Shoo-Shoo ...

-  Shoo-Shoo -

I'm so exited to introduce you all to my new cat.

Her name is Shoo-Shoo and we adopted her last week from the Seattle-King Country Humane Society.

She is 10 years old and a 1/2 Tortoiseshell & 1/2 Siamese cat.

She is Beautiful and so snuggly.

She is still adjusting to our house but finally got brave enough to come downstairs for a while yesterday.

She is so lovable and we are very happy we found her. 

She will be loved and she will be spoiled.

Crazy Busy, Crazy Fun ...

- Smiling Faces -

This past weekend was crazy busy, crazy fun. 

On Friday - Jessica, Aidan & John arrived at 1pm.

They immediately fill the house with laughter, smiles & chaos.

The air is thick with the promise of ...

 Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter 

Wizards, Muggles & Marauders

The boys were flush with excitement & anticipation. 

As 'giddy' as young boys can get when their minds are filled with ...

Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter ... 

But, the 1st order of business - Masterpiece Making.

We'll save the spell conjuring for later when Sarah gets here.

So, off we go to the only Masterpiece making place I know.

My local ceramics shop.

 

- Anticipation -

- John with his Masterpiece -

- Nancy's Masterpiece -

We put the finishing touch's on our art work.

And headed over to see Chuck.

Chuck E. Cheese that is ....

- Pizza, games,  prizes & smiles all round  -

-  Winnings & Tokens -

Chuck E. Cheese is a little like "Las Vegas" for kids.
All the glitz, glamor & gaming of the real Vegas.
All the excitement of winning & heartbreak of losing.

- Kiddie Slots -

 Actually, you might be surprised by how many adults play the games.
Jess & I had to laugh because we saw several parents playing ...
while their kids just stood nearby, dejected, watching them play.

- Cashing In -

By the end of the night everyone was tuckered out.
So with our winnings in hand (bags of cotton candy & pop.rocks)
We headed home - happy & content from a full day of fun.

A good nights sleep was in order...
because we had a train to catch the next morning.
A train to Hogwarts ...

Sarah got up at the crack of dawn & arrived at 9am.
The boys were up early and very excited to go see.

Harry, Harry Potter that is ...

- Jess, Aidan, John & Sarah at the Pacific Science Center -

- Butterfly Room at Science Center -

- John trying to get a butterfly on his hand -

- Aidan & John sitting in the Big chair -

While we were waiting in the line to see Harry Potter Darth Vader & the Star Wars gang wandered by to say hi.

- Darth Vader -

The Darth Vader character was about 7' tall.

The kids were amazed (look at that little boys face behind Darth Vader)

Aidan & John were very excited to learn that the next big exhibit coming to the PSC is Star Wars!

- Aidan & John meet Darth Vader on the way to Hogwarts -

- Harry -

We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the exhibit so you'll just have to use your imagination.

But, I will say this - If  love Harry Potter and you get the chance to see it - go! It was a great show. 

After the show we went down to the waterfront and rambled around the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop for a while and then went to Red Robin for dinner.

Sarah & John left about 10 on Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon we were able to check off one of the items on Aidan's Bucket List.   

He had been dying to go a Sushi restaurant near our house that Mike had been telling him about which has a conveyor belt that carries the sushi along past you.

When you see a dish you like you just grab it and eat.  

Aidan loved it.  I think our sushi restaurant even beat his in Chilliwack which has a button on the table you can push to bring the waitress over. 

- Jess & Aidan -

- Sushi coming down the conveyor belt -

I had so much fun and hope everyone else did too (poor Sarah had to sleep on an air mattress on the floor - sorry).

I can't wait to do it again.

Dance ...

Don't take life so seriously!
 
DANCE 

Have a great weekend everyone!

To Whom it May Concern:

- The Evolution of Man -

Dear Evolution,

Last week, while sitting at the dentist office, I started thinking about you and let me just begin by saying, I think you are amazing!

I don't know where you went to school but you sure know your stuff.

And before I forget - many thanks for all the hard work on the 'walking upright' and 'opposable thumb' projects. 
 
Both have been phenomenally successful and are very much appreciated.

Evolution, I don't envy you your job, I understand how hard it must be.

All that high-level sciencey business like survival.of.the.fittest, natural selection , adaptation & genetic drift - that's some complex & scary stuff.

One wrong move and 'pigs really could fly'!!  

And it's such a big responsibility - being the biological decider of all species of flora & fauna on this planet.

Even with the invisible hand of God to guide you, it's huge!

And no doubt it weighs mighty on you - being the one in charge of deciding who stays & who goes.

Who is genetically obsolete and who gets to try again with a bigger brain.

Heavy stuff.

And I understand you can't rush, we all know 'Haste makes waste'. 

Take the poor Sphinx Cat for example - I'm guessing you were probably very busy that day, multi-tasking and you just forgot the fur (you should add that to your To-Do list - 'cat fur')!

Anyway, don't feel bad, mistakes happen, nothing on earth functions at 100% all the time.

- Sphinx Cat -

I get it, I really do ... it's a process.

But, as I was saying, just last week Katy had to go in and get 4 wisdom teeth removed.  Ouch! 

And as I was sitting in the waiting room I started thinking - hey, I'm not working right now and maybe you could use a little help.

You know, to help get the evolutionary ball rolling ...

For example, I don't think a single human has used their wisdom teeth since the last time we hunted down our dinner with rocks & sticks and whipped up pot of Pterodactyl stew. 

Listen, I know you're very busy what with all that has been going on this last 100 years: climate change, GMO's and habitat destruction to name just a few, so I'll be brief - here's a little list I've put together for you to look over.

They are just suggestions really.

- 5 Stages of Human Evolution -

 
Here's a  few genetic traits that ♀ Homo sapiens no longer have any use for.

And trust me on this, I speak for all the girls - this is stuff  we don't need or want!

Okay, so lets get to work - no time like the present, right!  

• Wisdom teeth - dental care is expensive so why bother with all that extra expense & pain when we don't even use these teeth anymore!

•   Hairy Legs (we'll worry about underarms later).  I'm pretty sure we haven't needed hairy legs since, oh say, since before the last ice-age.   Hairy legs lost their usefulness when our cave ancestors realized  'fur' was warmer & softer than 'hair'. 

• Facial Hair, don't even get me started on facial hair.  I mean seriously,  have women really EVER needed a hairy face.   You could save ♀ a lot of time, money, tears & angst if you would just get busy and evolve away.  

• Menopause: OMG, what were you thinking.( *see below for further details)

*I've recently been thrown full throttle in the big 'M' and there appears to be some reverse engineering happening here.

I think I'm moving from Stage 5 on the evolution chart back to Stage 1.  Is that normal?  If so, why?  I also appear to be 'overheating' with regularity and my ♀hormones seem to have sprung a leak. (I'm not expert but don't I need those?)

To be blunt, the menopause function is SNAFU!

I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job or anything but I think this whole 'menopause' thing needs some major reworking.

Well, that's it, hope it helps.

Kate's done now so I gotta go but please don't hesitate to call me if you need further information regarding my suggestions.

Sincerely,

Nancy L Thomson
Seattle, WA

(PS: If  you have any spare time, , I could use some of those longer legs & a bigger brain)

Walkabout No. 36

Walkabout No. 36

Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection & Rhododendron Garden

January 5, 2011

Walkabout Buddies

For this week's Walkabout we went to see the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection & The Weyerhauser Rhododendron Garden in Federal Way, WA.

I have been wanting to visit this garden & collection for many years now and just never seemed to make it.  It was once of 1st places that I wanted visit and so we did.

It did not disappoint.

Chinese Juniper on Sierra Juniper (Bonsai since: 1970)

It was definitely worth the drive.  It was a crisp cold morning (there was snow on the ground) and we were the only ones in the gardens (2 other people showed up later).  

Golden Atlas Cedar

The Bonsai Collection does not charge an admission & the display is quite impressive. 

Coral Bark Black Pine (Bonsai since: ca 1965)

Did You Know?

Records of bonsai can be traced to the 4th century in the scrolls of China. Bonsai spread to Korea and into Japan by the 7th or 8th century.  (http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/Company/Bonsai)

Japanese White Pine

The collection is home to more than 60 bonsai plants from artists all over the USA & Canada as well as 4 other Pacific Rim countries.

Japanese Beech  Fagus (Bonsai since: 1958)

  The Pacific Rim Collection is owned by Weyerhauser Company and they employ a full-time curator and a staff to oversee & care for the plants and have volunteers to also assist with the endless hours of pruning needs to maintain the collection.

A Bonsai Forest - my favorite style

We had a chance to speak with the curator and he told us to come back at different times of the year to see the trees in flower during the spring, leafed out in the summer and changing colors in the fall.  

Pyracantha (Firethorn)  in bloom

Firethorn (Bonsai since: 1970)

After touring the Bonsai collection we went next door to the Rhododendron Garden.  It was a garden that is undoubtedly best viewed in the spring when they are in bloom since there is not much too see in the winter - so we will be back.

Dinner & Game Night No. 1 ...

Mike & I have decided that our New Year's Resolution would be to host a monthly Dinner & Game Night at our house.

Last night, January 1, 2011 was our very 1st of the year!

Playing Zombie Flux

I didn't get any good pictures but here is one of us all playing Zombie Flux.  

Claudia, Tom, Dave, Dana & half of Mike are shown in this photo (not shown are Katy, Alex & myself).

I think I will send out Evites for future Dinner/Game Nights & schedule a different game for each dinner.  

They will be informal gatherings with either a board, card or poker games played.

I think I will keep trying out different games until I find several that are fun & fast moving.  

I think I will plan on 3rd Sunday of every month to keep it consistent & easier to plan and remember.

I have no idea how many people will show.  I suppose the number will vary - sometimes a few and sometimes it might just be Mike & I!  Time will tell. 

When it is just Mike & I we will probably play Scrabble - my most favorite game in the whole world (that we rarely play).

It will be fun in the summer when we can be outside and BBQ because I can actually fit more people on my deck than in my dinning room.

Zombie Flux is a game I personally love but it was kind of slow moving last night but fun nonetheless.

We also played a round of Katy's new game that she got for Christmas called, "The Last Word" but I think the group consensus was that we didn't enjoy that game very much.  

Since the cat kept running away from him - Alex decided to be a cat himself instead.

 All in all the night was a lot of fun, company was very enjoyable, food was great and I can't wait for our next one.

I hope everyone is having a good start to the New Year

Happy New Year's!

Mike & I getting ready to head out for a drink on New Year's Eve

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S