It all started a few weeks ago. Jeff told me he had a job on Friday Harbor and that it would be a couple day job so he wanted me to come with him. We decided it would be our Anniversary little get-away since our anniversary is coming up and we will be out of town for my brothers wedding.
This is what I did some of the time; sat in the sun/shade and drank my sparkling water and read my book.
Oh, and took pictures of my husband on the roof.
This is what Jeff did a lot of the time; and the reason for the trip!
He walks around on roofs like they are flat and safe and it still amazes me how he does it.
This is what I did some of the time; worked like a man. No, I am not posing. I actually don't even know my picture is being taken. I am too busy I guess :)
Jeff cleaned the roof and the sidewalks and I pressure washed the whole exterior of the building. Pregnant! I sort-of want a medal.
But instead of a medal I got to sleep here, and enjoy this beautiful view and fresh air and a couple days of R&R with my favorite person. It was so worth it.
Now I am going to go into excessive details, just a warning.
Wednesday morning started for us at 4:00am when the alarm went off. We jumped up and started packing up our stuff as quietly as we could so we wouldn't wake the kids. We were on the road about 1/2 hour later and headed to catch the first ferry of the morning. My kind auntie Melissa stayed the night at our house to be with the kids when they woke up and I had everything mapped out for her to do from breakfast to vitamins to morning routines....
When we were on the ferry we zonked. I don't know if it was the smell of gasoline in the work truck or what but I was instantly out of it and slept the entire ferry ride.
We got on the island and found the church building that Jeff was there to clean, thanks to the handy GPS. Jeff parked and got set up and I went for a brisk morning walk into town where I found an Ace Hardware and picked up some screws that had mistakenly been left behind. Then I walked back and sat on my blanket and started my book.
I sat there and read, missed my kids, wondered what my kids were doing, enjoyed the sun... until I couldn't take it any longer. I'm funny like that. All I want sometimes is an hour to do what I want, and then when I have it, I don't know what to do. So... that's when Jeff put me to work. He asked if I wanted to help and I willingly complied. Then he handed me the gun and showed me what to do. It felt good to be accomplishing something.
When we were about 1/2 way done with the job we were tired, hot, sweaty, and hungry and it was about 4:00pm so we shut down for the day and went back to our room to shower and get ready for the "vacation" part of the stay. About here is when I realize I forgot to bring my hang-up shirts. So, all I have is the sweaty t-shirt I am wearing and one other t-shirt. Literally, that is all I have.
I will not spend stupid money on clothes. Not for me, not for my kids...nope. I buy almost everything we wear second hand and if not, it is at least on sale for a really good deal. So buying a shirt while on the island was not an option. I did go looking but I was not about to spend $40+ on a shirt that I would have to buy the wrong size since apparently no-one on the island is ever pregnant. So I did with what I had.
When we got back to our room there were fresh made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and cool water at our table for us. The cookies were absolutely fantastic and the water was nice and fresh too. We enjoyed them and then walked into town to find a spot for dinner. We ended up right on the Harbor at a place that had a beautiful view, and we paid for that view. The food was fine but nothing special.
I will however spend stupid money on food. Like I like to eat out and when we do I don't do like cheap food. I like the real, fresh, local, organic... places that are more expensive. Good thing I don't spend money on clothes I guess.
After dinner we walked around town a little more. Checked out some neighborhoods, got an ice cream cone, admired the beautiful water and view...then went back and checked in to bed, way earlier than usual. We had been up since 4:00am that morning.
Thursday we woke up and went down to a beautiful homemade breakfast of poached eggs and polenta, fresh rhubarb cake and homemade granola. My kind of breakfast, and then some! We ate with a really nice gay couple from San Francisco. They were obviously gay and we were obviously Mormon and we all sat nicely together and enjoyed the good company of each other and the good food provided for us. We talked about our plans for the day and the sights we'd be seeing. They were going kayaking, we were going back to the job to work.
Jeff went to work after breakfast and I shopped some shops around town. I found some really cute touristy things but nothing to buy. I did go to a juice shop and get a fresh squeezed carrot, ginger, apple juice to take with me on my walk up to the church where Jeff was working. I had my backpack on and I walked down the street in my flipflops and my pregnant belly and wondered if people driving by assumed it was my first pregnancy.
When I got to Jeff I laid out my blanket and did some reading. Then I helped him by sweeping up the parking lot of the debris that the pressure washing had left all over. We were so hot, I had sweat stains where you don't want sweat stains and remember, this is my last clean shirt.
I loved watching my husband work and working with him. It really gave me a whole new perspective and was a really good experience. I have to hand it to him; He works hard! The jobs he does are not easy but he does them really well and after doing a small piece of it my hat goes off to him. I'm glad to be the mommy!
At around 4:00pm again we were finally done with the whole job. We went back again and got cleaned up a bit. Then we got into the old work van and went and did some historical sight seeing. Jeff's Grandma was born on the Island and still has relatives there. We drove around and visited the home where she grew up, and across the street we met and talked to Uncle Frank for a while. Then we drove around some more to the land that Jeff's Great, Great, Grandparents settled and found the roads that were named after their family. It was so fascinating seeing the familiar names on road signs and looking out on the beautiful land that they once lived on. We also knocked on the doors of his Great Grandparents old neighbors and we talked to them about the family, the land, the history.... We both really enjoyed this part of the trip and learned a little more about what life was like in the early days on the Island. (oh, and we both got stung by stinging nettles too).
That night we ate at a fancy little hole in the wall but the meal was fantastic. Jeff had steak and mashed potatoes and I had shrimp and a really tangy rice noodle salad. It was late by the time we got to dinner and we were again, exhausted. We ate and then went back to our room for the view and the bed. I was ready to be home about now. Our kids were being well taken care of by my mom,sister,aunts, but I like to take care of my kids myself and it was hard for me to be away.
Friday we woke up again and were greeted by breakfast and our new friends from San Francisco. Breakfast was homemade Bagles (yum), cream cheese, salmon, fresh cherries, and this crazy good torte with pine nuts and cranberries and beet greens. After breakfast we got in line for the ferry and walked around town while the van held our spot. Then when it was time to go we got back in and this time we didn't sleep. We went up top to the ferry and looked out across the water over a few games of Gin.
This is really long but, we finally got to my moms and found our children. They were happy and safe and well taken care of and happy to see us (but I don't think as happy as we were to see them). They had been swimming, eating watermelon, and having fun with cousins for the past 2 days.
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