Scubaddict

I just got home from visiting with my best friend Jodi who is recently ENGAGED! :0)  As the “Matron of Honor” I have a lot of planning to do between now and September.   I’ve been to my fair share of weddings so I’ve got a lot of ideas to throw at the happy couple.  I told Jodi to watch “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” on YouTube for a little inspiration.  I think weddings NEED to be fun and reflect the personality of the couple and Todd & Jodi are very fun loving.  I’m SO glad that Jodi has found someone who keeps a “smile on her face” and keeps her laughing everyday…

Jodi's BEAUTIFUL Ring

As promised, I have some new photos of our house!  We have (some) drywall.   Don’t get too excited!  This drywall is only in our attached garage and the loft above Ben’s shop.  But it’s a really good start!

Attached Garage Sheetrock

I was also pleasantly surprised to see our NEW porch lights ON when I got home today:

Porch Lights! It almost looks like we might be "home"!!

As far as the baby goes for 2010… Our first Grandbaby is due at the end of May!  I’m completely excited and will be the first grandma with her hand up to babysit ~ “Pick ME, Pick ME!”   We might find out if it is a boy or girl next week as Kristi will be going in for her 20th week ultrasound on Tuesday.  The guys are all convinced that the baby will be a boy so Kristi and I are cheering for a girl.  I have a suspicion though, that the guys might be right….  So far, the baby is REALLY big and very active.

My son David & his lovely bride Kristi

I was reminiscing today about how far we’ve come on our new house in 448 days since we broke ground on October 14th 2008 at 6:49 am.  I wouldn’t actually know this information off hand except for the date stamp on the picture that Ben took of the first scoop of earth.  I remember Ben calling me at work with a “play by play” as the machine dipped over and over again into our rocky ground with so little effort.

The first scoop of earth on 10/14/2008 6:49 am

I realize that you probably visited my website today to see some new photos to ring in the New Year but I thought it would be more fitting to take a step back and be thankful for a moment.   I tend to get so wrapped up with what needs to be done today and worried about what will happen tomorrow until I stop myself to reflect.  We have come so far on this amazing this journey and I must thank Ben & David and all of our friends and family for coming along for the ride of our lives!  Thank you.     

I will post some new photos tomorrow… I promise :0)

I have to resist the urge to walk out onto the icy lake.  It still seems very frozen but the temperatures have been climbing up to the mid 30’s the last few nights. 

Our frozen little lake

I had some fun today shooting with my AF Fisheye 10.5mm lens today…

The Jackson Compound

Our Master Bathroom

 

Our cat Squeak

Something that I really LOVE about our property is that we have so many great trees.  It’s like our own little private forest.  And talk about low maintanence!  The ground is covered with needles and cones from the Douglas Fir and Cedar trees.  There are no weeds to pull, just a few stone steps to sweep from time to time.

Just a couple of the Cedar Trees in our mini forest

Sure it’s messy, is almost impossible to completely vacuum off of a flat surface and will really dry out your hands if you don’t wear gloves. But I’ve been looking forward to this day since we broke ground in 2008! There is something so WONDERFUL about seeing walls in our new home. Rooms start to take shape and my mind starts to race with visions of what pictures I will hang and what colors I will paint in each room.

So I don’t mind coming home from the office to spend a couple of hours with my trusty Shop Vac cleaning up the drywall debris from today. That “light at the end of the tunnel” is getting brighter!

The Wall is filled with blessings and warm wishes

Our Christmas party season is coming to an abrupt end which has been great for my insomnia.  The last two mornings I’ve actually slept in until 7:00 am ~ I KNOW… Shocking, Huh?  We’ve been insulating The Shop loft in preparation for drywall this week.  Now that we have permission to occupy the shop, our goal is to finish the loft and move all of belongings that are in our offsight storage units into the loft.  I think it’s going to be a long week…

It’s interesting to me that I come up with some of my most creative ideas around 4am.  Wild ideas that weave themselves into my dreams becoming more and more real until I finally wake up with a happy, gitty glow wondering how far I am from my hot glue gun.  It’s so HARD to talk yourself into going back to sleep when you realize that you have all of the supplies on hand to create that one of a kind masterpiece.   I didn’t realize at the time what use I would have for those big metal washers or why I decided to spare the biggest Razor Clam shells from the trash heap.   But it’s all clear to me now… at 4:09 am!   Now I just need to figure out how to get the extra gold glitter off my fingers before I need to scratch that itch at the tip of my nose :0)

I love the Puget Sound area because of the moderate temperatures and lush, green landscapes from all of our rain.  So I’m sure you can understand why Ben and I are really tired of this arctic weather we’ve been having this week.  

It was warmer this morning when I left for work ~ 17 degrees.   Ben took a shower last night only to find that the plumbing system under the motor home is frozen solid when the water wouldn’t drain out of the shower.  There’s nothing worse than standing in your own dirty water! Yuck!!  He put one of the space heaters under the coach to thaw out the line but I didn’t stay up long enough to see if this solved the issue.  I think I’ll be taking my shower today at LA Fitness…

In hind sight, I guess I should have cleaned these brushes last weekend!

I’ve got two more days to wrap up several big projects at work so that I can spend most of next week with my Mom.  She and Nathan arrive on Monday night from Raleigh, NC.  It’s been 4 years since they’ve been home  ~ WAY too long.  But I guess time flies when you’re retired and have so many places to go and see.  This weather better warm up for them next week or I may not get them home again for a really long time!

12/09/09 Living Room windows

It was 11 degrees when I left for the office this morning!  Bbbrrrrrrr…. Ben spent most of the day yesterday re-wrapping our motorhome and wood shop water lines with insulation and a heating coil.   I had running water this morning to make my coffee so Ben did good!

I just got a call this morning from a good friend who needs my help later this week shopping for something very important.  Can’t say more than that yet, but I’m very excited!  I should have BIG news to share soon once the “secret” is revealed :0)

2009 Christmas Cards

I spent the last few evenings addressing 175 Christmas cards.   If you didn’t get one it’s only because I don’t have your current address (so email me your address!).  

In retrospect, I should have unwrapped and fired up the gas fireplace while I was writting.  My propane heater was soon out of fuel, leaving my fingers too cold to continue writing.  

We have a neighborhood party coming up this Saturday night called “The Walk Around The Lake”.  We will walk around the lake with 25 of our neighbors visiting 7 different houses, including ours, for snacks and beverages.  It should be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to getting to know a few more of our Lake People.   I’m still trying to decide on what to serve… definitely Cheryle’s Smoked Salmon dip and maybe Bailey’s & hot chocolate.  The weather forecast says SNOW for Saturday but when do “they” ever forecast snow correctly in Seattle?

Thanksgiving Dinner 2009

Our Thanksgiving Dinner this year was a little  more interesting than usual.  The turkey was cooked on our outdoor smoker, sides were cooked on the camp stove and homemade apple pie in the motorhome convection oven.   It never stopped raining all day so we were glad to finally sit down inside where it was warm and DRY.

All 3 Jackson boys work on the wood shop

I’ve been meaning to do this for about… 2 YEARS!  My brother John was kind enough to get everything set up for me and all it took was a little insomnia to finally get me started on this photo project.