SIR ELTON JOHN

SIR ELTON JOHN

He's been my one true teen heart throb my entire life 

and last night I was delighted to see him again, my third time, in concert.

Tacoma Dome, 

September 17, 2019

Seats 211 HH 5 & 6

(we were sitting straight across from the stage, a long way but it was perfect)

FAREWELL YELLOW BRICK ROAD TOUR

This street sign was outside, pretty cool.

Inside on the way to our seats

This one is pretty cool, Lan took it

Near the end

I absolutely LOVE the man

Whales At Work

I have an amazing job that just gets better and better every single day I go there.

Yesterday after the boat off loaded the Mate radioed that there was a whale outside. 

I RAN onto the boat and THERE IT WAS. It was amazing to see. He put his head down and flapped his tail a bunch. WOW!!

One of the crew got video but I can't figure out how to share it here.  

I've been waiting 8 years to see something like this and this guy didn't disappoint.

Later, I saw a Harbor Seal between the slips. 

We also had a gorgeous double rainbow

and a huge thunderstorm.

All in all, it was one of my favorite days at work, ever in my life.

My Son, the Rockstar

 My son and his band, DRUG OF CHOICE, opened for a semi good big time band that was heading up in the 90's, PUDDLE OF MUDD.

The venue was Funhouse and El Corazon

Doors opened at 7pm

I think the guys were a bit nervous

Sound check

We were in line just behind them

R2 hasn't seen us yet

But he saw us right after this.

ISN'T HE HANDSOME??

His friends are flirts!

This is Brice, so nice and fun

Friends watching them play

Stable Comfort Stall Mats DONE

Horses will be sleeping in here VERY SHORTLY.

Stable Comfort mats are finished, all nicely trimmed. Boards on right will be divider supports, being installed this evening.

Weathers going to be in low 20's this week, these are done just in time.

Isn't it beautiful? I LOVE this barn.

Wish I Had Photos!!

The barn this morning looks

AMAZING!!

Too bad I have to work or I'd go out and take photos of the change overnight. 

The Stable Comfort stall mat is completely finished and looks to good, no, GREAT.

The aisle way was swept.

All the working tools, wood and debris from these last few months is cleared

And it's all bright and clean.  

Still a lot to do but I'm thrilled with what we have.

Stocking Stuffers

I have a huge pile of gifts all wrapped with colorful paper, ribbons & bows. I had most of my shopping for main gifts finished before Thanksgiving but I've been having a great time finding stocking stuffers for everyone who will be here on the holiday. 

Mom

Don

Terry

Jean

Brandan

R2

Sarah

Heather

Ashleigh

Lan

Me

I've got a stocking for each person & hung them on a jute rope but they are all so heavy now that I'm going to need something much stronger. Today I found a couple CUTE R2 & BB-8 units, wrapped them right up for R2 & Sarah. Lan is getting a big box of shotgun shells (hope they are the right kind), Mom is getting a box of car cleaning supplies. 

Yesterday was my birthday and Lan made me a great surprise.

He cleaned up the light fixture that was in the barn,

put in new wiring

& an Edison light

and gave it to me. I almost cried. 

I DID get tears when Mike & Karen were here for dinner & he was shaking his leg, just like Denton used to do. 

I miss this guy.

That Christmas Feeling

Christmas

feels so good this year because for the first time ever I have all my shopping FINSIHED and its not even December yet. I actually had it all done before Thanksgiving. 

I've got stockings for each person who will be here plus a couple for special friends, I've already got stocking stuffers and treats just waiting to be stuffed. Some very nice gifts will go into these stockings and I can't wait for the big day.

Our tree is going to be fun, I want a TALL and skinny tree. Usually we go out to the woods and cut one down, its a tradition for Lan & I. But a wild tree will be too fat and that's not in the cards. I might go buy a fake one but we'll see... I heard there is a local tree farm that has live ones like I want.

I have a few things on my shopping list, I've put the hints out on facebook in plenty of time but whether or not I get them doesn't matter, What I really want is for my family and friends to have a great holiday.

I've got my great job where every month I can decide whether I'm going to take my days off of offer to work them & this month I'm taking Mondays & Tuesdays off so I can have my birthday and Christmas day off. 

Taking the Plunge

I signed up for another run/race. Its the

RUN FORREST, RUN 5k

at Joint Base Lewis McCord,

followed by a free concert by Gary Sinise & the Lt Dan Band.

This will be my first race since my foot started acting up a year ago and needless to say, I'm pretty excited to participate. 

AND I'll get to see Gary Sinise, whom I am a HUGE fan of. 

Stall Fronts

After returning from Disneyland and the land of sunshine, I spent a grumpy day at home. I just wanted to see something, ANYTHING, happening with our home updates.

 

So I sat at my computer and did a Craigslist search, STALL FRONTS, in the greater Seattle area and found this:

 

Retiring thoroughbred farm,20 stalls ,stall fronts are 12x8,we will help remove and load call or text for a look, these are locally made, heavy metal ,fabricated in the 80s ,angle iron frame ,instant stall

 

I called and he still have most available but some had already been sold and more people were showing up all the time. Called Karen:

 

Me: Want to go get stall fronts with me?

K: Yes.

Me: Can we use your flatbed?

K: Yes

Me: Can we use your truck to pull your flatbed?

K: Yes.

 

We left home at about 1pm, I had to call in to work that I couldn't make it in, just in case, and headed to Granite Falls.

 

These stall fronts are dang nice. Heavy duty, truly 2" thick, they include the wood and the sliding tracks on top. Each door weighs about 100# and the stall fronts are easily 250. Some of the wood is rotten from having had horses spitting water onto it for 30 years but most is just fine.

 

I'll need to clean them up, maybe sand blast & repaint the metal then purchase bolts to attach these to the barn, replace a few boards and then they are done.

 

I paid $1100 for 5 stall fronts ($220.00 each)

plus $100 for a single and a double window bars that can opened.

The fuel was $40 but I'm going to pay more for that

and I owe Karen my firstborn child.

 

I have search locally for stall fronts and the only ones I could find that were sturdy/strong enough are in Graham and cost $550 for the frames and are a foot shorter, I'd still have to purchase and install the rollers/sliders for each door ($125) and wood.

 

These were a bitch to get out of the barn and onto the trailer but there were 3 big guys to help, they had a welder to get rid of the old rusty bolts holding them in place and they were much stronger than us and had tools.

 

I saved over $500 per stall.

I have a lot of work yet to do on these, the entire barn needs to be built, but to have these makes my heart happy. No shitty shed stalls for my horses.

 



35 Hours

Officially counting down the hours till we leave for Kona and Maui,

currently at

.

I still have packing to do but I've made arrangements for the dogs, cats, horses and chickens. I've gone shopping for the house sitter and made sure all the animals have enough food to last. The VETERINARIAN EMERGENCY CONCENT FORM has been filled out, printed and signed.

 

I've purchased enough snacks to feed an army on the plane because you never know how long it's going to be before your next meal and who knows what kind of crap they're going to feed ya.

 

I didn't want to get stuck with a big ass heavy carry on but Hawaiian charges $25 for a checked bag so I have to get everything in the carry on and the small backpack.

Backpack still has room but the carry on is getting loaded. I can still unzip the extra 2 inches all around if needed.

What we have done before on trips is go light and come back heavy, purchasing big ass bags where we are at so we only have to pay one way to check them. We've done it before in Hawaii and England and the junk store is by the old jail.

Kona & Maui

We'll be leaving in 4 days.

Results

Two days ago I weighed 160.4 in the morning, yesterday 159.8 and this morning 158.6. Wow, those are RESULTS.

And that's perfectly fine for me.

I am wearing a pair of jeans I couldn't get into for a month.

 

And with today excellent morning good news, we went to the fair and I ate not just one, but TWO scones and topped it off with a real ice cream cone, strawberry vanilla twist.

So yummy!

 

This weekend is going to be a long one, next weekend also. Usually I work Saturdays 7:45am-2:45pm but for the next two weekends its being extended to 9:45pm. That's 14 hours. Then 8:30am-2:30pm on Sunday and a quick return at midnight -8am Monday.

 

September 10th is the Black Diamond 70.3 Long Course that I won't be swimming/biking/running at all, I paid $200 for a good team and now I can't even participate or see them run. Terry will swim, Lily will bike and Brayden run. Yay for them!

 

Congratulations from USA Triathlon

Congratulations from USA Triathlon

Congratulations Denise! You have qualified for the Olympic-distance race at the 2016 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships on Aug. 13 in Omaha, Nebraska, after finishing in the top 10 percent in your age group at the Iron Girl Seattle. 

 

        

             
    Registration is now open. To register, look for an email invitation with the registration link to hit your inbox within the next business day. If you do not see an email in your inbox, please check your junk/spam folder before contacting USA Triathlon. This event has sold out in past years and is likely to sell out again in 2016, so be sure to claim your spot on the starting line early. If you would like to participate in the Sprint National Championships on Aug. 14 in Omaha – either in addition to, or lieu of, the Olympic-distance race – simply CLICK HERE to register.

The USA Triathlon Olympic-Distance National Championships race is the nation’s premier amateur Olympic-distance event with top athletes from all 50 states forming one of the most prestigious age-group fields in the sport. The top 18 finishers from each age group will also automatically qualify to represent Team USA at the 2017 International Triathlon Union (ITU) Age Group World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The dates of the 2017 ITU World Championships will be announced later this year, and additional information will be added to the Team USA website.

For more information on the 2016 USA Triathlon Olympic-Distance National Championships, please visit www.usatriathlon.org/nationalchampionships. Please note: Athletes must be current USA Triathlon annual members through Aug. 13, 2016, in order to register. You may register or renew your membership at www.usatriathlon.org.

 

I have been hoping for this email since last summer when I finished in 10th place at Iron Girl but since there were only 98 people in my age group I had no idea if I would qualify or not. And look at that, I did! So exciting for me, to be in the TOP 10 in the nation in my age group.

 

There are a few other ladies I know who qualified, Suzie, Barb, Heidi in my A/G alone, plus Windy in hers.

 

I wish I could go but I can't afford it with Hawaii in October and my work will never let me have the time off for sure in the middle of summer. And that just bums me out. To work so hard, to do so well and not be able to go the next step.

 

If Windy decides to go I'll help her any way I can, maybe give her some cash for a new jacket.