I was up all last night because of my allergies. I got out of bed at 8:30 am and headed to the couch. By noon I finally started to do things around the house. I just felt tired and not motivated to do anything. I watched TV and played games with the kids for most of the day. My daughter and I drew for a little bit. In the evening I filled the bathtub with hot water and laid there for over an hour. My weekend plans were placed on hold for another week. Before bed we read to each other and gave good night hugs.
I slept in till 7 am and made breakfast for the kids and I. This weekend I have the kids all to myself. My wife left this morning on a trip up north to a Spinners convention. Before we did anything, I wanted to fix the weather station that is located on the roof. I started to sneeze while on the roof. Not thinking about it, I finished the repairs and headed down. Once I put the ladder away, I started to feel ill and my eyes started to burn. It looks like allergy season started today for me.
Before I felt too ill to do anything, we drove to the market and bought snacks for tonight’s movie.
Once we got back, I felt tired and took a nap. I woke up in time for a movie then took another nap afterward. By nine, I had the kids in bed and tried to go to sleep but couldn’t. My sinuses were dripping, even after taking my pills. It takes a few days to become effective. I was up past midnight until I finally fell asleep.
It was a slow day at work. I’m glad the workday is over, and the weekend has come. The day has been a wet one and I expected more for the next few days. We might even get some snow on Sunday. My spacers for the breaks have arrived and I will be working on installing them tomorrow. Once the breaks are working correctly, I am going to take a test run in the Cascades next weekend.
The Betty Crocker’s Cooking Calendar cookbook arrived this morning. Can’t wait to crack it open tonight and check all the 1962 cooking recipes arranged in months and seasons. I enjoy checking out old books and movies before my time. I find it interesting.
I started drawing with my daughter. She is rather good and loves doing it. I always wanted to start drawing and paint with watercolors. So why not start now? We spent an hour outside drawing things like flowers and trees. I haven’t pulled out the watercolors yet. Just wanted to get the feel of pencil on paper. My daughter is already incorporating depth in her drawings. She was surprised I could actually draw. It made me laugh. I guess I stopped drawing for fun a long time ago. I cooked some steak for dinner with mashed potatoes on the side with grilled green beans. It was pretty good.
The kid’s cookbook came in yesterday and the kids picked some recipes they would like to make. I need to purchase some ingredients to make them this weekend. They are easy to make and it should be entertaining to watch them make dinner and dessert. They are pretty bright, so I expect little assistance from my part. They also have experience helping with the cooking and baking. They just never did it by themselves.
I have adjusted my wakeup time to 4:20 am to better fit my work schedule. It allows enough time to get ready for work and not be rushed doing it. It’s nice driving to and from work with little traffic. The only cavoite is that the office lights doesn’t turn on until half an hour after I start work. It’s fun walking to and from the kitchen in the dark with a flashlight. I brought a small lamp that I was going to give away. It gives enough light to find things around the desk. I spent half the day in meetings and did very little of actual work.
Once I got off work, I helped build Lego sets with the kids and showed my oldest how to fix one of his toys. He did most of the work. I just guided him.
The rest of the day I spent outside enjoying the sunshine flipping through pages of the Betty Crocker Outdoor Cook Book.
I have been getting to work a half an hour before my shift starts, using the time to work on my journal writing for the website. It allows me to write much more to give a expansive view of the day, unlike my short twitter updates. Since I arrive at work before sunrise, I do my work in the parking lot in my car. I have one of those convertible portfolio cases that you can slide on the steering wheel of the car. You can store your laptop, pens, and pad in it. It works well and I have been using it for over a year.
After work I went shopping for this week’s groceries. The rest of the day I cooked and did household chores like laundry and dishes. I didn’t have much free time for myself. Read to the kids and went to bed.
This has been my typical Tuesday since I was required to work from the office. If I push my chores to another day, it just avalanches to other days. So, it is easier for me to have one exhausting day than have two.
Arrived to work at 5:30 am and started to complete my journal entries for the website before I clocked in. I enjoying getting up early in the morning. You don’t get any distraction from anyone or the world. It’s just you and what ever you want to do. There is very few people up so you can get things done without being interrupted.
I was welcome home by my 1961 Betty Crocker’s Outdoor Cook Book. The start of the book covers types of grills, fuel, and how to start and maintain the fire. It was interesting on how things are done back then compared to how we do things now. Like the use of asbestos gloves to protect hands and odorless pain thinner as lighter fluid. For choosing what grill is right for you section, they had a larger types of selection than we have today. My favourite grill was the do it yourself wheel barrel grill. It’s great for the house because you can place it in your shed in adverse weather.
The recipes are things I would eat, and they placed them in a themed meal plan. You don’t need to worry about what goes with what. So far I love it. The book is used and has character. I should do a full write up on this exquisite book.
Second trip to Cougar Mountain to hike to Wilderness Peak. My daughter (7) kept a good pace. On the way up it snowed a few times. She loved it. Said it the forest even prettier. We located the geocache then proceeded up to the peak to sit down and enjoy some hot soup on this cold day. The view from the top is covered in trees, so the view is the forest. On the trip down we picked up another cache that I previously found but she hadn’t. We got down to the trailhead by noon.
At home I spend most of the day with my son. Playing around with Legos and creating games with them. I made Pot Stickers of dinner. It was a nice treat after a long day hiking.
I was up at 5:30 am to get ready for the trip to Cougar Mountain to find the last of the geocaches in the area. Ate a light breakfast and packed the car while my daughter slept. She looked tired so I woke her up at 7:30 am to allow her to get some extra rest before the hike. Today’s hike shouldn’t be too hard. The last part of the hike will be steep, but it should take about 15 minutes to get to the top and back to the top.
The trip was a success, we located all 3 geocaches. She found 2 very quickly and one I found with little effort. Heading back home in the car, we talked about the adventure we had just experienced. She was so excited she asked to go tomorrow and do some more.
The only one I had left on the mountain was one that is located next to the peak, and it would be a hard hike up. She said with determination that she would make it to the top. I said okay.
On the return trip back home picked up items at H-Mart and Daiso.
Once home we cleaned out the backpacks and prepared for tomorrow’s journey. I took a light nap and played board and card games with the kids.
Went to bed at my normal time to get ready for tomorrows hike up Wilderness Peak in Cougar Mountain.
Yesterday I ate too much meat products. Linguiça for lunch and Ribs for dinner. My body feels numb and kind of bloated. Like when you eat too much food on Thanksgiving or after the Christmas Feast. This morning I made a large Smoothy for breakfast and ate vegies as a snack throughout the day. By noon I felt much better. I am planning to go for a hike. I have a just a few geocaches to get on Cougar Mountain to complete locating them all at the location. My daughter wants to come with me, so we packed her bag. I am not sure how she is going to feel waking up in the morning early, but if she is up to it, I would love for her to come. After the kids went to bed, I made a small fire to just unwind from the week and plan the route we will take to find the last of the geocaches.
Life in the Pacific NW 