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Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Chicken cheeks!
Good day in the PNW. Today started out with a little homework, but quickly moved on to some "edu-tainment".
First up: The drive to the "West-side". OMG! Be-U-ti-ful day! We saw Mt. St. Helen's and it looked GI-NOR-MOUS. All snowy and pretty. Yes, this was an event in itself. Mountains, bridges, sky tram thing, city skyline, subway-like tunnel...no traffic. All good.
Next up: "Books and Bites". We headed out to Beaverton (not to be confused with the Hamlet of Beavercreek. Yep, they - I mean we - get a lot of mileage out of those critters, including having the only 2 sided state flag in order to stick one on the back.) The concept with books and bites is that it is a book club that doesn't focus on a specific book, but rather a theme. This month's theme was dragons. So each of the kids brings a book they've read that fits the theme. Then they also bring a snack that relates. K brought blue dragon scales (blue corn chips) and blood/guts (salsa....not that you will ever see it the same way again after reading that). There was also puffs of dragon smoke (popcorn), Chocolate covered dragon scales (a lace cookies dipped in chocolate), Dragon poo or drachmas (it was up for debate as to what it represented, but it was coin shaped pieces of fudge), Dragon's fire (red hots), and other items that specifically related to books. After they discussed their books and ate they ran around the backyard and had a grand time.
Then K and I headed over to Powell's books. Now don't get too excited. It wasn't the famous Powell's - City of Books location. It was a related, but smaller store in Beaverton. It was good though. They had loads of books discounted, plus they put used books along side with the new, so you usually had a choice to buy new or used. They seem to buy back books on the spot, so it is a good way to keep the shelves from overflowing while feeding your book cravings. K was able to spend some of a gift card so she was pretty happy floating from shelf to shelf. She opted for the 2nd Percy Jackson and a dragon book that was talked about at the meeting.
Okay - "Chicken Cheeks" explanation: We walk into the store and one of the discounted kid's books is called "Chicken Cheeks". K asked, "What is that?" I say that I've never heard of it before. So we look closer and it has a chicken's behind on the cover and I'm thinking "noooo...." The whole book is about animal bums! We started reading and (keep in mind it is a book store and about as quiet as a library) we start laughing until we are crying and can hardly read the book because it is so darn funny. Really it doesn't have many words, but things like "a duck billed platypus glutenous maximus" just sent us over the edge. Yeah... we bought a copy. Don't bug us or we'll send you a copy too. LOL!!!!!!
That was fun and all, but the real reason we were there was to go to a Young Writer's workshop. The workshop was run by 3 authors of older children's/young adult books. One lives in Portland and the other two were from back east - flew in for the event, but also on a signing tour. They talked about the process of writing, editing, peer critiquing, etc. Then they broke into groups to do some work with the kids on writings that they had prepared. The kids were able to read something they wrote and have them critiqued. K joined the older kids group, being 12. She read a portion of an adventure book she has been writing this school year. It was funny because she was able to articulate in front of the group the challenge of linking scenes and getting from her concept of the beginning and the ending she has planned out. Finally, they stopped her and asked, "How old are you?" She said 12. They were confused before her answer because they thought she looked younger, until she opened her mouth. Then they were blown away by her clear explanation of what she needed pointers/help with. Proud mommy/teacher moment. I wasn't exactly sure how she would conduct herself, but she did good. Overall, it was a good workshop because the kids were completely treated as competent *people*, not *just kids*.
Then we headed home to meet up with Mark. We decided we were going out for dinner and I suggested we go somewhere local/unique/not a chain. Mark and K decided that Chili's was exactly what they wanted. So we punched it into "Reggie" and Clackamas Town Center came up. Mark and I had actually eaten there back in September. So we headed there. We parked on the backside of the mall so we could get a little walk in. Well, we walked in and worked our way to the front where it was supposed to be. GONE. So we stopped into the Made in Oregon store and looked around. We found a few things, but the sales lady said to go home and print out their on-line coupon and come back and that sounded good to us. She also gave us some free booklets on Oregon. NICE PEOPLE!!
Being undeterred, Chili's was again punched in and Lake Oswego (pronounced Oss-wee-go.... sound wrong to me) came up. We knew that one too because Mark's old job had an office in the same complex. Well....it is now the Oswego Grill.
Then they put it in again and Beaverton came up. Now let's stop here. To get to Beaverton you actually travel to the north side of Portland, head west, and then go south. To go to Clackamas and Lake Oswego, you go south, then west, and then slightly north. So by the time we hit Beaverton, in my day, we had made the complete loop around Portland (freeways don't actually go straight across the middle). So now we are back in Beaverton for my 2nd time today. Guess what? No Chili's. Turns out there isn't a Chili's in the entire state of Oregon. They closed between September and now. Yes, I am laughing really loud. Chicken Cheeks and whirlwind tour on the hunt for the illusive Chili's... too much fun. Dinner ended up being Red Robin at about 9:00pm. Next time, I choose.
Tomorrow...you guessed it: House hunting. We have about 8 or 9 to get through this weekend. All going inside with the agents. Some we already scouted out and some are new to us. Cross your fingers!
First up: The drive to the "West-side". OMG! Be-U-ti-ful day! We saw Mt. St. Helen's and it looked GI-NOR-MOUS. All snowy and pretty. Yes, this was an event in itself. Mountains, bridges, sky tram thing, city skyline, subway-like tunnel...no traffic. All good.
Next up: "Books and Bites". We headed out to Beaverton (not to be confused with the Hamlet of Beavercreek. Yep, they - I mean we - get a lot of mileage out of those critters, including having the only 2 sided state flag in order to stick one on the back.) The concept with books and bites is that it is a book club that doesn't focus on a specific book, but rather a theme. This month's theme was dragons. So each of the kids brings a book they've read that fits the theme. Then they also bring a snack that relates. K brought blue dragon scales (blue corn chips) and blood/guts (salsa....not that you will ever see it the same way again after reading that). There was also puffs of dragon smoke (popcorn), Chocolate covered dragon scales (a lace cookies dipped in chocolate), Dragon poo or drachmas (it was up for debate as to what it represented, but it was coin shaped pieces of fudge), Dragon's fire (red hots), and other items that specifically related to books. After they discussed their books and ate they ran around the backyard and had a grand time.
Then K and I headed over to Powell's books. Now don't get too excited. It wasn't the famous Powell's - City of Books location. It was a related, but smaller store in Beaverton. It was good though. They had loads of books discounted, plus they put used books along side with the new, so you usually had a choice to buy new or used. They seem to buy back books on the spot, so it is a good way to keep the shelves from overflowing while feeding your book cravings. K was able to spend some of a gift card so she was pretty happy floating from shelf to shelf. She opted for the 2nd Percy Jackson and a dragon book that was talked about at the meeting.
Okay - "Chicken Cheeks" explanation: We walk into the store and one of the discounted kid's books is called "Chicken Cheeks". K asked, "What is that?" I say that I've never heard of it before. So we look closer and it has a chicken's behind on the cover and I'm thinking "noooo...." The whole book is about animal bums! We started reading and (keep in mind it is a book store and about as quiet as a library) we start laughing until we are crying and can hardly read the book because it is so darn funny. Really it doesn't have many words, but things like "a duck billed platypus glutenous maximus" just sent us over the edge. Yeah... we bought a copy. Don't bug us or we'll send you a copy too. LOL!!!!!!
That was fun and all, but the real reason we were there was to go to a Young Writer's workshop. The workshop was run by 3 authors of older children's/young adult books. One lives in Portland and the other two were from back east - flew in for the event, but also on a signing tour. They talked about the process of writing, editing, peer critiquing, etc. Then they broke into groups to do some work with the kids on writings that they had prepared. The kids were able to read something they wrote and have them critiqued. K joined the older kids group, being 12. She read a portion of an adventure book she has been writing this school year. It was funny because she was able to articulate in front of the group the challenge of linking scenes and getting from her concept of the beginning and the ending she has planned out. Finally, they stopped her and asked, "How old are you?" She said 12. They were confused before her answer because they thought she looked younger, until she opened her mouth. Then they were blown away by her clear explanation of what she needed pointers/help with. Proud mommy/teacher moment. I wasn't exactly sure how she would conduct herself, but she did good. Overall, it was a good workshop because the kids were completely treated as competent *people*, not *just kids*.
Then we headed home to meet up with Mark. We decided we were going out for dinner and I suggested we go somewhere local/unique/not a chain. Mark and K decided that Chili's was exactly what they wanted. So we punched it into "Reggie" and Clackamas Town Center came up. Mark and I had actually eaten there back in September. So we headed there. We parked on the backside of the mall so we could get a little walk in. Well, we walked in and worked our way to the front where it was supposed to be. GONE. So we stopped into the Made in Oregon store and looked around. We found a few things, but the sales lady said to go home and print out their on-line coupon and come back and that sounded good to us. She also gave us some free booklets on Oregon. NICE PEOPLE!!
Being undeterred, Chili's was again punched in and Lake Oswego (pronounced Oss-wee-go.... sound wrong to me) came up. We knew that one too because Mark's old job had an office in the same complex. Well....it is now the Oswego Grill.
Then they put it in again and Beaverton came up. Now let's stop here. To get to Beaverton you actually travel to the north side of Portland, head west, and then go south. To go to Clackamas and Lake Oswego, you go south, then west, and then slightly north. So by the time we hit Beaverton, in my day, we had made the complete loop around Portland (freeways don't actually go straight across the middle). So now we are back in Beaverton for my 2nd time today. Guess what? No Chili's. Turns out there isn't a Chili's in the entire state of Oregon. They closed between September and now. Yes, I am laughing really loud. Chicken Cheeks and whirlwind tour on the hunt for the illusive Chili's... too much fun. Dinner ended up being Red Robin at about 9:00pm. Next time, I choose.
Tomorrow...you guessed it: House hunting. We have about 8 or 9 to get through this weekend. All going inside with the agents. Some we already scouted out and some are new to us. Cross your fingers!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Nice people!!!!!!!
Yesterday I took K to her wood working class. Upon sending her into the workshop I realized that one of the people in charge was explaining to another parent all the opportunities that were part of TrackersNW (the organization that has set up the wood class). I was listening to the schpeel and when they were done I introduced myself and asked about some of the classes and camps.
One of the camps is a family camp that sounds really cool. It takes place out in Sandy, OR (about 45 minutes away) on the property of the owners of the company. The activities include, archery, wood working, caring for farm animals, collecting edible plants from the forest, making cheese from fresh goat's milk, tracking skills, camp cooking, and a laundry list of other activities.
Some of the other classes include a couple of homeschool classes. One focuses on ranger type skills and the other is more pioneering skills. They are big on letting students direct the activities, so they could be making wooden bows one day and navigating a river in a canoe the next. The staff act more as facilitators that provide experts. Then after getting a taste of what the person knows, the kids dialong with the staff and come up with their projects. Primative clay sculting, boat building, survivor skills.....soooooo much to choose from. Unfortunately, the classes can cost a bit, but not all. I'll have to keep my eyes open.
They even have adult classes. While I was chatting with the lady, I found out that the group in another workshop was making German 10th century leather shoes from scratch. They teach all sorts of classes, it is really quite interesting. One that I am not sure I would jump on was a hunting class. The students don't actually hunt, but the teacher does hunt a nutra (rodent), then shows how to "off" it (without prolonged suffering), skin it, and tan its hide. Wild...weird! It is really a different culture up here sometimes.
I came to the class just to take K and hang out and read my book. Instead I had the most interesting conversation with this lady. I gave her lots of "outs" to end the conversation, but she seemed quite happy to hang out and talk about all sorts of things. The people up here are so nice, I tell you!
One of the camps is a family camp that sounds really cool. It takes place out in Sandy, OR (about 45 minutes away) on the property of the owners of the company. The activities include, archery, wood working, caring for farm animals, collecting edible plants from the forest, making cheese from fresh goat's milk, tracking skills, camp cooking, and a laundry list of other activities.
Some of the other classes include a couple of homeschool classes. One focuses on ranger type skills and the other is more pioneering skills. They are big on letting students direct the activities, so they could be making wooden bows one day and navigating a river in a canoe the next. The staff act more as facilitators that provide experts. Then after getting a taste of what the person knows, the kids dialong with the staff and come up with their projects. Primative clay sculting, boat building, survivor skills.....soooooo much to choose from. Unfortunately, the classes can cost a bit, but not all. I'll have to keep my eyes open.
They even have adult classes. While I was chatting with the lady, I found out that the group in another workshop was making German 10th century leather shoes from scratch. They teach all sorts of classes, it is really quite interesting. One that I am not sure I would jump on was a hunting class. The students don't actually hunt, but the teacher does hunt a nutra (rodent), then shows how to "off" it (without prolonged suffering), skin it, and tan its hide. Wild...weird! It is really a different culture up here sometimes.
I came to the class just to take K and hang out and read my book. Instead I had the most interesting conversation with this lady. I gave her lots of "outs" to end the conversation, but she seemed quite happy to hang out and talk about all sorts of things. The people up here are so nice, I tell you!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
mmmm....warm soft bread....
Yesterday, after mark got off work, we had a few errands to run. One of the errands was to go to Fry's, not my favorite place. Anyway, to soften the blow, we decided to also swing by Bob's Redmill for some bread mix and to show K.
We got there the last hour it was open and found some things we wanted. Then we walked around a bit and they still had some fresh baked bread from that day. I wasn't going to get any, but then I touched a loaf of honey oat bread and it was so soft and fluffy. I couldn't say no, especially since the loaf was cheaper than the grocery store bread. It was super yummy straight out of the bag.
So...going back to Fry's. I knew this would happen. I tried to prevent it. Planned ahead and did all that I could.....We have finally come down with a case of can't-find-our-stuff-itis! You can insert other words in place of "stuff" because that is how frustration it can be. We are still living with boxes, though not all our boxes because the PODS took the rest of our stuff into storage the first week we were here. I don't know if it makes it better or worse. I tried to plan ahead and mark the important boxes so they wouldn't end up on the PODS, but some either escaped or I didn't mark because now we are dealing with not having certain items... like the ability to connect Mark's keyboard to his computer because we were missing a part or the dog's monthly meds for heart worm. The Fry's trip was to fix the keyboard issue, but now I need to find a vet for the dog.
So along with wood working class for K today, I am now on a mission to find a vet or an unopened box......
Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...just keep swimming..
We got there the last hour it was open and found some things we wanted. Then we walked around a bit and they still had some fresh baked bread from that day. I wasn't going to get any, but then I touched a loaf of honey oat bread and it was so soft and fluffy. I couldn't say no, especially since the loaf was cheaper than the grocery store bread. It was super yummy straight out of the bag.
So...going back to Fry's. I knew this would happen. I tried to prevent it. Planned ahead and did all that I could.....We have finally come down with a case of can't-find-our-stuff-itis! You can insert other words in place of "stuff" because that is how frustration it can be. We are still living with boxes, though not all our boxes because the PODS took the rest of our stuff into storage the first week we were here. I don't know if it makes it better or worse. I tried to plan ahead and mark the important boxes so they wouldn't end up on the PODS, but some either escaped or I didn't mark because now we are dealing with not having certain items... like the ability to connect Mark's keyboard to his computer because we were missing a part or the dog's monthly meds for heart worm. The Fry's trip was to fix the keyboard issue, but now I need to find a vet for the dog.
So along with wood working class for K today, I am now on a mission to find a vet or an unopened box......
Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...just keep swimming..
Monday, February 15, 2010
A few possibilities..
Today we drove all around to heck and back today to check out different houses and areas. A few were down twisty roads and a ways out. One we never actually made it out to because there was a no trespassing sign on a private road that had a group of houses, one being for sale. The sign basically said that *if* we did not have business with the families that lived on the street and *if* we "survived", we would be prosecuted for trespass. It was very threatening and decided that it was not a place we wanted to be associated with.
We did find a couple that were of interest - Pictured here. The yellow house has a "4 mountain view". It was a great day to see this house because we could clearly see 2 mountains: Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens. It was a gorgeous day- perfect for house hunting. The other 2 mountains would be Mount Adams and *maybe* Mount Ranier, but that would have to be an extremely clear day. It not only has views, but 5.20 acres as well.
The brown one is a bit bigger at 10 acres as well as a bigger house, though not all of the interior house is complete. The 10 acres is very level - lots of room for an orchard and/or the addition of Douglas Fir trees for a forest tax deferral. The house is in one of my favoritely named places: : "The Hamlet of Beavercreek". A HAMLET! How cool is that?! Some issues with this one - it will need some work and currently it has about 10-20 junk cars/trucks on it along with a boatload of debris. We would have to make sure it all got cleaned up prior to full payment being made. It maybe a total junker, but who knows. I like its lodge-like look on the outside.
(ahhhhh!)
Okay, new story: In the middle of writing this, Mark burned some toast! OMG x 1000!!!! The smoke detectors work! The dog ran in! The kid jumped out of bed! I am pretty sure I dove for cover! My ears were screaming and starting to bleed! It was awful! I took the broom and was ready to beat them into the ceiling. Then, they stopped (all synchronized). Oh, my ears were ringing and my head was pounding. About 2 minutes passed... then they went off again. I am pretty sure if you don't evacuate, they will give you hearing damage - YES, it is that bad.
Okay, ears will be ringing for awhile and I'm just about ready for bed.
Lots of driving!
Yesterday, we went out to preview some properties. We headed out to five properties. It is all a jumble now, but it caused us to do a little soul searching and the creation of a new list of properties to look at.
Right now, we are getting ready to head out to see if any of these are possibilities. Looks like we are going to see 8 houses, so it is going to be a big day with more driving.
Normally, I like going for a drive, but when you don't always know exactly where you are, your brain works overtime to make sense of it all. For me, it makes me a little car sick. I do now have a better understanding of where things are and how all the different cities connect on the back roads. After years of off and on study of maps, it is just a little different in person. Mainly, the problem is that on-line maps don't put the city boundaries in. Even print maps don't always put them in. As a result, your perception of where cities are is more related to where the different maps print the city name. Often it really throws you off because cities you thought were farther apart actually touch!
Okay, back to the car!
Right now, we are getting ready to head out to see if any of these are possibilities. Looks like we are going to see 8 houses, so it is going to be a big day with more driving.
Normally, I like going for a drive, but when you don't always know exactly where you are, your brain works overtime to make sense of it all. For me, it makes me a little car sick. I do now have a better understanding of where things are and how all the different cities connect on the back roads. After years of off and on study of maps, it is just a little different in person. Mainly, the problem is that on-line maps don't put the city boundaries in. Even print maps don't always put them in. As a result, your perception of where cities are is more related to where the different maps print the city name. Often it really throws you off because cities you thought were farther apart actually touch!
Okay, back to the car!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
House hunting and sick pup
Well, we ended up seeing three houses today.
The first was the one story. It was interesting because the kitchen was in the middle of sort of a great room and walls/hallways were formed with cabinets. It had 4 rooms and a nice piece of property - I think 2 acres of pretty darn level land. The big issues: pretty dated on all those interior cabinet walls, and heat only from baseboard heaters and a wood stove. That was not too bad (grimacing), but it also had a fairly flat house roof and a carport (no garage) and they came together at the roof line and held a boatload of water.... not a good thing. Nothing was draining right and there was even some water damage inside from skylights... (sigh) The bees outside I mentioned yesterday... while there were some flying about, there was a heaping pile of dead ones by the front of the boxes....heaping! Poor bees!
The bonus house was next. It was kinda interesting, sort of a tri-level. The first two levels were really only separated by 4 steps (more like a sunken living room/ raised kitchen). That was all fine and dandy, but the downstairs was a finished basement....but not finished well. Open spaces w/o drywall in the backs of closets leading to other rooms with things propped in front of another hole to cover it up, loads of paneling, funky bad kitchen (2nd kitchen for a 2nd living space), and other things. We couldn't even get in the shop because it was falling apart. Decent property outside, but the top dollar price with all the work to be done was just too much.
The 2 story that I posted the picture of was just a really nice farm house. 3 1/2+ acres. Neat wrap around porch. Really well maintained. The green house was in bad shape and so was a huge out building, but they could both be demo-ed. BE-you-tee-full view of Mount Hood!!!! Aside from minor cosmetic stuff (Wallpaper on every wall!!!!!!!), the big issue???? It was really close to a freeway and a major street (could see the street) and it was pretty loud. Huge bummer! Also, the drive for Mark would not have been very good - while closer than some other houses, the one route was probably more congested. It is a highway, not a freeway, so it had intersections, etc. Letting that one go....
So we went to drown our sorrows in a buffet at Izzy's. Yep, I was right, this would be J-ster's version of heaven. Pizza, steak, desserts and more.
Then we went home. Fed Journey and started to settle in.... Then she started getting sick. (sigh) For about 3 hours she was either "losing her dinner, breakfast, etc", gagging, or crying. I finally got her to settle in and go to sleep about 8:00 and she has been passed out for over an hour. I am really hoping she just ate something stupid (I know, crazy! A lab eating something stupid??? That would neeeevvvveeerrr happen. LOL!). Crossing my fingers that she will be feeling better when she wakes up.
Okay... back to the MLS listings to find another house. Staying patient.... sort of.
The first was the one story. It was interesting because the kitchen was in the middle of sort of a great room and walls/hallways were formed with cabinets. It had 4 rooms and a nice piece of property - I think 2 acres of pretty darn level land. The big issues: pretty dated on all those interior cabinet walls, and heat only from baseboard heaters and a wood stove. That was not too bad (grimacing), but it also had a fairly flat house roof and a carport (no garage) and they came together at the roof line and held a boatload of water.... not a good thing. Nothing was draining right and there was even some water damage inside from skylights... (sigh) The bees outside I mentioned yesterday... while there were some flying about, there was a heaping pile of dead ones by the front of the boxes....heaping! Poor bees!
The bonus house was next. It was kinda interesting, sort of a tri-level. The first two levels were really only separated by 4 steps (more like a sunken living room/ raised kitchen). That was all fine and dandy, but the downstairs was a finished basement....but not finished well. Open spaces w/o drywall in the backs of closets leading to other rooms with things propped in front of another hole to cover it up, loads of paneling, funky bad kitchen (2nd kitchen for a 2nd living space), and other things. We couldn't even get in the shop because it was falling apart. Decent property outside, but the top dollar price with all the work to be done was just too much.
The 2 story that I posted the picture of was just a really nice farm house. 3 1/2+ acres. Neat wrap around porch. Really well maintained. The green house was in bad shape and so was a huge out building, but they could both be demo-ed. BE-you-tee-full view of Mount Hood!!!! Aside from minor cosmetic stuff (Wallpaper on every wall!!!!!!!), the big issue???? It was really close to a freeway and a major street (could see the street) and it was pretty loud. Huge bummer! Also, the drive for Mark would not have been very good - while closer than some other houses, the one route was probably more congested. It is a highway, not a freeway, so it had intersections, etc. Letting that one go....
So we went to drown our sorrows in a buffet at Izzy's. Yep, I was right, this would be J-ster's version of heaven. Pizza, steak, desserts and more.
Then we went home. Fed Journey and started to settle in.... Then she started getting sick. (sigh) For about 3 hours she was either "losing her dinner, breakfast, etc", gagging, or crying. I finally got her to settle in and go to sleep about 8:00 and she has been passed out for over an hour. I am really hoping she just ate something stupid (I know, crazy! A lab eating something stupid??? That would neeeevvvveeerrr happen. LOL!). Crossing my fingers that she will be feeling better when she wakes up.
Okay... back to the MLS listings to find another house. Staying patient.... sort of.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The good, the bad, and the boggy
The good: So today started out just fine. We headed out to meet some other homeschoolers to go see the Percy Jackson movie, got a little popcorn, and hang out. The movie was pretty good - I liked it. Some of the kids were not as keen on it because it didn't follow the book very well. K loved it despite the fact that she had read the book twice.
The bad: After the movie, right about when we got home, both K and I had VERY upset stomachs. Bad popcorn butter or something. It was fortunately short lived, but not before we had to deal with the dog...
The boggy: So the dog wanted to go out and I was not feeling great at that exact moment. I let her out to go play in the yard by herself. We have a detached garage that has a little strip of the yard behind it that has a gate. I have been discouraging both the kid and the dog from going back there, especially since it is covered in ivy and K found a rusty machete back there. We put a chunk of wood by the gate to keep the dog from pushing the gate open, but she apparently got through it anyway. About 20 minutes later, I called the dog in - like quiet kids, you don't want to leave your dog alone if they're too quiet. So I called to the dog....no repsonse....I called again....no response....finally I called out "treats" and the dog came barreling through the gate, across the yard, up the steps, and through the door. I think it was my dog anyway, but I couldn't be sure at the time because she was covered in black goo that smelled like the sewer. OOHHH!! UGH!!! GAG!!!
I quickly flew into action grabbing the dog shampoo and towel (fortunately I could find them!). I lured the dog into the bedroom and then tried to get her into the bathroom. The dog took one look at me and would have bolted had I not closed the bedroom door. I tried luring her into the bathroom with the treats she first ran into the house for, but she refused. I resorted to grabbing her by the collar and literally dragging her into the bathroom. Then I realized my dilema - I don't have a big ol' shower with a low threshold anymore. We have a small shower/tub combo with sliding doors. So I opened the door and threw the treat in. The dog just looked at me. Then I dragged her over to the opening and lifted her front end only to have the big bunny feet on the hind end use the tub as leverage to push us away. Finally, I grabbed both the front and back end and lifted her struggling 60 pounds, hoping not to take the door off in the process, and dumped her butt in and closed the door. Whew!
During the struggle, the black gook got all over my jeans and I was dying from the smell. Figuring she was safe for the moment, I grabbed a few other items, changed my pants and started a load of laundry. Then I went back and cleaned the dog. Not very easy since I am used to having a sprayer to hit the undersides.
Anyway, black gook was off the dog and the smell could only be found if you got your nose really really close. Mission mostly accomplished. I toweled her off and sat down to my computer. K had called me over because Mark had been IMing me. I found out he needed me to make a phone call. Hmmmmm.... "where is my phone?", I thought to myself. Then I heard an occasional "thump thump" from the washer. I thought "noooooo, couldn't be". Well.....yep, in my haste to rid myself of the foul smell, I had forgotten to take my phone out of my pants pocket!!!!!!
SHOOOOOOT!!!!
End of the story - Yeah, I have a new phone. Same number and all, but new phone.
Plans for tomorrow:
These are the two choices we are looking at this weekend. Hopefully, something will pan out. Both have a little land. The one story has bee boxes and fruit trees. The two story has a really big greenhouse and a barn.
The bad: After the movie, right about when we got home, both K and I had VERY upset stomachs. Bad popcorn butter or something. It was fortunately short lived, but not before we had to deal with the dog...
The boggy: So the dog wanted to go out and I was not feeling great at that exact moment. I let her out to go play in the yard by herself. We have a detached garage that has a little strip of the yard behind it that has a gate. I have been discouraging both the kid and the dog from going back there, especially since it is covered in ivy and K found a rusty machete back there. We put a chunk of wood by the gate to keep the dog from pushing the gate open, but she apparently got through it anyway. About 20 minutes later, I called the dog in - like quiet kids, you don't want to leave your dog alone if they're too quiet. So I called to the dog....no repsonse....I called again....no response....finally I called out "treats" and the dog came barreling through the gate, across the yard, up the steps, and through the door. I think it was my dog anyway, but I couldn't be sure at the time because she was covered in black goo that smelled like the sewer. OOHHH!! UGH!!! GAG!!!
I quickly flew into action grabbing the dog shampoo and towel (fortunately I could find them!). I lured the dog into the bedroom and then tried to get her into the bathroom. The dog took one look at me and would have bolted had I not closed the bedroom door. I tried luring her into the bathroom with the treats she first ran into the house for, but she refused. I resorted to grabbing her by the collar and literally dragging her into the bathroom. Then I realized my dilema - I don't have a big ol' shower with a low threshold anymore. We have a small shower/tub combo with sliding doors. So I opened the door and threw the treat in. The dog just looked at me. Then I dragged her over to the opening and lifted her front end only to have the big bunny feet on the hind end use the tub as leverage to push us away. Finally, I grabbed both the front and back end and lifted her struggling 60 pounds, hoping not to take the door off in the process, and dumped her butt in and closed the door. Whew!
During the struggle, the black gook got all over my jeans and I was dying from the smell. Figuring she was safe for the moment, I grabbed a few other items, changed my pants and started a load of laundry. Then I went back and cleaned the dog. Not very easy since I am used to having a sprayer to hit the undersides.
Anyway, black gook was off the dog and the smell could only be found if you got your nose really really close. Mission mostly accomplished. I toweled her off and sat down to my computer. K had called me over because Mark had been IMing me. I found out he needed me to make a phone call. Hmmmmm.... "where is my phone?", I thought to myself. Then I heard an occasional "thump thump" from the washer. I thought "noooooo, couldn't be". Well.....yep, in my haste to rid myself of the foul smell, I had forgotten to take my phone out of my pants pocket!!!!!!
SHOOOOOOT!!!!
End of the story - Yeah, I have a new phone. Same number and all, but new phone.
Plans for tomorrow:
These are the two choices we are looking at this weekend. Hopefully, something will pan out. Both have a little land. The one story has bee boxes and fruit trees. The two story has a really big greenhouse and a barn.
Did I just see Dorthy??
So the washer and dryer are now both finally hooked up and the 2 weeks of laundry are in the process of getting clean.
When we first bought our H.E. washer, we noticed that the spin cycle kind of sounded like an engine revving or a helicopter taking off. That was on a concrete slab....
Now, we live on a raised foundation of a 80 year old or so house... Let me conjure an image: Have you ever seen the famous video of the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge? It was a bridge that collapsed due to the winds creating a vibration pattern that became amplified and caused structural failure. So now back to the washer.... What was once a sound to behold, is now a sound amplified by the crawl space AND vibration traveling across the entire house! It is like we are trying to create our own tornado, so, if we go missing, check OZ!
If that were not enough, add in the dryer spinning. Oh, I haven't even explained where this is all taking place ----- well that adds even more fun to the mix! In the middle of the house is the laundry....let's go with closet. It has shutter doors that barely close without hitting the machines. I don't even dare close them completely when the machines are running because both the doors and machines would be scarred for life. So now, imagine the washer is taking off, the dryer is spinning up a storm, and I, without thinking, add one more element to the mix.
In the kitchen, about 10 feet from the laundry closet, which is in the dining....area, is the dishwasher. It is about the loudest dishwasher I have ever heard - chugging, grinding, etc. Last night, as I was going to bed, I had started the dishwasher so we would have clean dishes by morning. I also had the washing machine going with a load that had not completed, and the dryer finishing off some clothes.
The master bedroom is about 3 feet from the laundry closet... 13 feet from the dishwasher.... the cacophony of sound suddenly reached a crescendo right about the time that I got all relaxed and my eyes were gently closing. Mark was completely asleep, but the dog jumped up and wanted to go outside. (apparently Journey is a little brighter than Toto!) It was a huge racket that made me all to happy to take the dog out. As I walked across the floor, it just shook with intense vibration. I am pretty sure that the house was just not built to handle all our "modern conveniences".
Sleep came a little later than hoped for.
Note to self: One chore at a time and long before bed.
Today - I continued to get the laundry going. Over the course of a few loads, the washer had vibrated itself over to the point where there was a small dip in the floor. When the spin cycle started, the rocking began and the hulking machine just about walked out of the closet! Who knew laundry was so eventful?
When we first bought our H.E. washer, we noticed that the spin cycle kind of sounded like an engine revving or a helicopter taking off. That was on a concrete slab....
Now, we live on a raised foundation of a 80 year old or so house... Let me conjure an image: Have you ever seen the famous video of the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge? It was a bridge that collapsed due to the winds creating a vibration pattern that became amplified and caused structural failure. So now back to the washer.... What was once a sound to behold, is now a sound amplified by the crawl space AND vibration traveling across the entire house! It is like we are trying to create our own tornado, so, if we go missing, check OZ!
If that were not enough, add in the dryer spinning. Oh, I haven't even explained where this is all taking place ----- well that adds even more fun to the mix! In the middle of the house is the laundry....let's go with closet. It has shutter doors that barely close without hitting the machines. I don't even dare close them completely when the machines are running because both the doors and machines would be scarred for life. So now, imagine the washer is taking off, the dryer is spinning up a storm, and I, without thinking, add one more element to the mix.
In the kitchen, about 10 feet from the laundry closet, which is in the dining....area, is the dishwasher. It is about the loudest dishwasher I have ever heard - chugging, grinding, etc. Last night, as I was going to bed, I had started the dishwasher so we would have clean dishes by morning. I also had the washing machine going with a load that had not completed, and the dryer finishing off some clothes.
The master bedroom is about 3 feet from the laundry closet... 13 feet from the dishwasher.... the cacophony of sound suddenly reached a crescendo right about the time that I got all relaxed and my eyes were gently closing. Mark was completely asleep, but the dog jumped up and wanted to go outside. (apparently Journey is a little brighter than Toto!) It was a huge racket that made me all to happy to take the dog out. As I walked across the floor, it just shook with intense vibration. I am pretty sure that the house was just not built to handle all our "modern conveniences".
Sleep came a little later than hoped for.
Note to self: One chore at a time and long before bed.
Today - I continued to get the laundry going. Over the course of a few loads, the washer had vibrated itself over to the point where there was a small dip in the floor. When the spin cycle started, the rocking began and the hulking machine just about walked out of the closet! Who knew laundry was so eventful?
Walking through the red door....
Yesterday was K's first woodworking session with a member of the Artisan's Guild, Aaron. To get there, I looked up the address, mapped it so I had an inkling of an idea of where it was and set off with full confidence in "Reggie".
The place isn't too far, under 10 miles, down by the river....must be the Willamette (pronounced Will-lamb-ette, there will be a test later..). We drove down to where two streets intersected on a diagnal and "Reggie" announced that we were there. I looked and saw no signs, just connected warehouses in questionable shape. I drove past and had to work my way back to find a parking spot. Knowing the street number, we started to walk. A building that made sort of a triangle shape because it was at the intersection was where I headed and came upon a red door. About 4 feet away written vertically on the wall was the number I was looking for. Now this place is supposed to be the "headquarters" for not only this class, but a series of classes for the Portland area, Bay area of California, and one other place (Washington?), but there was no sign, just sort of a beat up looking red door.
Not knowing what we would find, I took a chance that the door actually related to the address and was not some "den of despair". We stepped through and, most fortunately, found a mom and her son in an entry area. From there, there was a room with an ornate door leading to a room that was just what you think an artist's loft would look like - funky olive green painted concrete walls with swagged netting going around the ceiling. The pillars holding up the ceiling were surrounded by twisting vine like branches from trees to provide more of a natural feel. Aquariums in the corner hosting some sort of reptiles. A herd of mismatched couches, in addition to van benches of all descriptions to add more seating. In the center were a few projects that were in process, including a beautiful student type bench/seat for an old fashioned classroom desk.
Aaron greeted us and finished gathering the class. Then they went into a second room that was more of a workshop. In it were several kayaks and canoes in various stages of construction. One kayak in particular had just been fitted with some sort of skin covering (natural or artificial - I dunno). It was made for one person and looked about as native American as you could imagine - no fiberglass here.
A second canoe looked like it could hold about 10-20 people and was skeleton of a frame, obviously being hand crafted and made in some sort of traditional way. It to looked like it would eventually be covered by either skins or wooden planks.
The class began and quickly the kids were getting to work. The first project was to make their own mallets to start a collection of hand tools. The class is completely focused on handmade woodworking projects. The tools they were using were interesting. They all seemed to be fairly rustic and/or Japanese. The hand saw was Japanese and sort of resembled a wicked looking cleaver. The clamps were made of large blocks of wood with dual handles to screw them together or apart. Metal C-clamps were available, but mildly discouraged. Overall, the teacher gave little instruction on doing things "correctly", just enough to be safe, and promoted finding the way that worked for them. Using chisels, they crafted mortise and tenon joints. In the end, their semi completed mallets look pretty different from one another and K walked away with an additional block of wood she had practiced her chisel techniques on - very proud of her block of wood with a square hole in it!
The class was supposed to run from 4:30 until 5:45. What I got was my first taste of PNW time with an artist's flair. It equated out to be past 6:15 and could easily have gone longer if the teacher hadn't glimpsed me looking at my watch.
The good news - WITHOUT using Reggie (and only making 1 minor wrong turn), I was able to navigate to a shopping center to meet up with Mark and go have dinner at my new favorite burger place - Burgerville! This is a must stop for my burger loving eco friends. Most everything was compostable - cups, straws, lids, wrappers, etc. There trash cans were split into 3 bins: Compost, Recycle, and Landfill. Bonus - they had the best kid's meal prize. It was a booklet from OMSI (the science center) about wetland animals of the PNW. VERY COOL. But that's not all! It also came with temproary tatoos of a beaver, salmon, and....wait for it....a banana slug!
Good day in the PNW!
The place isn't too far, under 10 miles, down by the river....must be the Willamette (pronounced Will-lamb-ette, there will be a test later..). We drove down to where two streets intersected on a diagnal and "Reggie" announced that we were there. I looked and saw no signs, just connected warehouses in questionable shape. I drove past and had to work my way back to find a parking spot. Knowing the street number, we started to walk. A building that made sort of a triangle shape because it was at the intersection was where I headed and came upon a red door. About 4 feet away written vertically on the wall was the number I was looking for. Now this place is supposed to be the "headquarters" for not only this class, but a series of classes for the Portland area, Bay area of California, and one other place (Washington?), but there was no sign, just sort of a beat up looking red door.
Not knowing what we would find, I took a chance that the door actually related to the address and was not some "den of despair". We stepped through and, most fortunately, found a mom and her son in an entry area. From there, there was a room with an ornate door leading to a room that was just what you think an artist's loft would look like - funky olive green painted concrete walls with swagged netting going around the ceiling. The pillars holding up the ceiling were surrounded by twisting vine like branches from trees to provide more of a natural feel. Aquariums in the corner hosting some sort of reptiles. A herd of mismatched couches, in addition to van benches of all descriptions to add more seating. In the center were a few projects that were in process, including a beautiful student type bench/seat for an old fashioned classroom desk.
Aaron greeted us and finished gathering the class. Then they went into a second room that was more of a workshop. In it were several kayaks and canoes in various stages of construction. One kayak in particular had just been fitted with some sort of skin covering (natural or artificial - I dunno). It was made for one person and looked about as native American as you could imagine - no fiberglass here.
A second canoe looked like it could hold about 10-20 people and was skeleton of a frame, obviously being hand crafted and made in some sort of traditional way. It to looked like it would eventually be covered by either skins or wooden planks.
The class began and quickly the kids were getting to work. The first project was to make their own mallets to start a collection of hand tools. The class is completely focused on handmade woodworking projects. The tools they were using were interesting. They all seemed to be fairly rustic and/or Japanese. The hand saw was Japanese and sort of resembled a wicked looking cleaver. The clamps were made of large blocks of wood with dual handles to screw them together or apart. Metal C-clamps were available, but mildly discouraged. Overall, the teacher gave little instruction on doing things "correctly", just enough to be safe, and promoted finding the way that worked for them. Using chisels, they crafted mortise and tenon joints. In the end, their semi completed mallets look pretty different from one another and K walked away with an additional block of wood she had practiced her chisel techniques on - very proud of her block of wood with a square hole in it!
The class was supposed to run from 4:30 until 5:45. What I got was my first taste of PNW time with an artist's flair. It equated out to be past 6:15 and could easily have gone longer if the teacher hadn't glimpsed me looking at my watch.
The good news - WITHOUT using Reggie (and only making 1 minor wrong turn), I was able to navigate to a shopping center to meet up with Mark and go have dinner at my new favorite burger place - Burgerville! This is a must stop for my burger loving eco friends. Most everything was compostable - cups, straws, lids, wrappers, etc. There trash cans were split into 3 bins: Compost, Recycle, and Landfill. Bonus - they had the best kid's meal prize. It was a booklet from OMSI (the science center) about wetland animals of the PNW. VERY COOL. But that's not all! It also came with temproary tatoos of a beaver, salmon, and....wait for it....a banana slug!
Good day in the PNW!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Exactly what you'd expect...
It is raining! Not too hard, but it is raining. No sliding or flooding though. The ground here has an amazing ability to soak it all up with puddle only on pavement. It is a bit chilly too, but the house we are renting is very insulated - I can't even hear the rain and our very old house is very cozy warm.
The big news of the day...??? I finally have a dryer again! We left our old gas dryer in CA knowing we couldn't use it up here and we just haven't had time to find a new one. The strange thing about Oregon is that they use so many electric appliances rather than gas. The only reason we can come up with is that the power generating dam is very close by. Anyway, we bought it off Craig's list so that we didn't spend too much in the RARE, but possible event that the house we buy will have a gas hook-up. I'd get going on the heaps and piles of laundry, but now the washer needs the packing bolts removed and to be hooked up....darn! I guess I'll have to wait until tonight.
Later today, K has her first woodwooking class with an artist from the Artisan's Guild. Should be interesting. The class is very focused on individual projects, so each "tween" or "teen" will be doing their own thing. I'll have to let you know how well it goes.
The big news of the day...??? I finally have a dryer again! We left our old gas dryer in CA knowing we couldn't use it up here and we just haven't had time to find a new one. The strange thing about Oregon is that they use so many electric appliances rather than gas. The only reason we can come up with is that the power generating dam is very close by. Anyway, we bought it off Craig's list so that we didn't spend too much in the RARE, but possible event that the house we buy will have a gas hook-up. I'd get going on the heaps and piles of laundry, but now the washer needs the packing bolts removed and to be hooked up....darn! I guess I'll have to wait until tonight.
Later today, K has her first woodwooking class with an artist from the Artisan's Guild. Should be interesting. The class is very focused on individual projects, so each "tween" or "teen" will be doing their own thing. I'll have to let you know how well it goes.
Monday, February 8, 2010
The O.C. vs. Portland
Driving:
O.C. - traffic at all different times of the day, seven days a week. Streets are about 1/2 mile apart. Sidewalks....boy I miss those!
Portland - True rush hour in the AM and PM (except on the westside!), streets every 50ft, serious about the numbering and directions (i.e. - S.E. 120th Ave), seemingly no rule about which direction to park on a street - just drive down the street and pick a side to park on and don't worry about which direction you are facing, residential streets are cut throughs to main streets and are very narrow. Lots of bridges going high over rivers...occasionally scary, but I am afraid of heights. Left side freeway exits - thank goodness for my GPS! Driving - You don't really have to and, if you do, you cannot pump your own gas.
Shopping:
O.C. - Lots of chain stores, cashiers often get confused when you bring your own bag or opt not to use a bag at all.
Portland - They are thinking of outlawing disposable bags, lots of independently owned stores - chain stores are often avoided, no sales tax....need I say more???
Homeschooling:
O.C. - Lots of park days, some classes, strong state associations, lots of local networking. State conference lasts 3 days.
Portland - Outdoor park days?? - maybe in a couple of months, lots and lots of classes, parties, book clubs, year round indoor swimming weekly, ice skating, and indoor skating, people seem to just be starting to network, 2 smaller state organizations - though I wouldn't want to be on either ones bad side. Lots of group activities occur at people's houses rather than at public venues - very trusting and open. State conference lasts 1 day. Really, having a problem with the scheduling ---- certain days have more activities available than we could possibly participate in.
Weather:
O.C. - Seems to be feakishly wet lately.
Portland - Put a jacket on and you're fine!...but I wouldn't walk around in just a t-shirt. Saw a jogger in a tank top and short shorts...it was 47 degrees - still shaking my head!
People:
O.C. - Some of my most favorite people live there!
Portland - well, it is interesting. They are all freaky nice, as I have said. It is very mixed here outside the "Orange Curtain". Aside from Chinatown, all the businesses are very mixed representing lots of different ethnicities. Sunday, some quakers or menonites were walking to their service. In addition to all races and ethnicities... we also have a huge hippie population!(Shocker I know!) I have never seen so many men with long skinny beards and knit caps and women with dreds. My one HUGE complaint about the people, SO..SOoooo many of them here in downtown smoke. Fortunately, they don't allow it in businesses or restaurants. Really gross.
Views:
O.C. - If you work at it, you might find some good ones.
Portland - East is Mount Hood from most streets, North is Mount Saint Helen's. South there are hills/mountains that are very close and covered in trees with little houses poking through. Then there is Mount Adam's (haven't seen it yet and don't know which way to look yet). Freeways are lined with mass amounts of tall pines. Rivers and Waterfalls can be seen from freeways.
Bicycling:
O.C. - mostly something that kids do.
Portland - Loads of people bike to work and everywhere in between. They have clearly marked lanes on a lot of major streets. One the country roads, they tend to take over the lanes when in groups, so it can be a little irritating. Overall, just serious about their biking!
Animals/Wildlife:
O.C. - Pets and a lot of critters that work hard to hide in the concrete jungle.
Portland - You see the "hopping deer signs" (yes, you know what I am talking about. The signs that show a picture of a deer sort of leaping. It is what I call them anyway.). ANYWAY - you actually see the deer! Also there are a lot of farms with horses, llamas, sheep and more - often across the street and next door to houses we are looking at. Funny story - we looked at a house in West Linn that had llamas next door. They stared us down the entire time we were there....creeped me out, so we can't live there. LOL! Another house had nice llamas, so I don't know what the other's attitude was about.
T.V./newspaper news:
O.C. - Comparatively, general local, state, and world news.
Portland - Seriously, every little community event is news worthy. From the little old lady that turned 100, the lost cat up the tree, an elementary school play... OMG! I guess there is not enough murder and mayhem to fill out the news so you hear about every little thing. I'll have to post an example because you wouldn't believe it. The amateur hocky league (includes teenagers) gets televised and plays in an arena that is also the place where major concerts and the NBA games are held....and people actually buy tickets and go see them like it is the NHL. On other TV stations, you can actually watch school type plays. Really it is a big city, but, boy, do they think they are a small town!
The O.C.:
O.C. = Orange County
Portland: O.C. = Oregon City, not quite the "cool" place to be.
K's thoughts:
Portland - Pioneer Pizza - yum! And a discussion we have had EVERYDAY - "free beef". The Les Schwab tire stores offer "free beef" with every full set of tires. I guess the story is that they started in Central Oregon where they also have/had a cattle ranch, so it was a promotion. K reads the signs EVERY time we pass them and has to insert her comments, so if you want to get her going, just say "free beef" and she'll be off.
J-ster's future favorite part of Portland: Izzy's. We haven't gone yet but it is a buffet that features pizza, steak (beef! - not free), southern BBQ, and more. We will have to report back on how it is - I love research!
O.C. - traffic at all different times of the day, seven days a week. Streets are about 1/2 mile apart. Sidewalks....boy I miss those!
Portland - True rush hour in the AM and PM (except on the westside!), streets every 50ft, serious about the numbering and directions (i.e. - S.E. 120th Ave), seemingly no rule about which direction to park on a street - just drive down the street and pick a side to park on and don't worry about which direction you are facing, residential streets are cut throughs to main streets and are very narrow. Lots of bridges going high over rivers...occasionally scary, but I am afraid of heights. Left side freeway exits - thank goodness for my GPS! Driving - You don't really have to and, if you do, you cannot pump your own gas.
Shopping:
O.C. - Lots of chain stores, cashiers often get confused when you bring your own bag or opt not to use a bag at all.
Portland - They are thinking of outlawing disposable bags, lots of independently owned stores - chain stores are often avoided, no sales tax....need I say more???
Homeschooling:
O.C. - Lots of park days, some classes, strong state associations, lots of local networking. State conference lasts 3 days.
Portland - Outdoor park days?? - maybe in a couple of months, lots and lots of classes, parties, book clubs, year round indoor swimming weekly, ice skating, and indoor skating, people seem to just be starting to network, 2 smaller state organizations - though I wouldn't want to be on either ones bad side. Lots of group activities occur at people's houses rather than at public venues - very trusting and open. State conference lasts 1 day. Really, having a problem with the scheduling ---- certain days have more activities available than we could possibly participate in.
Weather:
O.C. - Seems to be feakishly wet lately.
Portland - Put a jacket on and you're fine!...but I wouldn't walk around in just a t-shirt. Saw a jogger in a tank top and short shorts...it was 47 degrees - still shaking my head!
People:
O.C. - Some of my most favorite people live there!
Portland - well, it is interesting. They are all freaky nice, as I have said. It is very mixed here outside the "Orange Curtain". Aside from Chinatown, all the businesses are very mixed representing lots of different ethnicities. Sunday, some quakers or menonites were walking to their service. In addition to all races and ethnicities... we also have a huge hippie population!(Shocker I know!) I have never seen so many men with long skinny beards and knit caps and women with dreds. My one HUGE complaint about the people, SO..SOoooo many of them here in downtown smoke. Fortunately, they don't allow it in businesses or restaurants. Really gross.
Views:
O.C. - If you work at it, you might find some good ones.
Portland - East is Mount Hood from most streets, North is Mount Saint Helen's. South there are hills/mountains that are very close and covered in trees with little houses poking through. Then there is Mount Adam's (haven't seen it yet and don't know which way to look yet). Freeways are lined with mass amounts of tall pines. Rivers and Waterfalls can be seen from freeways.
Bicycling:
O.C. - mostly something that kids do.
Portland - Loads of people bike to work and everywhere in between. They have clearly marked lanes on a lot of major streets. One the country roads, they tend to take over the lanes when in groups, so it can be a little irritating. Overall, just serious about their biking!
Animals/Wildlife:
O.C. - Pets and a lot of critters that work hard to hide in the concrete jungle.
Portland - You see the "hopping deer signs" (yes, you know what I am talking about. The signs that show a picture of a deer sort of leaping. It is what I call them anyway.). ANYWAY - you actually see the deer! Also there are a lot of farms with horses, llamas, sheep and more - often across the street and next door to houses we are looking at. Funny story - we looked at a house in West Linn that had llamas next door. They stared us down the entire time we were there....creeped me out, so we can't live there. LOL! Another house had nice llamas, so I don't know what the other's attitude was about.
T.V./newspaper news:
O.C. - Comparatively, general local, state, and world news.
Portland - Seriously, every little community event is news worthy. From the little old lady that turned 100, the lost cat up the tree, an elementary school play... OMG! I guess there is not enough murder and mayhem to fill out the news so you hear about every little thing. I'll have to post an example because you wouldn't believe it. The amateur hocky league (includes teenagers) gets televised and plays in an arena that is also the place where major concerts and the NBA games are held....and people actually buy tickets and go see them like it is the NHL. On other TV stations, you can actually watch school type plays. Really it is a big city, but, boy, do they think they are a small town!
The O.C.:
O.C. = Orange County
Portland: O.C. = Oregon City, not quite the "cool" place to be.
K's thoughts:
Portland - Pioneer Pizza - yum! And a discussion we have had EVERYDAY - "free beef". The Les Schwab tire stores offer "free beef" with every full set of tires. I guess the story is that they started in Central Oregon where they also have/had a cattle ranch, so it was a promotion. K reads the signs EVERY time we pass them and has to insert her comments, so if you want to get her going, just say "free beef" and she'll be off.
J-ster's future favorite part of Portland: Izzy's. We haven't gone yet but it is a buffet that features pizza, steak (beef! - not free), southern BBQ, and more. We will have to report back on how it is - I love research!
Meeting OR homeschoolers..
Today we headed out to the "Westside" to meet up another homeschooling family for some bowling. We met a mom and her son, had lunch, and played a couple of games. It was funny because, in so many ways, this mother and son reminded me of Theresa and her son K and the afternoon very much resembled the first time I met Theresa. It was wild.
Anyway, they are originally from Salem, but have lived the last few years in Scotland. The kids had a great time bowling. We will see them again when we join another group of families this Friday to see the Percy Jackson Movie.
K was extremely happy with her 2nd game of bowling. She had a bunch of spares and ended with a 105 (though her fish story is that it was 108).
Anyway, they are originally from Salem, but have lived the last few years in Scotland. The kids had a great time bowling. We will see them again when we join another group of families this Friday to see the Percy Jackson Movie.
K was extremely happy with her 2nd game of bowling. She had a bunch of spares and ended with a 105 (though her fish story is that it was 108).
Sunday, February 7, 2010
House Hunting part II
We saw 4 houses and a plot of land today.
The first was a nice enough house, but had a very Irvine vibe going and had two formal spaces, one we could wall off for an alternate use and the other we had no idea what to do with. While it had an acre, it felt like a very cookie cutter neighborhood. K's biggest complaint? It was in the city of Boring - she seems opposed to living in Boring, Oregon.
The next one was a complete surprise because the pictures did not do it justice. First it was up a hill (steep driveway). The house was okay, but it lacked a garage and had narrow hallways and only two bathrooms --- the master on the main floor was also the general first floor bathroom - it was a little strange. Downstairs it had a couple of bedrooms (one originally was 2 rooms), a mini office, and a tiny room (too small to be called a true room, too big to be a closet). Here is the kicker though - it listed a 2nd manufactured home. When we looked in that we were beyond surprised at how awesome it was! 1700 sqft, 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, its own laundry and kitchen. Clean, bright, open floor plan. Really an incredible guest house... compared to the main house, I would be totally jealous of my guests.
The next was a one story ---- YAY! It had a really nice layout, 3600sqft, tons of storage, etc. The pits was --- top dollar price, siding issues - damage and not maintained, not a great piece of land - though an acre, not completely finished in some rooms, water damage in the ceiling near skylights, needed a separation between the laundry room and a full bath - doable (but a lot of work), and looked straight out of the 70's except for the one peach counter top that must have been done in the 80's. The info "said" it was built in 1991....riiiiiiiight.
The last one was a split level (ugh!). They could have saved us some time if they had said it, but instead they described it as a "ranch style house". It was nicely updated, but weird. Fireplaces were drywalled over to make alcoves, no true master, one common bath upstairs and one down. The cool part was an amazing shop with 4 HUGE bays. Inside those bays - ride on lawn mower, a big speed boat, and a HUGE HUGE lawn mower - the kind that mows stadiums, golf courses, schools.... we are talking like a 30 to 40 foot wide cutting span! OMG! It also had a view of Mount Hood over the roof of a 3.7 million dollar home that was owned by the same person as the split level. Both are up for sale.
The land? We are looking into it, but are not confident that we would know enough to get it built. I could be faaar more complicated than we want to mess with, but it would be exciting to have exactly what we want.
Oh well...we are going to keep looking...
The first was a nice enough house, but had a very Irvine vibe going and had two formal spaces, one we could wall off for an alternate use and the other we had no idea what to do with. While it had an acre, it felt like a very cookie cutter neighborhood. K's biggest complaint? It was in the city of Boring - she seems opposed to living in Boring, Oregon.
The next one was a complete surprise because the pictures did not do it justice. First it was up a hill (steep driveway). The house was okay, but it lacked a garage and had narrow hallways and only two bathrooms --- the master on the main floor was also the general first floor bathroom - it was a little strange. Downstairs it had a couple of bedrooms (one originally was 2 rooms), a mini office, and a tiny room (too small to be called a true room, too big to be a closet). Here is the kicker though - it listed a 2nd manufactured home. When we looked in that we were beyond surprised at how awesome it was! 1700 sqft, 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, its own laundry and kitchen. Clean, bright, open floor plan. Really an incredible guest house... compared to the main house, I would be totally jealous of my guests.
The next was a one story ---- YAY! It had a really nice layout, 3600sqft, tons of storage, etc. The pits was --- top dollar price, siding issues - damage and not maintained, not a great piece of land - though an acre, not completely finished in some rooms, water damage in the ceiling near skylights, needed a separation between the laundry room and a full bath - doable (but a lot of work), and looked straight out of the 70's except for the one peach counter top that must have been done in the 80's. The info "said" it was built in 1991....riiiiiiiight.
The last one was a split level (ugh!). They could have saved us some time if they had said it, but instead they described it as a "ranch style house". It was nicely updated, but weird. Fireplaces were drywalled over to make alcoves, no true master, one common bath upstairs and one down. The cool part was an amazing shop with 4 HUGE bays. Inside those bays - ride on lawn mower, a big speed boat, and a HUGE HUGE lawn mower - the kind that mows stadiums, golf courses, schools.... we are talking like a 30 to 40 foot wide cutting span! OMG! It also had a view of Mount Hood over the roof of a 3.7 million dollar home that was owned by the same person as the split level. Both are up for sale.
The land? We are looking into it, but are not confident that we would know enough to get it built. I could be faaar more complicated than we want to mess with, but it would be exciting to have exactly what we want.
Oh well...we are going to keep looking...
Saturday, February 6, 2010
House Hunting and stuff
It has been a few months since we last went house hunting and I forgot how tiring it is! We saw six houses and they all started to blend. We saw one that was very nicely updated, but it was a 1970's split level. If you don't know, a split level means that, as soon as you open the front door, you either have to take stairs up or down. This one had a small landing (I've seen worse). It was nicely priced and had both a nice backyard and front, though there is a cut through road out front. It was pretty quiet though and you couldn't hear it all inside. If it had trees down by the road it could be even better. What we couldn't see was how much of Mount Hood was there because of cloud cover. In theory, it should have been there.
Other homes we saw were across the board. A few dogs and some nice ones with lousy layouts and beautiful views. Another had a nice layout, but in despirate need of updating --- the decor included a 50's diner style bonus room complete with Elvis cut outs, mural of a classic car, and 50's memorabilia. The problem? They used cheap black and white peel and stick tiles on the back of the bar and...(wait for it)..on the walls! In addition, in the house you could also find a lime green counter top, olive green cabinet doors in the kitchen, ...and if I remember right.. an orange counter top as well. There was also a large hole in the wall in the laundry room. The lot wasn't in a great location either. The owner was so very proud of his house and said it was his wife that wanted to move to another property they owned. He was obviously hesitant to part with his pride and joy - hence the large price tag and almost a year or so on the market.
Okay 2 short stories:
Speaking of views...
On Friday, K and I walked the dog. We purposely went out to go look at Mount Hood. Whoo-hoo! We totally found it and enjoyed it along our walk. I brought the camera hoping to get a good pick from the Starbuck's down the street... kinda hoping for a nah nah neh nah nah moment - "Look what I can see from my Starbucks". However I was thwarted. From the Starbuck's patio, you can absolutely see Mount Hood, but, unfortunately, to get the shot, it includes either the pawn shop or nudie bar signs..... WE NEED TO GET OUT OF DOWNTOWN!!!
On Thursday, K and I went to Trader Joe's among other places. When we got to the register, the younger lady complemented K on her hat --- Kind of a black Fedora style with a glittery pin that says "Jazz". The gal said, "I love your hat, especially the pin." Then she and K got into a discussion about where she got the pin (Jazz festival), how there is not jazz festival in Oregon (K got it in S. Ca), how Oregon does have a blues festival. Then K pipes up with - "Blues..that's not jazz." The gal jumped on that completely agreeing - like there is just 'no comparison' and 'jazz rules' kinda of attitude. A sympatico - "sista" moment. They instantly became soulmates.... meanwhile, me, totally chopped liver. :-) Very funny -hopefully an inkling of the vibe is coming through with what I wrote here. Had there not been another customer walking up, they would have been in deep conversation about their favorite groups.
Other homes we saw were across the board. A few dogs and some nice ones with lousy layouts and beautiful views. Another had a nice layout, but in despirate need of updating --- the decor included a 50's diner style bonus room complete with Elvis cut outs, mural of a classic car, and 50's memorabilia. The problem? They used cheap black and white peel and stick tiles on the back of the bar and...(wait for it)..on the walls! In addition, in the house you could also find a lime green counter top, olive green cabinet doors in the kitchen, ...and if I remember right.. an orange counter top as well. There was also a large hole in the wall in the laundry room. The lot wasn't in a great location either. The owner was so very proud of his house and said it was his wife that wanted to move to another property they owned. He was obviously hesitant to part with his pride and joy - hence the large price tag and almost a year or so on the market.
Okay 2 short stories:
Speaking of views...
On Friday, K and I walked the dog. We purposely went out to go look at Mount Hood. Whoo-hoo! We totally found it and enjoyed it along our walk. I brought the camera hoping to get a good pick from the Starbuck's down the street... kinda hoping for a nah nah neh nah nah moment - "Look what I can see from my Starbucks". However I was thwarted. From the Starbuck's patio, you can absolutely see Mount Hood, but, unfortunately, to get the shot, it includes either the pawn shop or nudie bar signs..... WE NEED TO GET OUT OF DOWNTOWN!!!
On Thursday, K and I went to Trader Joe's among other places. When we got to the register, the younger lady complemented K on her hat --- Kind of a black Fedora style with a glittery pin that says "Jazz". The gal said, "I love your hat, especially the pin." Then she and K got into a discussion about where she got the pin (Jazz festival), how there is not jazz festival in Oregon (K got it in S. Ca), how Oregon does have a blues festival. Then K pipes up with - "Blues..that's not jazz." The gal jumped on that completely agreeing - like there is just 'no comparison' and 'jazz rules' kinda of attitude. A sympatico - "sista" moment. They instantly became soulmates.... meanwhile, me, totally chopped liver. :-) Very funny -hopefully an inkling of the vibe is coming through with what I wrote here. Had there not been another customer walking up, they would have been in deep conversation about their favorite groups.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Freaky nice people!
So we have run into this on prior trips, but I experienced it acutely yesterday. I had a gift card to Payless shoes and there is a shop just around the corner from us. So K and I went shopping.
Upon entering the store we were greeted with several hellos from both store personel and other customers.... strange enough, but let me continue. The sales lady asked me if K needed to have her foot sized and I replied that it was more a trip for me. She got all a-twitter and asked what I was looking for and what size I wore. Then she asked if she could show me their stock. For 5 minutes or so, she helped me find shoes that would fit the bill, then suggested I try on the ones that interested me, and that she would be available to do anything I needed. This was PAYLESS! and I was treated like I was at a high end shoe store.
K needed a longer, light weight coat so we went into other stores. When a sales person wasn't acting like we were the only people there, the other customers were chatting it up with us. Very Very different. It does come at a small price - checking out goes a tiny bit slower when they find out you just moved to the area and want to take a minute to give you a hearty welcome. ;-)
Tonight the plan is for K and Mark to go to the Winter Hawks game. Tomorrow, we will be out bright in early to go house hunting. We have 12 houses on our list, but have seen a couple on a prior trip. The focus will be on 9 houses or as many as we can get to out of the list. Some that I am hoping to see are:
http://www.home-sellers.com/propertydetail.html?mls=RMLS&listingid=9080045
http://www.home-sellers.com/propertydetail.html?listingid=10006632&mls=RMLS&pn=214
http://www.home-sellers.com/propertydetail.html?mls=RMLS&listingid=9081222
http://www.home-sellers.com/propertydetail.html?listingid=9071414&mls=RMLS&pn=7
Wish us luck!
Upon entering the store we were greeted with several hellos from both store personel and other customers.... strange enough, but let me continue. The sales lady asked me if K needed to have her foot sized and I replied that it was more a trip for me. She got all a-twitter and asked what I was looking for and what size I wore. Then she asked if she could show me their stock. For 5 minutes or so, she helped me find shoes that would fit the bill, then suggested I try on the ones that interested me, and that she would be available to do anything I needed. This was PAYLESS! and I was treated like I was at a high end shoe store.
K needed a longer, light weight coat so we went into other stores. When a sales person wasn't acting like we were the only people there, the other customers were chatting it up with us. Very Very different. It does come at a small price - checking out goes a tiny bit slower when they find out you just moved to the area and want to take a minute to give you a hearty welcome. ;-)
Tonight the plan is for K and Mark to go to the Winter Hawks game. Tomorrow, we will be out bright in early to go house hunting. We have 12 houses on our list, but have seen a couple on a prior trip. The focus will be on 9 houses or as many as we can get to out of the list. Some that I am hoping to see are:
http://www.home-sellers.com/propertydetail.html?mls=RMLS&listingid=9080045
http://www.home-sellers.com/propertydetail.html?listingid=10006632&mls=RMLS&pn=214
http://www.home-sellers.com/propertydetail.html?mls=RMLS&listingid=9081222
http://www.home-sellers.com/propertydetail.html?listingid=9071414&mls=RMLS&pn=7
Wish us luck!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Calendar is filling up!
Break time is over! We are starting back into the homeschooling scene and getting our feet wet in meeting other homeschoolers.
There are tons of activities and some are now on our schedule. Next week, K is going bowling with the "Westsiders" and starting a woodworking class that will meet for 6 weeks. The following week the Westsiders are going to see Percy Jackson movie. The week after that she has a book club meeting with the same group and then a young writer's workshop at Powell's book store that a lot of homeschoolers are attending. There is another book club on the eastside and I am hoping to do a little more that is closer to our new home, but we will take the activities where we can get them while we get settled.
Yesterday, K and I drove a little farther out and I *almost* knew where I was. It is just a little difficult to see where all the streets are when they are 1. sooo close together, 2. Don't always have curbs or clear signs - hard to tell the driveways from the streets. 3. "Reggie" is a little slow on telling me the turns because the streets are small, so it ususally comes out with the turn as I am parallel with the street entrance. Fortuantely, we don't live in an area with a bunch of one way streets! Though you couldn't tell that because there seems to be no law about which way you face on a street when you park. In just looking down the right side of my street 3 cars are facing away from my house and 2 are facing my house. Weird.
There are tons of activities and some are now on our schedule. Next week, K is going bowling with the "Westsiders" and starting a woodworking class that will meet for 6 weeks. The following week the Westsiders are going to see Percy Jackson movie. The week after that she has a book club meeting with the same group and then a young writer's workshop at Powell's book store that a lot of homeschoolers are attending. There is another book club on the eastside and I am hoping to do a little more that is closer to our new home, but we will take the activities where we can get them while we get settled.
Yesterday, K and I drove a little farther out and I *almost* knew where I was. It is just a little difficult to see where all the streets are when they are 1. sooo close together, 2. Don't always have curbs or clear signs - hard to tell the driveways from the streets. 3. "Reggie" is a little slow on telling me the turns because the streets are small, so it ususally comes out with the turn as I am parallel with the street entrance. Fortuantely, we don't live in an area with a bunch of one way streets! Though you couldn't tell that because there seems to be no law about which way you face on a street when you park. In just looking down the right side of my street 3 cars are facing away from my house and 2 are facing my house. Weird.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Day 4 - In Oregon
We are just starting to settle in and get comfortable. Here is what has happened so far:
On Friday, the day began with the movers coming to pack up the truck. It was a huge truck that already had 2 households on-board. In looking at the truck it was quite ard to believe that all our things would actually fit...and we were right to think so, but I digress.
The crew consisted of three guys initially. Bruce - At first glance, the resemblance to Manson was kinda scary. Second glance too! Could have been on a work release...? Just kidding! Don't be scared it was all ok. Will - A middle aged guy, African American, from Georgia & North Carolina. Extreme on the politeness factor. He was a true engineer in finagling everything onto the truck. Josh - Local kid...okay not really a kid, but the first two were long time truckers and this guy was only 6 years into it. Josh looked like he was on a path to have a hard life - piercings, smoking, etc. All three smoked actually, kinda gross, but they kept it to a minimun and away from the house.
Over the course of the morning, the ice was broken and we all got along great. Not exactly the guys I would normally hang with, but each one had more positive points than you would guess.
As it turns out, neither Bruce nore Will really have a home and live basically on their truck with Bruce's dog Shana --- a very petite pitbull, who turned out sweet despite the breed.
As the day wore on...and on...and on..(it seemed like it would never end), it started to become clear that the estimator that had come out to figure out our needs waaaay underestimated what we had. It was especially crazy since we had purged more items, including our dryer! When the last items were aboard, the door barely closed and I had about 6 trash bags of stuff that we had worked to get rid of. In addition, several items were left behind for the new owners. I could have been very upset, but really I was just glad to see an end to that part of the process.
After the truck pulled out...to drive to Sacramento THAT NIGHT, we headed off to stay with my in-laws. Being tired --- yes it is tiring even when it is not you physically loading everything --- we took our unshowered (eek!) selves out to dinner and then came back to colapse.
Saturday, after tearful goodbyes, morning we headed out with the car packed to the ceiling and a load on my lap and by my feet. After the first short leg, we realized that the dog had room on her seat and we parked Papaguyo in his carrier next to the dog. Not in the plan, but actually worked well -- the dog got a pillow and Papa was very secure. The rest of Saturday's drive was uneventful...or not...I kinda slept through part of it ;-).
In the evening, we arrived at my parent's house and enjoyed stretching out and having dinner with family. We got to meet the newest member of our family and got lots of baby snuggles. K got to run around with her cousin and got to do a little woodworking with Grandpa.
Again we colapsed into sleep, only to wake before dawn for the 11 hour drive. Having figured out how to rearrange a few things, it got a little more comfortable and I didn't have to ride with anything on my lap, just the dog at my feet. The original plan was for the dog to use her seatbelt and have a seat to herself, but when the dog was used as a kid pillow and looked quite uncomfortable on the previous day, we decided that the floor may be a better alternative than an 11 hour puppy pile-up.
On the drive, we watched the landscape change from the open fields of the central valley to the mountains. We saw an amazing amount of snow on Mount Shasta and then continued to see snow in the Siskiyous. As we crossed into Oregon, the trees changed from Oaks to towering Douglas Fir.
Once we arrived, we unloaded the van, stretched, and then jumped back in. We had 2 things to accomplish. The first was to grant K's wish to drive from California, all the way through Oregon, and on to Washington in the same day. Fortunately it was just 10 more minutes to Washington. Then we had to empty out Mark's room that he had been renting.
I now have a true appreciation for what he had been living with for the last few months. First off, the house was old....really old. Yes, I knew it was about a hundred years old, but did not expect its actual state. Aside from the new basement that he was living in, the house had not been touched since the 50's or earlier. Cabinets in the kitchen had obviously not closed to a nice fit in decades. Really it could have been a cute house if it had been cared for/updated. The narrow hallways and stairwell really freaked me out to get around in, but not as much as the odor.... Oh My Gosh. It was a smell that went right to the pit of your stomach and did a tribal dance. I can't describe the actual smell, but it was supposed to be fermenting saurkraut. Having smelled it, I am not quite sure how anyone could actually eat it.
Monday was quiet. Mostly unpacking some boxes and trying to figure out how exactly everything was going to fit. In addition, we had appointments with the handyman, the cable company and a storage unit was being delivered. The handyman showed up slightly earlier than expected, the cable company was arrived at the end of the window of time and spent about 2 hours running new lines since squirrels had made them a snack. The PODS unit was hours late and caused me to make a call to ask where it was...while secretly fearing that I had given them the wrong address and knowing they will deliver without someone home. I peered out on my street, but didn't see a stray PODS on my neighbor's driveway.
Anyway - I drove twice on that day and both times would have been completely lost if it had not been for "Reggie" my GPS. Though he did have to recalculate when a 3 way branch exiting the freeway was not labeled by the street name he said it was. Imagine being told to take the MLK exit, seeing the freeway branch 3 ways -- all single lanes, in moderate traffic (compared to S.CA), near the very center of downtown, and having to make an instant decisision. It was a bit hair raising, but K never noticed that I had no clue what I was doing and that I was at all confused...probably because there was no room left in my brain to articulate a 4 letter word. All was fine and I made it nearly on time.
Tuesday was the big day when the truck arrived. Bruce and Will were joined by Lupe, a local guy that works for North American part time. With less stress from worrying about whether or not there was enough space, they were far more jovial. Through the course of they day, K became enamored with the crew. Kinda scarey since even Bruce admitted that most people would not want to meet him in an alley and he holds his own when in a dive bar. K became known for most of the day as "Short Stack" and became part of the surely crew. (Hope this is not the direction her dating tendancies will lead her!)When they had very light boxes, they would grufly order her to pick it up and get to work. She rebuked them with saucy remarks as she carried the box - they loved it. Several times they remarked that she was very smart, delightfully confident, could hold her own with them, but surprised them but not having an ounce of fear of them. While I held the truck as sacred ground and only ventured on board when asked, she boldly walked along side them and was welcomed into the hold.
The house surprisingly held what we needed and the rest was packed in the PODS, with some overflow into the large garage. At noon, I fed the guys lasagna and found out that Bruce and Will could not remember the last homecooked meal they had had. On the sunny porch they shared about their families and broken marriages. Will talked about how he didn't quite fit into the culture of the south anymore and longed to remedy his relationship with his ex-wife and live once again with her and his son in Germany. Bruce lamented being on the road and not having a homebase. He said that he was planning on returning to live near his sons and ex-wife in Arizona. Even though he was divorced, he still continues to pay her rent and bills both out of guilt and sense of honor. Who knew that such .... "scarey" people who had obviously lead very rough lives could be so sweet. Later, I plied them with warm cookies I baked and that threw them over the edge with gratitude. Upon leaving Lupe said he would make himself available to move to our permanent location and Bruce told us to call him personally to see if he was in the area when we next moved to avoid renting a u-haul. Though it could have gone in many other directions, all was well and the guys actually did a bit more than they were supoosed to. Success!
Wednesday.... today... I slept in. Glorious!!!!!
On Friday, the day began with the movers coming to pack up the truck. It was a huge truck that already had 2 households on-board. In looking at the truck it was quite ard to believe that all our things would actually fit...and we were right to think so, but I digress.
The crew consisted of three guys initially. Bruce - At first glance, the resemblance to Manson was kinda scary. Second glance too! Could have been on a work release...? Just kidding! Don't be scared it was all ok. Will - A middle aged guy, African American, from Georgia & North Carolina. Extreme on the politeness factor. He was a true engineer in finagling everything onto the truck. Josh - Local kid...okay not really a kid, but the first two were long time truckers and this guy was only 6 years into it. Josh looked like he was on a path to have a hard life - piercings, smoking, etc. All three smoked actually, kinda gross, but they kept it to a minimun and away from the house.
Over the course of the morning, the ice was broken and we all got along great. Not exactly the guys I would normally hang with, but each one had more positive points than you would guess.
As it turns out, neither Bruce nore Will really have a home and live basically on their truck with Bruce's dog Shana --- a very petite pitbull, who turned out sweet despite the breed.
As the day wore on...and on...and on..(it seemed like it would never end), it started to become clear that the estimator that had come out to figure out our needs waaaay underestimated what we had. It was especially crazy since we had purged more items, including our dryer! When the last items were aboard, the door barely closed and I had about 6 trash bags of stuff that we had worked to get rid of. In addition, several items were left behind for the new owners. I could have been very upset, but really I was just glad to see an end to that part of the process.
After the truck pulled out...to drive to Sacramento THAT NIGHT, we headed off to stay with my in-laws. Being tired --- yes it is tiring even when it is not you physically loading everything --- we took our unshowered (eek!) selves out to dinner and then came back to colapse.
Saturday, after tearful goodbyes, morning we headed out with the car packed to the ceiling and a load on my lap and by my feet. After the first short leg, we realized that the dog had room on her seat and we parked Papaguyo in his carrier next to the dog. Not in the plan, but actually worked well -- the dog got a pillow and Papa was very secure. The rest of Saturday's drive was uneventful...or not...I kinda slept through part of it ;-).
In the evening, we arrived at my parent's house and enjoyed stretching out and having dinner with family. We got to meet the newest member of our family and got lots of baby snuggles. K got to run around with her cousin and got to do a little woodworking with Grandpa.
Again we colapsed into sleep, only to wake before dawn for the 11 hour drive. Having figured out how to rearrange a few things, it got a little more comfortable and I didn't have to ride with anything on my lap, just the dog at my feet. The original plan was for the dog to use her seatbelt and have a seat to herself, but when the dog was used as a kid pillow and looked quite uncomfortable on the previous day, we decided that the floor may be a better alternative than an 11 hour puppy pile-up.
On the drive, we watched the landscape change from the open fields of the central valley to the mountains. We saw an amazing amount of snow on Mount Shasta and then continued to see snow in the Siskiyous. As we crossed into Oregon, the trees changed from Oaks to towering Douglas Fir.
Once we arrived, we unloaded the van, stretched, and then jumped back in. We had 2 things to accomplish. The first was to grant K's wish to drive from California, all the way through Oregon, and on to Washington in the same day. Fortunately it was just 10 more minutes to Washington. Then we had to empty out Mark's room that he had been renting.
I now have a true appreciation for what he had been living with for the last few months. First off, the house was old....really old. Yes, I knew it was about a hundred years old, but did not expect its actual state. Aside from the new basement that he was living in, the house had not been touched since the 50's or earlier. Cabinets in the kitchen had obviously not closed to a nice fit in decades. Really it could have been a cute house if it had been cared for/updated. The narrow hallways and stairwell really freaked me out to get around in, but not as much as the odor.... Oh My Gosh. It was a smell that went right to the pit of your stomach and did a tribal dance. I can't describe the actual smell, but it was supposed to be fermenting saurkraut. Having smelled it, I am not quite sure how anyone could actually eat it.
Monday was quiet. Mostly unpacking some boxes and trying to figure out how exactly everything was going to fit. In addition, we had appointments with the handyman, the cable company and a storage unit was being delivered. The handyman showed up slightly earlier than expected, the cable company was arrived at the end of the window of time and spent about 2 hours running new lines since squirrels had made them a snack. The PODS unit was hours late and caused me to make a call to ask where it was...while secretly fearing that I had given them the wrong address and knowing they will deliver without someone home. I peered out on my street, but didn't see a stray PODS on my neighbor's driveway.
Anyway - I drove twice on that day and both times would have been completely lost if it had not been for "Reggie" my GPS. Though he did have to recalculate when a 3 way branch exiting the freeway was not labeled by the street name he said it was. Imagine being told to take the MLK exit, seeing the freeway branch 3 ways -- all single lanes, in moderate traffic (compared to S.CA), near the very center of downtown, and having to make an instant decisision. It was a bit hair raising, but K never noticed that I had no clue what I was doing and that I was at all confused...probably because there was no room left in my brain to articulate a 4 letter word. All was fine and I made it nearly on time.
Tuesday was the big day when the truck arrived. Bruce and Will were joined by Lupe, a local guy that works for North American part time. With less stress from worrying about whether or not there was enough space, they were far more jovial. Through the course of they day, K became enamored with the crew. Kinda scarey since even Bruce admitted that most people would not want to meet him in an alley and he holds his own when in a dive bar. K became known for most of the day as "Short Stack" and became part of the surely crew. (Hope this is not the direction her dating tendancies will lead her!)When they had very light boxes, they would grufly order her to pick it up and get to work. She rebuked them with saucy remarks as she carried the box - they loved it. Several times they remarked that she was very smart, delightfully confident, could hold her own with them, but surprised them but not having an ounce of fear of them. While I held the truck as sacred ground and only ventured on board when asked, she boldly walked along side them and was welcomed into the hold.
The house surprisingly held what we needed and the rest was packed in the PODS, with some overflow into the large garage. At noon, I fed the guys lasagna and found out that Bruce and Will could not remember the last homecooked meal they had had. On the sunny porch they shared about their families and broken marriages. Will talked about how he didn't quite fit into the culture of the south anymore and longed to remedy his relationship with his ex-wife and live once again with her and his son in Germany. Bruce lamented being on the road and not having a homebase. He said that he was planning on returning to live near his sons and ex-wife in Arizona. Even though he was divorced, he still continues to pay her rent and bills both out of guilt and sense of honor. Who knew that such .... "scarey" people who had obviously lead very rough lives could be so sweet. Later, I plied them with warm cookies I baked and that threw them over the edge with gratitude. Upon leaving Lupe said he would make himself available to move to our permanent location and Bruce told us to call him personally to see if he was in the area when we next moved to avoid renting a u-haul. Though it could have gone in many other directions, all was well and the guys actually did a bit more than they were supoosed to. Success!
Wednesday.... today... I slept in. Glorious!!!!!
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