Wednesday, July 30, 2003

It was damned hot today. 107 said the bank flashing board as we drove through The Dalles in the air conditioned truck. On the up side, I bought red and pink sneakers and a Spanish movie, to, uh, help me with brushing up for more Spanish come, er, a month from now? Mom was so impressed with the sales and the cute shoes that she bought some like mine, same size and style, but a different color scheme. Cute, right? I'd have killed myself if we did that when I was in 7th grade. But, now it does just seem kind of cute. Maybe that's because I spend most my time at a college 3000 miles away.

Went with Mom to pick up some graydigger traps at the Byrnes' place. Wow. Hadn't been there in ages. I remember a slumber party there, and Rachel W. who wasn't wearing underwear, and a scavenger hunt that went awry and led our confused selves to a bee's nest in an old desk in the woods. Chicken poop on shoes when we searched for clues in the coop.

I released the graydigger across the ditch. I carried the trap across the water (no one was around so I just hiked up my skirt and waded across), and saw a salamander towards the opposite bank (odd, not many of those up there usually). Little scary, holding the trap door open as the little rodent got up the courage to race out and climb up a tree.

Mer got home from the fairgrounds, where she did some livestock judging & stuck prize stickers to art work. She was really overheated and I suggested a visit to the sand traps, with floaties. We did some, uh, extreme floating, as in, actual rapids that will splash you and give a little more of that adventurous "Oh God I'm going to die" feeling. The first run down, I was hoping there weren't any large rocks just beneath the surface (lots further upstream, so we didn't have very long runs). Before hitting the faster and higher crests, I had a "photographed moment." A moment of "was this a good idea?" But after that first run down, we realized all was well and went back down about 5 times. I almost got sucked down past the nice area into the weird cement thingy, that was no good. The water goes through narrow channels and I don't know what, not something I want to explore.

All packed for tomorrow... I'm to be dropped off around 1 pm at Grammy & Grandpa's, to be picked up by Aunt Donna & Uncle Dick. Spending the evening with them in Port Townsend, as I haven't ever seen their new house, then on a ferry the next day to visit Lindsey in Seattle! =)

Just saw a baby walrus chasing Jay Leno around his little stage, that was priceless.

Monday, July 28, 2003

This last weekend we went to the beach, it was lovely but rather chilly. Now that I'm back home, enduring a 100+ day, I rather miss the cool winds. The night before we left me and Mer went to the sand traps and decided we need to go back there sometime with floaties. It's the farthest you can go upstream on the ditch before you reach rocks and rapids too extreme to float over...

On the drive to the coast we went through Portland for Craft Warehouse and Joanne's Fabrics, and I bought supplies for my room decoration project (which I finished today, reacquainting myself with a needle and thread... you'll see it if you visit my room next semester). Then on to McMinneville, where I bought a couple of tops and "going out jeans." We visited Linfield, which Mer liked, and I liked... I'd almost choose to be there, except I do like that I'm visiting a totally new region by going to MHC, and taking advantage of 5 colleges' libraries.

Well, we shopped, ate lots of fast food (oh, and while waiting at KFC we discovered that Macaroni and Cheese is a vegetable), and of course visited the beach. Mer was enchanted with the seals that swim close to shore and sometimes sun themselves. I was just plain cold and windblown. Had some beautiful sunsets and comical Scrabble matches. On the way home we went to Newport for the Oregon Aquarium. Leafy seahorses look like something out of a fantasy story. The sea otters had put a big crack in their glass from throwing rocks against it. The octopus was pretty well hidden. The walk through fish and shark tanks were completely disorienting, I had weird dizzy feelings looking above and around and under me at sharks.

Then we started on the whirlwind, car sickeningly long trip home. We went through Monmouth to eat and to see Western Oregon University. Dried up little town with a lush little campus. OSU was nicer looking to my tastes, I guess if I can't get into a more highly rated English program, I'll end up there? Hard telling. There were actually guys walking, biking around, mostly of a nice friendly looking variety. Times I wish I wasn't at a women's college...

Well, as I said, I had my sewing project today. I'll just leave it at that for now... I barbecued the hamburgers, my first grill cooking experience. Woo-hoo, cancerous cooking.

Going to be "record breakingly hot" tomorrow? All for now.

Thursday, July 24, 2003

Almost forgot...

I was trying to get a plane ticket today to get to and from Bradley, but the website, once again, wasn't working. So I called with all the info of the flight I found, and had to wait while the woman on the other end of the line realized that her system was down, too. Right before I confirmed all the flight and payment details, she asked: "Rebecca, what's your major in?"

"English, actually..."

"Oh, I was thinking you were a business major."

"That'd probably be more lucrative - "

"You just had all the information of the flights and days and you seemed so definite on everything, and since you said you were flying back to college I just thought you were a business major."

"Well thanks - "

Weird, right? And I'm impressionable enough that an off hand comment like that made me wonder, "should I be a business major?" I was nice and polite on the phone, as I always am (at least while on the phone), but the only reason I had all the flight information was because I had just looked it up online. Oh well, so now if English AND bartending fall through, I can answer telephones?

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

A good day, after all the happys and unhappys have gone through the old Hedonic calculus. I went cleaning with Mum, then to the eye doctor. Another -.25 in both eyes. Everything is a bit more clear around the edges now, the first thing I saw after putting in the new contacts this evening was a reflection in the mirror of trees in the side yard. All the leaves are more defined, and the ripples off the mountain, as seen from the porch, look a little bit more like some end of the rainbow destination.

In further news of gaining clarity, I am, for the first time in 5 years, single. Mer says "single and loooooving it!" but let's face it, I've never been too aggressive in going after anyone.

So, to the happys of the day: Mum and I went swimming in Kingsley Lake, I did actually swim, no flotation devices involved. The water was blue green like a glacier lake (even though it's just a man made reservoir, like Laurance Lake). Mer got her jeep today, and it's lovely and cushy and I'm pea green with envy. Maybe someday within the next few years I'll have a car and know how to drive it? Mer and I floated down the ditch again, but it was not quite so hot so we were cold (Not, as the annoying Lee girls down the street would put it, a case of the water actually being significantly warmer or cooler).

I met Nibbles the, er, mixed breed little dog today. He's cute, and he really does have a red nose, just like Mom said.

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

Ahh... hmmm... Didn't update yesterday. Mer was going up to Lost Lake to go camping with her girlfriends and Jodi's cousin, Mom was taking so long to go up there too that I just went with Merrie. I helped them set up the tent, and we all went floating about in the lake. Jodi's cousin, Bobby, and Chelsea, paddled all the way across the lake and back. We couldn't find Mom anywhere, but we did find the jeep by accident...Anyway, we communicated via notes stuck in the jeep's back windshield wiper, and Mom found our campsite. I actually swam a little, and it's exhilarating after so long, I want to go back and go further. It's been probably a year or two since I swam.

Last night we decided that I'm staying here till the last minute before I need to go back to MHC, and we think we sold Tim's house. He basically got out of a legally binding contract with a late night phone call before the thing had time to "cement." He'd signed, yesterday, papers promising the realtors 7% of what his house is sold for, regardless of how the buyer finds out about the house. But, with a call made late, late enough for Mom and I to wonder if it was really following etiquette to do it, he wiggled out of the contract saying he'd already sold it and didn't need their help any longer (Tim's free of the contract says the lawyer, and the realtors have backed off). Yay, new house will within a couple of years be a reality!

Today Mom & I went cleaning at Grammy's. Told her & Grandpa that I'm trying to apply for a traveling scholarship, so she gave me her journal from her trips with Grandpa on business in the 60s and 70s. Wow. Looked under London, she mentioned going to Picadilly Circus soon after arriving, Westminster, King's Cross, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London... all the "must see" things... They went to Dublin, too... She's all excited. I hope I stand some sort of chance, it's hard to get all excited about something that may not actually happen.

Mer & I floated today, and we were "racing" down the ditch when a couple of guys walking by, well, just kind of stared. I said hi but they were apparently too shocked or confused to reply. Then we saw a guy and a girl. Oh well. Mer didn't know them.

Did I say this already? Mer's getting a new jeep, thanks to Linda (Tim's sister in law) and Grammy & Grandpa's willingness to loan some money out. Yay for Mer, the oil guzzler will soon be retired! And Grammy sent the cutest card to wish Mer well on this new car adoption...

Sunday, July 20, 2003

Just got back from seeing Terminator 3 with Mer and Dad. A great action movie, it's constant fighting and high speed destructive car chases. And, the whole "fate is what we make" deal has changed to "some things are inevitable and we can't change them." Remember the end of T2, with John Connor philosophizing as you got a shot of moving pavement? At the wrap up of this one, instead of the old hopeful "we can change destiny" he says "I don't know if the future is already written." So, comparing this and the Matrix Reloaded to their originals in the 90s & 80s, it seems the message has changed from optimism to change and conquer how things are, to dealing with inevitable evils & corruption. Are other movies getting like this, or is it just the few that I watch?

Ahh it was good, although predictable. Arnold's new machine has a "crisis of mission," can't really say of conscience... And Danes says in one of the first scenes "I hate machines." Oh, that was mysterious. Love all the big slogans & company names they stick into it, the new model female machine looks up to a huge Victoria's Secret advertisement with "What is Sexy?" and grows a few bra cup sizes to distract a police officer. And I think the funeral home car had "Peaceful Valley" on it. Anyway, if you liked T1 & 2, and you like lots of bloody action, you'll want to see it. Even Dad was impressed with the fight scenes, he thought they did a lot without using miniatures or digital animation, and gave the illusion of the force of impacts & such.

On the way home, a white car passed us and then quickly cut us off to pull off into a sidestreet. Then, as we were heading further up the highway, we saw something out of the normal... There was a middle aged man on our side of the road on the fog line, gesturing with his arm out into our lane, wearing a yellow neon get-up with duct tape. There was one busted up traffic cone with tape around it on the middle line. My first thought was that it was a hitchhiker using some stunt to get picked up. He yelled at us as we went by, and then turning the corner we saw another guy in the same little neon vest with a SLOW sign. We had to wait about 10 minutes, saw about 20 emergency vehicles and random passersby in their cars, stopped, until we passed the actual cause of the commotion. One little red car had just flown off the road into the ditch. For some reason it took about 50 people to gawk and hold signs, while nothing seemed to be happening in the direction of cleaning up the mess. One tire had flown toward our side of the street. I think in a real city that mess would have been picked up much faster...

Hot here again, may go floating...
Finished The Scarlet Letter today, finally. It was hot, and Mer & Mom were working in the garden, getting sun stroke. So we all went on a short float down the ditch, then Mom dropped us off further up the canal (with Gabe, who wanted to accompany us, or at least whined and tried to get into the jeep, leading us to think that he wanted to come along). I think that maybe there aren't many places more beautiful than this one. I caught onto Gabe's tail as he was swimming along and he pulled me about. He gets stuck swimming longer distances if he ventures into the canal and starts swimming down with the current, but the banks are too steep and overgrown for him to get out anywhere close. Kind of getting old, and he's a white german shepherd with the classic hip problems.

Mer & I went to Wal Mart yet again for Mum's random list (she ran over a garden hose with the rotetiller (sp?) today, so that was the main item). Then we went in the Bel Air to Toll Bridge Park for a picnic. Didn't get many pictures as Mer's camera ran out of batteries.

How many movies have this plot? I saw one before, tonight I saw one with Ricki Lake. Poor pregnant woman meets a married couple, tries on the wife's ring, they all get in an accident and she's the only one that lives. Rich husband's family thinks she's the widow and takes her in, the old boyfriend shows up and creates problems just as she's about to marry the dead man's brother. Hmmm.

Saturday, July 19, 2003

Mer & I went underwear shopping and I embarrassed her by looking at every single pair of thong underwear they had in our size.

"I wonder what the Ren fair will be like," Mer says on the way home.
"Cheesy? A joke?" I say.
"An unfunny joke?"
"A joke without a punchline?"
"Half a joke?"
"A knock knock with no who's there?"

"My life had become like school on Sunday." - Tracy Morgan as Fat Albert on snl
"How's that?"
"No class."

Friday, July 18, 2003

The bug zapper Dad gave us has more benefits than just preventing bug bites: it attracts huge moths and beetles. We counted five sphinx moths and a June bug. The moths, besides being "grubs with wings," actually reminded me of a night time hummingbird. The things are big. The beetle was pinstriped. Mer started jumping around, with shrill "eek! eek!"s & arm wavings upon seeing the beetle flying around. Then I started shivering and eeking, and pointed out a large crane fly/ damsel fly looking thing that was swarming around Mer's face. Upon being alerted about the fly, Merrie eeked in full force and ducked and jumped away. A moth attached itself to my leg and I nearly crushed it thinking it was a nasty blood sucking insect or something. Finally had to disconnect the zapper as a large moth somehow squeezed through the mesh toward the electrifying bulb, and we didn't want to fry one of the big handsome moths (plus it would have been disgusting). So much for relaxing outside on the porch at night.

Saw some of a Destinos episode on tv...

Speaking of my rudimentary Spanish, a friendly Mexican man was trying to do something or other involving licenses and a run-in with his daughter, and happened to park at the fire station where me and Mom were cleaning. I of course jumbled things up and couldn't figure out exactly what he wanted to know. He kept trying to explain "cartera" and I wasn't really getting the meaning of everything. He drove off, and came back, so I waved to see if he found his daughter. He said "Si," walked up, and held up a wallet asking "como se dice?" So I was like, oooh, "wallet!" I think he was looking for his daughter to get his license so he could go to the DMV for an appointment or something. Anyway, all seemed to have gone ok up to that point, and we both learned a new word. Maybe someday I'll already KNOW all the words necessary to point someone in the right direction.

Thursday, July 17, 2003

Went to see Dad today, we ate and heard some U of O in the 70s stories. Rescheduled T3 watching for Friday afternoon.

"You were out with the guys drinking till 4 am when you could have been home whoopin'!" - the dinosaur of a host on The Newlywed Game. (It's always bothered me that they couldn't find a different verb for "whoopin'" on this show. How about just calling it what it is? SEX.)

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

"Is it liberation or theft? Garden gnomes are disappearing from Roseburg, OR" -- top news story from channel 8 (kgw) in Portland. "So far police have no leads in the gnome napping."
Today was Mum's boyfriend's sister in law's birthday. Mom & I went over to see her briefly and drop off presents (an apple pie we made & glass coasters from Pier 1 with an orange lily of the valley from the garden). Mom's been sick, so we couldn't stay long. A wandering pitbull "attacked" Mum. Definitely an unneutered male, young and playful and untrained. The damn thing was jumping all over and almost knocked me in the head while I was trying to read its ID tags. Now I understand why it's often pitbulls that you hear about in the news, attacking children...

Tonight Mer found a young robin chirping outside her window. It couldn't fly, and Tub may have gotten it. I'm guessing its death was inevitably going to come within about 24 hours if it didn't learn how to fly. Either by starvation or one of our pets.

Monday, July 14, 2003

Mer: "Why isn't zero considered the loneliest number? It doesn't even have itself!"

Just had to book an airline ticket by phone, since the website wouldn't load the confirmation page. Leaving Aug. 13th at 5 am, arriving in NJ at 4:51 pm (I think). Returning Dec. 30th in the afternoon, arriving at PDX after 11 pm.

Hey, remember The Waltons?

Sunday, July 13, 2003

Mer and I have been watching episodes of "Faking It" on TLC:

In the first, Lesley tried to trick judges into thinking she was a pro cheerleader. She had a bit of a stomach to try to work off, and I was sitting staring at the tv and randomly said: "I just never let myself get a stomach because I like to wear little shirts." Merrie just looked at me and started laughing and pointing at the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie wrapper sitting next to me. When she calmed down, she managed to spit out "I don't think it's a matter of you regulating it, it's just genetics" (paraphrased later: "It's not that you don't let yourself get a belly, it's that genetics won't allow it.) Fair enough, I soon remembered that I had a large chunk of Boston cream pie earlier at Dad's, a slice of lemon meringue pie tonight, and 2.25 Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip cookies. Not to mention random candy I eat between desserts. Hm.

Second episode, Bill fakes becoming a sommelier. Quote: "Sommelier? I thought that was a country in Africa."
Applied to Cooper Spur today, then Mom, Mer & I had a shopping expedition. We are all super pleased with ourselves and mer and i are now exchanging clothes as we're so close to the same size finally. Everything fits her now, she's happy.

No he practicado espanol por muchas semanas y tengo culpa. No puedo hablar jamas. (mira, no se si lo que escribi tiene razon. pueden tener razon, las palabras? no se.) Me gustaria practicar pero no quiero molestar a nadie porque (como he dicho) no se hablar. Tub esta durmiendo en mi cama, debo dormirme ahora tambien. Es la manana...

Friday, July 11, 2003

"Classic sing along with the drunken asses"

On an SNL with Tom Petty. From the good old days when I first started watching.

I think I'm going to go to sleep and try to trust myself to live an examined life, when I'm smart enough to examine it properly.

Thursday, July 10, 2003

Hm. Just going to warn anyone that stumbles on this, I am dumb and didn't realize I published something triple-ized. So ignore the, er, second two, and I promise to learn from my silly mistakes.
I had to say goodbye to Mr. Fluffy Pants today, Mer & I are now back to being Miller Road based. Finished The Crying... & now not sure what to start. I've been looking for info. on the GRE's and how people go about getting into a grad school. Realized I can still do the regular GRE stuff that looks like the SATs, but that I need practice with the "find the opposite" section (sounds like a Sesame St. game, doesn't it?) As for the English subject test... I wish I could get a copy of a past test... That's going to be hellish to study for. Talking to Mom, if I can get INTO a grad school, somewhere in OR or CA would be best. I want to be within driving distance.

Yesterday we went on our hike finally. We had the goal of "Elk Cove" but stopped at Inspiration Point. Looking for I.P. followed the model of "you'll keep thinking maybe this is it, but you'll know it when you see it." A stack of vegetation covered rocks, that juts out toward Mt. Hood, a shockingly perfect view. We sat and ate chocolate and cherries, Merrie scaled down into a steep slope meadow and Mom worried she'd somehow go tumbling down. A nice hike, but next time we need bug spray. Another hiker found a baby bunny and me and Mer saw it before Nook scared it away. A bitty fur ball, it would fit in just one of my hands (and I have small hands).

Mer and I watched Austin Powers Goldmember last night, we actually liked it better than the others. Sure some jokes get repeated, but the star appearances were great. Tom Cruise actually looked like Myers in that get-up...

I'm going up on Saturday morning to find out more about a position as a chair lift operator at Cooper Spur. It'd be an easy job for 8$/hr, and very part time so I could still go off and do things without worrying about being home right away. We'll see...


I had to say goodbye to Mr. Fluffy Pants today, Mer & I are now back to being Miller Road based. Finished The Crying... & now not sure what to start. I've been looking for info. on the GRE's and how people go about getting into a grad school. Realized I can still do the regular GRE stuff that looks like the SATs, but that I need practice with the "find the opposite" section (sounds like a Sesame St. game, doesn't it?) As for the English subject test... I wish I could get a copy of a past test... That's going to be hellish to study for. Talking to Mom, if I can get INTO a grad school, somewhere in OR or CA would be best. I want to be within driving distance.

Yesterday we went on our hike finally. We had the goal of "Elk Cove" but stopped at Inspiration Point. Looking for I.P. followed the model of "you'll keep thinking maybe this is it, but you'll know it when you see it." A stack of vegetation covered rocks, that juts out toward Mt. Hood, a shockingly perfect view. We sat and ate chocolate and cherries, Merrie scaled down into a steep slope meadow and Mom worried she'd somehow go tumbling down. A nice hike, but next time we need bug spray. Another hiker found a baby bunny and me and Mer saw it before Nook scared it away. A bitty fur ball, it would fit in just one of my hands (and I have small hands).

Mer and I watched Austin Powers Goldmember last night, we actually liked it better than the others. Sure some jokes get repeated, but the star appearances were great. Tom Cruise actually looked like Myers in that get-up...

I'm going up on Saturday morning to find out more about a position as a chair lift operator at Cooper Spur. It'd be an easy job for 8$/hr, and very part time so I could still go off and do things without worrying about being home right away. We'll see...
I had to say goodbye to Mr. Fluffy Pants today, Mer & I are now back to being Miller Road based. Finished The Crying... & now not sure what to start. I've been looking for info. on the GRE's and how people go about getting into a grad school. Realized I can still do the regular GRE stuff that looks like the SATs, but that I need practice with the "find the opposite" section (sounds like a Sesame St. game, doesn't it?) As for the English subject test... I wish I could get a copy of a past test... That's going to be hellish to study for. Talking to Mom, if I can get INTO a grad school, somewhere in OR or CA would be best. I want to be within driving distance.

Yesterday we went on our hike finally. We had the goal of "Elk Cove" but stopped at Inspiration Point. Looking for I.P. followed the model of "you'll keep thinking maybe this is it, but you'll know it when you see it." A stack of vegetation covered rocks, that juts out toward Mt. Hood, a shockingly perfect view. We sat and ate chocolate and cherries, Merrie scaled down into a steep slope meadow and Mom worried she'd somehow go tumbling down. A nice hike, but next time we need bug spray. Another hiker found a baby bunny and me and Mer saw it before Nook scared it away. A bitty fur ball, it would fit in just one of my hands (and I have small hands).

Mer and I watched Austin Powers Goldmember last night, we actually liked it better than the others. Sure some jokes get repeated, but the star appearances were great. Tom Cruise actually looked like Myers in that get-up...

I'm going up on Saturday morning to find out more about a position as a chair lift operator at Cooper Spur. It'd be an easy job for 8$/hr, and very part time so I could still go off and do things without worrying about being home right away. We'll see...

Monday, July 07, 2003

Sat. after my post me and Mer went to "exercise" the Jacksons' puppy since they were gone for the day. He kind of... well, relaxes his muscles when he gets excited, so you get dribbled on when he first is let out to play. Cute little fellow though, hyperactive. Naive and thinks that your fake barking noises are from a real dog that he just can't see (he gets confused and perks up his ears and looks right past you trying to find a canine culprit).

Jesse and his friends left yesterday so we've had the run of the place. But yesterday we had to leave fairly early to feed the alpacas at the Whitmans' place and sweep out (or, as I like to call it, muck out) the stable areas. At first I wore a dust mask thing AND goggles so I wouldn't react to the hay. But I looked ridiculous (think exotic insect), and it was too warm and my hair kept getting in the way so I removed the get-up. Then went to return the key to the Fosters and see how their vacation went. Mom took us to the Twin Tunnels "restoration project" (used to be the old scenic highway, now you can get to Mosier on it (as if you'd want to)). It was pretty much all slight inclines so we were either having a lot of fun or just trying to keep moving. Great views of the gorge from up there, of course. Everyone and their dog bicycles in Hood River, and has the "necessary" accessories, too. Like lots and lots of black spandex, and black wrist guards and knee and elbow pads and all sorts of stuff. You know, think water bottles and attachable bike bags and all the things people can be lured into buying. After buying all that crap, everyone thinks he's a pro and goes bicycling up Hwy 35 like a maniac.

I digress. Main point, we were the only ones just riding along without helmets or any related paraphernalia. It was fun, I think. My muscles were tight. We had sandwiches at NY Subs, and then ice cream.

Today I woke up early and then went back to sleep to dream about the first day of school and all sorts of sugary confections mysteriously left out for me to take (followed that up by going to Safeway and buying candy). Mer started mowing all the lawns at the Lorenzens' house while I sat swinging in the hammock. We decided to go to town at some point. Visited Artifacts, I finally got a copy of The Dubliners, and then to the library. I checked out six travel guides for Spain, England, Scotland, and Europe in general, and some books on getting money for grad school and taking the GRE's. So when I finish The Crying... I'll have something more to tackle.

That's about it for now. Mer and I have been playing Trivial Pursuit without following the rules and Scrabble, while watching the Degrassi marathon on Nog (Korisha... you'd love it). Mom's fixing dinner and I'm being lazy and typing this up. Off we go, --

Saturday, July 05, 2003

I've moved in with Mer at the Lorenzens' to keep her company housesitting, although now Tess's brother and friends have been visiting and they're older than me so I feel pretty young and inexperienced... Haven't been updating... But I don't know how to get online there, since we don't know how to check the voicemail so AOL would just get a busy signal if I tried to sign on. SO, here's a summary:

Yesterday, to mark the 4th and "Celebrate my independence," I woke up at 6:30 AM with Mer, ate, did chores, visited the Fosters' place for the last time, and then headed into Hood River. The plan was to see Dad for the parade in town, collect candy thrown from fire engines, and have a picnic. Here's what actually happened: Dad was pretty slow to get going, Scott and Ardith (uncle and gf) showed up, and later Margy (dad's ex) dropped by, too. We managed to drag Dad away for the parade, which was long. We collected no candy, since little kids, you know, are like snapping turtles around candy. We left early, and Mer and I were hungry since we had those mini cereal boxes for breakfast (the ones that fill up about a quarter of a cereal bowl and whose boxes have the boldness to claim it's a "serving") and it was nearing noon. SO, we left. Grandma's house was being packed up and it was a little strange just sitting there. Seems to be a common situation now that one's body lingers for years after the mind or soul or whatever you want to call it has gone, so all of one's belongings are sold to keep the body ever more gripped by science... But Ardith still thinks we should visit, she's holding out that somehow she knows we're there. I don't think so.

Anyway: Mer and I went to Andrew's pizza, and ate, uh, pizza. And a triple layer raspberry chocolate brownie which is right on the level as an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie. We went home and were just sitting around when Mom called -- Tim wanted to go up to Cooper Spur to ride the chair lifts. I guess it was a free-ride day, for PR with Hood River since the ski resort wants to expand. We had to wait awhile to get going, so I napped with Kiki the black furry cat.

Of course Tim had to take the '56 Bel Air up the mountain. The lifts were great for a view, you can see Mt. Rainier to the left of Mt. Adams on the way down. Mt. Hood's at your back at that point (although you're kind of ON it, too). Then we had a picnic at Sherwood (where they recently found the skull of a one-year-dead woman). I had salmon and a bit of a hamburger... like the good old days at MHC when me & Kathleen & Lindsey met up for salmon at Wilder and Prospect... Then Mer and I headed off to town for the fireworks. Dad didn't feel up to it, so we headed down alone. Mer backed into a parallel spot (an accomplishment) in downtown Hood River. We walked and walked to get right under the fireworks. Brosch (I always wondered how people would spell that nickname, so I may be wrong) recognized us, but we couldn't find anyone we knew down on the pier. But the fireworks were lovely, and we even got to see the obligatory brush fire. On the way home we got caught in a sea of pedestrians, but we did get through, finally. Back at the Lorenzens' I took a long bath, and slept.

Thursday, July 03, 2003

"I wish I could buy you and you could do this at my house" - Katie Couric to a table-setting guest.

Wednesday, July 02, 2003

A chicken and a mouse dead?

Another chick bit the dust (a little too literally fo that to be funny), we buried him and put some "wildflowers" on his, er, grave.

What's next for this cure-nothing? Carrot cake, sleep, and PCs.
You may laugh, but I watched Kate & Leopold and I liked it for what it is: a cute little romanticomedy. Well, and because Meg Ryan is too attractive to NOT want to watch her. She's cute even delivering cheesy over-written lines. Kind of like why I love Reese Witherspoon. But Reese is ten times better. If anyone else played her part in Legally Blonde no one would watch it.

Bed time... getting up early to go to a dentist, and, I hope, confirm that I don't have a cavity (I hope). Cleaned the house today.