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 :-)