Max On His Harley

Couldn't resist posting this picture of Max on his Harley back in the "good old days". We received this in the mail from Max's sister, Connie.

He looks like he's smoking a cigarette, but he has never smoked, so he must have a toothpick in his mouth. Click on the image to enlarge.

What a great photo!

Baseball season

I went to my first T-ball game ever this morning.

This picture is of my little friends Olivia & Eli. They "belong" to our friends Keith & Shelley Granger.

Eli is 6 years old and plays for the Pepsi team. T-ball is fun for the kids because they don't keep score and there are no outs. Everyone gets a chance to bat and run bases. One of the Dad's pitches to the kids and if they can't hit it after three pitches, they sit the ball on a rubber "T" and let the batter hit it from there. They get as many trys as they need to actually hit the ball. When everyone on the team has batted, the other team gets a turn. They generally play two full innings.

The kids are so cute in their baseball uniforms. If you enlarge the second picture (by clicking on it) you will see the third baseman playing in the dirt, while Eli takes his turn at bat. :-)

Spring Blossoms

We love the Spring and watching all the trees as they bloom and leaf out. TodayMax & I went out for a drive around town, stopping along the way to take pictures as we saw pretty flowering trees that we liked. The first picture is of Max in our little garden of Phlox. The roses, in the background, are leafing out nicely and we're looking forward to them blooming a good portion of the summer. The fourth picture is that of a small cherry orchard that continues to survive in the city. The rest of the pictures are from around town, in no particular order.

Shirlee's Birthday

Today we had a birthday party for our friend, Shirlee Spilker. Shirlee's birthday was actually last Sunday and she was feeling kind of bad nobody seemed to remember. Little did she know that our mutual friend, Barb Keeler, had a surprise gathering planned for today at Abby's Pizza in East Wenatchee.

Shirlee is the volunteer coordinator at Central Washington Hospital. She couldn't figure out how so many of the volunteers kept the secret all week. At least now she knows who she can trust with a secret.

Truthfully, I didn't even realize Shirlee's birthday was so close to mine, so we agreed we should celebrate together more often. I originally met Shirleee through golfing at Three Lakes, but we've had some real estate dealings in the past... and have become friends off the course and away from business.

Happy Birthday, Shirlee. Yes, we do care!

Das Puttermeisters

Here is a duplicated post from my golf blog:

Last night I had a (belated) birthday dinner with my "Puttermeister" golf team friends. We have a 6 year tradition of celebrating each others birthday at Garlini's Italian Restaurant in East Wenatchee.

The birthday celebrations started when Karen turned 50. We all turned 50 within a few years of each other and have been celebrating every birthday ever since. This means we meet 4 times per year just to socialize and reminisce and laugh about the great times we've had playing golf together as a team. Sometimes we leave the restaurant with sore stomachs from laughing so much.

We were trying to figure out last night how long we've been playing together and decided it's about 8 years. Sadly for us, Barb and her husband Leonard are retiring and will be moving to Arizona this June. We will sorely miss Barb because it's been so much fun being a "team". We hope to still play together in the future when Barb and Leonard come back to town, and have talked about Barb finding a tournament in Arizona that we could all play in. This would be so much fun. Max's sister lives in the Phoenix area, so I know he would be entertained while I'm off playing golf.

The name "Das Puttermeisters" came about during one of our first tournaments together when Barb and I were goofing off, trying to talk German, as a way of making jest at Lisa's 100% German Heritage (I am 25% German). Lisa works at Cashmere Valley Bank and can certainly count perfectly well in English, but she always counts up the scorecard in German. It's pretty funny to witness. So, after much ado, "Das Puttermeisters" was born and has been a force to reckon with ever since.

Team members from left to right are:
Lisa Schmidt, Carol Williams, Karen Madison, Barb Keeler.

Long live Das Puttermeisters!

Blogging Consultant?

I've been told by a number of people how much they like the blog(s) and it would be great to have one for their family. They've suggested I offer a Blog set-up service, which would be kind of fun. I could do the basic set-up and some training on how to post pictures and text.

You wouldn't need to learn any coding because I could work with the template if you want sidebar links etc. They could have a blog set-up to post pictures of family history, family reunions, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, baby pictures, etc. It can be totally customized for the individuals.

The actual blog hosting service if FREE, so there is no monthly charge. The only fee would be an initial set-up and training fee for me. The blogs can be archived by the month, with the most current posts showing up on the home page. I have this blog set up for the most recent 25 posts to show and the rest are in the "archives" by the month. This can be customized.

Although it's fairly new, you can see a sample of what I did for my cousins on my Mom's side of the family at:
www.StClairClan.blogspot.com

Other blogs by Carol:
Carol's 2006 Golfing Season
Investment Real Estate Blog
Max and Carol's blog: This blog
Carol's Residential Real Estate Blog : This is a more comprehensive service and requires a monthly fee. This is too time consuming and I wouldn't be interested in doing this for a family blog. This is primarily to enhance my Search Engine Optimization for my real estate business, but not necessary for a family blog.

If anyone knows anyone who might want to set up a family blog, have them check out my blogs and then contact me.

Have a great week-end,
Carol

CarolWilliams@charter.net

Mom & Dad

While I'm being nostalgic, here's my favorite picture of my Mom & Dad (Amy & Bruce). Aren't they a good looking pair? My Mom died in 1957 and Dad died in 1964.

I miss them, but my life is good!

Grandpa & Grandma St. Clair

Last Fall I started a family blog, for my Mother's side of the family. In looking through pictures to post to that blog, I came across this picture of me and my brother, Clair, with my Grandpa Frank and Grandma Pansy. We must have been about 5 & 6 years old, making this picture taken in about 1957.

Grandpa Frank is my Mom's Dad. Pansy was actually my step-Grandma but she treated all the kids the same and she was a swell Grandma. My favorite memory of her is that she would always make applesauce when I would come visit. I was such a picky eater in those days, it was the one thing she knew I would eat (that and fudgescicles). My Mother's side of the family were loggers and I remember that they would eat a huge breakfast. I remember thinking how odd that was.

My Mother's side of the family has always confused me because Frank was married three times and had something like 12 children total. His first wife died after having four children and then his second wife (my biological Grandma) died when my Mom was about 3 years old. My Mom was the only child by the second wife. Pansy is the third wife and the only Grandmother on that side of the family I ever knew. She and Frank had 7 children. If you want more info on that side of the family go to:
www.StClairClan.blogspot.com If you scroll down to the first post on that blog, I've put a simple family tree that helps alleviate some of the confusion.

Anyway, this picture is proof that I used to be skinny and cute... but I got over it! :-)

The Birthday Azalea

Here I am, at the kitchen dinette, with the Birthday Azalea Max picked out for me. It's now sitting on my office desk (where I spend most of my time).

54

Today is my 54th birthday. I'll be doing a combination of working and playing, while staying close to home most of the day to spend time with Max. Tonight we will go out to dinner at the Peking Restaurant in East Wenatchee with our friends June & Roger Dorner. Max and I go there fairly often on Sunday afternoons. They usually don't even offer us menus anymore... just bring us a #3 combination plate (mild): Kung Pao Chicken, Deep Fried Shrimp, Fried Rice, and BBQ pork with the hot mustard sauce.

Homemade German Chocolate Cake (made by the birthday girl) for dessert.

Tel-Emergency System

I've gotten to the point that I worry about Max whenever I leave for a few hours at a time. A couple of weeks ago he fell (for the first time) while I was out getting my hair permed. He fell in the carport, but can't seem to recall exactly where or the circumstances. He hurt his hand bad enough that it swelled up and bruised significantly. He also complained of sore ribs and a tender knee, but nothing broken that we can tell.

As a result, I purchased one of those "tel-emergency" systems at the medical supply store the other day. It's not one of those monthly service fee kind hooked into a central call center... but, as we discovered, does call 911 BEFORE it dials my cell phone.

The gal at the medical supply store warned me it could be a bit of a challenge to set up, but I've gotten pretty good over the years at programming techy things and I can certainly read a set of instructions.

I did all the set-up and was testing it. Within seconds we received a 911 call wanting to know if everything was o.k. I assured them that I was setting up this new tel-emergency system and thought I had programmed my cell number... but didn't know I had called them. So, I tested it again... with the same results. Oops!

This morning, after some overnight inspiration, I tested it again. Within a short time 911 was calling us once again. I told her I was still trying to program this system, and she informed me an officer was on his way. The very polite officer did arrive shortly. I explained what had happened and assured him I would call the customer service number in the paperwork to get some help with this system.

It's good to know the system is working, but it was my understanding we could program my cell phone number (and up to 4 other contacts) into the system for notification. I didn't know 911 was still the first number called.

This isn't really a bad thing. Now, at least, I don't have to worry when I leave. I'll hang the emergency necklace around Max's neck and make him promise not the "experiment" with it. We already know it works! At least he knows what to do if he does fall or have some other emergency when I am away.

Gives me comfort...

Remember The Archives

Just a reminder for those who may get behind in their reading of this blog. This blog was started last September (2005), but only the 25 most current posts will show when you open the page. Scroll down the right sidebar to the "archives" and every article is stored in the month it was posted.

For example:
Our England trip will show from mid-October through early November
Our Palm Springs trip from late January through early March