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Posts Tagged ‘Shanna Hatfield’

Happy 80th Birthday, Mom

Posted in Family, Musings, tagged , on October 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Saturday, I drove hours away to help pull off a surprise birthday party for my mom.

My dad and I had been planning it for weeks and were biting our nails in hopes the event would remain a surprise. Judging by the look on Mom’s face as Dad brought her into the room, our mission was successful.

About 80 people joined us to celebrate Mom’s 80th birthday (how ironic is that?). It was so awesome to see friends and family I haven’t seen in years and years.

I so appreciate everyone who came and helped make the party a big success. And those who helped keep the secret. And those who helped keep things running smoothly! You all are so appreciated!

 

The birthday girl with my dad.

 

Some of the family.

 

More guests...

 

The birthday cake, which I was glad to have the bakery make!

 

Flowers for the birthday girl.

 

I think one of my favorite photos I took was of my great-nephew Will holding my cousin's new little guy. There was just something about our baby holding a baby that made my heart melt in a puddle.

 

She Who Enjoyed This Party

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Soldiers and Magicians

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Musings, Pets, tagged , , on October 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Monday night I had to run out to my sewing/craft room (which is not attached to the house, but is across the backyard) to patch Captain Cavedweller’s work uniform. In my haste to get back to whatever I was doing before himself reminded me I promised to patch up his problem, I failed to give the room the usual sweep to make sure Miss Maizy had not sneaked in uninvited.

She has a unique talent of opening doors. It was a challenge all summer once she mastered the ability to open the patio screen door. Then there is the small problem of her sneaking in the back room into my craft room unseen. I will firmly close the door to the back room (which is CC’s domain of weight machines and whatnot) and go into my sewing room and push the door mostly closed. Then the next time I turn around, I’ll be scared half witless, because Miss Maizy will be sitting in the middle of the floor staring at me. She makes no noise, doesn’t announce her presence and I have no idea how she got in.

That is really starting to morph from a small problem to a big problem.

Last night CC ran out to put some chicken on the barbecue and looked over at the back room to see Miss Maizy sitting in the craft room window. Seriously? Apparently she snuck in while I was doing CC’s patching job and I failed to notice her presence before I shut the door.

Fantastic.

When I went running out back to rescue her, she took her own sweet time climbing out of the window and wandering her way outside. As if to say “Oh, there you are. I  wondered when you’d come back.”

Good grief!

I think I will start calling her Houdini.

Drooley

And while she is perfecting her break-in routines, Drooley, the Heinous Cat has been doing his best at pretending he is a soldier guarding the home post.

A stray cat has taken up residence in our neighborhood and attempts to sneak in and steal whatever food Drooley and Maizy leave behind. This covert activity is not settling well with Drooley at all.

Last night he was on perimeter patrols for hours. It was entertaining to watch him march along the fenceline, back and forth.

I told CC he needed to get the cat a little helmet to wear. Maybe a toy gun to carry. We wouldn’t want our little soldier to feel deprived of a full uniform as he defends his post and keeps up the guard work.

She Who Must Tolerate Two Crazy Cats

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Birthdays

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Musings, tagged , , on October 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

My Aunt Robbie has a theory about birthdays… they are the one day out of the year that belongs just to you, so make the most of it.

I like the way she thinks.

And I like her.

And I like the fact that her birthday is the day before mine. She’s just extra special that way.

Her birthday was Friday which means mine was Saturday.

I can’t tell you when I’ve had such a nice day.

It started the day before when Captain Cavedweller sent me these at work:

Then that evening he grilled tenderloin steaks for dinner that nearly melted in your mouth, they were so tender and good.

Saturday morning, CC woke me up with singing a rousing rendition of  “Happy Birthday” then made me cinnamon french toast and bacon. Then he cleaned up the mess in the kitchen while I took a shower and spent half the morning lazily getting ready for the day, which was a beautiful, perfect fall day.

We drove off to a bigger city so I could drool over these:

I couldn’t quite bring myself to test drive one because I wouldn’t want to give it back and that would have put a damper on the day when I was arrested for driving off in the car. Really, it would have.

After taking me to a fun restaurant for lunch where I somehow managed to order bacon on my sandwich, we spent the afternoon at some of my favorite stores before driving to one of our favorite steakhouses for dinner where I ordered prime rib. And amazingly enough the side dish of green beans had bacon. (Sensing a pattern here?) I think it is the only time I can remember eating bacon at every meal. I realize I will have to walk approximately 14.7 more miles this week to compensate for it, but it was worth every salt-laden bite.

We went home after dinner and I got to open my pile of presents, which CC had beautifully wrapped. I have to tell you, he’s come a long way since our first year together when he handed me a brown bag wrapped package finished off with duct tape. A really long way.

He bought me fun things like:

This beautiful velvet trench coat from Gallery. (And yes, I do wish I looked like this model, wouldn’t that have been a great birthday present!)

This memory foam bath mat. When we stayed in the Yurt, she had these on the floor in the bathroom and I loved the rugs. If you haven’t stood on one before, you must. They are positively divine and your feet will sing a hallelujah chorus.

CC also got me several more presents that all made me smile and my heart melt into a warm little puddle.

And my wonderful cousin Brad and his beautiful fiancée Denise sent me these:

Everyone needs more chocolate in their life – especially for their birthday!

It was a fabulous day and I want to say thank you to everyone who helped make my birthday so extra-special this year. I so very much appreciate it!

She Who is Very Blessed

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The Yurt

Posted in Travels, tagged , , , on October 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

When Captain Cavedweller and I started talking about where we wanted to go on vacation, we threw around a lot of ideas, finally settling on the northern Oregon coast.

My friend Michele told me about a website, Vacation Rentals by Owner, that offered homes for rent. Since we were going to be there for a week, it seemed like a better choice than staying in a hotel. So I started browsing through the options and came to a complete and abrupt halt when I saw a listing for a yurt.

Not just any yurt… but a beautifully finished yurt in a private wooded setting complete with a pond.

From the online photos it looked quite wonderful. So I contacted the owner, made our reservation and paid a deposit.

Then CC and I began to wonder if we’d taken one to many steps off the deep end.

When we told people we were going to spend a week in a yurt, they looked at us kind of funny. Some even laughed at us.

Having never stayed in a yurt before, we didn’t know what to expect. From what I’ve heard, some yurts are nothing more than an octagonal shaped tent on stilts.

Lucky for us, the one we rented was way more than that.

There was the lovely pond.

And the creek that would have been perfect for wading in on a hot summer day.

There was a fire ring for campfires – and even sticks for roasting wieners or marshmallows.

And an amazing deck complete with picnic tables, coolers, plenty of chairs and prep space.

Not to mention a very nice barbecue.

And then we went inside…

Where we were greeted by this fun sign that I loved. Everyone needs to run amuck on occasion. (Although there was no bear wrestling or skinny dipping or snipe hunting on this trip.)

Comfortable leather couches and a big flat-screen TV for Captain Cavedweller’s viewing pleasure.

A beautiful kitchen in which I took much pleasure. (If you look up to the top of the photo you can see zig zag lines of light. The owner had fun little lights strung across the top of the yurt and rope lights encircling the inside as well as the outside. It was awesome!).

Even the bathroom was very nicely appointed and carried through the lodge theme.


And someone may have enjoyed the deep garden tub and bubble bath way more than they should have. Maybe.

We were completely surprised and impressed by how lovely, nice, comfortable and completely wonderful our yurt turned out to be. We’d definitely stay there again if we make another trip to Seaside.

As Captain Cavedweller put it, it was one luxurious week of roughing it.

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