Very First Halloween Pumpkin

Yi with her very first Halloween pumpkin

Volunteer work can be fun too!  This is Yi (pronounced E) who is a new volunteer down at the Akiyama Wellness Center.  She has never carved a Halloween pumpkin before until today.  I won a pumpkin at our last staff meeting and didn't have time to get it craved.  Yi did a great job with a little coaching from some of our seniors.

learning how to pull out the gut from a pumpkin

Today was a very productive and lucky day for me.  This is the last weekend before our house goes on the market. 

• I made what I hope is the last run to the dump.
• Got the last Beckmann's Strawberry Olallieberry pie at the farmer's market. It's the best pie around and one of my Dad's favorites. I thought they would only have pumpkin and pecan like last week so I was super thrilled when I saw it.
• The Hope charity truck was open so I could drop off all the clothes that are now to big for me. I decided last night it would be foolish to pack clothes that don't fit anymore.
• Can't have pie without high fat ice cream. I really wanted to get my Dad's favorite Haagen Dazs ice cream to go along with his pie. Almost gave up finding White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. In my need to keep things in order, I started putting the ice cream back in their proper places when waaaaay in the back was the last of the raspberry ice cream.  Happy dance down the ice cream aisle.
• I was lucky all morning, so I picked up a lottery ticket.  Stay tuned to see how that turns out. :)






Annie On Duty

Annie on duty

Annie earned her keep this morning.  I had her at work with me today (it would be a quiet day at the center) and she's getting to know the routine not to bark at everyone and not whine when I'm not in my office with her.
Today I had a strange man come in asking about some classes.  Instinct told me he wasn't interested in classes at all but was scoping out the building and seeing how many people were here. One of the things program coordinators have to be good at is following their gut feelings and mine was telling me trouble ahead.  He started down the hall toward our kitchen area and saw Annie behind the dog gates. He said "nice dog" and then turned around and left.  Not sure what would have happened if Annie was not here, but luckily I did not have to find out.
Annie LOVES to come into work with me.  She has tons of people to play with all day and best of all she is with mom 24/7. :)  Another reason I love where I work.

Annie first full day at work

This was Annie's first full day at work.  She learned quickly that she didn't have to bark at everyone coming through the door.  She also found out that if you roll a tennis ball across the counter at someone, they will roll it back to you.  Several people knew she was coming in today so they stopped by to see her.  All I can say is I have one tired pup on my hands.  Along with the cats, Annie will be going to her new home in a few weeks. It's a foster situation while I try and find affordable housing that allows big dogs. If I can't, then she will be adopted by a very nice family.  I try to enjoy all my time with Annie and live in the moment.  It breaks my heart to have to let her go but at least I know I've found a good home for her.

Annie Free Day

Annie Free Day

 I was told Mr. Purrcy had a very relaxing "Annie free" day today. Annie had to go into work with me while a super good friend cleaned and polished my hardwood floors. She did a great job but it was so sad at the same time.  I have such a beautiful house that we remodeled thinking we would retire here. If you look on the bright side, at least I got to remodel a house with everything that I would want at least once in my life.  The other sad note is with the sale of the house only weeks away Mr Purrcy and Miss Squeak will be going to their new home.  My soon to be ex said he would take them but he again waited too long to find a place to live and it's very hard to rent a place with animals.  Again on the bright side I found a wonderful cat person who will take both my little fur babies in.

Cup of Kindness

It's been a stressful past few months. Lots of changes and things to take care of when getting divorced especially when you have non fine print soon to be ex. The amount of paperwork that has to be done and the work of getting my house  ready to sell is at times overwhelming.   Some times I just have to leave the house to find some peace and quiet. Get away from the negative energy vibes.  On Saturday morning I went to a new coffee shop to work on some paperwork when a very nice young man a head of me turned around and said "your coffee is on me".  That small random act of kindness lifted my spirits to no end.
I also have a great group of friends who have pitched in day and night to help me. From making endless trips to Goodwill, helping load and unload truck loads of stuff, help clear out the house, cleaning up and just being there for me. So looking forward to selling the house and getting to move on to my new life!

Creative Juices Flowing Again

One of the things that I love about my job at the Akiyama Wellness Center is finding the hiding talents of my volunteers and getting a undeveloped project finished in record time.  I found out that Erin (one of the massage therapist) has excellent printing skills. I had her write the quotes and notes from our stress and depression workshop last weekend on the chalk boards that were donated to the YAK. The project turned out better than I thought. Wish I took some before picture of the conference room so you could see how it looked before.

Akiyama Cookies

One of the reasons why the Akiyama Wellness Center is so popluar.  Super crispy cookies and they freeze well too!

Emily Ando’s Cookie Recipe


2 cubes better (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup oatmeal
2 tsp vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup Rice Krispies
1 cup angel flakes coconut
Emily does not use coconut, she adds dried fruit (blueberries are a favorite), M&M’s or whatever is handy and sounds good.

Blend together butter, sugar, brown sugar; add oil, egg and vanilla. Add flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Add oatmeal Rice Krispies and coconut. Put in refrigerator for several hours to get good and cold. Very lightly coat cookie sheets.
Form dough into balls. Press with fork. Bake 10 minutes at 375°. Take out and let rest on pan to set. Turn pan over and run cold water on back. Never put dough on hot pan. Makes 11 dozen

Ghandi's 7 dangers to Human Virtue

Dalai Lama

One of these days I will meet this man. 

Wonder what I will say when I do?

MLS master bedroom

Not much to show in my master bedroom.  I love the colors and texture. Didn't know how to get a picture of the closet and bed so I just settled for the bed.  I'm not one for a lot of pillows on the bed so I had to borrow some from a neighbor.

My cleaned up family room

This is my family room all cleaned up. Staging it for the MLS listings. It's so sterile looking now that all the funny stuff has been sold off.  Use to be a very comfy room way back when.  Loved my dark pink leather sofa. I know it sounds weird but it did look good. :)

MLS Kitchen photos

 Big thanks to Debbie for coming over and helping me clean up my kitchen tonight. I'm really sad that I have to sell my house.  The kitchen has always been my favorite.  Had to get it ready for the MLS photos. Will tackle the master bed room and bathroom next.  Then move on to the bonus room.  It's tough moving around in the leg brace.  I'm so lucky to have hard working friends willing to help out.

Another Day Checked Off

Big thank you for all my friends who are helping me through this very painful time.  Thankful for the great neighbors who let me come over when I need a good cry or listen to my rants when I need to vent.  It's hard to stay focused but with my family and friends by my side, I know I can see it through to the end and be in a much better place.