Beavers Win the Game, but Lack in Graciousness

I'm going to whine a bit here, but it's my blog and I don't care.
Late this afternoon, people were gathering to greet the OSU football team. It was hot and the band had been practicing for the last two hours (without any water.) As the busses filled with the football team approached, fans were cheering and the band played. As everyone was showing their excitement for the upcoming game, the players did not show one iota of appreciation for those fans. Instead, there were no waves, no smiles, no eye contact.
I guess they were focusing on the game ahead. But seriously, these kids ought to have learned some manners and at the very least waved to the fans who awaited their arrival.

~ch (always a Beaver fan through and through.)

A Conversation in the Car With Thing 2.

Thing 2: Mom, did you know that you sleep half your life away? I mean, that's kind of sad that you miss half of your life, but sleeping's awesome.

CH: What would you rather do... Live for 40 years and never sleep, or live 80 years with sleep?

T2: 80 years with sleep, cuz I like to sleep. What if we lived 40 years with all sleep?

CH: Think of how sore you'd be.

T2: You wouldn't know you were sore, because you would be asleep.

CH: Well, think about it... how could we even exist if all there was was sleep?

T2: Oh yea. I guess the boys would have to be awake.

CH: ewwwweee!

I Do Not Like to Cook.

It's 4:30 and that means people in my family are going to want to eat dinner (again...) and I do not like to cook.

I wish one of my kids had the desire and ability to take on this chore. I would clean up, that's no problem... in fact, I kind of enjoy that part.

I don't enjoy cooking and then doing the cleaning up afterward. This dislike of spending too much time in my kitchen could put me on the bad mother list, but I'm willing to take that chance.

I like being in my kitchen... It's a lovely kitchen and that's why I don't mind cleaning it, because it looks nice when it's done. I'm this way about my car, only worse.

Side note: My car is mine and no one should make it unnecessarily dirty. If this does however occur, whomever dirtified said vehicle should be prepared to suffer my wrath. I also understand this could be considered a mental disorder, because my children are kind enough to fill me in on this fact.

Back to my rant...
I REALLY don't like cooking dinner.

~ch

Amazing Juggling Finale

Chris Bliss performing an amazing juggling routine. As a musician, I appreciate this sooo much! One of my favorite bits is at about 1 minute 13 seconds into it and he follows the violin line. There are other good parts too, but I'm nerdy like that. ~ch

I Wish My List Were Longer

I had great plans for this summer... some I have accomplished, some I have not. Two things on the list that have gone untouched that are starting to bug me a bit are:

1. My books I have read list contain two books. TWO? What a loser.

2. I haven't painted the living room. It's bare and boring and shows no personality whatsoever. Maybe it's not that bad, but I aspire for it to be different.

My time has been filled up with other stuff that I've had loads of fun doing. For me, the end of summer is bittersweet. I love the freedom of time and warm weather. I love teaching. So, in the end, all is good.

~ch

Thursday Things...

Register Thing 2 for school.

Buy new sticks for Thing 1.

Haul drums.

Take Thing 2 to work and pick up 2 hours later.

I'd like to go to Eugene this afternoon to look at glasses (optical, not drinking)... The poor quality of choices in Corvallis leaves me no choice.

I also have work to do of my own... dang, I don't have time to work... "Things" are keeping me busy.

~ch

My Deer Husband

So this is how it went... I woke up this morning and wandered over to the computer (as I do every morning, to read the paper) and I hear this screaming. It sounds like it's coming from a child running through the woods. I look out of the window and there's a deer standing out back, on the other side of the fence. She doesn't want to leave and she's obviously upset. I walk downstairs to see my husband (wonderfully heroic husband (and handsome too)) heading to the back yard. Now we see what's happening... A baby deer was caught in-between our fence post and the neighbors fence. DH goes over to the baby and soothes it until it stops screaming and lifts it up (with his huge man arms) and give it back to the mama deer. A happy ending.

~ch

So Very Itchy...

I've got poison oak... I itch. I have scrapes all over my legs (blackberries)...not attractive. Yet, when I pick thing 2 up from work today, she's going to ask..."wanna go caching?" Heck yeah!

I'm glad I don't have an expensive hobby (addiction), but my skin is totally paying for it.

~ch

What, I'm Looking Forward to School? Oh Yeah!

So far this summer...

I've made stronger friendships.
Learned how to Geocache.
Thing 1 has his first girlfriend (who is wonderful.)
Brother-in-law has announced he will be married (she is also wonderful.)
Thing 2 took 4th place at a horse trial in Washington state.
Our family went to Europe (Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.)
I've gotten to play in concerts with Mr. Hippy.
I've played lots of music with friends.
Spent a weekend in Pacific Grove visiting my parents.
Spent several days in Deschutes County.

As I look at this list, I am I am OK with school beginning.

I watched POV last night and was inspired by teacher Rafe Esquith. I have ideas for the new year and I hope I am a better teacher this year than last.

That's all,
~ch

The Day After...

Yesterday couldn't have been more perfect on the river. Having gone on a Monday, the river was pretty much ours for the float. There was one guy on a noisy jet ski, who flew by us, circled round, stopped and stared at us and then took off again...whatever... the river was ours.

We paddled down to the Buena Vista Ferry and it was lovely. The trip was only 11 miles (having launched at Takena), but my arms were sore last night.

I took a picture on my phone, but for some reason, I am unable to bring it up on this post...dang.

I'm glad my arms feel better today. Tomorrow I get to play music with two groups of friends and I need my arms!

Kayaking today...

I'm off for a day of kayaking. I have got to get into better shape... I keep meeting wonderful people who invite me to join in on the fun : )
Back in the day, while dating Mr. Hippy I actually was a kayak guide. 17 years later, we'll see how I hold up.

~ch

To Ms. Amber

OK Ms. Amber... This is for you : )

Caching, or Geocaching is a "sport" where by use of coordinates, one searches for treasure. You can go onto Geocaching.com and get a pretty good idea. You can also check here.

Most people use a global positioning system (GPS), but some prefer to look at a map and use all the information available to them to find the booty.

It goes somewhat like this. I go to the geocaching site and look up where caches are located. I plug in the coordinates and hit the trail. Sometimes I'm lucky and find the cache, sometimes not... that's the fun. Also, I get to spend loads of time with my kids, friends and sometimes my husband. Though, since he doesn't have his own gps, he is rather bored when we go out.

Some people don't give the coordinates, but give you a mind bending puzzle to figure out the location. This is where the really smart people and me separate! Someday maybe, I'll be able to figure out how to collate acrostic : )

One of the strange things I have found is that this game is rather addicting. And as I sit here in beautiful Oregon with the sun setting, I'm thinking..."do I have time to get just one more in?" Sick, right?

You should go and give it a try. I own a Garmin etrex. It's one of the least expensive gps units around (>$100) and all the joy of hiking and using my brain!

Thanks for asking!

~ch

Look Out...

Thing 1 is behind the wheel! Thing 1 and his carnivorous mother went to the DMV for the third time in as many weeks...ugh.

With thing 1s extra time around the house the last couple of weeks, he has had some time to study and take the on-line practice tests... what d'ya know... studying works.

He is now the proud owner of a "permit to drive" with his parents. It's no understatement to say that he was thrilled with himself and wanted to drive home.

We went the long way. The way with the least traffic. The way that if he went off the road, we would be in a grass field way. The good way.

He drove masterfully. I let him drive my friend and I out caching and to pick up thing 2 from the barn and I am alive to tell the tale.

Oh yea, he also got away with making the coolest face on his permit. When I tried to do that for my license, they made me do a "do over." I'm happy he got to make his face and keep it.

As for caching yesterday... oh yes, I got the green jeep : )

See you on the road,
~ch

Up Late...Again.

I was just about asleep, then the phone rang. It's 11:00, that must mean something bad right? No, it means that I have children whose friends don't look at the clock before dialing... With my heart racing (phone is located next to my bed) I tried to get back to that sleepy state. Instead, I lay there listening to my pulse and thinking of my latest obsession...geocaching.

Naturally, as one does when one cannot sleep, one plans... this one would like to find a green travel bug jeep. So, I get up and do a search... I now know where there is one and it's less than seven miles from my home. I'm fighting the urge to go right now and will wait until the morning. But then I think...how many others are out there wanting that jeep? Maybe I should go now.

This "sport" is a lot of fun, especially when I go with my Things and my friend BW. So, I can't go right now, I'll wait. But if BW is reading this... and you want to go... you know what to do, I can be ready in 5 minutes : )

I need to go to sleep so I can get up extra early...

~ch

How Strong is your Finger?

70 year old monk can stand on one finger.... would you like to see him do it?
~ch

The Sounds of Silence

There are people who enjoy their time alone. Some just want quiet. I am neither one of those. Tonight, I am on my own (with the exception of my big scary dog!!) I had all sorts of ideas of what I could do... You know, all those fun things you can think of doing, but then you can't because you have obligations at home. So, here I sit... In front of my computer googling old friends and teachers (and even a few mystery family members) when I should be out on the town whoopin' it up. This is a waste of good "whoopin" time.

I just got off the phone with out-of-town DH. He has taken thing 1 with him on his trip. I'm happy that the two of them are getting to spend this time together... But I'm missing some serious percussion around here! Thing 1 is an excellent musician and practices hours a day. I've had people tell me that they would never let their child play the drums because of all the noise...NOISE? When its good, it's not noise. Thing 1 may be under house arrest, but that is one thing I wouldn't deny him.

I just finished listening to Poulenc's Double Piano Concerto...Very cool. O.K. That's something I probably wouldn't get away with doing in the evening if both things were home. Hey, I guess I whooped. In an extremely nerdy way, but there was whoopin' none the less.

~ch

Fun at the Fair!

Hi Everybody,

I just got back from a fun filled two days at the Deschutes County Fair ! I was there supporting my favorite presidential candidate Michael Smith. While there, I met many people who were interested in hearing about "this guy."

The fair grounds were very nice. Our booth sat directly in front of a small pond with a waterfall, so we all had a nice view as well. Many people were receptive and wanted to hear more. One lady picked up a card and asked me if Mr. Smith was a believer... hmmm... believer in what? In the end, she threw her card at the table and walked off. Oh well, you can't please everyone ; )

I spent the evening having girl time with thing 2. We ate pizza and watched a movie and visited with a friend. Thing 1 and his dad were out having guy time and that's good, because they probably wouldn't have liked our movie... Eulogy.

Tomorrow night, it's Fiddler on the Roof.

Wow, it's almost midnight....

g'night,
~ch