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May 22, 2009

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

The weather gods have been pretty good to us this week and there is more to come! I have been working out in the flowerbeds cleaning out the weeds and transplanting plants while the sun was shining. I still have half the property to go, but a few hours a day and I may get caught up or at least ready to start from where I began! It is a never-ending job!

Last Saturday, we were invited to dinner at Des and Donna Kahrs' place. They've been gone most of the winter and it has been ages since we've seen them. We needed to hear all about their travels, and we told them about ours. They go to the rocks in Utah every winter and have been telling us about that part of the country for years, so when we finally got down there last month, we were able to see a lot of the places they had told us about. We were able to talk about specific places we have all be to and it was fun to share our experiences.

In spite of all the yard work, we still had our reading with the 4th graders over at the grade school in Nehalem on Monday. We only have one more session and the year will be over. The time has really flown by and it is always amazing - and very satisfying - to look back and see the improvement of the students. We've been invited to a volunteer dinner at the school this next week, and I understand that the kids are going to participate in the entertainment. That ought to be fun!

Our water aerobics teacher made it back from her two-week vacation to Costa Rica and she reported that she had a great time. One of the reasons she chose Costa Rica was that her husband could get some real cheap dental work done there and they still had money left over for a good time. The dental implant surgery plus the good time was still less than what it would have cost to have it done locally. It was good to have her return so we could get back into our old routine again. The substitute teacher was fine, but I didn't feel like I could get my heart rate up with her routine. She teaches aerobics to a much younger class at night and was amazed at how fit most of us are for our ages.

Dave had a couple of play rehearsals this week (yes, he is starring in another play in June). The play is a mystery and is called "Murder in Manzanita". The players meet twice a week in the middle of the day, so it is hard to start any projects around the house.

Wednesday was a special day for the family. We were invited to attend the swearing in of our son-in-law Jason, who is now officially a Captain for the Woodburn Police Department. He has been "acting" captain for about six months after the bombing death of his former captain. It was great to see him get the promotion that he so justly deserves, because he is so dedicated to his job. We are all very proud of him. There were quite a few members of his family present who provide him with the support he needs to do his job. We love you Jason and keep up the good work.

On the way home from Woodburn, we had a few minutes so we stopped at Al's Nursery and picked up a couple of plants, a hydrangea and a rhododendron that I needed to replace. Another project to add to my list.

On Thursday, after my water aerobics class and breakfast, I helped with painting the trim on the restrooms in Waterfront Park. The building houses two restrooms and is painted a bright red with green trim that makes it really stand out. We are trying to get the place all spruced up for the summer tourists. It is amazing how many people stop and use the facilities while traveling through town. While we were busy painting, we must have had about a half a dozen people stop to use it.

We lost our Public Works person (he resigned) last week, so the Park Committee has been trying to pick up the slack by mowing the lawn in the parks and maintaining the restrooms. I get the bathroom cleaning duty tomorrow. I sure hope they can find someone to fill the position soon!

We are looking forward to having Lara and Greg (and girls) down for the three-day Memorial Day Weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I hope they will be able to relax while they are here. Hopefully, if the weather is nice, I am going to have the granddaughters help me plant my garden.

Leslie is having lasic eye surgery today. She is getting tired of wearing eyeglasses and so decided to have that done. Lara had it done several years ago and hasn't had any problems with her eyesight since. She was glad she had it done. Speaking of eye surgery, Dave is scheduled to have cataract surgery on one of his eyes in June.

Leslie called me the other day to announce that two of their hens turned out to be roosters. She was hearing this cock-a-doodle-doo and finally discovered that it wasn't the rooster across the road! So she is now down to four hens and hopes that they will start laying eggs in a couple of months. Oh the life of a country farmer!

In spite of his gimpy knees, Dave has been trying to get some stuff done around here. Like I said, he's tied up twice a week with play rehearsal (three times this week) and had a City Council meeting on Tuesday. He helped Des Kahrs repair the ramp leading to the dock where we keep the steamboat, repaired a faulty electric hand dryer in the bathroom at Waterfront Park and took a stab at fixing the riding lawn mower. No luck there, so he'll take it to the shop today and tackle the high grass with the hand mower. He also got the tractor out so we can remove a dead bush and replace it with that rhododendron I bought. Next week, he needs to concentrate on getting the steamboat in the water.