Live the Dare

I'm going to try to wrap up Washington in this post, then move on to Mother's Day weekend tomorrow, a mere 5 days late. How 'bout we call it Mother's Day Week and then we're good?

After a couple of days spent driving out to nearby cities we chose to spend the next two closer to home. For one thing Daughter1 had to work a few hours both days, so I went to the office with her and read my book and maybe vacuumed their office floors and cleaned their office kitchen. It needed doing and I was happy to oblige.

We did a little shopping on Wednesday then squeezed in a side by side mani/pedi and later collected her hubs for a fabulous dinner at their favorite eatery in Tacoma. It's called Stanley and Seaforts and you have a fantastic view of the water from almost every table. Everything was delicious and it was such an enjoyable evening.

We took a picture so his mama could see he's looking happy, healthy, and awake-ha! So interesting to see from this side of the fence the training a surgical resident endures and somehow even manages to enjoy. Not every minute of course, but a lot of what they experience in the hospital energizes and excites them. Doctoring is not for sissies. If I had his schedule I'd be the prickliest crankiest girl you'd ever want to know. My son-in-law is relaxed, upbeat, and cheerful. Also smart! He is everything you'd want in a surgeon. 

On Thursday Daughter1 and I spent a few hours in her office and then spent the afternoon on a glorious walk from her house to the Puget Sound. It's a couple of miles there and a couple of miles back and we talked the whole way. Her pup knows when a walk will end at the water so he kept us moving at a good pace. 

The woods are primeval here. The trees y'all. You just cannot get a picture that adequately captures the soaring height, but they tower. 

Even the anthills are ridiculous. Have you ever in your life seen an anthill the size of this one??? It looks like dirt but when you get up close you discover it's moving. The entire thing is one ginormous hill made of ants. Shudder. 

Once we got closer to the water we let the pup off the lead and he ran straight into the icy cold water of the Sound. It was nearly high tide so he didn't have far to go, and he was so happy! He loves to retrieve a stick and is an excellent swimmer.

Someone doesn't want me to leave. Boo.

Washington State is a part of the country I never imagined knowing, and while the distance is so hard I'm grateful for the chance to see another part of beautiful planet Earth.

When you live far from 'home' you have a choice. Count the minutes until you're back or cherish the minutes that are yours to spend in this new and unfamiliar territory. I'm thankful beyond words to see my daughter and son-in-law not just mark time until the next thing, but to embrace this season they are in and the beauty that is right outside their front door.

To appreciate where they are now and know God uses one season to prepare us for the next. In the words of Helen Keller...'Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.'

So much fun watching my children live theirs.

Time In A Bottle

Hello blog. I'm hoping to get back in step here this week. We shall see. First things first, I don't think I'm going to have a Wednesday Hodgepodge this week.

Here's the thing-I spent last week in Washington State, then had a very fun full Mother's Day weekend, and I've got something like 200 pictures to edit and add (not all of them of course!), and if I Hodgepodge that's Tuesday and Wednesday which means it will be Thursday before I get back to regular blogging and by then I'm kind of past it. Run on sentence, but it's a run on sort of life.

I think I'd like to take this week to recap my trip and all the weekend fun, and I know some of you could do that in a single Monday morning post but it's taken me two full paragraphs just to tell you I can't. On top of that I really want to go back and wrap up my A-Z series where I dropped the ball at letter Y. Can't end an alphabet series with Y! I'm giving myself some grace and for the Hodgepodgers reading here, please know we'll be back with the Hodgepodge next week (May 18th). Thanks for understanding. And reading this exceptionally long paragraph.

Okay, so Washington. Daughter1 lives there with her hard working hubs and her adorable little boy puppy and I live on the other side of the country so our time together is never enough. But we make it work and do the all day travel with connections thing, and then we savor all the goodness in the minutes and bid tearful goodbyes and put a new date on the calendar for future real life face times.

I made this trip solo because hubs had work commitments here. We'll trek out there together sometime later this year, but last week was all about us girls and it was perfectly perfect, except not long enough but as I said, a minute is a minute and a day is a day and time is oh so very precious.

I left SC in a scary electrical storm before the crack of dawn, yet had smooth sailing all the way west. No delays, no hiccups, and no missed connections which is my favorite way to travel. Daughter1 was at the airport to greet me and we made our way home to collect her hubs who'd been on call the night before and had just gotten back to their house when she left to pick me up. It was a gorgeous day, and we went to a nearby favorite place for lunch.

I'm going to blather on far too much about the beauty in this state, but y'all this part of Washington is positively stunning. One of the prettiest parts of America in my opinion, and I've seen a lot of America. I just cannot get over Mt. Rainier. It's absolutely breathtaking the way it looms over the area. An incredible site to see, even from a moving car on the Interstate.

I told my daughter if I lived here I'd take an obnoxious amount of photographs.

I might have taken an obnoxious amount of photographs, but if this were the view from your everyday morning walk through the neighborhood, wouldn't you be snapping away too?

When hubs and I visited this same time last year we went with them to collect their brand new puppy. He's now a year old and he's all boy and all puppy. He's also an absolute love who relishes his belly rubs, fetching a ball, and being right next to you or better yet in your lap whenever you allow.

I allow.

He's a spaniel, but reminds me so much of our sweet setter and flashed me back to puppy days with her. I'm not ready for a puppy, but I was feeling all the feels they bring into the spaces of your home and heart you didn't realize were there.

We walked miles with him every single day, through deep lush woods where the tall trees grow, and along the meadow path that spills out in front of a crystal clear sunlit sea.

Long walks and talks with my girl in the middle of God's masterpiece makes my list of favorite things.

This is why I can't Hodgepodge this week. I have too many words that need to go elsewhere. Come back tomorrow to see too many pictures of pretty glass sculpture from our day at the Chihuly gallery. Happy Monday everyone!