Gifts

Gregg, David & me

photo by Paul Dudley of Paul Dudley Photography

It was a gift to have David with us over the weekend.

We talked, slept in, took a beautiful walk in the sun on Bainbridge Island, and went to Seattle & Bellevue. David wanted to shop for new headphones (his are conking out) and see what is happening in the chic stores. I found a new moisturizer and lip gloss at Sephora - whee!

We visited our brother-in-law, Stu, at his company, Auto Connections East, to test drive a high-quality used car. We saw my sister, Deb there (& their dog, Rusty, who works with Stu at the dealership). Stu sent us home with the car for a few days to REALLY test it out. We like it.

After picking up the car, we stopped for Thai take-out and drove to our brother (Jim) & sister-in-law's (Caroline) house. Deb met us there, and we had a nice, leisurely dinner, catching up and listening to David talk about his life at college.

Caroline made an amazing dessert:

Chai Pumpkin Pots de Creme with Pumpkin Seed Brittle.

Surely not on the South Beach Diet, but totally delicious.

Then we drove to the ferry, and home.

Yesterday, we visited our friends, the Dudleys, and Paul took the photo above. What a gift! That may be our Christmas card this year.

Gregg & I made a special dinner for David.

We let the cats have a few bites of the steaks and the meat juice after dinner. Latte then threw up on the carpet, and sat by me to watch as I cleaned it up. Good times. No more steak for him.

This morning is the memorial service for a longtime friend of the family, Loyal Edgren. Loyal was the father of our friends, Brian & Christy, and the husband of Pat. He was a teacher, a volunteer firefighter, and the founder of Edgren Insurance in our little town. Loyal was a huge character, and he will be missed; there aren't two of him! Gregg's cousin, Kim, drove over from Spokane to attend the service with him today. Kim spent last night here. We are sad for the reason, but glad to have Kim with us. He got here in time to have pumpkin pie with whipped cream last night.

David leaves for school again today.

I am going to address a class of Physical Therapy students in Seattle, and share with them about family-centered care. Then I'll return the car to Stu, and we'll decide if we are going to buy it.

I feel as if I've received a bouquet of gifts over the past few days (except for the cat throw-up). I hope your weekend was a good one, too!