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October 26, 2007

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Good grief, this has been one busy week. Why does everything have come at once?

We decided that since we were in town last Friday for another Blazer preseason broadcast, that we would spend Saturday night and baby-sit for Lara and Greg. It was Lara's birthday and we thought it would be nice for them to get away for the evening without the girls. We had a great time with the grandkids and even started carving a Halloween pumpkin with them. But once granddad got all the hard work done by gutting the thing, they decided they wanted to finish it with mom and dad the next day. Hey, OK with me...as you can tell, I was tired!

We had decided that we would have time to catch a couple of soccer games with the other two granddaughters in Keiser that morning, so we headed down for their games. It was pouring down rain, but Lara supplied us with ponchos and other rain gear and off we went. Paige played in the first game and it was fun to watch her. This is her first year and she is a yellow card or even a red card waiting to happen. She is rather aggressive and at that age, they haven't learned many of the rules, like off sides and elbowing. She is good at both!! At one point, she tripped and slid 10 feet in the mud. She came by us with a kind of "eeeuuuww" look, and we got the picture. Anyway, they won their game and then we had to wait about a half an hour between games so we sat in the car and tried to dry out. As we were heading for Ashtin's game, I stepped in a huge puddle of water and got my feet soaked - so much for drying out.

Unfortunately, Ashtin's game was forfeited as the other team didn't show up to play and that was a disappointment for her. She wanted us to watch her play so bad. We got her picture too, but I'm sure it wasn't as much fun posing in a clean, dry uniform. She has basketball coming up and we promised we would be there for one of those games.

Sunday we headed for home and we noticed that we had had another wind and rain storm while we were gone. The yard had accumulated more fallen branches and other debris so there was a lot to pick up. I also noticed that we had lost our power and I had to reset all the clocks - again. I think I'm going to keep count on how many times I have to do that this winter! I spent about four hours on Monday cleaning up the mess. I finally got a shipment of the flower bulbs that I ordered weeks ago. Once they got here, I finally understood why it took so long to ship them - they came straight from Holland! Good grief, by the time I get them planted, it will be too late. Some of the bulbs will go in the city park and we are planning a plant party next week after our monthly meeting.

Tuesday I left early for a tour to the Chinese Gardens in Portland with the garden club. We met at 8:30 in the morning in Manzanita and all traveled together on a bus into Portland. We picked a perfect day, as the weather was clear and sunny. The Chinese Garden is the result of a continuing collaboration between the cities of Portland and Suzhou, China. Portland has a Chinese garden modeled after the garden in Suzhou and Suzhou has a Rose garden modeled after Portland's Rose Garden. As you enter the first of many courtyards, there was is large osmanthus tree in full bloom and the fragrance was heavenly. The whole experience of the garden gives you a tranquil feeling and it is hard to believe it is right in the middle of a bustling city. After our tour, we ate lunch in a nearby Chinese restaurant where they kept bringing out dish after dish of food until we were all stuffed. We got back to Manzanita a little after 5:00 and all agreed that it was a wonderful day!

As if I didn't have enough food for lunch at the Chinese restaurant, I attended a dinner that night after we returned. Dave and I volunteer at the local chamber of commerce office during the tourist season and they wanted to thank us with a dinner. So off I went to ate some more! There's a group of us that work the tourist information desk during the summer months, and we steer a lot of business to the local merchants. The chamber throws a very nice "thank you" dinner each October to let us know we're appreciated.

Wednesday, we headed back into Portland to do another Blazer preseason game. We left early in the morning because I had to run over to my Mom's and do her laundry first and deliver her denture to the dentist so they could fix a broken tooth. I had notified the assisted living place that Mom would be without her teeth for a couple of meals because I was taking them to be repaired. When I returned the next morning with her teeth, I found out that some of the caregivers were unaware that I had taken them and thought Mom had lost them somewhere so they were running around looking everywhere for her teeth. They had turned her place upside down looking for them. Hello! You would think that they would inform everyone of what was happening. I'm glad they cared enough to spend so much time looking for the denture, but a little communication would have saved them a lot of trouble! Anyway, the mystery of the missing teeth was solved. I have my doubts about the lady at the front desk anyway because every time I visit there she is on the phone with someone trying to figure out how to make her computer work.

Things were fairly routine at the Blazer game Wednesday night. Now that we're three broadcasts into the pre-season, we have most of the fires put out and neither one of us had a problem getting on the air. Quite a contrast to the first (and even the second) game where the stress level was waaaay over the top! The Trail Blazers didn't play well, but put on a big push at the end of the game to come from behind and win, so that made the evening even more fun!

I still don't have the apartment in West Linn stocked with groceries, so we went out to eat Thursday morning. As we were eating our breakfast, we got a call from our daughter Lara. The last thing you want to hear on the other end of the phone is your daughter crying. She had fallen down in the parking lot while she was leaving the grocery store before work. She is five months pregnant and was very concerned. We met her at the doctor's office and he checked her all out and everything is okay except for a few scratched up knees and elbows. She was as much embarrassed as she was hurt. When she fell, people came running and she was sure someone was going to call 9-1-1. Once he was sure she (and the baby) were okay, Dave asked her if they made an announcement at the grocery store, "Pregnant lady down on aisle 5". She was feeling better by then and I told her that it brought back memories of when I fell down the stairs while I was carrying her. It is so easy to lose your balance when you are p.g.

We raced back to the coast so Dave could make it in time for his play rehearsal. He didn't want to miss it, because - including that one - they only had three more practices before the performances on November 3rd and 4th. Besides, this was their first dress rehearsal and felt it wouldn't be fair to miss this one when everyone else was there. I haven't talked much about this play (I don't really know that much about it), but I'll get a picture of him in his '40's "get-up", and maybe post it next week.

Dave left at o-dark-thirty this morning for Redmond for the final preseason game. The Blazers are playing Friday night over in central Oregon and it is about a 4-5 hour drive over there. He will be spending the night and coming back on Saturday afternoon, just in time (I hope) for a dinner party that I am planning with a bunch of friends.

I sure hope things slow down for next week.