whew, I'm back..

It's been a while! It's been a very challenging couple of weeks, making it difficult to find the space within myself to engage and share. I learn, as always, that life keeps moving forward and so do you, regardless of the challenges that threaten to push you to your limits.

The bright spots? Lots of time with friends, a lovely 24 hour getaway to Whidbey Island, and a fair amount of time in the dirt..

Mothers Day weekend, my friend and I hopped on a ferry Saturday night and headed to Whidbey Island. It's embarassing for me to say that I haven't spent much time, if any really, on Whidbey after living here for 15 years. D is a pro, and booked us a sweet little cottage for the evening. We spent Sunday driving all over the island, going into the small towns, shopping at the charming shops, and enjoying the perfect weather. It was a great day for a drive.. We went into Coupeville, Langley, drove over Deception Pass and came back home through La Conner. The whole time, we both were commenting how thankful we were to live in such a beautiful state- where you could travel just an hour or two and be in a completely different geographic area. We spent our day driving and experiencing island life, and came home through farmlands, before entering the city again. It's just such a beautiful place to live.

I've done a fair amount of planting in both of my gardens. In Woodinville, I planted some tomato, cucumber, and pepper plants, along with a few fingerling potatoes a neighboring gardener shared with me. In Seattle, we planted more potatoes & tomatoes, beans, radishes, lettuces, pickling cucumbers, and beets. It will be really interesting to see how the different gardening areas perform.

Another first this week was attending the opening night gala of Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). The gala was held at Benaroya Symphony Hall, and included a post-movie reception. The opening night movie was called 'The Extra Man', and entertaining and well acted. I went with some friends who are close with one of the directors at SIFF, and they were able to score me a VIP wristband for the post party. Super fun party, good food, free cocktails, and an awesome swag bag to boot! It was a fun night, and another first to add to my list!

All in all, life is moving forward. While I may get caught up in myself and feel like I'm stuck like a bee in a honey, life is filled with some moments of joy and laughter. Things may not be ideal, or look anything like I thought they might or wish they did, but it could be worse.