How many pictures of tulips do I need?

I absolutely love a market...

When I travel my favorite place to visit is the market...

Sure palaces, museums, parks are all nice but nothing gets my blood pumping like a good market...

I so wish Portland had a big meandering public market like Pikes Place...

It would fit perfectly with our big meandering Powell's books...

If your not familiar with the gum wall....

This is the gum wall...

Gross but fascinating at the same time...

And then of course there are the flowers...

So many gorgeous flowers...

And its TULIP SEASON!!!!!!!!!

Massive, gorgeous, multi-colored tulips...

Gorgeous!!!!!!

I want them all...

I want to have a tulip farm...

Sigh....

But there is a point where this photographer has to wonder...

Have I taken too many pictures of these gorgeous flowers?

So I make my eye wander...

Looking for the other things that make markets so cool...

art, people, the unexpected...

I love all those things too...

But gasp...

There they are again those gorgeous flowers and I'm distracted once again...

I tear myself away from the tulip row in an attempt to see something new in a market I have been to many, many times...

Loved the honey in the window!

The lighting was perfect!

I just finished my book club book...

It's called The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh...

In Victorian times the language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions...

I love that!

There is a dictionary in the book and Tulips mean Declaration of Love

How perfect...

I wonder how gum wall translates? :)

I love the market and I love tulips...

With Love,

Frychik

Music Tour - It will wear you out!

So....CAA music tour went to Seattle this past Thur-Sunday

We did many things, drove many miles, experienced gridlock, sleep deprivation  zero privacy, laughter, good food, exhaustion, all things that translate into BONDING

Each and every night was spent on a gym floor shared by all...

If you haven't experienced sleeping in a gym wit 67 male/female students (of course they are separated/by a line on the floor!) you just haven't lived...

This not being my first time - I was prepared...thanks mom for the awesome air mattress  Night one I went for a little extra padding :)

All this effort so these kids can perform...See the one on the end playing the bass guitar...

He forgot it...

Emergency 2 hour run to get it...

Who's kid is that?!!!

 




Sightseeing is included...
.

Trip to the top of the Space Needle...





Experience Music Project...

Chris Tomlin Concert..

Trying to get out of Seattle...

It literally took us 1.5 hours to go 6 blocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pacific Science Center...
Aquarium...
Pikes Market..

It was exhausting...
Through miss communication or lack of communication from the schools were were staying at our sleep schedule was greatly shortened...Add to that ridiculous gridlock traffic trying to get out of Seattle Sat night and the fact that we were sleeping in a gym all together...there was a significant LACK of sleeping going on...
So kids caught some zzzzs when ever they could....




Considering the fact that teenagers top priorities besides socializing are eating and sleeping we made sure to at least feed them well and often...
It was the least we could do to ensure our survival... :)

When a strange man entered the gym Sunday morning at 5:45am (when 98% of us were still dead asleep) and announced to us that we had to be out of the gym by 6:15 (we had been told 7am) the poor sleeping beauties did what they were told...
They really all a great bunch of kiddos...
Its just that teachers and students weren't meant to live together...Its better for the relationship :)

  

This is what happens when a teenager offers to hold your camera while you use the bathroom...

I'm only sharing two of the twenty pics that were taken in the 30 seconds I allowed my camera out of my sight :)

Frychik

Boys will break your heart - They're supposed to...

When I can I run at Lewisville Park...
I have a routine...one that involves stretching at the top of a hill and using a certain tree for support...
I had to smile when I saw that someone had tucked a "heart rock" into the bark...

Heart Rocks are special to me because when Josh was little he would find one and give it to me...
I have a collection of them on a shelf and they are PRECIOUS to me...Especially now that when he finds them I am no longer the recipient... :(

I recognize that it would be weird if he didn't make this change...I do...but still....sigh...


Frychik

Monday - Weekend recap

There was a bit of mystery going on in our home for a few days...
Turns out God was watching over us and protecting us in ways we did not understand...

One day last week I came home to a strange smell...
I couldn't identify it and it seemed to be evenly distributed throughout the entire house...
I was in a hurry grabbed what I came for and headed back out...

That evening Tyler was drinking from a plastic cup and he said "smell this" which I did...he thought it smelled like stripples I thought it smelled -wasn't sure like what-assumed it was the plastic and thought we should throw the cup out.

The next day and another dishwasher cycle (this is key to the story) Tyler was once again drinking, this time from a glass, and he said "smell this" which I did...I said - let me smell your hands, thinking maybe it was soap on his hands...nope. I was stumped and offered that perhaps it was the new dishwasher soap we were using to which Ty replied "is it gonna kill us?"...

I happened to be unloading the dishwasher at the time and with no intention happened to notice a large wooden spoon laying across the heating element in the dishwasher.

I now know what the smell was in the house...it was the smell of burning wood! I estimate it sat on that heating element for a least two cycles...

Thankful the house didn't burn and thankful to have solved the mystery!

On Friday evening we had the opportunity to watch two of our nieces play in their very first softball game...

It was raining and cold and muddy and frankly softball/baseball has always moved way too slow for me...

However, when it is your adorable nieces and they have the coolest uniforms (check out those socks!) you go and you're happy about it!

On Sabbath we had an unexpected lunch invitation.  Which are always the best.  Warm friends, beautiful home and a lovely walk enjoying the flowers.  Man I love spring! I love how God designed the flowers to come out first the stark contrast against the dark, bare trees just make their colors that much more dramatic!

Sunday was busy but we began with breakfast with friends.  Love that! Then we had errands and then there was a work event...

Not my work but Jeff's.  A "meet and greet" at a wine bar downtown...

There are several reasons why I don't enjoy these things...

However, it did get me downtown which I always enjoy...

And since there wasn't any real food involved I told me husband he owed me and that meant we got to go out to eat :)

Oh man do I love the tofu lettuce wraps!

I love fortune cookies, I actually get nervous opening the fortune up and reading it.  I can't help it it's one of those superstitious beliefs I hold on to.  I want them to be true...

 And of course my happy place Powells...
What a wonderful magical world...
I could live there...I would actually enjoy working there!
But then I would have to give up my awesome commute!

I hope you had a happy weekend :)

Frychik

Friday - Phew!

So I got a surprise in the mail yesterday!

I find the form letter amusing...

Obviously they don't trouble themselves to look at the ID to determine the gender of the person..

Just to be clear I don't see myself as either a Sir or Madam...

Are they seriously offering to be of further assistance?

Because I would seriously like help in the following areas:

1. You can keep the debit card, credit card and insurance card -they have been replaced- but if you could please send back the 100 euros I would really appreciate it!

2. I would appreciate a full investigation into what happened - why because I'm curious - I have no intention of pressing charges since I was the dummy who lost the wallet in a cab- but I would really like to know the story...

I am very curious to know the circumstances of my wallet.
If only these items could talk...

It was a small black wallet with 5 cards in it and cash.  Two cards have been returned - what happened to the rest of it?  My guess is that more than one person found it...

Consider the following possibilities...

Cab driver finds it while cleaning his cab - pockets the cash, useful (to him) cards and turns the other over to the authorities...

Cab driver finds it while cleaning his cab and turns the entire contents over to the police who then pocket the cash and useful (to them) cards and then sends it to the American embassy...

The cab driver is unaware my wallet is on the floor of his cab and some other person riding in the cab finds the wallet and takes what they want and leaves the licence and insurance card in the wallet on the floor of the cab, then the cab driver finds it and turns it in...

Someone finds the wallet takes what they want tosses it in a dumpster, a garbage man finds it and turns it in..

Wouldn't it be fascinating to know...my guess is more than one person was involved, maybe more...

What do you think?

In other news my man-child drove himself to WWU yesterday...the first of many trips...
He is there by personal invitation (fancy!) to try out for the soccer team - he's very excited

Also apparently it was or is national sibling day - so here's a pic of my little "sister" :)

I love that my parents didn't cut his hair...there was more than one occasion people thought he was my sister :) Isn't he cute!


Frychik

Tuesday - A list

1.  This past weekend was alumni - 27 YEARS ago I graduated... That makes me old...but in an effort to prove I'm aging gracefully I played in the basketball game again against the young whipper snappers (my students) and we won!

2. We won by one point but that doesn't matter - we won which means I own bragging rights at school and by golly I will use them!

3.  While I managed to run up and down the court without falling down or having a heart attack - the minute the final buzzer sounded a pain in my lower left back began

4.  The pain hasn't left...

5. I had to ask a student to help me pick up something I dropped on the floor...

6.  My husband had to tie my shoes

7. A massage therapist worked for an hour on me yesterday (two days after the game) I'm still in pain...

8. I'm reconsidering the price of the bragging rights...

9.  Next year I don't think I will be participating in the game...

10. Getting old SUCKS!

Frychik

Monday- Beauty

Deep Breath

Sigh...

Hope...

Promise...

Peace...

Happy Monday to you...
Frychik