Sylvia's Scenario

In honor of Memorial Day today, Bruce and I took a drive out to the  Tahoma National Cemetery  where my parents are buried.   This is a veterans cemetery about 45 minutes from our house and it's very beautiful out there. During World War II, my father was stationed in  the South Pacific and was a mechanic on aircraft.   My father died in 1993 of cancer at the age of 75 and my mom passed away in 2009 from a stroke at 86 years old.  I'm glad they are laid to rest here because it is such a beautiful place.  The cemetery has a gorgeous view of Mt. Rainier, which happened to be out today. The whole place was decorated for Memorial Day and it was just so beautiful.  It was a perfect day to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.  And also a perfect day to just remember those who are no longer with us.      What did you do for Memorial Day?

 We have enjoyed being home this long Memorial Day weekend and mostly relaxing, entertaining and a little yard work.  We planted some color spots around the yard and did lots of weed pulling - fun!  Bruce's sister, Lynn, was visiting while she attended a wedding in the area of the daughter of a friend from her hometown of Kansas City.   She is an avid gardener herself, so she was more than happy to help out around the yard but we did lots of other little fun local activities, too, like visiting Volunteer Park and the  Conservatory where there are lots of gorgeous plants.  Her visit was perfect timing because our own wisteria is in full bloom on our front porch so we all took lots of photos in front of it.  We wait all year for the two weeks of it's bloom so we need to enjoy it while it lasts.  Lynn aims for 10,000 steps a day so we made sure she had opportunities for that.  On her first day, we went down to Alki beach.  I still can'

For our Mother's Day this year, my sister made this cake for dessert. It looks like a big donut, doesn't it? It sort of tasted like it, too!  It is a very rich, chocolate-y cake but the cream cheese filling adds just the right amount of contrast to the chocolate.  Then add the cream cheese frosting on top and it is a great combo of rich, dense chocolate and creamy sweetness in-between. So yummy! Everyone loved it and it was such a special treat. Us moms were not suppose to cook on Mother's Day since it was our day of pampering. Just look at all our wonderful presents: Barbara decided she wanted this cake for Mother's Day because it's been one of her favorites for 20 years so she just decided to make it. (One of the those tried and true desserts) Similar to last year, I made our family favorite lemon cake  for Mother's Day even though the moms were suppose to be relaxing. When it comes to dessert, we take that very seriously s

Hi Mom, it's me. Happy Mother's Day. I know it's been 8 years since we've seen each other but it doesn't seem that long. It still seems like you should be here, especially now that we live back in Seattle. I look over at where you lived on Capitol Hill from our view all the time and wish I could still come over and visit you.    We were so excited about moving back to Seattle when we found this house but there was that one little ache in my heart knowing you were no longer here. And I miss you. I wish we could still hang out together again - go to lunch, go for coffee, join us at all our family gatherings. I know you would love our house here. When we have everyone over, it's so perfect and the good times really start to roll! So much laughter and happiness, silliness and fun. You know how we all are. You would love it.  And, of course, the food we have is always so amazing. We all followed in your footsteps and became amazing cooks. The

This was my dinner tonight and I didn't lift a finger. No, Bruce did not prepare this. He's out-of-town for work and I am laid up with a bum foot.  I had a bone spur removed last week and still must stay off of it.  I do have that boot to wear when I hobble around like I did last year when I had that Morton's neuroma removed. Such fun. So, how did I get such a lovely dinner tonight? I mean, it was an awesome dinner; homemade potato gnocchi with spicy pork sausage ragu sauce, Caesar salad with homemade dressing and croutons, and homemade french bread. It was unbelievable.   It was from  Josephine  and I'm happy to say I have two very active Josesphines within blocks of my house.  It a relatively new company that started in California and I like to think of it as a foodie Uber, only instead of ordering a ride, you are ordering a meal.  You see, there are people all over cooking meals in their own homes.  You can sign up to be a cook, then