Covington, WA

The holidays are not kicking into full swing, and the City of Covington is ready! This year they will be presenting a two day holiday extravaganza called Covington Holydaze.

The two day event is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Covington. It takes place December 5th and 6th and it looks like there is sure to be fun for all.

DECEMBER 5th

Event: Covington Holiday Bazaar
Place: Covington City Hall
Time: 11:00 am to 3:00 pm

Event: Family Night at the Library
Place: Covington Library
Time: 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm

Event: Holiday Tree Lighting
Place: Roundabout Near Fred Meyer
Time: About 7:30 pm

DECEMBER 6th

Saturday, December 6th
Event: Santa Breakfast
Place: St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
Time: 9:00 am or 10:30 am

Event: Fruitcake Hurl
Place: Home Depot Center
Time: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

Event: Tickle Tooh Typhoon Concert
Place: Covington Library
Time: 11:00 am to 12:00 pm

Event: Float-In Movie/Parents' Night Out
Place: Covington Aquatic Center
Time: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Mark your calendar and get ready to celebrate the holidays in style!

For more deatils check out the Covington Hollydaze Webpage.

Thanksgiving is over and the holidays are officially in full swing. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, and that you have been able to spend time with family and friends and eat some amazing food.

If you are shopping today may you find some amazing bargains.

For me... I will be home decorating the house. :) :) :)

Here are my quotes for the week. Have a wonderful day and I will see you next Friday.

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Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all. -Buddha

In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on. -Robert Frost

"New" doesn't equate with "happy," or there wouldn't be any antique stores. -Wilfred Ford

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yes, I know that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and you might be thinking that I have jumped the gun a bit by bringing up the "C" word already. But there really is a very good reason why I am getting ready to spend my afternoon wrapping Christmas presents.

My father past away in the spring of '99. My mom and dad got married in 1941 when my mom was only 20; so pretty much her entire adult life was with my dad. As that first Christmas was approaching I knew that the holiday season without him was going to be incredibly hard.

I live here on the west coast, while most of my family still resides in the Ohio/Kentucky area. I knew that I would not be able to be with her, but I somehow wanted to make Christmas special. I knew that she was feeling very lonely so I got the idea of sending her several gifts and numbering and dating them so that she could open one a day leading up to Christmas. I thought if she has something to look forward to each day that maybe, just maybe, the holiday would be bearable.

Then the light bulb went on and I came up with the...

I decided to send her 12 different presents and send them early enough that she could open one each day, leading up to and including Christmas morning. I did a few nicer things... a scarf, a sweater, etc. And many small things like a snowman mug filled with candy, a Christmas pin, cookies and holiday treats.

Though it was a very hard Christmas for her, as you can imagine, the joy of the season did shine through a tiny little bit. And here we are, almost 10 years later and the tradition lives on.

And that is why I am getting ready to wrap, even though it is not yet Thanksgiving. In order to get them wrapped, boxed and there in time for her to start opening 12 days before Christmas, I need to be shipping by early next week.

Life has never been the same for my mom since my dad passed away. A large piece of her died the day he did. But hopefully the 12 days of Christmas will once again give her a bit of joy.

I come from a family of 4 girls. Yes, my poor dad has 4 daughters, amazing he stayed sane! And to make matters worse he raised us girls over a 40 year period. That is right, my parents were in there early 20's when my oldest two sisters (Pat and Jeanne) were born, my sister Mary came along when Pat and Jeanne were in HS and I made my presence known when my parents were in their early 40's. Bless their hearts!!!

I grew up on the conservative west side of Cincinnati, Ohio. To this day my other three sisters (and most of their children and grandchildren) all live fairly close. Now as a child, I was the "good" kid, I left the "wild child" stuff to my sister :) But as adults... I have been the lone renegade.

In my late 20's my husband and I moved away. We packed up the boxes, loaded the truck and took off to our new home - Tampa, Florida.

After 6 great years of being everyone's vacation destination, we picked up and moved again. And for the past 12+ years we have had the joy of calling Seattle, WA home.

What wonderful places I have had the joy of living. But with most of my family still in Ohio/Kentucky and lots of friends in Florida, I am always interested in what is going on in the world of real estate in their little corner of the universe.

Well, this week I came across a wonderful interactive map that will show you the median house price for different parts of the US. I found it fun to compare what the prices are today vs when I lived there, as well as compare their current prices to ours. You will see it is a bit out of date, it quotes the median home price for the 2nd quarter of 2008, but it is close.

And wow, it is sure is more expensive here than back home. The median home price in Seattle is $380,500 ~ back in good old Cincinnati it is $139,500. Hmmm... I could move back home, be closer to my family and live like a queen??? No, I don't think so, the Pacific Northwest has won my heart!

Weekly

Words of

Wisdom

WOW! Here it is the end of the week, once again. Where does the time go? And as we start the holiday season next week I am guessing that it will seem to fly away even faster.

I wish you, your family and friends a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will see you next Friday with more quotes. Until then, here is this weeks selection...

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Turn your face to the sun and the shadows will fall behind you. -Maori Proverb

People may fail many times, but they become failures only when they begin to blame someone else. -Unknown

Be curious always! For knowledge will not acquire you; you must acquire it. -Sudie Back

If I try to be like him, who will be like me? -Yiddish proverb