Hanging out at the tavern (no liquor consumed)

As if Senior iscount Day weren't enough for us for the week, j and I, the two retired BVG's, went out shopping again yesterday. Two days in a row--that's a record. We went to the 'big city' this time--Tacoma--and picked up her supplements, then went to Trader Joe's, Big Lots! and Hobby Lobby before coming back to her town, Gig Harbor. For the first time, she and I went to a TAVERN together! It was a beautiful sunny day, and we sat out on the deck to eat our delicious lunch of Super Shrimp Salad. We had a good time, but as you can see by the picture above, j was so RESERVED!

From where I sat, I had a perfect view of majestic Mount Rainier seen in the middle of the picture (the whiteness). What a beautiful day to share with j, and something else we share: Both of our husbands are planning to retire within the year, maybe sooner than later. How did we get to this stage in life? j and I have known each other through our 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's. Cool and Elletu are so young, by the time they retire, j and I will be in our 70's!!!

Senior iscount Day

Today was Senior Discount Day at the Port Orchard Goodwill, and since j was in town for her hair appointment she agreed to take me along for a 50% BVG field trip. For the record, although Senior Discount Day is every Wednesday, I only go occasionally and I'm not a big spender. But every time I seem to find little treasures, and today was no exception.

Books and chips, that's what j bought. 'Bathtub novels' she called them. The books, not the chips. She gave me some lame excuse to buy junk food (her words, not mine) for the ride home, because, she said, "I haven't eaten anything since 10 A.M."

I found a few children's books to have on hand for when my grandchildren visit, some BBQ tongs for my husband for his new grill, a framed picture to give to a friend, and then my special treasure, a Rival Bread 'n Cake Pan for my vintage (1970) Crock Pot. Rival stopped making these a few decades ago, and this is the only way to make banana bread and Boston brown bread. I already have one, but I picked up an extra vintage Crock Pot at an estate sale a few years ago. Now I can make two loaves at once. They steam in the Crock Pot for 3-4 hours. I had to make three loaves in one day last week, and that's what it took, and entire long day. Such a deal for $4.50 with my 20% senior discount. At times like that, it pays to be old.

On our way out I pulled out my phone to capture the memory of this field trip for the blog. Look how smart j was to cover her face with her bag of chips, since the Goodwill carries no cucumbers. Look how dumb I was to not have j move over just a little bit to her right.

Senior iscount Day......always fun with j!

Piggy Park, the Early Years

I came across a picture of my two older children swinging at the Piggy Park when they were four and two. The picture doesn't show the piggies, but it does show that someone needed to mow the grass. The piggies may be gone now---and we miss them---but it is heartwarming to see that the park and playground are well tended to these days. I'm enjoying this picture especially today after caring for our 23-month-old grandson this past weekend. I took him to a playground in Kent Friday morning and then to Port Orchard's waterfront playground Friday evening. He played to his heart's content, and he was so excited, he was jumping up and down and doing his 'happy dance.' I didn't get him to the Piggy Park though. Next time. Next time for sure.

Piggy Park

It will always be Piggy Park to us. When our children were little they loved to 'ride' the piggies on the coil springs, holding on for dear life. I think there were other animals too, but we remember the piggies and the way our kids would ask, "Can we go to the Piggy Park today?"

As of yesterday, the day of our BVG Founder's Day Picnic, we now know this park has another name, and apparently it always did. The plaque says it's Clayton Playground. So all those adorable little children who were there with their moms yesterday, do they ask, "Can we go to Clayton Playground today?" It just doesn't have the same ring to it.

We ate our lunch at a sunny picnic table near the big slide. As we watched all the children playing so joyfully, we also viewed their moms who were congregated nearby. We had to wonder, will they all be grandmas together in Port Orchard someday? Will they care enough to come have a picnic there even without young children? Will they reminisce about Clayton Playground the way we do about the Piggy Park?

For a brief moment I considered going over and asking these moms if they had any childrearing questions they wanted to ask us seasoned veterans, but I feared the rejection. What young moms want to ask some old grandmas, "How did you do it? What do you recommend?" j said her advice would be, "Enjoy these years because they go by fast." I know, it's a cliché, but it is also true. As BVG's we did help each other enjoy those years.

We have so many memories rooted at the Piggy Park. One of my favorites involved just Elletu and her youngest daughter and my two youngest, my sons. I think we were the only ones at the Piggy Park that day. Her daughter and my older son were able to run free to any of the activities there, such as the slide, the swings, the piggies, etc. Her daughter chose to get up on the flat merry-go-round, and my ever-gallant son pushed her around in a circle. I don't recall how long they kept this up before Elletu realized that someone had dumped some purple paint on the merry-go-round, and her daughter was getting it all over herself.

What a mess, and in those days there was no bathroom at the park like there is now. No way could Elletu take her daughter home in her car, so in desperation she walked over to a nearby church to see if it was open and if she could use the ladies room to clean up her daughter. She hoped to be able to sneak in and get it done without anyone noticing them, but as luck would have it, she walked right in to some women's gathering with her purple daughter.

I think God was smiling when we showed up at the Piggy Park yesterday wearing purple.

BVG Founder's Day 2014

It was 33 years ago today the Bethel Valley Girls got together for the first time. The occasion was Cool's son's third birthday party. She invited her closest neighbors on Bethel Valley Lane and me, a resident of Diamond Place, five minutes away. Cool was a new friend of mine, having met her at Christian Women's Club. I had not met j and Elletu before, but when the four of us were together for just a short period of time I felt like I had known them all my life. Our original destination had been Horseshoe Lake Park, but it was all locked up so we had to go to Plan B. We ended up at Square Lake Park, but it had no bathroom, a tricky deal with a group of potty-trained children in tow!

I am convinced that God, in His Infinite Wisdom, brought the four of us together on purpose that day. He knew even then that 33 years down the road we would be marking this momentous date by packing our lunches and going back to what our children always called the Piggy Park because of the piggies on springs they could ride. We always called it that too and do still today, only today we learned it is actually Clayton Playground. This is where we spent so many summer days with our ten children. We were flooded with happy memories today, and we were blessed with glorious sunshine. Thank You, God!

This was a day for celebrating and reminiscing. I will tell more about it in my next post, but I want to share what j texted to me late this afternoon:

"I was thinking about your blog posting and how you were talking about how God must have been smiling when he put us all together. You do know that Bethel has a significance, right? Bethel means 'house of God.' Just thought I'd throw that in, in case you want to weave it in somehow. And then He picked a true gem from Diamond Place to come over to Bethel Valley."

Bless you, j! And thank you for the long-stemmed red roses you got for each of us to mark this important day in our BVG history.

Happy Founder's Day, Sisters-----Love us!

Thumbs Up

As I wrote two weeks ago, Elletu received good news from one specific round of medical tests, and I was there with her when she came out of the diagnostic room and gave me the thumbs up sign. She had to go back to work, but not before j and I joined her for a celebratory lunch at That One Place. No, that really is the name of the restaurant, That One Place, and one reason we love it so much is that they play Christian music all the time. We were feeling particularly grateful to God for the good news, and we were all smiles. We wanted to capture the moment with pictures, but there were no cucumber slices available to us. Improvise! Jelly packets did the trick. (I don't think they would be good for facials, though.)

Well, that was then, this is now, and Elletu is not out of the woods yet. She just had another test, and because of that one, she is being sent on to another and more ominous one. We are rallying around her, depending on that WIRELESS CONNECTION I wrote about last time. Our prayer is that she will come through this as she did the last time, by giving me the thumbs up sign, because I'm going to be there with her. She can count on that.

We love you, Elletu!

Best Wireless Connection

The signs are getting better! I like this one, on a reader board at a local church:

PRAYER - THE BEST WIRELESS CONNECTION

Had a great prayer with Elletu on Monday. We had just gotten back to my car in the parking lot at the hospital in Silverdale. I drove her there that morning to have further screening, and we didn't speak of it ahead of time but we were both pretty anxious about what the results would be. The word never entered our conversation, but what her doctor was looking for was cancer. We were all praying hard for leading up to this day and while she was in having her tests. I was in the waiting room, using my smartphone to keep Cool and j up on what was happening. When Elletu emerged, she had a smile on her face and gave me the thumbs up sign. INTERPRETATION: NO CANCER! I wanted to jump for joy, but I don't really jump these days. So we walked together, Elletu and I, to the parking lot and got in my car. We didn't have to say much before the tears started falling. I told her, "I know you were much more concerned than you had let on." We had a good cry and a good prayer, a time to thank God for answering our prayers.

My smartphone (wireless connection) kept me in touch with Cool and j while I was in the waiting room. Prayer (the ultimate wireless connection) kept me in touch with God while I was in the waiting room.

Prayer is the best! Thank You, God, for a good diagnosis!