truths for mature people.....

a friend sent me these....and you know what? i'm pretty sure they are all true :-)


Truths For Mature Adults

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your
computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure
I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the
rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray ? I don't
want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I
did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.

15. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

16. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

17. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.


18. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

19. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to
prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and
sisters!

20. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.

21. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away,
in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and
the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men
to realize that their brain is also important.

it is, after all, extra money.....

if you are not on facebook, then you probably dont know that i have been working weekends this month. all month. and at least saturday the 5th of may, maybe even the 6th. not sure yet. but i do know for sure that regardless, that will be the last weekend. we have katie's open house to go to at fairgate on the 12th of march, and i refuse to miss that. we will be there to sample all of the food options, select table settings and linens, maybe see florists and bakeries. and hopefully there will be a list of officiants for her and tim to check out. and i will get to meet tim's mom. i have briefly met his dad, but have yet to meet his mom. and katie and tim have only been together for 6-1/2 years! its ok. we will have plenty of time to get to know them. k & t may have already decided on a bakery though. divine bites downtown. i had orginally thought of them, but then we tried cupcakes at a different place downtown, and those were really good too. we had them at our work staff party for christmas, and i took one home to give to katie. she really like it. it was a snickerdoodle cupcake. we stopped in to buy some, but she was out of cupcakes. in the middle of the afternoon. all she had was a couple brownies. as my mom said, you budget in your waste. who runs a bakery that runs out of food? she said something about it being "winter" and that she doesn't make as much because sales are low, but you know what? you donate to a shelter or sell things day old like the other bakery was doing. but to not have anything in your case at all???? then she told katie that she would be at the local bridal show and to stop by there and she would have samples. so katie went that weekend. guess who was not there? nope. the woman did not go to the show. so katie decided that she didn't feel like she could trust her to do the work. the other bakery was there though, with samples. k & t both liked the cupcakes, so looks like they may be using them. there is also a new cupcake place out in battle ground, but not sure that i want to drive all the way out there. kinda hoping they will be at the open house, but since they are new, not sure that they will be. she does like divine bites though. and she said the ladies were very nice. other than that, katie has picked out save the dates and invitations. we are ordering the save the dates next week. should have done this last month, but we're still within the 6 months before the day of the wedding :-)
did i tell you that we bought her dress? back in november. its beautiful! cant wait until its done and we can go to the fitting! i would upload a picture of her in the sample dress, but tim might see. dont want that to happen :-)
**but i will email pictures if you want to see!**

Oscar Time

Time to make my predictions for Oscars.
Admittedly, I still have not seen True Grit.
But I don't think I need too to make my predictions.
I am going to see it by myself Thursday though.
Can't get anyone else to go with me.

So here I go......

Actor in a Leading Role

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
• Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”
• James Franco in “127 Hours”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
• John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
• Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
• Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech”
• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
• Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
• Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Animated Feature Film

• “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
• “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland”
  Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
  Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Inception”
  Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “The King's Speech”
  Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• “True Grit”
  Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
  

Cinematography

• “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
• “Inception” Wally Pfister
• “The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” Mary Zophres

Directing

• “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” David O. Russell
• “The King's Speech” Tom Hooper
• “The Social Network” David Fincher
• “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary (Feature)

• “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
• “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “Killing in the Name” Jed Rothstein
• “Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
• “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
• “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
• “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Film Editing

• “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
• “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
• “The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar
• “127 Hours” Jon Harris
• “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film

• “Biutiful” Mexico
• “Dogtooth” Greece
• “In a Better World” Denmark
• “Incendies” Canada
• “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

Makeup

• “Barney's Version” Adrien Morot
• “The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)

• “How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
• “Inception” Hans Zimmer
• “The King's Speech” Alexandre Desplat
• “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
• “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)

• “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
• “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
• “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Picture

• “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
• “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• “Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
• “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Confession” Tanel Toom
• “The Crush” Michael Creagh
• “God of Love” Luke Matheny
• “Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
• “Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing

• “Inception” Richard King
• “Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• “Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

• “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
• “The King's Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• “Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• “The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects

• “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky and Joe Farrell
• “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini(would like to pick this one though)
  

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
  Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg(would like to pick this one too)
  
• “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

So there it is. Most are just guesses after reading bio's online. It's hard to pick things like documentaries when we never get to see these. I really think that the Academy needs to let a group from the general public vote on these too. People who actually pay to go see a movie. They will tell you the truth. My favorite movies this year were Black Swan, Winter's Bone and Hereafter. But they are not going to win many awards. The King's Speech will. I hope Social Network doesn't. It was OK, but not as great as it was made out to be. I did like King's Speech, and I'm totally OK with the awards it will win. 127 Hours was really good too. But I don't think it is an Academy type of movie. King's Speech is.
But then again.....
I could be totally wrong :-)
My bet on correct picks: 14/24

fast food no more.....

(note to self: come here more so that it won't take you 3 tries to remember your password)

i have given up fast food.
and diet soda.
i have not had either since january 1st.
funny thing too...it was taco bell.
the bell is being sued for saying their products include "beef" when in fact it only contains 35%.
bleck.
i'm trying to eat healthier.
i go home for lunch.
make a sandwich or something.
well i was pretty much always going home for lunch, but now i don't stop at wendy's first.
if there was nothing in the house to make for lunch, then i would grab fast food.
now i make sure that there is something there to eat.
i still need to make changes though.
i want to go organic.
i want to buy only organic meat.
i had been buying organic hamburger for some time, but i don't think my store is carrying it any more.
i will have to look again.
the last few times i bought hamburger i couldn't find it.
another change i made was i am eating breakfast every morning.
i skipped breakfast a lot.
all month i have been eating cereal.
special k or cheerios.
and so far the milk has not been hurting my stomach like it used too.
i used to cramp up whenever i had milk.
but so far i seem to be doing ok :-)
i also started drinking a glass of blueberry juice.
another thing i am going to try is taking hydrochloric acid.
i just bought the newest book from suzanne summers called sexy forever.
i bought it for the title :-)
all kidding aside, she talks about the changes that women over 40 go through.
i have been exercising with my sister terri for a year now, and neither of us were losing any weight.
since giving up the diet soda and fast food, i have lost 8 pounds.
now i was not eating and drinking that stuff every day, but sometimes it was 2-3 times a week.
that was too much.
anyway, in the book she talks about how when you reach 40 you stop producing enough acid in your stomach to digest your food properly so it turns to toxins stored in fat, making you fatter.
since my gallbladder was removed i don't even have acid going into my stomach to help in digestion.
so i think this is something that is important for me to give a try.
i am going online today and order some.
i will let you know how i feel after taking these for a while.
and if i am losing any more weight :-)

wow. the year is done. and i have not been here.

i have one more week until this year is over.
i have not even been here for a month.
i will be out for the next week and unavailable to blog.
so i will try....try....to come back full time starting in january.
but not the first.
or the second.
maybe the second.
:-)
HAVE A FUN AND SAFE NEW YEAR!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.....

It's GORGEOUS out today :-)

Hope your day will be as nice as mine!

Halloween Fright......Late at Night......

Had the crap scared out of me last night.
Robert and I were sound asleep, when we were both woke up by the doorbell.
It was 12:36am.
We both sat up and he said "Was that the doorbell?"
"Yes."
We jumped out of bed. The cats, I think, were already in a panic and were hiding.
I immediately freak out thinking its cops.
Because at our house, we know first hand that doorbells in the middle of the night do not bring good news.
But then I calmed down.
I remembered that it was Halloween night and figured that it was kids playing Ding Dong Ditch.
Robert went to the front door to look out the window.
I went into Katie's old room to look out her window.
I should have seen a flaming bag-o-poo.
But instead......
I saw a cop.
Standing at the front door.
Flashlight in hand.
Not just any old cop, but a huge one.
I freaked and yelled to Robert "IT'S A COP!"
I turned around to head out to the living room when I noticed that the light from a flashlight shone into the room, but I kept going.
Robert opened the door and I stopped in the hall to listen.
Just like I did when they came 12 years ago.
I didn't know what he was going to say.
I wasn't even sure I wanted to hear it.
But there I stood.
Frozen in the hall, frozen in my memories.
He said something like this....
"Sir, I'm sorry to have woken you up, but I saw a young man come from your backyard and I wanted to make sure that you do not have a teen living here, or in one of your neighboring houses."
**exhale**
I was so relieved to hear that was why he was at the door.
But then, of course, I panicked thinking that someone had been trying to break into the house.
The cop was telling Robert that he thinks the guy was car prowling, and asked if the truck was locked, which it was.
The cop went over and checked the truck.
That is when I noticed the second cop, on the sidewalk, all in dark clothes, with a K9.
A big dark German Sheppard.
I went around back to see if there were wet footprints by the kitchen door and the sliding glass door.
Nope.
So that means the guy didn't come up on the deck.
Thank god for that.
Robert talked to the cop a little longer.
Apparently the officer was sitting in his parked car, somewhere either on our road or very near, when he saw a guy dressed in a dark hoodie, dark pants, with a backpack, come out of either our backyard, driveway, or the neighbors yard or driveway.
They were looking for him, and wanted to make sure that he did not in fact belong to our house.
He did not.
So they spent an hour or so in our neighborhood looking for him.
I have no idea if they found him.
I ended up awake for a few hours.
durrr.....
The one kinda funny thing about this....
Robert opened the door and stood there talking to the cop wearing only a pair of tie-dyed jammie bottoms :-)
What a hippie :-)

Today I Will Wear PURPLE......

And this is why.....

What is Spirit Day?

The idea behind Spirit Day, first created by teenager Brittany McMillan earlier this month, is a simple one, not dissimilar to the idea of "Spirit Week" held in many high schools, and can be summed up in three words: Everyone Rally Together.

Spirit Day honors the teenagers who had taken their own lives in recent weeks. But just as importantly, it's also a way to show the hundreds of thousands of LGBT youth who face the same pressures and bullying, that there is a vast community of people who support them.

Purple symbolizes 'spirit' on the rainbow flag,

a symbol for LGBT Pride that was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978.

As one of the event's Facebook pages says: "This event is not a seminar nor is it a rally. There is NO meeting place. All you have to do is wear purple."

Wearing purple on October 20 is a simple way to show the world that you stand by these courageous young people and a simple way to stand UP to the bullies. Remember those lives we've tragically lost, and show your solidarity with those who are still fighting. 'Go Purple' today!

http://glaad.org/spiritday

So today I wear Purple.
Here are a few "purple" pictures that I have taken.
And a special one with a message from me.....

Today I am wearing purple.
Be kind...
Peace

Fall is Here....

It's a beautiful day!

A little cold this morning, but the sun is out.

I had to stop and take a picture of these trees.

So beautiful :-)

SO.......On the first weekend of October, my sister and I took our mom to Leavenworth for her 70th Birthday. We asked her what she would like to do, and that is what she chose. It's a long drive, 5-1/2 hours, but worth it. Leavenworth is such a fun Bavarian themed town. We had a really nice weekend. Stayed at a hotel that has a "special" room. They bought an old church and moved it to their lot and turned it into a private room.

We only had someone try to come in twice! Once when the door was locked and then when we were preparing to leave on Sunday, someone walked up and looked in the door. When they saw us in there, the hurried and left. I can't believe that people were actually trying to open the door when it was closed. There is a sign right there on the door that says that it is a private room and to go to the front desk to inquire about staying there. But no....people still have to try to come in. On the way out of town, we stopped at a really nice orchard and took all kinds of pictures and shopped in their store. I bought some really tasty vegi chips. The drive home was long, but we were making good time. We stopped at the replica of Stonehenge in Goldendale in the gorge and took some pictures. We decided to cross the river at Biggs and go home via I-84 in Oregon instead of the longer drive along SR14 in Washington. Good thing. The truck broke down. We were so lucky that it broke down where it did. We were in Portland and right at the split where you either go south on I-84 or merge onto I-205 north to head back to Washington. I was driving along in the center lane watching for the split to 205 when I felt something in the steering wheel. It felt tight all of a sudden. I tested it a little in the lane, trying to move it slightly, but it wouldn't. I had no steering. I was thinking that I needed an exit and that I had to call Katie, who was driving in her car in front of me. But how was I going to call her and keep my hands on the steering wheel? I was afraid to let go of it. Just then my cell phone rang. I grabbed it without even looking to see who it was and handed it to my sister in the back seat and told her "It's Katie. Tell her I need to take the next exit." It was Katie. She was calling to tell me that I was dragging something. Unfortunately, there was no exit at that portion of the freeway, so I had to just pull over to the side of the road. Which was pretty difficult. I had no steering and brakes. I had to push really hard on the steering wheel to be able to switch lanes, and press down hard on the brakes. I think the cars behind me knew something was wrong because they all slowed down and backed off. Katie and I got out to look at the truck. Water was pouring out and something was hanging down underneath the engine. It was a belt.

So I wasn't dragging anything, the belt had fallen off and was hanging there. (Robert thinks the cars behind me could see the water pouring out and that's why they backed off) I called Robert and he started researching where the closest Dodge dealer was. We decided to take it to the one in Gresham. I didn't want everyone else staying on the side of the freeway with me. It's so unsafe. I will risk my own life being there, but not everyone elses. So Katie loaded everything that she could into her car, and took mom, Terri and Missy with her. Robert headed out to come get me. I called AAA and asked for a tow, and then sat there and waited. And tried not to panic because of the cars and semi's whizzing past me. I had things going through my head like "Where is the best place to be in the truck in case someone rear ends me going 60 mph?" I decided to stay in the drivers seat with my seat belt on, but moved the seat back away from the steering wheel and the air bag. I didn't want the whole force of the airbag to hit me square in the face! I was sitting there, waiting for my tow, going over my conversation with AAA in my mind, when I suddenly realized that I told them I was sitting on the freeway EAST bound on I-84, when I was actually WEST bound! Oooooopsies..... I called them back and told them about my mistake. She said that they would call a different truck to come assist me since the other one was headed the wrong way. My bad. Robert showed up about then and we loaded all that we could into the Miata. Only had to leave the cooler and 2 bags of board games in the truck. The tow truck arrived and he told told us that it looked like the water pump went out and that caused the belt to fall off.

Now this truck in only 4 years old, and this is the second water pump to go out! WTS? Something is definitely wrong with the pumps they are using. Fortunately it was covered under the warranty, and the truck was repaired at no cost. We only had it in the shop for 2 days. Good thing, because we were going camping that next weekend. There are so many things that could have been really horrible with this breakdown.

1. It could have happened in some podunk Eastern Washington town with no cell coverage.

2. It could have happened hours away from home.

3. It could have happened on the hills in Eastern Washington between Ellensburg and Yakima. HUGE HILLS!!!!! That was the only time I got choked up over this. Saying something to Robert about "What if this had happened on the hills? I wouldn't have been able to stop or steer the truck from going over the side of the cliff."

4. It could have happened on SR14 if we had not made the decision to go I-84. SR-14 has a section of very narrow lanes near cliffs overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.

5. It could have happened the next weekend when we were pulling the trailer.

I know you should never play the "What If...." game. But I did. I don't know if that is my way of preparing myself for the "What If's..." the next time something like this happens or what. But I will go through all the other scenarios of what could have happened and what I would have done in those cases.

Lets just hope that it won't come to that :-)

well....ok...i can handle this....

the miata got hit.
again.
this is the third time.
do people not look around when they are driving?
what is up with that.
its like once they got their drivers license, all common sense went out the window.
here is a tip for driving....
DRIVE DEFENSIVELY!
you should always pay attention to your surroundings.
last friday i decided to go get a burger for lunch. i have not been eating crap like that for a while, and it sounded good. and i was hungry. and there was nothing in the house. how convenient :-)
burgerville is close, so i went there. for those of you not from our area, burgerville is nationally ranked for their burgers because they use local, fresh products. they are kinda spendy for fast food. growing up we called their burgers *shit burgers*. not because they were shit, but because they used a special sauce that made the burgers kinda sloppy. but oh so yummy! these are just the regular ol little burgers, not their newer big ones like the tillamook cheeseburger. i skip those. way too big. they do have a yummy turkey/bacon sandwich on a wheat roll that is really good too. anyway.....i pulled into the drive thru and it was backed up. there were about 5 cars still to place their orders. i was sitting there for only about 2 minutes or so, when i see the big bronco in front of me start backing up. backing up fast! all i could see were his tail lights! i honked but too late. he smacked into me. who the hell backs up in a drive thru? if you pull into the drive thru you are committed to go through! we got out of our vehicles, saw that his big steel bumper put a dent in the front of the car, so we pulled over into the lot. i got his info, shook his hand and told him that it was alright and we would get everything taken care of. he half jokingly said "its not alright. i just insured this truck this morning now i gotta pay to fix that." well dumbass....guess you shouldn't have backed up in the drive thru! i called his insurance and now i just need to get the quote.
we have been hit so many times.
in different cars that we have owned.
the first time was the ford escort. robert was at work and someone didn't set their break. their unoccupied vehicle rolled and crashed into our car.
#2 - ford probe. i was in the car and there was a long line of cars sitting at the light. i was going to turn left. i was driving slowly in the turn lane past the stopped cars when a guy decided to pull out the the line of stopped cars. he crashed into the back right side of the my car. idiot.
#3 - nissan pathfinder. this one was a 50/50 fault. me again. i was on my way home and got to an intersection that has a no stop right hand turn, into your own lane. then you would need to merge over. an old lady was in a station wagon in front of me. we were taking the turn slow. i turned my head to look to the left to see if anyone was coming so that i could merge left, when bam. i hit her. she had made her turn and then stopped instead of continuing in her lane. we were both covered by the same insurance company, so we were found 50/50 at fault. her for stopping when she didn't need to, me for following to close and not paying attention to her. ooopsie.
#4 - nissan pathfinder again. it was roberts 30th birthday. we were headed to portland to pick up food for his party. traffic was stopped on the freeway, so we had to stop. all of a sudden robert goes "HOLD ON!" . BAM! we got hit. i think it was a woman. don't remember. she was not paying attention to the traffic. she must have started to break because the damage was just a dent in the bumper. we didn't even get it fixed. we bought new tires. needed those more.
#5 - miata - this was the first time the miata was hit. robert and someone from work, ken or someone, were sitting at a stoplight when they were rearended. big booboo. kid was insured on his parents policy. car was fixed up nice.
#6 - miata again. i was in the downtown parking garage because i went to a movie with mom. when we came out, some had turned into the parking spot next to me, hit the car, put a huge dent in the rear side panel, and took off. jerks. since they left the scene we had to pay our deductible as if we had been hit by an uninsured motorist. not fair. but we got it fixed.
#7 - dodge ram truck. this was a scary one. robert was leaving his office in portland. i think it was dark and raining, or at least it was dark. some woman tried to beat the traffic in the intersection and turned in front of robert who was going through. she was going super fast. her car was totaled and the truck was damaged quite a bit on the front left side. if he had been in the miata instead of the truck that night, he may not have walked away from that crash. where she hit the truck, that would have been the driverside door of the miata. she would have gone right into him. that one scared me.
#8 - back to friday and the miata.
eight times we have been hit. 7 were somewhat minor. one bad. but in all of them, no one was hurt other than a stiff back from a couple of them.
guess you can say that we are lucky in that sense!

happenings since the last time....

lets see.....

last i was here was aug 18.

since then lets see what has happened.....

nothing on the 19th.

the 20th was my 27th anniversary! we celebrated w/friends and fake journey.

since the real journey is in the studio, we went with beth & les, tim & sandy and katie & mara to see a journey tribute band. what a fiasco. the doors opened at 7pm. we got there about that time, and almost all of the tables were taken. mostly by one person holding the entire table for 12 for other people. we were getting a little pissed. have your whole party there, or most of them. not one stinking person. we finally found a table with only 4 people at it that was NOT being held for more! so we sat with them. the music didn't even start until something like 9. maybe later. i don't remember now. but mara and katie both had to leave before the journey tribute band came on. and that was the only reason we went. they finally came on at 10:30 and played until midnight. they were ok. it was just nice to hear the songs.

on the 21st, robert and i went to see american idol. i have to admit it, but they were not good. at all. boring song selections. boring performances. we only went because it was free. i sat there the entire show waiting for crystal bowersox and lee dewyze. crystal was the only one who was good. lee.....sucked. i was so disappointed. maybe his voice was off because of the long tour. but he was not good. at all. so sad.

on the 22nd we went to a classic car show that was being held down here on officers row. really fun! some of the cars were very cool. there was a car here worth $600,000 and one that was worth $2,000,000! it was a hemi cuda. not my favorite car. it was orange and kind of like a muscle type car. i think it was a 1970. it was a very rare car though, so that is why it was worth so much. my favorites are the british cars....the mg's and the austin healey's. love love love those!

my favorite austin healey

had a massage on the 26th. have to skip next month though....ummmm..that would be THIS month :-) we need to make the catering deposit for katie's wedding this month, so no massage.

went camping in the cascades on the 27th, 28th and 29th with scott and jody. fun times! got a few laughs in at robert's expense, which is usually how it goes. this time it involved fire, melted marshmallow, a napkin and both hands. i think you get the picture :-)

kite surfing in stevenson, wa

and now we are at this past weekend. spent saturday making cards while robert was out doing yard work with our rent-a-son colton. they got so much done, including removing many blackberry vines and an approx 10 year old fir tree growing between the fence and some bushes. it was crazy huge. you don't realize how big something is until you get in there and take a good look. it was big. on sunday, katie and tim brought over salmon and we cooked that on a cedar plank. i'm not a big fan of salmon, but it was good.

rent-a-son colton

that's a big tree

grilled salmon on a cedar plank

and here we are at today.

consider yourself caught up :-)

someone left their heart in San Francisco.......

Robert, Bryan and I took Celina down to San Francisco this past weekend. She will be there for 8 months to a year going to Grad School. Smarty pants. We drove her down along with the few belongings she took with her. Poor Bryan kept getting disappointed the more she pulled stuff out of boxes...."You took Lord of the Rings?" "You took Harry Potter?" He was more concerned about the movies then her living away from him! He was just kidding with her. He would say something and she would get upset and say "You said I could take it!" It was funny. We unloaded all of her stuff from the truck Friday and she and Bryan put together the futon bed that night. Then we walked around her neighborhood trying to find a place to eat. Saturday we went back to her apartment and they put together her dresser and bookcase. After that we decided to go down to the pier for lunch. They figured out where to wait for a cable car, and we walked a couple blocks and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally one came. And it was full. He said there was another one right behind him. So we waited. And waited. And waited. And then it came. And it was full. So we decided to take the bus. We crossed the street to wait for the bus. Now while we were waiting for the cable car, 3 or 4 buses had come by. Now we were waiting for a bus. And a cable car came. But it was full. Still no bus. Lots of taxi's though. Robert wanted to take a cab. I hate cabs. We decided to walk down. I suggested that we just follow the cable car tracks. So we did. There were a lot of hills. Not very many were up hill though, so it was not a bad walk. We got down to the pier, had chowder and sour dough bread for lunch, then walked down to the Boudin bread store and then back over to Ghirardelli for chocolate. The plan was to take the cable car back up to Celina's neighborhood. But it was going to be a 2 hour wait. Robert and Bryan got in line and Celina and I sat in the park. After several minutes, I thought that we should have bought the tickets to ride the cable car already, so I asked Celina to say something to the boys. They both decided they didn't want to wait 2 hours, so Bryan called a cab. Bleck. But it was actually a great idea. The cab showed up within minutes, took all four of us back to Celina's super fast and it was only $6.00. The cable car was $5.00 per person. I insisted on buying Celina groceries before we left. I was not going to leave without her having food and cleaning supplies. Good thing we did it when we were all there because she would have had to walk a couple blocks up hill with all that stuff by herself. We left early evening so that Bryan and Celina could spend some time together. Then Sunday morning we went back to get the empty suitcases and large cardboard that we told her we would take back for her...and Bryan. Robert stayed with the truck to load stuff in back that Bryan and I brought down. Then I went up to hug her and say goodbye and quickly left before I started to cry. I sent Robert up to say goodbye and he came back down a few minutes later and said "Thanks for sending me up there when she is bawling her eyes out." Which is what I was trying to avoid myself, but didn't even think he would have to see. I felt so bad leaving her there, but I know it is the best thing for her to do to finish school. It will all be good. Hopefully for Bryan and Celina it will go fast. They already have plans for when she is going to Seattle and for when Bryan is going back down there.
And they always have text messaging.

come on stephenie meyer....make this happen!

i was reading an interview on eonline with jackson rathbone (jasper in twilight) and he was saying that he wants to do a twighlight origins type movie showing how jasper came to be a vampire and what he did until he hooked up with the cullens. i would love for stephenie meyer to write books about all of the cullens and their lives up until they became a cullen. i know she touched on all of their stories in the original books, but i want an entire book devoted to each of the characters telling their stories before they became a vampire and what happened afterwards. i'm just not ready to give this story line up yet. i love the movies, even though i think most of the acting is horribly cheesy. but i really really love the books. i need to read them all over again.
would you want to read the backgrounds of all of the cullens?

august randomness......

have not blogged in a week.
guess you will just have to forgive me :-)
the cool weather we have been having lately is perfect.
trying to get some friends to join us for a night of journey tribute music on our 27th anniversary on the 20th.
wanna go???
i'm hungry.
kinda want chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.
someone at work was talking about her drive through the rockies last week.
makes me want to go.
i have been sitting here for several minutes trying to figure out what to say next.
i got a weird message on facebook from some beef cake saying he wanted to meet/talk to me because he was looking for a husband.
wts?
do i look like a guy?
now i really want some of that cake.
not beef cake.
the choco cake w/pb frosting.
that one.
not the weirdo who thinks i would make a great husband.
i wouldn't.
i gots the wrong parts.
someone just gave me a peach.
it smells yummy.
will eat it for lunch.
i'm still hungry.
are you bored yet?

good thing i'm walking tonight.....

when i came back from lunch this afternoon

this was waiting for me on my desk.....

hmmmmm....wonder what could be inside.....

O.M.G!!!!!!!!

a chocolate cup with mousse and berries!

YUMMMMMMM.......

one of the agents, kalani, asked me on her way out to lunch if she could bring me back anything. I told her no thank you, and she said "I will bring you back some dessert!" and promptly went out the door! she is the sweetest ever :-) this is not the first time she has brought us back goodies. she has given us cookies and gift certificates before.

good thing i'm walking tonight......

keeping my art to myself.....

we have decided to not enter the fair this year.
i was so ticked at them last year for using a judge who was not even familiar with the different card making techniques, that i have decided to take a break this year.
as for photos, neither of us have taken a picture of anything that we feel was unique enough to enter.
so we will go friday and look at the photos my sister and niece entered.
and i will go look at the cards and say to myself "i make better cards than THAT!"
which is totally catty, but i will do anyway :-)
friday nights free show will be medieval jousting!
i'm so excited to see that!
knights from the round table riding horses and knocking each other off into the dirt.....
my kind of entertainment!
will have robert take pictures :-)

dreaming of weddings......

oiy....
it has started.
i dreamed about katie's wedding last night.
i actually think this is the second time i have dreamed about the wedding.
last night the dream was about her dress.
and the reception.
i'm pretty sure i dreamed about the dress because at lunch yesterday, katie brought her printouts of the dresses she wants to look at.
a lot of dresses!
i told her it was like when robert and i were looking at trailers.
after a while they all start to look the same, and you can't remember which one you liked.
so in my dream we were at the wedding and katie went to put her dress on.
she came out in this gold dress with burgundy colored beads on it.
on one shoulder were fabric flowers that came down the shoulder and then across to the front of the dress.
but the best part was there was burgundy colored material draped from the other shoulder and it wrapped around the full length of the dress all the way to the bottom.
and the very bottom of the dress ballooned out.
at one point she opened the burgundy material and had it draped over her shoulder like a cape.
it was uggglyyy.
i have been trying really hard not to influence katie on her dress choice.
it's her wedding, her dress.
oh i will give her my opinion you can be sure of that....
but the final choice is hers.
i just hope it doesn't look like that one!
back to the dream....
one of the agents here at work was in the dream, and she looked at me and said "what was she thinking?" to which i answered "i have no idea".
then i started panicking about the number of people there for the reception.
i was only counting 30 people.
we are paying for a minimum 125.
and i didn't recognize most of the people.
i was looking around for my friend jenny, and she was not there.
i was thinking i should start calling people and asking if they were still coming, but felt like i shouldn't do that.
it seemed like if i did that it would be like begging.
i don't remember any more.
i wonder how many more of these dreams i can look forward to in the next year?

it was a jeremiah johnson weekend.....

Went camping this weekend with some of the same people from the February beach campout.

This time though, we went to Eastern Washington and camped below Mt Adams.

Robert took this photo from behind the campsites at the back of the park. So if you have one of the back spaces, this is your view from your trailer. Is that gorgeous or what?! I can't even begin to describe how close you are to that mountain. It really feels like you are camping at the foot of it. It's huge!

We couldn't see the mountain from our space because of all of the trees, but all we had to do was walk a couple spaces down and there it was. There is a really good trail that you can take down to Trout Lake. Or what is left of Trout Lake. They are letting it stay natural, so the sediment from the mountain and the grasses are closing it in. There is still a stream and some lake, but I think it was quite a bit bigger many years ago.

We took the trail all the way towards town, and then followed the road in. There was a cute country store there and the Community Hall was having a Saturday Market. I never did make it over. Cheryl and Jill did though. They said there were some quilts, but other than that, it was kinda small.

Then we went back to the campsite and had Art & Crafts Day thanks to Charlie and Cheryl!

That kept us busy for a couple of hours :-)

Some of us made dream catchers, and others made feathers and beads to hang from....well whatever they decided to hang them from! Robert, Kevin, and Charlie all had them hanging from their glasses. Then Robert moved his to his hat. Jill hung hers from her hair. Jody made one to hang from Scott's walking stick, and Scott made a little one for Travel Bear. Bet you want to know who Travel Bear is! Scott and Jody have a Build-A-Bear that they made. He wears hiking boots, a fishing hat, and has a backpack. They have filled the hat with pins from all the places they have gone with the trailer. Now he has a feather w/beads from Mt Adams :-)

After Arts & Crafts were over, Scott & Jody made Ponderosa Poppers. Yummmmm! Scott first made these for us last year when we camped in Idaho at the Ponderosa State Park. Jalapeno peppers filled with Mediterranean feta cheese with shrimp wrapped in bacon then grilled on the bbq. So freaking good! Poor Robert and Jody both ended up with one that had a seed still in there and fried their mouths. Glad it wasn't me :-)

And then since we were FAMISHED because of the LACK of FOOD (inside joke. we do nothing but eat on these trips) Charlie & Cheryl made Buffalo Roast w/potatoes and carrots, corn-on-the-cob, rolls and salad.

Here it is starting to cook.

I love buffalo! It's really quite tasty! Robert didn't get a picture of that nights dessert. Jill had made super yummy cherry cake. Friday night though, Scott & Jody made pineapple upside down cake over the grill in a dutch oven. So gooood :-)
We ended Saturday night with Movie Night at the campfire. It was a special showing of.......

JEREMIAH JOHNSON!

When we last camped with this group, we had an hours long conversation about the movie Jeremiah Johnson. Turns out that Kevin & Jill and Robert & I were the ones to have never seen this movie. Scott & Jody and Charlie & Cheryl watch it ever year. Several times a year! And I think Jerry & Debra (who couldn't make this trip) had also seen the movie. By the time we went on this trip, Kevin & Jill watched the movie. So now it was just down to Robert & I being the JJ virgins. So we all sat in our chairs around the campfire, drinks in hand, and watched Robert Redford shoot elk and deer and skin bears and trap beavers and fight wolves and indians and talk to guys buried up to their necks with their horse buried beneath them. It was funny just because Charlie, Scott and Jody knew every word....EVERY WORD....of this movie!

All in all.....it was another success campout :-)

and so it has begun......

dresses.
wedding dresses.
katie and i have sipped from the kool-aid filled champagne flutes.
she tried on some dresses last week.
and i loved every minute of it.
looking through the garment bags filled with satin, lace, taffeta and organza.
the many oooooooo's, ahhhhhhhh's, hrmmmmm's and ack-what-were-they-thinking's.
it was all spur of the moment.
katie showed up at the house right after i had gotten home from seeing an early movie.
i had found out that the local wedding venue also had a dress shop, and they carried her favorite designer.
i asked her if she wanted to swing by and scout out the prices.
of course she had just come from work and was not "dressed" properly, in her opinion.
so we stopped by kohls and spent a little money.
and then she went out to the truck in the parking lot and prompted changed her top right there.
whipped that shirt right off.
kids.
we headed on over to the dress shop with the idea that we were just going to take a look at the maggie sottero dresses and see what the prices were like.
when we arrived we were asked if there was anything we could be helped with and i said we were there to look at the maggie sottero dresses.
a very nice lady asked us if we knew which style and i remembered the name of one, the megan. she pointed us in the direction of the sizes for katie to look at, and she said she would see if they had that dress.
next thing we know she is unzipping a bag and pulling the dress out asking us if she could start a room.
katie looked at me all wide-eyed....TRY ON??? I GET TO TRY ON????
**yes katie you did look like that**
we were all excited and looked around for a few others to try on.
we found 2 that were on katie's list of dresses that she had seen on the website and wanted to try on.
and then we picked out a couple other ones.
she tried on the megan first, then the ellen and the karina royale.
the first time she came out...it just kinda takes your breath away.
i thought she looked amazing in all of them.
i think she tried on a total of five dresses.
but the one that day that really stood out was the karina royale.
all lace, champagne colored, gorgeous.
we both spent the weekend looking online at dresses.
i sent her an email with dresses for her to look at.
she told me that she had printed up 30 dresses that she liked!
she said she needed to weed through those.
i said to wait until she saw them in person.
you just never know!
soon, soon we will go again.
and i can't wait :-)

another week has come....and gone....

and here i am, still not blogging.
my friend at work asked me this morning why i have not been blogging.
just not feeling it i guess.
i have things to say, but honestly, i keep forgetting to come here.
how sad is that?
i think because i got out of the habit of coming every day, that i forget now.
so i will make myself notes.
because that is what we do when we are old and forgetful.
we make notes.
and leave them all over the place.
i have notes on 4 different calendars.
notes on top of the calendars.
on specific days in the calendars.
i have notes on my desk.
on papers on my desk.
just looking around on my desk right now....
i have 7 notes.
i even have a note on top of a note because apparently i needed a note to remind me that i wrote a note.
i leave myself notes on the counter at home.
i will write myself a note at work, and take it home and put it on the counter.
i have a sticky note app on my computer at home.
so on my computer desk top, there are a dozen or so sticky notes that pop up when i log onto the computer.
the family teases me about those.
whatever.
i'm old.
i need to remind myself to remind myself or i forget.
because i'm old.
so i will leave myself a note that i need to blog.
now i have 8 notes on my desk......