Welcome to Issue #268
by Rachel Brandes
Quote of the Week
“Sometimes I pretend to be normal, but it gets boring so I go back to being me.”
– Unknown
Feline Tomfoolery
with Brady & Belichick
Dear Humans,
Enjoy these photos of our beautiful faces. The human is well aware that we tire of her attempting to get the best shot by taking three million photos of one pose. She is exhausting. Okay, so, three million may be exaggerating a bit.
Much Love, Brady & Belichick
Brady & Belichick are Rachel’s adorable felines. These two cute boys turned two on May 4, 2025.
Random Photo of the Week
A rock garden along an afternoon walk. Photo by Rachel.
Mental Health Minute
The Importance of Friends
Rachel has always had an easy time making friends. She is able to approach strangers and strike up a conversation without hesitation. Some people would label her an extrovert for this reason. In reality, Rachel is an introvert. When around strangers her anxiety spikes, the best way for her to calm it is to know someone, hence the making friends with strangers. It is far easier to engage a stranger than to feel alone and anxious.
During her time in Washington, Rachel has established a great group of friends. She will share an adventure with a couple of them below. Having friends as an adult is said to improve your health. Below is a copy paste excerpt from an article on the Mayo Clinic Website. There is a link below if you are interested in reading the full article.
What are the benefits of friendships?
Good friends are good for your health. Friends can help you celebrate good times and support you during bad times. Friends help keep you from feeling alone. Friends also can:
- Raise your sense of connection, belonging and purpose.
- Boost your happiness and lower your stress.
- Improve your self-confidence and feelings of self-worth.
- Help you cope through hard times, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one.
- Urge you to change or avoid habits that aren’t healthy. These might include drinking too much or not exercising.
Friends also play a big role in your overall health. Adults with strong social connections have a lower risk of many health problems. That includes depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy weight. In fact, studies have found that older adults who have close friends and healthy social supports are likely to live longer than do their peers who have fewer friends.
A walk with friends, a dip in the Puget Sound, duck face photos, and a taste of kelp. Why not? The walk, healthy, the enjoyment of the cool (freezing) water, healthy, the duck faces, weird but fun, the kelp… that’s Bill for you. Alanna shot the video below to capture the moment. Bill decided he wanted to try out a kelp bulb. According to Google, they are a good source of sodium, potassium, fiber, iodine, and magnesium. According to Bill, a bit too salty. Enjoy the video.
StretchVibe In University Place
Who doesn’t love a good stretch? Stretching has so many health benefits for all, whether active or not, stretching should be done daily (That is Rachel’s two cents). When her friend, Angeline, offered a 15-minute trial stretch with StretchVibe, she couldn’t say no.
After her 15-minute trial, she quickly told her friend, Bill, how great it was and he booked his trial stretch. You will see them enjoying their stretching sessions in the photos included.
The best part of the StretchVibe stretch is the use of a specialized vibration tool called a vibracussor (second to getting to hang with Angeline). You will see Angeline using this tool on Bill’s glutes in the photo above. What is a vibracussor? A vibracussor is an amazingly fantastical tool that Rachel needs in her life.
A quick Google search explains this tool a bit more elequintely than Rachel could… “A Vibracussor is a handheld, percussive therapy device used by chiropractors and other healthcare professionals to deliver targeted vibrations and impulses into the body’s tissues. It helps to loosen muscles, release fascial restrictions, improve circulation, and reduce pain and muscle tension.”
StretchVibe sessions are available at University Place and Puyallup Fitness Quest (FQ) locations. No FQ membership required. However, there are great memberships offered, which allow full use of the gym before or after a stretch, including the infrared sauna. Bill is a recent member of FQ and took Rachel to the sauna for a post stretch detox.
What a treat (see their sweaty picture below). Rachel and Bill plan to visit weekly and get their sweat on after a good stretch with Angeline. If you are a local, call the University Place Fitness Quest and ask for EJ to learn more. StretchVibe packages are available.
A Good Old-Fashioned Hunt
A Proper Mira & Rachel Adventure
If you were to go all the way to the beginning of the My Monday Memo archives, you would find Mira. A lot. Mira and Rachel met when they were both living in Southern Nevada, roughly 20 years ago. A mutual friend had introduced them and they remained friends. When Rachel moved to Washington in January of 2018, she had no idea Mira’s family would relocate later that year. When Mira and Rachel discovered they had moved within a ten minute drive of each other, they couldn’t believe their luck.
When 2020 happened, Mira and Rachel began taking weekly adventures around Washington State. This became a mental health lifesaver for both of them. Each week, they would pick a hike, beach, destination, etc, and they would go. They got to see Washington in a way they otherwise wouldn’t have. These times are cherished but the weekly adventuring couldn’t go on forever. Mira has a family and Rachel took up a lot of her free time with them.
This past weekend, Mira and Rachel got to take an adventure like they did in the old days. A proper Mira and Rachel adventure where anything and everything can and will happen.
Glass Beach, Port Townsend, WA
Glass Beach is accessible via the North Beach County Park in Port Townsend, Washington. The drive was around and hour and a half for the duo. They only had one near death encounter on the drive as a young deer thought about trying to play frogger as they whizzed by at 60 mph. They are thankful he decided to play after they passed him.
The Quest for Sea Glass
Mira had visited this beach a few times previously and enjoyed finding an abundance of sea glass. As the history goes, Glass Beach is unique to others due to its abundance of sea glass resulting from the area’s history as a former town dump. On this visit, she was disappointed to see a change to the landscape and not much visible sea glass.
This certainly didn’t stop them from looking. They did find a decent amount of beautifully colored sea glass. The pale blues and greens were Rachel’s favorites. When Mira came across a vibrant blue, she was excited having never found this color before. With a stroke of luck, Rachel found one, too. These pieces weren’t as smooth as some of the others, but still a great find.
Mira provided a small jar with a cork lid for Rachel to save her sea glass as a great reminder of her friendship and fun times over the years.
She Climbs Everything
Anytime she is out on an adventure and sees something she might be able to climb, Rachel is drawn to it. She would still climb trees if she could, and she has when she finds one that isn’t too scary. Mira is used to Rachel’s propensity to climb and had her camera at the ready.
The Splendor of Washington
Washington State might be one of the most beautiful places Rachel has ever been. She never takes for granted just how amazing her surroundings are each time she explores. Below you will see images of the beach in both directions, a group of sea anemone tucked away protecting themselves outside of the water (low tide), an eagle perched on a tree, and Rachel’s brilliantly colored toe socks. Hey, don’t knock ’em till you try ’em.
A Taste of Port Townsend
After the hunt for sea glass and enjoying their stroll along the beach, Mira and Rachel were hungry. Pizza? Yes, please. They visited the Pizza Factory in Port Townsend and then followed up at a local bakery, the Crusty Crumb Bakery. How she failed to get photos of the amazing baked goods inside is beyond her. Let’s just say, those baked sourdough goodies did not disappoint.
2025, A Final Adventure – For Now
Mira and Rachel felt clever with the below shadow photo using their hands to show 25 for 2025, as this adventure may be the last for this adventuring duo. Rachel hasn’t mentioned this in any of her previous issues, but she will be leaving Washington next month and relocating in Utah to live near her youngest son, Alec. More to come on that… let the count down begin.
This Saturday adventure with Mira sure was special and Rachel is grateful to her for sharing this fun beach and teaching her something new. Sea glass? Who knew? Until next time, be well.