violetismycolor

what I loved about Wales...

• the coastline
• the pubs and the pub signs
• the food and drink
• the old churches and the castles

(click on the pictures to see them enlarged...)

• 

departures...

Adam has departed to the land of sunshine (California) and we are a slightly smaller household.  Ross is talking about wanting to head back to school, too.  He misses his friends there and his friends here are leaving for their schools.  He has about three weeks left, but he's ready now. 

I don't take it personally.  I remember feeling exactly the same way.  When I was home for that first summer, I felt like I was on hold, waiting for my regular life to start again.  I wasn't all that good at living in the moment, which is what I strive to do now.  I want to enjoy the people and things that are here, instead of waiting for some big coming event to entertain me.  But that is what maturity is supposed to do, right?

Adam is taking those three days to drive south.  I hope he enjoyed visiting with his aunt, uncle, and cousins last night...that he will enjoy getting to know them better with no parents around to deflect attention or start conversations.  I hope he will enjoy getting to know my cousins, who he will stay with in the next couple of days.  I envy him the opportunity to drive Highway 101 from San Francisco to LA; it is such a gorgeous route.  And then, his BIG adventure will begin...5 years of a new home, a new school, new people.  I am so excited for him.  And I know that he will make the most of it, because that's what he does.

P.S.  Adam called about 1130 this morning from Yreka, saying he had locked his keys in the car and was waiting for the tow truck...and ya, when I had suggested his getting a Triple-A membership a few weeks ago and he had said he wouldn't have any use for it, that was a mistake!  (Adam, please listen to your mother...) 

calling all mattress salesmen in San Diego...

I am trying to find 'the perfect mattress' for Adam.  We found a wonderfully comfy Englander Taylor Pillowtop at a local mattress outlet.  Of course, NO ONE in San Diego seems to carry Englander mattresses.  Bummer.

So, Adam is out checking out more mattresses at Penney's and Macy's and is finding things he likes.  He may or may not just head to San Diego and find a mattress there.  But it is starting to be a major headache for him, and me (the mattress purchaser). 

as always, it's the food...

We are an eatin' family.  To celebrate our various comings-and-goings, we always go out to eat our favorite meals. 

As Adam is leaving on Friday, we continue in our tradition.  Hence, The Original Pancake House visit for today's lunch.  Adam always chooses either the Dutch Baby (photo 1) or the Apple Pancake (photo 2).  Today, it was the Apple Pancake.  Ross had the Dutch Baby, which is almost always his choice.  I am a definite Fresh Fruit Waffle girl. 

Veronica and I had the Blackberry Waffles, and John had the Blueberry Waffle.  The blackberries were the size of ping pong balls.  Oh, the deliciousness...

Tomorrow, we will head to Sinju for a last Sushi Dinner for Adam's last night in town.  We celebrate with food, but on Friday our hearts (and stomachs) will be a little empty.

new banner, not original, though...

So, I really liked this new banner that Typepad was offering and so I thought I would try it...I am a big butterfly fan and love the swirlies on it...

Taking Adam today to look at/lie down on mattresses today.  He is getting ready to head down to San Diego and we are buying him a bed and a sofa (combo graduation/birthday gifts).  He loves the bed he has at home and wants one that is just as comfy.

He will be staying with relatives on his way down.  He leaves Friday and will stay with my sis, Renee, in Jacksonville, OR on his first night, with my cousin Mary Ann in Sacramento on the second night, then with my cousin Carol in LA on the last night.  On Monday morning, he will pick up the keys to his new apartment (grad student housing but a brand new building) and then move in. 

We are hoping to pick out a mattress, then order one to be delivered to him on the day he moves in.  That's the plan, anyway.

Oh, yeah, and I have this cool old poster as my screensaver on my computer these days.  I just love these old illustrations.

no, I'm not dead...

Nope, not dead...just been to the beach...

Where we laughed at this tsunami warning sign, till we got home and heard about the Peru earthquake, and the fact that the Oregon coast was under a tsunami warning.

AND have been working in my garden, since it needed desperate cleanup before my BIL and SIL got here and saw it...

But otherwise, just incredibly buried in the trivia of life.

back, safe, sick...

We arrived back safely on Monday night.  Unfortunately, I picked up the bug that was going around in the U.K.  Two of the friends we were visiting with had 'chest infections', and now I have one, too.  I went to the doctor yesterday and am now on antibiotics and cough medicine with codeine, and I feel like crap...

More blogging when I feel better...and I will work on those photos, too.