Breaking News!

It isn't very often that the Bethel Valley Girl blog gets to announce something hot off the presses. It was announced in this morning's paper that the Port Orchard and Gig Harbor Haggens grocery stores are going to revert back to being Safeways again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is indeed big--and welcome--news. We have two Albertsons grocery stores in Port Orchard. We had one Safeway, and it and one Albertsons were there when I moved here 40 years ago. No one was happy when Albertsons bought out Safeway, but at least Albertsons kept it a Safeway. Then Bellingham-based Haggens bought up quite a few Safeways, including the ones in both Port Orchard and Gig Harbor. The transition was uncomfortable. No one liked the new high prices or the brands. The customers dwindled, and several months back came the big announcement that Haggens was going bankrupt and closing many stores, including the ones in Port Orchard and Gig Harbor. These are big stores, and it has been disconcerting to see the 'Store Closing' signs on these prominent businesses. Our pastor even worked that in to last Sunday's sermon. Well, I wonder if this news will make it in to tomorrow's sermon? At least it made it in to our blog! It was the 'end of an era,' but it's coming back, just like A&W did, just like Lighthouse did. Which gets me to thinking about Port Orchard stores and restaurants that have closed over the past 40 years. This topic deserves a blog post of its own, so stay tuned for "Gone But Not Forgotten."

Elletu's Trilogy: Will Her Third Surgery Be a Charm?

November 12, 2015 - Harrison Hospital, Silverdale, WA
 
As the historian for our group, I keep track of major events in the lives of the BVG's. Yesterday Elletu had pelvic surgery for the third time, and for the third time I was there with her to be her family representative. Elletu got out of her street clothes and in to the cutest gown which must have been made by Bair, hence the Bair Paws label. Her feet looked lovely in the non-skid red socks. She asked for a cocktail, and they must have given her something good because she became very relaxed. Once they put her blue hat on her, they moved her and her bed off to the operating room where they sent her off to dreamland and went exploring way up in her uterus. I know, TMI for a blog, right? But I think it's amazing that I am the one who figured out her problem. Once I saw the picture they took of her uterus, I could clearly see what her issue is: She has four uteruses! (Would that be uteri? Uterusses?) I'm surprised her doctor didn't catch that. It's kind of odd, I suppose, but Elletu and I actually have a good time at the hospital. We make the most of whatever situation we find ourselves in. We laugh. I take pictures. And when they call me back to Recovery when she is awake and doing well, I am the one who helps her dress back in her clothes, and then I take her home to my house to eat homemade soup, drink Ginger Ale, and we watch movies. Yesterday we watched "Pretty Woman" and "Return to Me." We figured out that 25 years ago she and I went to the Plaza Twin Theater in downtown Port Orchard on a hot, sunny, summer afternoon, and when we came back out in the sunshine, we felt kind of sleazy and dirty. Yesterday we just relaxed and had fun, she in my husband's recliner, I in mine, with pillows and blankies. She needed to rest, and I needed to be there for her, just in case. Speaking of my husband, he was kind and drove us to the hospital and back yesterday, and he ran errands for Elletu, like picking up her prescriptions and buying her an Eggnog Latte.

 

Breast of Friends

What happens when you combine the third annual BVG Bring a Friend Night with the second annual BVG Oktoberfest? Double the fun!! On October 30 we gathered for a rare Friday evening BVG night. We were disappointed that Carolyn, Lynn and Lisa could not make it, but Laurie and Sherry were there and we welcomed Rosalie and Tracie who will forever be invited to BAFN. I cooked Farmer George's brats----no, not some farmer's bad kids....Farmer George is Port Orchard's iconic meat market, so we went with his bratwurst---in my Crock Pot, in apple juice. Yum! Thanks to j we had delicious German potato salad, and Cool brought Billy B's homemade apple sauce. Elletu brought the brewskis! It occurs to me that we are not really big beer drinkers, since I delivered a lot elsewhere the next day. It also occurs to me that the laughter heard around my dining room table sounded like we had been drinking a whole lot! I think we are mere tasters. Now, about the wine...

We tried a new game, which is actually an old game, but we haven't played it as a group before. I had to prod them to play Scattergories, but once the game got going I think they were hooked. We ran out of time and didn't get to play as much as we had liked to. Next time.

The BVB's went out to dinner, then back to Cool's house, then to my house once we let them know the coast was clear. Now that they are all retired, I think it's good that they have this social outlet. As if we had to plan their time! They like each other's company like we like ours. After all, they have been the BVB's as long as we have been the BVG's---34 years!

I think Elletu, Cool and j would agree with me that the most memorable conversation of the evening was Tracie, Rosalie's daughter, telling us the 'disturbing' story of how her mother sold her favorite Halloween costume ever, Rainbow Bright, right off her back, and for only $10!!! This clearly traumatized Tracie. I had no idea. I was in Rosalie's will to take Tracie and her sister if something ever happened to her and her husband. Had I known about this injustice, I would have scooped up this poor girl and brought her to my house to live. And of course I would have replaced that costume. Thanks to Tracie and Rosalie for providing a picture of Tracie and her sister on the last Halloween she would ever see that costume that meant the world to her. After all, she won a Halloween costume contest with it! I will still invite Rosalie to BAFN next year, but I don't think any of us can erase this story from our minds. Who would want to? It got the most laughs!

Fun friends, fun times. We are blessed. And the Holiday Season has begun.

Trick-or-(Dog) Treat: Zoe is a Media Star Again

We are so proud of our girl Zoe. She is our only BVGD (Bethel Valley Girl Dog), and once again she is getting some media attention, this time on the website for The Groomery, her Dog Day Spa. They dressed her and her boyfriend Chewie up as beach bums for Halloween. Cool and I both have pink wigs that would go with Zoe's outfit. Come to think of it, we also have green wigs that would look great on Chewie. Thank you for sharing the photos, Elletu. You have a real beauty there.

Rainbow Bright Tracie: A Sad Tale

Had I not invited my friend (of 45 years) Rosalie to Bring a Friend Night, and had I not invited her to bring her daughter Tracie along, I might never have known the sad story of when Rosalie sold Tracie's beloved Rainbow Bright Halloween costume right off her back for a mere $10. You think you know a friend really well, and then you find out you really didn't know them that well at all. This is what Bring a Friend Night is all about!

Exercise Your Right to Vote

Today is Election Day. There were no real major things to be decided in this off year--no President, Governor or Senator to be elected--so we haven't been bombarded with partisan political clamor about our ballots. But the run for the White House is one year away, and the Democrats and Republicans are hard at it, swinging away at each other. We lived in Virginia when the 2008 Presidential election occurred, and that was such a contentious time for all Americans. Within weeks of the voting, my husband and I drove by this church in Franklin, and I was captivated by this sign and had to get a picture of it. I will be sending this picture to all of my friends next year as it gets close to Election Day. Most of my friends are Conservatives, and they will love it. The others, probably not so much. In the grand scheme of things, what we THINK isn't all that important. What is important is that we KNOW God and we make Him the center of our lives. That is where we need to put our TRUST---in Him, not in politicians or political parties. But.....we still need to exercise our right to vote!

Another Halloween Bites the Dust

I was gone from the blog for a few weeks because my husband and I were in California to see our daughter, son-in-law, and their two children. We always drive, mainly because I don't enjoy flying, but also, we are back road explorers with a particular affinity for Southern Oregon. South of the border is a small, old mountain town, Dunsmuir, CA, that is off the beaten track, thus we are drawn to it. We've seen it in all seasons, including one winter when it was buried in several feet of snow. This time around they were preparing for Halloween 2015. We weren't able to stick around for the SciFi & Horror Film Festival of the Zombies Walk, which was held the night before Halloween. In fact, we were back at home that night, and our house was filled with the BVG's and friends. It was our Second Annual Oktoberfest joined with our Third Annual Bring a Friend Night (more on that later). Alas, Halloween 2015 has come and gone. Welcome November!