Morning of News Worthy Items

Sunday morning, didn't go to church. Bob is at his other job. Fog is slowly starting to burn off and no weather resource can give a definitive on what the weather is supposed to do exactly. Riley and I have been up for a while now. She is being a trooper and getting her chores done. I bought a waffle maker so when Sid finally makes an appearance we will do some homemade waffles. Bob will help me get rid of all that remains of fall inside today and prep for the THOUSANDS of green plastic containers that hold all of our Christmas decor. I have been the recipient of Christmas items for the last 25 years. I have had the most generous clients that have given me great things. I love to get everything out and put it all together. I LOATHE taking it down and putting it away. I think it is alright to announce that I will hold the Christmas gathering at our house! I am looking forward to it and have planned the menu already. I am eager to have my Washington family over here.
It's a morning for official announcements. I have officially contacted and retained the services of a company that rents cosmetology testing kits as well as a one day test training course. I will get the date for that and then proceed to securing a test date. I gotta pull the MiLady Book of Cosmetology off the book shelf and start studying for the written exam. There are two exams, written and practical. Each is given at a different location and date. While I don't really feel warm and fuzzy about building a clientele, proving my self, meeting new stylists, etc. I do look forward to getting out of the house. I gotta help support the household as well as the house in Calif. Yes, it is rented but the rent doesn't begin to cover the house payment. Ugh...
I have not spoken to my friends in Chino for a long time. It is the BUSY time for one as she is an actress/singer and does the yearly Christmas Show at a dinner theater in Claremont, CA. It is such a great show and always gets us into the holiday spirit. She is soooo talented and we love to watch her up on stage. I know this starts the wild ride of the holiday season for her and I wish her the best. My other friend is in her church's Christmas program and is a great singer as well and know that is keeping her busy a long with everything else she has to do. I love them and miss them.
I am all over the map today. I have had two cups of Starbuck's Thanksgiving Blend this morning which does nothing to help me gather my thoughts. I am gonna get the jitters soon. Okay, now the fog is rolling back in and thickening up, no wonder the weather guy couldn't get it straight. I am losing the view out the front window to a silvery gray blanket of foggy stuff. It is kinda pretty though...

Turkey Day and Now the Madness Begins

A lovely day. Good times. Many thanks to my cousin and her family for having us over. Today is a mixed bag. Will start pulling down the fall stuff and make way for the Christmas stuff. Lord knows, I have plenty of it. Bob has some errands he wants to run. Sid will accompany him in the hopes of getting a driving lesson out of it. He is off till Sunday when he goes to his Costco job. Rain and wind today, great day to stay in. I plan on it. Hope your day was great and that you recover from you over eating ,turkey coma inducing episodes. Oh and by the way, I have never been a "Black Friday" shopper. I am glad, the thought of getting up early and fighting with people makes me want to stick sharp objects into my eyes. There are not enough good deals to ever make me want to do that.

Happy Gratitude Day

Both of the girls had to be at school by 8:00 this morning. I got ready myself and went to Safeway after I dropped them off. I was so happy when I got to the dairy section and found that they had restocked the creamer section. Peppermint white chocolate mocha creamer. Oh happy day. Got a few more things after laying awake half the night thinking that I hadn't picked up enough fresh yams, what was I thinking? Plus I had promised my family that I would cook a small T-giving for them this weekend since we would not be the keepers of the leftovers. What is T-giving without leftovers. During my non sleeping I read an article in the Victorville Daily Press about our Brenden Foster. He is the one from Bothell, WA that passed away last Fri. and motivated so many people to think of the homeless and hungry. I was amazed and touched to see a young man from Apple Valley, CA that was inspired by Brenden's cause and is doing his part tomorrow with his family. If you live in the H.D. the story is in your Daily Press(Depress) or you can view online at http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/_9669___article.html/_.html
Makes me so glad that Riley and I went last week and made a donation, what a great thing that has touched so many.
Bob told me last night that he has Friday and Saturday off! That hasn't happened in a while. I have 8,000 plans but am sure that only one or two will come to fruition. Oh well, a girl can dream... The sun is out and shining brightly. Beautiful. I NEVER fail to recognize what a beautiful place I live in. Just driving to the school and to the store I am staring up at trees and white puffy clouds. I hope I never take it for granted. It is so awesome. The news said some rain in the morning giving away to a nice day tomorrow. It doesn't matter to those who are chained to the stove but for the kids it is a good thing. We will be minus two of our babies tomorrow, they will spend the day with their dad, but it's all good even tho they will be greatly missed. I hope that my parents and sister's family have a great day tomorrow. My sister is the freakin' rockiness cook in the whole world so no worries there. I know they probably got some excellent wine too. I think we will do pretty well in that department too. Champagne Mimosas & Hibiscus and then on to some red and beer for the men folk. It should be quite merry. I will post lots of photos which I know surprises you all.
Well the yams are in the oven, I am ready for my second cup of coffee with my new favorite creamer and will pick up my chicks by 11:15. Again, blessings to you all, much love and kisses to you too and will post again soon...

Turkeys and Rum Pie

Well, I did it. I got to Costco before they opened and was one of the first one thousand in the door. There was an angry stampede to the back of the store where the pies and turkeys are located. I barely made it out of the wine section alive.
I was outta there in an hour and it could have been even quicker if I hadn't strolled thru the book section...
I was thinking of past Thanksgivings and the one that stands out among many is the one where my mom and her friend, Lucy decided to make some pie recipes from a magazine. They were not the traditional pumpkin or pecan. I don't remember what all of them were but one. It was white and fluffy and looked dreamy. I wanted to try it so bad, but mom and Lucy were laughing a lot while making it, hmmmm... It was some rum fluff surprise or something like that. It looked alot better than it tasted to an 11 year old. I think all of the adults got their drunk on after eating that rum chiffon thing. We used to pack like 20 + people into my grandparents house in Victorville. In laws, friends, etc. that house is 1300 square feet. We filled the entire dining room table, breakfast bar and card tables set up in the living room. Sheri and I always had our own table with our very own condiments and always a foil wrapped chocolate turkey from See's. We had 7-up in recycled shrimp cocktail glasses because they were like small snazzy wine glasses. We had olives for every one of our fingers and fought over who's turn it was to say the grace. Lots of laughter, food and friendship. At grandma's you get to have all of the 7-up you wanted and got to play grandpa's "Pong" game that was set up on a t.v. tray with a cord running to the T.V. Fast action that game was. Sometimes it was warm enough to be outside and other times it was windy and cold. Good times. The other Thanksgivings that stand out are the ones that we didn't cook for. Like going to a buffet in Flagstaff, going to Bob Burns in the valley, though you are gipped of the leftovers, you are also free of the cooking and cleaning up. Thanksgiving is an often overlooked and under appreciated holiday. It is just one day and you don't have to shop for gifts, what could be simpler? For the last several years we have been made to feel guilty about what the pilgrims did to the native Americans, maybe that has taken some luster off of T-giving, I don't know. But it could still be about being grateful. Gratitude for what you do have, health, family and friends. So maybe you are cooking, bless you if you are. Maybe you are going out to eat, not too shabby. Maybe you are going to donate your time or some canned goods or something so that others will have something to be grateful for. Have a blessed day and don't take seconds of the rum pie if you are driving...

Fall Days Filled with Sunshine

My aunt and I were chatting on the phone and commenting on what a beautiful fall season it has been here in western Washington. I feel so lucky to be here to enjoy it. I think we got the T-giving happenings covered too. It'll be nice.
Will do the parent-teacher conference for Riley this afternoon. She will be there too. When my mom went to my p/t conference, I didn't go. Hell no. I waited at home huddled in a corner, shaking and quivering waiting for the moment she got home and let me have it. I wasn't a bad child, but here are the facts and none of you that know me will be surprised. "Amy likes to visit with her neighbor, Amy isn't applying herself, Amy needs to visit less and work more" All of these skills are applicable to my occupation. NONE of those descriptions changed through high school either.
Tom Jones was on "Good Morning America" this morning. He still rocks. Love him. I don't ever watch GMA but it was on and I couldn't be bothered to change the channel, now I am glad I didn't. Now "Regis and Kelly" are on and I WILL jump through fire to change the channel... ICK.

My Camera on a Sunday Photo Shoot

These are all that I can show since the rest are hopefully contenders for the annual christmas card! The girls did well, acted like they liked each other long enough for me to get some good shots. Super sunny today but chilly. Lots of people out and about. We walked around downtown and did a little shopping in the cute stores too. Now it's home and homework, Bob gets a haircut after he changes his oil and cleans the gutters. Fun....

Sunday Starbucks

Riley got up on her own and went with me to church. Sid was supposed to go but felt sleep deprived and would have made us late. We went northwest to Kenmore, WA. VERY nice people and we even got invited to some one's house for Thanksgiving. I had told them when I introduced myself that we were new to the area. I thought that was really nice. It made me realize how grateful I am to have family up here. Looking forward to T-giving with everyone. The sun is out so Sid is getting dressed and we will go scout out some locations for the yearly Christmas card. Riley had Starbucks after church, that is your reward for getting up and going to church with your mother. I wonder if they would have had Starbucks in the 70's-80's if my parents would have gotten it for us after church. Shoot, we got a one way ticket home, changed clothes and did chores. I really did not like Sundays that much growing up. Church for a kid not so much and then thinking ALL day that you have school the next morning. Agony... Church is much better as an adult, you go because you want to. The girls have a short week and Riley is min days too. Looking forward to the turkey day and then on to Christmas... Wow...

Nothing Much

Went to the store and bought some canned food items, went to pick up Sid from school. I sit in the pick up line waiting for her. The bell rings, kids come tumbling out but not my child. My cell phone rings and it is Sid. "Can I stay for the basketball game?" I gave her a list of 12 rules to follow and then said yes. I drove away from the Jr High with no child. Next, I went to get Riley. Thankfully she shows up as planned and of we went up to Bothell to drop off the food. I wanted the girls to be with me to do this. I also want Sid to have friends and be able to do social things. It was cool, they said on the news last night that they met their food donation goal and also exceeded it. It makes you feel good.
The sun is shining, don't know for how long, it's supposed to turn windy and rainy. Riley is out early today, parent teacher conferences start today. Mine is Monday. UGH...
Bob will be home early today from class, who knows where he will be next week. Can't worry about it till it happens.
Have a fabulous fun filled weekend everyone, over and out.

Yes, more plumbing issues. This required a plumber but lucky for me it is fixed now. Yikes... That beautiful pink sky from earlier? Didn't last long and gave way to RAIN RAIN RAIN. Oh well... Am keeping it short, gotta go pick the girls up from school and off to Bothell. I posted a while back about Brenden Foster, an 11 yr old boy dying from Leukemia. His dying wish wasn't to go to Disneyland, it was to feed the homeless. They are holding three food drives at different Fred Meyer stores in the Seattle area. The closest one is Bothell for us. Makes me stop dwelling in my own pit of despair and remember that there are others in this world with far far less to be thankful for.

Pretty in Pink Morning

Just wanted to share these pics from this morning. This is out my front yard looking east. It was so beautiful that I had to grab my camera and snap away. It looks like we have a few clouds but no rain. That is a good thing as my friend Martha Stewart would say...

Morning Musings

We are at the moment on the calendar that I have been dreading. Holiday time. I am actually really looking forward to the Christmas season in Washington. It will be so beautiful. I just hate the fact that I wont be seeing my family. I am so grateful that I have my Aunt, Uncle and cousins here though. That helps ALOT. My cousin Nik will have T-giving at her home. I am doing sweet potatoes and cranberries. I am looking over a few of my favorite recipes so that I can wow everyone at the table. The sweet potato/yam dish is often overlooked and under appreciated at Thanksgiving. It is my personal goal to put the sweet potato dish right up there with green bean casserole and stuffing. Look out. Perhaps many of you know but some probably don't, my sister is a GREAT cook and I will miss her talents this year. A long with my darling baby girl I will miss the laughter that my baby sister and I share. She does have a way of making me crack up even when I am bound and determined not too and the crabbier I am the funnier she gets.
The local news was menacing and just plain mean last night. "Downpour, rain all week, look out, take your umbrellas" was all I heard. As I gaze out my front windows I actually see sky and daylight. It's a little early for sunlight but it looks like it could happen. If it is indeed sunny today, I may get some pictures out of the deal. It's time I started thinking Christmas photo for the card. If I can get Riley to smile and get the girls to act like they like each other for a few minutes, it will be a success.
I chatted briefly with my pal Tami down in V.V. Work, tax crap was the theme but she did ask about the flooding. It was south of us about a half hour away and east of us about half and hour. Much of it was near where we went to the pumpkin patch in October near Carnation. We live up a great big hill and are pretty far from any areas that may flood, our biggest worry will be getting up and down that great big hill during the black ice epidemic that hits in the dead of winter. We will be slippin' and slidin' all over the place. So, after T-giving Bob will play Clark Griswold and put some lights up. I have heard that our neighborhood does a good job in that department. Look forward to that. Christmas light displays have always been one of my all time favorite parts of the holiday, that and drinking lots of champagne.
Off to school now for the girls, short day Wednesday. I will anxiously watch the weather outside to see if I will need my camera today. Good to chat ever so quickly to Tami and hello to all the gang at Strands. Jackie, sorry about you-know-who, she gets a little testy sometimes, even with me. Just cut her hair and send her on her way...

Pictures from yesterday

Here are some pics of the fog yesterday morning. One is out the front and one is out the back. No such luck today of morning fog leading to afternoon sun. Bummer... Woke up to the sound of rain. Just another Tuesday...

Hounds of Hell

Good morning. Foggy morning again, very neat. I did not rent a helicopter to take this really cool picture of the Space Needle in the fog, I wish I had tho, that would have been pretty awesome. Girls are off to school and I am determined to get some things done today. Nothing to write about, which is weird. Just kind of glad to have this Monday morning be non eventful. Last Monday, if you recall was the broken into truck incident. Luckily that is pretty much behind us as much as it could be. Window fixed, truck cleaned out, sheriff's report filled out, etc. Bob will be home fairly early today, he has school all week in Seattle. Safety training. There is a yummy BBQ restaurant next to BNSF and he promises to bring dinner home one night this week.
He is in a football pool at work and my sister has been kind enough to help him out with it. He (my sister) has done well so he looks like a real pro in front of these guys. That is a laugh. If it were a military trivia pool, then maybe. Thank goodness for Sheri is all I can say. Bob is impressed cuz the girl knows her stuff.
Fish are doing well, they are not the most active pets so there isn't much to report. After having an 85 gallon aquarium for 8 years, two little Bettas are not much to deal with. As long as Riley is happy then I guess that is all that matters. I got them "Guitar Hero" for Christmas. Don't worry, they wont read this and find out, they already know they are getting it. That's what happens sometimes. When your kids get older they start knowing some of their Christmas gifts. Not to worry, they wont know everything. I am starting to get a good collection of gifts already, because I am not working right now, I can devote more time to getting things done early for the holidays.
Well, I must be off now, I have had my coffee and now the "Hounds of Hell" are beckoning me from downstairs. Ugh... House cleaning chores... at least I have my friend TIVO down there to keep me company. Got lots to catch up on and clean that baby out. Have a happy Monday and hope the rest of the week is non eventful in a good way unless you win the lottery or publishers clearing house or something fun like that...

Sunday and I Do Mean Sun.

Happy Sunday everyone. I awoke early this morning, about 5:00 a.m. I know what some of you are thinking. I am NOT a morning person. Let me explain. When I went to the vitamin store the other day, I found some supplements and some tea for Riley. She gets really anxious at night and has a hard time going to bed. We have tried everything. Leave a light on, nightlights, leave a t.v. on, watch a D.V.D. in bed till you fall asleep, sleep in our room, sleep in our bed, on and on it goes. So she has been taking her supplements for a few days and drinking her tea. It seems to help except that she had a nightmare the first night. Bob thought that was funny, not that his baby had a nightmare but that my plan backfired. So last night I decided to try one of her pills. It knocked me out in about 30 minutes. So fell asleep at about 5:30 p.m. and pretty much slept the night through. So there I was refreshed and wide awake at 5:00 a.m.
I had already told the girls yesterday that we were going to church. A new church, a Lutheran church(hence the graphic of Luther's seal on today's post). We made it to Bellevue by 8:30 and were only a minute or two late because I got a tiny bit lost. I don't know what it is about me getting lost on the way to church but I was bound and determined to make it. It was a lovely church, lots of stained glass and dark wood. I made sure it was a traditional service and I was glad that I did. It followed the traditional service closer than I have been to in a long time. The girls actually liked it too and that made me happy. We left and went to Renton. I had remembered a Mexican drive thru that Bob had first spotted last year. They didn't open for another 1/2 hour so we went to the "Big Lots" across the way. I love me some "Big Lots". We found some cool stuff and then over to burrito "heaven" for us. I had promised Riley a Betta or Siamese Fighting Fish if she could stay on task at home and at school and watch her grades and the cleanliness of her room. She has been doing pretty good and I didn't want to make her wait too long or she would loose faith. We shot over to Petco and got her a Betta. Sid went ahead and got one too since she has gotten a good report card. They are in a double Betta "keeper" so they can look at each other and puff up and turn colors.

Riley's looks just like this picture. His name is "Buddy" and Sid's is "George". This will be our 6th or 7th go around with Bettas, so we are old pros.

The Mexican food was great, finally something close to what we were used to down south. It's still not "Casa Delicious" or "Los Robertos" or "Albertos" but it will certainly do.
We are home now, Bob is home from Costco and is studying for a RR safety test and Sid has homework. Riley is down the street playing with her "homies" like she has been all weekend. We have hardly seen her. Quite foggy this morning but burned off to bright sunshine. Looks like it may cloud up again tho.
Tomorrow starts yet another week, school, band, volleyball, homework, cleaning, cooking, groceries, errands, the usual fun stuff.

A Big Yellow Globe of Warmth

Or sunshine as it is commonly referred to. I had to go have my car's oil changed first thing this morning. Dropped off my children and headed over to the GMC Pontiac Buick dealership. They had a waiting room so I read and listened to my Ipod. It was great til a mom and her two young children came in. It wasn't that they were loud because for little kids they were in the normal decibel range, it was just that it made it hard for me to concentrate and I had all sorts of emotions. I miss my niece in a terrible way and it made me sad to think how fast my own two have grown up. Luckily, they came and got me pretty quickly after those darn kids showed up. I then went on to Trader Joe's. That for me is fabulous. It wasn't super crowded like it usually ALWAYS is so I could actually stop and look at things, read labels, wander around. Got a few things in anticipation of Thanksgiving and also general stuff that are must haves for me and the family. Bought a turkey sandwich with cranberries and pecan stuffing and had that for lunch. Quite a treat. Now that I am home alone at lunch time, I either graze on leftovers or just skip lunch all together. Went into the vitamin store and got some things, hair and nail nutrients, chamomile tea for Riley and some zinc. I am trying to help my hair and nails and also help Riley calm down before bedtime. Stopped by the library to do a return, pick up holds thing and now home. Errands are so much more fun with the glare of the sun beating off of your car and you actually really have to wear your sunglasses.
The financial planner and his mentor came over last night. It went well. We weren't as bad off as we thought, but still gotta make college and retirement the priority. So that made us feel proactive in our life decisions, if only for a few hours....So many people have it a lot worse right now so you will not hear me complain. My man has a job, I am able to get a job and that is all good plus I think kids can work at the age of 14 so Sid can start pulling her weight around here...I remember my mom taking me to get my work permit because I was only 14 or 15 and she had to drive me to work. I started working when I was 12, babysitting and haven't stopped until this past June. So Sid should take a chapter from my book. You know I am kidding of course. We went to Bellevue Square yesterday after school. Sid and her friend Rose split as soon as we walked in so it was fun for just Riley and I. We got "balanced" with our chakras at Aveda and sampled homemade soaps at "Lush" and bought some cool crap at Claire's. Sid had some birthday gift cards and money burning a hole in her Roxy bag. I also broke down and bought Riley a new winter coat. She has only had one brand new one in the last 5 or 6 years so I knew it was time. She usually ends up with Sid's hand me downs that were never in bad shape because we didn't wear winter coats for long out in Calif. She loves it and even her dad thought it was pretty cool on her.
Well, the sun is still out and I am not about to waste it sitting here on a laptop.
Smell ya later

Getting Caught Up

Dark and wet yesterday, dark and wet today. I have all of the lights and lamps on and all of the candles burning. It helps. Girls and I had a pretty low key day yesterday. Baked chocolate chip cookies that tasted better than they looked, did some chores, etc. They are out early today so we will head to the mall after school and Sid will have her friend in tow. Bob got home late so they did not get to go to the cemetery. I went on line to the Seattle P.I. and found some cool veteran's places that they can go to, a Veteran's Museum in Seattle not too far from where Bob works. My aunt reminded me that my uncle who lives in CA was in the 101st Airborne during Vietnam, just like Mr. Hendrix. This made me think of my family and Bob's who have served. My great aunt was a Nurse in the Army Nurse Corp. and was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. She retired as a Major in the U.S. army and served in Korea as well. I will save her story for an entire post someday, her life was just too interesting for this small blurb. My great grandfather was sent to France during WWI and was an officer. Bob's dad was in Korea and step dad in Vietnam. His uncle was a navy SEAL during Vietnam and his cousin just finished his career in the Navy. We are so proud of him. I too, like my friend Kim reminded me in her blog, grew up in a military town. We had a major Air Force Base in Victorville. I lived among, went to school with and had family that worked at the base. When I was around 10 or so, we lived in apartments and there were lots of German pilots that lived there as well. They would come to our base to learn from our pilots. I would get one pilot's wife as a client and end up with the whole squadron as clients which was hard because you would get attached to them and then they would have to leave. It was just part of our background noise to hear jets and sonic booms all day long. I actually really missed that when the base shut down. I think that having the base there and being married to someone who was in the army has helped me become a more patriotic person. Bob has taught me HUGE amounts of things about the military and history. He has the most impressive knowledge of history that I have ever seen. I love to give him military history trivia questions because 98% of the time he is right. So thank you Kim for jogging my memory and letting me plagiarise your blog.
I must get my chores done, we have our financial planner coming over tonight, I should get all of our documents out for him but I will just get three boxes of Kleenex out instead.

Happy Birthday to my Niece

My favorite niece is four years old today. She is my only niece but non the less my favorite. I was there the week before she was born, keeping her mom company and keeping her from going crazy. Women tend to get a little nutty, depressed, anxious, etc. when the due date is around the corner. We had such fun, lunching, shopping, baby laundry(I love doing baby laundry) house keeping, watching T.V. together, it was great. We went to see the movie "Ray" and Sheri wasn't feeling terrific. When we got home I made her drink raspberry tea and she got on the treadmill. Raspberry tea is supposed to help induce labor and of course that is probably not true but at this point you will try anything. We had dinner and watched some T.V. Headed off to bed and would awaken the next day and get ready for her labor to be induced. About a 1/2 hour later, I have on my P.J.'s, my brother in law knocks on my door and says he thinks my sister is in labor. I trudge into her room and ask her a few key questions(I have done this twice now myself) and off to the hospital we go. About 450 hours later( I don't remember) I was watching my darling baby girl being born. It was sooooo cool to be the on looker and not the participant. She was born perfect with sooo much dark hair. I was insane with love for that baby. The hardest part was leaving, I had to get back a couple of days later to my life, kids, husband and job. We got to go back a couple of weeks later for Thanksgiving tho, that helped a sad auntie out a lot. So now she is four and adores her two cousins and is growing up so fast. My sister knows well how fast her nieces have grown up so she has been mindful of enjoying Kenzie's first years as she knows they will be gone in a flash. We sure do miss that we did not get to be there for the party but by the looks of the pictures that my dad sent, she was pretty busy with the new bike, Barbie kitchen and Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Happy Birthday big four year old- Grandpa Uncle Bob, Auntie A, Sitney and Riley love you madly.

Gratitude

We are good. Truck window is fixed. They come to your house, which rocks. It was an inconvenience but we are thankful that was all. Thank you Speedy Glass! Bob is at work and it looks like he is good for this week in Seattle so we weathered a "bumping" and got reassigned, yay. Today is Veteran's Day, so pause and remember a vet today. The girls are home, it is raining so we are staying in and making chocolate chip cookies. Then Bob will take them to a cemetery. We are due for lots of rain and flooding in Washington this week.

I saw this news story the other day on KOMO 4 news. It touched our hearts and puts everything into perspective.


"Dying boy inspires goodwill in people near and far
Story Published: Nov 10, 2008 at 7:15 PM PST

Story Updated: Nov 11, 2008 at 7:23 AM PST

By KOMO Staff

BOTHELL, Wash. -- An 11-year-old boy's dying wish to feed the homeless has taken on a life of its own, sparking a movement to help the hungry nationwide.

Doctors gave Brenden Foster two weeks to live. His time was up last Wednesday.

"I should be gone in a week or so," he said last Friday.

On Monday, groggy and medicated, Brenden was having a rough day.

"Tired," he said, visibly weak.

"(You) need some more medicine," said his mother, Wendy Foster, stroking his head.

Leukemia halted the young life of Brenden, who once dreamed of becoming a marine photographer. Brenden has relapsed for the last time. There is no chemo, no more transfusions; just comfort medications.

"I'm hoping I'm awake when he decides to pass because I want to make sure I'm holding him," Wendy later said.

Brenden survived his leukemia long enough to witness his dying wish come true. Last Friday Brenden shared his last wish to feed the homeless.

"I was coming back from one of my clinic appointments and I saw this big thing of homeless people, and then I thought I should just get them something," he said.

Volunteers handed out 200 homemade sandwiches to the homeless to fulfill his wish.

"They're probably starving, so give them a chance," he said.

On Monday, Brenden could barely keep his eyes open as he watched a video of volunteers feeding Seattle's homeless on his behalf.

Over the weekend, his wish went national on CNN. And KOMO News received phone calls from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Clearly in pain, Brenden still managed to smile as he listened to stories about the phone calls and e-mails his story had inspired. His story touched many people from all walks of life, from families fighting cancer to men in the military.

"I think it's great, all over the country..." Brenden said.

"He made my dream come true. In my lifetime, I wanted to change the world and my son did that," said Wendy. "The world is such a beautiful place and (that became) evident the last 72 hours, and Brenden did that."

Brenden has one more wish for the afterlife: become an angel who accomplishes even more in heaven than he did on Earth.

"I don't need to worry about it until the time has come. So I don't bother think about it while I'm still alive; now," he said.

How to help

In Brenden's honor, KOMO News will be holding a food drive for Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline. You can drop off food on Thursday, November 20th at Fred Meyer stores in Issaquah, Federal Way or Brenden's hometown of Bothell.

If you can't make it in person, you can donate online by going to the Problem Solvers donation page and select "Brenden Foster Food Drive" from the donation options list.

http://www.komonews.com/news/34241094.html


The family is struggling to cover the costs of Brenden's funeral. Donations to the "Brenden Foster Cancer Fund" can be made at any Washington Mutual bank branch. "

Rude Awakenings

This is a picture of Bob's truck window. It was smashed and his truck broken into. Riley woke me up at about 3:15 am and said that someone had come to the door and told daddy that his truck had been broken into. I shot out of bed and ran for the phone to dial 911 but as I got to the kitchen, I saw flashing red lights. It was the sheriff's car and he was the one at the door. They had several calls of car vandalism and happen to be driving by and saw Bob's truck had been a target. Lucky for us there was nothing of great value like phones or wallets, etc. BUT they took a bunch of paperwork and his brief case and other stuff for work including his day planner. So it is more the inconvenience of having to get his truck fixed and trying to remember what was in there and what we have to replace. He was offended that that they didn't take his CD collection of all things and I told him it was because he has crappy taste in music and even a low life thug wouldn't want that crap.
So he is off to Home Depot to buy some tarp to keep the rain out until it gets fixed and I am making calls to the insurance. The girls helped out by finding me some clothes to throw on and helping me get out the door to help their dad. Riley asked if she could tell her teacher. She thought it would be a good excuse to get out of homework by telling her teacher that all of her pens and pencils were in her dad's truck thus eliciting sympathy and sparing her this weeks homework.
So the mobile glass repair will be here in a few hours and Bob has a clean truck(boy do I mean clean) and we will go from there.
We are on our third pot of coffee and Bob just got a call and was told that he has been "bumped" at work. He has to get on the phone and find a crew to work with. When it rains it pours...

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is Tuesday the 11th. I just wanted to remind everyone of that. If you see a veteran, thank them. If you know a veteran or knew a veteran pause for a few minutes and think about them and what they did for the country. I know lots of veterans that would like to forget but that is their choice and who can blame them but it is our job to remember. The prices that have been paid to live in a country such as ours. It may be a time of turmoil but we still need to keep our priorities straight and stay on course. Hopefully we will have a president that recognizes the importance of our vets and honors them.
I have known lots of vets both on my own and because of my husband. He has taught me and well as our daughters the importance of honoring veterans, P.O.W.'s and M.I.A.'s. We have been with him countless times to the Vietnam traveling wall and he and Sid were lucky enough to be at the real one in D.C. last year. They were also able to visit the other veteran's memorials as well.
They may have volunteered, feeling the loyalty to their country or they may have gone because of the draft, regardless they went. Away from home, family and the safety that it provided. Into an unknown far away place. Some had never even been 15 miles from home much less across the continent. Some came home and many did not. The families were mourning and sad but never the less proud. The ones that were lucky enough to come home did so with scars that were visible and scars you would never see. War is not pretty and if you had the choice, you would not like to know the details but you cannot ignore the husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers who have been to war and served our country. Vets are not just people who actually saw combat but many were support to those who did.
So just remember them all for a few minutes.
Bob is going to take the girls down to Renton where a famous Washington veteran is buried. Jimi Hendrix. He was a Vietnam vet in the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" division. Pretty cool huh?