Dinner at my house...

Menu: fish (name?), orzo pasta with sauteed crimini muchrooms, asparagus, onions and fresh parmesian cheese, and salad with my homemade dressing. Simple, healthy and tasty.

Attendees: Jason, John, Julia and myself.

Visit to Grandma's

Yes...we're rollerskating

Oh, Maven. So bashful...and your butt makes a nice pillow

Loving Lake Oswego!

Me and Maggie after move. Yay!

Me and Jason during move. Ugh.

I LOVE my new place and I LOVE Lake Oswego. Unfortunately I've been sick since arriving here, but I'm on the mend. There's a lot of young dog owners in the area so Maven and I are sure to fit in just fine.

Looking forward to planting some flowers in my flower pots. It will be strange not having a garden this year.

I think I'm done w/my redish-brown hair. What color is next I wonder...

Time for the second nap of the day. Gosh, I'm so tired. I guess I wore myself out and the body is trying to heal. I will oblige.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................

Bitter Sweet Day...

The house officially sold last Friday which means I'm renting this house back f/the buyer. Tonight will be my last night here. I'll be renting a 2/2 in Lake Oswego for the time being. I haven't rented anything in over 7 years. This should be interesting!

This house has taught me a lot about being a homeowner and more specifically about being a homeowner to an older home. One thing that seems to be key is that you can't just live in your house and expect things to maintain themselves. For instance, my brother has taught me that chimneys are a major culprit in roof leaks. We learned that the chimney at my little rental has been leaking for a really long time, causing dry rot in the sub-roof. I had no idea the chimney was leaking. Heck, it doesn't even get used anymore because the house uses electric heat. When I had my current house inspected, the inspector noted that my chimney needed to be re-sealed. Okay, so now I don't like chimneys.

This doesn't mean I'll be relaxing anytime soon. I've got projects for my rental and my tenant will be moving out in two months which means all new interior paint and flooring. :) I'm currently trying to figure out a nice garden design for the back yard.

Anyway. Today I will continue packing and saying good-bye to my house.

Jason - working hard or getting ready to cry?

Maven and her buddy, Miss Kitty

Not Spring yet but showing signs of it

I was so excited when I saw the daffodil's poking up out of the ground and hearing the birds sing!!

OMG

Netflix finally delivered the season finale of "the L word". Wow. Lots of raw emotions. Crap. Made me cry.

I just wanna say some people have a really BORING web site. Some people I know...like from a past life. I guess mine isn't really entertaining but at least I keep things alive by posting often. I know I need to add more pictures. I should buy a new digital camera. My current camera's auto-focus is messed up so about 75% of my pics turn out blury. Poop. Although... it is hard to find my wrinkles in a blurry picture. Ha.

House hunting....well, having a dog and two cats really narrows down my options. I have really high expectations of what my dwelling should be like and with the pets, well - makes it even more difficult. What also makes it difficult is that I don't want to sign a freakin' year long lease. Argh. There's some people out there that think everything is negotiable. Their advice to me would be to negotiate my lease. That should be interesting. I'm also looking at buying a car f/a dealership...more negotiating. Geez. What next?!? So out of character for me.

Someone rescue me from all of these crazy decisions. I have such a hard time making decisions. It's driving me nuts-o. Really though, I will feel about 60 lbs lighter at the end of February when I hand the keys over to the buyer of my house. I hope I'm not working that night b/c I will want to celebrate! Yee-hawwww!!!

The roofer sux

So I discovered that the guy (licensed and bonded) who put my new roof on three years ago did a couple things wrong. One of the wrong things resulted in increased moisture in my attic and hence some soft spots on the roof. He is willing to take credit for one part but not the other. So, we have a meeting set tomorrow morning with himself, me and my brother. My brother asked if he needed to kick this guys A**. Funny. But typical. My dad would have said the same thing. My brother is very knowledgeable with this sort of thing and he won't let this guy think he can get away with this! You go brother! I love having help from guys without strings attached. :) God knows I need it.

House is still in Escrow. Gotta get the roof fixed and some structural stuff in the basement. Car will officially be sold tomorrow.

No car and no house! Yikes.

Sometimes I feel like packing things and just driving....that would be fun except the cats wouldn't appreciate a road trip to no-where-in-particular. Ha. Maven probably wouldn't mind though.

My office manager told me to take vacation time or loose accruing it. OK. Guess I need to plan a trip but it seems difficult with everything else going on.

I'm drinking a really good wine. Wish I could remember the name of it.

Just sitting here relaxing...waiting for a friend to come over. Today was a good day, as I just ended my 7 day stretch of work and relaxed for the most part. I danced, cleaned, ran an errand, took a two hour nap, walked Maven, house hunted, ate good food, and now drinking GOOD wine. It's GOOD. Once again Maven is sitting here staring at me. Occasionally handing me her paw. Crazy dog.

Being a homeowner tests my sanity. I just wanted to say that. It's hard to find a good, reliable, knowledgeable contractor. And when the job is done, who's to say it's really done correctly. Inevitably at some point during the project, the contractor will come back and say, "it doesn't look good, you need a new..." which usually ends up costing me in a big way. Part of it is owning an older home, and part of it is that there's people running around with a hammer who have no business even pounding a nail.

It's HUMP day. Woo-hoo!!

I've put 8,000 miles on my car in 73 days.

on the way to starting a new chapter...

Well, my house and car both sold during the past 5 days. C-R-A-Z-Y.

Anyone have room for a nice, tidy 35 year-old with a dog and two cats? I need to find a new crib by end o' Feb. Stay in Portland, or move? Stay, move...stay, move...stay, move.... Ahhhhh. Well, most certainly there could be worse things to stress about.

OMG. I'm so freakin' tired. I hate it when I get this tired. My whole body aches. The inspector will be here at 9am tomorrow, I have to purchase my brother's plane ticket from Alaska, and call my bank to let them know about my buyer for the car first thing in the morning...the list is goes on. Oh and Grandma, I'm so sorry I haven't been up to visit in awhile!! I suck.

Big Fat Bummer...

OK. I discovered the Z4 requires premium gas. With all the driving I do, that could get expensive. Argh!

Speaking of 'Big Fat', Maggie jumped up and layed on my chest last night and I nearly stopped breathing. Holy cow she's heavy. She just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Maybe I could start a reality show for cats called "The biggest feline looser." I've tried the diet thing with her though. She must have a thyroid condition. Yeah, that's it.

Feeling Mellow-Yellow, it's Sunday

Oh so relaxed with my new pink blanket and the fireplace blowing warmth on my feet.

I'm missing the long days of Summer. When it's 5pm and dark out, it's like 10pm in my head. San Diego shows sun all week. Even Healdsburg has had an abnormally high number of sunny days thus far in the Winter. I have three cities listed on my i-phone which tell me the weather instantly, so unfortunately I can dwell on the nice weather elsewhere.

I just gotta say this...dating is scary stuff. I'm so glad I don't know what goes through men's minds. I prefer to remain nieve to this.

I wish I could put cute faces on my blog. I know there's something to d/l but I don't want to put forth the effort to figure it out. :)

A very nice friend got me Julia Childs' "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I can't wait to dive into it!! I will learn to make the perfect omelett. People will be lining up out my door just to taste my delicious omeletts. They'll have tons of veggies and NO MEAT.

Battery going dead on my lap-top. Signing out...sweet dreams everyone.

Thank you to my visitors...

Thank you to the 440 people that have visited my blog and/or return visitors. I'm sorry that since I've changed the format that some of the font is difficult to read. I'm pretty sure that I'm too lazy to fix it. Actually, I'm positive that I'm too lazy to fix it. Sorry. Sarah not perfect, contrary to popular belief.

Feeling Fiesty - it's a New Year

I'm so fiesty, I'm going to type in LARGE FONT. Isn't it annoying when people regularly use their caps-lock when typing? It's like this.... Me: "Why are you yelling?" Weirdos who type in caps: "I HAVE NO IDEA. I DO THIS TO BE DIFFERENT I GUESS. I NOTICE EVERYONE ELSE TYPES IN NORMAL LOWER CASE FONT BUT I HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT AND MAKE IT SEEM LIKE I'M YELLING EVERYTHING." Me: "Well stop. It's difficult to read the tone of your voice. If you don't stop typing in caps I'm going to assume you're a hostile person always needing to yell to get your point across." Weirdo/caps person: "I CAN'T STOP."

Anyway. I digress.

I think I've eaten 5,000 calories today. Ugh.

I haven't heard the neighbor's dog all day. They must be out of town.

Hmmmm...what shall I do with this new year? I have so many things up my sleeve. I'm excited to get going on making it a killer year. Maybe 'killer' is a bad choice of words. I'll re-phrase: I'm excited to make it a rad year. I love the word RAD. I'm also excited to make it a groovy year. I'm excited to finally buy that wig I've been wanting - it's pink/maroon if you're wondering. I'm excited for my new wrinkles to disappear. Seriously. Why are you guys hanging out on my face for so long. I thought it was just lack of sleep or dehydration. Whatever. You - new wrinkles - really suck. No one invited you and certainly no one asked you to stick around. So go away.

Somehow I need to figure out how to get a pool. That's something I want really bad. No, I don't want a pool at an apartment complex. I want my OWN pool. I want one of those floating chairs with the cup holders in my pool as well. What's the point of a pool if you can't have that anyway. I could move to NV or AZ and afford a house with a pool. Heck, if I lived in AZ I could actually use the pool all year. Waaaaaay cool. I can just imagine stepping out onto my back patio from my bedroom, shed the clothes and swim in my birthday suit. That's freedom. Oh, I also need a nice stereo to go outside with the pool. And perhaps neighbors that aren't too close so I can actually turn up the volume. This fantasy is fun. :)=

cutie-pie

Another day in paradise...

I have a Gravatar now!! I feel so technically un-challenged now. I really did not put a lot of thought into the picture, but since I'm drinking and my head is squirrly, it will have to do for now.

To my neighbor who lives behind me who's dog barks in the back yard ALL DAY. You suck. You don't see me doing that with my dog! Where's 'love thy neighbor'? There's no love in listening to a barking dog all day. And why don't dogs ever loose their voice!? I would love to know that. If I barked all day, I would be hoarse and probably end up with larynx Cancer.

My dog rules.

So my Passat is up for sale - as of today. I've only owned it a few months, maybe 4? It's a really great car. I love all of the wonderful features...but alas, it's just not for me. I'm thinking of buying something really un-practical. Is that a word? Well, my life revolves around being practical, so it is a bit like coloring out of the lines for me to get a car that isn't environmentally friendly(ier), and that doesn't portray something I don't want to suggest. Today (mind you, it could change tomorrow) I'm looking at Z4's. Even if I buy one and it only lasts a few months, at least I will have had the pleasure of driving one for awhile. It's so NOT MPG friendly, and so NOT practical for going on road-trips and so NOT dog friendly and so NOT work friendly (I tote around a ton of things for work). So with that being said and all of those 'NO's' I think the un-practical thing to do would be to....buy one!! This is not a mid-life crisis, I assure you. Yes, I did just have a b-day, but I've wanted the Z3 for a loooooong time - like since my early 20's. I've also always liked smaller cars. I don't care for the long front end on the Z4 though. I need to test drive it to really know if it's right for me. There's a merlot red z4 about 200 miles away that is singing my tune!! La-la-la.

Happy New Year to everyone. Be good to yourself. Rest, eat well, remember what you have to be grateful for, be kind to your neighbor (hear that - neighbor of mine?!?), don't drink and drive, never hit your animals or kids (not sure where that came from?), don't leave dog poop in someone's yard when you're walking your dog and it decides it needs to pooh before you get to the dog park (because it really sucks to step in it!), oh and use biodegradable poop bags. What have I forgotten... drinking wine alone doesn't mean you're an alcoholic. I'm just sayin'. Sometimes you just need to drink alone. It feels soooo good to be alone in my comfy house with my pets. What a hectic month. Indeed.

Good wine and organic chocolate chips. What more does a girl need. Nothing. :()

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Sunday

It's just barely Sunday. What a month. My parents leave today, I have a Christmas party tonight, company coming tomorrow and then again later in the week, Christmas Eve at the Paresa's, then I leave for Coos Bay on Friday morning after work, Birthday on Monday... I think I'm going to be too tired by New Years to even celebrate it.

I need to work-out more so I have more stamina. That really should be my mantra and priority.

Awsome: my past and present b/f's who have left something for me to learn from.
Not awsome: the price of homes in Portland! C-razy!

Saturday

My mom can shop until she drops. Actually, I don't think she's ever dropped. She could probably outshop anyone. Seriously. We're going to Bridgeport Village this morning. I'm only doing this out of love for her as I wouldn't normally step foot near a large shopping center this close to x-mas. They've extended their hours for today which means historically it's a busy day. I have no doubt. Parking will be difficult. We may have to valet park. Darn. Maybe I'll get my picture taken with Santa. :)

This is funny to me...mom is dye happy. She will try to dye anything. You have to know my mom in order to really appreciate and find humor in that fact that she dyed one of her bathrobes. I learned this last night and nearly fell over.

Tonight I'm having sis, her b/f, a family friend and one of my friends and of course mom and Tom over for dinner. That's about the maximum that I can fit in my house. I've made two soups, home-made cranberry sauce and will be making chicken sandwhiches on special bread with cream cheese and cranberry sauce. I of course will be eating a veggie patty. Plenty of booze and snacks.

Awsome: my family & friends and this very strong coffee I'm drinking
Not awsome: people who litter! Stop it! I mean it!!! I'm going to find you...

Friday (yesterday)

I was too busy to write yesterday. Should I reflect on the day or just move forward? It was a good and very busy day. I'll just leave it there.

Thursday...

So many things to do. I suddenly wish I owned a bigger house. I wouldn't want to clean a larger home, but it's certainly more accomodating when guests are coming. I'm going to challenge my patience and head on over to Costco - mind you, this Costco being one of the largest volume of retail sales in the US. It gets crazy busy there. I need to have a plan/item list and stick to it so I can get in and get out. It's really easy to divert from a plan at Costco. You go in with good intentions, you come out with a lifetime supply of Q-tips. So we've all heard of 'road-rage'. How about 'shopping cart rage'. It's not pretty.

11 days until my Birthday, incase anyone forgot.

Mo later.

It's later....5:36pm to be exact.

Maven is standing near me and won't stop staring at me. I wish she could talk so she could tell me what she wants. She has food, water and she's been outside. I gave her tons of hugs and love. What else is there! I need to go do my hair and find a proper outfit. Ciao until tomorrow...

What's awsome: finding that 'perfect' pair of jeans - yiipppeeee!!!
What's not: realizing your jeans aren't really that perfect - awwwwwww. so sad.

Hump Day (Wednesday)

Lessons I'm learning. Some people can't be helped. Some people don't want to be helped. The best gift is one you give and don't expect anything in return. If you want to be disappointed, the way there is to expect someone to act a certain way.

Thank you to my g/f who paid me a huge compliment today and didn't even realize it. Thank you to my boss who did the same.

What's awsome: my mom finds everything interesting, i.e. talking about fashion, discussing politics, brainstorming ideas on decorating, gossiping about funny things that people do, making fun of our husbands/significant others (that's always a good time), talking about the funny things our animals do.
What's not awsome: when Maven eats cat poo.

Tuesday...

This is what I see everytime I look at my phone...my lovely Maven.

I don't think it's stopped raining since yesterday. Today has been an interesting day. There's several people around me who are sad, for one reason or another and it's starting to bring me down! I discovered one of the vent thingies on the top of my roof has a spot where water is leaking down - all the way down into the basement. I bought some roof repair and climbed up on the roof only to discover I'm not strong enough to squeeze the tar out of the tubing. I risked my life for nothing! My only ladder is about as old as my house. Scary. I also ruined my ski coat. :(

Maven got a bath and trembled the entire time. Poor thing. She needs to put on some winter weight.

Seriously, I want the sunny weather back, even if it's only 15 degrees out. My blood tests say I'm severely Vitamin D deficient. This is so not good considering I live in Oregon! My doctor had me on a prescription strength of Vitamin D 50,000 units two times a week for 8 weeks just to try to get my D up. To give one an idea of how much D that is, the over the counter is 2,000 units or less.

What's awsome: maui brownie ice cream
What's not awsome: being addicted to nicotine AND as a result dying of a lung related disorder. If you want me to tell you about it, call me anytime. It really sux.

It's Monday

I'm laying in bed, Maggie at my feet, Maven near the side of the bed (wanting to come up on the bed), me on my second cup of coffee. So tired. I feel like even taking a shower will drain the last bit of energy I have. It was a busy weekend of work. It would be so easy to talk myself into going back to sleep. :) The nice thing about being an adult is I can do that. I can also eat popcorn or ice cream for dinner if I want. LOVE IT!!!! Life is good. Live life.

I need help with designing my business cards and creating a web page.
I'm stuck. I have a creative side, but probably not creative enough to be CLEVER. I really need to delegate this to someone else. Julia??

Remembering the good...

This will be my first Christmas without my dad. It will be okay. I just wish I could give him one more hug. It would be a HUGE one. It would probably break his little 115# frame if he were still here. In remembering good things, the couple years prior to his passing, he would call me on every "holiday" to wish me a happy one. It wouldn't matter if it was St. Patrick's Day or Mardi Gras. He was funny that way. He also called me every year the day before mom's birthday to make sure I didn't forget it. What a sweet thing to do. I know that my dad never stopped thinking warmly of my mom and that was a true testament of his love. He lived a very unconventional life, but that's what made him happy. He made friends wherever he went. Not just a few friends, but a pack of friends. I always thought that was so cool. This feeling of being without a parent is kind of hollow. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing something but can't exactly pin-point what it is. When life is quiet and things are settled in my mind, I'm allowed the opportunity to reflect on the feeling and realize what it is.

I thought I could write this w/out getting emotional. Not exactly. I guess emotionally things are still unsettled. I had to put the pain on the back burner so that I could trudge through the everyday events of life, including work. This type of pain is overwhelming at times so I guess it's natural to want to push it away for awhile. Ya gotta know that it's gonna rear its ugly head at the most unexpected times.

Well, Merry Christmas Dad, wherever you are. I hope you can see and feel how much I miss you. I have a really great picture of us that I will post soon. You are wearing docker pants and a dress shirt. You couldn't wait to get out of those clothes and back into your overalls. It meant a lot to me that you dressed up at my request. Jason is now asking for the picture. :)

Do men eventually develop the ability to communicate, or is it a lifelong journey of frustration trying to figure out what's going on in their heads. I thought I was getting closer to understanding. Ummmm...NO way. It's all good though. Just wondering out loud here...

Life is good. It really is.

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday to me (in 21 days!!).

Think about this...

I've learned thus far in life the following: it's a shame to take things, anything, for granted. I won't take my health, my family, my job and the roof over my head for granted. There's so many people that have lost everything due to the down-slide in the economy. I'm healthy, I have a great job, I work with great people, I have a very comfy home and reliable, nice transportation, great friends and family and my pets are doing well. What more could I ask for? Life is good.

Once again, I will say I don't necessarily believe in New Year's resolutions, but it's that time where I feel I should declare my goals. I want to travel abroad and soon thereafter, start a business. Easy, breezy. I can do it.

31 days of Birthday celebration

Kicking off my birthday celebration in Florida at the beginning of December! End the celebration in Las Vegas? Hmmm...maybe. Might be difficult getting a hotel the last week of December. Probably. :(

No mini skirts after 35? Pfffff! I'm turning 35, going on 28 so I can wear whatever I want. :)-

Are you living life or just going through the motions?

Don't live with regrets

Autumn

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this time of year. The weather in Portland is so perfect during September and October. I love all of the beautiful colors, and moderate temperature but still with a bit of chill, prepping my wardrobe with new boots, scarves, hats and gloves. I made some ridiculously yummy pumpkin bread the other day (it was better than Starbucks' bread)! I like Halloween and dressing up for parties. I like the beautiful decorations that follow November for Christmas. I like being able to ski and play in the snow. BUT, by January and through April I'm ready to get the heck out of Oregon!! It's funny ...my animals match the next three Holidays: Maggie (pure black) is Halloween, Maven (golden) is Thanksgiving and Ms. Kitty (all white) is Christmas.

Well said...

"To sing well and to dance is to be well educated" -Plato

New House

Had a very nice visit in Coos Bay this weekend. The weather was perfect. Mom and Tom's new house is finished being built and is superb! Mr. Kitty has a new home there now. He will be happy to explore the woods and hang out with the deer.

Wish/To Do List

1. Eat more chocolate
2. Drink more wine
3. Weigh myself less
4. Move to sunnier climate
5. Volunteer more
6. Visit Italy
7. Hellloooo...dance more. Duh.
8. Stay organized. Pffffh!
9. Sell my house. Sigh.
10. Brush Maven more because she luvs it so much.
11. Tell myself daily that turning 34 is really no big deal.
12. Watch more cable TV at the gym -ha. So sad I haven't seen What Not to Wear in a long time. :(
13. Oh yeah...keep my new car clean. Hmmmm...

Recycle! It's not that difficult. Seriously.

I can't believe there's people out there who don't recycle. Plastic bags, plastic bottles, glass and cardboard are recklessly thrown in the garbage. Obviously there's more items to recycle than the above list, but these are the easiest to recycle. Fred Meyers has a drop box-container thing for plastic bags. They also sell the reusable bags which are way more convenient and sturdier than paper or plastic bags. And why are so many people still buying plastic bottled water? It's not anything superior above what you would get from the tap. Get a Brita pitcher. Sheesh.

What a cutie!

Great Aunt Helen. She's so cute. This is her house in Healdsburg, CA.

Say Cheese Maven

This is her favorite toy right now. Boy is it loud. :)

Sorry your head is missing from the picture Tom. : (

Cute

These tomatoes from the garden

reminded me of Mr. Potato head.

A few pictures of the memorial

What a week! 11 people under one roof, 4 of them kids. That's a lot of energy. Here's a few pictures of the quaint memorial at the Paresa's.

First pic: Maggie

Second pic: Jason with his kids and Grandma

Third: me and Maggie

Fourth: Randy, Tom & Uncle Bill

Pics of inside my house for sale

Master Bedroom

Kitchen

Bathroom (duh)

Dining Room (to the right) / Living Room (above) with a small glimpse of the 2nd bedrm

Living Room

In Loving Memory of my Dad

March 25, 1953 - August 16, 2009.

I don't know what to say. It was too soon and I'm heartbroken. This pain is horrible.

Celebration of Life August 29, 2009 at Georgia & Bill Paresa's house.

I won't quit my day job to become a professional skier

I found these in the dark recesses of my digital camera. They're funny - there's several clips, but I'll show only two. The first clip is of me taking a wrong turn, sliding on my butt to get past an area of difficult snow, and then trudging through the rest. Maybe you had to be there?

Not just any compliment

Thank you to the girls at the salon who couldn't believe I was over 30. BTW - that will ALLLLWAYS get you a 40% tip f/me ;)

Wine a Little, It Will Make You Feel Better

I bought a towel at a winery in Sonoma County with the above comment. Cute.


We went to Walla Walla for the weekend for some wine tasting. It was a really pretty drive and we had a good time except that I ended up drinking too much wine and by late afternoon was hugging the toilet. More impresive than the wine was the food. Yuuuummm. Good eats!

I will be sticking with Anderson/Sonoma/Napa Valley wines as they're my favorites. I thought I should branch out and I'm glad I did but they just weren't for me. We bought 4 bottles, but I think that was more to support the industry than anything. I also don't like foreign wines. That is a bummer considering I want to go to Italy soon.

I am so enamored with Sonoma Valley. I really feel that may be the place for me in the future. I've yet to visit anywhere that is more beautiful than the Northern area of California (SFO and above) with the wine fields and sloping hills as far as the eye can see. I want to go on a Hot Air Balloon ride down there before this time next year. How fun!

Tomorrow...

...is a very special and important day. I'm so nervous. I can't tell why - it's a secret. Based on how tomorrow goes, I will either be crying or peeing my pants with joy on Friday. : ) Being mysterious is my nature, what can I say.

Update: the siginificance of this day is that I took the state board of nursing exam and found out today I passed. It's been a long journey of school and life events and I've finally achieved my goal. Today I'm officially an RN. I've been an LPN for four years and quickly worked my way up the ladder with nursing duties and responsibilities. I'm grateful to have found a career that suits me so well and I'm really grateful to be finished with school for awhile!

Good Podcast

After listening to a few episodes, I was hooked. Look up Dan Savage. He gives r/s and sex advice. It's entertaining, informative, and has given me a lot of insight into men which would have been good information when I was 19. I've listened to probably 100 episodes (past and recent) since I've had my iPhone and feel all the more wiser!

Selling the House in a Buyer's Market!

I know...crazy. My plan is to take advantage of the real estate market in California. To do this, I feel I should sell one of the houses. I just can't own and manage 3 homes. I need to enjoy my life rather than be a slave to the houses. Stay tuned for pictures...it should be on the market in two weeks or so. Busy, busy, busy getting it ready!

Poooooor deeeeeeeaaaaaaaad grass.

Hike up to Multnomah Falls

We're at the top of Multnomah Falls playing in the water. Maven was brave enough to get in the cold water. It was so refreshing after hiking that long way up the mountain on a very hot day! What awaited us at the bottom was ice cream. What was unfortunate is that I didn't think ahead when I got soaked, -that I would have to walk all the way back down the mountain with wet pants on. With our grumbling tummies, Randy tried to help keep my mind off of being so uncofortable by talking about yummy food that we would like to to eat after our hike. What a guy. : ) Driving back to Portland in the convertible, I decided to remove the wet pants and bundle up in Maven's blanket.

Great quote!

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."~~ Frank Sinatra

Ray LaMontagne

oooh. Great font color!

Just discovered this British singer. He's really good. Sings with a lot of emotion and soul. It's great to connect with music. I know there's at least a handful of artists out there waiting for me to discover them so I can blast them in the iPOD and go for walks with the dog. I can turn on music and instantly feel good. I wish I spent more time researching different artists. I hate to admit this, but I mostly listen to whatever I find on the radio. I hate that. I really do. I'm very current on top-40 music - because it's easily accessible on the radio. I do enjoy the 80's and 90's music very much, and even music from my mom's generation. Though, I would probably benefit from getting sirius radio in my car. I spend so much time in my car traveling for work, which may justify purchasing the means to obtain a wider variety of music. I guess I could get some books on tape. Ugh. That sounds so boring.
I spent an entire evening looking up lyrics to TOOL - almost as though it were a homework assignment - to look up and understand their lyrics. I did it with so much intensity, it was almost as if I were preparing to meet the band and wanted to impress them with my knowledge of their music and yet it became a sort of hunger throughout the night that was never really taken care of because it's all about interpretation. Reading other people's interpretation of the music was extremely entertaining and thought-provoking, but it didn't answer my black-and-white question: 'what does this song mean?' The great thing about music, and especially with TOOL, is that interpretation is up to the listener, not unlike art, so even though it left me un-climaxed, I still enjoyed reading about people in the deep throes of their lives, and them connecting with the music. That's the beauty of a lot of music out there. There's some riff-raff out there that's merely there for the catchy beat and because the "singer" is easy on the eyes. I admittedly often find myself bee-bopping along to the crap. Argh.

If you're like me, you often or occasionally listen to a particular song at a particular point in your life, and you may suddenly feel a surge of emotions or nostalgia. It may bring up old feelings about something or someone, or it may be relevant to something going on in your life at present. I love raw emotion. When a song hits you during a moment of raw emotion....it's great. It's intense and real. Ray LaMontagne sings a song called, "Wild Horses." I read that someone connected to the song because it made him think of his horse. I think he's singing about a woman, but hey, whatever you gleen from the music is yours.

Look this dude up on youtube. My LEAST favorite song so far is called, "You are the best thing."

My parting words are: I will admit... I'm a Madonna fan.

Too many pet pictures?

Yes, there's more to my life than my animals. Geesh.

New member in the family...

This is lovely Maven. She was adopted a month ago and has brought a lot of joy to the household. The cats are becoming more and more comortable with her as she poses no threat to them. As you can see by this picture taken at the beach near Coos Bay, she loves to have fun!

Cruise

We had a good time on the cruise. Food was plentiful and sights were beautiful. A couple things that stand out while on the cruise was the several comedy shows we went to were really funny and the dance club was great. I could have danced all night long.

The Hair is Gone...it's a New Year!

I donated my hair to a good cause...

Here's Miss Kitty being her cute self.

Another picture, minus the double chin.

Dancing Queen...

I love dancing! It makes me feel so alive. So far I've done East coast Swing, Tango, Salsa, and Country two-step. Since I spent several months on ECS, that is what I am the most comfortable with.

Babies are Wonderful

This cute little thing is Randy's granddaughter. What a snuggle head she is. She fits so perfectly in your arms. This picture was taken at Randy's other daughter's wedding.