Cousins et al

A large portion of my mother's family settled in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Grandpa Peterson got a job out there during WW II, so moved there with his wife and all the kids who still lived at home - and there were a bunch of them. Mom was already married and settled in ND. Therefore, I never knew my "out West" aunts and uncles and cousins very well. I went to Tacoma twice with my mom; once when I was a few months old and again when I was eight. That was the last time I saw most of them. When I started traveling for work around 2002-2003, my job took me to Tacoma and I took the time to start meeting my long-lost relatives. What a gold mine I found! Over the last 6-7 years I have been there several times and each time I get to know more and more of my blood relatives. My aunts and uncles are really great people and they have been so open and loving and happy to see me and various others who have started going there as well. This past weekend was one of the best gatherings ever. We had a whole bunch coming in from out of town who joined a whole bunch of locals. My cousin, Ralph, says there were 69 of us there. And to think that there are a lot more who were missing! If any of you locals read this - I want to tell you THANK YOU for making it such a wonderful day.

GPS

One of the best inventions in my lifetime is the GPS - Navigation system. How did I ever function without it? I remember driving in strange cities in the middle of the night with my car light on trying to read a map. I remember stopping in the middle of the night at sleazy looking gas stations to ask for directions. I remember being lost in places like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Ft. Lauderdale, and more. It's a different story now. Monday night I landed in Dallas very, very late (flight delayed over 2 hours). I had already put my destination into my phone GPS. When I picked up the rental car, I just pushed "calculate route" and I was on my way. For over 30 miles, in the middle of the night, in a strange city, I felt no stress or concern that I would not find my way. My trusting phone took me right to the hotel, arriving at nearly 2:00 a.m. The next morning, it took me directly to my meeting, then right back to the airport. Piece of cake. $10 a month is well worth it!

Storm Lake, Iowa

I finally got all my travel arrangements done for my trip to Storm Lake, Iowa, the first week of August! On Monday I fly from Denver to Omaha (one of these trips I am going to give enough time to see my sister, Evie, in Omaha). Then I rent a car and drive about 2 1/2 hours to Storm Lake. Everyone said the only decent place to stay was at the King's Pointe Waterpark Resort. Great idea! Except that they had no rooms for the three nights - only the last night. Well, I decided to take the last night, just in case I ended up somewhere that wasn't fit to stay in. I also made reservations at another local "motel". Today I called to cancel the one night at King's Pointe. But joy of joys - they had a cancellation so I can get a room for all three nights! Yippee! So then I had to cancel the other reservation. I think I'm all set now.

The other part of the story, though, is that it costs $12/day to get navigation with the rental car. I made the reservations with this included. But today I got permission to get navigation added to my Blackberry for less than $10/month. Big savings! So I tried to get the navigation taken off my car rentals. Not so easy to do! In fact, so far it has been impossible. I tried to rent another car so I could just cancel the first car, but the second car is much more expensive this time around! I finally gave up and asked an administrative assistant to see what she could do. I really would rather not have to turn in the expense for navigation when I just begged to have it on my blackberry to "save money". (My boss really likes to save money).

Ghirardelli Chocolates

Gotta tell you - I love the individual Ghirardelli chocolate squares. At World Market you can buy a sack of 48 squares in four flavors - Milk Chocolate with Caramel Filling, Dark Chocolate with White Mint Filling, 60% Cocao Dark Chocolate and Dark Chocolate with Raspberry Filling. A serving size is 3, but I only eat 1 a day - so it is less than 65 calories a day. I have them on my desk at work and it brings people in to see me ;-). Yum. I think I'll make some fresh tea (yes, I have a teapot at work, along with some loose-leaf tea) and have my daily chocolate square.

Nothing much

Now that I finally have my mind set on buying a car - I don't have time to do it! Why didn't I decide to do this during the several weeks I was not working?!? It may be for the best, though, as I might as well wait for all the 2010 models to come out. I really want a red Camry. But Amy and Don already have red Camry's. Can we really handle three of them in the family?

I just finished three days of Director meetings. I was told it would be really intense. Well, either I have a different understanding of intense, or they really held back. So far it's nothing to get stressed over. I'm looking forward to next week when I will be back digging around in a dialysis center again. I've missed that.

In about 36 hours we will be in Seattle. Can't wait! It's going to be a good weekend!

Keeping Up and Car Shopping

Oh, boy. It's going to be a challenge keeping up with my blogging now that I am driving to work every day - and starting to travel soon. But I am determined to not let this go! Just have to plan better. I was going to scan some childhood pictures over the weekend, but here it is Monday night and I didn't get it done.

I'm seriously looking for a new car. My old faithful 1998 Avalon is starting to fade. But there are so many to choose from! I like the idea of a hybrid (Prius, Camry, Fusion or ???). We've been doing a lot of research but now have to get out and test drive. I'm very fussy. If I'm going to pay much money, I want it to be exactly what I want, right down to the cup holders and the mirrors. This may take me the rest of the year. Anyone have any good advice or good input on any of the new cars?

Update on My Peaches

I just finished the last peach - another few hours and it would have turned brown. Rod thought he ate the last one, but I brought mine back home from work. It was a very busy day and I did not have time to look for a private place to eat it. So that is all the peaches - until Seattle. One of the highlights of going to Seattle (besides seeing all the wonderful relatives) is going to Pike Place Market and getting a big juicy peach. I look forward to it every time we go. But, again, it is a challenge to eat. This time I have a plan. We are staying, after all, at the "W". The "W" is one of the most expensive hotels in downtown Seattle. If you book it online, the kind of room we have goes for about $450/night. Now, before you start thinking we are really rich snobs, let me tell you that we are using points and it won't cost us a thing. Anyway, at the "W" they surely have knives and bowls. (I'd sneak a knife in my suitcase - if this was pre 9/11). This year, I'm going to be assertive and ask to bring a knife and a dish to our room to enjoy our peach in style. A few years ago, when my good friend Kay stayed at the "W" with me, we tried to cut up our peach with some kind of thingy that I think is for opening wine bottles. It worked - barely. I'd let you know how it goes this year, but I'm sure you are all tired of hearing about my peaches. But think about us the last weekend in July!