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August 20, 2010

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

It's been one of those crazy weeks again.

We started the weekend with our oldest daughter and family coming down. We already had one guest (Bobbie from California) with us and we gave her plenty of warning about the "early" risers and the sounds of little girls. Bobbie thought I was kidding until the 2-1/2 year old woke the house up at 6:30 in the morning. But all in all, everything went pretty smoothly.

Bobbie took us all (about 10 friends) out to dinner at the Sea Shack on Friday night. She and her husband used to own this restaurant and she always likes to come back and see if they are still running it like she used to. Since we didn't start eating until 8:00, which is way past my mealtime, I just ordered a Crab Louie for dinner. Dave had a salad also. I don't sleep well on a full stomach. I don't know what the bill came to, but it must have cost her a pretty penny for all the meals and drinks that were ordered. She enjoys doing this when she comes to town and I am not going to complain.

After a big breakfast on Saturday, we headed over to Manzanita to watch all the dogs. Manzanita had literally gone to the dogs for the day with its annual Muttzanita Festival. Dogs dressed in crazy costumes and there was a parade. We took the grandgirls to see the parade, but they were less than impressed. Their idea of a parade is when we take the boat on the trailer and go through the streets of Manzanita on the 4th of July. That one lasts a couple of hours - this one lasted 5 minutes! There was also a ball toss down on the beach where the owner chucks a ball and the dog had to retrieve it and then come back and drop it at his owner's feet. That was really funny because some of the dogs would go after the tossed ball and then they would take off with it. Some even ran out into the ocean! There was also a game of musical chairs where the dogs (with their owners) walked in a circle and then had to stop and sit when the music stopped. Dave was there with his ham radio helping in case there were any emergencies, but everything seemed to run pretty smoothly.

Since it was really hot in the valley, most of our weather over the weekend was foggy and a little on the chilly side. But after Friday when the temperature was 95 degrees with an east wind blowing around here, the sudden drop of 30 degrees on Saturday felt pretty good to me.

Sunday, Bobbie took off with her sister to visit with their brother in Eugene for a couple of days and Lara, Greg and the grandkids all went home too. Dave and I gave each other "high fives", poured ourselves a drink and fell into our easy chairs. We love to see everyone, but it is nice to have a "time out" once in awhile too.

Bobbie returned on Tuesday and then left for her home in California on Thursday. She promised she would be back next year. I have to tell you about the goofy wind chime that Bobbie got for me. It is a big green bird and when the wind moves the bamboo pieces click together and the neck of the bird bobs up and down. It's hilarious to watch in action! I thought it would scare away all the other birds but every time I look out the window there is a hummingbird perched on the arm that operates the neck. So I guess it doesn't bother them any!

I felt like the watering queen on Wednesday. I was watering Donna Kahrs' plants while they were away in California. She has many, many, many plants as well as a rose garden to water. It takes me a good hour to do everything. Then I come home and water my own plants. On Wednesday, since I was already wet from all the watering, I decided to wash my windows on the outside. That took another couple of hours to do that but they are all sparkly again and we can actually see the view!

Since the weather has been on the cloudy and threatening to sprinkle a little rain, I decided to get busy with some late "spring cleaning". I cleaned out the refrigerator and oven this week. Since I have been outside doing a lot of yard work, I hadn't had a chance to get some of these jobs done. My oven was especially dirty since I do a lot of broiling. I also got all the bedding washed and ready for the next batch of guests.

Today we will be fasting, as we have to go into Tillamook to get our blood drawn for our annual cholesterol and my thyroid test. Dave hates to get his blood drawn, as he hates needles with a passion! But I will treat him to a big breakfast afterward.

Speaking of Dave, Jaysa was playing with his camera over the weekend and took this picture of her granddad. Since he's always the one taking photos and never gets his picture in here, we'll throw it in this one time!

This weekend should be rather quiet. We have plans to go to the Old Iron Show in Tillamook on Saturday and then to a Fish Fry later on. Paige is in another soccer tournament this weekend and it depends on how she does on Friday and Saturday whether she plays on Sunday. If so, we will probably try to catch her game on Sunday. Paige is so much fun to watch.

We got a call from Leslie's butcher and the pork we ordered is ready to be picked up. This is one of the pigs Ashtin raised for 4-H and we are sharing a half with the Kahrs. This is the first time we have done this so Leslie helped us through the process. I don't know how I will feel about eating "Roscoe" after seeing him before he met his demise. I guess if Ashtin can deal with eating a pig she has raised, then I should be able to do it too.

It doesn't seem possible, but we leave for our Alaska cruise in only two weeks!