Our focus was on Katie, Sheila's 10-year-old daughter. We knew that she was fairly accomplished in Scottish Dancing but seeing her in a different environment showed her talent compared to everyday kids. She is an exhibitionist whose enthusiasm and abandon draws the attention of the audience. The good news is that she knows the choreography, rhythm and is a leader for the kids in the chorus line. It was fun to see them do their thing with such enthusiasm.
Sheila, Jay and Ally came up the night before and were there when we arrived. Jay?s mother and sister also came for the festivities. All in all the whole experience had a certain element of déjà vu.
After camp on Saturday, we left for Eastern Washington to see Jerry's Mom, Don and Ricki. The purpose of this trip was to try and straighten the signature authority on Jerry's Mom's checking account and to add a CD burner to the grocery store'[s computer. On our last trip we had set up with the bank that I signed the signature card and that Don verified my signature and added his own. Well, it didn't work. When Don went to the bank, they didn't know or understand anything. The CD burner didn't fair any better. To install the CD burner required an upgrade to the operating system and a converter connector. Didn't have either with me. We did set up to meet with Don at the bank on Wednesday morning. Since we couldn't accomplish anything useful, we left early for Cindy and Terry's in the Tri-cities to help with their move.
I think I told you that Cindy and Terry bought a new house and we volunteered to help them move - goody - goody - in hundred degree temperatures. Sunday evening was quiet but early Monday morning we picked up the moving truck and started. Terry's son Ryan, Ryan's wife (Tracy) and two of his friends helped with the heavy stuff. I thought the truck was too big, but we filled it to the brim and the truck cab and their two cars and our car and Ryan's van and one of his friend's pick-up trucks. The amazing thing was we packed out in under two and a half hours. The unload, at the new house, was nearly as fast and we had everything moved by early afternoon.
Tuesday we unpacked boxes. The four of us, Cindy, Terry, Nancy and Jerry with a little help from Ryan and Tracy, made a pretty good dent in getting the new house in order. By Tuesday evening we all felt comfortable enough to kick back, try the pool and vegg.
Wednesday morning we left for a 10:30 meeting at Mom and Don's bank. Sometimes the bureaucracy and mindset at banks can be overwhelming. After a month of working on a relatively simple problem, the banks? solution was to paper over the problem with a new layer that had to be partly undone and required changes at the Social Security Office (more bureaucracy). It took longer than we expected but we did make it home (Camano Island) by early evening.
Put out the crab traps on Friday, just for us. Picked them up Saturday after golf course marshalling and had the worst catch ever. No only were there only four lady crabs in one trap and none in the other, but both lines were coated with red jellyfish stingers. I hadn't brought gloves - so it was a matter of toughing it out or rowing back for gloves. The long range damage was having no crab for dinner.
We only have a couple more weeks when we can fish for crab and the season is over. Hope we get some more as it's pretty good fresh off the beach, into the pot, chill and onto our plates. Ummm, good!