July 7th

Hello from Spokane! Chris and I are settled into our new home, our new neighborhood and our new city. In a large way, it doesn’t feel like home yet. My guess is when we return from Borrego next spring, I’ll be more comfortable calling Spokane home. We’ve been busy, I’ve been working in the yard and getting the garage organized to my liking. Chris has been doing the same inside the house. It’ll never feel like our Hoodsport home but it doesn’t have to. The home is comfortable, I’m very happy to have turned the upstairs into Christal’s “girl cave”. Chris has been sewing and enjoying the mornings and early afternoons upstairs. It gets warm up there, especially in the summer. It was quite a job to disassemble her ikea sewing tables in the garage then put ‘em back together upstairs but we got it done.

The yard is easy to mow, the beds have very little weeds, it’s nice to have a nice looking yard. I’ve spent a lot of time in the back, getting things the way I want. Cut down some tree’s and replaced the spots with a Japanese lace maple and a contorted filbert, a little touch of our Hoodsport home. 

My neighbor across the street has been kind enough to include me in his golfing group. They all went to school together in Coulee and made their way over here. It’s not the same as Lake Cushman or Borrego golf but it’s nice to get out. I try to get out at least once a week. The courses here are longer, I’ve struggled a bit but of late I’m starting to play better.

There has been at least two real pluses moving here, one was expected, one was a surprise. We have spent quite a bit of time centered around Grace. We just finished a softball season, watched her perform in a school concert, right before graduating from the 4th grade. We also had fun at her birthday party at a trampoline center. We have also had extra time to spend with Travis and Anne. Travis just changed jobs which he’s very excited about. He has been very helpful, willing to move some heavy things around here. It’s been fun to reconnect. I’m starting to do that with Jacob also. We have worked on a couple projects at his house, he is really making an effort to pay more attention to his home, surroundings and family. Even he would admit, he’s a work in progress. I’m glad we are close buy to help whenever they need us to. We’ve been watching Grace on Friday evenings so Jake and Em can have some one-on-one time with each other. The other plus is just how convenient everything is from this house. Lowe’s, Freddie’s, Ace Hardware, Safeway, Starbucks, doctor offices, restaurants and of course our kids. Didn’t know I would enjoy that as much as I do. We’re use to 45 min to Olympia or 1 1/2 hrs to Palm Springs, it’s been nice.

Chris and I are getting ready for our big trip overseas. England, Ireland and Scotland. I’m sure Chris doesn’t know or care but we will be in Ireland during the Open Championship! I don’t have have any golf planned, too much hassle to try and pull that off with a tour group. I’m just hoping the travel back and forth won’t cause me too much discomfort. I’m sure it’ll be fun once we are on the ground.

Murphy has adjust well over here, we have a nice little lake here with about a 1 3/4 hiking trail around it. Em, Grace an Jake were coming over to do the walk and they were taking Murphy. It’s gotten warm, they haven’t been over for the walk so it’s me and Murph doing our best to get around the lake. There is a little waterfall that has a small pond attached that Murphy loves to plop into. 

 Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll try another posting from Borrego where I’ll talk about our trip.