EQUAL TIME FOR NOAH

I have kind of a strange scanner, as it won't scan every size of picture. I seem to have the best luck on the small ones like the school pictures of grandsons Michael and Alex from Bend, Oregon, that I scanned in and posted the other day, and this one of grandson Noah. Speaking of this picture, I received it from Noah's parents, Jeff and Steph, some time ago, and it has been on my fridge, but last night it occurred to me that I hadn't posted it to my blog. I think it is so very cute and it definitely deserves that equal time.

The picture is from Noah's soccer playing of last year. The back gives his height and weight, his uniform number (5) and his age (5). Also the team he was playing for. Noah is just a couple of months from being 6 and he already looks older than 5, but I think this is a very cute picture of him.

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Speaking of children in the family, there is one child, who I won't name here, who according to his mother has been tested as being just below the borderline for having ADHD, ADD, and autism. I am very concerned about this little boy as I think these are some pretty big challenges for him to have. His mother said he is doing well in school regardless, but in being around the little guy, I don't see compassion for or understanding of the accompanying personality quirks; in fact, I have witnessed some quite questionable (IMO) teasing. I did speak up about that in one situation where the little guy seemed to be quite hurt and fearful; I hope it helps.

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And then, on the issue of health, I am feeling happy today because I have started on the last small dosage of a medication that I have been taking for a number of years and which I am now going to be able to go completely off of in a few weeks. When I started taking it, the medication was quite new but in the time since then, it has been found that the med causes a person to crave carbs, can cause high cholestrol, and can also elevate the blood sugar, all of which are problems that I have had. My doctor prescribed it partly for anxiety but one of the side effects I have also read that it has is anxiety! It can cause uncontrolled, jerky movements, too, which can become permanent. I have no doubt there must be other side effects that it has, as well. It is going to be good to see if I don't do and feel better in general once I am off it.

THERE'S NO WAY TO QUIT USING THE ARM . . .

. . . unless I put it in a sling, and I have too many things I have to do that use both arms. I guess I have resigned myself to having to deal with the soreness, icing it down once in a while and taking 1/2 of one of the few Vicodin I have left if it gets too bad.

I have considered e-mailing my doctor but then I remember that I lifted some things yesterday that likely irritated the right upper deltoid that hurts and I also did a lot of filing last night at my business. It's amazing how that bit of grunt work with its repetitive action can exacerbate the pain, which then radiates down my arm to my hand and up higher, to my shoulder. Today it's been getting Mexican chicken into the crockpot to cook, putting away clean dishes from the dishwasher, and doing loads of laundry. Easy enough stuff, eh? To which I answer: Believe me, getting old isn't for wimps! ;-)

As my friend Greg commented on yesterday's post, it also may have been the laser sword fighting with grandson Alex that made it flare up again when I was visiting his family almost a week ago. -G- It doesn't take much, it seems! (However, Alex is pretty big and strong for a 7-year-old -- I was amazed at the force he could put into his laser sword dueling!)

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I have broken down and temporarily abandoned my resolve to not turn on the propane heater. With the weather outside being in the upper 50's, I felt I needed to set the thermostat to 65 degrees F in order to be able to tolerate being downstairs at all. I have also turned on the electric heater here in the office. This weather is crazy!

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I signed up for fraud alerts through my credit card and on Monday, just a couple of minutes after I placed a photo print order with my favorite online digital photo developing company, I had a phone call from the credit card fraud alert department, triggered partly, I'm sure, by the fact that the charge was so low. It was no problem to okay it and I'd rather be notified and have the charge be all right than not be notified if there actually was a fraudulent charge made to the credit card.

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I have been feeling bad for Ted Kennedy and I have meant to mention that here. I have not always been that crazy about his political stands but I wouldn't wish a malignant brain tumor on him or anyone. He is in my prayers.

HANDSOME GRANDSONS

Above are this Spring's school pictures of my grandsons, Alex, 7, and Michael, 9, the sons of my youngest son, Tony, and his wife, Kamie. Alex's hair is a lot blonder right now due to being outside and playing a lot. Michael's hair is quite a bit shorter.

I'm not proud of them or anything by titling this entry what I have. ;-)

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I have more pictures in NowPublic.com articles! Several of them feature my cat Silver with the mouse he caught a month or so ago and also one of him going after a toy mouse. There are about 142 images as of right now with the article, but there is a search feature on the site so you may be able to find the pictures using that, if you're interested in tracking them down. The article is about a 72-hour blackout that was caused by a cat-mouse chase.

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Perhaps I should have titled my entry today: OBAMA WON! He did so here in Oregon, anyway. A few people that I didn't care for also won their primary races, but then a couple that I did like made it. The General Election in November is going to be very interesting.

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I am trying to keep my typing brief today as I was in a lot of pain due to my sore upper arm last night and the pain radiating down to my hand. I am quite sure I typed too much yesterday in attempting to catch up on my e-mail.

BACK FROM BEND


I got home from Bend, Oregon, yesterday morning after a mixed weekend. The drives there and back were uneventful and pleasant -- I love the scenery along the way. I used up 1/2 a tank of gas each time, which isn't too rough considering that it's 160 miles or so one way from here to Bend.

I got to the motel Friday afternoon and tried to avoid calling Tony's cell phone number, as it was long distance, so finally got in touch with him at his work at Majesty's Animal Nutrition in Redmond, which is about 18 miles from Bend. He said that Kamie and the kids should be home by then so I went to their house, where I found Kamie packing and the Michael, 9, and Alex, 7, outside with friends.

Kamie and I chatted for a while until Tony got home, when it was decided that we would go out to dinner as a late Mother's Day celebration for me, and we went to Greg's Grill Restaurant in the Old Mill area of Bend, along the Deschutes River. It was lovely there. I was given my choice of whether to eat in the air-conditioned restaurant or out on the terrace. I chose the cool of the restaurant -- it was very hot there -- although I think Kamie would have preferred the terrace. She was generous and didn't complain. ;-) I had an oriental chicken salad, which was delicious, and Kamie offered me a taste of what I believe was a lemon drop martini. It was good. I am unable to drink alcohol but it was refreshing to taste the drink as I had never had vodka before (having been raised Mormon and with limited experience with drinks after leaving that religion, plus now being forbidden to drink with my diabetes medication).

It was so nice to see how the boys have grown up. Alex was in the house more when I was there, as a general rule, than Michael was, and he had plastic toy "laser swords" that he and I dueled with. It made my upper arm an little bit sore later but how do you say no to a sweet 7-year-old? Here are a few pictures of various people playing with him (his dad, my son Tony and his mom, Kamie).







The photo immediately above was of Michael coming through the door, as well.

Below is a shot of Michael, who has a shiny spot on his cheek where Kamie had put ointment on an area where he had been cut by a rock a couple of weeks ago and had somewhat of a scar. Kamie said Michael didn't care much about that.



Kamie and Tony gave me directions to Michael's soccer game the next morning, and it wasn't far from my motel. The only problem I had finding it was in the fact that there were many fields of both soccer and baseball, resulting in my wandering around in a rather lost state until I found the field that Michael's team was playing on -- of course, way back at the back. The only reason I found it was that it was half-time and Tony was out on the field playing a bit of impromptu soccer with some of the other dads. It was terribly hot and Michael did his best but was overheated. I felt for the little guy! Their team lost, after having been unbeaten all season. I did get just one picture of Michael playing; he is in the white shirt below.



I wasn't feeling real good and my arm was aching so, after the game, I went back to my car and ate the lunch I had brought in my cooler; then I went to T.J. Maxx to shop. (Tony told me later that T.J. Maxx isn't a store. LOL!) I got some items for Jeff, Steph, Noah and Emily for taking care of my cats and house while I was gone.

Tony had brought home a trailer and they used it that afternoon to move from their old house to the one in which Kamie's mom and step-dad had lived in, just 1/4 mile away. I had made arrangements for Tony to call me at my motel when they got to a point where they were winding down a bit and I could come over.

I bought a couple of sandwiches at the Shell service station just across the parking lot from my motel, and ate one for dinner. About 45 minutes later, Tony called and I went to their place. Kamie was very tired so I stayed for about an hour and arranged to have them call me the next day after they had moved the heavy items in the trailer to the new house. I planned to drive down to Sunriver, Oregon, on Sunday, as I had never been there.

So Sunday morning, on the way to Sunriver, I stopped at Fred Meyer's and found some shirts for the guys and a top for Kamie. While there, I kept having to dash to the bathroom. Finally, I felt better and headed south, to Sunriver. I stopped in the area where the shops were and walked around a little, but I didn't see anything that interested me, so I went back to Bend, and made a quick stop in Safeway, where I got a small container of tapioca pudding and had to rush to the restroom again. I went right back to the motel, where my room was made up, thankfully, and I remained sick off and on while trying to rest there. (I had to throw the tapioca pudding away as it was runny and didn't taste good -- all I needed.) I left a message on Tony's cell phone (deciding to go ahead and pay for the long distance) about how I felt and for him to let me know when they were ready for me to drop off the clothes and say goodbye.

Tony called at about 6 and said they were all moved out of the old house and into the new. When I got there, he was still unloading the trailer he had brought from work to use in moving, and I felt for him when he said how tired his legs were from all the going up and down stairs. Kamie had gone to get dinner as the boys were very hungry. The shirts that I had bought them got mixed reviews; Tony liked his, while Alex felt his was too small (it was a 7; he said his mom always got 8's for him). I had brought over the receipt so she could exchange it. Michael only seemed a bit astonished and amused that I had bought them more shirts, as I had also given each of the boys one that I had brought from home the day before.

I had a chance to chat with Tony while he kept unloading boxes from the trailer, and he thought maybe my Shell service station sandwiches were what had made me ill. I had to agree that it could be a possibility. Fortunately, I had brought over-the-counter medication with me. I left after about an hour as I didn't want to take a chance on giving the boys what I had if I was contagious, catching Kamie as she turned into the housing development and saying goodbye to her there.

It turned out to be quite a busy weekend for Tony, Kamie, Michael and Alex, but -- as Tony says -- they are always busy. I'm glad they got moved in and I wish I could have helped them more. (As it was, I seemed to be a distraction for their big black lab, Buddy, who truly loves me and gave me lots of attention, resulting in my pushing him gently away with my arms, making my sore one a bit sorer for a while.)

Yesterday morning, somehow I had managed to set the alarm in my room for 6 a.m., so I decided to get up then and get ready to go. I got home at about 10:30 a.m., still feeling very rocky. I basically rested during the day, just doing some easy stuff like uploading the pictures and ordering them from Snapfish and getting pictures from the birthday/Mother's Day dinner ready to send to family members, which I will do tomorrow.

Today I am better. I don't need to go to Costco today as Jeff needed to get heavy items. Tomorrow I will run errands while Norma is here cleaning. I think I'll be up to that.

I slept well in my bed last night, loving the feeling of Silver in his usual spot at the end of the bed. The cats were well cared-for; once again, though, I had to hunt for Stevie, and I wound up pulling her out from under the office bed. She was fine; just had been spooked by Jeff's heavier footsteps, I suppose.

I am not back on a couple of lists, but I suppose I can remedy that. I didn't feel like doing correspondence yesterday, while today I have probably half of that done.

It was interesting to come home to election day today in Oregon. It is predicted that Obama will win. I probably didn't help him by basically throwing away my Republican ballot via writing his name in. ;-)

I don't know when I'll be able to see Kamie and Tony and the boys again. It depends a lot on the price of gas, among other things. Michael and Alex are going to visit their other grandma and grandpa in Florida after school is out. I can't remember how long they're staying but it seems like it may be 6 weeks. It was worth the trip this last weekend to see them, despite my illness.

So there you have my travelogue. I hope it wasn't too boring. ;-) It's good to go see family but it's also nice to be back home.

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My sister Kathy's oldest daughter, Teddi, is graduating later this week from San Francisco State University. I have been debating what to send her. I tried to order a Target gift card for her but I couldn't get the ship-to information to type in. I think I will get her a card tomorrow and send her a check. I'm very proud of her. She has always been a very intelligent girl.

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After 5 days of heat, it has cooled off here and it was rainy this morning. I'm glad for the relief from the hot weather. It still is nice enough in the house to keep the heat off; in fact, the air conditioner here in the office is on "low." There is no way I'm burning propane until fall. I am so totally dreading how much it's going to cost for more of that when it comes time to make out the budget agreement again. At least, gas prices seem to be staying about the same (unless I just haven't noticed and am in the throes of wishful thinking).

WHAT KIND OF FLOWER ARE YOU?


Thanks, Kris, for referring me to this quiz! Some of the questions didn't quite fit me so I chose as close to the ones that did as I could. It was fun!

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

THE KITE RUNNER


I read the book, "The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini, several months ago. It was a powerful and riveting tale, and I enjoyed it a lot. Today I watched the movie, and it was every bit as excellent as the book was, staying true to the tale. It brought me near to tears at the end.

Set in Afghanistan, it began with the tale of two close young friends -- Amir, the son of a fairly wealthy man, and Hassan, the son of his servant -- who loved to spend time together, especially flying kites. As a team, they won a Kabul kite-flying tournament, where the object was to cut the strings of the other kites and then to run and retrieve the last fallen kite. Due to jealousy of some older bullies, Hassan suffered a horrible indignity after retrieving that last kite. The awful act was secretly witnessed by Amir. The remainder of the story had to do with how this drove a permanent wedge into Amir's and Hassan's friendship. Interwoven was the relatively recent history of Afghanistan, with the invasion and occupation by the Soviets, and then the rising up of the Taliban. These historical events ultimately influenced Amir's life more than he expected, as he had relocated to America, and in the end, his early relationship with Hassan became something that he could not escape.

Watching this movie, I was made very aware of how much we have compared to people in other countries, even with the difficulties we face here in the U.S. at the moment. I was also struck by a realization of the way in which human mistakes can be overcome, and redemption achieved.

I highly recommend this movie. It is well worth watching.

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The air conditioners are on. I don't know if I'm going to leave them on while I'm gone -- maybe just the newer one, upstairs. I don't want my poor cats to swelter in the heat while I'm gone!

I may write one final post tomorrow morning before I leave, but if I don't, have a great weekend, everyone!

STEPH AND KRIS ARE NOWPUBLIC

I received an invitation the other day from an intern named Lea at NowPublic.com, asking if I would allow a picture that would fit an article she was working on called "Female Gamers on the Rise but Where are the Heroines" to be published there. The photo is of my daughters-in-law Steph and Kris playing Wii bowling on Thanksgiving day, 2006. This morning, after some difficulties, I was able to upload the shot (which you can see at the link earlier in this paragraph) to accompany the article. I think it is such a good picture of my them and I am glad they both gave me their permission to allow the shot to be posted.

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I have been able to get out clothes to pack for my trip to Bend tomorrow, as few of the ones I am washing in my laundry today are going to be needed as far as taking them along. (I just want to leave here with my chores done.) Since the heat is coming in today and sticking around for a number of days -- both here and in Bend -- I am having to pack mostly light items. I had thought that perhaps I didn't have that many, especially by my favorite clothing manufacturer, By Taylor, but as I looked in various areas of my house (I have closets full of clothes), I found some summer items that I had forgotten buying, and so I will be able to keep from going naked in the heat! LOL! (I wouldn't want to inflict that on anybody!) ;-)

The cats have once again been enjoying reclining in my open suitcase, which is on the dining room table. I even found Stevie in it yesterday, which was a first. Thankfully, they are on the plastic cover that folds over the area where the clothes go, so I won't be getting cat hair on my clothing.

I don't know entirely what we are going to be doing while I'm in Bend, but I called the motel last night to confirm my reservation and I do have a full kitchen, in case it is needed while the kids (youngest son Tony, DIL Kamie, grandsons Michael and Alex) move.

Middle son Jeff will be taking care of my cats and bringing in the mail and the newspaper. It is a relief not to have to worry about that. I appreciate so much when he and his family assist me in this very important way.

I had been concerned about my arm during the trip but it seems quite a bit better today, even without 1/2 a Vicodin. Hopefully, it will hold up for the 3 to 3 1/2-hour drive to Bend.

I still haven't heard anything about possible candidate visits to Bend over the weekend. It would be fun to see Sen. Barack Obama or even Sen. Hillary Clinton in person! But my family comes first.

I hope that, if you are in an area with heat like we are going to have over the next days, that you can stay cool! I'm sure going to try to!

ONLINE MAGICAL THINKING

Yesterday, I received an e-mail that was pretty typical of a number of them I receive, especially from certain people. This one came from a family member. The bulk of the e-mail consisted of screen names of people the forward had been sent to (a great way to get them in the hands of spammers) and at the very end, there were colorful happy faces and a nice verse about friendship. That, however, was followed with this:

Beautifully stated....
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time.
You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken.
You'll fight with your best friend.
You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.
You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love.
So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
So send this to all of your friends (and me) in the next 5 minutes and a miracle will happen tonight.

I sent it back with a note saying that the sender knew I didn't much believe in these things but I was sending it back because I love her. Personally, I would love to see a miracle in her life but things just don't happen that way. I guess I'm a skeptic, but I never believe these promises of miracles if the e-mail is passed along within a certain time frame or to x-number of people. Do you? Tell me what you think!

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I had a comment a while back regarding Ziggies, giving me the URL for GoComics, where it was possible to sign up to have the Ziggy cartoons sent to me every day. I went to the site and tried to sign up, but before I did, I read the "Terms of Service" as requested in the sign-up area. I learned that the owners of the site frown upon Ziggies received from them being published elsewhere. They didn't specify that blogs were included in the limitations but I'm not wanting to take a chance. I think I'll just wait for my friend Lynne -- who has been sending them to me from Australia -- to get back from vacation and start sending them to me again.

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My upper arm continues to hurt off and on. I am not looking forward to lugging my suitcase at Bend. (It does have wheels, but I do have some spots where I need to lift it manually.) I am going to try to take it real easy on the typing for the next couple of days. I think I'll get my suitcase out today and start packing it, though, so I get that bit of hauling over with.

Speaking of my vacation, I just checked the online weather forecast for Bend through Saturday (they didn't have Sunday's up) and it is going to be as warm there as it is here, but not much hotter, thankfully. I am hoping that I can pack a good quantity of light clothes and still get my suitcase shut. ;-)