'Papa and Farmor' got to take care of the girls for a couple of days. Bjorn was in Denver at a friends wedding, and Jenny took the opportunity to visit her brother and sister-in-law in Portland. That left Esther and I with the wonderful responsibility of taking care of two special girls! We read lots of books, walked to 'the candy store,' went to the beach and showed them off at church. The weekend went very well. Markus came over as well one night to enjoy his nieces. I was able to ignore my impending report card deadline and sermon prep for 48 hours. Ada is becoming very independent and Ruby is mellow and happy.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Soggy Sea Side
I suppose that you could say that we honored Presidents Day since we were in 'Lincoln City' on Monday. Esther and I took the opportunity of school free days to go to the Oregon coast. Our experience was similar to last year: one rain free afternoon, but the rest a soggy mist. Our dry afternoon was spent in Cannon Beach and Seaside. We enjoyed a walk on the Promenade and dinner at Doogers. On Monday we sludged our way down to the Lincoln City/Depot Bay area to check out Olivia Beach and Bella Beach. We were scouting out an alternative to our annual family Seabrook weekend. Both communities were not as nice as Seabrook, and given the greater distance for everyone to travel, we will probably cross it off our list of possibilities. We did get a great deal on a nice room in Lincoln City. We left our patio door ajar all night as we enjoyed the lullaby of the pounding surf. On Tuesday, we took a leisurely trip home, stopping in Portland for some time at Powell Books and the ReStore where Esther found some decorative 'treasures'.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Ruby's first birthday
The past weekend we took our chances in contracting the noro virus from the Lynden compound. The flu had run its course through the whole family by the time we got there, so we hoped we were safe. The occasion was the celebration of both Ruby and Bjorn's birthdays. Ruby turned one and Bjorn reached exactly half our age. The Whatcom Museum in Bellingham has a great children's section. Bjorn, Esther and I toured the rest of the museum while Jenny and the girls enjoyed the children's section. I 'helped' Bjorn put the finishing touches on the cool kitchen that he made for the girls. Bjorn has been enjoying his new Jambox (bluetooth portable speaker) that he got for his birthday.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
A new throne room
The past couple of weekends I worked on replacing the floor around the main floor toilet. The old tile and adjacent carpet was soiled and needed attention. We decided to replace the flooring with some engineered hardwood, curious to see how well it holds up in a bathroom setting before using it more extensively. The damage from the previous owners became more apparent as I tore up the tile and subfloor. A liberal coat of stain block and some new plywood and I was ready for the new floor. We had not intended to replace the toilet, but I accidentally cracked the tank of the old one. So it was off to the hardware store for a new commode. I did want to replace the old valve and supply hose, but no amount of wrenching on my part could budge the old valve. With fear and trepidation I reattached the old supply to the new toilet and it is holding for now!
Friday, January 20, 2012
a 'wasted' winter week
Had we known that there would be nine days between workdays, we might have taken a Southwest road trip. The unexpected Northwest snow week left us twiddling our fingers and bemoaning the inevitable summer work days. But there's no use crying over spilt milk and we tried to make the best of things. We attacked some low priority projects. Esther washed every piece of fabric in the house and redecorated most of the rooms. I painted the basement stairwell and the hearth room desk area. We also enjoyed reading and net surfing. If this was a taste of retirement, I am not interested in it any time soon.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Pete and Repeat were on the slopes
Yesterday, fellow teacher Pete Darragh and I celebrated MLK Day with a trip to Stevens Pass. It had been four years since I last was on a snowboard. The first couple of runs were a little shaky, but I soon got my 'snow legs' and was 'burning up the slopes' :) It snowed all day, so the conditions were good. The crowds weren't bad either, given it was a holiday. Pete and I made good slope mates as we progress down the slopes at the same speed; even though he needs an extra board to go down the hill:)
The snow is unfortunately not staying in the mountains where it is supposed to be. The lowlands are getting snow as well and school is cancelled today and probably tomorrow. Looks like we'll be having 'summer school' again this year.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Calvin has a new blog
For those of you trying to follow Calvin's doings, 'Big Man Japan' just hasn't been too active lately. Well, it turns out that Calvin has been quietly starting a new blog. His first couple of posts give some details of his holiday activities. You can check it out at http://calvineb.wordpress.com/ There is a link on my sidebar to his new blog. Enjoy!
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Closing out the old with a first
By 'first' I don't want to insinuate that there will be a second. On the final day of 2011, I joined hundreds of others in running the half and full marathons in the 'Yukon Do It'. Last year, I ran the half, so this year I wanted to attempt the full marathon. The first half felt real good at two hours, but at about mile 18 the serious PAIN started. My pace slowed to a crawl and only stubborn determination enabled me to finish in 4 hours 26 minutes. I was rewarded with a cheering family including granddaughters. My legs are suffering from the after effect. In hindsight, I think that I rushed my training a little bit and would have enjoyed it more had I taken more time to train.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Norwegian kjøttkaker
Yesterday we enjoyed Norwegian holiday dinning with Esther's cousins from Tacoma and Norway. Anna and Touren put on a scandinavian feast with kjøttkaker (meat cakes) as the main dish. Uncle George and Aunt Kirstin were also there along with Mike and Marti's family. It was good to catch up with the Norwegian family news. Esther has two uncles and an aunt still living in Norway, all in their nineties. (and with sharp minds :)) Anna gave me some tips and encouragement for my upcoming marathon as she ran the Seattle Rock-n-Roll this summer.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Christmas 2011
After listening to Esther lament the school district's schedule for this year's late vacation dismissal, the holiday burst upon us with Bjorn. Jenny and the girls coming to Southworth Wednesday night. We enjoyed a couple of days with our granddaughters (and their parents) until Markus and Steph joined us for a gift exchange Friday night. Ada loved helping everyone open their gifts. Bjorn and Jenny left Saturday morning for Oregon and we enjoyed a relatively quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Markus and Steph. A couple of trips to the church helped give the sacred feel. We ate at a Thai restaurant in Gig Harbor on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, Ellen joined us and we made the trek up to Lynden. We met Jack, Sue and Rebecca at the Courtyard to visit Mom. It was a bit shocking as we had not seen her since she started her violent coughing. Whenever she tries to talk, she explodes with a forced cough. It is very hard to watch, but it was good to be there with my sisters as we sang carols to her. Christmas dinner was excellent as usual at Mike and Marti's. On Monday we enjoyed the reception for Brian and Kate and the Bulthuis gathering at Aaron and Jenn's. We are back in Southworth for a few days with Ellen before another trip to Lynden for the New Year.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Calvinistic Christmas Lights?
Over the years I have taken a lot of teasing about my roofline Christmas lights. Some have dubbed my straight white lights, ‘the Dutchman lights.’ But this week I heard a new one. A friend came over for our weekly small group, and called them ‘the Calvinistic Lights.’ He proceeded to say they were straight and predictable. You can analyze them any way you want, but that’s the way I like them. And since I am the one bundled up battling the freezing north breeze, pounding in my reused galvanized nails, I’ll put them up the way I like them.
Speaking of Calvinistic, we have been making a big deal about our Jesse Tree tradition this year. Bjorn and Jenny took up the practice using our family set of ornaments. This past week Esther shared the tradition at a ladies meeting, and we indulged a little Jesse sprouting in small group. For those of you unfamiliar with the Jesse Tree, it is much the same as an Advent calendar. Daily Bible readings trace the promise and foreshadowing of the coming of Christ. An ornament corresponds to the daily reading and it is added to the branch each day. We find that it is a wonderful way to remind ourselves of the amazing plan that God has to save the world, and how it all culminates with the coming Messiah. If you are interested in more resources about the Jesse Tree, Ann Voskamp has a nice download on her blog. Another site that has good children devotionals and provocative parent devotions is here.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Eides in SK for Thangsgiving
It has been a long time since I posted on Southworth Sailor. It just seemed like there was nothing to report. I did preach a couple of weeks at our church's new Sunday evening service geared for the twenties crowd. Thanksgiving brought Greenwood down to Lynden. Bjorn, Jenny and the girls left for Chicago early the next day so as long as they needed to be here, we decided to celebrate it with the Eide family down here. It had been a while since we had a Thanksgiving here. We of course missed Calvin and Bria, but the rest of the family was here. Steph went down to Trout Lake, so we missed her as well. A new addition to the Thanksgiving dinner was oyster stuffing. Only the hearty norsks indulged and I think that they only pretended to enjoy it. It was fun having the house full after the two of us have rattled around in it for a long time. On Friday the weather was great, so we went to Esther's park (Bremerton Harborside) and enjoyed a little sun. Then we drove up to Poulsbo to check out an art school that Bria is interested in. Today I ran fifteen miles in preparation for the Yukon Do It race at the end of the year. I still have not decided whether to do the half or full marathon. We shall see how the next few weeks of training go.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Grandparenting the Greenwood Girls
Babysitting granddaughters is one of life's simple pleasures. Since Bjorn and Jenny were at a conference Friday night and Saturday, we were able to have the girls to ourselves for several hours. Ada is becoming quite the big sister and Ruby is developing her own endearing personality. We were able to connect with most of the Eide compound and had Seattle visitors on Sunday afternoon. Markus, Steph and Andy came up to visit Emily, so we got to share a meal them as well. A Skype with Calvin made the weekend feel like one happy family weekend.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Lutefisk Lovers
A large contingent of our small group made the pilgrimage to Poulsbo on Saturday for the annual Lutefisk feed. There were several Lutefisk 'virgins' that got their first encounter. We stuffed ourselves with Lutefisk, meatballs, potatoes, Lefsa and KrumKake. Next year will be the 100th year of the annual feast at First Lutheran. We'll have to bring the Eides over to the Peninsula for the big occasion.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
NYC day 4
For our final day in NYC we headed downtown. We stopped first at Grand Central Station and walked to the Chrysler Building and the United Nations. Next, we had lunch near City Hall and then walked the Brooklyn Bridge with thousands of other tourist. It was in the mid-eighties by then so the vendors were selling lots of drinks. Back on the subway we headed for Battery Park to view the Statue of Liberty and the water traffic. We walked up Broadway through a street fair to Trinity Church and Wall St. Wall St. was closed except for a narrow walkway, presumably to deter the protesters. The protesters were confined to a park a few blocks away with plenty of police and media presence. We didn’t stop to watch the protesters, but made our way to ground zero and St. Paul’s Chapel, site of so much of the recovery effort. Since the memorial museum is not complete, this site offers a glimpse of the days following 9/11. We met Doug and Pam at the memorial site and found a sidewalk cafe for supper before our scheduled 7pm visit to the memorial pools. Unfortunately, the extra tickets did not work for Doug and Pam, so we had to say good-bye before entering the grounds. Even though the memorial is free, reserved tickets are necessary and the security procedures make airports look lax. The memorial pools are very impressive. The waterfalls drown out the noise of the city and the etched names of the victims around the perimeter convey the enormity of the tragedy. The visit to the memorial made a nice climactic ending to our weekend of touring. We headed back to the Hephzibah House for our 4 am taxi ride back to the airport.
NYC day 3
The day started with another elegant breakfast at the mansion. Our bus ride back to the city turned into a train ride as the bus had a flat tire. The Amtrak ride along the Hudson was scenic and I was surprised to see so many sailboats in the marinas that we past. Once in the city again, we checked into the Hephzibah House with its antique decor and convenient location next to Central Park. We had time to do some sightseeing so we headed for the Rockefeller Center and went to the ‘Top of the Rock’ Having been to the Empire State Building on a previous visit, the Rock, we enjoyed a little different perspective of the city. We visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral before taking the subway down to Greenwich Village and Union Square to check out some NY nightlife. Our day ended with a stop at a sidewalk cafe for dessert.
NYC day 2
The Belvedere Mansion is an expansive historic estate overlooking the Hudson River valley and Catskill Mountains in the distance. The morning sun revealed a hint of autumn color in the valley. After breakfast we spent the day exploring the nearby towns of Rhinebeck and Hyde Park, visiting the landmarks: Beekman Arms Inn, the Vanderbilt Mansion and the FDR library and family grounds. Then it was back to the mansion for the weekend’s main event: Brain and Kate’s wedding ceremony. The beautiful outdoor wedding had may unique touches. Roses were placed on empty chairs for the missing grandmothers, all alive but unable to attend. A candle lighting was replaced with tree planting using soil from New York and Lynden. Pashminas were draped over every other chair and were gifts to the women guests. The reception was outstanding as well with incredible service and a well paced program. Our table was definitely the elderly crowd. Kate and Brian did so much to make every guest feel welcomed and appreciated, everything from special gifts to personal interaction revealed their appreciation for each person who attended.
NYC day 1
Arriving at JFK airport at 6 am after a five hour flight from LA with just winks of sleep was hardly a way to start a day of sightseeing. The NY morning broke into a bright October summer day. We had traveled from Seattle with Jack and Sue, and we met Ellen at the airport before riding the subway to Midtown and Hephzibah House where we stored our luggage for the day. Jack had a handle on the NYC public transit system having been here a couple of times; which turned out to be very helpful. We purchased unlimited weekly passes, which paid for themselves by the visit’s end. We spent the afternoon walking around Central Park and getting used to being in the city. I had anticipated some beautiful Fall colors in the park but everything was still green. We ate a diner before catching the subway to Time Square area where we explored a little and then caught the chartered bus for our trip up the Hudson Valley to Belvedere Mansion. For some reason the bus driver drove up Broadway and straight through Uptown rather than crossing over to Jersey and catching the freeway north. The two hour ride turned into a three hour ride, but we got to experience the traffic mess of NYC exiting town for a long weekend. We arrived at Belvedere Mansion to pizza and pumpkin carving. It was great to see everyone, and the soft bed felt really good after 36 hours.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
back on dry land
This weekend I received help from Markus and Steph as I hauled out my boat and retrieved my mooring anchor for the winter. It is a relief to have the boat out, but sad to see another sailing season finish. For some reason the anchor line had snagged a water-logged buoy and Markus and I had a hard time freeing the 150 lb. mushroom anchor from the sea bottom. No wind meant that we motored over to Manchester under pleasant skies. We decided to postpone the actual haul out until after the Seahawks game which put us in the rain back at the ramp. Now, I can sleep easier let the winter storms roll in.
Yesterday, Markus and Steph joined us as we attended Karen Miner's memorial service. It was a very meaningful service with a packed house. It was good to talk at length with Javan. Afterward, we went to Gateway to India in Gig Harbor for some great food. Steph guided us to some great choices to indulge our palate.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Mt. Townsend with leaders
We had another successful climb up Mt. Townsend with our classroom leaders. The eight mile round trip hike to the 6200 ft. peak is a real challenge for some of the fifth grade students, but they always appreciate it when they make it to the top. Every year Don and I take turns cattle prodding the stragglers to the summit. The weather was fantastic and the wind at the ridge kept the bugs away. The views are of the neighboring Olympic peaks, the Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the cascades from Mt. Baker to Mt. Rainier. September is the perfect time for hiking some of the high trails.
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