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IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Here's what is happening in my neck of the woods.

We spent last weekend in town as Dave was invited to watch the Rose Cup races on Saturday. This is the first year in the past 35 that he hasn't been involved in the broadcast of the event. He had to meet his buddies for their production breakfast at 7:00 a.m. so it was easier just to go in Friday night and spend the night rather than get up at the crack of dawn and drive in on Saturday.

I also wanted to check out a nursery sale on the way in to town so we hitched up the trailer to the Jeep so we could load it up. When we got to the sale, they didn't have a lot of what I was looking for, so I just got a few things. It hardly made a dent in the space in the trailer and the wind from the highway was blowing too hard on them so we ended up stopping to put the plants in the back of the Jeep. Since the trailer was now empty, I had this brilliant idea to stop at "Nature's Needs" and get a big scoop of mulch for my flower beds. That was great except when we started up on the highway again, all of my mulch was blowing down the road! We ended up stopping to buy a tarp to cover it and by the time we got the tarp tied down, we were headed over to West Linn just in time for 5:00 traffic. It took us an hour and a half to get across town. If I remember right, it was Friday the 13th!

After Dave was done at the races on Saturday, he got back to West Linn in time for me to use the car to run some errands. I had to get my diamond earrings cleaned and checked to maintain the warranty. I also stopped to visit with my sister Judy for a while and then spent another 45 minutes at the Verizon store to see if they could figure out the Google Calendar for me for my new tablet. On Dave's smart phone he has the calendar set up so that all three families have access to our schedules. That way, Lara and Leslie can see what is going on and we can see what they are up to. It is really a pretty neat setup. Well, the young man who was waiting on me didn't have a clue and so I left Verizon 45 minutes later VERY frustrated. When I got back to West Linn, Dave took five minutes to set it up for me - which he SHOULD have done in the first place!

On Father's Day we headed down to Silverton to have a barbecue with the rest of the family. It was really nice to get together, especially since we all seem to have such busy schedules. This was the first Father's Day celebration that Dave has been able to participate in because every year he was busy broadcasting the races that weekend, so it was really special for the girls to have their Dad around. We got this picture of Leslie and Lara together and they were "photobombed" by Leslie's youngest - Paige!

Last week was kind of scary for Leslie's family. Somehow the back gate to their home was left ajar and their two dogs got out and were missing all night. They had the whole county on the lookout, even the sheriff's office. They all know Jason because he is a policeman and I'm pretty sure they sort of stick together in time of need. The sheriff got a call the next morning from someone who had spotted the dogs down by the river. Chip, who is a 7-year old Chocolate Lab and Harlie Sue, who is a 14-year old Yellow Lab, had spent the night huddled up next to a creek. Apparently, Chip could swim across okay but Harlie Sue just wasn't strong enough. So Chip stayed by Harlie Sue all night until they were rescued. Leslie had to ford the creek and help Harlie Sue cross. Needless to say they were a pair of cold, wet, hungry and tired dogs and were glad to be back home by the nice warm fire.

Monday, I volunteered for the Red Cross Blood Drive in Astoria. My job was to hand out the treats and juice after the clients had given blood. It was my first time doing this as a Red Cross volunteer, so I didn't know what to expect. I was out in a parking lot in a mobile truck so it was tight quarters but everything went smoothly. It was an all-day thing and since it was an hour away, I didn't get back home until after 6:00 p.m.

Dave has been researching new cars for the last few weeks and finally had narrowed it down to what he wanted. So on Tuesday, we headed into Beaverton to test drive a 2014 Ford Expedition. He ended up driving it home! It is a real beauty and fully loaded. It has a camera in the back so he can hitch up the trailer all by himself now (that alone is a feature I like. I spent too many years on the wrong end of that "hitching-up" process). It also has front and rear sensors so it beeps when you get too close to something. It has seat warmers, seat coolers, dual zone air conditioning and power folding seats in the rear cargo area. Dave is still trying to figure out all of the other features - I think that will take him weeks! We are hoping to use it to take a road trip sometime this fall (we don't have time before then), but haven't decided when or where. I do want to mention the young man who helped us at the dealership. If you ever need a Ford, go see Clint at Damerow Ford. He's a good guy. Besides, as of yesterday he now reads this journal!

Since we had hauled the mulch home in the trailer, I have been busy spreading it on my flowerbeds. That is most the labor that I have been doing this week. I got that last load done last night so we can now get a load of bark dust today and I can spread that around. I've been working extra hard at making the place look good over the past few weeks. Each year, our garden club has an open house of a few members' gardens and this year, I'm on the list. They'll be here next week, so this is a last-minute effort to get the place looking its best. Hopefully, the yard work is getting completed, but you know what? It will soon be time to start all over again!