Corned beef lunch

Andy and I were invited to our friends M and T's house after church Sunday for a corned beef, early St. Pat's Day lunch. Our assignment was to bring Irish beer and Irish soda bread. We also grabbed a bottle of Green River - because it's green, of course - and some daffodils for the hostess.

A lovely table and my daffodils. We had corned beef, rye bread for sandwiches, shepherd's pie, potatoes, carrots and sauerkraut.

Dessert was delicious - mint chocolate chip ice cream and whiskey-soaked cake with a cream cheese layer.

A bit of a bonus, when Andy bought the beer, he received a free Guiness "I (harp) Chi" pint glass.

Snow in Issaquah

E sent this picture of her parking lot Friday morning. They're used to snow in the nearby mountains, not so much in Seattle and its suburbs. People were being bad drivers, she said. At first glance, I thought she had sent a black-and-white picture but then I noticed the yellow fire hydrant.

Pizza party

Friday night the ladies got together at C's house. I thought it was a belated birthday dinner, but apparently it was just a get-together. Whatever the reason, it was a fun night of conversation.

Museum Gala

The museum gala was last night and it was fabulous. We had about 275 people there!

A full house.

Andy and I grabbed some food and drinks before the lines got long so we could take pictures as the room filled up.

We were among the first to dig into this.

My annual picture with my friend, Nancy.

All dressed up. This was a fun gala for Andy because he went to high school with one of the honoree's sons and they're old friends of Andy's dad. I talked to the man who was village president when I was covering the village so that was nice too. It's been awhile and it was nice to catch up.

An employee bonus - taking flowers home after the party.

L’s day trip

L and W took a little trip yesterday to Gatorland. That's a lot of gators.

And they were feeding them. Not a trip I ever need to take.

Pretty parrots there though.

Then she told me she found a bridesmaid dress for Cousin C's wedding. Before I could respond, she said she was joking. Thank goodness.

L’s big news

L had an interview at the University of Central Florida on Monday seeking admissions to their MBA program. She received an email almost immediately after that she got in! Yeaterday, she made it "official" by posting on Instagram. Now to figure out if she can work and successfully complete the master's program. Oh, yeah, and how to pay for it. After three tries (two for undergraduate admission), L is finally a Knight ... if she accepts.

Oh, hail

We had been expecting storms all day and right after Andy got home from work, the rain started. We got hail and it was hard and loud. Glad we keep the cars in the garage. Here's Andy showing off one of the bigger pieces. Fortunately, it didn't last long though tornado watches and warnings remained.

Looks like it snowed.

Just outside our back door.

The grass is greener

It was so warm yesterday (almost 70) I opened the windows to let some fresh air in the house. A few hours later, the neighbors sent a video of their cat watching Piper, who was sitting in the open window above the kitchen sink, with the caption, "The grass is always greener."

Good timing

I know I shouldn't be looking at my phone during church, but I did, and I happened to see that someone was purging their puzzle stash. I messaged her and she happened to be a few blocks from church so we drove over after service and I took three puzzles.

Yoga cats, on the bottom, hasn't even been opened. I also grabbed a 500-piece cat zodiac puzzle and a 1,000-piece pumpkin one which, on looking more closely, seems quite challenging.

St. Pat’s Parade

Madison Street in Forest Park was packed yesterday afternoon for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Lots of union floats and politicians, of course.

I'm always happy to see some bagpipers, Irish dancers and Shriners driving those itty bitty cars.

Grimace from McDonald's made an appearance.

We were standing behind a bunch of kids who kept taking all of the candy that was tossed out. We each were handed an energy drink and I got a little Butterfinger bar and found this little troll-like leprechaun sitting on a parking pay box so he came home with me. We watched the parade for two hours and decided to head home. It was a little chilly and windy.