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IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

I have been at home this week.

Dave had to work in Portland last Friday night and spent the night in West Linn before driving home on Saturday, so I was here by myself that night.

Lara and Greg were thinking about coming down last weekend but then thought it was going to rain too much to make it worth making the trip. Besides, although Lara had Monday off as a holiday, Greg had to work so they didn't think they'd come down. But after talking to Dave Saturday morning, she decided to bring the girls down for an overnighter and leave Greg home with the cats. They arrived on Saturday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon. The weather wasn't very good with all the rain and wind, but the girls had fun playing with Grandma's toys. I haven't seen them for a couple of weeks and I could sure see the difference in little Jordyn. She is really expressing herself more and can actually interact with you. Lara didn't bring her highchair or playandpack along, so she was free to roam, so to speak. During dinnertime, it was up and down from her chair and she was told numerous times to stay and finish her dinner. It was finally after Grandad got up from the table to discuss with her what was expected when all of a sudden she raised her arms and puckered her lips up to give him a kiss. Now how can you punish her for anything after that!

When it was finally time for Jordyn to go to bed, she was tucked into the lower bunk with a board clamped to the side so she wouldn't fall out. She normally falls right to sleep, but the minute her sisters came to bed, she was up and ready for action. They were even complaining that they couldn't get to sleep because little sister was climbing all over them! I think everyone finally fell asleep around 10:00 p.m. - way past their bedtime.

We found another use for duct tape while the girls were down. Lara was changing Jordyn's diaper and one of the tabs pulled off the brand new diaper. She didn't want to waste an otherwise perfectly good diaper, so Dave got out the duct tape and patched it up. Jordyn didn't know what to think, but it worked.

Sunday afternoon, Wheeler had a town hall meeting and so we attended that. The mayor gets up and reports on what is happening around town and we had a nice presentation from a local writer who wrote a book that claims that Sir Frances Drake had explored our area way back when. Afterwards, they had a chili feed which was very good. Even so, not a lot of people showed up for the meeting. It always makes me wonder why people don't participate in their little town, there are so few people and it would be nice to see some new/old faces for a change. And besides, the ones who don't show up are the first ones to complain when something doesn't go their way!

Monday was a holiday, so there wasn't much going on. It was real windy Sunday night - our gauge said 50 MPH - and we didn't get much sleep because of that. Anyway, I had invited Des and Donna over for corned beef and cabbage and I spent the afternoon getting that ready. We had a nice dinner and got to hear all about their travels. They've been gone since before Thanksgiving and put a lot of miles on the camping gear during that time.

Tuesday, Dave had to do some work at City Hall in the morning and then had a City Council meeting that night, so that pretty much wiped out the day.

I had to run into Tillamook on Wednesday because my jury number was chosen to participate in a trial. All of the jurors sat around and waited a couple of hours while the judge and lawyers discussed some legal matters. I am sure glad I brought my book along to read. Then we were finally called in to the courtroom to see if our number was to be drawn out of the hat for the jury selection. Luckily, my number wasn't drawn, so I got to come back home later that morning. Most of the cases so far that I have reported to were either about illegal crabbing or illegal fishing. Hopefully, no big homicide cases will show up while on my watch. I have only had to report a couple of times this month and I just have one more week to go. Actually, I have an excused absence on Monday because I have a doctor's appointment, so I actually have only four more days to go.

Although we have had a lot of rain and wind this past month, the temperatures haven't been too bad. I noticed that my primroses are in bloom and the daffodils and tulips are starting to poke up through the ground. I hope we have an early spring.

I'm glad the weekend is here. Even though I only had two days of aerobics because of the holiday and my jury duty, I still managed to pull a muscle and it has been giving me some problems. Three days off ought to take care of that.

Today we head back into town for a couple of things. This time, it won't be for a Blazer game. Dave has been invited to the University Club in Portland to attend the Robby Burns Night with the guys. He went last year and really enjoyed it. They have a Scottish banquet of Haggis and Cock-A-Leekie Soup and other Scottish foods and - oh yeah - they taste a variety of single-malt scotch whiskies. Somehow I doubt that the food and the poetry are the main reasons for the event! I am the designated driver and will drop Dave off at the Club and then come and get him when it's over.

Then on Saturday afternoon, we will be attending a Memorial Service for a former neighbor who passed away. Bev and Jim Brewer lived across the street from us in Hillsboro for over 30 years and we had kept in contact with them after we had moved to the coast. Jim died a few years ago and now Bev is gone.