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November 13, 2009

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Happy Friday the 13th! I am not superstitious, but I do notice when the 13th falls on a Friday. I hope everyone has a happy day!

As I reported last week, we spent the entire week in West Linn after I got out of the hospital. Dave had a Blazer broadcast on Friday night and we drove down to Mt. Angel to watch Paige play basketball on Saturday. There isn't much of a game going on at this level, it is mostly run and shoot basketball. The refs are pretty lenient with the kids - traveling and out-of-bounds aren't too important, and they're not allowed to play much defense at all. Paige is one of the more aggressive players and is called for some of her defensive moves by the ref. She gets a little frustrated but enjoys the competition. After the game, I had Dave drive over to Gervais so I could stop by Bauman's Country Store. We tried to map directions on our GPS but without the exact address of the place, we had no luck. After getting lost in beautiful downtown Gervais (Bauman's is out in the country) in the pouring rain, we called our daughter Leslie and she headed us in the right direction. Bauman's is a neat place to visit and right up my alley with fresh fruit and veggies, a nursery, petting farm and pumpkin patch for the kids as well as homemade pies and doughnuts. Leslie and I love going there. I bought a few apples and tomatoes and also picked up an apple pie and some apple spice doughnuts to take with us to Stan and Terrie's for dinner. We were spending the night with them.

We had a real nice visit with Stan and Terrie. We got there at mid-afternoon and talked until we had to stop for dinner. After dinner we played a game called Sequence. It is a board game using cards, and you to try to line up five cards in a row. Of course the opposing side tries to block you. Terri and I played as partners against Stan and Dave. Things got a little "cut-throat" once we figured out the strategy. I won't say who won, but Dave & Stan are already looking for revenge!!

Sunday morning after breakfast, we left Stan and Terrie's and headed back into West Linn to drop me off. Dave had an early Blazer game and we were going to drive home right after the game, but Lara talked us into spending the night. So we did.

On Monday, we headed for home. After numerous stops on the way (Costco, Fred Meyer, etc.), we got home around 1:00. I had a week's worth of food journal to get caught up for my class that night, so I was on the computer for most of the afternoon. I drove to my class in Seaside that evening. We only have two more classes before we are done. I sure am enjoying the class and each week am learning something new about what I should and should not be eating. So far, I have lost about 15 pounds (a tip of the iceberg). I am under doctor's orders not to do any exercise for the next four weeks because of my surgery, so I don't think I will be losing any more weight until then. Besides, the holidays are coming up and that will also be a challenge. I have been having fun with an interesting website that has some healthy recipes that are a bit out of the ordinary. On the website, they compare food from some restaurants and then make a healthier version. I have made a couple of meals using the information on that site, with Dave as my guinea pig. He says he's enjoyed all of them so far and that they are not bad.

I have been lazy-ing around the house since I have been home and have been able to catch up with a few projects I have been putting off. The first thing I did was to polish the brass lanterns from the steamboat before I stored them away for the winter. I have found that it is a lot easier to clean them up before they're put away rather than waiting until spring to it. I also got all the bills paid, including our property taxes. It has been pouring down rain since I have been home so that has kept me indoors most of the time. I started a new book, but now that I am into it, I'm thinking maybe I have read it before. One thing about getting old, you can re-read a book and still enjoy it the second time around! There was quite a windstorm while we were gone and during one of the rain breaks, I managed to pick up a few broken branches that had fallen out in the yard. Since I'm under strict "no activity" orders, I don't dare get out there and rake up the fallen leaves; they are just going to have to wait until later. The birds were glad to see me back too. It didn't take them long to get the word out that I was back and as soon as I had the feeders filled and outside - they were out there chowing down.

We got a phone call the other evening and it was our granddaughter Paige. She was all excited to tell us about the certificate that the school had given her during an assembly. She was pointed out as an "outstanding student" for being a leader and setting a good example. It is hard to believe that they were talking about the same person. Paige is very precocious, but she's a good leader and I'm glad to see her getting some recognition for that. Her sister Ashtin also had to tell us all about her bird hunting trip to Pendleton and about being the fastest in her class in division problems. Ashtin - like most kids - had some problems with math last year, but somewhere, the "light switch" turned on and she was able to solve 80 division problems in four minutes for this test. So both girls are doing well in school, and needless to say, we're very proud of both of them!!

There is never a dull moment around here. On Wednesday, Dave heard a bunch of car brakes and horns honking and so he went down to the highway to investigate. A motorhome had died on the highway just up the road from us and the driver was at a loss as to what to do. Dave got him to call the police and AAA for help and then he started to help out by directing traffic. After a few minutes of that, he called me and asked me to get his fluorescent green emergency vest and bring it down to him. He wanted to make sure people could see him there in the middle of the highway! The police never did show up and the tow truck took over an hour to get there, so he had to spend more time outside than he thought he would. I know he got a kick out of it...he really is a "traffic cop" at heart!

This morning when I got up there was a skiff of snow on top of Onion Peak so Fall (or is it Winter already?) is definitely in the air.