Back away slowly

Apparently there is a raccoon out there with a score to settle. Let's just say I will be keeping my doors and windows locked tight and I won't be going out late at night. We can't afford professional counseling right now for another round of Megan versus the Raccoon. I am not even sure it helped the first time!!

Thursday Three

Three additions to our place that have made a huge difference this year.

1. The Hoop. Such a great find on craigslist and Blake is loving it.

2. The basement. It might not look like much, but we put carpet down and made it a play room for Blake. It has been a life saver when our place starts to feel cramped upstairs (hard to imagine we would feel cramped in our luxurious 800 square feet, but it happens from time to time)

3. The Satellite. Matt, being the die-hard that he is, worked his way into the the hearts of the satellite company's staff to get a great deal so he could watch the Cougars play this year.

PS We also got a dishwasher. To quote my friend Barb when I asked her how she liked her "new" dishwasher she said, "it has rocked my world." I couldn't agree more. It doesn't even bother me that it takes up our whole entire kitchen when we wheel it in to hook it up every couple of days. The best part of the deal is it was FREE!!

Thursday Three (late edition, but are you really surprised at this point?)

Three pictures of Blake having a man's afternoon. Matt, Andy and Blake enjoyed playing smash brothers today. Blake felt especially lucky since he got to play with the boys instead of taking a nap. Blake had the best time. Andy was nice enough to take some time to cut Blake's hair. We figured if he was going to be part of the man's afternoon he needed a man's haircut. I was sad to see it go, but I kept it together. As you can see, Andy did a great job.

Before

After

We're number one, We're number one

It has been a week of firsts for us. It was our first week back in Michigan and we are loving it. Our friends gave a great welcome home and it was nice to feel missed.

Blake got his first trike. Our neighbors have one just like it and every time we walk past he has to get on. We figured it was a good time to get him his own!!

Last night was Blake's first night without Mr. Binks. It was a little rough on everyone, but it went better than expected. We have been bink free for the last four days and decided to give the night a try. I think night two will be very telling for how this is going to go.

I went blueberry picking for the first time. I am not a huge blueberry fan, but freshly picked berries are actually quite tasty. We have had some interesting colors show up in Blake's diaper, but he seems to love them too!! (didn't think you needed a picture of the poop)

It is Matt's first time as MBA Second year. We are so excited to enjoy one more year of school, but are also grateful that it is just one more year.

Things I will miss about Seattle:

1. Pike's Market.  I love this place.  I am such a fan of outdoor markets.  I feel like such a local and even though on most trips I didn't buy things I love to walk through and see all the great stuff.

2. Walking.  I know my family is thinking "yeah right" since I whined all summer about not having  a car, but overall it was fun to live in a place where you can do so many things within walking distance.  A car would have been a nice addition don't get me wrong, but I will miss having access to so much.

3. The library.  The Seattle library is amazing.  I love it.  Blake finished the summer reading program and got his free book today.  We went twice a week most weeks for story time and Blake really got the hang of the routine.

4. The maid Service.  Does this really need an explanation.

5. The water.  It has been really fun to live surrounded by water.  It is beautiful here and luckily we had really pretty views from where we live.

6. Friends.  We have made some fun friends while we lived here at church, at our apartment and at work.  We didn't expect to meet so many great people in such a short time, but it has been wonderful.

7.  The Lusty Lady.  While I have never been inside, but billboards are my favorite.  This week in honor of the Olympics they read, All Perfect Tens and The Pole Vault. So Classy.  I am glad we have been neighbors all summer.

Things I will not miss about Seattle:

1. Not having an A/C.

2. Not having a car.

3. Not having a big grocery store.

4. Our mattress.

5. The super small washer and dryer that has ruined many of our clothes.

6. The bus.  I am taking back all sorts of memories of the bus, but glad to be leaving it behind.

I am glad the first list is longer than the second (even if it was the Lusty Lady that put list one to seven things)!!  Thank you Seattle for a great summer.  Thank you to all of you that have been supportive all summer and a HUGE thank you to all those that have visited.  All the visits came at the perfect time and we can't believe how many people were  in our neck of the woods. All I can say now is, East Coast Time here I come. I can't wait.

If you can't say something nice...

Is anyone else tired of hearing the commentators at the Olympics say things like,

"Wow, that is going to cost them"

"That is at least a tenth of a point deduction"

"That was a huge miss"

"They can't do it better than that" (in reference to a dive which I thought was going to be a compliment until she followed up with, "I have seen the Chinese do it better, but they can't do it better")

The list goes on.  You get the point.  They are Olympians, they rock.  Let it go and enjoy.

Thursday Three

Three things about living in Pacific Standard Time:

1. I feel so behind (and you know me, I hate to be late).  Maybe I feel behind because all my family lives East of me so I feel like I am playing catch up all day.  It is hard work.

2. Prime time starts late even though you would think it would start early.  I can't stay up until 10:00 to watch Project Runway, therefore I have to watch it later in the week and then we are back at number 1.  I am behind again.

3. The one good thing is that sporting events start early!!  Watching the NBA play-offs was fantastic.

We have not experience General Conference here yet which definitely plays a role in how much I like or dislike my time zone.  

We had a bonus this week.  Patrick was in town for one night and we got to have dinner with him.  It was so fun and Blake couldn't get enough of him.  He thought Patrick was great and it was funny to watch him follow him around.