I never thought I'd be so excited to see the sun... Over the past 2 weeks (since Aaron's been gone), the weather has been TERRIBLE. We've had one or two peaks of the sun for about 30 minutes at a time since then and it has definitely been wearing on my disposition. But this morning, after the snow melted, I saw this beautiful sun outside so I had to take a picture. And since I've shown you pics of the house in the snow, I figured I should show you some of the house in the sunlight too - even the house looks happier :) It's going to be a good day...
Today, Howard and I got to experience the 48th Annual Junior Daffodil Parade in our neighborhood. We woke up to the parade participants lining up in the field across the street from our house and the sounds of marching bands practicing their tunes. Of course it was raining. Isn't it ALWAYS raining here? Ugh... but Howard and I loaded up- me with a rain jacket, gollashes and camera, him with the leash, and we headed up the street in the downpour. Even with the bad weather, a LOT of people still came out for it- I suppose they're used to it. Howard, of course, was a hit. He waltzed through the crowd like a paid professional... he might as well have been shaking hands and kissing babies. Someone was handing out dog treats for free, so of course I grabbed a handful. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of Howard enjoying the show (Had I let go of the leash, I'm pretty sure he would've jumped in to join them) but here are a few I got from mine and Howard's big date this morning...
Or something like that...
We had a blast. I picked them up Saturday night and piled them (and all of their bags) into the truck. The four of us...squeezed into the Extended Cab Toyota Tacoma. Was it tight? Yes. Did we have a choice? No. Luckily, it wasn't raining, so all of their bags went into the very back of the truck (of course, we didn't have the same luck when I brought them back to the airport tonight... more details on that a little further down). I will say that Joyce, the first time flyer, packed the best-- only a couple of outfits (appropriate, since she'd only be here for about 2.5 days) and she packed it all into a bag that she didn't even have to check. I was impressed...
Sunday, we ventured out to the base and drove around a little bit. We then took in some lunch at a cute place not far from the house and drove over to Gig Harbor after that so that they could see it. After a run to Tacoma Boys with Mom (a local market) to pick up some seafood, Emily came and over and we cooked dinner and Joyce and I showed Emily how to play Gin Rummy. Because she totally started kicking our tails after just a couple of games, we came to the conclusion we'd been hussled and vowed privately to never play with her again... (We take cards very seriously in the Veazey family...)
Monday involved another lunch outing and another trip to the base--but this time we went to the BX. Once inside, I thought I'd never get them out. Again, Joyce (a former military wife who regularly visits the base down in Jacksonville) was the easy one. However, we lost Aunt Joan in the purse and wallet section and Mom set up camp in make-up and perfume. After grabbing a few souveniers for everyone back home, Mom and I made it to the check out counter and when we couldn't find Aunt Joan or Joyce, mom went to "look for them..." It was then that I heard an announcement for them over the loud speaker in the BX... yeesh... Anyway, we finally made it out of there and back home for a lovely southern meal cooked by Mom (including pot roast, collard greens, pea salad, etc... you get the gist...).
Their last day in town involved a trip into Seattle. But it was raining. This begged the question, what do we do with all of your bags? (I won't say whose bag was the biggest... but her name was Joan...and since there were two Joans on this trip, you'll just have to use your imagination). Well, we somehow managed to get everything in the cab of the truck. But it wasn't comfortable for anyone involved (except really the lady with the biggest bag who somehow wound up in the roomiest seat--the passenger seat) This was the result (it doesn't NEARLY do it justice):
Like sardines, we packed into the car and headed into Seattle to look around, eat some seafood and then I dropped them off at the airport. There were some funny things that happened, but I won't publish those for the world to see on the blog- they'll be reserved for a Veazey-family mass email to go out tomorrow. But we had so much fun, ate some good food and laughed a lot and I was sad to see them go.... it's definitely too quiet around here. But I AM exhausted-- did I mention the fact I haven't slept in days? A certain someone refused to transition to West Coast time and woke up every morning around 3 or 4 am and began banging things around (not even sort of quietly) in the kitchen making coffee.... Guess who it was! (Hint: not me...)
Howard took quite a liking to his Aunt Joyce...
As all women should, they spent most of their time in the kitchen cooking... I hope *all (all 2 of you) of my faithful readers know I'm joking...
Seafood feast at the Crab Pot in Seattle...
I don't fancy myself to be a great cook... I'm getting better, but I still have a hard time thinking up things to cook. Which is why I depend on my friends to give me ideas :) At the Training Day chili lunch thing at the squadron the other day, my friend Emily (who is a GREAT cook) made Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili. It was delicious... and healthy! So, courtesy of Emily (and Cottage Living), here's the recipe--I felt I had to share:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1585321
The recipe says to serve it over rice or chicken or something, but we had it just by itself and it was perfect that way as well...
Enjoy!
