My Love

Today is this guys birthday!

Have to say he is by far the most important person in my life.  And I love him with all my heart and soul.   He brings me more joy than I ever would of expected from a husband.  I have to say I have pretty much known since the day I met him that we would be together forever.   However, it took him a couple of years to figure that out.   But no worries - he was worth the wait.

He asked me to marry him on his birthday exactly 10 years ago today.  We were at the beach and he woke me up in the middle of night because he wanted to ask me to marry him at the exact time he was born.   Which just happened to be 11:58 pm. My life has only gotten better every day since.

I hope this year brings him joy, happiness and birdie golf scores.  He deserves all of it and more.

Date Night

So last night G took me to an early Vday dinner.  I got to pick the place so I picked Verdict I had a massage early that day at Coldwater and wanted to stay close to home and go someplace casual. If your wondering where the name came from its right across the street from the Clackamas County Courthouse. 

via Verdict website

On the cocktail list they had Gimlets!  I forget I love gimlets but that was my drink of choice for the evening.    G had a 7 and 7.   We started with an appetizer (known here as 'Opening Statements') of hot artichoke dip served with tortilla chips and pita bread.  This was definitely homemade and was yummy and rich - couldn't finish it.   I had the Blue Cheese Sirloin and G had the Surf and Turf (turf being a skewer of shrimp).   The dinners came with soup or salad (the salad was wonderful - a heaping pile of fresh greens with cucumber, tomato, and croutons), starch (mashed, au gratin, or rice) and veggies.  G had the mashed - yum and I had the au gratin which was good the potatoes could of been cooked a smidge more but that just proved to me it was made in the kitchen.  The steaks were cooked perfectly and had a great peppercorn crust - mine had the added bonus of blue cheese.  The veggies were a fun little combination cabbage, spinach and zucchini - odd combination but it worked.   One of the best things about this place is the prices.   Both of those steak dinners were under $20 which is hard to find lets be honest. 

Let's just say we are going back.   I want to try a couple of other things on the menu and you can't beat the prices.  They also have a private room you can rent out upstairs called The Holding Cell - cute yes?   Come complete with bars on the windows.  So bottom line is you are in and around Oregon City and looking for someplace unassuming and quaint for a good little bite to eat.  Or if you've been called to Jury Duty in Clackamas I would recommend you stop in and give this place a try.dd

Pain

Yesterday didn't exactly go how we thought it would.  G went in for surgery.   Was supposed to be simple - they were going to fix his deviated septum and removal of his uvula.  We would check in at 8 am and would be home by 2 pm at the latest and I would probably be back on line for work by 3 pm.   Fast forward to 8 pm that evening......this was the time we were leaving the hospital.  

The problem?   Pain.....hard core, take the color from your cheeks and make you break out in a sweat and just basically knock you on your rear pain.   It was bad - really bad.   His BP at one point was 147/104 and it wasn't coming down.   They just keep giving him pain meds.   Some in liquid cups and some through his IV.   But it wasn't really bringing it down.   At one point they said that he might need to spend the night after all unless he perked up.   G wasn't having that and tired to rally.   Finally around 4 the color came back and he was holding down soft food.  Now if we could just get his vitals to be normal.   The Dr. came by in between surgeries.   Why I'm not really sure to be honest.   He would look at G and say that we could do whatever we were comfortable with - stay or go home.  We were there so long that we kept switching nurses.  The last one - Patty I believe was her name - was by far my least favorite of the day.   And to be honest they were understaffed.   Apparently everyone likes to have surgery in December to get it in for insurance.  The place was buzzing with activity.   Around 6 I ran home to take care of the furry one and stop by Sonic for a bag of ice.   Side note - Sonic has the best ice ever!   So if you are ever sick or having a party I would highly recommend.  When I got back to the hospital shortly after 7 pm he was finally cleared to go home.   Yea!  Now if we could just get someone to check us out......
We got home and this is when the real fun began.   I won't go into all the details but lets just say I probably got about 3 hours of sleep.   We had to be sure to keep him medicated so that pain didn't come back so we would set an alarm and try to get some shut eye in between doses. 
Now if we can just get through today.   We are making progress every hour.   His pain is more managable.  He has keep food down.   The packing is starting to desolve.  And right now I can hear him sleeping next to be in the big plaid chair.   

This is the thing I keep telling myself.   G will get better.  This will be a rough 48 but in the end he will be fine.   Not everyone who was in that building yesterday can say that.  So for this reason alone I am willing to track all doses of meds, loose some sleep, fetch and carry, and do whatever it takes to make him better.   I work with someone who's husband had surgery yesterday as well, however his surgery involved the word "cancer" so my thoughts and prayers are with them both yesterday and today as well.  

Funny thing about love......it makes you do just about anything for the one you feel that for.   After all I believe it was - for better or worse, in sickness and in health.

Island Anniversary

Hard to believe but G and I have been married for 9 years!  Wow time does fly that's for sure.   This year for our Anniversary we decided to take a trip just us and the furry one to the Island - not the tropical one the other one.  So we went back to the same cottage we did this past summer for a full week.   Can I just say how relaxing and wonderful it was?

We stopped at Pike's market on the way up to pick up some lunch, Beechman cheese, fresh flowers and some other little things.  We sat on the deck and read our books in the sunshine.   We had wonderful meals at some old favorites as well as some new ones.  I took hour long (and sometimes longer) walks on the beach down to the ferry landing and collected treasures and took pictures.   We played cards.   We rented movies.  We drove to the other side of the island and explored new towns.    But most of all we just relaxed.

I am so grateful and lucky to have someone that I can share times like these with and who wants to share them with me as well.

Here are some pictures......warning - there are a lot

ummm wonder if we forgot anything

homemade donuts at pikes market

lunch at pikes market

making cheese at beechman's

a gift from the owners - we were their first return guests

first morning sunrise

relaxing and reading

these are in front of every house at the beach - you can tell this hasn't been used in a while

this is my friend - we will call him sam, sam the sea lion who scared me so I scared him and he ran away

spent one morning watching the airliner come into Everett - see the plane on the back?

Greenbank farm

G making friends

my new favorite town - coupeville

lunch at knead and feed - also a new favorite

deception pass - the bridge was scary!

navy base at oak harbor

bo-bo - bogey's friend who lives across the street

beyonce's cousin who lives at the Whidbey winery

The Island

Last summer we went to Whidbey Island.  Not sure why but it seemed close enough that you could drive there and I could be by the water and try something new.   We had a wonderful time and have always wanted to go back.....and so we did.  However, this time instead of staying in an Inn we stayed in a little cottage and took the furry one.   Let's just say that we can't wait to go back again next year.   And we hope to go to the same place but stay for a week instead of 3 nights.   I guess that means we had a good time.......

The Cottage........
......was wonderful!

The View
The sunrises were amazing!   And when it was clear you could see all the way across the Saratoga Passage to the Cascades.  

The Food, The Drink, & Langley
We ate at some wonderful places!  
Homemade chicken noodle soup and salad at Pickles and the bread was wonderful as well.  Will be a new go-to on the island for us.

Tasting room in Langley for Ott & Murphy

 

 No vacation is complete without my Skinny Girl

Prima bistro is probably one of my favorite restaurants.   Had some amazing clams and G had the smores dessert which we had last year as well.

  

 This is the wonderful apple sausage corn chowder from The Braeburn in Langley.  I had a caprese sandwich to go with and it was all wonderful.

The Deck......

.....was perfect for reading, relaxing, and playing cards. 

The Beach.....

.....was serene.   I collected some fun rocks and beautiful shells to take back as a little slice of the island.  Also, found a walking stick that I had to take home.   Also accomplished one of my top ten!  I know it says ocean and technically this is the sound but I think it all counts.

The Ferry......

.....is part of the adventure.   Just a quick 20 minute ride across the sound.   It was so windy on the way over you couldn't go outside without your sunglasses getting blown off but on the way back it was more peaceful.

The Golf.....

.....you didn't really think we would go on vacation without some form of golf being mentioned did you?

This is what the refer to as pasture golf.  This place was too funny for words.  We didn't play because the day we drove out there the weather was less than ideal but I think the pictures are worth thousands of words.

Island Greeens

The Wildlife.....

.....drove the furry one insane.   She learned a new word on this trip "bunny".  

And last but not least.....if you are looking for a vacation home word on the streets is this one is going for a good deal.   Was right next door to us so you know it has a great view.  Just needs a little TLC.....