They made it safe to their new apartment outside of Charleston, SC. Nightwing, the cat, survived the long drive (and our cat Peanut seems to have perked back up now). We have Skype’d a few times and had a “tour” of the apartment. I think ya’ll should harass her to start up HER blog again and post pics 😉
More Drew: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2015/01/20/congrats-to-drew/
One Year Ago: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2014/02/01/vampire-butterflies-or-not/
Over the years, I have always kidded around with Shirley that I should come help her at the car wash to stay in shape (or just get out of the house). [NOTE: The Leung’s own Magic Rabbit Car Wash, Detail & Lube, in two locations]. All three girls work there so I am always around (remember, two of the girls don’t drive?!).
[NOTE: Who remembers the boat place I worked at in high school/college? I loved that job but any friends I tried to get to work there hated it! FYI, Jeff worked there too, he got me the job 😉 ]
Recently, they commented that several of their cashiers are leaving, two are Heather and Courtney, so Ashley chimed in and told them to get me to do it. After several remarks from Ashley over the course of a month or so, and then my blog post about repetition [http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2015/01/15/doing-more-than-one-thing/ ], Shirley and I had a real conversation about it.
So, I’m going to attempt to help out at Magic Rabbit 2-3 days a week. Shirley knows my life story so I made her promise to fire me if needed 😉 We both agree that this is an excellent way for us to each help out a friend. If I cannot learn these new tasks, then I’ll know where I stand. If I am capable of doing it, then hopefully, that will signify some improvement in my brain functions. I cannot think of a better setting to make that discovery, than in the careful watch of dear friends!
Wish me luck and if you are in the area, stop by and get your car washed and see how “we” are doing!
For the past few weeks I have been trying to figure out what affects my head, etc. Just because I CAN do something, doesn’t mean I should try to max out. It seems that if I overdo activities, that I will regret it for a few days. So, comes the pedometer (well, now I have a fitbit 😉 ). I have discovered that if I keep to the same amount of steps over the course of a week, that I seem to do better than if I try to do as much as I can. While I am no where near the 5-6+ miles a day I had before, I have to let that go and just do what I can now. (Haven’t been on any walks with Burleigh and Patty yet 🙁 ). So I took the scientific approach of trying to reach the same number of steps for at least a week, and then increasing that amount… just a teensy bit. If my head/neck starts bothering me, then I do NOT increase the amount for the week.
So far, so good. Don’t get me wrong, my head and neck still bother me but I guess “it’s tolerable” when I don’t try to exceed my limits. I’ve just had to accept that I have limits.
I still have to write reminders for everything but I seem to be able to follow my list. I’m not good at multi-tasking at all but I can do multiple tasks a day 😉 [ http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2015/01/15/doing-more-than-one-thing/ ]
Just thought I’d give you a head’s up on why I may say, “NO, I cannot do that today,” even if my head isn’t really bothering me today. I’ve learned that the hard way.
[pics incl] Heather, Drew and Nightwing are officially on the road on their journey to move to SC!
Well, they forgot their coffee, had to come back for their mugs they just made… add 5 min. ;-P
[pics incl] [NOTE: I typo’d that, it’s La Dolce Vita] This slideshow includes photos of the cake, Drew and Heather attempting to cut the cake without success (one of the servers stepped in and sliced it with two quick swipes?!), some individual photos of people present (I’m not sure we captured everyone), a song by the head waiter! and some group photos with the bride and groom. The empty chairs on the ends of their table, are for Drew’s older brother Brett and our dear friend Dalton. We knew they’d be hanging around so we “saved” their seats!
Many of these photos were taken with cell phone cameras but came out just fine. I will add more as they are sent to me. No, you do NOT need to edit, I have software that makes quick work of it.
[NOTE: Click on the photos for a larger view (or for the rest of the image)]
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Pictures of their marriage solemnizing: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2015/01/27/siemer-scott-wedding-012715/
[pics incl] Here are just a very few of the photos taken today. There are HUNDREDS but I know there are a few of you wanting to see them. I have NOT edited any of these so I promise to spend some time making a better slideshow. I will also get the photos taken by the photographer (Burleigh 🙂 ) If you have photos or videos that you took with your phone/camera, please email those to us so we can create them a wedding photo album.
[NOTE 01/28/15: I’ve received some photos from Burleigh and others so I’ve rearranged some of the slideshows, added some posts for “the wedding” and “the dinner” Many of the pictures were just a bit dark so I did spend some time editing photos. There are about 150, enjoy!]
If you cannot find something you saw last night, check for the wedding photos here: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2015/01/27/siemer-scott-wedding-012715/
or for the dinner photos (still in progress) check here: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2015/01/27/dinner-at-la-dolce-vid-for-petty-officer-and-mrs-siemer/
After they were married in the Douglas County Clerk & Recorder in Castle Rock, CO, we walked across the street to Castle Cafe to grab a light lunch. Since it was later, there were not many people, except for another family in the booth behind Heather.
A toddler popped up and “talked” about Heather’s “pretty white flowers” [said completely in ‘toddler-ease.] We assumed the others were, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom & Dad and we quickly learned that she was 20-22 mo (I can’t remember now) and she loves the color white. Heather was decked out in white. Of course, this prompted a bit of conversation about WHY she was decked out in white. After some time, the little one, popped up again, to show her coloring book and a man in a hat.
As, they were leaving, I nudged Drew and said “you should put your hat on” which got me the “I’m inside.” There is only one rule and it’s not Navy, “When a 2yr old wants you to wear your hat, you put it on.”
As you can imagine, today is extremely hectic, with every moment booked (or overbooked)” Fortunately, Danielle came to the rescue and picked William up from school. We were discussing the chaos that would follow lunch, as Jeff asked for the check.
“The family in that booth paid for your meal. They said “Thank you for your service and congrats on your marriage.” ”
We were stunned and thrilled! We took the opportunity to leave a GOOD tip and a Dalton Pay It Forward card with the waitress.
Pay It Forward; IT WORKS!
[pics incl] These photos tell the story of getting ready to go to the courthouse and trying to take some half-way decent photos in a destroyed house. “It is, what it is” became the motto for the day, as we all accepted the fact that we were going to take pictures and share them with you, regardless 😉 [NOTE: click on the photos for a larger view]
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We had a dinner party tonight: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2015/01/27/dinner-at-la-dolce-vida-for-petty-officer-and-mrs-siemer/
[pics incl] The camera cannot do this view justice, you had to see the gorgeous panoramic view of mountains (at sunrise, sun was behind us). I told the kids “this is one of those times, you just sit back and appreciate the view you are given and cannot share.” The scope of this photo is deceiving because, as William said, “those pink clouds look like a giant wall put up around all of Colorado.” to which I responded “It worthy of something Q would do. [StarTrek TNG: Encounter at Farpoint]” [NOTE: abt 7:25am]
Same day in afternoon. FYI, this is the drive to school! [NOTE: it’s NOT the exact same view because Ashley took one this morning while I was driving, but this afternoon, I was alone and pulled over not knowing exactly where hers had been taken.]
[pics incl] A crew arrived and removed the fire damaged cabinets (wish I had thought to take a photo). The BACKS of the cabinets were burned! You cannot really “see” the smoke damage in the photo but all the insulation and wood (these were BEHIND the drywall) are just covered in ash. [ Kitchen fire: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2015/01/14/kitchen-fire-011415/]
The contractor showed me where “the fire licked the insulation and beams), including up in the soffet and down behind the dishwasher. The dishwasher will be replaced too. We are using it to remove soot from dishes, etc but the motor it’s not happy about it and it odiously full of smoke because it smells. I figure I’ll have to rewash all the stuff again later but we are making a mess touching stuff and spreading it around where they have already cleaned.
Thank ya’ll soooo much for the overwhelming support and advice of trying to throw together something with one weeks notice, for Drew & Heather (apparently this is the norm for Navy marriage) 😉
AND all the offers of assistance with the kitchen fire. It’s kinda caught up with us, but marriage announcements are in the works and a crew is ripping out fire damaged cabinets in the kitchen right now!
Heather and Drew are NOT having a ceremony at this time. We hope to have a celebration after he graduates this next set of studies and before he gets stationed.
So many of you have asked if they are registered anywhere. I’m not sure if they have a date on it yet (try 01/27/15) but they are registered at Sears Siemer-Scott
[NOTE added 01/24/15 (this is best understood if you imagine me speaking, entirely too fast, with a thick Texas accent (also, best pronounce ax-see-int) 😛 )
WHY? because they were originally going to “get married on paper by mail” 1) so that Drew could prepare for her to “live on base” (if that was an option) and 2) because Drew did not know he would have any leave; so, Jeff was going to drive her out as his work travel arrangements permitted (no real set date) and 3) because they originally thought his graduation was going to be in March.
They are still getting married “on paper” (because they already had the appt for that but now it’s not via phone or fax or whatever) because NOW Drew is here (so they both go to sign paper at same place now) because 1) he graduated sooner than expected and 2) he was able to get last minute leave (hence the one week notice) and he has to be back quickly. SO, he will drive back with her AND since there was not on base housing available, they are getting an apartment near base.
So the answer to your questions are: YES, they are driving, and YES, if you prefer, you can have a gift sent to their address in SC instead of having them drive it out there, and YES, they are leaving in time to be in SC on Jan 30-31.
HOWEVER, if you hear something different, BELIEVE THAT, I’m still not great with dates and I’m not sure I have the correct version of what just happened 😉 ]
[pics incl] We have a bit of snow. I measure about 6″ on the railing but the snow later in the afternoon/evening was wetter and compacted/melted it down some. It’s clearly drifted on the roof deeper.
I have no idea why William is using Courtney as a table but someone hollered for me to take a picture.
Drew called earlier tonight, while we were at Lambrecht’s, and told us that HE PASSED his comprehensive exam for nuke power school!!!! He officially graduates on Friday.
We are SO PROUD OF YOU! Maybe when you get here we can have a party or something… like a wedding.
More Drew: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2014/01/02/jaime-met-drew-010214/
[pics incl] Courtney and I decided to hijack the Lambrecht’s kitchen, our logic was this: Our house smells like “cleaning stuff” (not smokey anymore), it doesn’t smell like awful chemicals, but it is a very strong smell. We do not have a stove. SOOOO, we should just bring our dinner down here and cook it. If they have plans, they either won’t show up, or they will leave, but if not, dinner will be served. 😉 I even realized that when John’s grill didn’t start up with the ignition switch, TO GO FIND A LIGHTER! 😉 [NOTE: It didn’t take long for us to confirm that fact that John did NOT know we were camped at his house 😉 ]
Ashley has some new art painting supplies she wanted to test. She very politely asked Daxton to pose for her so she could see how they would blend together while she painted his eye. He obliged.
I’m not quite sure if John was actually awake when she began painting tattoos on his arm but after a while, he was giving her suggestions.
DIFDL
AND THEN, there was ice….
