Wahoo Nicki & Donny!!!

My best best best friend is engaged!!!

What a great pair she and Donny are. They will be amazing partners as they journey through life together.

Congratulations Nicki and Donny :D :D :D

(P.S. Yay me for keeping it a secret even though I really, really, really, really wanted to spill the beans!)

Nicki and Napa - What a Great Combo!

The last weekend in July I flew up to Fairfield, CA to help Nicki pack up her apartment for the big move to Great Falls, MT. A whole weekend of Nicki-Molly time and an afternoon in Napa Valley - SWEET!

It was so so so so wonderful to see my best friend. There is nothing like some high quality girl time to refresh your spirit. We laughed, talked, watched girl flicks, went for walks, went shopping, went to the gym, oh and packed up the apartment :-) On Saturday we did a champagne tour of Napa Valley. It was freaking fantastic. The weather was perfect, the company delightful, the scenery unparalleled and the champagne delicious. Of course I'll visit you wherever you live, Nicki, but I'm sad you won't be so close to Napa anymore. It's just so gorgeous and so much fun!

Ah, McCall

McCall this year was a blast as always. It was one of the coldest years I can remember up there - we wore sweatshirts and jeans most days. (I must confess it was a nice break from the 110* + temperatures in Scottsdale, though.) This chilly weather meant less time hanging out by the lake and more time inside but we of course made the most of it and had fun anyway.

We watched fireworks from the dock on the Fourth of July, played bocce ball, ate tasty food, watched Camelot, played games, played poker, ate Grandma's awesome cookies, walked to town, read books, relaxed, put together puzzles, went kayaking, and just generally enjoyed ourselves. Oh, and Grandma refreshed me on how to knit and taught Katie, too. So fun! We also got to see lots of friends and Casey's family before we left Boise for McCall. I love spending time with our families and friends - I miss them so much.

The Todd & Mom

Kate & me

Payette Lake

Getting dark, almost time for...

...fireworks! It was so fun to watch the fireworks over the lake from the dock.

Happy 4th of July!

My family :-)

The Todd, Emma, Daniel, Mom, and Grandma hanging out in Roseberry.

We all tried our hand at bocce ball - love that game!

Three generations of Richner women.

Kate, Grandma, and Mom chillin' on our favorite swing at Ice Cream Alley.

Grandma with her knitting students.

Aunt Sessie brought waterproof disposable cameras with us when we went kayaking so I'm hoping to see those soon and upload a few of them here. Kayaking was so much fun. The weather finally warmed up a bit that day and we took full advantage of it. Only one person managed to tip over (I won't mention any names, Mom), but she made a full recovery :-) We saw loads of fish, a heron, and a mama deer with two babies. I love the outdoors!

McCall is always lots of fun and I look forward to it every year. Thank you Grandma for treating us to such a great family trip each year. Only 11 more months until next year!

And a Half...

You know how when you ask a little kid how old they are, if it’s more than a few months after their birthday they’ll always add “…and a HALF” to their age. “I’m eight and a HALF.” They are telling you that those six months are so important, that they have gained wisdom and experience far beyond their mere eight years. Oh what an ignorant child they were at the pitiful age of eight, but the insight that additional half year has granted them is beyond measure.

I took care of a patient this week who is dying. I was talking with this man’s wife shortly after he was transferred to my unit and I casually asked how long they had been married. She replied “Fifty-five and a half years.” It really struck me that she added “and a half.” I’m sure they’ve been through it all in those fifty-five years. She could have answered with a nice round number and that would have been a sufficient answer to express their lifelong partnership. But she didn’t. She chose to include that extra half a year, those precious six months that she has gotten to spend with her mate. She has gained insight and wisdom and had an extra one hundred and eighty some odd days to spend with her husband beyond a mere 55 years.

And a half. How profound those three little words were to me. Thank you Mrs. _________ for helping me to remember how important each day with a loved one is and to celebrate the pebbles that come between the milestones.

Blogger Issues

Does anyone else have trouble with putting spaces inbetween paragraphs using Blogger? They show up on my preview but not on my webpage...

8/9 - Edited to add: I have found a semi-solution to my problem. I found the html code for a line break. I go ahead and write my post, add pics, etc, then publish it, find the errors, then go back in and add the line break code where it's needed. It's kind of annoying, but better than having gigantic paragraphs.

Mayhem, mayhem!

In the spirit of being productive on my day off and you know, providing good and healthy food for our little family of two, I went to the grocery store today. I figured on a Wednesday at 11am it wouldn’t be very crowded and I could be in and out in no time. Oh how wrong I was…

Unbeknownst to me, (wow I don’t think I’ve ever written out unbeknownst before, it looks funny but spellcheck says it’s right) …anyway Wednesday is Senior Day at Fry’s – 10% off for senior citizens. In most parts of the country this would just mean a few extra Hover-rounds cruising the aisles, but here in Scottsdale, the mecca for retirees, it meant absolute chaos. First of all, in navigating the aisles to collect my items I had to weave my way around canes and wheelchairs, which for the record, is not easy to do with a full cart.

Once I finally had everything from my list I had to check out. Now, for those of you that don’t already know, I am a horrible line-picker. Just ask anyone who’s ever been to the airport or any store with me. No matter what I wind up behind the family with three strollers, two laptops and a case of bottled water or the guy with 39 coupons who questions every single item the cashier rings up. Today was no exception. It took me twenty, yes TWENTY minutes to get checked out. And of course I wound up behind the guy with the coupons who wanted paper, not plastic, who couldn’t find his Fry’s card. Oh joy. But, hey, at least I wasn't in a hurry and managed to keep myself entertained by reading the trashy magazine headlines. Gotta love those silver linings :-)

*Note: for the record I actually really love older people a lot and think they are awesome - I just don't want to grocery shop with them!