A preview

Fun has abounded in the month of May, which means I have lots of pictures to post. I have pictures, but no card reader with which to transfer them from the camera to the computer. I'm hoping, however, that Derek can help me with that this weekend. All this is to say that coming soon, you will be treated to the following:

- Soren and Hilary's birthday extravaganza
- Brent, Danny, Little D and I visit Mt. Ranier and a weird sculpture place
- The Pearson clan goes to the zoo
- Anything else that happens between now and when Derek can help me with the card reader issue

Little D at the... sea

He was watching the seals, and we were watching him :)

Family history

50 years ago today my dad, grandparents and uncles came to America from Germany. And that is pretty neat.

# 3

At the aquariam
Yikes. Getting my nephew to safety is serious business :)

Depoe Bay #2

I think we must be watching a really big wave coming in.

It's a fortunate thing to have a photographer in the family.

New pictures, people!

Muchas gracias to Derek for burning a CD for me with pictures from our Oregon Coast trip. I think there are 198 pictures total, so expect a very thorough representation over the next few days.

Depoe Bay

This one is neat because it looks like we're going to be swallowed up by that wave.

Sisters :)

Point Defiance

Saturday we went to Point Defiance and rode the train and wandered around the zoo. Little D was able to toot the train whistle, and I, ever courageous and brave, stood two feet away from an 8-ft long boa constrictor that was hanging out on a rock with a zoo keeper in the middle of some grass. No cage, no protective barrier between me and the beast, no nothing! Good times :)


This is like a Where's Waldo? picture, except that we're easy to find :)

Another batch of old pictures (Thanksgiving 2004, actually)

Sara

Happy birthday to my dear sister-in-law Sara :) :) :) I'm glad you're able to share your special day with the man of your dreams :) I'm looking forward to celebrating with you in a couple of weekends!

Self portrait

The lack of focus, I've decided, is a statment of my mental clarity. And notice my neck! I must work out!

And now for some things I don't appreciate so well:

- When the internet connection is spotty and I can't get to my blog as fast as I want to
- When I leave my 5-lb. weights laying around and then I trip on one and stub my toe
- When the toilet keeps running long after I flush it because the chain/plunger thing in the tank is screwy, which means I have to take the lid off and mess around in the tank
- When a bad case of spring allergies morphs into a baaaaaaaad cold
- The fact that I'm always at the very opposite end of the house when the phone rings, which requires running full-boar either up or down the stairs, only to find that it's an unknown name/unknown number on caller i.d. so I don't answer it anyway
- Clamato juice... i've never actually tried it, but the name is enough

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

My brothers are coming to visit this weekend (yahoo!), so if all goes well (meaning they cooperate and I figure out how to use the focus on my parents' camera), I just might have new pictures to share in a couple of days. Until then..........

Things I enjoy that maybe you don't:
1. The smell of sunless tanning lotion
2. Cabbage rolls
3. Folding laundry
4. Pilates for the buns and thighs
5. The music of Air Supply
6. Attending the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
7. Wrapping presents
8. Ham hocks and beans

News flash of a random sort

Here are some updates from around my world:

1. I really, really like my new job. Hooray!!!

2. In April, Danny and I are taking a class together at the college. If anyone else is interested in belly dancing, let us know :)

3. Tonight I have a date with my sister.

4. Today I have a date with myself at Capital Mall.

5. I haven't seen my brothers-and-sisters-in-law, or nephew, in an unacceptably long amount of time, so if you are one of them, I'd like to have a date with you :)

Leavenworth

This is what we were surrounded by when we stayed in Leavenworth in 2003. Beautiful!

New Year's bash

An excellent New Year's feast (with all of the credit going to Bill and Sheryl) of lamb, polenta, salad and roasted vegetables. If you're looking for sheer quantity of food, there's no better place to be than when we're together. Clockwise from Jan Michael: Soren, Eric, Tessa, Joe, Bill and Sheryl.



Before football...
After football.
Haha, what a bunch of thugs.

To celebrate the new year, we were fortunate enough to have most of the old Centralia gang at our house for a weekend extravaganza of fun. We're scattered all over tarnation now, so we're not able to all be together more than once or twice a year, but when we do, it's always a good time. Most of us went to elementary school together, and I love that we're still so close even as grown-ups :)

Again, the park

An annoucement

Ahem. I would like to announce that I am now employed. I will be working at Tenino Family Practice as, what else?, a receptionist. It will be part-time, only 20 hours a week, but at this point that is just right. I will work from 1:00 to 5:00, which will give me plenty of time in the mornings for pilates and walking or jogging with my sister. As an added bonus, the clinic is conveniently located just blocks from my dentist, which will be nice if I ever decide to have my teeth cleaned again. Starting something new is usually a little bit scary for me, but this will be a good thing I think, and so, starting Monday, I will bravely sally forth into the land of the working once again.

Shameless plug

It just so happens that there are big things happening around here lately. My sister Shannon is opening her very own salon in March along with two other gals. My brother Adam has just been hired as a financial advisor at a company in Bellevue. The moral of the story is this: If you are in the greater Lewis county area and need a fabulous-o haircut, or perhaps just a good eyebrow wax, or if you live anywhere in Washington state and are looking for top-notch financial advising, let me know and I WILL HOOK YOU UP.

Father's Day

Last Father's Day, at my parents' house, after an excellent bowling excursion (which also included Derek, Sara, Brent, Danny& Little D). Imagine my surprise at discovering my leg is as big as a redwood. Blargh.