Renew

Today I am trying to remember that my word for the year is "renew". Golf Cart Dave came as expected. God love you, Dave. Sort of like "Free throw guy". I will come up with my own version for myself. I could have done something else with that time had I known "Garage door guy" would be  a no show. They called after I already waited 3 hours and he was late. RAM will be tomorrows story unless they choose to respond differently than today. That IS a fun story. Well not so much fun on this end.

I will revert to Rachel Snyder and her definition of renew:
Renew your passion for being alive! Visit a museum and renew your love of history. Renew that excitement you used to feel when seeing something Aztec, something Japanese, something from a distant time. Renew your spirit. Take a long walk, a short trip, a week's retreat. Forget to take your appointment book or your reading file. Renew your relationship to your body. Go to the gym, go on a back country ski trip, go get shiatsu, go do yoga. Renew old friendships. Renew that spark that used to live between the two of you. Renew your vows, the promises you made to yourself and others long ago. Start over, start again, start anew. Revive, restore, refresh, replenish, rejuvenate, recharge and renew!

Gotta love that motivation...

My absolute fav for this week....
OH YEAH!

Words of Wisdom

I love it when I learn from my children, which seems to be happening more often than not, lately. In storing some of my middle child's things, I noticed a slip of paper on his bulletin board. It said:

Live simply,

Live efficiently,

Be generous!

He walks the talk. I love that about him. Thanks for the reminder, Nick.

Chimneys that Blow Smoke Rings--How Funny

You all know that I love TED. This topic caught my attention because it mentioned humor and living spaces and creative solutions. Do yourself a favor and listen to it in its entirety. Don't be turned off by it's length. It's better than playing Angry Birds or your other favorite computer game today. Just do it.

Bjarke Ingels' architecture is luxurious, sustainable and community-driven. At TEDxEast he shows us his playful designs, from a factory chimney that blows smoke rings to a ski slope built atop a waste processing plant.

The Passage of Time

My niece will marry this August. She wants to have photos of her grandparents on their wedding day at her wedding and asked me because I am the keeper of most of the photo books. She was blown away when I told her I also had my mother's wedding dress and some bits of lace left from the making of it. Perhaps this will be something old.

When preparing the items for the mail, it gave me pause. It was as though I held something sacred in my hands. My parents married in 1938 which makes both the photo and the lace 72 years old. That's old by today's disposable mentality. I share pictures of both with you here.  The lace is in amazing condition having survived the passage of time quite well.

While it might be odd to share this old but personal photo here, the passage of time makes that possible. The original image was a tiny 2 x 3 inches. I scanned it at a high resolution to grab the details. Obviously this concept was not possible back in the day. 

The passage of time has served my family well.  Quality and technology, you are not such distant cousins!

Use the Good Stuff

I saw this advice recently and it reminded me of a story.

My mother's good china was given to me. I seriously believe she purchased it for a celebration when I made my First Communion in the fifties. We didn't have a lot of money and so it was grocery store stuff but I always loved the happiness of the pattern.

My dad brought it to my house on a visit. I was thrilled but my children were small and I was afraid to use it. So it remained stored in my basement for just the right occasion.

When my family moved to Portland, there was no basement storage. I came to realize that my children had never know their grandmother. She died when I was just 14. These dishes were my memory and would never be theirs.

For these past 14 years, we have used these dishes nearly everyday. For me, it's as if my mama is hanging around the kitchen with me. I am so glad I used "the good stuff.." Really, it's probably always the best choice.

Changing Perspectives

I love this flower that defies the cold and blooms in winter. I am reminded of the Christmas song of German origin:

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung.
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung;
It came, a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

365-002

I always wonder if this is what sparked the composer's imagination. I have photographed the Christmas Camellia many times but this time from behind. I love the reflection through the leaves.

Changing perspective can be a good thing.

And Another...

But were the shoppers caught by surprise and caught in their tracks. It was nice to see so many who stopped to enjoy in all of the hustle and bustle that is holiday shopping.

Mery Christmas To You

I spotted this on a friends blog and since I love Coldplay, I share it with you here.



Merry Christmas to all of you and to your families. I love you to bits.

Christmas Humor

You gotta love this humor.
Who would have thought this up?
Who would have carried out the plan?
If you haven't noticed, look closely to the left.
One thing is for sure, it gets a lot of attention.
It caught mine.

In the Air Again

What do you notice about these pictures?

Well the first one is rather obvious.When have you been on a margarita plane?  It actually cheered me up when leaving Portland on a rather grey (or is it gray?) day. I am pretty sure I don't really care which way it's spelled. But they did not serve margaritas, d#$@'t.

But check out this next image.....let this just soak in.

There were just 26 of us on this plane and only 16 on the connecting flight. We had to sit in the back to balance the plane's weight. The stewardesses were not so busy and gave us a guided tour of our flight into California. I broke my #1 rule and did not have my camera in my purse right next to me and did not get images of the Three Sisters or Crater Lake from on high. So instead you get to see the backs of these peoples heads and how empty the flight was. LOL

Harry Potter

One of our family's last day of school traditions was to go to lunch and then to the book store to pick up some summer reading material. In 1999, Caite had just finished third grade and her choice was the second Harry Potter book. It seems that her teacher had read the first one out loud to the class. Since I had never heard of Harry Potter, she suggested I get the first book too so that I could understand the story. I did and it soon became a family favorite. We have all--that's all five us--read all seven of the books. On several occasions, Caite and I went to the local borders book store at midnight to pick up our copy. No we did not dress up in character...but maybe we should have. We have also all seen all of the films, many together. Twelve years of family fun. Thank you JKR for giving us Harry.

You gotta love this U-Tube trailer.

Icky Nicky

It poured down rain at Palm Desert on Saturday. Whaaaat is that about.

Sunday shined so we played golf on the Nicholas Private, better known as Icky Nicky. It is a tough course designed by Jack Nicholas. Here is just one of those icky holes...OMG!

Just what do you aim at? haha

11.11.11

What were you doing on this day?

Here is a pic of Rick and I playing golf at Indian Ridge. We were paired with the pro, Becky. What a treat. And just look at this view. Too bad you can't see the sky as it is true blue. Woo hoo!

Farewell, Steve Jobs

I always am especially sad when someone dies whose life is not yet fully lived. So it seems with Steve Jobs.  I offer this quote from a man who has truly changed our world.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

~ Steve Jobs

God Speed!

30 Good Years and 21 too!

On June 26, Rick and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. Where have all of those years gone? We dined at Metro Vino, a relatively new restaurant in the Pearl. It was a quiet Sunday evening and just perfect for us. I wish I had thought to have someone take our picture that eve but I didn't.

Not to be overshadowed by our daughter, who turned 21 the very next day. I remeber so well my OB/Gyn telling me not to have her on or anniversary if we ever wanted to celebrate that again. He was oh so right. LOL

Caite is away for the summer and so we waited a week to celebrate with her.. Portland City Grill, one of our favorites, was the venue of choice. Window tables with spectacular views of the city are the place to be and so we waited a tad bit longer.. We were not disappointed.

I did think to snap a photo of my girl. She's just so darn cute!  Awwwww.......

Happy birthday, Caite. Love you to bits.

Missing June

I have been on  a whirlwind effort  with house projects.

It all started when I had the cedar shake roof cleaned and stained.
That led to a serious need to power wash the deck. I started that project but have you ever noticed that men have a serious need to have power tools in their own hands. What starts with a "let me see that for a minute" ended with me quietly leaving the scene.One for me.

The next project was a powder room redo. It involved stripping wall paper, texturing and painting the walls and then replacing all of the fixtures. I had this work done by Tony, the painter, and Bob, the builder, two wonderful professional contractors.

Then I had the entire landscape in the front of the house removed and replaced.  I don't have before pictures but trust me, it was so overgrown it was scary. I would show you the after but it's raining today for what seems like the millionth day this month.

The next projects are 2 other household bathrooms. The one the kids used over the years has been totally gutted. The tub will be replace with a walk in shower. the vinyl floor with tile and all of the fixtures will be replaced. Parts of the basement bonus room bath are also being replaced. I am going with under mount sinks, CeasarStone counter tops, new fixtures, mirrors and wall paint.

Right now, I have nothing to show. The tear outs are complete and the work begins tomorrow. I can't wait.

I do promise to post photos of the completed projects. I am not big on the befores. They are what I am trying to forget.

Until then, here is something to look at...  Nice-a!

Piece of My Heart

We went to the play One Night with Janis at Portland Center Stage. It is the Janis Joplin story told from the concert stage. Cat Stephani plays Janis Joplin and if you didn't know better, you would think you were seeing Janis live. Stephani is spectacular. She can really belt a throaty, earthy, explosive tune. And, I loved the costumes. The audience sang along to Me and Bobby McGee but my favorite remains Piece of My Heart. Loved it, totally.

So on Mother's Day

I arose at 6:15 AM to drive Drew downtown to run the Cinco de Mayo half marathon. There is no place to put your license or cash or car keys so I was the designated depository.

Hamming it up at the start

I wandered around and treated the morning like a photo shoot, finding some interesting things: flowers blooming, interesting things in windows, graffiti and lots of people.

I heard the holler that the winner was coming and so I rushed to catch a glimpse. Drew was hoping to finish in 2 hours. The winner was estimated to have completed the race in one hour 20ish minutes. I held my place along the route and it wasn't too long before I saw a very red shirt coming my way.

He ended up finishing the race in 1 hour and 51 minutes and with a grin on his face. He doesn't even look like he's working hard.. Running entitled him to 2 beers (at 9:30 in the morning:) I got one of them. HA! We toasted him.

Who Is Ted or is it What...

I was directed to this site today. I have not been there before. This topic is both thought provoking and the film is beautiful. Sit back, give it a go and enjoy!

Should I Stay or Should I Go

Precisely the question at the Rose Garden on Saturday. Down 23 in the 3Q, the crowd was just not sure. After all it was 80ish outside. First time all year for that.

But then Marquis Man started riling up the crowd with "Get Louder" signs. And 6th man did. It was so loud, the players later said they couldn't even call plays to each other.

And then, YESSSSS, the BRoy we all love, began chipping away at the score. With 59 seconds left in the game, he shot the tying bucket and then just a tad later, the winning one. He single handedly left Dallas with their mouths hanging open. Portland went nuts. We love our Brandon.

Internet photo from the BlazerBlog

And in the end, we are glad we chose to stay...