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April 8, 2011

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Call it bad karma or whatever, but we have sure been unlucky lately.

First of all, our laptop computer got a bad virus last Friday. I had the computer with me in West Linn and had to call Dave to tell him that it was coming up with all kinds of warnings that it had a nasty problem. So he had me shut it down and when he got home after the game, he checked it out and shut it right off again! We called a friend who deals with that kind of problem and within a day, he called to say that he had fixed it and that the problem was gone. So we brought it back home and fired it up - or at least TRIED to fire it up. Nothing. It wouldn't even turn on. So, back to the repair shop AGAIN and on Monday we got the bad news that the mother board was toast. Two totally unrelated problems that came up at the same time. So - we're now the owners of a new laptop - that really wasn't in the budget. It is okay, but I liked the old laptop better - the screen was larger and the mouse was easier to control. One good thing is that we will now be able to print from this laptop - something that we couldn't do before. So now we're trying to get into websites that we only had memorized before - and believe me - the old memory doesn't work as well as it used to! We'll eventually find everything again, but it may take a while.

Secondly, I went to my swimming class yesterday and parked in my usual spot. A few minutes later, one of the gals in our class came to me and told me that she had hit my car while she was trying to park! I couldn't believe it! We've had that car for three years and it still looks like it just came off the showroom floor. There isn't much body damage but there's about a two-square-foot space where the paint was scratched down to the metal on the front fender and bumper. So we contacted her insurance company and they agreed to pay for the repairs. I am glad for that but it will be an inconvenience not having my car for awhile (they did say we could have a rental until it is repaired).

Thirdly, Dave had put a wire cage around one of my bird feeders that only allowed the small birds in to feed. To my horror, one of the little sparrows got its foot tangled up in the wire and was dangling from it. I had to bring the whole cage in the house and free the bird with wire cutters. Unfortunately, he had fractured his leg while trying to get free. I call a friend of a friend who works with injured birds and she came and took the bird to the bird hospital. Hopefully, the leg will heal and the bird will be good as new again.

Now the good news! I am now a Certified Master Gardener. We had our final class on Tuesday and we went over our exams. I passed and they handed out our certificates. Now it is "give back" time which means I get to spend 30 hours over the next few months answering questions at the Extension Office. They scheduled me for one day a month at the office and then I'll be putting in some service hours at the learning garden and farmer's market. I'll also be helping out with the garden tour and tea that the Extension puts on each year. So it looks like a busy summer for me.

Dave had a broadcast on Tuesday, so he drove in to town and back that night. Usually by April, we have some nice spring weather, but that hasn't been the case this month. While he was at the game, he had to keep his eye on the computer to see how bad the weather was getting. He drove over the coast range in a driving snowstorm - something we usually see in December, not April! He said the good news was that no one else was crazy enough to make the trip, so he was still able to make pretty good time and was home by 1:00 AM.

We had houseguests last Monday. Our friends George and Margie from Redmond were spending a few days at the coast with their grandkids and stopped by for lunch. George designed a metal sign to mark the address on our driveway and wanted to bring it by. We still have some work to do to get it lit and mounted, but at least it's here.

The sun finally made an appearance on Thursday and I managed to get the lawn mowed. With all the rain we have had it was getting pretty long. I had fertilized it a couple of weeks ago which didn't help matters. It felt good to get outdoors for awhile and soak in some vitamin D.

This weekend we will be in West Linn again. Not only is there a Blazer broadcast but Saturday is one granddaughter's birthday and Paige will be nine. Last weekend was Jadyn's birthday and I took her out shopping at her favorite store and dinner at her favorite place, Red Robin. Paige and Jadyn have birthdays a week apart so we always try to celebrate them together. It also happens that Paige has a soccer game on her birthday and so we will be watching her play and then go out to dinner. On Sunday, we will get together and celebrate both Jadyn's 8th birthday and Paige's 9th birthday together.