Baseball starts at 10:30 this morning with the Phillies game. The Mariners game is about 11:30. Yesterday, the Mariners game was on Fox with Fox broadcasters so it was the first time I have gotten to see a Mariners game all season. They lost. But, I enjoyed it.

The guy who sold me the blinds has now had plenty of time to respond to my email even if only to say there's nothing he can do. So far, I have heard crickets. He requested a review and I gave him a glowing one just after installation. Dude, I can edit that sucker. And will. I'll give him until Tuesday. The reality is, if you had told me at the first decision point that I could have these shades but I'll never be able to open my window OR I can live without shades, I would have picked what I have now. BUT I would have sure liked that discussion. Plenty of people here have shades and can open windows. Of course, I've never seen any I like as well as these but still...

It's a hot, sunny morning and I'm thanking those very shades.

Scott and Julie were very surprised that they were going to sleep in daylight and waking up in daylight. They've been to Alaska so it's not a totally foreign concept but they had not experienced it here in the lower 48.

At elbow coffee yesterday, we learned that David (Noelle's husband) is not doing well and John (Hazel's husband) has issues that sound like heart related. Joan is also, I think, deteriorating pretty quickly. She is still mentally sharp but her 93 year old body seems to be checking out. I suspect that this time next year, my neighborhood will look very different.

My friend, Martha, said she ran into Dick and Jen, who are moving into Myrna's apartment. They were actually moving some stuff in! They said they had tried to find me but I wasn't home. This was last week when we were out boosting the economy.

Today will be baseball and knitting and a great appreciation of my life. There's nothing like having people you know and trust come and see what you have and how you live and be so admiring of it all to nail down your gratitude for everything. It's the greatest thing.

I think I'll put some clothes on now and go get yesterday's mail before anyone else gets awake.

Volleyball was wild this morning. We had more players than we have had in a long time. One of our regulars who stopped coming about a year ago, was back. Apparently his doctor, in front of his wife, asked him if he was still playing volleyball and when they said 'no', his doctor told him to get back at it and his wife saw that he did. It was fun.

The on to Elbow Coffee. Not that much fun. Two of my favorite guys are not doing well medically. The daughter of one of my neighbors was there and she is a teacher with many many many complaints about how poorly teachers are paid and treated. Elbow Coffee, she thinks, is an appropriate place to share all of her feelings. (It's not.)

BUT now all of that is over. I got one of the three new pairs of shoes that I ordered and I think they might be good. I should have all three of them here before my appointment with the podiatrist and I'm taking them all with me. I want to find out which to keep and what I need to be looking for.

I have no reason to leave my apartment now today or tomorrow or really even Monday. I probably will but knowing I don't have to is luxurious.

TL;DR My friends came. They loved Timber Ridge. We shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped. And had a great visit. My feet are broken. I have an appointment with a new (to me) podiatrist on Tuesday. The Pride monsters were a huge hit and now it's back to dolls. My new window shades have a fatal error. Regular life resumes this afternoon.

The details.

Julie and Scott live on the South Island of New Zealand in a beautiful tiny town. They have been all over the United States in all the big cities. This tour - two months - is driving around - first Canada and then the western United States (except California).

Even in the biggest town in New Zealand, they shopping opportunities are not what they are here in the US. They just don't have the selection and they have the add on of 'shipped to small island far away' tax. So here, particularly Julie, wallows in all the choices available. The last time they were here, two years ago, they wanted to shop and, for some reason, we ended up down in Federal Way where we discovered chain shop heaven. Lovely stores of Old Navy, Skeechers, Walmart, Target, etc.

This time they wanted to go back to all those places plus they found North Bend Outlets on Google and wanted to go there.

So we started at North Bend which is not too far up the road. And a lovely drive. But the outlet mall there is a bust and a half. The stores were sparse and empty. But, they drive was lovely. And we saw other stuff.

So we came back here and toured Timber Ridge and Issaquah. They are pretty impressed with Timber Ridge. and Issaquah always presents nicely.

Tuesday we went back to Federal Way and did not miss any stores. Julie had a ball and Scott got new shoes and it was a huge hit. Wednesday, there was more shopping and we found the Issaquah troll which was way more impressive than I expected.

Yesterday, Thursday, it was into Bellevue to that huge, lovely, downtown mall. And then to the conveyor belt sushi place for lunch. Fun and delicious.

In between, we've been enjoying Timber Ridge. We've eaten in all the dining rooms and tried all the various serving options except lunch. All have been pretty impressive.

Today they leave. They are taking the next few weeks to drive from here via Salt Lake City and Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore to Chicago where they will fly to San Francisco and then home. It's such a wonderful trip.

Meanwhile, my feet are just screaming at me. Finally, on Wednesday, I sent a note to my doctor asking for referral to a podiatrist or any other suggestion. She got right back to me with a couple of podiatrist options and I was able to get an appointment here in Issaquah for this coming Tuesday! Yeah.

Oh and it's window washing time at Timber Ridge. I have a panel of three windows. The middle one opens. They use it to hang out and wash the outside of all three panels. It's a good system. Except. When the shade guy designed and the installer guy installed, none of us realized that the scheme will completely bar me from ever opening that window again. So no cleaning. Ever. I have now sent him a note asking what he can do about it. I'm guessing nothing. And it's not fatal. But they should not have been installed that way. Weird and a little annoying.

Today is the Timber Ridge Pride parade which is just about the same time Scott and Julie were planning on leaving and will block in their car. I suspect it will be a short parade and not interrupt the leaving for long.

And now I think I'm caught up. I should get dressed and ready. They will text me when they are up and we'll meet in the dining room for breakfast.

Feet first. No pain last night. Whew. I discovered that my Merrells, the clogs, are ok to walk in if I wear socks so that's what I did yesterday. We didn't walk a lot but some and it was fine. I didn't get the sharp pains in my feet. I have now bought what feels like a million pairs of shoes online. I will, likely, return most of them, but, hopefully, I'll find one or two that don't hurt and aren't butt ugly. I did find a couple of possibles that looked very promising but their return policy either sucked or looked suspicious, so, no. Oddly, Zappos had nothing.

Today we'll be going to at least two shoe stores, so that might yield something.

Scott and Julie arrived yesterday in fine form. The Timber Ridge guest suite situation worked fine. There are two guest rooms on this side of the complex. My brother stayed in one that was nice and roomy. The other one, turns out, is not and that's the one Scott and Julie are in. It's a small room that is perfectly adequate and, since they haven't seen the other one, they are quite happy there. But, note to self, get 1301 and not 1300 next time.

We went to downtown Issaquah last night and ate at Jak's Steak House. Reddit says that it is not nearly as good as it used to be and, to be fair, a lot of people never thought it was good but I sure did. And, judging by the crowds and our experience, it has not deteriorated one bit. We got a lovely table by the big windows so they could watch the goings on in town. Our food was really good and there was lots of it and there was not even the tiniest bit to take home as leftovers.

Then we walked two blocks over and took Julie to her first ever Dollar Tree visit. She was entranced. It was fun.

Today, they want to go to North Bend. I love how they now get on the internet and scope out their choices. Scott wants pants from Columbia, they both want shoes from Skechers and the ride to North Bend is so pretty. We'll be back here in time for dinner, if not earlier.

They are the easiest people in the world to be around. I love having them here. They brought me THREE jigsaw puzzles! And wonderful high end hand cream - 3 different kinds.

Now I need to pop into the shower. We're meeting for breakfast before our adventures.

I have vivid memories of my cousin falling into a big chair moaning 'my dogs are barkin'!! For some reason I thought that expression was just hilarious. Today my feet are not laughing. I've been wearing questionable shoes. Shoes that might not have enough support but a are cute (and cheap). And my feet are suffering. One of them kept me awake part of last night. There's a sharp pain in the middle of my feet near my toes. It was just constant last night. They were ok during volleyball but then mostly that are just lightly touching the ground during play. I'm held up by the water.

But I just walked downstairs to get the mail and I could barely get back home and I'm wearing my best shoes with arch supports and socks. And still they really hurt when I got up here.

At the mailbox, I got a check for $250 - the escrow from my condo closing. I sat down here, deposited the check, and then used Gemini to find shoes without laces for seniors with arch support and a big toe box. I have to say that Gemini did a good job. I proceeded to buy 3 pair - one from Orthofeet, one from Kuru and one from Vivonic. I may not keep any or I may keep all of them. I gotta do something. Cause my dogs are barkin'!