Finished!

Well, those six weeks flew by in a heartbeat!  Speaking of hearts -- I saw one!  For the last 6 Tuesdays I have gone to the UW Mini-Med School.  Basically, just a series of lectures about things pertaining to medicine.  We learned how to talk to our doctor, how they are working to save children (and thus adults) from infections so common to cystic fibrosis, genetic markers for cancer, pain management and high risk pregnancies.  We also had the opportunity to play the "lottery"!  That lottery was not for the faint of heart, though, and THANKFULLY I had the privilege of winning the lottery!  I was one of about 76 who were invited into the Gross Anatomy Lab where we were afforded a glimpse into the human body.  Fascinating!  We viewed basic parts - the heart, the lungs, and the GI tract/lower abdomen - but all of that thanks to men (and women!) who were willing to donate their bodies to science.  We followed that experience with a lecture on trauma.  Amazing talent we have here in the Pacific Northwest!  Some of the case studies they shared didn't look at all viable to this untrained eye!  Harborview Medical Center is in one of the roughest neighborhoods and they deal with their share of disasters-by-choice (drunks and drug users), but for those who truly need trauma experience - well, this is your place!  Anyway, last night was the end of the lecture series which makes me a bit sad because it was so informative, but I'm sure that being home on Tuesday nights will be a good thing, too!

This is the Life!!

A sunny day indeed, and me one happy dog! Today I got to spend some great outdoor time -- IN THE FRONT YARD!! It truly is the greatest place! I'm not really sure why, myself, since I have to be on leash and all, but it just IS!! Although, since I'm kind of old and I limp sometimes, Dad did let me off-leash for a little bit, but man oh man did he hover over my every move!

And Mom has this to say -- SUNNY DAYS MAKE ME HAPPY!!
☺♥☺♥☺
We got so much accomplished today! I cleaned up my flower bed since the neighborhood cats like to use it as a litter-box, I cleaned the back yard, too, and some of the windows (Kent did some of the others), we got the house ready for Meeting tomorrow and even still had time to go for a walk in the evening sun! And tomorrow the "S" word is predicted for some of the slightly higher areas and those in a possible convergence zone. PFFT!!! Oh, well, we'll thoroughly enjoy our potluck after Meeting and just enjoy the beautiful memory of today!

Olympic Inspiration!

Friday Nights some in the area get together to go ice skating.  We've gone one other time, but that time only Tiana skated.  Tonight, I donned skates for the first time in probably 18 years or so!  It was kind of fun!  I've been killing far too much time watching day-old Olympics performances online lately, so I felt rather inspired to skate into greatness myself!  I was finally able to coax Tiana out into the middle of the ice, too!  Check out our fancy moves!  Click on the picture for more!

Beauty in Nature

In addition to all the flowers starting to blossom now, this kiwi offered a bit of beauty into the bleak winter days, too!

Sunny Saturday in February!

To celebrate the beautiful day, Kent, Tiana and I went downtown. First stop - Volunteer Park. We all hiked up the Water Tower (Kent raced and about did himself in and Tiana and I took it much more sedately, but still felt the effects of all the stairs!), then walked the grounds of the park, spending some time in the Conservatory, too. We took LOTS of pictures. If you'd enjoy seeing them, um, click on the goofballs!

From there we headed down the hill to the Pike Place Market and eventually enjoyed lunch at Cafe Yarmarka with our good friend Tiana! We ended up buying some food for a good German dinner, the veggies and some fruits we'll need in the next few days, some spices and a couple of antique books that we picked up at a rummage sale for $1 a piece!! It was a beautiful, relaxing day spent with a good friend in the sunshine! After we got home, Kent and Tiana finished the house for Meeting while I went walking with Jolyn! No lack of fresh air today!

This made my day!

Work today was a drag (man I hate being "old" and "wise"!) and so coming home to this was a definite day-brightner, smile-bringer, happy-dance-inducer!

Cookies

So, Tiana had a friend over to make cookies. It was quite hilarious to listen to them try to half the recipe (pretty simple math, really!) and adjust the recipe to hopefully get the desired flavor profile. Zach wanted vanilla swirl/chocolate chip cookies, Tiana wanted traditional chocolate chip. The adjustments didn't exactly make the vanilla swirl flavor happen, but anyway. Here's the before and after pictures of the baking sheets. Which was the girl's and which was the boy's do you think?!







Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cream together:
1-1/3 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
Add:
3-1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped walnuts, optional

Bake at 375º 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.