girlfriends!!

the getaway

the girlfriend and i had a good trip down on hood canal by poulsbo. we got to watch a submarine go past the house three times, accompanied by two coast guard boats, a tugboat, and two container ships. it was interesting and intriguing. i'll post pictures when she sends them to me -- we used her camera since i forgot mine.

we did some shopping in poulsbo, ate at a really great restaurant (although some of the reviews i read later really dissed it -- we loved it), and explored port gamble. the weather was good with some sun and some sprinkles.

the house itself was lovely and just right for two people or two couples. it had two bedrooms with queen beds and two big bathrooms, a nice-size kitchen with tons of pots/pans/dishes/glasses/spices/etc, two couches and two chairs with t.v. and a music system and music, a dining table and four chairs, plus lots of windows and two decks with a beautiful yard in a very quiet neighborhood which made everything pretty darn great.

you might want to try it sometime.

once-a-year

for our annual trip this year, mary and i went to port townsend. i had this thing about wanting to ride the train, so i took amtrak from bellingham to edmonds, got off, met mary, got in her car, drove around the block to get in line for ferry tickets, and 10 minutes later we were on the ferry which, nicely, is right-next-door to the amtrak station. thirty minutes later we got off the ferry and took a lovely 30 minute drive to port townsend. life doesn't get any better than that.

we stayed at fort worden which is a big, beautiful campus with old buildings, some of which are for admin purposes, and some of which are rentable -- duplexes, little houses, rv and tent sites, and a hostel.

we stayed in a little house which had a kitchen, living room, bathroom with shower and towels, and three bedrooms. the kitchen was fully equipped, all we needed to bring was the food.

the weather was perfect -- sunny and around 70*. we checked out the whole fort worden area including the castle (a three-story stone house which can be rented but has only 1 bedroom), the lighthouse, and the observation balloon building. the balloon building was a real stumper -- it is about 3-stories tall with huge doors on one end and several balconies on one side. we finally found the info which explained it was used to house observation balloons for three years back around 1918 and that it is now a pavilion. no further explanation, however, as to whether it's used or rentable or what. very curious building.

we shopped in port townsend (the fort is on the outskirts of town) which has lots of wonderful shops and eateries. there was a health food store for provisions and a goodwill for books.

our favorite eating places were Victorian Square Deli (underground) and the Landfall Restaurant with a gorgonzola and carmelized onion burger which is absolutely to die for!!!

i decided i really liked the town and when i came home i told the husband i thought we should move there. he readily agreed. so as soon as this housing market shows some energy, we will revisit the issue and get serious about maybe making a change. i expect it to be no sooner than 2-3 years, though.

an excellent vacation and one which recharged our batteries. yay for girlfriend get-aways!

yelpie-yi-yo-ki-yay

hey, do you guys already know about yelp? i just discovered it today and signed up. mainly so i can write reviews on restaurants. i also wrote one on my dentist, who i really like.

finally you can complain/compliment someone or a place. hopefully the comments are true and not just blather.

so .... did you already know about it?

life...

happy valentine's day everyone! i got one great husband, two nice cards from him, and three presents from him. and two of the presents were yummy!! and last night we went to the black forest steak house in everson for an excellent meal! valentine's day was great in 2008!!!

just a note ... at work today, one of the gals came up to me, held up a bracelet, and said, "put this on." so, wondering what she wanted to check out, i put out my wrist. and she cracked up as she said, "no! put it on MY wrist." oh. hahaha. we laughed and laughed as i hooked it on her wrist. i mean, wouldn't you have thought that?

so many choices...

remember jean? she had the restaurant where we helped out, then she decided to move home to atlanta.

she's moving back!

she's not happy down there, even though her place is making some money. so she wants to move back up here, try again with her ex, and see about getting an ordinary job.

i'd like to see her find a good job, a steady relationship, and happiness. more later --

two birthdays

we drove down to the Young Married's house yesterday to help them celebrate their birthdays -- J's was on the 6th and L's was on the 7th -- her parents and sister arrived shortly after we, and we all proceeded to have a really good time!

after snacking and catching up for several hours, we seven piled into our new odyssey and drove over to The Keg for an excellent meal!!! apparently they don't take reservations so we had a bit of a wait (45 minutes) and then after we were seated we had another bit of a wait for our meal (25 minutes) but it was worth it! i had the filet mignon with blue cheese and garlic, and a twice-baked potatoe. oh. my. god. it was sooooo excellent, which was the opinion for everyone else and the selections they were served.

afterwards we returned to the house for lemon cake and strawberry cake, and the opening of presents. i lamented forgetting the camera so i didn't get any pictures of our fun. L's tummy is actually starting to pooch out a little bit (it's 8 weeks), and in spite of her ever-present nausea she held up real well. and it was good to see lulu again since she's had to work everytime the other six of us have gotten together. we finally said good-bye then drove home in the rain, but it was a pleasant drive in our new car.

what a really excellent day!!!

and he's off...

in just 2 hours MWYS will be off on his trans-continent trip. our drive down to seatac to take him to his departure plane on friday went smoothly. we said our quick good-byes, then tried to find our way to a small dress shop just south of the airport. haha, the roads didn't do what i thought they would, but we found the place without any trouble only to see that benson's dress shop was out of business. how sad. i bought my mother-of-the-groom dress there when MOS got married 2 years ago. i wonder if the owner died. she was an older lady who worked in the shop and did all the marking for the alterations, including getting on her knees to measure hems, and she had to be in her late 80's.

after that we whisked over to yea's wok for a quick bite. very unfortunately, MWYS didn't get a chance to eat at yea's on this trip. yea's wok is the BEST place to eat chinese food in seattle, or washington state, or the west coast for that matter. go there. enjoy yourself. coal creek village shopping center on the safeway (northwest) corner of the intersection in newcastle, 425.644.5546.

musical planes

today was the last day at the restaurant. it looks like jean won't be back until the ... well, let me back up. at first she was going to be gone 5 days which meant she'd be back last monday. then it got changed to the 26th (i think it cost her $50 to change her flight). then it got changed until the middle of january (i think that cost $200) so she'd be back in time to cater the wedding of a little gal here in town. the gal came in today and said the wedding had been postponed until next summer at the earliest. when we tell jean tomorrow, i expect her to say she won't be back at all. but maybe she will come back to oversee her things getting packed.

it's amazing how fluid some people's lives are!