Ticket to Ride With Us

I had a really nice experience a couple of weeks ago that I thought would be nice to share with all of you. We were at a really cool store in Queen Anne called Blue Highway Games with our friend Jon. The great thing about this board game store is that they have a copy of each of their games available for people to just come in and play. They have a bunch of tables in the back to sit at and you can stay as long as they are open. So we played a game that I had never played before and that I can't remember the name of. I lost, no surprise there, but it was fun all the same.

While we were finsihing the end of the game a couple who looked in their 30's came into the store and started playing Ticket to Ride. Apparently there was to be a Ticket to Ride tournament the next week and so they wanted to brush up. about 5 minutes later an old gentleman (probably 70-75) came in and asked if he could sign up for the tournament. The guy at the desk replied that of course he could and asked if he had played the game before. He hadn't. The guy that worked there went over to the couple playing the game (who hadn't even started yet), explained the situation and asked if they would let the old  man play with them. Without even considering it they said no. I was flabbergasted! I know that I have a particular soft spot in my heart for old people, but seriously, how cold of them. 

The old man sat on the little couch alone and began reading the directions of the game alons (there were two copies of that game). As soon as we finished the game we were playing I jumped up and asked the old man if he wanted someone to play that game with him. We invited the man to our table, found out that his name was Don, and had Jon start explaining how to play. Since Ricky and I hadn't played before either, Don didn't feel like he was holding us back or anything. We had a great time with the game and all walked out at the end of the night feeling great.

I wish that lovely opportunities to be kind and charitable would crop up more often and that I was more aware of them. It feels good to help someone out in a way that is safe and that doesn't involve handing money to a guy with a sign on the street corner. Thanks Don.

Skinny Pants and Budding Greens

I haven't really felt up to blogging lately. I don't know why really, it may be that I haven't had an overwhelming amount of positive things to say or that I've just been really tired. I have a bit of the winter blues I guess.

I've tried really hard this year to find the beauty in winter. I think I've done a pretty decent job oweing to the fact that things have been fairly dry. The things about winter that I think are beautiful are as follows:

1) You can see all of the birds nests in trees that are hidden by leaves during the other three seasons.

2) While the trees are mostly naked, it's fun to be able to look at their different branching patterns and see the little buds start creeping out of the ends of the small twigs.

3) Rain washes worms closer to the surface of the soil so birds are easy to spot rooting around.

4) The few plants that bloom or maintain color in the winter are that much more striking because of their solitude--particularly plants with bright red berries.

Overall I think winter is very subtley beautiful and it just takes time to appreciate it. Honestly I wish I could spend more time outside appreciating it but instead I spend most of my time underground. Gross.

Being the bookkeeper and The Pasta Warehouse means that I sit in a stuffy windowless basement for 5-6 hours a day counting money and answering phones. If I'm being completely honest, I pretty much hate it. I hated it from day one and thought I would like it better when I was better at it. False. I am now quite good at my job but dislike it just the same. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful that I have a job right now, it keeps food on our tiny table and gas in our car. I just wish I was doing what I'm trained for, going outside and teaching kids to love our planet. *Sigh.*

Since I have a history of running dangerously low on vitamin D, I decided to suck it up and go tanning last week. This was such a good choice. I don't love tanning and I will certainly never make a habit of it but my body desperately needed some rays. I felt so good afterward! I have had noticeably more energy the past few days and don't really mind that my skin is slightly less transparant.

Two great things happened today that helped reduce my winter woes.

Thing one: I decided to wear my red corduroys today. These are my skinniest pants (waist wise) and I have had gross love handles sticking out over them for the past year, so I haven't worn them much at all. Today I put them on and not only did I not have love handles, I had about a 1/2 inch of extra room in the waist. Heck yes, I really feel quite good about the little un-fat efforts I've been making.

Thing two: I haven't really checked on my flower garden lately, I planted bulbs there a few months ago but there isn't much to do with them over the winter. I went over to have a look at my little garden today and found a few little green stems beginning to sprout up out of the ground! I am so thrilled about this. This is my first ever garden and I can't wait to see how things turn out. To see those green buddies reminded me that I have almost made it through the long, cold winter and that spring is just around the corner.