I need those

It's not often I'm in a thrift store and find something I actually need, but I did it. I found straight pins!

My other shopping adventure was two body sprays from Bath & Body Works. For some reason I had two coupons for free travel items and these new Disney sprays were within the price limit.

I'm not sure what's special about these lemons but they were huge! I need one for lemon tacos I'm going to make this week and the price was right.

The price ($4.49) is not so right here. This was the highest price oer gallon I saw while driving around. Glad I filled up when gas was $3.60.

First day of spring

Yesterday was the first day of spring and my crocuses were ready for it!

I filled the bird feeder before I went to work (so warm I walked outside barefoot) hoping my neighborhood cardinals would stop by. They did, along with lots of sparrows and a pesky squirrel. After work we met friends at Fitzgerld's - the outdoor patio was open! Yes, the patio was "open," but the band was playing inside and we were quite chilly.

Choices, choices

The boss asked me to sit in on a Zoom meeting yesterday to discuss design options for the museum's addition. These were the tile color choices for a decorative stripe on the walls in each of the two new restrooms. We requested several samples. The arrows point to the two colors I liked. We'll see how they look when the samples arrive. We also chose bathroom faucets. That was pretty easy since the board president and I agreed. To be fair, they were all pretty similar options.

Picking elevator colors was more challenging and we needed decisions so the project won't be delayed. I like this blue background. We didn't have a choice on the black between the color (unless we wanted to increase the budget). We also had to choose the color of the inside of the doors and the outside. The first- and second-floor elevator doors could have been different colors, but we kept them the same and neutral. We even had to choose the color for the light around the elevator buttons. Who knew? I never thought when I went to work Thursday I'd be helping to design an elevator.

New Yorker Impressionism puzzle

I like puzzles of New Yorker magazine covers (they remind me of my mother-in-law who appreciated the cover art) but this Impressionism painting one was hard. I tried to start with the border, then switched to the water and the title. The rest was piece by piece and a lot of luck.

This was a difficult puzzle but it's done ... and surprisingly, complete!

Piper chillin’

As much as I try to keep these cats off the counters, they insist. Piper looks like she's challenging me.

Grr.

And sitting pretty on the buffet.

Another Lenten night

My friend, M, asked over the weekend if Andy and I would be attending the next Lenten soup supper on Monday. I told her yes, if she has a good craft planned since Andy really enjoyed doing it a couple of weeks ago. She said she had a good one planned so we agreed to go.

And, as promised, he liked it.

The finished product. Mine is on the left, Andy's is on the right. I was having some issues trying to get the pompoms to stick to the cross.

I've been going through my cookbooks and magazines and getting rid of ones I know I'll never use. This book had one recipe marked - Pecan Turtle Bars - and since I had all of the ingredients, I made them and took about half of the pan along. They were a success. I came home with an empty dish.

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.

Spring is near

Andy worked from home yesterday so he finished a bit early and we headed to One Lake Brewing for its happy hour (and light dinner). They had the upstairs deck open (yay!), testing to make sure everything was in working order before spring technically arrives so that was a nice surprise. It was rainy most of the day but cleared up in the late afternoon. Temps almost reached 70.

Then we drive west to the grocery store for the weeky shopping. The sunset was spectacular ...

and it got better the farther west we drove. Notice the el train in the right of this picture. Perfect timing.

Wild puzzle

Interesting puzzle, right? It's a bit too big for my puzzle board which is unfortunate because...

the cats are loving these pieces. They take them and chew them. If all the pieces end up on this one, it will be a miracle.

So I finished it in a little over a day because it needed saving from the cats. One piece is missing and since so many of the pieces are chewed up, this one is likely going in the recycling bin. Such a cool design though.