In the meantime enjoy these “welcome home” pictures of Remmy delighting in Clark’s arrival after a day at work:

There is a disturbance in the doggie force. Let me sniff the air and…

…I smell DADDY!

Oh my gosh…

Oh my gosh…

OH MY GOSH! I SEE YOU!!!

I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE HOME!

And now you know why Clark and I love coming home. We get the best welcomes from Remmy.

The cherry blossom tree outside my front door is also blooming. I’m so happy to see its big fluffy white flowers.

Our apple tree is also just starting to bloom. The flowers will be a delicate pink and it is so good to see the green leaves unfurling.

I just love our little house and all the trees and hedges around it. Welcome Spring!

I was really apprehensive about spending so much time away from Clark and Remmy. I was trying to pretend that it would be fine but as the time for them to leave came closer I had to keep giving myself pep talks and positive mantras to repeat to myself. The last time Clark was gone for more than a night we were living in Virgina and life was rough. I was afraid all that sadness and loneliness would just come flooding back.

But although I missed them every day I was glad to see the affirmation that my life is different now. I was busy with lots of work, volunteering, I had a gym with friendly faces and warm hugs to attend and I also had the wise council and encouragement of my bible study girls. I feel so sorry for the Tovah that lived in Virgina, but it makes me appreciate the life and happiness I have now.  And today when I see my guys again I will be even happier.

1. Pick up trash in my neighborhood (I bought the latex gloves so I can do this without getting icky stuff on me:)

2. Pay the toll bridge fee for the person behind me (This was so exciting. Clark and I watched through our rear view window and the guy eventually passed us and waved!)

That’s the truck that we paid for!

3. Pay the ferry fee for the person behind me

4. Leave quarters at a laundromat

5. Write a letter to a friend and send it snail mail

6. Make up bags of toiletries/snacks for the homeless

7. Leave handwritten notes in cards on park benches, cars and restaurant tables with encouraging messages. (Should do more of these.)

Post it note with a happy message left on a table for someone to discover

8. Load quarters into soft drink, gumball and game machines at a grocery store.

9. Do another house cleaning sweep and donate clothes, kitchen items and furniture to Goodwill.

10. Tape microwave popcorn bags to Redbox Movie machines.

11. Drop change around a playground for children to find. (This sounds intriguing to me, will it really be a hit?)

12. Purchase & donate coloring books and crayons to the waiting room at the hospital.

13. Purchase a couple of gift cards to a bookstore and leave them inside your favorite books for people to find.(My friend Tabi joined me on this one–she put a gift card and an encouraging message in a book about handicapped children and I put one in my favorite re-read–Pride and Prejudice and a card in a lighthearted book in the teen section that made me laugh out loud when I read it a few years ago.)

14. Open doors for others

15. Return shopping carts for people

16. Volunteer at the local humane society (Okay, wait, I do this every week anyway but I’m going to go on a different day for a shift that is shorthanded.

17, 18, 19, 20, 21. Look for ways to brighten the days of the ladies in my bible study. This won’t be random in that I know these ladies but it will be an extra effort that I normally wouldn’t go to.

22. Give a stranger a compliment

23. Leave a positive comment on a blog (I need some easy ones, it is already April 5th!)

24. Let someone in line go ahead of you

25. Bring some candy to the dance event this weekend to share with tablemates and strangers as a quick little sugar rush “Pick me up.”

26. Oh man…what else? You know what, I’m going to leave some of these open so that I will be looking for opportunities to help others. But if you have any suggestions let me know.

I was also so excited when my friend Liz said that she had done a random act of kindness for me as my birthday “gift.” She helped an elderly lady that she met through her church run errands. It was something I wouldn’t have thought of and it made me so happy to know that she had spread the love. Thanks Liz!

Uh, Hey Daddy. What’s going on?

I don’t think I like where this is going. Do you not see the paw on Mr. Hedgehog? That paw claims ownership.

I am NOT amused.

Hey, hey, hey, get your own hedgehog. I don’t want your drool all over him.

Noooooo! Not the hedgehog! (This one is my favorite)

Don’t worry Mr. Hedgehog! I will protect you with my face. And my paw. I’ve got it all under control!

I do not have it all under control!!! Get out while you can Mr. Hedgehog!

Okay, snuggles are okay when Mr. Hedgehog is safe.

Whew, we both survived. I love you Mr. Hedgehog. No one understands me like you do.

I was wondering how it would go since they were bringing their two dogs-and two extra adults– equals a very full house for us. It went really well though, all the dogs got together well. My dad’s golden retriever is an exuberant 3 year old and there were a couple of times we had to separate Remmy so he could have a break from her play-play-play mentality. Remmy is definitely getting to be more on the “old man” side and values his nap time.

Pretty Sienna

Showing off some of her tricks: Shake

And jumping through the hoop!

Their other dog is newly adopted but came already trained. I’m always surprised that people want puppies because already trained dogs are SO much easier. Kody, even though he is only a year and a half is already house broken, leash trained and is past the puppy-chew-everything phase. I was very impressed with him. Such a sweet little dog.

Happy

Sleepy

Kody’s coloring is called blue merle and sometimes blue merles have blue eyes. Kody has two brown eyes but you can see that he has a light spot in the pictured brown eye (at the bottom). Such an interesting mutation!

Kody was raised to be a show dog but he grew too tall and so he is now a pet. My parents lucked out–he is already trained and super sweet.

My mom called the dogs “cousins,” which I liked even though if we were doing actual human relations they’d be aunt/uncle and nephew. But in actuality they are all dogs and not related at all, not even the same breed, so “cousins” is just easier.

Cousins waiting for treats

Although my parents have come to visit a couple of times we hadn’t all visited Seattle together so I took them to pike market and we ate our way across it. I was glad that my favorite french pastry shop was a hit and also that the antique store I found on my last visit was also fun for them.

I really love living in Washington and one of the reasons is because I am close enough to see my family within a day’s travel. I was never a fan of the cross country flying with multiple layovers and time changes. It is good to be near family and for Remmy to see his “cousins.” After they left he kept walking around the house looking for them. He pushed the guest room door open several times to see if they were just hiding. Or maybe he was just looking for their yummy dog bones. Sometimes it is hard to tell with dogs.

Back when I was 19 thinking I knew so much but actually knowing so little. That’s D&D stuff all around me. Yes, giant nerd.

The teacups at Disneyland! Tovah and I went there several times when stationed in San Diego from 2005-2007.

Tovah and the horse she rode in South Carolina. Neither of us cared much for South Carolina but Santee was a great horse.

However this weekend Clark took me out to a fancy restaurant in Seattle and we got all dressed up. I’ll admit it was fun to swish along in my skirt and heels. And wear my sweet cloche hat which has been in a closet since last year. I was taken aback by all the stares at first and kept asking Clark if I looked okay. (It was totally a “Monte Carlo” moment–for anyone else out there over the age of 12 who wants to admit to loving that movie like I do.)

Luckily I’ve been working out at the Rain City crossfit and was feeling pretty good about how I looked so I decided to just think that all those strangers were looking at me because they were SO impressed with how cute I was. And then we found an empty deck on the ferry and made sure to document our fancy dressed selves. It was such a fun date and the food was amazing. And in happily “old marrieds” style we caught the ferry after dinner and were able to spend a cozy evening at home with our sweet dog.

So Clark’s Uncle Rob was coming to help us because the scope of these projects was beyond us. Clark was really excited to learn some new skills from Rob and I reveled in my pipe dream that they would get everything done and I wouldn’t have to lift a finger. I would come home and the house would be changed and beautiful.

So now that we’ve all had a good laugh at my pipe dream let’s get back to reality. DIY projects always seem to take longer than you expect.  Some poor planning on our part meant that over the weekend Clark and Rob went and did fun activities outside of the house. By the time Clark had to go back to work on Monday the projects weren’t really advanced. Rob preferred working by himself and he did a lot. I think working within the confines of a strict time schedule and a “make it pretty!” mindset (that would be my mindset) was at times frustrating for him. It was hard for me to have our little house all torn up and dirty without knowing expected finishing dates. It got a little tense. I think this is another common thing that happens with DIY projects.

So by the time Rob left the next Monday the projects were about halfway or three fourths done. Clark was at work again so I put on my paint clothes and got to work. I didn’t want to be living in a construction zone for weeks. Our house is just too small for that. So I learned how to grout, how to smooth out joint compound, how to seal grout and I painted. Together Clark and I installed insulation and worked on weatherproofing our new doors.

Every night when Clark comes home from a long day at work and then whichever side job (the gym or the computer company) we work on trying to finish our projects. Clark has sealed the glass blocks with silicone caulk, weatherstripped and made a lock for the basement doors. Neither project is 100 percent finished even with all that. We are getting close though. I’m hoping that by next week we will have a big reveal of the bathroom and the new basement doors. An incredible amount of work has been done and now the finishing details need to be completed.

We are really thankful for Rob’s expertise, manpower and help in making our home nicer. Materials alone were so expensive I can’t imagine how much more it would have been if we’d been having to pay for labor too! And it has been a long time since Clark has gotten to spend a meaningful amount of time with Rob and I know they really enjoyed catching up.

So next week–hopefully we will be sharing the fruits of our labor with you!

However, nine days ago my Uncle Rob came to visit and assist with some long overdue house repairs. He’s a very talented contractor and was an immense help in tackling a few things well beyond my scope. I know Tovah will inevitably have photos eventually but as a tease let me say:

- The old and busted garage doors have been replaced with something much better

- The old bathroom window has received a massive upgrade

- Higher CFM bathroom fan is installed

I learned a lot from him and enjoyed helping.  There are still little odds and ends remaining to be completed but they’re within my ability. It’s nice to get these things done with time to actually enjoy them too. In Virginia we fixed a few problems with the house right before we moved and sold it. On that note, I have no intentions of selling this house either so making it as good as possible is in my interest.