Having Fun @ Boggywoggy's Expense...

I just saw that on my last post, I had 12 comments (11 from you.)
Here's a crappy post to keep you happy for about 12 seconds. Then I can only assume, I won't write anything for a while and you'll have more to comment on...
So, have a good day and enjoy the 12 seconds.
~ch

Parenting; Working; Surgery.

All of these things have taken the front seat over my blog upkeep.

Parenting two teens is fairly difficult. Thank God I'm not a single parent, because I would be deep into a depression about now. We just keep loving them and hoping for the best.

Work has been keeping me busy. I love my job. I'm one of the lucky ones. I work with amazing children and parents and sometimes I get so caught up, that I'm unable to write in my blog.

I'm having a wee bit of surgery this Friday. My knee has really started bugging me again. I went to have an MRI and discovered that there were several operable things to be done. I do wish I had had an MRI previously.

Anywho, that's what's up with me.

ch.

Whatever...

I'm not having a good week (weight wise...)
I went and purchased a digital scale. It turns out that my when I weigh myself in stones, I weigh about 10 lbs less than I do on a digital scale. I am so bummed. I'm starting again using only the digital scale. I feel like such a fat ass.
ch

Stuff I've Been Messing Around With Today

I'm having a great day! I've been dehydrating the pears.... here's a picture of some that are dry. In the dehydrator are Asian pears. I wanted to buy some more trays for the thingy, but the store was out of stock. Little by little.

Here's a picture of some of my plants that I haven't yet killed.

BoggyWoggy and I went to a local nursery today and she helped me pick out some succulents. I have always loved the look of them, but have never had the courage to grow them.

Here's a picture of one of my hanging baskets... Notice, these too are still alive!!

On a side note... I do solemnly swear I am up to no good this evening.

~ch

I Have Pears

I have pears from our yard. We didn't plant these trees, they were grandfathered in... I don't like pears too much, but I thought I try and do something with them this year.

I searched online for how to can pears, but then I read you need to be really careful, or you can get botulism. I suppose that can happen with any sort of canning, but it was enough to scare me off.

So, I've decided to dry them...

I went to the backyard and sliced up the pears and dunked the slices in apple juice to keep them from browning. Then I just placed the pear slices into the dehydrator... I hope they turn out!

~ch

Here I Go.

Today's the "Diet Kick-Off " day. I weighed myself this morning when I woke up... yuck. Then I went downstairs to the computer to find a "Stone to Pounds Converter" and converted.

I'm not quite ready to share the actual weight, but I will share my ups and downs. I know it's probably more motivating if I put the numbers down for all to see, but I'll try this first. I find it rather motivating not wanting to put myself in that position, so we'll see.

Today = 0
Goal = -52

I will weigh myself every Saturday morning with the goal of losing 1 pound per week for 52 weeks (1 year.) My children say that I should try to go for more than 1 pound, but I want to set attainable goals and I think I'd be happy losing 52 pounds : )

~ch

Chewin' the Fat...

I have talked with my friend, who also happens to be a dietitian, about losing weight. I've been thinking about this for quite a while, but with my bum knee, it makes it difficult to get in the exercise that I want to get in. So... my friend's got me figured out.

She says that I should aim to lose 1 pound per week. I didn't think that sounded like a lot, but when put into the context of a year, that's 52 pounds!

This is how it's going to work. I weigh myself (naked) on Saturday mornings and I check in with my friend (who will also be doing the diet.) If I (or she) has lost at least 1 pound, great! However, if I (or she) has gained, or hasn't lost, $5 goes into the kitty. At the end of the year, the biggest loser gets the kitty, or we'll both take it and go have fun : )

That's the plan man. I'm debating on posting my weight on the blog, but my courage only goes so far. We'll see.

I'd like to have a scale that measures me in pounds. As it is, I can only tell how many stones I weigh.

A motivated,

~ch

Oregon Dressage Society at Lake Oswego

It was a good weekend for Thing 2. She's never came away with a haul quite like this before... It's not about the awards, but it sure does feel good to know you did well. She had a great time and is understandably exhausted. ~ch

More on the Lake Oswego Dressage Event

This isn't Thing 2 either.... BUT.... Thing 2 took 2nd place in the first two rides and FIRST in the 3rd ride of the day!
I'm not about the placing. In fact, I would be boasting about her with whatever her score turned out to be. It just happens to be that she's wonderful.
Tomorrow, I'll include actual pictures of the wonderful Thing 2 and her ribbons... and her horse.
Good night everyone,
~ch

Thing 2

(this isn't Thing 2, but this is what she looks like on a horse)

Today my daughter (AKA Thing 2) is riding in a dressage competition at the Lake Oswego Hunt Club. Today's competition is only a practise for tomorrows recognized event. She requested that her dad and I not come up for both days, but just come to the Sunday show.

So far today, she's called me twice. The first time was right after the first ride where she said "I started out good and only got better!" She was very excited.

The second call was after her second ride and after all of the riders scores were posted. She said she place 2nd (!!) on the first ride and though she didn't feel that she did as well on the second, she placed 2nd again (!!!) She has one more ride to compete in today. I love it when she's happy.

I'm looking forward to going up there tomorrow and watching in person!

~ch

My Summer and Golf

This is the first installment to answering Boggywoggy's list of things I'm into.

This summer, I decided to take a Corvallis Parks and Recreation course in golf. I was very excited, because I thought, if I liked it, it would be a good way for me to get in exercise. I don't like to exercise to exercise. I like to have competition and a goal.

I've strayed...

Back to the P&R class. We met for 5 days for almost an hour. We practised hitting with different clubs etc. But on the last day, I was sad because we never got to play a game. I asked our teacher if we could play and he said "no." He also explained that Trysting Tree is really set up for men and that I would find it too stressful. All this did was piss me off. So, I called Marysville Golf Club and talked with one of the owners who invited me to join the Marysville Ladies Club. The idea scared the crud out of me, but I did it anyway. I'm so glad I did it. The ladies are wonderful, I'm getting better with my game, plus I'm getting a wee bit of exercise!

I'm planning on playing at Trysting Tree sometime before school begins. I think I can handle the stress...sheeesh.

I'm a bit sad that the season is coming to an end. I hope to be able to keep working on getting better for next summer.

Just one more thing to add to my list of nerdy things I like.

~ch

Keeping my Mouth Shut.

I am a parent of two great kids. Thing 1 is my experiment kid. I seem to do everything wrong on him and learn for Thing 2. Anyway, Thing 2 had great advise for me last evening. She said, "mom, no offense, but we've been hearing you and dad talk at us all our lives." "Sometimes, we don't want to hear you." "I think you should watch and listen and see what happens."

I'm trying.

ch

No Word on NW Corvallis Power Outage...

The Corvallis Gazette-Times doesn't have an article, nor did I hear anything on the radio... so what's up? Last night around 8pm, our family was eating on the back patio and my daughter looked up and said "hey, is the power out again?" Sure enough... Lights didn't come back on until 1:30am. Maybe I just missed hearing it on the news, or our area is just not news worthy.

So, whadya think? Will Corvallis see it's own baby boom?

~ch

My Patronus and Other Stuff...

Your Patronus would be an Otter!
Take this quiz!

So, my patronus would be an otter? That's cool, I like otters.

The summer has flown by and I've not accomplished a whole heck of a lot. Though, in the past two days I've managed to scrub the outside banisters, clean bathrooms and get some laundry done. I suspect it's because school is around the corner. I actually woke up worrying about school this morning. Speaking of school... I need to head to one of the outlet malls and pick up some new school clothes.

This summer, though seemingly dull, has had its moments... I'll share....
Thing 1s band Hooray! Hooray! won the DaVinci Days Battle of the Bands and they put on a great show at the final performance. Boggywoggy got on my case because I didn't post one of the videos, so here it is...




If you want to see more of Hooray! Hooray! you can find them on youtube! Search for Hooray! Hooray! Corvallis, or Hooray! Hooray! of Montreal (this one will give you another video.)


Thing 2 has been preparing for a horse show this weekend in Lake Oswego. She rides dressage and is fairly fabulous at it! I don't have a youtube of her yet, but maybe I can figure out how to work the camera so I can! She has been reading like crazy this summer too.



My husband is still on the campaign trail, though he wasn't invited to Iowa, dang! He has built some lovely steps in out back yard. He ripped out the wood (it was slippery in the winter and it turned out it was gross and rotted too) and replaced the steps with big herkin' stones.













As for me... I have been loving my time at home this summer. I've taken up golf and have joined the Marysville Ladies Club. I've never understood the attraction to the game before. I thought it must be the worlds most boring game, but au contrair mon ami... it's addictive and stinking fun : ) I've even won a little bit of money that paid for my new cool golf shoes.
I have been geocaching only a few times with Boggywoggy and not too much on my own.

My arm is starting to hurt, so I think I'll quit for now.

Later,
~ch

da Vinci Days Weekend 2007

Howdy everyone,

I know I'm not following my list yet... but will get to that soon. For now I'd like to share a little about the Art Music and Technology weekend held here in Corvallis, Oregon; da Vinci Days. I (with my very good friend) volunteered in the GeoCaching booth and helped people understand what the "sport" is about. If you're unclear, see my post "Thar Be Buried Treasure in Them Hills! Arrrgh!"

However, my absolute favorite part of the festival was watching the Battle of the Bands! The winner of this years battle was Hooray! Hooray! They competed against many of the same bands in the Linn Benton Teen Idol contest, but as they were judged by musicians at this event, their skills were recognized. Winning this contest meant they got to perform as the last group of the festival. The crowd was large and were appreciative of the music...loads of fun!

I felt bad for the poor guy in charge of sound though, as he was told the band should play no longer than 4:50, but 5 0'clock rolled around and Hooray! Hooray! was having too much fun to stop. The sound was turned off and the crowd cheered the band to play on... sound on, and the audience was singing along to Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." The concert ended and the audience and band felt exhilarated!

As soon as the youtube video's are out, I'll post them.

Hooray! Hooray! for wonderful weekends!
~ch

In Response to the Last Comment Left...

I haven't posted in a while. Truth is, I don't like writing... I'm a bit of a talker.
To add to that, I'm a right-brained talker, so try to keep up.
Anyway, as I haven't posted in a while, one of my 6 or so readers felt compelled to update my blog for me. I appreciate this as it's given me a starting point.

POSTED BY BOGGYWOGGYS CACHE:
Since CH isn't updating with any new posts, let me fill in.

1st of all, I'll describe her addictions:
1. golf
2. stringed things
3. trombones
4. geocaching
5. reading music perfectly
6. beer
7. sex (I don't know for sure, but I think she's crazy in this realm!)
8. friendships
9. her children
10. her husband (refer back to #7)
11. Stouffers Frozen Lasagna
12. spending money
13. eye glasses

END COMMENT

It seems that BoggyWoggy knows me all too well and has written a fairly comprehensive list as to what interests me... though, I do take issue with the order that the list places my interests. For example, eye glasses are much further up the list than Stouffers Frozen Lasagna. Also, I hope my family is above geocaching and golf : )

So, it is now my intent to write on each of these subjects and its significance to me.

If you find this of interest to you, hold on tight cuz I'm gonna write.

Can you believe I just wrote that?

The missing,
~ch

OK Boggywoggy, here's my power color!

Your Power Color Is Gold

At Your Highest: You are engrossed in passions that mentally stimulate you. At Your Lowest: You seek thrills and neglect what's important in your life. In Love: You see dating as adventure and approach it with an open attitude. How You're Attractive: Your passion for life makes others passionate about you. Your Eternal Question: "Am I Having Fun?"

What's Your Power Color?

Natures Garden Snips

Here's my rose bush getting dead headed this morning.

Ragtime at the Majestic

Last night, thing 2 and I went to see the Corvallis Community Theater's (CCT) production of Ragtime. This was a large production and they pulled it off beautifully. The strong opening number pulled me into the show. I was halfway expecting to not enjoy the story, as I knew it was about race relations and had a dark theme. What I mean by that is... when I go out I want to be entertained and keep things rather light-hearted. I still have not seen Schindler's List because of this. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, the story line, the actors and the musicians. Strongest musicians... Tuba, cello and clarinet.

Congratulations to the production team for pulling off a wonderful show!

The Happy CH

My Favorite Band...

My favorite band was eliminated last night. I'm sad for them because they didn't show off their best work...oh well live and learn.

Mystifying judges comments included "I don't know who you are. You play so many different types of music... you need to find an identity." Translated: You're too versatile. In any other music competition, this would be a good thing.

The other judge said he liked the first piece better than the second. I agree with this. Their second tune was not well received by the audience. They had a guest "singer" join them. He basically screamed into the microphone... you couldn't understand anything.

If they had picked a piece that would have featured their guitarist and drummer they would still be in the competition. Their musicianship far outweighs some of those who are still in the competition.

No sour grapes here. They will continue to play great music and like every other music group in the world, the will play some crumby stuff too.

Still a Hooray! Hooray! fan,

ch

Benton County Teen Idol Pre-Review

Tonight brings the next installment of the Linn Benton County Teen Idol contest. It's no secret that I'm a Hooray! Hooray! fan... That band is fun to watch and they have loads of charisma. The pieces they write are filled with meter and dynamic changes that keep the audience engaged in the performance. They also play several different styles... last week they performed a Led Zeppelin piece and then a blues work as well. When I hear bands play the same style over and over, I tend to get bored. I look forward to hearing what they come up with for this evening. It would be wonderful if this band made a CD, I would buy it.

There's 3 other bands who are also playing this evening. One seems as though they are community college students. They asked the audience to stand up. I didn't like that. If their music moves me to dance, then I'll stand. In the meantime, please don't ask for adulation's... I'll give them freely when deserved.

Another band, Idacrast did fairly well. The bass player interested me the most...not because of his hopping around, I just liked the bass line. This is a pretty good band.

The final band last week sang so completely off pitch, I felt bad for them. Interestingly, the judges had nothing to say about that. Perhaps they understand that this is really an OK band that just had an off night.

Regarding the judges... I notice a big improvement in their critiques from 2 years ago, as they are becoming slightly more critical. I would like to hear more specifics from them to the performers. "Pitchy" is not a specific area in which one could look to and improve. The students need to know where and how (specifically) they could improve. I am exceedingly happy that these people volunteer to do this (most likely thankless) job. And true, as a serious musician, I will be more critical than the average fan in the audience...sorry!!

The face of Jesus?

Well, I wouldn't have believed it could happen in my own home, but I've got proof. As thing 2 was preparing her after school snack, she peeled back the foil lid on an unopened cream cheese container... We couldn't believe our eyes.

Uncanny. I think I'll post it on eBay!

ch

Am I Typical?

Mothers day is just around the corner. It's one of those holidays that I don't pay much attention to, and as such, or just in addition to, neither does my family.

That's fine with me... As I age, I find that I really don't care much for holidays. This really hit home this past Christmas. I was not excited about buying presents. I'm not (nor is my family) Christian, so why do we celebrate Christmas? Is it peer pressure, because we as parents feel this is a fun thing for kids? Easter is another one of those holidays that I have no connection to whatsoever... I liked coloring eggs with my kids when they were younger, but that was about it. Easter actually creeps me out a bit... and here is where I might get some not so friendly comments. Easter to me is a time where Christians celebrate a man rising from the dead...seriously, ewweee. I have NO desire to be a witness to any sort of dead rising from the grave. And don't get me started on "eating flesh and drinking blood..."

Valentines... forget it. Love me today, love me tomorrow, that's all I ask. Oh, and maybe dinner out now and then.

Same with Mothers day... If I'm your mom, you can love me on all days. But if you insist on buying my a present, I'd like to have a Wii.

~ch

Last Nights Ballyhoo, Falderah, Shindig...

Yesterday the Corvallis Youth Symphony performed their final concert of the season with guest artist Gavin Bondy. Gavin is a trumpet player and is a member of Pink Martini and is the band leader of The Shanghai Woolies. It was a good concert, but it really shined when he played jazz... I wish there had been more! The kids, as usual did a fantastic job. They work so hard to put these concerts together... I wish I had the opportunity to play with a group like this when I was in High School.

Afterwards, we went to dinner at an overpriced eatery here in Corvallis... Service was slow and as I said, it was over priced for what we had gotten. I'll stick to eating lunch there, but I'm done with dinner for a while. I will name the restaurant if asked, but for now, I'll try and be discrete.

ch

You know, yacking about my day.

Today is the first Saturday where I've had nothing (NOTHING) planned. I got up, made coffee, cleaned the counters, read my email. The day was gorgeous and I started by going into the back yard and deciding what I wanted to tackle. I decided weeding would be my best bet, as we had a load of bark dust delivered yesterday, I knew that my handsome husband would want to get the pile out of the driveway.

This evening I took a few pictures to share...

This is a yellow flower I planted in my blue pot. This is a stack of rocks... I like to stack rocks.

I weeded here. In the background there are gooseberry bushes that I hope the deer won't eat.

This is a ceramic turtle looking into a pot and on the right is a big ass bumble bee that caught my eye.

Here is my four-eyed snail. I got it in Ireland and I love it.

Here's a vining rose...ta da!

I planted baskets too.

Have I bored you enough?

Love,

The Domestic Hippy

Really? No. Really?

Have you ever opened the newspaper to find that YOU are hosting an event that you had NO CLUE about? That's what happened today. These are the sort of things make life interesting! Imagine what it must be like being a celebrity and being followed around by the paparazzi and reading the stories about you. Depending on your outlook, you could find this amusing, retarded, or just plain annoying.
I kind of find today's incident amusing now. Earlier this morning, I was annoyed, but quickly got over that. We'll have a retraction in the paper and all will be right with the wold.
ch

I'm not happy today.

Two posts in one day. I've had a bad parenting weekend. There was quite a bit of arguing and a lot of tears (mostly mine.)
I'm at the point where I can only give so much before I'm broken. It seems that whatever I do is either not enough, not right, dumb, not fair, or all of the above. I'm tired and worn out and I need to go to work to get energized.
This weekend...
I've driven T1 to Portland for rugby.
Put gas in his car.
Bought him lunch.
Driven him to Eugene for more rugby.
Changed my schedule around so I could go and watch.
I'm told...
I don't want you at my event(s.)
I just need you to drive.
I only want one parent in the car at a time with me.
Can I have some money?
Why don't we celebrate me?
I don't want to celebrate with you guys. All you want to do is suck cream out of a trough.
Seriously, I'm tired.
ch

Show us your Weeness!

I have discovered the world of Wee, or should I say "Weeworld?" Weeworld is a unique way to communicate with your friends. Much like Myspace, you invite friends to your page. I've created my own Wee me and was unashamedly entertained by myself. Look at the picture... that's my WeeMee! I'm not usually dressed up like that, but I do wear something very similar to work in the evenings. That last sentence makes me sound a lady of the evening...oooh, mysterious.

I quickly got my husband to make one, then Thing 2. Thing 1 was busy and cannot be bothered with such trifles ; ) Boggywoggy joined in and so did her fishy husband... Vita, where are you?

Anyway, I like the Weeness thing and I forgot... you can Dance Dance Revolution with your WeeMee!

Oh the joy,

ch

Mean People Suck

Give this guy a trumpet, and there's my evening.

If you're in a bad mood, feel free to be mean and grumpy to people who love you know matter what... that's not me.

~ch

Benton County Teen Idol

Well, it's here... another spring and another round of the Benton County Teen Idol. Thing 1 and his band Hooray! Hooray! are playing this year. Two years ago, the amazing Normans played and I was baffled how the judges came up with their winners, but ... 'tis water under the bridge ; )

I wasn't able to make it to the performance at the Venetian Theater in Albany (because I had a different gig and I didn't get out in time) but, from what my husband tells me... the bands are pretty good and it won't be a cakewalk.

I'm looking forward to this Friday at OSU's Milam Hall. At least, I think that's when he's playing next. Being the parent of a teen, I now understand that I won't really know anything until the last possible minute and even then, I need to feel grateful that I was let into the loop at all.

Other bands that are playing are...

The Nobles (Nice kids from CHS)

This Just In (I think from Albany)

Idacrast (I don't know this one, but hear they're pretty good)

The Obvious (Don't know...)

Secluded Corner (More nice kids from CHS)

Go and check out our local talent if you get a chance... Some of it's fairly good. Some of it's fairly awful. Some of the judging is fairly awful too, but they are volunteers and I appreciate their efforts. I do wish they would get judges who know music and can really give a good critique. But, I think my readers know I'm probably too picky in that department...

I'll finish this post with a congratulations to all contestants, as it takes a great deal of strength to stand up in front of their peers and strut their stuff for all to see... and be judged! Good luck to all of them!!

~ch

PS. Hooray! Hooray!

Only 4 Hours of Sleep

I know there are plenty of people out there who do this all the time. I'm not one of them. I need to sleep. Last night, I stayed up waiting for Thing 1 to come home before curfew (midnight on non-school nights) and when he did, I was caught up online buying sunglasses. Didn't head to bed until after 1. Though, I did buy some great frames that are over $200 at the opticians and I found the same frame on eBay for $59. Yea for me!

At 5am, the wonder dog heard a noise and needed to protect us. Our family does not subscribe to the Gazette Times, but that doesn't stop the noisy car that comes into our neighborhood at an early hour. Sometimes the person has to get out of the car and that means I'm up early.

I'm going to try and go back to bed soon.

~ch

Trying to Keep Up...

The next month and a half, or so will be fairly hectic for me. I have several concerts in the next month and I can already notice a change in my personality during rehearsals... I no longer have time to hear a story about someones day (during rehearsal), not that I really ever did, but I try to be pleasant. No more nice teacher, I'm that mean Mrs. Hippy....grrrr.

I felt terrible yesterday, as I made a really wonderful kid cry. She played something really well and I asked her to do it again. She thought she didn't do it well enough and that's why she had to give it another go. I actually get along great with the students and I really do love them. I wish some of them were a bit less sensitive though. I'm tainted by my own kids, who I can tease mercilessly and they give it right back.

One of my observations while living abroad was that our school system coddles our children. Is this good? Does coddling our children set them up for disappointment in the real world? If they live in Corvallis, is this the real world, or do we live in a protective bubble?

What are your thoughts?

~ch

Hey, Butt Face!

Yesterday I had a terrible case of allergies. I couldn't breath for most of the night and when I woke up, my eyes were stuck together....gross.

After the boys went to rugby and the girl went to her lesson, I went down to Rice's Pharmacy. I like Rice's, as it's one of the only normal pharmacies in town. We used to have a nice one down town, but that went away when Safeway bought out their pharmacy division.

I digress...

I'm standing in line at Rice's. I wait a loooong time, but it's worth it to me to know that I am supporting a local business and not some mass chain store. When it's my turn, I ask the pharmacist what she could suggest as a quick remedy to my breathing problem. She's very helpful and I head off to the aisle to pick up the recommended items. When I return to the counter to make my purchase, I'm asked by another (rather young) person working behind the counter "how are you feeling today?" The sarcastic person inside me says to say... "What? I feel freaking marvelous. That's why I've stood here for the last half hour sucking snot into my brain. Thanks for asking!" Instead, I say... "I'm stuffed and itchy, thanks." After a short amount of time, the same woman says..."You know, you can apply Preparation H to the bags under your eyes to reduce swelling." It is at this time I look up to see a very shocked looking pharmacy staff. I said, "Do I have bags under my eyes too?!" She said, "Oh no! I was just giving you information for future use!" Yea, right.

I went to my car and examined my face thoroughly. It's not every day one gets told to put hemorrhoid cream on their face. I am grateful she gave me something to write about...Woo-hoo for shopping locally!

~ch

It's Spring Break!

and I'm doing dishes and laundry....ewweeee.

I'll admit it, I'm a tad spoiled. I grew up in beautiful warm, dry Palm Springs. When Spring Break was upon us, we high school kids would load up in a car and head downtown to "cruise" Palm Cyn. Dr. and scam (I'm using my retro 80s term here....) for college guys. We'd usually end up at a party (or two) at one of the many hotels where the kids were taking over the pool area.

One Spring Break, my mom (who had a store right on Palm Cyn. Dr.) let us bring in lawn chairs and a cooler of drinks and sit in the display window. She had a great time with us, as we held up ranking cards "0-10" letting the boys know where they fell on the "hot spectrum."

On another spring break, we took one of my friends dads truck. We rolled out of the driveway and pushed for a block, so he wouldn't hear us start it up...she never got caught. I would never have done that to my mom, she trusted me and I didn't want to blow it.

I'm here in Oregon... there's a light mist in the air and I need to play. I want to break some rules.

This is Not a Dog Blog...

But, as requested... here's a picture of Arlo.

Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Ocean swimmer. Sock chewer. Butter eater.

Loves his family.

No Blind Dog for us.

I just heard that the owners of the mystery St. Patricks day blind doggie have contacted Heartland Humane Society and little "Patrick" will be headed home with his family later today. This is good news for "Patrick" and his family, but I was just kind of getting excited about having another dog in the house to keep Arlo company...

Obviously, I won't be able to post a picture of the little one, but maybe I'll revisit the humane society and who see else might like to have a buddy : )

Hey...3 posts in one week!? What must I be thinking?

ch

What happened last night...

So, last night being St. Paddy's day and all, my husband and I hit the town with ideas of a fun-filled night ahead of us.

What really happened...

We went to the movies and the movie we wanted to see wasn't being shown. Instead some Chevy Chase box office loser was being shown instead. We didn't go.

We drove to downtown Corvallis. Did we want dessert or drinks? Eh, didn't matter. We wandered around and talked with people whom we know who were also looking for fun.

We ended up with dessert at New Morning (expensive, bus your own tables, follow our rules)bakery. It was OK, but nothing notably spectacular. After dessert, we went for a drive. I always try to talk my husband into "parking," but it's usually not in the stars...dang. Anyway, we needed to get gas (petrol), so we stopped at the Chevron on 9th st. While there, a little blind schipperke was wandering through the station and was getting dangerously close to 9th st. We walked the neighborhood with him, hoping to find his family, but no luck. We drove him over to Willamette Vet. Hospital where they have a 24hr doctor on duty. They took the little doggie in and said that he would be at Heartland Humane Society by Monday. Today we had a phone call from Heartland and he was already there. It turns out that this little doggie is about 12 years old and probably not high on the list of wanted to adopt dogs. We went to visit him today and put a "do not kill" tag on him. If his family doesn't show up, I think we'll be his new family.... just what we need... a 12 year old blind dog.

Since he came into our lives on St. Patricks day, I've already named him Patrick...but I think we'll call him Paddy.

Partying isn't the same when you're over 40 : ) You go out for beers and end up with a blind schipperke.

ch

Happy St. Patricks Day

Eighteen years ago today my husband and I had our first date.... time has flown by quickly. Two kids and two dogs later, we still like each other.

ch

All dressed up and Nowhere to Go...

School are on a 2 hour delay this morning.... I wish I knew that before I took my shower and got dressed for school. Oh well, now I'm ahead of the game.

I guess we're having freezing rain. Wow, this page is turning into a weather blog. Boring.

I'm making coffee now and I think I'll go chill somewhere.

Vita... Don't take DD to school too early today.

ch

My weekend is almost over....sniff.

This was a busy (and stressful) weekend for me. Friday night dress rehearsal, Saturday concert....Saturday night cold sore. Although, once the concert had finished and things were back in their places, I felt good.

Yesterday, my husband and I travelled to the coast. It was a beautiful snowy drive. I don't think I've ever seen snow on the ground all the way to Newport before and I know I've never been there to see snow on the beach : )

We ate lunch at Mo's in Lincoln City, did some clothes shopping and hit the casino on the way home. We aren't big gamblers... we take our $20, and when that's done, we get our free soda and drive home. I was trying to win a cute little Mercedes, but I guess it wasn't my day.

This morning I'm going through clothes to donate to Goodwill and doing laundry. Thing 2 wants to go to the gym... maybe (MAYBE) we'll do that ; )

For now, I'll go make a cup of coffee and read a bit.

This wasn't really anything interesting to read, sorry.

ch

You know, more stuff...

School was cancelled today! I still need rehearsal time, but it's stinking beautiful outside : )

The "things" are out with friends now playing in the snow and I'm thinking it's about time I get cleaned up for the day.

I have a meeting to go to this evening and I'm kind of hoping that the roads freeze and the meeting will need to move to another date...please, oh please!!

Have fun whatever you're up to today,

ch

Will it Snow? Yes.

The kids are in school. Iv'e had one class. The snow is falling.

Now the question is... Will school be released early? I'm watching my email, or I could just wait for a call from my kids for a ride home. This is a picture of our backyard (as of about 5 minutes ago.)

I tried to get a picture of the flakes, but I don't know how well that will show up in the photo.

Blizzard, or not... it's very beautiful outside.

My dog has gone snow stupid.

Ch

Will it Snow?

OK, I love it when it snows. But we've been having this wierd weather that causes the schools to close on days that I have important rehearsals.... WHY? I'd like to have a snow day that I can fully enjoy and not worry about missing a rehearsal : )

Snow is expected tomorrow and the next day. I think it'll be a dusting and we should be fine... but it seems this year that very little in the way of weather is coming in moderation. If there's no school tomorrow, I'm out a days rehearsal. Big concert this weekend, so I expect a blizzard.

But it really comes down to "Yea, snow day!!"

Happy day to you all,
ch

To go to the Gym, or not?

I broke my foot in October, so my excuse from going to the gym was valid (at least I thought so.) Now my spiffy husband wants to know if I want to go tonight... Well, yes I do, but now it's going to seem like I'm only going to the gym because it's the first of the year.

I know I don't need to prove anything to anyone, but still... I'd like the allusion to be that, of course, I go to the gym...even mid-season.

What I really want to do is stay at home with a hot cuppa tae (yes, tae.)

Work was good today. I did something that I've been wanting to do for a year now and because I finally did it... I feel like a weight has been lifted (not enough weight to excuse me from the gym though.)

I had several phone calls to the house today with messages saying "CH, this is your dad, can we meet for lunch?" That freaked me out a bit, as my dad left when I was 14 and I haven't seen him since. Turns out it was the wrong number... I was relieved, then slightly bummed, as he still hasn't tried to get in contact after all these years. I know he has other children... this information I obtained in a questionable manner by calling his home and stating that I was with the census bureau and I had a few questions... "Are you married?" "Do you have children?" "What are their ages?" that sort of thing. Is that psycho? Anyway, he doesn't let the census bureau know about me, weird.

I guess I'll go to the gym. I could never leave my kids.

ch

Nuts...

I have to get up early tomorrow.

I was really getting used to staying up late and sleeping in late. Ah well... big week ahead with much fall-de-rah and hull-a-ba-loo to look forward to.

Ch

Beaver Basketball....yawn.

I just spent the last two hours at Gill watching the Beavers dig themselves into a hole. No fun. I'm not a huge BB fan, but I am an OSU alumni (bachelors and masters) and I like to go and be supportive. But seriously... if you're a team who wants to have a supportive fan base, then show up to the game. In all honesty, it looked as though their coach Jay John had just given up the fight. Beaver basketball is in a sad state. I do hope there's a turn around for next year... this is too expensive to go and watch a team give up.

I'd like to have been there in the old days with the smiley Benny and a team that worked hard.

ch

Keeping up...slightly

I will have shorter posts, but try and be more frequent.

We had a gig last night and I think it went pretty well. The band hadn't practiced together in a while and I have a theory... when we practice as a group many, many times we get lazy and expect that we know the music. But what happens, is that we just get lazy and over confident.
When we don't meet to rehearse, we work on our pieces and concentrate more at the gig. I dunno... just a theory... could be a dumb one... don't care.

I need to prepare for the week ahead today. The two week break was welcome and needed, but I'm also welcoming and needing to go back to work on Monday : )

Later,
ch

What I did.

Just got back from 2 days in Bend with the kids and our friends. This is the first time we rented a home with another family to share a mini vacation... loads of fun!
We took the kids to Mt. Bachelor yesterday for a day of skiing and snowboarding, but the weather was nasty cold with white-out conditions. It was not a good day to be a beginner. I didn't ski, as I am still hesitant with my foot.
Some of you know, some of you don't... I broke my foot at the beginning of the school year by falling off of a wheelchair ramp... ironic, eh?
Anyway, I held down a table in the lodge with sandwich fixins' and beverages. I had a nice time solving suduko puzzles, reading and listening to music : )

Now I'm going to go and fall asleep in the bathtub.

zzzz,
ch