Emergency Preparedness

Ok, so Marti and I were talking a few weeks ago as we walked around and around our neighborhood about being prepared for emergencies. This includes natural disasters as well as economic hardships. In these tough economic times, being prepared seems to be more pertinent than ever before. I found a great website off of a friend's sister-in-law's blog called Safely Gathered In. It gives great advice on how to prepare your car, house and family for any situation. The website is www.safelygatheredin.blogspot.com I will also put it in my "favorite links". Be sure to check it out! It's a great way to be prepared and there are some good recipes for all that canned food!

Beef Free

A lot of you might not know that Gabby & I have gone "beef free" this year. It all started when we went to the Boeing Flight Museum in January. On the way up to the museum we drove past a truck full of cows on their way to......somewhere.....we can only assume it was not Disneyland. So, she and I decided we could no longer be partly responsible for that and decided to forgo eating beef. I must say, it's not as hard as you would think as we do eat other meats (although I have recently stopped eating pork also-sorry Rozanne-I know you hate picky eaters!). Besides being better for our mental & physical well being, my friend Jennifer pointed out that not eating beef is also good for the environment. Huh? Well, she gave me this article about a book called "Go Green, Get Lean" which states that eating certain things have different ecological impact. It said that raising beef accounts for 18% of global warming emissions worldwide. Interesting.......who would have thought? It also said that we shouldn't drink soda because processing sugar is also bad for the environment....but let's not get carried away. Give up Coke? How many sacrifices are a girl supposed to make? I'd rather go vegetarian.

Plant of the Week #1

Daffodils are usually among the first flowers to herald in spring. I get excited when I see the stalks poke out of the ground after a long, wet winter. The vibrant yellow color always makes me think of the sun. Daffodils bulbs are so easy to plant. In the fall you just did a hole and drop the bulbs in! Here are some facts you might not know about this flower:

• Daffodil is the English name for the Latin or botanical name, Narcissus . Not only was Thomas Jefferson's walk lined with daffodils, Narcissus has been added to ancient gardens since the earliest days of civilization.
• The botanical name, Narcissus, is derived from the Greek word narke, to benumb. The ancient Greeks used the narcissus as a symbol of death, because they (daffodils) gave off an evil emanation, producing dullness, madness and death. (weird)
• The center of the daffodil cup is said to contain the tears of Narcissus, who in Greek legend fell in love with his image reflected in a pool of clear water, and pined his life away.
• Elizabethean era names for daffodils were Daffodilly, Daffodowndill and Primrose Peereless.
• The medieval Arabs used juice of the wild daffodil as a cure for baldness. (wonder if it worked?)
• John Bartram, whose home was on the Schuykill River near Philadelphia, maintained a daffodil collection on his 6 acre farm in the 1730s. This is the earliest recollection of American grown daffodils.

Bonsai Garden

Today we traveled up to the Pacific Rim Bonsai Garden at the Weyerhauser headquarters in Federal Way. I had never even heard of it, but luckily my friend & coworker Jerry mentioned it to me last week. I checked the Internet and found out it was closing April 1st after being open for 20 years due to financial difficulties. So, we decided we had better head up and view it before it closed for good. Luckily the day was sunny & beautiful (though cold) which was a far cry from yesterday's weather of rain, snow & wind. We had a great time viewing the Bonsai garden. There is also a Rhododendron garden up there, but we didn't go in as most of the plants weren't blooming just yet. There were a few pretty Rhodies in and around the Bonsai Garden. I took too many pictures........but what else is new?


Trail to the Bonsai Garden


Bougainvillea Glabra


I forgot to take a picture of this plant's name...oops!


Crab Apple


Eastern White Cedar


Gabby at the entrance


Rhododendron Daricum Alba


Gabby with San Jose Juniper


Weyerhauser Headquarters


Green Island Fig


San Jose Juniper


Rhododendron Pachytrichum (same as blog title pic)


Gabby with Rhododendron Kesangiae


Susan with Rhododendron Pachytrichum


Hollow tree


Gabby with Rhododendron Mucronulatum


Gabby & Scott at the entrance


Scott & Corey


Western Hemlock


Another San Jose Juniper


Chinese Banyan


Corey and Japanese Black Pine

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday wishes to Paige Park who turns 13 today! You're finally a teenager........gosh you're old! Have fun on your special day!

Manatees Need Our Help!

Lee County Manatees Need Your Help! Proposed Marina Threatens Nearly 500 Manatees

The Issue: Florida’s Governor and Cabinet recently approved a state-owned submerged lands lease application by Leeward, LLC to develop a 128-slip marina on the Orange River in Lee County, Florida.

The Leeward, LLC property is just downstream from the Florida Power and Light (FPL) plant’s warm water discharge, which has attracted nearly 500 manatees to its warm waters during the coldest winter days. Leeward is trying to turn a dilapidated and predominantly unusable boating facility into a bustling marina. This basin is not just a travel corridor but a critically important manatee habitat component. In fact, hundreds of manatees on a single day have been counted resting in the passive warm-water basin that would become the marina. The Marine Mammal Commission recently wrote a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stating that the Service's Biological Opinion of this project does not adequately consider:

The project’s impact upon manatees recovering from cold stress. The increased potential for boat-related harassment, injury, and deaths of manatees. That this project would be located in the middle of the most important warm water refuge for manatees on Florida’s west coast.

The marina would be sited in the state’s deadliest river system, within the deadliest county for manatees. Its proposed location downstream from a major winter manatee refuge further illustrates that this development must be stopped!

What You Can Do:

Click on the following link http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5215/t/2606/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=370 to send a pre-worded email to Sam Hamilton, Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, and Col. Paul L. Grosskruger of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and tell them not to let this development go through! Thank you!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Wishes go out to Kamal Simmons who turns 5 today! And also to my very good friend Kelly who I met my very first day at college. Can you believe we've known each other for more years than we were old when we met??? Wow! Hope you both have a great birthday!

Jokes of the Week

This will be my last post of "Jokes of the Week". It is getting increasingly harder to find good, clean jokes to blog. Most of the jokes I find are just too naughty. I'm not sure what will take over for this segment...perhaps "plant of the week"? I'm sure my kids will think that's lame, but luckily for me they don't get a vote! Enjoy!





The psychology of marketing:
An interoffice softball game was held every year between the marketing and support staff of one company. The support staff whipped the marketing department soundly. To show just how the marketing department earns their keep, they posted this memo on the bulletin board after the game:
"The Marketing Department is pleased to announce that for this year's softball season, we came in 2nd place, having lost but one game all year. The Support Department, however, had a rather dismal season, as they won only one game."

One afternoon, a man went to his doctor and told him that he hasn't been feeling well lately. The doctor examined the man, left the room, and came back with three different bottles of pills. The doctor said, "Take the green pill with a big glass of water when you wake up. Take the blue pill with a big glass of water after you eat lunch. Then just before going to bed, take the red pill with another big glass of water." Startled to be put on so much medicine, the man stammered, "Jeez Doc, exactly what is my problem?" The doctor replied, "You're not drinking enough water."

WORKING IS HARD:
My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned...I just couldn't concentrate.
After that I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it...mainly because it was a so-so job.
Then I tried to be a chef -- figured it would add a little spice to my life, but I just didn't have the thyme.
Next I tried working in a muffler factory but that was too exhausting.
I managed to get a good job working for a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.
I attempted to be a deli worker, but any way I sliced it, I couldn't cut the mustard.
Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the ax.
Next was a job in a shoe factory; I tried but I just didn't fit in.
So then I got a job in a workout center, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.
After many years of trying to find steady work I finally got a job as a historian until I realized there was no future in it.
I studied a long time to become a doctor, but I didn't have any patience.
My best job was being a musician, but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy.
I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.
My last job was working at Starbucks, but I had to quit because it was always the same old grind.
SO I RETIRED AND FOUND I'M PERFECT FOR THE JOB!

The Pain of....Yoga?

Tonight Gabby, Corey & I went to the Valley (athletic club) to try out their yoga class. It's called "Gentle Yoga" and is supposed to be all about de-stressing. Unfortunately for me, it was all about trying to not kill myself as I put my body into impossible positions like "pigeon pose" and coming out of the class with a back ache. Oh, it's hard to age. When I was young I was incredibly flexible. I think my cartilage, ligaments & tendons are definitely hardening. Perhaps I should run out and buy that giant bottle of Glucosamine I saw at Costco the other day?? Gabby did great at the yoga poses-she's very bendy. Corey also did great because she does yoga in school for PE, although she did state that she thought the class was "boring". Yeah, I don't think yoga is for me. On to......Tai Chi perhaps? It's like kung fu only slower. We'll see. For tonight I'll take two Advil and hope I make it to work in the morning. Happy Monday!

The Time Machine

Gabby recently had a writing assignment where she had to write an original story. She got an A+ and we thought it was very imaginative, so we're posting it here for posterity. It's a bit hard to read, but you can click on the separate pages and they will open up bigger on a separate page.

Trip to Tacoma

The weather was supposed to be dry today, so we decided it would be a good day to head up to Ruston Way in Tacoma. Winston was so excited that he got to come along because usually he has to stay home. We had a great time walking along the boardwalk. The water was so beautiful and so clean! You could actually see down pretty far which was a surprise. There were tons of people and their dogs out enjoying the sunshine. After this we drove up to The Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate Gabby's report card. The food was yummy as usual. Corey doesn't normally like going there as she's not a big pasta person, but this time she actually found something she liked-a chicken panini. Gabby had 4 of her favorite things: bread, spaghetti, a vanilla Italian soda and vanilla ice cream. She was definitely a happy girl!


Walking the dog

Throwing stones

Scott & Winston on the drift wood

Sand dollar

One of the piers

Corey on the log

On the beach

Gabby found a shell & some pretty rocks

Gabby on pretty shell

Firefighter memorial

Corey getting blasted

Corey writing her name on the beach

Corey & shell

Corey & Winston

Old fashioned fire boat

Giant bell

Corey & anchor