This week @ the Welch's

Oh boy! Is everyone in Spokane freezing this week or what? I heard 10” of snow and sub zero temps! Brrr! If you want to know why I can’t sweet talk Rick into moving back near home (Seattle-fingers crossed), take a step out side & feel the cold. He has stated numerous times he will not go back to it. But, I still have a glimmer of hope anyway because this girl is ALL about Seattle. In 2 years from now is when we will make a move…my guess is may be to Phoenix, but, you never know. With Rick in charge, we may end up in Florida or something; we are not ruling out anywhere with warm weather at this point.

I was looking at a picture board that I had made to put updated pictures of loved ones and so far it is coming along well, but I am missing so many! On my board, I see the beautiful smiling faces of Katie, Olivia, Julia, Britney, Nic, Jillian, and jade (but Lilly stole her pic and has it up in her room). If you or your children are not listed…then that means I NEED PICS DANG IT!  We are missing you all so much & want to be able to see you in some way!

Rikki now has to have an echocardiogram to check for pulmonary hypertension due to the condition her lungs looked to be in on the CT scan last week, the doctor is suspicious. That won’t be done until early March though.

With regards to Lilly, did I mention how tall she is now? I know- everyone is tall compared to me (except nana-LOL). Lilly is looking me directly in the eye, but seems to be perhaps ¼ of an inch shorter, if that. At 11! I just feel like she is going to pass Rick by at this rate! He whole body hurts from growing so fast, and she complains of aches and pains a lot.

I think Rick is planning a golf outing tomorrow, with the new friend he made who works for Rikki’s pulmonologist, so he will be a happy man! He also talked with Rikki’s track coach and volunteered to help out at practices because they have the head football coach trying to direct sprinters and jumpers. Talk to Rikki and ask her how well that is working out!

I am busting my rump on a daily basis for Bristol-Myers Squibb & they are killing me with all their recalled medications! It has doubled my workload & not with people who are glad to be calling me either, so I have become a PRO at deescalating ticked off doctors, pharmacists, nurses & consumers, but it is wearing on me no doubt. I have been finding some solace in meditation, and studying Buddhism.

I do believe the next few days will be spent at our neighborhood gym, & perhaps grabbing a movie. Nothing big planned! Stay warm Spokane & Seattle & Phoenix!

Enough talk about NC!

Alrighty then! So, to briefly catch you up: Rick LOVES the weather here & is content, at the moment, with his job.  He gets to sleep until 4 am and considers that getting to sleep in.  He is home every day when the girls get home from school, and sometimes gets to sneak in 9 holes on the golf course too! Other than that (sounding like Grandma Welch) well, he’s just doin’ mighty fine!

Rosey is nuts. I really don’t know where to begin with her. She is doing Yearbook journalism in school, as well as film production, and she really loves what she is learning in those classes. Outside of school, she is still playing violin, & running track participating in sprinting and high-jump. This has become a bit complicated lately. For those of you who do not know, she was just diagnosed with mild Emphysema (aka COPD) & mild asthma as a result of exposure to second hand smoke as an infant. This has had a very devastating impact on all 4 grandparents, but mine in particular, since they were the source.  So- just giving a shout out here for awareness…secondhand smoke exposure really does cause long term chronic illness in children. This is a condition that has no cure, but with aggressive therapy, her doctor is hoping to improve the quality of her lung function.  With daily medications, she is able to maintain good o2 sats and continue to participate in sports. We are glad that she has a good sense of humor and is taking this in stride. In fact, she said her COPD should qualify her to get a handicapped parking tag for the car! Kids-Oy!

Lilly- keeps us on our toes, and seems to be finding her sense of “balls”, as Rikki would say, for lack of a better term. What do you call it anyway when a girl is considered “ballsy”? Her ovaries have matured? Her eggs have released? She got her fallopian tubes? What is it?  All I know is when Rikki is talking about a boy standing up to someone, or for himself or what-not, she says his “balls have dropped”. LOL. Lady like aren’t they? Well, little miss has been expressing her opinion in a less-than-polite way lately, & has almost lost her bedroom door a time or two because of it! She has also reached a spot where she must have bangs and begs for colored streaks in her hair. I did that for her once in the 3^rd grade and she won’t let it go! Lilly is still playing guitar, and writing her own tunes for it. She says she is looking for a drummer and vocalist for a garage band.  She even told me that she was ready for me to “book her gigs” at local restaurants so she can play her guitar for tips! This kid, I swear it! She did play for a sold-out talent show crowd of 450 people, the Johnny Cash song “I walk the line”, and was great!  She was nervous, but pushed through it & we are so proud! The town mayor was even the MC, so it was a big deal here in our modest little town.

As for me…well, I am trying to keep my feet planted in one spot, which is hard for me because I thrive on change & love to travel. I’m trying to focus my attentions on writing this book I’ve been working on for a few months, but can’t get to sit long enough to create anything substantial…that, and I am overly critical of my work and tend to edit, edit, edit! Also, I have been browsing some Masters programs, but we’ll see. Nothing serious yet.  I’m still on the weight loss roller coaster, but never giving up.  Anyhow, since I could have written 5 chapters of my book by now, I will bid you adieu!

Where are we anyway?

For those of you who do not know, we live out in the country, about 20 minutes outside of Raleigh, the capital city. The area is beautiful, woods all around. In fact, when you are driving on any road, lane, highway or major freeway, all you can see to either side are the trees. It can be a bit much at times when you’d like to catch a glimpse of “the big city” or figure out what is off the freeway exit-you never know what you are going to find! One time, Rick and I took an exit that was called “Greenfield Parkway”, we thought we’d see where it led. We headed off, and it looked interesting, some offices for Papa Johns pizza, UPS, and other businesses. We noticed that we seemed to be driving in a large circle, and wound up in a parking lot with nowhere to go except back to the highway. Rick was like “Parkway? Really? How can you call that a “Parkway?” It was more like an extra long off-ramp to a parking lot! Had we been able to see through all the trees, we might have noticed that it went nowhere, and passed it by.

We are lucky enough to be within 2 hrs of beautiful white sand beaches & we often take day trips down to Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, & Surf City. In fact, when we were in Surf City, the 4 of us were waded way out to our waists in the ocean. The waves were rolling in clear blue warm water & we were all talking about how easy it would be for sharks to just ride up to the shore & get someone. I was a bit freaked out by that realization because we were too far out to hop out of the water. So, like I said, were chilling out there and all of a sudden, this big wave roars up and in the wave coming at us we see a huge school of stingray. My first thought was “Eye crikey! That’s what killed the Crocodile Hunter, mate!  I let out a yelp and start propelling myself backwards as Rick is notifying the girls to look & stay put.  Before we knew it, we were surrounded with stingray just gliding along at our waists, not caring at all if they bumped us. I was wigged big time, but tried not to let the girls see. We all did get out of the water for a bit though.

I will say our most memorable beach experience has got to be on the Outer Banks. The Outer Banks is a row of barrier islands that is incredible. You have heard of the wild Spanish horses that roam free? They are still there! The infamous pirate Blackbeard actually claimed Ocracoke Island, part of the Outer Banks, as his home & was killed there in 1718. Anyhow, Nana & Papa were here on vacation, & we had just visited the site of the First Flight by the Wright Brothers at Kill Devil Hills, and attempted to see one of 4 lighthouses that line the NC shore. It was cold, & raining, but we had to stop at Kitty Hawk to see the beaches. Nana & Papa stayed in the car, but the 4 of us got out and onto the sand we went. We all walked along at our own paces, and occasionally called out to each other regarding some neat discovery we had made; the beach stretched on for endless miles upon miles and there was not another soul on the sand that day beside we 4. All you could hear were the sound of the waves crashing along the coast & watch the Pelicans gliding low overhead. It was so serene; even with the cold & rain, Rick & I hold that day as the best beach experience we have had since living out here.

Welcome Friends & Family!

Good Evening All!

Hello! Let me begin by saying that we greatly miss all our friends & relatives out west! This past year has been very interesting for us, adjusting to a much faster pace of live out on the east coast has been fun & frustrating at times. We realize, of course, that with distance brings a certain disconnect & I must say that I am really not fond of it. The 3 hour time difference may not seem like much, but in phone time, it matters a lot, especially since we all crash by 9:30 or 10. In an effort to help some of you remain familiar (if you so choose) with our brood, I have created this blog & will post regular updates at weekly intervals.  We would love to remain an active part of your lives too. Rick & I have always gotten a lot of joy from your families, & have never gotten to spend anywhere near enough time with our nieces & nephews, so please…don’t forget that we want to know about what is going on in YOUR world too!  Even a quick e-mail would do the trick!

So, welcome!