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March 2, 2007
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
It's been a busy week around here to say the least. I had a seed workshop scheduled on Saturday; we had SMART on Monday and then the Garden Club met on Tuesday.
We drove back from the game late last Friday night so I could attend the workshop on seed planting down here at the coast. We got home around 1:00 AM and I was up by 7:00 to get ready for my class. I was really tired but I dragged myself out of bed and glad I did. It was hard to get motivated about planting seeds with the wind blowing 50 mph outside and the rain beating down so hard on the greenhouse roof while we were trying to learn about planting seeds. I could hardly hear the instructor with all the noise going on outside and I was freezing from the cold. In spite of it all, I really learned a lot and decided that when I got home that I would sow some seeds and see what I could do. I planted some sweet peas and marigolds and placed them on the heating pad that Leslie had given to me for my birthday last year. Guess what? Within a few days, the marigolds have sprouted. That was fun, so next I decided to plant some cucumbers. We will see how they do. So far nothing else has sprouted. Sowing is like watching something grow out of a small seed and being the mother that I am, I am constantly hovering over them and worrying that they will grow.
We had a little bit of a snow shower the first of the week but it didn't stick. Still, anytime it snows down here at the coast, it's news. I think it's happened more already this year than it has in total for the last 10 years. It sure looked pretty up on Neah-kah-nie Mountain. I sure hope that Mother Nature gets it out of her system because I want spring to get here. I am getting really tired of all this rain, snow and wind. I am sure the poor daffodils are shivering outside and wishing they were still warm under the ground. Most of them have already bloomed and all that yellow looks pretty anemic against the snow! The forecast looks better for next week, so there's hope!
On Monday I made it over to my water aerobics class. As it started to snow outside during the class, there was this mass exit. It reminded me of that scene in "Caddyshack". You would have thought someone had found a turd floating in the pool or something! Some of those ladies are up in years and just didn't feel like driving home in the little snow that fell on the roads! If they see just one snowflake, they panic! The class was pretty sparse the rest of the week and I am sure it was because of the weather. I get a kick out of some of the ladies in the class when I tell them that I'm going into Portland to work. They just can't believe that we'd drive over the coast range with snow in the ground. I try to explain that it's usually no big deal and that we have 4-wheel drive, but you might as well be trying to tell them that the world is flat, or something. I don't know if they think I'm brave or crazy for making that trip a couple of times a week!
As I said, we read at SMART on Monday. We've had to miss a few of those sessions because of our schedule, but it's going to work out that we'll be there for most of the rest of the school year. I've said this before, but we really enjoy reading with the kids. It's a very rewarding hour. Over the course of the year, we can actually see the kids improve their reading skills. Sometimes, it's kind of a pain to stop what we're doing on Monday afternoon and drive over to the school, but we always leave feeling good for having been there.
Our garden club meets once a month and we usually have a speaker. Tuesday there was a lady from the Seven Dee's Nursery talking about Clematis. I was interested because the one I have keeps "wilting” each summer after it blooms and I wanted to find out what its problem was. It turns out that it has a bacteria and the best thing I think I can do is start over. The speaker had a drawing afterwards and one of the prizes was this beautiful Clematis. The lady who was sitting right next to me won. I sure wish it was me who won as I could have used it to replace the one that I have. That is the way my luck always runs. It was brought up that there will be an election of new officers this spring and of course someone approached me to see if I was interested. I don't think so, but maybe someday. I have too much going on right now to become an officer. As is the case in most organizations, it seems nobody wants the job.
Speaking of the weather, we had to make that trip into Portland on Wednesday and heard that there was quite a bit of snow up on the summit of the coast range. We were debating on whether to go the long way around by way of Astoria and the Columbia River, or our usual way up Highway 53 to Highway 26. We decided to go our usual way over the coast range. Boy, was that a white-knuckle experience! The roads were packed with snow and ice and it was slow going most of the way. Where are the snowplows when you need them? We finally saw some, but they were headed in the opposite direction. We also saw a couple of ambulances go by which doesn't go well on the nerves. Anyway, we made it safe and sound into town, but it made me think that maybe those ladies at the pool have a point after all!
That night, we had dinner with our friends Stan and Terrie, whom we hadn't seen for quite awhile. They are both still working, so they are busier than ever. It was good to get caught up with them again. They still live in Hillsboro, so they are right on our way into town. We went to a neat restaurant called P. F. Chang's China Bistro. It was Chinese food, but there were very exotic dishes on the menu. No "number two combination" here! They serve family style, so everyone ordered a different dish and we all helped ourselves to each plate. It was very good and very filling. We even ordered dessert. Terrie and I shared a highly recommended banana dish. It was sliced bananas wrapped in a pastry with ice cream. It was kind of bland and after discussing it with the manager, he told us that the cook apparently forgot to add cinnamon and sugar in the filling! No wonder it was kind of bland. He kindly didn't charge us for the dessert. The guys ordered this delicious chocolate cake with a raspberry sauce, so we stole some of theirs. I was still not hungry at breakfast time on Thursday!
We took our taxes into the CPA last week and were dreading the thought of having to pay, but guess what? We actually get money back! I can't remember the last time that happened. I don't know what we’ll use it for, but there's a whole list of things that will be crying for that money.
I decided that I would do my Mom's taxes, and thought I had everything gathered up. We do hers ourselves on the TurboTax program. Anyway, I was missing one 1099R from her insurance company. They probably sent it to her old address and it didn't get forwarded. Anyway, I called the insurance company to have them resend it and it turned out to be a major issue. I didn't realize I would have to jump through so many hoops for a form that the government requires them to furnish anyway. First of all, I had to fax to them the Power Of Attorney showing them that I could request information for my Mom. Then I have to wait 5 days while their legal department reviews the POA. After that, I have to call back again and request the 1099R before they will send it to me. If my Mom could handle this, it would make it a lot easier, but she can't so I am doing it for her. Why they just can’t review the POA and then forward the 1099R to me I don't understand. So I'm waiting the five days and on Monday, make another phone call to request the 1099R and make sure they finally have the correct address. What a hassle.
We are in town now for the weekend. I am again babysitting for my two youngest granddaughters, Jadyn and Jaysa for a couple of days. Their Mom has to work full-time this week while one of her co-workers is on vacation. We also have a couple of Blazer games to do and then will have breakfast at Leslie and Jason's in Silverton on Sunday before driving back home for a couple of days. I sure hope the roads are a lot clearer going home.
