Birthday Cakes and un-birthday like days

Hi Everyone! Here's a little update on the past couple of days!

I’ll begin with Matthew’s birthday. The poor man had to get up at 5:30 in the morning (which, if you don’t know us, is virtually the earliest imaginable time to get up) and work on his big day. The night before I had asked what kind of cake he wanted. He replied with a nonchalant “Oh you don’t have to make a cake.”

“You have to have a cake! It’s your birthday!” I replied indignantly.

“Well, how about something with coconut?” he said sheepishly.

“You got it birthday boy, coconut it is!”

The next day I emailed him three options of various cakes—coconut, German chocolate, and a modern German chocolate. He chose the plain old coconut which I have to admit I listed first because it looked the yummiest.

One good look at the recipe and I knew it was going to be a challenge. First of all, I had to buy another cake pan and hope to find a double boiler to make the frosting with. Hmm…Fred Meyer here I come! For those of you who live in southern California and don’t know what a Fred Meyer is, it’s like a gargantuan Target with a full grocery store.

Bingo.

First of all, we had dinner reservations at 7:30 and it was 5:30 now. Perfect. Two hours was enough time to make a cake, right? Haha. Well I started the cake batter portion. Nearly an hour later it was in the oven and I began the filling. We called and pushed back our reservations as I placed three cakes on cooling racks.

When we arrived at La Dolce Vita we chose a table by the window. My husband, being the gentleman he is, asked if I wanted to sit closer to the heater since I get cold easier. I declined as he wanted to face in towards the charming little restaurant. This was one of the top rated Italian restaurants in Seattle, and we were ready for a treat.

We perused the menu, but Matt looked uncomfortable. He shifted, he cleared his throat, and he was slowly beginning to turn red. As we waited twenty minutes for our basket of bread, drops of perspiration beaded up on his forehead and he began taking deep breaths. I kept asking if he was ok and finally he said, “Do you want to switch spots? I’m right by the heater and really hot!

We swapped seats and instantly I was enveloped by a wave of burning hot air. The heater was only about 8 inches from the back of my chair and blowing furiously. “I like heat,” I thought, “I can take this.”

It was only a couple of minutes later the lower part of my back began to burn. I touched the back of the chair and could only hold my fingers there a couple of second before pulling them away. A heater blowing on a varnished wood—that’s smart! I had to switch chairs to be away from the furnace’s fiery blast. We finally got the waiter’s attention and he turned the heater off for us.

Phew, time to enjoy our meal.

Matt ordered some gnocchi with foraged mushroom sauce and I ordered a Cesare salad as an appetizer. Matt’s sauce was excellent, but my salad was essentially whole leaves of Romaine lettuce sprinkled with parmesan and warm. Matt took a bite and said, “I’ll tell you what it reminds me of when you’re done.”

Great.

At least he didn’t tell me in the middle… When I finished he proclaimed it tasted like the warm lettuce that’s inside a hamburger. Fabulous.

Dinner came, and while the rolled pork with gorgonzola, walnuts and spinach in a reduced apple cider sauce I got was great (oh, with a side of pumpkin gnocchi which was excellent), Matt’s rabbit coulis tasted oddly like beef stroganoff. He proclaimed my chicken cacciatore was better, which of course made my buttons burst! All in all it was a good dinner and a great albeit interesting experience in one of Seattle’ “finest” restaurants.

Back at home the last thing to do was make the frosting. This involved beating the sugar, eggs, etc. for a full seven minutes in a double boiler. Not having a double boiler, we improvised with the pots we had and I had Matt beat the frosting while I prepared the layers.

I wanted to top the cake with toasted coconut so I set the oven on broil and put a layer of foil with the coconut in it on the top rack. As I went to open the oven Matt instinctually moved and let go of the handle of the pot he was mixing in. Frosting proceeded to pour onto the electric stovetop and rapidly to burn and fuse itself to my stove.

Having just cleaned up the frosting mess I checked on my coconut for the 12th time. The 11th time it was still completely white. Now it was pouring smoke like an angry dragon. The thick gray gas filled our kitchen as I turned the fan on and grabbed the baking sheet. Currans never quit so I ripped another sheet of foil and layered more coconut on and popped it in while the oven was still hot. This time I squatted in front of the glass window and watched until the coconut turned a golden brown.

Finally, after many a mishap, the cake was baked, layered and frosted and we dug in. According to Matt, “It was worth the trouble.”

Today was one of those days where nothing goes right. We got a new “gentle leader” collar for Roy, and last night it worked beautifully. He hardly pulled and when he did it didn’t feel like your arm was going to rip from its socket!

This morning we passed his arch nemesis—chihuahuas—and he began pulling backwards on it and wriggling like a fish on a line. I instantly had flashbacks to that awful morning he wriggled out of his collar and ended up in a scraped and broken heap on the asphalt. Taking no chances this time, I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and heaved him inside the apartment.

Once showered I realized I had nothing to wear that 1) fit, 2) was clean or 3) was decently unwrinkled. As I managed to put together something resembling a homeless hippy and neared completion of getting ready my klutzy self managed to knock a glass of water over in our bathroom and it shattered everywhere. As I yelled at myself Roy looked up at me with mild amusement. Mom’s going berserk again, huh?

I vacuumed up the mess and put a blanket on the bed so Roy wouldn’t get hair all over it. We’ve learned no matter how many obstacles we place on the bed Roy has made it his personal fun zone and will move/chew anything on top to make a bed for himself. We’ve figured let’s save our stuff and let him have the bed and voila! Nothing gets shredded.

I give him a bowl of food and close the bedroom door. A minute later he begins whining. Now, this dog has not whined in over a month of us leaving him! It persisted and I began to think what if I didn’t get all the glass? I can’t leave my baby in there with a piece of glass in his paw all day! I open the door and like a bat out of hell bolts a gloriously happy Roy. He bounced and jumped and wriggled as if he hadn’t seen me in weeks.

That stinker was absolutely fine.

Now I had another problem—how to get Roy back into the bedroom and leave! I filled a kong toy with peanut butter. He took three big laps and licked my hand—efficiently covering it with peanut buttery slime. Instinctively I wiped it on my jeans—great—now I smelled like peanut butter. It finally took another bowl of wet dog food to distract him enough from my leaving.

At work (now nearly 30 minutes late) my boss’ voice came in on my phone. “Your husband needs to show a little TLC to your car!” she said laughing. I said, “The bird poop? Oh yeah, that’s pretty bad!” And it was. There’s a tree where we work and if you park under it in a single day your car will be pelted with no less than 100-200 CRAPS. It looked like a bloomin’ leopard! I laughed at my poor car.

“No,” my boss said, “Your rear left tire is basically flat!”

Now, I pride myself on keeping a close eye on my car. It may not be the cleanest but its oil is always changed on time and I can usually detect if something is amiss. When I looked at my car my boss was right—the tire was almost completely flat!

During a trip to the bank I filled it back up, but with my window rolled down I could hear a distinctive phht phht phht with each turn of the tire. By the end of the day the tire didn’t appear to have deflated, but my way home on the freeway has no shoulders and is basically one long overpass called the Alaskan viaduct. If a tire blew on me there it was bad news. So I took side streets home…and the only way from Delta to home on side streets was through the heart of downtown Seattle.

The streets were a mess—construction, steel plates, potholes and poorly filled potholes made a patchwork quilt of the asphalt. With every bump and jolt I held my breath praying my tire didn’t go out on me. I went through Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market, inching along with the taxis and busses and wondering what I would do if my tire did go flat on me.

In some places it was a one lane with nowhere to turn if you broke down. At least it was better than flying off the viaduct, I figured. A torturous hour passed with me watching my tire in my side mirror turned all the way down to keep an eye on the culprit. I began to have a little pity party for myself, and just as I was really getting it going in my head I glanced in my rearview mirror.

A woman in the car behind me was crying. Weeping so hard she drove with one hand and was continually wiping her tears with the other. I couldn’t hear her but I could tell she was heaving gut wrenching sobs. Her face was scrunched with some unknown pain as she poured out her soul to her steering wheel.

And suddenly my life didn’t look so bad.

I have a dog who’s only fault is wanting to be with me all the time, a husband who was on standby should my tire go out, and a God to cast my cares upon. Saying a prayer for the woman, I made it home safely.

Signers and Thai food

Here’s an afternoon shot for you all(oops, I originally mistyped “shat” but hopefully this piece will be more reminiscent of espresso that crap).

Things are beginning to fall into a rhythm here at the Palmer Place. Roy no longer freaks out when we leave for work, I’m getting more used to my job, we haven’t had any major bouts of crazy weather, and we finally made it back to Bethany Community Church last Sunday.

We sat upstairs on the balcony, with a nice view of the stage and large screen and the people below. The main pastor was out of town, and the stand in was not quite what we had hoped. 

He somehow tied faith and boldness to apples and apple juice, and then said we could even be “saucy” as he held up applesauce. Um….hm. When’s the pastor getting back? Other than that, my entertainment was the front row. On the right hand side on stage was a lady who was signing for another lady who was deaf. At the end of the sermon there was worship and the pastor encouraged freedom to lift your hands or come to the front. 

A young man walked towards the front, and out of all forty feet of stage stairs he had to choose from, he headed over to the right and knelt directly inbetween the signer and the deaf lady. 

The deaf lady (sorry if you’re offended I call her that but that’s what she was and I didn’t meet her that night so I don’t have a name) leaned way over to the left and scooted a bit so she could continue watching the signer. The young man was having a difficult time, and soon his wife or girlfriend joined him—on his left side…further blocking deaf lady’s view. She sat straight up and as the couple was kneeling managed to see the signer over their heads. 

Then we were all invited to stand and he view was completely blocked. 

With infinite patience she motioned to one of the prayer volunteers and moved her hands apart and pointed to the couple. The prayer volunteer (who had been standing about two feet to the side the whole time), whispered in the guys ear and he looked behind him, and moved about a foot to his right. This left a gap in between him and his girlfriend who, upon seeing him move over, stepped to the right as well and closed the gap again. 

The deaf lady sighed, and sat down.

Then there was our first visit to our favorite Thai place. It’s called Thai Kitchen and is in an old house right on Queen Anne Avenue. I say first visit because we’ve ordered take out a few times, and it’s always been delish. We walk in the super squeaky door and are kindly seated in between two other couples at small tables so close that by me turning sideways my butt still brushes our neighbor’s table. I sit on the booth side only to find, as further evidenced by the awkward expression on the other two ladies sitting on the booth, that the height of the seat is about 25 inches. For your information, an average comfortable height for sitting is between 18 and 20 inches. I remove one pillow and sit (rather lean) on the seat, then hop/scoot myself back until my feet are dangling like a 5 year old’s. I’m towering over Matt and say something mildly funny like “I don’t really mean to look down my nose at you” when the lady to my left exclaims “I KNOW! These are so high! I can’t touch the floor!” The other lady on the right agreed, and we returned to our awkward silences. The food was as delicious as always, but I think next time we’ll be ordering to go.

Roy’s latest antics have included finding anything tissue, toilet paper or paper towel-like to shred when we’re gone. It’s not that we don’t wear him out—Matt took him on his longest run ever before he proceeded to shred three rolls of paper towels—he just loves the feel of it in his mouth. So we have a living paper shredder and an aspiring dancer. Yes, when I’m seated he now loves to walk his paws until they’re right on my shoulders and look me square in the face. If I stand up he leaves his paws there and we dance a little jig until he loses his balance. Don’t worry—a video will come soon.

Last tidbit of fun is I booked my flights today to come to OC (sorry, just for a day…less, actually) and then my mom and I are headed east to see Ammah and spend a few days with her. We’ve got big plans to eat brownies, watch movies, and maybe take a daytrip to Sedona.

Last but not least we have Skype and would love to say hello to you! Our name is PalmerPack (too cheesy? I don’t care) so drop us a line sometime. ‘till next time—keep boppin!

Things are finally settling down here at the Palmer household. The holiday guests have left, we’re both nearly recovered from being sick, and Roy’s not hopping about anymore and can start going on short walks. Time to slip into a comfortable pattern of life.

As we packed away Christmas ornaments and stockings yesterday, I was reflecting on the fun times we had this holiday. Allow me to share a few with you since I kinda skimped on the New Year’s morning cup…

Let me preface my family’s experience of Seattle by saying that Queen Anne and Seattle are good walking towns but have a lot of hills. According to my family (Ammah included) they were up for all the walking and exploring they could pack in. Ha-ha. Sorry Ammah but three blocks of the main avenue does not necessitate CPR, lol. The first day Matt surprised them by bringing them to my work instead of straight home. My boss Michelle gave them a great tour, and they got to see 140-200’ yachts in the process of being built. After that, as they begged for a hamburger I drove them to the main stretch of Queen Anne where we ate at Flame—an great hamburger joint with crayon drawings on the wall and a cashier who swapped hats to entertain my dad and I.

By then they were beat (they had gotten up at 5 and been traveling half the day) so I took them back and introduced them all to Roy Boy, and we all settled down for a winter’s nap next to the fireplace.



The next day was New Year’s Eve, and we went to Pike Place market for the first time (I think we did that day...it's all kinda a blur!) We saw the fish being tossed and all the Northwest Crafts and the mounds of fresh fruit. There was the guy on the corner playing the guitar AND harmonica with another guitar balanced on his chin (which he'd occasionally strum) and swinging TWO hula hoops around his waist! And of course the great quartet of men who sing right outside the first Starbucks. On the way back J wanted his pic with the painting of the two gnomes that at the beginning was my landmark of where to turn home. That night after a big dinner and the exchanging of our Christmas gifts we decided we were going to try to go to Kerry Park so see the fireworks at the Space Needle. We popped in the movie Ghost Town (HIGHLY recommend) and I think everyone but my brother and I fell asleep! I woke them up at 11:30 and after deciding to take Roy and have all 6 of us plus the dog get there, we piled in my 4Runner with Matt at the helm. As we turned the corner to 1st Ave that leads to Kerry Park (and remember, these are 2 way streets the width of a one way) it was completely barricaded by cars and people. No one was even looking at their watch but as we inched to the bottom of the hill we could hear the fireworks beginning. My mom, Ammah, Jeremy and I hopped out and headed into the masses as it drizzled lightly on us. What an affront to the senses! Everyone had a drink (I wondered if public drinking was actually legal here…it’s not) and a dozen other interesting and illegal smells assaulted us as we plunged into the mob fighting to see the show. Jeremiah instantly disappeared and I soon lost track of Mom and Ammah as well.

As I stood there the fireworks shot off red, white and blue and the guy behind me shouted “I LOVE AMERICA!” And another guy retorted, “Dude, it’s not the fourth of July!” Eventually Matt showed up as my dad had gotten in the driver’s seat (we weren’t going anywhere…) and I got my New Year’s kiss.

After the show died down, we all made it back to the car and sat watching the people swarm around us, some pounding on the window and shouting their Happy New Years at us. Finally we inched our way out and headed home.

The next day we did nothing. We didn’t get out of our pajamas, didn’t leave the house, nada. It was heaven! My mom, Ammah and I watched my Christmas present Little Women (the old one with June Allyson and Elizabeth Taylor…the BEST one!) and I made Market Spice tea and sugar cookies. With the fire burning and the men away or asleep it was a great ladies’ moment for us!

The next day even Ammah was ready to get out and do something. We headed to Matt’s work where we had lunch with him, then were off to Snoqualmie Falls. I wasn’t expecting much, especially it being winter. The drive out there was beautiful—picturesque farms and idyllic pastures. We followed my phone’s GPS (which can be iffy) and were weaving our way down a dirt road when we came to a wide dirt lot in the middle of the woods with one other car parked there. Taking our chances, we parked and started heading down what looked like a trail. Some signs said “Trail,” and others said “DANGER: Do not come within 100ft!” Which ones did we listen to? Oh, the trail ones. And after a cool walk along a damp and dripping boardwalk over a flowing river with the sun shining through the steam rising off the wet trees, we rounded the corner and came into view of the falls. What a surprise! Its 268 feet tall and was still flowing strong! We were all a bit stunned—no one expected such a grandiose sight as that!
This was the falls as we saw it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztZkVPvcNUg (nice touch with the Mission Soundtrack…but we saw the falls from the bottom, not the top) This is the falls after the recent floods: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exHvYi26byw

On our drive home, we got a bit more crazy WA weather as it began to hail and sleet!

Saturday—the day they left—was an absolute whirlwind. Byes to Matt and Roy as Matt was sick, off to Queen Anne Ave to explore all the shops, then down to Pike Place Market to stock up on Market Spice tea and a few more yelling tosses from the fish market, up to the flagship REI to see its amazingness, then off to the airport all before 4! Phew! The next day Matt and I definitely didn’t do anything!

Now we’re falling into the rhythm of life here in Seattle. The windy (I’m talking 60 mph sustained wind) nights and days, the rain, occasional snow, sleet, hail, and those gorgeous moments when the sky clears and you can see the snow covered mountain ranges standing like sentinels over the city.
‘Till next time…

New Year's Tidings

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that we're surviving the snow, sleet, hail, rain, floods, landslides, and avalanches! I thought it just drizzled in Seattle! What gives? Over 85 highways are closed and Seattle is an island blocked off from Portland or Vancouver or anywhere by road closures. Crrrazy!

Other than that, we enjoyed a great New Year's with my parents. I toured them around Queen Anne, Pike Place, REI, and Snoqualmie Falls...sometimes dragging Ammah by the hand as her walk would nearly come to a standstill as she stared at the surroundings. We tried to make it to Kerry Park in the car on New Year's Eve, but the traffic jam and people jam was such that we took turns walking outside to see the Space Needle light up in fireworks in the rain--maybe not the most momentous New Year's but CERTAINLY a memorable one!

Roy loved having so much company, and the day everyone went home he moped around all day...obviously depressed. Oh, but today it's officially been FOUR WEEKS since his accident and he's running around with almost no limp! God is good! I finished another round of cards sent out by Delta, and as this one took longer than the first I came up with a little poem to express the process:

There once was a girl with a large task to do

Of stuffing and sealing and labeling too

She looked at the bin full of cards to send out

And giving a sigh she tried not to pout

She stuffed and she sealed and stamped those darn cards

And her stack of completed ones grew rather large

But to her dismay her bin would not empty

For more cards came, they sure came a'plenty

Still stuffing and sealing and labeling them

She cried, "Will I ever ever ever reach the end?"

Her fingers grew sore from the sticky postage

And the papercuts added to this adage

As soon as she'd reach the bottom of the stack

She would grin as she piled them and turned her back

But lo! The bin would be full again

Oh what could she do? She was going insane!

But then she got helpers, yes her boss had come in

To stick those big labels and help fill the bin

Together they finished all twenty-six hundred

And that is the end, and I'm ready for bed!

Well, that's all the news I can send at the moment--I'll send pictures of the beautiful falls when I'm home. Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas greetings!
It’s been a frozen week here in Seattle, and if you haven’t seen us on the news chances are you’re not watching the news! It’s been the coldest and snowiest December on record here! I left you last Thursday with Matt and I cozied up at home next to the fire and me unable to drive my car anywhere. Well its Christmas and I still haven’t moved my car! It snowed Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! And we had more this morning and are due for more tonight! Its insane!
By last weekend I was going stir crazy so I strapped on a backpack and left Roy in his crate while walked to the grocery store. By the time I got back there was a note on the door from our neighbor who has met Roy and really liked him. He was letting me know that the whole 3 hours I was gone Roy had barked! I went with Roy to apologize, but he said he didn’t mind that much and loved on Roy, and just wanted to let me know he does NOT like that crate!
Monday came and Matt drove me to work. He’s been parking at the bottom of Queen Anne hill and walking up so he could continue driving to work. Luckily a coworker gave me a ride to the bottom of Queen Anne hill and I walked home. That street was closed, and people were actually sledding, skiing and snowboarding down it! That was only a two-mile walk, and I got some Christmas shopping done so it was nice.
Tuesday Matt dropped me off again, and I got a ride with a co-worker who dropped me off downtown as I assured her I was going to get some Christmas shopping done and could ride the bus home. The buses are clean, efficient, and the stop is just at the bottom of the street where I live.
I browsed around Pike Place Market, picking up stocking stuffers and a unique gift for Matt before heading to the bus stop. As I approached I noticed about 30 people surrounding the little stop, all looking in the direction of the coming bus. A little perturbed, I pulled my scarf higher in the freezing night air and waited for 5 minutes…10 minutes…then 20. Finally a bus came, but it was amazingly packed tight. As the bus pulled up, the throng of people I was in—by now at least 40—pushed forward in a mass to the opening doors of the bus. A few people got off, then there was a maddening jostle of bodies as people tried to squeeze themselves into the already full to capacity bus. Elbows in your side, feet sloshing in the frozen slush as we pushed forward like a reverse birth. I could swear I saw one man frothing at the mouth. As I was towards the back of the crunch, I finally gave up and made my way through the crowd and began walking.
I walked nearly 4 miles—from Downtown to Queen Anne—carrying my purchases and trying to walk fast enough to keep warm but slow enough not to slip on the packed snow and ice. It took me about an hour and a half (and yes it was uphill) and I wasn’t the only one walking. At one point a young man carrying a bouquet of Christmas flowers hurried by me at a quick pace. “How far are you going?” he asked. “Queen Anne,” I replied—this still being about 2 miles out. As he passed me I called, “Hope you’re not headed to Ballard!” (which is further north and across the bridge from Queen Anne. “Nope, Magnolia,” he called back. Poor guy—depending on where he lived in Magnolia it was anywhere from 3-7 more miles!
I was carrying my bags and my $1 mittens weren’t quite doing their job, so I figured I would get a cup of coffee to keep me warm. Wouldn’t you know it? Only ONE coffee shop my whole walk home and it was CLOSED! This is Seattle—the birthplace of coffee shops! With my scarf wrapped around my nose to keep my face relatively warm, I waddled and slid my way home. One amazing sight was walking past two gas stations with every pump CLOSED because the weather’s been so bad that gas trucks haven’t been able to get through! When I took Roy out when I got home he was more than excited, and we played in the soft untouched snow in the parking lot—us both losing our footing on the steep hill and sledding down together in a mass of wet snow and sprawling legs. He loves finding an untouched patch, pouncing in it, then hopping to another one—it’s like he’s trying to make snow angel dogs!
That night Matt’s parents, Dave and Beth, and his sister Katie got in from Groveland. This is Matt’s first Christmas with them in 3 years! We’ve stolen him away the past few times! They love our apartment and Roy, and he was more than excited to have more people in the house to love on!
The next day Matt was off, so I could drive his car to make it in to work on Christmas Eve. It was snowing/raining pretty good, but the roads were a bit clearer and the temperature was above freezing so things were thawing out. It still was an adventure—my first time driving in snow! I could feel the car’s 4 wheel drive kick in quite often as I trudged over the leftover snow packed on the streets and highways. After work I drove to the market in Ballard to load up on a ton of groceries—and let me just say that its quite the experience pushing a cart LOADED to the max with food and firewood over mushy snow and ice in the pouring rain! I was in front of the cart, dragging it like a mule when a kind man offered to help me get the last few feet to the car. Driving home I felt quite accomplished—enough so to drive through the snow to park in Matt’s usual spot for the first time in a week!
Christmas morning rolled around and I was awakened by Roy’s excited nose shoving me under the covers like a kid saying, “Get up! Get up! Its Christmas morning!” He’s never that persistent in getting me up…I think he knew he had some good treats coming! We ate Beth’s cinnamon rolls and listened to Christmas music by the fire as it rained and snowed outside. As my main Christmas present from Matt, Roy Boy had a big red bow tied around his neck and left it all day! We all opened gifts and exchanged hugs and thanks and all felt pretty spoiled. Roy opened his new toy that’s a puzzle he has to work at to get his food, and had no problem learning how to tear open a present!
Later we got dressed and headed to Sacred Heart Church for Christmas mass. The Palmers grew up Catholic to it was a little bit nostalgic for them, and a wonderful, sacred experience for me. It was great singing old Christmas carols there surrounded by beautiful stained glass windows and a ton of candles. The priest was a jolly fellow who warmly reminded us that everything we do at Christmas points to the birth and gift of Jesus, and Him being our connection with God.

Back at home we all collapsed into some state of nap or relaxing. I passed out on the floor before heading to the bed, Matt and Katie lounged around watching who knows how many episodes of The Office, and Dave beat us all by taking a sound 4 hour nap!
For Christmas dinner we feasted on ribeye roast, mashed potatoes, sautéed zucchini and mushrooms, and soft rolls. Top it off with some sugar cookies and ice cream and Christmas was complete.
We hope you all had warm, loving Christmases, and enjoy your time with your family!

Snow Day!

Here in Seattle I think the best Morning Cup would be a rich hot cocoa right now! Today was a SNOW DAY! I got up for work, looked outside and saw it falling fast and thick. Now, being a southern California girl I’ve never actually driven in snow, and had my first ice experience on Monday when it was a whole 22˚ when I tried to unlock the car and found the lock frozen shut.

Still, after taking Roy outside and watching him romp in the snow on his three legs and lick it from the trees and rocks, I tried to gather my courage and headed out the door. Turning on Matt’s car (he was off and his car has 4-wheel drive), the radio warned that it was a nightmare commute, hours to get to your destination, and “dozens” of spinouts in downtown Seattle alone! The news and police and pretty much everyone was saying “STAY HOME!” 

(People in Michigan would laugh at how Seattlites handle snow!) 

Looking at the road that leads down the hill, it was compacted and frozen snow where the few daring cars with chains on had headed down. I decided to see if I could wait it out and headed back inside.

Inside we turned on the news to see what a “bear” (in the news’ terms) all the freeways were. It was insane! We put a log on the fire, turned on the Christmas lights and after calling my work a number of times with no one picking up…decided to have a snow day! We bundled up and walked to a café for breakfast, watching the few cars out slip and slide down the hill, and a few that were actually stuck in the snow (including a bus!). We got back inside, got in our comfies and put on a movie!

After a nap I made some homemade bread while Matt looked for new Christmas songs and Roy took his 10th nap of the day. By tonight there was SEVEN inches of snow on our patio, so we headed out to build a little snowman and play in the snow! Roy is definitely a snow dog—he loves it! He ate it, laid in it, and romped in it!

That’s our latest news—the snow has stopped but the high tomorrow is 26˚ so all that compact snow is just going to stay frozen! We’ll see how the commute is tomorrow! Oh, and Roy is healing very well—he thinks he’s back to normal and romps around trying to take stairs 2 at a time, get on the bed, and run all around! It’s tough keeping him down! But he doesn’t seem to be in pain and is the same happy-go-lucky dog.

SNOW!

Well its not worth a whole venti morning cup but I thought I'd let you know that its SNOWING here! Its probably snowed over an inch and Queen Anne is blanketed in white! Its beautiful! And it didn't seem to bother Roy when we took him outside--I think he likes it! We know we do (at least until we have to drive)!

Roy came home this morning and has been hopping all over--I actually had to leash him to the couch so he wouldn't follow me around so much! In between following me around and devouring his rawhide bone, he's been taking good long naps which is really good! He's moving his foot forward when he walks and it twitches when he has doggie dreams and he was using it to stabilize his bone--showing he probably doesn't have nerve damage! He's doing great thus far and since he's my Christmas puppy he appropriately situates himself beneath the tree.

That's all our news for now--thank you all for your prayers again for our Roy Boy! Enjoy this CHRISTmas season!