A First

All week the snow has been accumulating.  Streets have been icy and treacherous.  Paul and I are teaching a marriage class which was to begin on Wednesday evening.  It was canceled.  Thursday night we had a meeting which was canceled.  Though the snow is beautiful there have been over 2,000 accidents just this week due to the weather.  Thursday morning I had a hair appointment and because my hairdresser works out of her home and it is only a mile away I decided to walk.  I was accompanied by Paul, Clark and Phil who needed the exercise.  About a block from her house Clark had a small seizure so we huddled together and had prayer, hoping that he would not have a grand mal.  I took one arm and Paul the other and we continued to walk when suddenly he went into a grand mal and fell gently to the ground while we were holding onto him.  There were no sidewalks so we were literally in the middle of the street.  It happened in front of a house where a man was standing by his car.  He asked what he could do to help.  We told him a rag or towel would be helpful which his wife, who was still in her pajamas, handed out to us.  She also called 911 which we felt was unnecessary since we have seen and dealt with thousands of seizures but we didn’t tell her that.  Paul and I tried to shield Clark from the falling snow but there was nothing we could do to keep him from getting wet from the snow on the road.  Before the fire engine arrived the seizure was over and Clark was standing, disoriented and shaky.  Three firemen arrived, saw that Clark was not hurt and then offered to take him (and Paul and Phil who opted out) home.  I felt overwhelmed by Heavenly Father’s help which was not in the way I expected.  They got in the fire engine, Phil turned around and walked home and I continued on to my hair appointment.

Let It Snow!

Snow is a hot topic around here and has been since Sunday when the first snowflakes made their appearance.  It is a big deal since there are many years we do not get any snow.  We have to enjoy it when it comes because it won’t be around for long.  Every hour we listen to the radio, check online or watch the news on TV so we know the latest.  Our most popular source of information is looking out the window.  It is always amazing to me that a two-minute snow update on radio or TV can be stretched into two hours and then repeated after that—the same information, the same pictures.  It is beautiful unless you have to get somewhere by car and don’t have four-wheel  drive.  And that was us.  Yesterday the five of us piled in the car to head south 25 miles to a memorial for a very good friend.  It was snowing with icy road conditions.  We watched with wide eyes and comments as cars slid and some stalled but we would not be deterred.   The snow curtain seemed to part as we got on the freeway going south and by the time we got to downtown Seattle there was little indication that there was a snow storm going on in the area.  By the time we got to Burien the sun was out and the roads were mostly clear.  Amazing!  This morning we awoke to more snow so in keeping with tradition four of us went out into it to play and to go for a long walk.  Snowballs flew almost the entire hour we were out.  When Clark wasn’t throwing a snowball he was making a snowman while I was drawing hearts in the snow with messages of love.

Confetti

Phil came home from his walk a couple of weeks ago talking about confetti. 

“What???  Confetti?  What are you talking about?” I asked him.

“Confetti…no…hmmm…no…grafetti.”

“You mean graffiti?”

“Yes  Yes!”

“What about graffiti?”

“Our mailbox.”

“There’s graffiti on our mailbox?”

“Yes!”

“That’s great.”  I said with sarcasm.  Phil took off and soon returned with my camera and then went back out the door.

The Newest Christmas-time Tradition

As best as I can tell, the year was 2004 when the tradition began.   It was Christmas Eve day when the “boys only” (one dad and four sons) in our family went shopping downtown.  It wasn’t necessarily the intent at the time but that day launched a new tradition.  Since then one new “boy” has been added—our son-in-law.  I look forward to it almost as much as they do—to hear the stories of how things went and to see the pictures.

Pictures were not always taken but here are a few that give the flavor of this wonderful tradition.

                                                                                        2009

2010

2011

On the Receiving End

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the kindness extended to Clark and Phil’s community.  A few weekends ago was Seafair's Annual Special People's Holiday Cruise - a holiday tradition!  They boarded private yachts at south Lake Union with hundreds of their peers for a two-hour cruise of Lake Washington and Lake Union.  When we picked them up at the conclusion they had on blinking Santa hats and a bag of goodies each.  Their smiles told us they had had a good time.

The following Saturday was the Washington Ferry Holiday Cruise sponsored by AFECT (Active Ferry Employee Charitable Trust).  Paul, Cherlyn and I joined them for this excursion on a Washington State ferry which went half way to Bremerton and then back.  We left our car in the parking lot and walked on—past employees, clowns, musical groups, Coast Guard and Marine volunteers.  What a happy, festive atmosphere.  Santa made his rounds passing out stuffed toys while we enjoyed being on the water and munching on snacks provided by the volunteers.  When we disembarked 1 ½ hours later Clark and Phil each received a large stuffed animal donated by Toys R Us. 

This Is So Clark

This afternoon I went downstairs for a short nap and quiet time to work on the discussion I will be leading tonight on The Death of Ivan Ilych by Tolstoy.  I had tried working at my desk but Clark sat down by me and couldn't stop talking.  He had had a headache and the Excedrin he took killed the pain and kicked him into nonstop-talking mode.  Some time later as I sat in the front room organizing my thoughts and writing down notes Phil came in to see what I was doing, then in came Clark and Cherlyn and finally Paul.  As we talked and laughed together Paul started feeling drowsy.  He stretched out on the couch and put his feet in Clark's lap.  Forty-five minutes later Clark was still sitting there not wanting to disturb his sleeping father.

A Very Happy Birthday

As I walked through the kitchen this evening to get to the garage (on my way to a Christmas Music Fireside) I noticed Clark’s birthday banner still hanging above the kitchen table.  Thursday was Clark’s birthday.  We knew he was excited because he talked about it every day for many, many days and then would ask “Are you excited for my birthday?”  Birthdays are exciting around here and begin as soon as the birthday boy or girl awakens.  “Happy Birthday” is spoken many times during the day.  Lunch on this particular birthday was a trip downtown with Dad to eat lunch with #2 son who works there.  Then at 6:00 the party began with requested hamburgers, chips and potato salad.  Phil was the chef and the burgers were pronounced delicious!  Then came the opening of gifts—a 100-piece puzzle, Cars 2 DVD, National Geographic DVDs, three packs of gum and a note with an invitation for a future golf outing with #2 son.  Finally it was time for cake, a requested train cake.  I chuckled as I read online that “Your preschooler will chuggah chuggah choo choo all the way with this choo choo train birthday cake.”  My “preschooler” loved it.