Jan's Journal

June 16, 2005

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Well, it's really not Friday. We are posting this early because my Webmaster is leaving Thursday for the big city.

I had fun last weekend. My friend Bernadette came down and spent a couple of days with me. We worked together at Tektronix before I retired and have kept in touch. We went to the sand castle building competition in Cannon Beach on Saturday morning. There were so many people there for the event that we ended up parking south of town and walking on the beach about 2-1/2 miles to get there. The builders were just getting started so we hung around for a while and then walked into the downtown area for a coffee. We headed back to the event just about time for the judging and before the tide starting coming in. I was really impressed with some of the creations that were being built. There was everything from Sponge Bob Square Pants to mermaids. However, there were very few sandcastles. There used to be dozens on display, and this year there were only about 15. It started to rain, so we headed back to the car (another 2-1/2 mile trip down the beach) and stopped at Manzanita for a bowl of clam chowder for lunch.

We also took in the local crab derby at the mouth of the river at Jetty Fishery. They were fishing for crabs and some of the catches had numbers on them so if you caught any crab with a number, you won a prize. All the proceeds were going to support our local medical clinic. Bernadette decided to buy a crab and by the time it was cooked and cleaned, somehow the crab had disappeared! She got her money back but was very disappointed to go home crab-less!

On Sunday morning after breakfast, Bernadette left and I packed up for a night's stay in town. I was meeting Dave in West Linn so we could attend our oldest granddaughter's kindergarten graduation on Monday morning in Salem. Besides, I haven't seen my youngest granddaughter for a week and I know how much they change in just seven days. Jaysa is 3 weeks old already! Both Jadyn and Jaysa were all smiles when I got there. Dave had spent the weekend in the rain announcing the Rose Cup races in Portland and he was cold and tired, as he had gotten pretty wet during the race.

Collage Monday we took off early for Salem to see Ashtin's graduation. It is hard to believe how grown up she is getting. After they marched into the auditorium, they entertained us with some of the songs that they had learned. Then each of them were called by name and received an "official" looking graduation certificate. She loves school and her teacher, Mrs. Alexander (no relation). Ashtin was so proud of herself! It was really fun and I am glad I was able to go.

After that, Dave and I headed back home by way of Hillsboro to have lunch at our favorite restraurant, talk to our insurance man and visit with our friends, Stan and Terrie. Terrie had fallen about a week ago and shattered her elbow. She was off work for about a week and that day was her first day back working half-days. Terrie is a very devoted employee! We got back home early that evening and I think we were in bed before the chickens.

The rest of this week I have been working out in the yard trying to get the weeds under control. While out there, I managed to cut my leg pretty bad on a ragged branch, so had to get a big bandage to control the bleeding. That didn't stop me though and I went back to finish my weeding. My knees have been hollering at me too, so it is back to Advil and Flexall. But the place is beginning to look a little better, so I guess it's all worth it.

Tuesday night, as we were watching the NBA finals on television, a news flash scrolled across the bottom of the screen. There had been a 7.0 earthquake off the southern coast of Oregon and a tsunami warning was issued!! About that time, the phone rang off the hook from people wondering if we had heard the news! The whole West Coast was on alert for about 1-1/2 hours until they figured that nothing was going to happen. Fortunately, we live about 100 feet above the bay so we weren't too concerned about being hit by any gigantic wave. Our only concern would be if the road was washed out and we were stuck at home for a while. It was pretty eerie though, standing out on the deck listening to the tsunami warning sirens!

As I mentioned at the beginning, we are posting this early because Dave will be leaving to announce another race in Portland. I think it is Champ Car racing this weekend. I know it's some kind of big-league racing because he brings home a bigger paycheck! I will be staying home again because I volunteered to help out with the Crab Feed that the city of Wheeler will be putting on this weekend. I'll be in the information booth on Friday, serving ice cream on Saturday and serving crab on Sunday. We have rain predicted for the whole weekend, so I don't know how busy I'll be, but if anyone shows up, I'll be ready! I am planning on heading into the big city either Sunday night or Monday morning because I am bringing my mother back down with me for a short visit next week.