Plowing Right In

We had our first snow of 2008 yesterday. Unlike Lily's first excursion into the snow, when she was so tentative and skittish, this time she plowed right in. No fear. She plopped right down and even got on her belly several times and said she was "tend swim" (translation: "pretending to swim").


And then we made Lily's first snowman! Below is a picture of our masterpiece, complete with carrot for a nose and chopsticks for arms. That was not supposed to be any cultural reference to Lily's national origin...it was all mom found in a moment's notice.


By the way, please, no wise cracks about the kid's gloves. We still have not bought her any snow mittens or gloves. So we used the poor man's method...fleece mittens covered by surgical gloves. Hey, at least it's a step up from the last playtime in the snow. We used baggies and rubber bands then!

Today did not start out well

Don't worry. It did get better. More about that in a moment.

We were on our way to Olympia to get all our our documents state-sealed so that we could finally get our dossier sent to our agency in Seattle, then off to China.

Our first stop was Bartel Drug Store to get a photocopy made. Copier was out of order.

Our next stop was Albertson's supermarket. Copier was out of order.

Julie then drove across the parking lot to Staples' to make the photocopy. Success.

Back to Albertson's and our credit union branch inside to get a couple of signatures notarized. The branch officer could not locate her stamp. After a futile search, she had to get another notary to do the job.

Before driving to Olympia, we needed some sustenance, so we went over to Starbuck's also inside Albertson's. Water supply not working. No coffee.

No problem. We bought a couple of bagels and drinks from Albertson's. Total price? $6.66. Freaky.

Now, I don't put any stock whatsoever in stuff like that, but the way things were going, you have to admit, it was a little weird.

Everything else went swimmingly. Weather and traffic were fine on the hour and forty-five minute drive to Olympia. Hardly had to touch my brakes even going through downtown Seattle. Same on the way back. And it took all of a half-hour at the state offices to get our paperwork completed.

Julie's putting the finishing touches on the dossier as I type this. Tomorrow she will deliver it to our agency in Seattle.