Gloominess on a Sunny Day

Today was a beautiful sunny day in what is normally a dreary period in the Pacific Northwest.  My 5 y.o. daughter didn’t see it that way initially.  Maybe because she wasn’t tall enough to see out the window.

“I’m tired of getting dressed.  I’m just so sick of everything,” she said in the bathroom this morning as I was getting myself ready.

“The day hasn’t started yet.  What are you so angry about?”

“Why do you say good morning?” More

A Good Day

It was a good day today.  A very good day.

My almost 5 year old daughter met my mother for the first time last Saturday.  Today, she visited her house and met my step-father.  She behaved well, even though she was up since 6 am, and my parents and my husband and daughter enjoyed each other’s company.  After being “alone” for five years raising our daughter, it feels good to have another person help us on this journey.  Now, we can be like most other “normal” families. More

Review of Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room

Bean Hoppers at the Starbucks Reserve Tasting Room in Seattle, WA.
Bean Hoppers at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle, WA.

A few weeks ago my friend and I visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting room in downtown Seattle.  Opened in December 2014, it was Starbuck’s first foray into retail sales of small batches of coffee from around world.  I had put it on my list of places to visit, but with the house-buying/renovation/child-rearing, it fell to the back burner.  When a friend recently suggested we meet for brunch, I suggested we meet there.  Hence, my review.  I was not compensated for this post.  Starbucks probably couldn’t care less about me or my review.  No one knew I was coming.  (Except my friend of course.)

The 15,000 square feet “Reserve,”  whose logo is an “R” with a star above it,  is a place where you can taste “rare and exotic” coffees, as former CEO  and current executive chairman of Starbucks Howard Schultz explains in this promotional video.  As in the video, the place looks more like a bar than a coffee lounge.  If you want the feel of a bar but don’t want to be around alcohol, this is your place. More

Oh My Gosh! I’m Getting Older.

I looked in my car’s rearview mirror one afternoon last week and barely recognized myself.  Looking back at me was a woman that indeed looked closer to 50 than 30.  I didn’t want to believe it, but the wrinkles around my eyes conceded the truth.

When I look at the totally of my face in the mirror, I’m not as alarmed.  Perhaps it’s my ego selectively focusing on more shapely areas.  Or maybe the lower half of my face compensates for the upper half.  But in that instant in the rearview mirror, when it was just my eyes looking back at me, the truth was laid bare. More

Digging and Sawing at Our House

Since I lost my job in March, I have been compelled to work in our yard, beginning with digging out the blackberry bulbs that I missed last summer.  It seemed like a positive way to deal with the mixed emotions I was feeling.  I don’t know what the future holds, but I know I need to move forward, starting with completing several projects around the house.  If I trust my head, I don’t know much of anything, but in my gut, it felt like an opportune time to get my house in order. More