Wednesday, April 30, 2008

NO LONGER UPWARDLY








































NO LONGER UPWARDLY MOBILE


It has been quite a day, with two doctor appointments this afternoon, and I truly dislike going to the doctor!

The first one brought good news, that I am going to be able to taper off my expensive medication without having to buy any more. I learned today that it has been found to not only cause a craving for carbs but also to affect cholestrol, especially triglycerides.

My doctor at that appointment, however, was concerned about the fact that I had hurt my right upper arm/shoulder area yesterday and that I am unable to lift the arm beyond straight out. She felt that I should either arrange to get it checked or get a prescription for something stronger than what I had at home (mainly Naproxen).

I was able to get an appointment in an hour with a doctor at the other Kaiser clinic in Salem, and there I learned that I have injured my deltoid muscle. (I know I did that yesterday, lifting too much out of the trunk at once after shopping for mostly canned goods at Costco.) I am not to lift my arm upward for a week. There was talk of a sling but I opted not to use one. I will remember not to lift my arm up, I'm quite sure, unless the Vicodin I got kills the pain enough that I forget. I also had high blood pressure; I have to go back again in a week to get that re-checked.

This will affect some of my work. I will have to put off filing until next week, and as I expect a stack of it, I will probably work on it Thursday and over the weekend as well as next Wednesday evening. I will play it by ear on the trip to Costco next week. If we just need light stuff and I unload it gradually, I should be all right.

I am going to keep some of my dishes down on the counter rather than try to reach up for them with both hands, and I will be very careful doing the laundry tomorrow. Dressing and undressing will require special care, as well.

This getting old and out of shape is the pits! I just need to remember that there are things I cannot do, and make sure that I don't act like I'm 20 years younger than I am.

I think I can type okay for the most part but I will likely take that easy, too. It takes more than an injured deltoid to keep me from blogging and e-mailing!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

MY RARE SHOT OF NOOTKA 4







































MY RARE SHOT OF NOOTKA 4


I received a comment yesterday and one today regarding the following photo, which I took in 1991 at Sealand in Victoria, B.C. of an orca that I thought might be named Tillicum, according to what I wrote on the back of the picture. The date I took it was 10/18/91. As you can see by the comments that I received on Flickr and that follow the picture, from someone who knows, this was Nootka 4, a female orca.

Orca in Victoria

My decription: I took this picture at a Victoria B.C. sealife aquarium in 1991. This was one of two killer whales there, one of which later killed its trainer.

My conversation below this picture with Marhi 226:

Marhi_226 says:

Its Nootka, one of the females. They had another two whales in 1991. You saw only females? I know that they held Tillikum (big male) apart of females in small pool next to main.
Really beautiful shot and very rare too!
Posted 20 hours ago.

SuzanneR Pro User says:

Thanks for that information, Marhi 226. And also for your kind words about the photo. I wondered if it could be rare. I wrote on the back of the photo: Smiling Orca (Killer whale) -- "Tillicum"? 10/18/91

As it happens, due to the killer whale's "smile," I am posting the photo also to the "Flickr: On Assignment" group as the theme there right now is "smiles."
Posted 19 hours ago.

Marhi_226 says:

Yes, its rare! It isnt a lot of photos from Sealand.

You can write on the back of the photo: Smiling orca - Nootka 4 (your orca on the photo is really Nootka).

Aquarium had 3 orcas in this time - Haida, Nootka and Tillikum. In december Haida gave birth to Kyuquet, first Tillikum's baby.
I found out that attack was on 21th february 1991. All three orcas were involve in the incident but only Tillikum was accused in this attack.
Posted 3 hours ago.

SuzanneR Pro User says:

I have changed what I wrote on the back of my picture. :-) Thank you for this continued information!

I checked Marhi's profile and she is actually Martina, from Prague.

According to Wikipedia, this was what happened during the incident where the trainer was killed:

"On February 20, 1991, a group of 3 Orcas (Haida, Nootka, and Tilikum) killed a trainer named Keltie Byrne at Sealand in Victoria, British Columbia (where employees were not allowed in the water with Orcas). After this, and due to Tilikum being bullied by the two females in the tank, Tilikum was relocated to SeaWorld of Orlando, Florida, where he remains. He is currently the largest Orca in captivity."

There is also a notice with this article that it is being considered for deletion, so it may not be up there all that long. I learned that the spelling of Tilikum in this paragraph is the correct one.

It is so nice to be on Flickr and communicate with people there from all over the world!

*****

I am happy to say that I found my missing pictures -- the originals of me and also my mom's obit that I brought back from my Idaho/Utah trip to go to her funeral. I got to thinking yesterday afternoon that they must have been put in my treasures trunk. I dug into it and lo and behold, they were there. I have them out in a dresser drawer now so they'll be easy to get to if and when I scrapbook again.

*****

I had a note from the mailman waiting for me this morning when I picked up my mail from my rural mailbox out front, in which he said that the flag had been up but nothing had been in the mailbox. It is obvious my mail was stolen. Thankfully, the only thing I had out there was a note to my friend Edith in Toronto, containing an article from Time Magazine on the FLDS situation in Texas. I can imagine the frustration of the person who opened that letter! It quite amuses me to think about. However, I did report it to a lady at the post office's toll free number. I was thinking I might let neighbor Bobi know about this, as well as Nick and Jeff at the shop, in that last instance in case mail was stolen out of our business's mailbox. Very, very maddening!

Monday, April 28, 2008

THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA



































THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE


I'll admit it, I am hooked on the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I have just read the 8th book about Mma Ramotswe and her husband Mr J.L.B. Maketoni, entitled The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, and it was as delightful as the rest.

Set in Botswana, the series takes you to that country, with descriptions of its landscape plus the people there. The author, Alexander McCall Smith, makes Mma Ramotswe and her assistant, Mma Makutsi, come alive, as well as Mr J.L.B. Maketoni and his feckless apprentices in the auto maintenance and repair shop he owns.

There are, of course, mysteries to be solved, as well as the personal problems of the characters to be dealt with. Mma Ramotswe, as always, is wise and smart.

If you have not read any of these books, I would recommend that you start at the beginning, with the first book, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and go from there.

I sent these books to my mother when she was on dialysis and needed something to fill her time, and she said she enjoyed them very much. They are clean and yet do tackle tough issues regarding adult behavior in a tactful and sometimes humorous way.

I have the 9th book here to begin reading soon -- The Miracle at Speedy Motors. I thought I'd take a break and start on something different last night, so I began The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I was soon too sleepy to read -- I hope that wasn't because of the subject matter. ;-)

*****

I received my flannel pajamas today from the company that carried them through Amazon. They look very much like flannel pj's should look like -- maroon and white striped -- and they feel exceptionally soft and like they will be very cozy to wear on a cold winter's night. Wait a minute -- I saw nighttime temperatures in the 30's coming up in a few days during one forecast that I watched last night, so it could be that winter isn't over here yet!

So it's another day of celebrating my 60th birthday! ;-)

*****

Upon sending the latest batch of Ziggies, my friend Lynne expressed the thought that both doors in the above cartoon probably led to the same place. LOL! She lives in Australia and yet she understands our tax system so well . . .

Sunday, April 27, 2008

AM I PART OF THE PROBLEM?Today I received another irritating

AM I PART OF THE PROBLEM?

Today I received another irritating forward, once again from my LDS friend, Fran. (If I tell her not to send such e-mails, she will simply say she doesn't care that I'm bothered, or else apologize when sending such sends for a brief while, but ultimately she will keep doing it.) Don't get me wrong, Fran is a dear friend and a good person -- I just don't agree with a lot of the items she sends me. Generally, I delete them after reading them, but I wanted to comment on this one.

Here is what she sent me. (I will explain what bugs me about it after the text and picture.)

"COMING SOON

I passed this on to you so that we all can see our future! COMING SOON!
















No apology for sending this ! ! ! After hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Spanish - enough is enough. Nowhere did they sing it in Italian, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German or any other language because of immigration. It was written by Francis Scott Key and should be sung word for word the way it was written The news broadcasts even gave the translation -- not even close. NOT sorry if this offends anyone because this is MY COUNTRY - IF I T IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP -- please pass this along.
I am not against immigration -- just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

PART OF THE PROBLEM
Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone -- YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!
It is Time for America to Speak up

If you agree -- pass this along, if you don't agree -- delete it!


Yep, I passed it on!"


Do I believe that our national language should be English? Yes, I do. Am I offended by Hispanics singing our National Anthem in Spanish? Not really. Would I prefer, however, that they learn English and sing the National Anthem in it since they are part of our country? Well, yes. But I'm not getting hot under the collar about the issue -- there are a lot worse situations in the country to get up in arms over.

What really bothers me is the statement at the end about those who don't forward it being part of the problem. Who does the author think he or she is, to pass that kind of judgment about the character of people like me who may have very valid reasons for not sending it out to everyone in their address book?

I have Hispanic employees, and they are highly valued. They are legal, according to the documentation we required when hiring them. They play Hispanic music and listen to Hispanic talk on the shop radio. We buy items for our shop cafeteria that they like, so they can purchase them from us via draws from their paychecks. They speak Spanish to each other. This doesn't bother me at all. They are good workers, and do work that us all-too-often spoiled Americans wouldn't do. They do need to know enough English to successfully communicate with my son, Jeff; nephew, Nick; and our salesperson, David, all of whom are definitely English-speakers (although David and his wife were missionaries for a while in Ecuador so he knows Spanish).

I don't think that the author of this piece was expecting someone to blog about what he or she said. (Not that the aforementioned author will ever see this blog entry, but stranger things have happened.) No, I did not delete it. But I did not pass it on, either. I hope that wouldn't confuse the author. Hee hee!

The biggest irony to me is the computer-generated shot of the Statue of Liberty. Did the person who put this together forget what is engraved on that statue? "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free . . ."

At least, the text of the forwarded e-mail above does say that it's okay to allow immigration, as long as the law is followed, and I'm not objecting to those couple of lines.

Granted, the massive influx of Hispanic illegal aliens is a situation that needs an effective solution, with the strain being put on governmental services, but I think this kind of nasty forward (especially at the end) is counter-productive to a positive approach in finding answers to these difficult issues.

ATONEMENTI watched the





































ATONEMENT


I watched the movie "Atonement" yesterday afternoon. I don't know what I had expected but this movie had twists and turns that I would never have guessed. The plot centered around a 13-year-old girl whose actions relating to her older sister and the housekeeper's son affected their lives drastically in years to come. Part of this involved a note containing a word that I didn't hear or know about until after I was married. (Be advised, it is rated R.)

The young girl is played by one actress and then by another when she grew older, both of whom were unknown to me. Keira Knightley played her older sister and James McAvoy played the housekeeper's son. Vanessa Redgrave was the elderly younger sister at the very end.

I was pretty well riveted to my chair as I watched it. Unfortunately, there was no closed captioning and the British accents were sometimes difficult to decipher but I turned the sound way up and thus got the general idea of what was going on. (It's good that I live in a house in the country!) ;-)

I do think that "Atonement" is very worth seeing by adults. It contains a lot of food for thought.

*****

Last night, I read through the new Time Magazine that I received yesterday and under the category of "Arts" I found an article entitled "The Next J.K. Rowling?" It is about a Mormon housewife in her 30's, Stephenie Meyer, who has written several books involving a vampire and a young woman, with the first being the result of a vivid dream she had one night. She apparently has managed to maintain sensual drama while still keeping the plot clean, in accordance with her beliefs.

This fascinates me, as I wouldn't have expected Mormonism and vampires to have anything in common. And I wouldn't have thought that inspiration from God, if that's what Mormons might claim this is, would have anything to do with a fearful mythical creature. Oh wait -- Mormons believe in the Book of Mormon, just as one example of believing in mythical beings. ;-)

I wonder how Sister (as Mormon women are called) Meyer's church authorities regard her writings. Most likely, since she is successful -- and if she pays her full 10% tithe -- the powers that be will be most happy to give her their blessing.

Pardon my cynicism here, but my mind is slightly boggled by this situation. Still, as a formerly-frustrated author, I have to admire Stephenie Meyer and she has my blessing. Her first book, "Twilight," is being made into a movie and, although I've never been one for vampire movies, I may have to rent it when it comes out on DVD.

*****

It's about nap time here, providing the noise level at my neighbor's house across the road stays reasonable. They keep their dogs out in their fenced pasture much of the day now that it's nice -- it's beautiful and balmy today -- and that doesn't bother me except when they are let out at 6:30 in the morning and they bark for a while then, or during my nap. When I go across the road to the mailbox and they're out, they rush the fence like they would like to have me for lunch. My neighbor, Bobi, their owner along with her husband Toma, says they are harmless but make great bark alarms. That they do.

I believe I was scared by a large dog when I was quite small, so I do have some discomfort around big, barking dogs. I'm grateful for the fence in between us.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

BIRTHDAY CALCULATORWould you like to know how many seconds

BIRTHDAY CALCULATOR

Would you like to know how many seconds old you are? And all sorts of other interesting data? If so, go here. My birthday information follows:

Your date of conception was on or about 30 July 1947 which was a Wednesday.

You were born on a Wednesday
under the astrological sign Taurus.
Your Life path number is 11.

Your fortune cookie reads:
May life throw you a pleasant curve.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 6.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 9.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2432662.5.
The golden number for 1948 is 11.
The epact number for 1948 is 19.
The year 1948 was a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/10/1948 and ending 1/28/1949.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rat.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Beaver; your plant is Wild Clover.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Paony, the second month of the season of Shomu (Harvest).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 12 Nisan 5708.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 13 Nisan 5708.

The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.16.14.6.18 which is
12 baktun 16 katun 14 tun 6 uinal 18 kin

The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Wednsday, 11 Jumadiyu'th-Thani 1367 (1367-6-11).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 28 March 1948.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 2 May 1948.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 11 February 1948.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 16 May 1948.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 23 May 1948.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Monday, 4 October 1948.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Saturday, 24 April 1948.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 10 February 1948.

As of 4/26/2008 6:38:36 PM EDT
You are 60 years old.
You are 720 months old.
You are 3,131 weeks old.
You are 21,920 days old.
You are 526,098 hours old.
You are 31,565,918 minutes old.
You are 1,893,955,116 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:
Robert Smith (1959) Andie Macdowell (1958) Tony Danza (1951)
Iggy Pop (1947) Charles Grodin (1935) Elaine May (1932)
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom (1926) Anthony Quinn (1915) John Muir (1838)
Charlotte Bronte (1816) Catherine the Great (1729) Jan van Riebeeck (1619)

Top songs of 1948
Buttons and Bows by Dinah Shore Manana by Peggy Lee
Twelfth Street Rag by Pee Wee Hunt Nature Boy by Nat King Cole
You Can't Be True, Dear by Ken Griffin Woody Woodpecker by Kay Kyser
You Call Everybody Darlin' by Al Trace I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover by Art Mooney
A Tree In the Meadow by Margaret Whiting Love Somebody by Doris Day with Buddy Clark

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 8.57925636007828 years old. (You old hound dog, you!)

Your lucky day is Friday.
Your lucky number is 6.
Your ruling planet(s) is Venus.
Your lucky dates are 6th, 15th, 24th.
Your opposition sign is Scorpio.
Your opposition number(s) is 9 & 11.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 360 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 61 candles.

Those 61 candles produce 61 BTUs,
or 15,372 calories of heat (that's only 15.3720 food Calories!) .
You can boil 6.97 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1948 there were approximately 2.8 million births in the US.
In 1948 the US population was approximately 131,669,275 people, 44.2 persons per square mile.
In 1948 in the US there were approximately 1,595,879 marriages (12.1%) and 264,000 divorces (2%)
In 1948 in the US there were approximately 1,417,000 deaths (10.8 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

In 1948 the population of Australia was approximately 7,792,465.
In 1948 there were approximately 177,976 births in Australia.
In 1948 in Australia there were approximately 74,902 marriages and 7,184 divorces.
In 1948 in Australia there were approximately 76,839 deaths.


Your birthstone is Diamond

The Mystical properties of Diamond

Diamonds are said to increase personal clarity to help one see things clearly as well as be straight-forward and honest. Supposedly, the higher quality the diamond, the better it is supports these qualities.

Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Opal, Quartz, White Sapphire


Your birth tree is

Walnut Tree, the Passion

Unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egoistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromises.


There are 243 days till Christmas 2008!
There are 256 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was waxing gibbous.


I don't care much for horoscopes or my supposed personality traits, but I am happy about what my Chinese fortune cookie says. :-)

TRYING TO AVOID GLOOM AND



































TRYING TO AVOID GLOOM AND DOOM


It seems that everywhere I turn, I am seeing or hearing stories and predictions of gloom and doom. Yesterday's newspaper pronounced that we are definitely going to experience a 9.0 earthquake off the Oregon coast and accompanying tidal wave. The blurbs running across the bottom of the screen on CNN uniformly tell of tremendous losses by almost every corporation that they mention. It's gotten so that I almost don't want to even look at the newspaper or watch CNN, if that is a way to avoid these gloomy pieces of news.

I learned from my bookkeeper and nephew, Nick, yesterday that the cost of gas and propane is hitting us hard at my business. We aren't without resources at the present time, particularly my personal ones, so I am confident we will get through this rough patch. We also have our relatively-new salesman, David, who is taking his work very seriously and who Nick feels is a great asset to the business. So I have faith that the economic woes I hear people bemoaning may be gotten through, if we take one step at a time and are careful with our money.

There's not much I can do in regards to the coastal earthquake and tsunami prediction, except pray that it doesn't happen for a long time, if at all. And hope I'm not out at the coast when one hits.

Speaking of my coastal trips, I certainly enjoyed my last one and I often make reservations for the next trip (this one to be in October) after I get back from the most recent one, but I am holding off somewhat due to gas prices. Perhaps I should think positive on this, too, and make reservations anyway as they can most likely be canceled if it doesn't look like a good time to make the trip as that time in October gets near. At the moment, I'm not sure where I would like to stay. Maybe planning that out and making reservations would be a good positive pastime at some point this weekend. (I'm leaning toward "The Landing" in Newport, which is a condo with rental rooms where I have stayed before, or else "Overleaf Lodge" in Yachats, another nice place I've stayed in the past.)

I do plan to stock up a bit more on canned food at Costco next week, just as a precaution. It won't hurt to have extra soups and tuna on hand; besides, the Postal Service canned food drive is coming up May 10th and I want to have fresh canned food to donate.

I also pray quite a bit, for our country and the world, when I think about the predictions of doom that I am hearing. I hope other people are, too. I believe there is a lot of power in prayer, especially when a good many folks are doing so.

*****

Amazon was faster that I expected yesterday, in delivering the books and the car vac I had ordered with my gift certificate from J.D. and Kris. I should have no excuse for not having a clean car now. LOL!

*****

The first Ziggy above is funny, but at the same time it kind of boggles the mind. LOL! Thanks again, Lynne, for sending those along!

Friday, April 25, 2008




































































GOODIES ARE ARRIVING!


I just received my new car vac (Dustbuster) and the two books I ordered from Amazon.com using the gift certificate son J.D. and DIL Kris gave me for my birthday (the first of a number of items I was able to order) -- "A Strange Fit of Passion" by Anita Shreve and "The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation" (a book of short stories) by Elizabeth Berg. I am delighted that they came so quickly! I will spend part of the afternoon figuring out how to operate the car vac. I suspect I may need a battery or batteries for it.

In addition, in the mail today I received something that isn't a birthday gift, but is necessary and which I will enjoy using: stamps. What's special about these is that I ordered 2 sheets of twelve "Year of the Rat" stamps, as I was born in the Chinese Year of the Rat, plus a roll of 100 42-cent stamps for when the price increase comes through next month (although I don't know the exact date when that's going to happen). The Year of the Rat stamps are -- amazingly -- quite cute and appeal to me despite the fact that I don't generally like rats. ;-)

In terms of other gifts I have received, I spent some time yesterday picking out pictures and cutting them to size for the picture coasters that Cindy gave me. It worked out perfectly to have the 4 coasters, one for each of the 4 grandchildren. Here is how they turned out:

The picture coasters

And Socks had been wanting all too much to help me do that, so I distracted her while I cut out the pictures with a sample picture from the coaster, and I was at least able to get the pics in the coasters before she decided to take over, as shown below:

Socks helping me with the picture coasters

She became bitey (spell check says that's not a word, but I think it is) when I tried to get her away from the coasters so I could put them in the holder, and she kept biting me when she could get to my hands the rest of the day. Today, she is being good, though.

*****

My progress in the book "Understanding Your Grief" and the accompanying journal is going well. I found a question that I didn't have the answer for last night and I e-mailed my brother Frank about it. He wrote back this morning, which I very much appreciated. I am not going to detail it as I don't want to get too morbid on a public blog but I will just say that my visit with my grief counselor (which will have been my last appointment) the other day went well and she was going to send a positive note to my doctor. She felt I am handling my emotions in a very good way. She was happy to see the progress I have made in the book and journal. It is very therapeutic to write my thoughts and feelings -- it is healing. One thing the book and journal say is that we never get over the death of a loved one. Each person is special and our relationship with that person unique, so there is no "getting over it" or total resolution of our grief. We can find ways to honor that grief and celebrate the life of the person who has passed away.

*****

I love the Maxine above. We all need hugs. I notice that as a person living alone, I sometimes feel starved for hugs. It's good I have my cats to provide their warmth in sitting on my lap or when I pick one (usually Socks) up to cuddle, although she will squirm quite quickly to get away.

The signature tag is the last one I sent out to the tags list, and I also made one and sent it to neighbor Bobi, who is an artist and very gifted when it comes to crafts. She loved it, she said.

*****

As you can tell, I am over my rant of yesterday. But I still feel strongly about what I said. I hope I didn't scare people away with my comments about the forwards I dislike!

*****

I wonder if Socks will let me sleep now. If not, I will have to struggle through another afternoon, half awake. I suppose I could keep her here in the office if she became too disruptive, but I hate to do that. So I may be back later when I am hopefully more alert, although I'm not sure what more I would have to say, other than to perhaps gripe about the alarm that keeps going off at the chicken houses next door. (As J.D. said a number of years ago when I mentioned that problem -- maybe the chickens are making a run for it!) ;-)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

PROVE YOU LOVE JESUS?The following came through on one of my

PROVE YOU LOVE JESUS?

The following came through on one of my lists today:

"Knock, Knock I knocked at heaven's door this morning. God asked me...'My child, what can I do for you?' And I said, 'Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message.' God smiled and answered...'Request granted'. If you believe, send this to seven people and the one who sent it to you. By doing this, you have succeeded in praying for eight people today. 'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'


THIS IS PRETTY NEAT,
93 % won't forward this
























Place your mouse on the E below and drag to the U.

Even though you can't see Him, GOD is there for yo U [The portion between the E and the U was in white type, so it could only be seen when highlighted.]

When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!
If you are one of the 7% who will stand up for Him, forward
this.


93% of people won't forward this."

Doesn't putting it on my blog show that I'm standing up for Him?

I didn't say anything on the list when it came through, but I was gritting my teeth as I read it. Since I am the co-owner of the list, I felt that silence was probably the best approach. I noticed that no one on the list responded by sending it back to the attention of the person who had posted it.

It seems I get a forward like this once every few days or so. A lot of them come from my LDS friend, Fran, in Utah, who I have asked to please not send them. She has ignored that. I always delete them.

Why? Am I ashamed of Jesus?

I can tell you unequivocally, I am not! However, God gave me my brain and I use it. I can sense that people who forward things like this blindly aren't thinking very well. How did the author of this forward come up with these percentages? What gives this person the right and the power to pronounce judgment upon other people?

I have seen items forwarded that say that they must be passed on to X-number of people in X-number of minutes in order for a big blessing of some nature to come through for the person forwarding it. I wonder if the people who continually send them out and/or forward them on realize after a while that they aren't receiving these great rewards. Maybe they experience some small coincidental good event and attribute it to having forwarded on that particular e-mail.

Just for the record, I can tell you that if you send me a forward that fits any of these descriptions, I will not forward it on. I will not feed into what I feel are the fantasies of someone who authored these e-mails and who is perhaps a megalomaniac or at the very least, extremely self-righteous, by sending on a forward that isn't verifiable and may key into the receiver's fears or other emotions rather than engaging their brain.

I wrote the above last night; this morning, I am feeling more sympathetic towards the friends of mine who have forwarded these things. And perhaps a bit self-righteous, in thinking, "Of course, I love Jesus!" I do object to people telling me how and when I have to prove it.

As it would happen, I received an e-mail forward this morning that I have received before (this is the case so many times with these sends -- they have been around and around the Internet). This one was a sweet story about an elderly man and his visits to his wife, who had Alzheimer's, in a nursing home. It was very touching, except for the preaching at the end. The person who sent it used to be on a list with me and when I get these items from her, I write to ask her how she's doing. I get no answer. I wish she would realize I'd rather correspond with her than receive the forwards.

There -- I think I've pretty much vented my feelings on this subject. I welcome your thoughts.

*****

Yesterday I got a few pictures to post on my Flickr site. It seems that my spring deer are visiting already. The first picture was taken through my kitchen window, and I think she is a little doe. ("Doe, a deer, a female deer . . . " if you want to sing along with me.) ;-) The second shot is of another another deer in my back yard. He has a rather mangy coat, as you will be able to see better if you click on the shot and go to my Flickr site.

Deer seen through my kitchen window

Mangy deer in my back yard

Also, my housekeeper Norma noticed that a crocheted throw my sister Kathy made for me a number of years ago had fallen behind the couch, so she picked it up, folded it, and put it on the back of the couch. Silver has claimed it as his own.

Silver enjoys a new kind of comfy

*****

I am pretty worried about the economy. Maybe I shouldn't watch CNN. I saw blurbs running across the bottom of the screen saying that the economy is in the worst shape since the Great Depression. That is certainly not good news. All we can do is keep chugging away, doing our best in whatever our life's endeavors are.

For myself, I try to have faith in Jesus.

I LOVE ENDLESS








































I LOVE ENDLESS BIRTHDAYS!


I hope you aren't getting too tired of me talking about my birthday, but it's not every day that #60 rolls around. Plus I am continually reminded of it (which is fine by me, as I'm not a person who is too uptight about getting older), with wishes from online friends and from family, off and on the computer. One of the nicest events today was receiving a pretty card from my 92-year-old Uncle Lincoln, who I saw in January. He also signed it for my cousin Kent, who has always been special to me. Uncle Linc's eyes aren't good any more but he wrote me a sweet note in the card, which I very much appreciated.

I will be having more celebration coming up soon as my friend Linda e-mailed to say she will be in town from Redmond, Oregon, in the next few days.

Also, I will be receiving the items I ordered last night from Amazon with J.D. and Kris's gift certificate, although at different times because of some availability issues as well as the fact that some are coming from other companies and thus will be shipped separately. I bought a bath rug (my housekeeper Norma -- bless her heart -- washed the coral ones I had with a brown bath rug from the business, and this time the brown bled into the coral; my new one is sage green and from India), 3 large bath towels as I need to replace a few more that are rough and uncomfortable to use, a car vac that will be very handy in a number of venues both in the car and out, a jumbo bag of litter box liners (had to get something for the cats), 2 books (one by Elizabeth Berg and the other by Anita Shreve), and flannel pajamas -- maroon striped. As you can see, the prices were good and the amount of the gift certificate generous. I did go over a bit due to the shipping but not by a whole lot, and that's not a problem.

I am still feeling quite tired today but when I tried to sleep, Socks was doing all sorts of crazy things in my bedroom and after a while, I just gave up on that. I suppose that I could drink another can of diet Dr. Pepper and hope that will give me some energy. It is almost snack time, anyway.

*****

I love the Maxine this time. So true, so very true! LOL!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

DREAM WHEN YOU'RE FEELING BLUEI started the


















DREAM WHEN YOU'RE FEELING BLUE


I started the book, "Dream While You're Feeling Blue," by Elizabeth Berg, a few months ago. I would read it while waiting in doctors' and dentist's offices and I wasn't making very good headway. The other day, I decided to get into it and finish it -- somehow I found myself in the mood to read again. After I had read a ways, I was engrossed enough that I couldn't put it down.

The book is set in Chicago during World War II, and features a quite large family, with 6 children, particularly the daughter Kitty but also her younger sisters Louise and Tish. They are all out of high school except Tish. The book details their loves, their experiences in the war effort, how patriotic people were then, and makes an excellent point about how we were fighting that evil madman, Hitler.

Some elements were quite graphic, mainly about what it was like to fight back then. I could foresee some of the events in the book; however, the ending surprised me quite a bit -- I didn't see it coming at all.

Elizabeth Berg did an excellent job of capturing the way life was back in the early 1940's. I will definitely be reading other books she has authored and continues to write.

*****

On the subject of books, I received a sizable Amazon.com gift certificate from J.D. and Kris today (the gift that they had both mentioned yesterday). I am going to enjoy spending it -- I love Amazon! Stay tuned for that!

As for other birthday gifts, I received two in the mail today. One was from my online friend Cindy in North Carolina, and she had included a number of neat items. (I had thought we were going to cut down on gifts to each other but I know how hard it is to resist doing that when we find cute cat and scrapbooking items we know the other would enjoy.) The other package was from my youngest son Tony and family (DIL Kamie and grandsons Michael and Alex). It is a beautiful cat figurine and contains a lovely necklace with a cat pendant that's carved out of stone. Here are pictures of some of the items -- first an assortment including some from Cindy and the gifts from Tony's family, then a close-up of the cat figurine from Tony and Kamie and kids:

People must know I like cats

Cat figurine gift

I have received so many good wishes and I am truly thankful for my online and offline friends and family. One of the enjoyable cyber-cards I got yesterday was from my friend Karen R, who has quite an earthy sense of humor. The card included a song about one of the unfortunate physical effects of aging for a woman -- it totally cracked me up!

I think I may be in my second childhood and -- like a little kid -- be experiencing too much excitement, as I am very tired and need to nap. ;-)

Monday, April 21, 2008

A PRETTY REMARKABLE DAY





































A PRETTY REMARKABLE DAY


This is a day that feels somewhat like any other, except for its being too cold for the third week in April. It is remarkable, however, due to all the good wishes I have been getting because today I turn 60! That is so hard to believe as it seems like just yesterday I was 50, then 55.

Part of what has reminded me has been all the good wishes I have received on my Genchat and Friends and Family Graphics lists, as well as via private e-mail and snail mail cards sent by friends.

I have heard from family members, with Jeff, Steph, Noah and Emily saying they donated to American Idol Gives Back in remembrance of my birthday, which I am very pleased about because I think it is such a good cause and I didn't give to it this year. (Any cause that demonstrates that Simon Cowell has a heart is very worthwhile!) J.D. wrote and said that the "birthday frog" (an invention of my late husband Steve's) was moving slowly and would probably be here by Friday.

I unwrapped the gifts I had here -- the purse from my friend, Jackie, and the gifts from my sister Kathy, and took photos of the purse and Kathy's present of Mooah cats (i.e., kissing due to magnets on their noses). She sent Japanese cherry blossom lotion but I can't get the dispenser to work, although I'll keep working on that. I want to keep it in the kitchen and use it after I dry my hands there. Here are pictures of the purse and the Mooah cats.

Snazzy Laurel Burch handbag

Mooah kitties from my sister

I decided to run in to town after lunch to buy a slice of chocolate cake at Cutsforth's Thriftway, and they only had chocolate with mint frosting, but that was okay. I got that and a sandwich, so I can be lazy for dinner. I came home and ate the cake with milk (I didn't think the mint would go too well with decaf). Here is the slice before I ate it.

A birthday slice

I did not dunk the cake in milk! Ewww! Steve used to do that and I think J.D. does. I have my own way of obsessing over cake, especially this piece -- eat several bites, take a swig of milk, then repeat. LOL!

Most of the family's celebrating for my birthday will be combined with a Mother's Day dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Molalla, Oregon on May 9th. I'm looking forward to that!

Back to today, though -- regarding the snail mail cards, inside one I got a note from a friend who has had knee surgery (poor lady!) and she brought me up to date on people we knew when we went to the same Mormon ward in town. (She is still Mormon but has retained a lot of her Pentecostal upbringing, despite now living in Utah.) I also received a card from my very good friend in New Jersey, Mary Jane, which she had made on her computer, I believe, and done a very nice job on. (I am jealous!) Then there was a card from my friend from church, Sheila -- very cute, saying "Born to Shop" and with little fabric "purses" hanging from a ribbon. Inside, she said that her husband Ken had wanted to pick out just the perfect stamps for the envelope (he is an avid stamp collector) and what he told her was right -- I did like the stamps very much. (One had a little bear on it, but I had seen none of them before.)

It seems that at my age, I am noticing details that I hadn't in the past, and I am more grateful for the small things, and in fact all things, that I am given. (BTW, thinking of that, another beautiful card I received comes to mind -- from Dawn, who often comments here; I received her card last week.)

Thank you to everyone who has offered your good wishes for this notable birthday. I appreciate them tremendously!

A later note: I just received an e-mail from Tony and he said a package is on the way. So I have heard from all my sons today already -- this is such a pleasure!

*****

I have had a minor dilemma regarding my car. It turned over to 5,000 miles while I was on vacation at the coast. I had had the oil changed and a lube job at 3,000 miles, and I was told I could wait until 8,000 miles for the next one. I generally have my tires rotated at 5,000 miles but I didn't know if that had been done at the 3,000 mile service or not. I wrote an e-mail to the local Ford dealership regarding this, and Larry, the service manager in the Fast Lube department called this morning to let me know that they hadn't rotated the tires and I believe he said they would wait to do that until the 8,000 mile service. I'm about 99% positive that's what he said. I don't know, though, if that will be waiting too long to have the tires rotated the first time. Something nags at me, wanting me to go to the Les Schwab dealership in town and have it done now, at 5,000 miles, like it's supposed to be! LOL! Really, though, I think those extra 3,000 miles won't hurt the brand new tires. D'ya think?

*****

The Ziggy all wrapped up in dental floss above is dedicated to my dental hygienist DIL, Stephanie. Enjoy, Steph! ;-)

Sunday, April 20, 2008

THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK








































THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB


My Australian friend Lynne mentioned some time ago that she had seen the movie "The Jane Austen Book Club" with her daughter, and that they had enjoyed it a lot. Consequently, I put it in my Blockbuster Online queue and it came this last week. I watched the movie last night.

I found it enjoyable but a bit over my head as I haven't read the Jane Austen books that were discussed; I had just seen a number of the movies made from them. However, life events were taking place with the members of the book club that were very interesting, so despite my ignorance of some of the book plots and the discussions taking place from time to time in the movie about them, watching the film was a nice distraction for a couple of hours.

The only major actors that I recognized in the movie were Jimmy Smits and Lynn Redgrave, but despite that, the acting was fine. I recommend it to book lovers, but especially fans of Jane Austen.

*****

I have two photos of Socks to post today. She was in one of her frequent playful moods yesterday and I caught these shots of her chewing on the pretty silver ribbon that adorns one of the birthday gifts my sister Kathy sent me and also playing with the chair to the dining room table, upside down.

Socks loves the silver ribbon

Socks attacking a chair

Socks and I seem to be entering a phase where she will play with me but never with her claws extended, and I reward her with hugs and cuddles, which she tends to shake off at the time but she seems to keep getting more content and gentler. I would say the positive approach with her is working well.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

ROUND ROBIN PHOTO CHALLENGE -- Variety ShowThis













ROUND ROBIN PHOTO CHALLENGE -- Variety Show


This was a very fun Round Robin Photo Challenge for me, and easier than some, because I had a number of items that I could have used. I have a variety of counted cross-stitched items but a lot of them are put away in a trunk and I didn't know quite how I would display and photograph them. I have a few seashells from the Oregon coast and had intended to buy more while out there earlier this week but I didn't think of it while there, or go to the kinds of gift shops that carried them. My biggest collection of items consists of dolls I bought a number of years ago. They are in my spare room and not easy to access, but I was able to get several pictures of some of the dolls. I call them Emily's (my sole granddaughter's) inheritance. ;-) (But only if she wants them.)

The story of my doll collection is that I was hooked for a while on the Home Shopping Network about 10 years ago and they had a lot of dolls for sale. I had just lost my husband a couple of years before to leukemia and for some reason the pretty little doll faces and clothes appealed to me tremendously. I was told by someone who is qualified to know that I was acting out of grief. Now when I look at them, I kind of wonder why I bought them. I guess I have moved on. Anyway, here are pictures of the dolls. (You may want to click on them to see them bigger at my Flickr site.)

Doll collection 1

Doll collection 3

Doll collection 2

The one poor doll in the background of the last shot seems to be losing her hair.

At the time I bought the dolls, I also thought they might be valuable someday, and certainly that was a selling point on the HSN shows where they were sold. I don't even know if dolls are sold on that channel any more because I am unable to get it. I have kept the boxes the dolls came in, up in the loft in my garage, but I imagine they are homes for mice now. (I had heard that the dolls that retained the most value were those kept in mint condition, in the boxes they came in, but I always wanted to look at the dolls, thinking they were pretty, rather then leave them boxed.)

My attraction to the dolls may go back to my childhood, too, as I was a child who looked at the dolls I was given and admired their lovely features rather than played with them. My grandparents (Mom's parents) gave me a set of beautiful dolls of foreign lands that I kept up on a shelf in my bedroom. While I was outside playing, my sister, Jo, who is 4 years younger than me and preferred to play with dolls, got into all of my dolls, especially the foreign ones, and messed them up. My complaints to my mother fell on deaf ears. (Don't get me wrong; I love my sister dearly, and now that we are a lot older, I would gladly give her any of the dolls she wanted!) Maybe in buying these dolls as an adult, I was making up for that time in my childhood where I was unable to enjoy my pretty dolls in the way I preferred -- by looking at them and admiring them. But this amateur psychoanalysis is all speculation . . . although it does let you get to know me better. ;-)

As for the way this collection fits the theme, the variety of dolls here was fun. There is a Scottish lass, a little school girl with round glasses, plus there are many with varying old-fashioned styles of dresses and hats or head decorations. They all came with their own stands and so are arranged in no particular order on what was once a built-in train table for my husband's train set when he was growing up. Once when my mother was here and stayed in the room, she took one look at the doll set and her single word was, "Pretty!" And that's what they are -- a source of feminine beauty that somehow has brought me joy and satisfaction, and I think that's what I must have ultimately wanted from them.

To find links to the other participants in the Round Robin Photo Challenge and see what these ingenious bloggers have come up with, head on over to the site here.

Friday, April 18, 2008

A FLIRT AND TAILGATERS AND




































A FLIRT AND TAILGATERS AND MORE


A couple more thoughts regarding things that happened at the coast, and in this case, also on the way there and on the way back, plus miscellaneous thoughts after these:

Monday morning I filled up with gas at the Safeway (a grocery store) pumps next to the motel, and then I headed for Fred Meyer (a superstore) in nearby Warrenton. As I was going in to Fred's, this nice-looking grey-haired man was walking in near me as well and he said something like "What are the people at Fred Meyer going to think if they know you were just at Safeway?" I didn't quite know what to answer, as I had all sorts of thoughts going through my mind. I wondered if he had also been at Safeway's gas pumps and saw me there? Or was he just making a general joke and didn't actually know I had just been at Safeway? In particular, I didn't know if he was flirting and, if so, I was so out of practice at that (it's been years, folks) that all I could do was chuckle briefly, and we went our separate ways when I got into the store. Later I saw him in the store when he didn't notice me and he looked angry, so maybe it's just as well that I didn't flirt back. I learned a long time ago that just because someone is good looking doesn't mean that they are going to treat a woman well. I am quite wary. But it was still fun to have had a man flirt with me. :-)

Later on that day, I had a different incident in that I went into a store in Seaside and there was another older gentleman in there, but this time not a flirt. He noticed the brace on my wrist and wondered about it. He said his wife had had surgery on both of her wrists for carpal tunnel and it really helped. So we talked just generally about aches and pains. He told me I wasn't old enough to have those yet and I said I was going to be 60 next week. He said he was going to be 80. I'm afraid I have to give him the most points when it comes to looking younger than his age. I would have put him at about 70.

*****

My gripe about the drives coming and going to Astoria as well as the one down to Tillamook and back has to do with people tailgating. On the way, I drove Highway 30, along the Columbia River, and it has a few passing lanes, which was good because I was going 60 in a 55 and still had people on my tail. That was pretty much the pattern taking Highway 101 south from Astoria to Tillamook and back on Tuesday. I took Highway 26 home Wednesday morning, and it runs inland from south of Seaside. Once again, I had people riding my bumper despite my going about 60 MPH again. They acted like I was a slow moving vehicle and should pull over to let them go by. I saw one woman in my rearview mirror raise her arms in disgust. Fortunately, a passing lane came up shortly after that and she was soon long gone. I just had to wonder where a policeman was when I would have been gratified to see him. LOL!

It was a relief to get back on the freeways as I approached Portland and be able to drive in the slow-moving lane and let those who wanted to go faster drive in the other two, speedier lanes.

*****

I have been concerned about Stevie, as she has her moments where she seems to find it a bit difficult to walk. Granted, she is old -- almost 13 -- and she is overweight. When I got home, I was worried because I couldn't find her for a couple of hours. Finally, I checked under the office bed and felt her fur and she mewed slightly. She came out not long after that.

Right now she is outside the office door "talking" to me. She is meowing and I am talking back to her, so she meows some more. She is a very sweet kitty.

*****

I came home to find some nice gifts waiting for me, and another one came yesterday. Here is a shot of some of them: a purple and gold cat-themed purse from my friend Jackie and a couple of packages and a card from my sister Kathy, which I will open on Monday, which is my birthday.

Gifts waiting for me

I heard from daughter-in-law Kris, asking me for a wish list, and I gave her some ideas but I'm concerned that they might have been too extravagant. I will certainly be happy with anything she and the other kids (if they go in with her) come up with. It is so nice to be remembered by my sweet family members.

*****

Socks discovered my bed yesterday, after all this time here. She has slept mostly on hard surfaces up until now, where the other cats pick the cushy spots. I took a couple of pictures of her on the bed. The first is of her showing her contentedness and the second is of her dealing with the camera flash. ;-)

Socks discovers the bed

Socks deals with the camera flash

*****

I am covering a lot of topics today as for once, Blogger seems to be behaving itself.

I received an e-mail from my Aunt Joan yesterday and she had received my post card from the coast. She told me that she had gone to the Deseret Industries (the Mormon version of Goodwill) and found some items that had been Grandma's and Mom's. She was able to buy several of them. Among these was a pair of embroidered rose plaques that I'm sure were the ones I had done for Grandma. I'm so glad Joanie got them! I am going to write to her today and let her know how glad I am about that.

*****

I can't end today's post without commenting on the situation with the FLDS people in Texas. It all just seems like such a circus to me. I was unable to keep from watching some of the CNN coverage at the coast. One FLDS mother by the name of Kathleen who was interviewed just seemed so robotic -- to me, she was a prime example of what a cult member acts like. I feel for the mothers missing their children, though, and I tend to agree that if there are women under 16 who have had babies or are pregnant (and there are 5 of those, the CNN coverage said last night), that their situation should be dealt with separately from those who haven't experienced underage marriage. It certainly is a strange way of life, in my mind, as the children call all of the wives in a family "Mother," according to what was reported last night. It is good to have the common sense input of sect escapee Carolyn Jessup in response to the interviews with the FLDS ladies, as well.

I have hinted before that I have polygamist ancestors. My great-grandfather George married my great-grandmother Josephine and later on her sister Susan, and a number of years after that a woman named Etta. All had large families. My grandmother Josie was a product of the first marriage. When I was a Mormon, I once met a man at a church function who said he was from the second marriage. I'm not clear on which ancestor that was; it may have been a different one than this one because he had my maiden name, which he wouldn't have had if he had been a product of the union I describe here. I did have other polygamous ancestors. I was quite embarrassed by the subject and I definitely didn't react with warm, fuzzy feelings. In a way, it's good that the state didn't try to take my great-grandmother's children from her, although the family did move to Mexico at the time when the Federal government was jailing many of the polygamist husbands. I am probably here because my ancestors managed to avoid prosecution for this crime. I can't imagine that way of life and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to live it.

One polygamous man from British Columbia said yesterday that polygamy was better than adultery. I'm not so sure about that. I think that polygamy puts women in an on-going victim setting. Adultery is harmful, hurtful, and painful, but it doesn't have to be a permanent condition and there are many who learn hard lessons that the forbidden fruit isn't more tasty and resolve afterwards never to repeat the experience.

I'm proud of Carolyn Jessup and her escape from the FLDS with her 8 children. Sometimes I think Larry King has a hard time interviewing such women because of his loyalty to his Mormon wife, but I am glad that he has allowed other opinions and his main response of disagreement that I have noticed is to wrinkle his forehead and frown.

It could be anyone's guess as to what the outcome of the Texas hearings is going to be. One thing is for sure: These people are not being led by a Prophet of God. Varying types of abuse are taking place and I pray that the children will somehow be able to learn not to repeat what they have learned by living with the sect thus far.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

ON THE MIGHTY COLUMBIA





































ON THE MIGHTY COLUMBIA


Yesterday I posted just kind of a teaser entry about my trip to Astoria and my several days there on vacation. I know that travelogues can be boring so I will try to keep from making this too long.

The weather out there was iffy -- partly sunny, sometimes rainy; amazingly, the weather people got it right. As I have been to the coast so very many times (it was almost my late husband Steve's and my second home during the last three years of his life), I mostly go out there for the atmosphere and the pleasure of being by the Columbia River and -- if the weather permits -- the beach in Seaside or Cannon Beach.

One of the first things that I noticed was the little trolley that I posted a close-up picture of yesterday. It went by on the tracks behind the motel quite often on Sunday, and here is a better picture of it. (To see it larger, just click on the picture and it will take you to my Flickr site, where it will come through with a lot better detail.)

Astoria Waterfront Trolley 1

I kept taking pictures of it because I kept thinking that the ones I had already taken weren't good enough! It says "Astoria Waterfront Trolley" on it and there is a little station across the tracks, but there is fencing between the motel and the stop, so it took me a while to figure out how I would get to the station to ride on the trolley if I wanted to. (I noticed after a couple of days that the fence ended a ways beyond the back of the motel, and so I could have easily accessed the station; by that time, it was raining a lot, though -- I will have to ride on it the next time I go out if the weather is good enough.)

I love the big ships that anchor on the river as well. Most of the time, there were two anchored out there, but I got this shot of three at anchor -- the most that I saw. One of them left not long after I got this picture.

Three ships anchored

I think I love the ships so much because I have a memory of my grandfather taking me to see some when I was young and visiting in Stockton, California with my family. I need to do some research on this because Stockton is quite far inland and so this may be a faulty memory. However, I did see big ships with my grandfather somewhere and at some point in my childhood. I thought they were fascinating.

On Monday, I went up to Long Beach, Washington, and shopped despite the rain. I found that the shop configuration there had changed since I was there a year ago, but I still was able to buy a number of "By Taylor" outfits -- my favorite. I got some white for summer! Then I went to Seaside, to the Factory Stores and downtown Seaside, where I bought some goodies for Jeff, Steph, Noah and Emily as thanks for watching out for my cats and bringing in my mail and newspaper while I was gone.

Each day, back at the motel, I read Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama. I actually finished it out there, and it's a pretty big book. I loved it! Senator Obama is THE MAN I want to be our next President.

Tuesday I drove south, and as I mentioned, I stopped at Mo's in Cannon Beach and I was disappointed to find them closed. (I will just have to eat some of my Campbell's Chunky clam chowder, which comes somewhat close to Mo's but to be truthful, I've never found clam chowder to rival theirs.) I did some more shopping in the Tillamook Cheese Factory gift shop after I had eaten my lunch there.

Other than at the Cheese Factory, my meals were deli sandwiches from Fred Meyer. That may have made up for the snacking I did on the pretzels and potato chips.

I keep getting prompts telling me that Blogger autosaving is failing, and when I click on the "save now" butten, what I have written is saved, but I don't want to press my luck. I will call this good enough for today.

I enjoyed my trip -- it was truly one of rest and relaxation. I would love to go out there again before long.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

HOME AGAINI am back from




































HOME AGAIN


I am back from my vacation but too sleepy to write much about it at the moment. I tried to nap this afternoon, and that was a hopeless attempt. This afternoon, I did rest in my recliner with Silver on my lap a couple of times, which has helped me somewhat.

Being out there helped my blood sugar, which was lower this morning than it had been for some time. I think it was helpful and healthful to relax, as I did eat food yesterday that I probably would have been better off not to. I had intended to go to Mo's in Cannon Beach for a clam chowder lunch but the restaurant was closed, so I got a Gobbler sandwich (turkey and Tillamook cheddar cheese grilled between sourdough bread slices) at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I thought as I ate it that I could almost feel my arteries hardening. But it was delicious and I enjoyed every bite. I bought Scottish shortbread cookies there as well, and ate one when I got back to the motel with milk. Other than that, I snacked on small pretzels and potato chips.

As for things that I saw on my trip, here is a teaser:

Astoria Waterfront Trolley -- a closer look

I need to go work now, so I will be posting more about my vacation tomorrow.