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October 12, 2007
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
Dave took off at o-dark-thirty for Seattle on Saturday for his 10-hour round trip drive. He had a Steam Society board meeting and I didn't feel like tagging along. I really do hate Seattle because of the traffic but we know a lot of really nice people up that way so I sometimes will go along with him. Anyway, I decided that instead of going to Seattle, I'd run into Tillamook and do some shopping and spend the rest of my day cleaning my god-awful dirty house. I didn't expect Dave home until dinnertime and I had thrown together a stew for us to eat. I was watching the news and heard that there was a huge propane explosion in Tacoma around 3:00 that afternoon but I wasn't too worried that Dave would be caught in the aftermath because he usually leaves right after the board meeting; around 1:30. But, as it turned out, he witnessed the whole thing. He didn't leave Seattle until 2:30 and was in Tacoma just as the explosion occurred right in front of him. He said that he had never seen such a fireball in his whole life. He was headed south on I-5 and just as everyone else on the freeway saw this massive fireball, they all hit their brakes, and then immediately jumped into the fast lane to get the heck out of Dodge before they closed the freeway. He said they were all doing 80 when they passed the smoke and flames and he just barely made it out in time.
After he returned home to tell me about his experience, my exciting news of the couple jogging down the road with these two brown floppy-eared goats in tow was hardly worth telling! We hardly see any pedestrians on Highway 101. It's too narrow and there's not a lot of room on the shoulder. So it would be unusual see someone jogging, much less jogging with any kind of animal...such as a dog. This couple had two goats...and no leash. It's not everyday that you see such a sight, but then on the other hand, you don't witness a huge fireball either.
We stayed hunkered down all day Sunday because it was so windy and rainy outside. It felt like November or December instead of October. I sure hope we get a break in this weather so I can get a few more things done outside. I have been bringing my bird feeders inside at night as I awoke one morning and they had fallen off the tree branch and I had to retrieve them down the hill in the brush. The seed was completely licked clean so I think the varmints got into them. So I decided to bring them in at night and the birds can just wait to eat until I get up in the morning to hang them back up.
We thought our ship had come in the other day! We received this letter in the mail from Canada notifying us that we were the big winners and had won a lump sum of $68,000 in some North American Shoppers Sweepstakes. They also enclosed a very authentic looking check for $5,000. Of course, this was a scam. Dave researched it on the Internet and it looks like this group has been pretty active sending these things out from Canada. The envelope was addressed to Lloyd Bell, who was Dave's father and he has been deceased for seven years and our P.O. Box was not acquired until after his death when we moved down here! Dave notified the State of Oregon, Justice Department and forwarded the information on to them. So it is back to dreaming of what all that money would have bought if it were for real and I sure hope nobody else falls for this scam.
Wednesday we headed into town for our first preseason Blazer game. We left the house real early as Dave had a hair cut appointment in Hillsboro at 9:00 AM. He was also a bit anxious about our first game and wanted to get into the Rose Garden early to set up. Because it wasn't a televised game, we had to set up our own effects mics and so that took a little longer. Usually the television crew does this. As expected, the 14-hour day was full of a lot of stress and we were both glad when the day ended. As it turned out, my radio broadcast was supposed to be a pretty easy one, but with all the connection problems I had, we didn't get things sorted out until 4 minutes before airtime. That is cutting it too short as far as I am concerned. I was ready to have a drink by the time the day was over. We were up at 6:00 AM on Wednesday, and we didn't get to bed until after midnight! We were a couple of pooped pups! We stayed in town with Lara's family and then the next morning visited with her and the two youngest granddaughters. Lara stayed home from work as she has a terrible sinus infection. That plus being 5 months pregnant has taken a lot of energy from her. Afterwards, we ran over to visit with my Mom and I got her laundry caught up.
We hurried back home Thursday afternoon as Dave had a play rehearsal. I don't know if I had mentioned it, but Dave is going to be in a play the first of November. It is with the local "reader's theater" and they put on a play a couple of times a year. I've written about other performances we have attended in the past. Dave thought that it would be a lot of fun to participate, so he auditioned and got a part. They practice twice a week so it does require a big commitment. He's gone every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. The play will be the first weekend in November, so after that, things will settle down. After he got home from rehearsal we had a quick meal. Since Wednesday was such a long and stressful day, we were both about to drop we were so tired. So we called it a day early and went to sleep before it was even completely dark!
It looks like we are headed for a nice weekend and driving over the mountains coming home, some of the leaves are starting to turn so fall is definitely here. I took this picture of a small bush by our driveway that is showing it's brilliant color.
