Is This Odd?

Some people like the idea of having enough money to literally roll around in.


Grace apparently has no such aspirations. Diapers will do nicely, thank you.

A Seven-Year Doughnut Drought

Yep, when you realize that you'll need to eat wheat- and gluten-free in order to feel good and be healthy, doughnuts are a thing of the past. It's not like they were my favorite thing -- I only ate one maybe two or three times a year. But they represented something I couldn't have, which, of course, made me miss them.

Well, not anymore. I had a dream last night about cinnamon sugar doughnuts, and woke up motivated to try making some. There are numerous recipes online, so I chose the one that seemed most likely to produce the closest thing to a wheat-full doughnut. Turns out doughnuts are not very difficult to make. I even made the holes.

Result? Yum.

**edit** For those seeking the recipe, it can be found here.

Melinda

Summer is Here

Well, it's finally arrived. It's definitely summer. Sunshine beams into our home, making us smile (and open the windows to cool off). Our grass is mostly brown because we can't remember which days we're allowed to water. My parents have arrived from China. Salad instead of soup is on the family menu. The popsicle man (with his music-box, can't-get-it-out-of-your-mind music) passes by daily. Grace wakes up from naps all sweaty. And, strangely enough for Seattle, it's been dry for long enough that we've stopped asking whether we should take a raincoat when we go out.

We continue to work on the house, although we took a week-long break to fly to Texas for a Lipsey family reunion and for Vic's parents' 50th anniversary celebration. We had a great visit! It was great to see everyone, to meet new people, to catch up on each others' lives, and to introduce everyone to Grace. (On the way down, Grace was the crying baby no one wants to be near on the plane. On the way back, she was decidedly less fussy.) But we're glad to be back where we can't fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Some of the latest photos of our little peanut...

Melinda

Grace's First Hike

Vic and Grace gave me a much-needed break yesterday, and hiked up Rattlesnake Ridge near North Bend. Great afternoon hike -- not too long or strenuous, but enough to work your muscles well and give some great views at the top. It sounds like Vic and Grace enjoyed the time outdoors, and I certainly enjoyed the time puttering at home.

(Pardon the cellphone picture quality, please.)

Still During

With a before-and-after story, there are usually the before photos and the after photos. We have lots of during photos. The bad news is that things are still quite messy at our house, both with unpacked boxes and with undone projects.





The good news is that we've found our memory card reader and can share the mess with all of you. Alleviating the mess is what we've been up to (and up to our eyeballs in). Eating, sleeping, wiggling, and splashing is what Grace has been up to.

Grace gave me tulips for Mother's Day

Keeping cool on a hot day
aka, the obligatory "baby in a tub" photos

Grace loves pancakes

Where's the Camera?

And where's the memory card reader, and the cable to plug it into the computer?

We'd love to post pictures of how things are going, but how things are going is messy. We're moved into the new house, and fully moved out/cleaned out of the old house, and we're happy about that. Things with the move went pretty smoothly, even down to Vic doing some pretty sneaky sneaking back into the old house to get a part for the stove that we mistakenly left behind. The remodeling of the new house isn't complete, which is slowing the settling in process, but we know it will all be done at some point and we'll be able to put things away.

So everything is here at the new house. But bless me if I can find anything.

Melinda

I Don't Do Windows

Actually, I'll happily do windows. The household task I most dislike is ironing. We're pretty wrinkly around here. But that's beside the point.

The point is that the windows at our new place -- not to mention the floors, walls, cabinets, mirrors, and every other part -- could use some cleaning before we move in. So I say we make it a party! Next Thursday, May 14, in the morning. We'll scrub, vacuum, dust, wipe, wash, and maybe even paint. Then we'll lunch. Right now the forecast calls for a cool, rainy day, so maybe a crockpot of chili.

Who's in?