This month's calendar Archives
April 1, 2011 (April Fool's Day)
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
The big question around here is when is it EVER going to stop raining?? This week alone, we have been pelted with heavy rainfall of more than 6" and it has been the longest time the area has gone without hitting 60 degrees - the average temperature on April 1st has been 70 degrees. It is bad enough that Tillamook County has the shortest period of warm days during the summer of any county in Oregon. We need all the "sun" we can get. The weatherman promised dry weather by yesterday but it didn't happen. In fact, we had another half-inch of rain on Thursday! I'm deciding whether to start building my ark. I'm going to need it if it doesn't stop raining! It has been very depressing (I need some Vitamin D) and after awhile I just want to drown out the sounds of the rain falling on the metal roof.
I finished up the last week of my Master Gardener's course on Tuesday. All I have left to do is turn in the exam that I have been working on for the past couple of weeks and then get a tour of the Extension office. We will have a big potluck next Tuesday and then report to the office about once a month after that to fulfill our obligation to answer questions from phone calls or from the clients who come in. Please pray that I don't have a difficult question because I don't feel that confident yet. Luckily, we will have an experienced person to guide us. Taking this course on Master Gardening has been a wonderful experience. It taught me how much I didn't know about gardening. I recommend it for everyone who has a year of their time to devote to this course because just taking the classes is only half of it. We still have to devote 30 hours in the office and another 30 hours of service to the community annually.
Two of my granddaughters, Jadyn and Jaysa made their local paper for "giving back" to the community during their Spring Break. You can read the story from the West Linn Tidings here They deserve the recognition for all their efforts. It has been a wonderful experience for them and high fives to their mother who came up with the idea and arranged everything. Needless to say - we are very proud!
Last week, I reported that the other two grandgirls were playing on the same soccer team for the first time. It's actually Ashtin's U-12 team, but Paige is on it too and she doesn't turn 9 for another week. So we figured that perhaps she was going to be slowed a bit because of the age difference. I got a report from her mother the other day - telling us that Paige had scored 5 of the 6 goals that her team had that day! So I don't know who is going to stop her...right now, the only one who can slow her down is her sister Ashtin...and they're playing on the same team! I'll keep you posted!
It was a fairly quiet week for us. With the lousy weather, we weren't able to get out and do much, so we did a lot of reading and homework and - when we got tired of that - honed our computer game skills. "Bejeweled" may be a total timewaster, but it does help to get one through a rainy day! One thing did happen last week - our mayor had to resign for health reasons, so Dave has been working around City Hall to help find a temporary replacement. He's working hard to find someone else to do it so HE doesn't wind up with the job!
I mentioned once before that we got a neat gift from our girls and their families - a three-play pass to the theater in Cannon Beach. We made reservations for the first of those plays this week; we'll see "Rough Crossing" in mid-April. We saw this play a few years ago in Ashland and loved it. It's a comedy that keeps you laughing the entire time, so we're looking forward to seeing it again.
Dave and I will be driving into town today for the Blazer game tonight. The Blazers have about five more home games before the playoffs and the way they have been playing, I don't think they are going to go far in the post season. We're hoping they do - because we get paid by the game!
We are planning on staying in town all weekend because Dave is also going to a "stag" party Saturday night. A bunch of guys from the Blazers are getting together for the evening and - knowing the group that will be there - I am sure there will be a variety of Single Malt Whiskey from Scotland to be sampled. There is another broadcast on Sunday and we will drive back home that evening. With the price of gas, it doesn't pay to drive back and forth too much. Speaking of the price of gas, for the first time in our lives we spent more than $100 to fill up our gas tank this week! Dave's Suburban has a big tank, so it holds a lot - but still - this was at Costco where we save 15 cents a gallon. Imagine what it would have been without that discount! I know I'm dating myself, but I can remember when gas was .25 a gallon. Those were the days!
One of our granddaughters - Jadyn - is having a birthday on Sunday. It is hard to believe that she is going to be eight. She and I usually go shopping and then go out to eat for her birthday. Another granddaughter - Paige, has a birthday on April 9th and she will be nine years old. I can't believe that either! We will have a BIG family birthday celebration for both girls next weekend.
