Stormy

It was a wild ride home tonight, but not the worst I've been in.  I went into Portland this afternoon to take my cousin into the Doctor (it turns out she has walking pneumonia).  I then took her to the grocery store and pharmacy before finally getting her back home and then stopped by my brothers.  It was 6:30pm and dark when I headed home and the storm was hitting a little earlier then predicted.  It was already getting pretty windy and pouring rain, but my route wasn't too bad because at least all the lights were still working.  I could hear on the radio that several roads around the Portland area had lights out and trees falling.  They predict 60 mph winds through the night and the coast was already having 100 mph winds with 30 foot waves.  It's supposed to let up by morning. 

Having lived here all of my life I can say that it's pretty much normal to have this happen a couple of times each fall or winter.  Every few years we have one that's a doozy and causes a lot of damage.  November set a new record for rainfall.  The previous record was set back in 1942.  Needless to say the rivers are high and there's been some flooding.  Tillamook (along the coast) always seems to get the worst of it.  It's a low lying area and has a lot of dairies and they had quite a bit of flooding and lost some cows.

Oregon's terrain and winter weather is definitely demanding respect right now.  There are 3 experienced climbers missing on Mt. Hood and this latest storm is continuing to hamper rescue efforts.  A California family got lost on a forest road (wrong turn) while traveling through Oregon and got caught in a snow storm.  They had been missing for about 10 days before they were found and the father had tried to walk for help and died.  Two other families got stuck or lost while Christmas tree cutting and were found safe.  Last month a little boy went missing in the Crater Lake area just as the snows had started and I don't think they found him.  We don't like to hear it or think about it, but it happens every year just as the drowning's do in our lakes and rivers.

Thanksgiving weekend brought that home to our family and friends.  Our nephew bought his first house this summer and wanted to host the family get together.  His mom & dad and the rest of us brought the food and we had a good time.  He proudly showed off his home and his new fishing boat.  On Saturday my brother-in-law, nephew and two of their friends went fishing on the Willamette.  The boat capsized and they hung on to the little bit of hull showing above water.  The water was only 47 degrees and the river was running high, fast and full of debris.  My brother-in-laws best friend let go of the boat in an attempt to swim for shore and did not make it.  They still have not found his body.  The other three were rescued after about 30 minutes and my nephews core body temperature was 93 degrees.  They were all sent to the hospital and warmed up and checked out.  The friend that was lost was a great guy and very well liked.  He will be missed.

Painting

Last summer my husband and and a friend built us a new shed in the back yard and used the horizontal hardiplank siding that we're thinking of using on the house. The house was built in 1971 and has the vertical t-111 that was so popular in the seventies.

It's in desperate need of paint and the old aluminum windows need to be replaced as well. We can't afford to do the windows or replace the siding right now so we may have to just go ahead and paint it. What I'd like to do is make the windows bigger and put the horizontal siding on. It would give the house a whole new look.

In the meantime I've decided on the colors I want. We hadn't painted the shed yet so I've used that as a way to try out my colors to make sure I really like them. I picked a medium grayish blue for the siding, white for the trim and burgundy for the doors. With the shed getting full sun most of the day and me not being a morning person I wasn't getting very much done on it, but it's nearly done now. I have a little trimming to finish on the blue and some touch up on the white and now that the cooler weather has arrived it will be a race against the rain.

The house has a lot of brick across the front and it needs some repair, but I do want to keep it. I've always liked it and it's very unique. One of the bricks is light gray in color and the other is pink with burgundy flecks. I'm hoping it will look good against the darker blue. The current color is a lighter blue with no trim color and pink for the doors. Very much in need of repair and updating, but I'm sticking with my bent for color and in particular blue. I don't like the baby poop browns they're using on all the new housing and don't want my house to look like everybody else's anyway.

Big Bear sanded the front door for me and I put 2 coats of the burgundy on it with 2 more to go. It's darker than I originally wanted, but I think it'll work.

The rain arrived while I was painting the front door, but it's under a corner overhang so that was no problem. It was a problem for a poor honeybee though. I went back to my painting and he eventually dried off enough to take off.

Steve Irwin dead at 44

My sympthathies go out to his wife, children and close friends. They have lost someone they knew and loved deeply.

The world at large also mourns for we have lost a larger than life personality that deeply believed in what he was doing. His commitment and compassion for animals and the environment along with his hyperactive antics certainly made his documentaries entertaining to watch and made him a household name as "The Crocodile Hunter". He is probably Austraila's best known figure and will be sorely missed by all, but especially by those at the Austraila Zoo in Queensland.

He was filming a new documentary or series on deadly sea creatures when he was stung by a stingray. The news has said that the stingray's barb went into Steve's chest and his heart and that he probably died instantly. His friends and co-workers tried desperately to revive him, but to no avail. Yes, he took risks, but that's what you do when you live life large and believe in what you do. He accomplished a lot, we just wish he could have been around a little longer.

Miss Kitty is happy

D and K arrived home on Friday. Miss Kitty was hiding under the bed, but after a bit D managed to coax her out. Miss Kitty wanted D to pet her, then she wanted out, then she wanted back in to be petted, then she wanted out and so it went, back and forth. I think she just wanted to make sure the door still worked. ;-) On Saturday they took Big Bear and I out for a very nice dinner as a thank you for taking care of their place while they were gone.

We've had a very laid back weekend. Did a little bit of yard and garden stuff on Sunday afternoon. Gave the neighbor some tomatoes and they in turn gave us some apples (hopefully I'll get around to making a pie with them). Today Big Bear put new air filters on both vehicles and even washed them! I did some painting - I'm trying out some prospective house colors on the shed. I figured that painting the new shed with the colors I had picked out was a good way to make sure I liked them before buying enough to do the whole house. I'm happy with the blue (medium grayish blue) that I picked for the siding and the white for the trim, but am not happy with the color I picked for the doors. I wanted a burgandy and that's what it looked like on a small chip, but it's way to violet/magenta. Luckily I painted a bench on the patio first to try it out when I saw how magenta it was. Even though it darkened a lot once it was dry it's still not the color I was after. I'm going to have the store add some more black and brown to it and see if that does the trick.

Tomorrow I'm going over to a friends to help her tie some baby quilts that she donates to a hospital. Maybe I can actually remember to take the paint with me and get the color corrected.

Blogging?

My how things change.  A few months back I knew virtually nothing about blogging and now I'm hooked.  Oh sure, I had heard of it and knew it was a web log or journal or diary written by anyone who wanted to do one and read by anyone who wanted to take the time to do so.  I just couldn't figure out why the average person would want to do that. 

I figured it was more for people who wanted to voice their opinion on issues of the day, or politics, or for writers or businesses, etc.  I found it kind of odd that people would write about their day to day lives and even odder that someone who didn't know that person would want to read it.  What I didn't realize was how interactive it can be and how much I would enjoy "getting to know" people through their written words. 

There are so many different types of blogs and the serious and informative ones are certainly important and have their place, but the ones that I have come to enjoy the most are the ones written by everyday people who have a gift for telling stories of everyday life in such a way as to make you laugh, or nod in agreement or feel emotion of some kind because it's stuff you can relate to.  I've never been much of a writer, but I have thoroughly enjoyed setting up my page and learning lots of new stuff in the process and meeting lots of great people.  The bonus is it's making me write.  Because how can you have a blog and not write?

Willamette River Pictures

This is Portland from the Willamette River. The river divides Portland east and west and flows north and south. It is the only river in the USA to begin and end in one state. It starts in the Cascade mountains and ends at the Columbia River whose waters then flow to the Pacific Ocean. Of the navigable rivers that flow north and south it is the second largest in the world, the largest being the Nile in Egypt.

The Rundown

Saturday 8-19 - D and K leave to visit their kids in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Big Bear and I are in charge of keeping an eye on their place, watering flowers and checking on Miss Kitty. She is an indoor/outdoor kitty who is used to being outside during the day, but will be kept indoors for the two weeks they are gone. They live on a very wooded 2.5 acres so leaving enough food and water out for two weeks is not an option (all kinds of critters would be up there eating it and it would be gone in a day). Besides the food issue, she has a wound on her side (probably another animal) so we wanted her in the house for safety and to keep an eye on the wound. Miss Kitty is a very skittish cat, but a very loving and gentle cat. She was a stray that somebody threw away as a kitten and it took D 6 months of feeding her on the deck before she allowed D to get close enough to pet her or let her into the house.

Sunday 8-20 - We make our first visit to water, etc. and Big Bear promptly lets Miss Kitty escape out the back door. There's no getting her back so we finish the watering and head home.

Monday 8-21 - Big Bear feels bad about Miss Kitty and stops by their place on his way home from work. He sees her but she won't come near him.

Tuesday 8-22 - I go over in the late afternoon and in addition to doing the watering I take my dinner and just sit around for awhile hoping she'll show up. She'll usually come to me, but I was there nearly 2 hours and never saw her.

Wednesday 8-23 - D calls and I do not want to answer the phone and tell her we lost Miss Kitty. She calls again and I answer and face the music. Big Bear gets home from work and is really stressing about it. I tell him stressing about it isn't going to do any good and we'll wait until evening to try again since that's more likely to be when she's used to coming in. We go over and I have Big Bear stay in the house so he doesn't frighten her and I go outside with a handful of food to see if I can find her. Well, what do you know, as I exit out the garage there she is. She scurries off and looks at me from a distance. I bend down and dribble some food out of my hand while gently calling her. She comes over to me to get petted and I scoop her up and head into the house. She was much more interested in the attention than the food. All is well and I call D to tell her.

Thursday 8-24 & Friday 8-25 - The weather is cooler and Miss Kitty inside so no need to go over until Saturday. Friday morning I went to my TOPS meeting and Friday afternoon Big Bear and I joined our son & DIL for a cruise down the Willamette River on an old sternwheeler followed by dinner at our local pub & grill. A very enjoyable afternoon. I was taking pictures like mad when suddenly the camera quit. Dagnabbit, the battery was dead and I hadn't brought the spare. Oh well, from then on it was just enjoy the ride.

Saturday 8-26 - Went over to D's place and did the watering and checked on Miss Kitty. I couldn't coax her out from under the bed. She obviously does not like being cooped up in the house all by herself, but I could tell she's been eating so will assume she's O.K.

August Roses

Name 5 things

Name 5 things in your freezer.

1. Corn


2. Chicken


3. Boneless Pork Chops


4. Strawberry fruit bars


5. Healthy Choice fudge bars

Name 5 things in your closet.

1. Shoes  (most of which need to be thrown out)


2. Clothes (most of which don't fit anymore)


3. Belts (will any of these ever see the light of day?)


4. Purses (why so many?)


5. Hats (haven't worn them in years, but maybe Someday)

Name 5 things on your desk.

1. Nikon D100 camera


2. Stacks of software CDs


3. Cell phone


4. Mess of papers


5. Empty glass

Name 5 things in your vehicle.

1. Towel (to cover hot leather seat)


2. Big blanket in the back for dogs


3. Plenty of CDs


4. Flashlight


5. Dairy Queen napkins

Name 5 things in your purse.

1. Maxalt for migraines


2. Postage stamps


3. Keys


4. Sunglasses


5. Handkerchief

O.K. Chris, if you haven't been tagged yet, you're it.  And how about you too, Bill?

Testify to Love by Avalon

These are the words to a song by the group Avalon. To hear the song click here and it will play as my home page loads.

Testify to Love - Avalon

All the colors of the rainbow
All the voices of the wind
Every dream that reaches out
That reaches out to find where love begins
Every word of every story
Every star in every sky
Every corner of creation lives to testify
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough
With every breath I take
I will give thanks to god above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
From the mountains to the valleys
From the rivers to the sea
Every hand that reaches out
Every hand that reaches out to offer peace
Every simple act of mercy
Every step to kingdom come
All the hope in every heart will speak what love has done

Pipe dream

Here's an interesting entry from the book Why You Say It by Webb Garrison

Pipe Dream
Should you come up with a really novel idea or plan, chances are that those who first hear of it will pooh-pooh it as a "pipe dream."
In its earliest decades, the pipe dream was so far out that it seldom made contact with reality. That's because it was produced by opium, brought to England and Europe by merchants who penetrated the Orient and began peddling the stuff yielded by some kinds of poppies.
Pipe dreams influenced several notable literary figures, with Samuel T. Coleridge being high on the list. But by and large, fantasies produced by opium were that and nothing more.

Ah, the wonders of meds

August 19
It's 8:45 pm on Saturday and I feel like myself again. My wonderful, wacky, addicted to the computer, messy, happy self. It's wonderful when the meds actually work. When I woke up this morning the room still spun a bit, but the nausea was almost gone. I took pill #3 and by this afternoon the nausea was totally gone and when I took #4 at 8pm I was feeling totally normal (well, as normal as I get anyway). I know some of you have had vertigo before and mentioned that the episodes can come and go for awhile, but I'll just take them as they come, if they come.

Doctor, Doctor

Aug. 18
D came over this afternoon and took me into the doctor. He gave me two prescriptions for the nausea (one pill, one suppository). They both cause drowsiness, but hey - drowsy trumps nausea anyday. Yesterday was not pleasant and today only slightly better (probably because I didn't push it for fear of a repeat of the day before). It must have looked pretty ridiculous, me standing on the patio vomiting surrounded by 3 dogs staring at me and the puddle and between each retch me hollaring NO so they wouldn't eat it. Luckily they all three trust me and obey my firm no. I then herded them into the house and headed for the bed. Ranger didn't seem to think I should be lying down and proceeded to jump at the bed to get me up which by the third shake I certainly was. UP and into the bathroom for another round with nothing left on my stomach. At that point I ushered them back outside, cleaned up the you know what and went to bed. I didn't care what they dug up or chewed up in the yard. I sure hope I wake up tomorrow with this stuff gone.

Vertigo

I woke up this morning with vertigo! It is not fun! What causes this stuff? This is the first time I've had it bad enough to realize what it was. I now realize I've had mini versions of it most of my life, I just never put a name to it before. By that I mean I would feel dizzy or like stuff was moving when it wasn't, but it would only last a few seconds. I'd think "Wow, that was weird" and go on about my business (probably thought it was flashbacks to my hippie days).

I went to bed at 11:30pm last night (early for me) as I was going to meet with 2 other women this morning for a bible study on James which I was supposed to lead, but with the whole room spinning and feeling like I was about to vomit, I decided it was probably better I not be driving and I cancled it. Gee whiz, I just got done with a five day migraine yesterday, enough already! At least with the migraine I now have medication that allows me to function albeit a little groggy.

I woke up at 3:30am and got out of bed to go pee. The toilet is only a few steps away and I was groggy, but by the time I sat down I was thinking "Man I feel nauseated and dizzylike". I got back into bed and suddenly the whole room is spinning. I'm going "Whoa, this is weird. I hope it goes away by morning." At 5:30 I wake up enough to roll over and the whole room is spinning again! "OH NO, is this what they call vertigo?" At 7:30 I wake up for good and move my head just enough to see the clock and the numbers are moving so much I can't tell what time it is because - you guessed it - the room is still spinning! I layed there for a few minutes debating what to do and finally decided to get up and see what happens (I didn't like the idea of spending the whole day in bed if I didn't have to, afterall the computer would miss me). Well, lo and behold, standing upright and walking around was ok. That is until I took a shower and blow dryed my hair. Evidently I was moving my head too much in the process and suddenly I'm holding onto the counter and feeling like I'm going to throw up. I got dressed hoping it would pass quickly, but 20 minutes later I was still feeling like I was going to throw up and keeping my head still so the room wouldn't spin, so I called my friends and cancled the bible study.It's now 11:15am and I'm able to sit at the computer and type this, but I still don't feel good. Let's pray that this was a one time thing. I'd much rather go back to the 10 second 'wow that was weird' ones thank you. In honor of this post I used a font called Krazy Legs. Have a good day people. OOPS - to see the krazy leg font you'll have to go to my other blog.

Update: It's now 3:00pm and I still have it. I bent over to fill the dogs water bowl with the hose and almost fell over.

All About Me

Every once in awhile I will post something about me. Who I am, where I'm from, what's happened in my life, etc. Here is the first installment.

I was born and raised in the northeast section of Portland, Oregon. As any child does, I simply accepted where I was growing up without much thought or anything to compare it to. We lived in the city until I was 8 years old and then moved out "to the sticks" near the Columbia River where my parents were able to buy a house. It was small, but it was ours and the lot was large enough for a huge garden each summer. This gave me my first real, conscious comparison of living in a place that was a little different then what I was used to. We went from city sidewalks, paved streets and a large school to no sidewalks, gravel roads and a small school. From walking to school to taking a big yellow bus and from a classroom of 30+ to a class size of 20. I like both the city and the country and value both experiences.

There was a certain freedom and innocence to living out there in the late 50's & early 60's. Even though we were on the outskirts of Portland there was still a lot of wide open space with farms, bean fields and pasture and only a little bit of industrial and some scattered housing. The city busses didn't even come out that far. My grandparents bought my brother and I each a bike and we put many miles on them over the next few years. Although my father was very strict we had a certain amount of freedom to play and walk and ride our bikes around the area, in part because both our parents worked full time. I was a latch key kid before they had that term :-)

When I was 12 we drove to Oklahoma to visit my father's family and that drive gave me my first experience traveling through country that was very different from Oregon. Oh my, the water was terrible, some of the states were mile after mile of desert and sagebrush, others were mile after mile of hot windy prairie, what they called rivers looked like a creek to me and where were the mountains and trees? Of course, as I've gotten older I've realized that every area has a beauty of it's own, but as a 12 year old I was more than happy to get back to Oregon. I enjoyed visiting the relatives and seeing the sites along the way, but felt Nevada, Utah and Kansas left something to be desired. It didn't help that it was the end of August-first of September when we went.

At 16 my parents seperated and at 17 my mother, brother and I moved back into Portland near the high school I attended (there was no high school where we were so they bussed us into Portland). It was back to the city which as a teenager was great. I was now near my school and friends and could walk or take a bus wherever I wanted to go. My mother was having a hard time with me as we fought a lot and I was becoming very rebellious. I hated the seperation and impending divorce and blamed her for it. It took a while longer for my dad to fall off his pedestal. Now how did I get from talking about Oregon to talking about my parents? Enough of that for now, maybe more at a later time. By the way, there were 21 in my 8th grade graduating class and they bussed us to a high school of 2800 kids. There was no one I new in any of my classes my freshman year. Luckily I make friends pretty easily. There were 13 high schools in Portland in the 60's and they were all large. Had to educate all us baby boomers don't you know. Now they've closed some and combined some and they're still half the size they were back then. Meanwhile communities like the one I live in are expanding and the schools are bursting at the seams.

July 28 Ahh, How Wonderful...

Ahh, how wonderful to have our normal 70-75 degrees back. It's beautiful outside, blue sky, sunshine, 72 degrees and a slight breeze. Aren't you jealous?

I gave the program at our TOPS meeting this morning. It was an article I had printed off from somewhere entitled 7 Easy Steps To Weight Loss. The basic premise? EAT LESS! I made it a participatory exercise by having various members read the different paragraphs and points and then we discussed the information and our own experience, habits and attitudes.

The seven points were as follows, but of course much expanded upon:
1. Mini-meal is the operative word - Ideally, every time you eat, your plate should have some protein, a little fat and a little fibrous bulk to ensure that you feel full and satisfied. .......
2. Don't go overboard - You don't want to feel deprived at best, hungry at worst. .......
3. Eat delicious and well - Every diet regimen should permit the occasional treat and nice meal out. ........
4. Eat your calories, don't drink them - A can of Dr. Pepper soda contains 150 calories. .......
5. Exercise is the perfect partner - Your diet will be all the more successful if you combine it with regular exercise. ......
6. Make meals last - Yes, two Balance bars have only 360 calories, and also contain vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, fat and carbohydrates. But you can down these suckers in a matter of seconds. .......
7. Discover your food triggers - What makes you succumb to temptation? Do you turn to the pantry the instant you turn on the TV? .......

Well, you get the idea. It all comes down to being sensible with our choices in life. Not something I'm always terribly good at. I tend to leap before I look and go all or nothing. It's an art to truly enjoy life and go for the gusto while still being sensible about it. An art I have decided at this very moment to try and pursue. Of course some people missinterpret being sensible with not taking any risks. What's life without taking a few risks? BORING! Hmm, I do believe I have a whole 'nother topic going here.

There most certainly are different kinds of risks. When it comes to physical risk I am a true wimp. I'm not an athlete, I'm not terribly coordinated, I'm not strong and I have a very low threshold for pain. I am a big BABY when it comes to pain. In other words you will not see me bungee jumping or climbing Mt. Everest. You will however find me on any roller coaster available.

July 24 Ahhhhh.........cool water

Spending the day in D's pool yesterday was wonderful. Coming home at 10 pm to a house that was 88 inside was not. When I got up this morning it was down to 80...whoopee.

In keeping with the theme of HOT, here's an entry from the Why You Sat It book.

Hotbed
We include this term in everyday speech as a result of borrowing from practices of gardeners and farmers.
Long ago, it was discovered that seeds given a bit of protection will sprout earlier than those dropped into the ground without special attention. Even a thin cloth cover will raise the temperature of earth underneath it for several hours a day.
The earliest hotbeds were heated with fermenting manure and covered with glass---forerunners to today's greenhouses. They produced so abundantly that any institution or neighborhood yielding an abundant crop of like-minded persons took the name of the gardener's special seed plot.

July 23

Hot, Hot, Hot

Well, it certainly is hot, even for someone like me who loves the summer. I'll still take it over freezing though. I spent all of Friday afternoon and evening in D's pool. It's amazing how much cooler 104 feels when you're in the water . We'd float around in the water for quite awhile talking and relaxing, then sit on the deck in the shade having something to drink (and chatting). We had our books and I was crocheting while we talked, but it didn't take very long and we'd be so warm that back in the pool we'd go. I had closed the house up before I left in the morning, but even so it was 85 inside when I got home around 9 pm. By early morning it had only dropped to 81 . Without our normally cool evenings the house just doesn't have a chance to cool off.

Saturday I stayed home thinking I might get something done around the house. RIGHT! Even with some cloud cover the temp still got into the low 90's and the thought of sticking my hands in hot soapy water to do dishes was not the least appealing. After getting the garden and flowers watered I spent the day sitting on my butt playing games on the computer or watching movies with tall glasses of iced tea, water or coke next to me at all times.
This morning I got up to blue sky, bright sunshine and the thermomoter already over 80 (and it's on the patio in the shade). Needless to say I'm grabbing my swim suit and heading for D's.

July 21 Heat Wave

Even the Northwest is not immune from the heat wave that seems to be blanketing the entire country. It's been talked about on the news for days now and has definitelly arrived here in Oregon. It's 11:00 pm and still 80 degrees. The forcast for tomorrow is 102 degrees and 103 on Saturday and 98 on Sunday.
Believe me when I say that we do not have very many days like that around here and consequently have never felt a great need to put in air conditioning. After a few days of record high temps though it just doesn't cool down enough at night to get the house cool. The house just gets warmer and warmer whereas it would normally cool down to 65 at night.

Needless to say I will be spending lots of time in D's pool over the next 3 days or in my sons air conditioned house.

Everyone - Please be sure to drink lots of water and tea and stay as cool as possible. Sustained periods of really hot weather are not to be taken lightly and are especially hard on the very old, the very young and the ill. The normal amount of liquid that you would drink in a day is not near enough. You should probably triple it and make most of it water rather than pop and the like. And don't forget your pets. Make sure they have plenty of water and protection from the hot sun. I have a kids plastic wading pool for Sadie to play in.

Maybe one of these days my husband and I will actually have the money and get around to remodeling this aging little ranch house of ours.

My Garden

Here are the latest pictures of my garden. The cyclone fence makes for a great trellis for the morning glory. I was thrilled to discover that there was such a thing as an annual morning glory, not at all invasive like the stuff I remember my father yanking out when I was a kid. Our past two winters have been mild enough that this is actually its third summer. I originally planted a blue one too that was larger and looked like the morning glory I remember, but only the purple managed to winter over. I've included one of my favorite pictures from that first year. Next year I plan on planting more of it in a variety of colors.

Too Many People

Will people please stop moving to Oregon, or at least not to the Willamette Valley? And how about every one who moved here after 1970 pack up and move somewhere else. This is some of the best farm land there is and it's all being covered with houses, shopping malls, roads and freeways. I used to be able to travel anywhere during the day with almost no traffic at all. Now its bumper to bumper almost anytime of the day and any road you choose to take.

This little tirade was brought on by an article in Saturday's Oregonian which says to expect 1.25 million more people in the Portland Metro area in the coming years. It doesn't say exactly when this will occur, just that the numbers now say that the population increase expected in earlier estimates will be here 10 to 15 years sooner than originally thought. It goes on to say that this is equivalent to squeezing an additional 450,000 households, or two cities the size of present-day Portland, into a metropolitan area that is already 80 percent developed. I guess this is what comes of Portland being listed as one of the most liveable cities several years in a row. It won't be for long.

Grrrr. There's already too many people, and they're expecting more? I am really showing my age, I'm starting to sound like an old person, wanting the good old days back. Where's Tom McCall when you need him? He was the governor of Oregon back in the 70's. He used to say come and visit, but don't stay. We even had bumper stickers that showed a map with I-5 going around the state instead of through it. And those of us born here refer to ourselves as native oregonians.

Maybe I need to move to the Midwest. There's plenty of open space there, I know because I drove through mile after mile of it last summer. But I love Oregon. I was born here. I grew up here. It's green and the climate moderate. But then again, I could probably be happy most anywhere, I think.

Well, thanks for letting me get that off my chest. You all probably have similar feelings about your location or you figure the more the merrier. And even if we ourselves didn't move to a particular spot, somewhere up the line one of our relatives did.

Where Does It All End?

My goodness, there are just not enough hours in the day. I keep finding more and more spaces I would enjoy visiting and being the easily side tracked person that I am I find myself lost in reading/viewing and suddenly 2 hours have gone by and then I find it's been 3 or 4 or 5 days since I've been to some of my favorites. Am I going to have to put myself on a schedule? Do I have to make a list? Do I need to restrict myself to only the most recent entries? That'll be the day! I've never gotten along too well with lists and schedules (you know, that discipline thing). Maybe I'll give a calendar another try and actually get something done around the house ;o).

Don't Wait

A blog friend of mine on msn spaces had this on her site and I really liked it. I don't know if she wrote it or not.

Don't Wait

When there's a chance_____take it.

When there's a game_____play hard.

When there's a bridge_____cross it.

When there's an enemy_____stand guard.

When there's a tear_____let it run.

When there's a score_____cheer loud.

When there's a silence_____take time.

When there's a wave_____ride it.

When there's a song_____sing it.

When there's a fight_____stand up.

When there's a reason_____don't doubt.

When there's a cloud_____see heaven.

When there's a frost_____set fire.

When there's a flower_____see beauty.

When there's stairs_____move higher.

When there's a race_____push hard.

When there's a smile_____don't fade.

When there's a space______fill it.

When there's a star_____just stare.

When there's a moment_____don't lose it.

When there's a love_____hold tight.

When there's a past_____share it.

When there's a shadow_____cast a light.

When there's a way_____lead it.

When there's a grip_____hold on.

When there's a day_____start new.

When there's a life_____live on.

Thyroid & TOPS

This entry is an example of the blog I'm doing for an organization I belong to called TOPS, which stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly. I am 8 pounds from goal and am the current leader for the group (an elected position). I had been slender pretty much my entire life, but thyroid surgery helped put an end to that. Half of my thyroid was removed due to a lump (benign thank goodness, but the size of an egg) and the other half, unbeknownst to me, revolted and decided not to work. I put on 25 pounds in less than six months which when added to the 20 I had put on over the past 30 years meant I was now 45 pounds over on a rather small boned 5'2" frame. I called my friend D who had struggled with her weight her entire life and said HELP! How do I deal with this, what do I do? She invited me to join her at TOPS and the rest as they say is history.

By the way, thyroid medication does not take the weight off for you. It helped with a whole slew of symtoms including rapid weight gain, but losing the weight already gained takes the usual method of consuming less calories then you expend by using exercise, good nutrition and portion control. I've been really slow taking it off because I'm not very disciplined and love my goodies, but I am making progress.

I went to the doctor eight months after my surgery because of depression and when they tested my thyroid the doctor said "Well, you're not depressed, your thyroid is." I registered almost none at all and that was the cause for the various symtoms I was trying to attribute to turning 50 or to menopause. I was depressed, exhausted, gaining weight, losing my hair, my skin was so dry it felt like sand paper, and my brain was so foggy I couldn't make the simplest of decisions. I was used to having oily skin and a brain that worked. Thank goodness for medication, even if it did take a couple of years to get it regulated.

July 7 meeting -
We had lots going on at the meeting this week. It was awards day and we started our new game. Kay handled the presentation of awards and they were as follows:

Division 2 - Judy
Division 3 - Christine
Division 4 - Doris

Best Loser - Christine

Vacation Charms - Geri, June, Penny, Marilyn, Roy, Agnes, Charlene

KOPS $5.00 award - Leta, Betty, Mary

Our net loss for the month of June was 43.25 pounds. Wa-hoo - let's keep it up!

We have a new member that just joined this week, her name is Margaret. We also saw the return of member Linda R. who had not been coming this past year. Welcome Ladies!

Diane explained the new game we'll be playing this summer and divided us into teams. The response was really terrific. We had 27 people sign up to participate and everyone seemed really excited about the game and duly impressed with Diane's creativity and the beautiful gameboard she made. We're going to send a picture of it and the rules to TOPS magazine. The purpose, as with all of our contests/games, is to provide motivation and incentive to lose those pounds. Sometimes you participate in them as individuals and sometimes as part of a team. The team games have a secondary purpose which is to learn to provide each other with support through phone calls and notes of encouragment.

Julie and Sylvia provided the group with copies of some salad recipes and we closed with the recitation of Hand In Hand Together We Can.

Rockaway Beach

There were no clouds in the sky so the sunset was very simple in appearence, but still very beautiful. Once it reaches the horizon it disappears so quickly that it makes you aware of how fast the earth is really moving.



Our weekend at Rockaway Beach was wonderful as always. It was a family weekend with Big Bear's cousins and we enjoyed their company, the beach and of course the seafood. Everyone pitches in to help with the preperation and the cleanup and then we sit down to enjoy the food and catch up on each other's lives.



Maybe someday more of the family will decide to join our yearly excursion.

Garden Update

Yesterday and today I spent some time in the garden weeding and watering and admiring the growth and the greeness of it all. It's just a small salad garden, but I enjoy it and it gets me outside in the sunshine. I'm not much of an outdoorsy type and limited in my gardening skills, but enjoy the planting and watching it grow. I'd just as soon sit at the computer, watch TV or read a book and yet I really do enjoy being out in the sun. Plus I'm using the increased sunlight (now that summer is here) to cut back on my anti-depressant in hopes of eliminating it at some point especially now that my thyroid level is being kept higher.

Now to make you all green with envy - I'm off to the beach tomorrow! Big Bear and I will be meeting his cousin & wife at a little cabin in Rockaway for two days. We've always enjoyed their company and a few years ago we started doing a yearly weekend at the beach just to keep in touch. Several years back as all of our parents were dying one by one, we decided we'd like to see each other sometime other than just funerals so we arranged to meet at the beach one year and it became a yearly tradition, a way to keep some family ties. The cabin is right on the beach with large windows looking out at the ocean. I love going there. I'll take some pictures. :o)

Friends

On Tuesday I took D (best friend) to the hospital for foot surgery. She expected me to just drop her off as her husband would be picking her up later in the day. As we parked I turned off the engine and as she's saying "You don't have to go with me", I look at her and say "You think I'm going to drop my best friend off for surgery and then head home? NO WAY! What if I get home and then find out later" (at this point my brain puts the brakes on my mouth as I quickly realize I don't want to say 'you died' and make her even more apprehensive) and instead said the more general phrase "something happened." Oh well, at least she knows me and my mouth well. She was relieved to have me there as she is very, very nervous about stuff like this. Neither of us is good at waiting around if we have nothing to do, so she had her Sudoku book, I had my crochet and between that and conversation the hours of waiting weren't so bad. The surgery took less then an hour, but there was 3 1/2 hours ahead of it (questions and prep) and then a couple of hours after for recovery. Everything went really well and she'll have the other foot done in a month.

Lovely Weekend

What a lovely weekend we had. On Saturday one of Big Bear's co-workers invited him to go fishing on the lake near his home and in the evening our Son & DIL took us out to dinner at a very nice restaurant. On Sunday BB went out to breakfast with his good friend K and they goofed around for awhile. Then in the afternoon we went over to Son's house for dinner and a movie. It was very nice and relaxing and our son fed us for two days (well, dinner anyway). Seeing as how we had to feed that skinny kid with the hollow leg until he grew to 6'3" and 200# it's kind of nice to have him reciprocate once in awhile.

Hope all you Dads out there had a great weekend, too.

Trying Out Audio

Mary's Baby Quilts

Tuesday I went over to Mary's house and helped her tie baby quilts. You can't help but smile when you're around Mary and hope like hell that you're in half as good a shape as she is when you reach 82. She donates the quilts to a hospital that gives them to the new babies. Those new moms in Wyoming have to be wondering why some lady in Oregon is making them quilts. Mary was living there last year to be near one of her daughters and immediately plugged herself into a local TOPS group there and somehow got into making quilts for the hospital. After a year she decided to move back to Oregon (she also has a daughter here and was born here). The hospital staff in Wyoming told her "Now don't you get hooked up with any hospital there in Oregon. We'll pay the postage for you to send the quilts back here". She sent 8 blankets this week and on Thursday UPS brought her a box from Wyoming full of fabric scraps to make more. She laughed and said "I don't think they want me to ever quit making quilts". I think you're right Mary.

On Friday it was Mary who was in charge of the program at our TOPS meeting. She had chosen FUN as her topic, sighting the very real need to have fun in our lives. She talked about the mental, emotional and physical benefits to our health that's provided by having some fun and laughter in our day as well as the stress relief it provides. Later in the day I thought about the people who've commented that our humorous and daily life blogs are a waste of time and space and couldn't help but wonder if they labor under the misconception that only serious stuff is important. I don't think they would be much fun to be around, especially as they get old and cranky. ;-)

NEW Book - I'm so excited! I got my new Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver. The murderer signs his notes 'the Watchmaker'.

Albums In My Collection

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These are a few of the albums (and cds) I've enjoyed over the years. It's an eclectic mix of old and new and various styles. There's lots more of course, but I had to stop somewhere. :o)