Warrey Christmas 2010
Hello and Merry Meet to our friends and family! How was your 2010? I ask because, as I reflected on the past year I, uhhh, pretty much came up with a blank until sometime in June. Huh, weird. It wasn’t until I read a few of my newsletters from Christmases past that I discovered the reason for my non-total recall... between January and May I basically had nothing to whine about. The weather was mild; nothing needed to be built or installed with the house or yard and life was pretty much the usual routine. So what that says about me is; unless something is Inconvenient, Irritating or Monumental, it simply doesn’t register on my ‘it’s all about me’ radar. But, as usual, the radar wasn’t silent for long and then came June, which was Monumental!
A few of my family members are scattered from Seattle on down to California and it had been years since we all got together so we decided it was Reunion time! We met at my mom's place in Cottage Grove, Oregon; my brother Bob and his family drove up from California and we had a wonderful family party! Cousins, Aunts, Uncles and other relatives I hadn't seen in an embarrassingly long time along with mom's neighbors all gathered for a huge BBQ, complete with live music! Most definitely Monumental...
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| Oh yeah, this group knows how to Party like a rock star! (Or at least like someone kinda semi-famous) |
In August we joined Steve’s family for a day of fun at Lake Cushman in the Olympic Peninsula. As always we had a lot of fun eating, playing games and swimming... wait; there wasn’t much swimming because it was pretty cool for a summer day. In fact the whole summer was mild which, again, left me with no cause to whine; oh but I got my whine back big time, but more of that later, (I know, you cant hardly wait right)? My Niece, Dayna, surprised us with happy news that she and her husband Kyle were going to have a baby... and last week precious Erick Warrey Dennis was born. So wonderful to have the Warrey name carry on in the family.
Now let me just preface this next part by saying that, for most of my classmates, this was a year we turned 50... which is both Monumental and extremely Irritating, hence Memorable, but we all fell into the abyss of ‘wait, that’s for old people’ with as much grace as we could muster. I had a hard time mustering anything, let alone grace, so I let it be known there would be no celebration, no party for this crabby, slightly bitter and soon to be OLD person; and with that being said: I had a birthday party at work... and it was fun! Famous Dave’s ribs, lots of flowers and well wishes; turns out it was going to be OK to be 50.
And then something so diabolical happened, something so inconceivable, I literally could not wrap my mind around it. On a Saturday, well after my actual birthday, Ryan, aka. Master Manipulator of all things Conspiracy lures me and my poofy, muppet-haired self to the Pavilion where I walk into a SURPRISE!!!! Party... it truly was a surprise and I don’t know how they pulled it off. Delilah and her band of sneaky minions, which included ALL of my family, friends and Co-workers, somehow managed to plan and execute a Disco 70s party that included flying people in and hiding them away, without me finding out! After the initial astonishment wore off and I saw those who took the time to come all the way up to Port Orchard to see what an old person looks like celebrate my big day... well it touched my heart deeply; and I will never trust those Liars ever again! LOL, seriously I feel so blessed to have so many who love me and who took the time to put on some of the best disco 70s costumes I’ve ever seen. Polyester, ahhh the memories! When Steve, Executive Director of Tharpington manor, isn’t hiding surprise party secrets from his wife - he can be found tending to business in-house and out that seems never ending, especially when it keeps coming back each spring. Yes my friends, the Battle of the Scotch Broom continued all through out the spring and summer! Armed with a fortified weed eater, John Deere lawn mower (which seems to think sprinkler heads are tasty and therefore to be chewed up and spit out) and various other arsenals of sharp, ouchy tools… Steve is ridding our land of the heinous weed. When not waging plant-based war outside he escapes to the mighty man cave to play World of Warcraft; sometimes you can hear his mighty battle cry “Damn it, we’re tanking! Somebody Rez me!” Ummm, or something like that…they have their own verbiage in WOW, kind of like Klingon. I think.
Both Baylee and Bobby love following Steve around and ‘helping’ him with stuff, just super big helpers they are...for taking naps!
Ryan is attending Olympic Community College and working at the Pavilion, and various other places that he’s needed. He’s taking singing and guitar lessons and is becoming quite the talented artist! He’s always had a creative way with music and it’s fun to see him explore those areas he’s drawn to. Loyal to all things Apple and Mac related he continues to revel in the technology of the iPhone, iLaptop and iHate windows! Just ask him, he’ll tell you how he iHearts Mac and nothing else will do! LOL, he’s managed to convince lots of people so if you think you want to go to the iSide, give him a call and you’ll be converted in an iSecond!
November is when I got my whine back. OMG it was one thing after another; rain and wind…and the power goes out. Snow the week before Thanksgiving and turns to ice… and the power goes out. Another big wind storm and… the freaking Power goes out! GAH! Do you know how boring it is without and how dependent we’ve become on power? We can’t even flush the toilet without electricity let alone watch TV, play computer or turn a light on. I have a Kindle and a little book light so I’m actually good for hours on end but Steve, yeah, not so much. Lots of heavy sighing and ‘what’s there to do’ going on from that one… luckily we have a generator which has been extremely useful; just need to keep it full of gas and we have a lights, a little heat and the TV! I hear this is the year of La Nina where we will get wetter and colder conditions and I’m thinking we’ve already had a couple months of just that. After the last power outage we stocked up on the important things needed for survival; Beer, reading material and batteries for the radio… by golly we will NOT be bored again!
So that was our year in a long winded, definitely snarky nutshell. Oh, speaking of snarky, I’ve started a blog… www.guttermutter.blogspot.com it’s name alone should alert you as to the general theme of it; there is swearing and irreverent talk so viewer digression is advised. It’s so fun to swear there, since I can’t on Facebook! LOL.
We hope your year was happy and productive and that this New Year brings you and yours Peace, Joy and Power… the Power to make others smile. May 2011 be without Irritations or Inconveniences and full of Monumental Love and Laughter!
Our Love always,
Dee Dee Steve Ryan
