New Blog

Sorry to switch on everyone, but since I am no longer going crazy at the B&B I thought it was time for a change!

You can find me here: thepachamama.blogspot.com

Memories of Grandpa

Ice cream bars at Brookside
Gardening
Yummy soups
Sunday Dinners
Watching golf on tv
Hard worker
Visits to Sun City, AZ
Chicken

I'm glad that my grandpa and grandma can be together again. Grandpa's been pretty tired for a long time, he would always tell me how none of his siblings lived past their sixties and he didn't know why he was still hanging around (his 91st birthday would have been in August)! Delia didn't like to go visit him because she said he was grumpy, I couldn't really argue with that - he was grumpy! But he really appreciated the visits, he would tell me that he loved me and to come back again soon - grumpy and sweet at the same time.
I'm going to head out to Nova Scotia today and I'll be back on Tuesday. Jason's company is letting him work from home for the next few days - hopefully he'll be able to get some work done.

EDWARDS, Ernest BertramEDWARDS, Ernest Bertram - 1917-2008. Colonel Ernie Edwards passed away on Wednesday, June 25, 2008. He will be missed by his family and loved ones. Born in Glen Falls, Saint John, N.B., he was the youngest son of Frederick Edwards and Clara Shackell. He was predeceased by all eleven of his siblings, his son, Paul; two grandchildren and a great-grandchild. His beloved wife of 61 years, Bridget Roseleen "Delia", passed away in 2002. He is survived by his children, Murray (Diane), New Minas; Rozanne (Roger) Hall, Medford, Ore.; Judith (Gordon) Macmichael, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.; Sylvia (Michael Wells), Phoenix, Ariz.; David (Jeannie), Gary (Jennifer), Toronto; 27 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren, and his dear friend, Lillian Rodgers. Ernie Edwards spent his early life traveling throughout Canada with his widowed mother as she sought work as a cook in logging camps. Leaving school in grade six, Ernie worked variously as a butcher and soda jerk before hitting the rails during the Depression in an attempt to escape the dismal poverty that had enveloped the land. In Kansas City, he collapsed from hunger and was taken in off of the street by a restaurateur who provided food and lodging in exchange for dish washing duties. This is when Ernie had the revelation that would shape his life: if you were in the restaurant business, you and your family would never go hungry. The Second World War drew Ernie away from the dust bowl of the Depression and deposited him overseas with the Canadian Army Corps of Engineers where he rose to the rank of Sergeant, met his wife, Delia, and started his family. After six years of service to his country, he returned to the town of his birth and took work at a lunch counter. In 1948, Ernie brought his growing family to Nova Scotia in order to take advantage of an offer to manage the lunch counter at the Vogue Theatre on Gottingen Street in Halifax. A few years later, his employers helped him to acquire a small operation on Barrington Street, and Edwards Fine Food was born. The trust and generosity shown to him by his backers touched him deeply and influenced his dealings with others throughout his lifetime. Having developed a reputation for a great hamburger, Ernie soon had eight lunch counters around town, along with his flagship, the Town and Country, a family restaurant, on Quinpool Road. Around this time, he took an interest in the Canadian Restaurant Association (as it was then known) and in 1961 acted as the Association's President. Through the CRA, he met Colonel Harland Sanders and agreed to introduce Kentucky Fried Chicken to the the East Coast of Canada. In the early sixties, the Town and Country restaurant sold more KFC than any other outlet in the world. Before long, Edwards Fine Food was operating KFC outlets throughout the province. In recognition of this success, Colonel Sanders had Ernie inducted into the Honorary Order of Kentucky Colonels and from that time on, Ernie Edwards became known to all as Colonel Ernie. At its peak, Edwards Fine Food and its subsidiaries employed over six hundred Nova Scotians, many of whom refer to Ernie and his wife, Delia, as "Mom" and "Dad" to this day. Throughout his career, Colonel Ernie, together with his wife and family, sought to repay the province and the people that had brought them such success and prosperity. The poverty he suffered in his youth and his later associations with Colonel Harland Sanders, himself a world-renowned philanthropist, led Colonel Ernie on a path of unbridled generosity that continues to this day and will live on in perpetuity through his Edwards Family Charitable Foundation. His key area of interest in this regard has always been the health, education and well-being of children. In addition to his role as Chair of his family Foundation, which acts exclusively in Nova Scotia, Colonel Ernie was an Honorary Life Director of the Colonel Harland Sanders Charitable Organization, which has been making substantial gifts in the areas of children's health care and support for families in need, throughout North America. Colonel Ernie was the only surviving charter member of the Halifax Northwest Chapter of Rotary International, where he was a Paul Harris Fellow. He lived to see his Rotary chapter celbrate its 50th anniversary this past spring. With his wife Delia, he is an inductee of the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. Recognized nationally by his peers in the hospitality industry, he is the recipient of the Jack C. Simms Award for Promoting Excellence in Education and, again with Delia, was bestowed with the Canadian Hospitality Foundation's Man (and wife) of the Year Award. The Colonel and his Lady's efforts were also recognized with the Nova Scotia Philanthropist's Society Community Giving Award. For many years, he was a member of the Armdale Yacht Club, where he kept his boat, The Lady Colonel. He was at one time an avid curler at the Halifax Curling Club and he remained an active member of the Ashburn Golf Club to the end of his life. Visitation will be today from 7-9 p.m. and Saturday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. in J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 2666 Windsor St., Halifax. The funeral service will be held Monday at 10 a.m. in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 205 Lacewood Dr., in Halifax. A reception will follow at the Ashburn Golf Club. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Edwards Family Charitable Foundation or the charity of your choice. E-mail condolences to: condolences.snow@ns.aliantzinc.ca

Little bits of what we've been up to

We had a great time visiting with my mom and sister last week. The weather was cold and rainy every day, but the day they left. My mom kept saying she couldn't figure out why real estate is so expensive here - she couldn't understand why any one would want to live here! We've been liking it so far, and not minding the weather - I have found it pretty similar to Nova Scotia. While we had visitors we were able to go the children's museum in Everett which the kids loved, we went to a store at the Everett Mall where you dig for fossils (I thought it was kind of lame, but the kids had a good time) and we went to the zoo on the day mom and Jessica left. We kept busy and I tried out lots of new recipes - fun times! I think my favorite recipe was the frozen peanut butter hot chocolate recipe from Serendipity in NY (I found it in January's Bon Apetit magazine, but you can find it - here). We also played lots of Blokus and scrabble! Mom and Jessica are getting ready to move back to Nova Scotia and we are so glad that they got to come for a visit before they left Phoenix!

Today the kids and I headed to a shopping area in North Seattle called University Village. I was meeting a friend from my veg prep days (that was my on-campus job during most of my college years). It was great to see her and her little girl. We had a great time catching up and I was proud of myself for getting there and back on the commuter buses!

And we are excited because tomorrow, Jason's brother, Ryan is coming to visit us for the evening. He's in town for work and we are excited to catch up with him. Joshua and Delia just wish he could bring some friends (that's what they call their cousins) too.

Happy Father's Day

I love this picture of Joshua and Jason (it's from Easter of 2004).


Joshua and Delia both think their father is the greatest dad in the world and he really is.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers!

Throw out your TV!

I was reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Joshua last night for his bedtime story. I loved this Oompa Loompa song that comes after Mike Teavee has shrunk himself. I'm thinking Roald Dahl had pretty strong opinions on television:

The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rate and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

Happy Birthday to Jason and other recent events

We have been enjoying Everett. Last week the kids and I spent quite a bit of time looking for a midwife. We interviewed three different women and got to learn our way around the city a bit too. We tried to go to a church playgroup on Thursday, but got lost (I blame it on google maps!). Jason and I also took the kids to the Ballard Locks in Seattle on Memorial Day.We had a lot of fun watching the boats go through the locks. It was an adventure getting there (3 buses and about an hour and a half each way), but we had a good time!
My lovely sister sent us a couple of packages last week. She sent this book, which I adore and this knitting book which I am also enjoying. I decided with my newly found time I wanted to learn to knit! I have made three wash cloths so far and my next project is a blanket for the new baby.
Yesterday was Jason's birthday. Sorry - no pictures yet, I need to get a new card reader. We had a lovely dinner and Jason enjoyed all of his phone calls and emails. For dinner we had a lemon roasted chicken, crash hot potatoes (click on it - you need to try this recipe!), homemade rolls, and a chocolate cake. We didn't eat much of the cake, Jason had got a cake at work that he brought home too - so we have lots of cake!
We're looking forward to a visit from my mom and little sister next week. Joshua's hoping we can make it to the zoo while they are here. He's also wondering when other people are coming to visit us. Yesterday he asked when Aunt Sarah was coming for a visit. Whenever we drive by a McDonald's he tells me that his Grandpa will take him there when he comes for a visit. And he keeps talking about Brady and Uncle Mike coming to visit him this Summer. We're hoping to make it down to Medford, Oregon over 4th of July weekend to visit family as well. So hopefully with all of our visiting we won't feel so far from family!

We're Here and Together Again

Here's our quick update:
The kids and I flew from Manchester, NH to Seattle, WA (layover in Chicago, IL) on Monday. On Sunday my dad and step-mom drove us from Halifax to New Hampshire. Everything went so well on both days. The kids were great in the car and on the flights. We are happy to be here and to be together again!
We have been exploring the past couple of days - finding the local Target and Trader Joe's (I love Trader Joe's - friendly staff-nice to my kids, great products), we also headed to Renton yesterday and found the IKEA. We're doing lots of unpacking and trying to make our apartment feel like home. We're still adjusting to the four-hour time change, waking up at 4:00 and 5:00 am!
And the best news of all - Jason is liking his job!