Weekend with Mom and Dad

My parents came from Colorado to visit me this past weekend.

Friday after I picked them up from the airport, we toured IKEA before the decadent 4-course dinner downtown at the Oregon Culinary Institute.

Saturday we headed northwest to Astoria, stopping first at the Astoria Column. Although the Column itself was closed, the view of the mouth of the Columbia meeting the Pacific from the highest hill in Astoria was still quite a sight. (My Dad took these pictures)

We decided to walk around the town.
And we came across the "Windsor House of Tea" just in time for a pre-lunch pick-me-up of scones, lemon curd, clotted cream, and tea (and we each got our own tea pot!).
We continued west to Ft Stevens State Park to see the northern most point of Oregon, the jetty, and the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale.

To my surprise, the Peter Iredale was smaller than when I saw it the first time last February. I think the sand was 7 feet higher... I wonder if it will come back down during the winter months?

After Ft Stevens, we ventured down the coast to Ecola State Park for a late afternoon picnic lunch and view of Cannon Beach and the famous haystack rock.


Saturday night we returned to my townhouse for games.
Sunday was church, the new movie Fireproof, and Pittock Mansion.
Monday, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at my place and a tour of the office before I dropped them off for the airport.
Overall, a very fun weekend indeed. : )

(I'm glad you were able to visit Oregon, Mom and Dad!!)

A series of unusual events

Saturday, September 6, I flew into Denver for about 24 hours to surprise my Mom for her 50th birthday (just a few weeks late -- I'm still bummed I had to miss the party!). We enjoyed dinner, a movie, a birthday shopping spree, playing the piano, and etc.
The timing worked out well because my Dad had just had surgery the Wednesday before -- so it was good to see him in person and see that he was recovering (rather than just hearing about it over the phone). I had no idea he was going to have surgery when I booked the ticket back in July.

Sunday night I flew to St Louis for work and met up with 2 co-workers. (I really should learn the song "Meet Me in St Louis") The meetings all day Monday went well. And, for the first time in 6 trips to St Louis the past 10 months, my return flights were pretty much on time -- only 10 minutes late. Normally it's more like 40+ minutes late, which is a big deal when you're scheduled to land close to midnight anyways. Later feels exponentially later that time of night.

Coming back to work Tuesday morning after being in St Louis on Monday always feels a bit like syllabi shock in the first few days back to school after the break. There is so much to process -- and tons of items to add to pile onto the never-ending to do list.

Of all weekends, everyone decided to plan things on this past weekend. I had about 7 conflicting things going on... but, alas, I don't have 7 clones.

So, I ended up going north because 2 sets of aunts and uncles were flying into Seattle on Saturday where they would catch a cruise heading to Alaska on Sunday.

I stayed with the Bruce's Friday night, celebrating Timothy's 10th birthday and then winning a game of Risk with the help of Mr B and Nathan.

Saturday I drove to downtown Seattle where I met up with my aunts and uncles. We walked to the Pike Place Market (which I had never been to, but had heard much about), and enjoyed the sights, sounds, smells, and colors. Well... some of the smells.

That night I made it back to the Bruce's just in time to ride with them to the car races -- part 2 of Tim's birthday celebration. Mrs B issued a challenge that I wouldn't be winning a 3rd time in a row at the races. And up until lap 96 of 100, I would have come away victor. Unfortunately, my car's tire got sliced and knocked him out of the race. So, I lost to Mr B by 1 point. It was tight competition -- Nathan was just 1 point behind me.

Sunday was a chill day. After church we played pinochle and ate delicious spicy grilled chicken alla Mr B. The pinochle game was going very strangely with lots of square hands (which we blamed on me shuffling the cards too many times at the very beginning). But then, Nathan -- who happened to be my parter -- got the double run, an instant 1500 points (an instant win)! According to Mrs B, that unlikely hand only comes up once every 3 or 4 years (depending, of course, on how often one plays).

I drove home Sunday night in time to make cupcakes for a baby shower at work the next day. I had fun decorating them with dirt (oreo crumbs) and army figures and animals. They turned out really well.

Then... Tuesday and Wednesday... I was sick and had to take off work -- some flu/cold bug. "Go home," my boss said Tuesday morning. Thursday and today, I worked, but was totally wiped out by the end of the work day.

So, tomorrow, for the first time in 5 weekends, I'm going to have a quiet weekend at home. Some good R&R should get me right as rain for the next round.

What happened?!?

What do YOU think happened here?

Possible explanations:

A. Fickle fancy of a flighty female.
B. Fell asleep chewing gum and had to cut it out.
C. Turned pirate and couldn’t fit the long hair under the cool hat.
D. Gave a renewable resource for charitable causes.
E. Disguise to protect the innocent.


If you chose C, you are… well… incorrect. But that would be an adventure! Or perhaps becoming a spy. But neither of those would be completely accurate. The correct answer is D. (Big surprise, I know.)

The required length for Locks of Love didn’t leave much extra. But I still have more than many – namely the child who will be getting a new red-auburn wig. And beyond that, my hair grows quickly enough that it will be a length I like better within the space of 6-8 months. (Thanks, Mrs B for doing the honors! Thanks Anna for photo-documenting it!)

As you may have guessed, I was in Olympia with the Bruce's this weekend. (We missed you, Sarah!)

Other long weekend exploits:

Cars races at a dirt track. Most of the cars I "bet on" won... so I ended up with the most points again.

Hike to the top of Mount Beljica…which has an up-close and personal look at Mount Rainier – except for the giant cloud enveloping us. Still beautiful though – even with the fog (especially), hail, rain, and cool (40 degrees) temps. YAY for polypros!

There was a hole in the cloud for a few minutes -- but not enough to see Rainier, just some moments of sunshine. (The base of Mt Rainier is centered behind me where the valley floor begins to rise again.)

Pinochle. I played for the first time this weekend. It’s complicated, but so fun. I can't wait to play more so I can get better and learn more strategies. Mr. and Mrs. B were great teachers, and Nathan was a very patient and helpful partner!

Wii!!! Anna, Nathan, and I stayed up WAY too late playing the Wii. Anna and I got a bit silly the later it got... but we sure had fun. : )

Playing the piano.
Making cards with fancy stamps, papers, and emboss powders.
Kicking around the soccer ball with Timothy.
Good chats.
Yummy ice cream.

YAY for long weekends. The alarm sounded too early this morning. Work went well, but I was tired.

Jenny and I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End tonight. I didn't really like it. There were a few funny parts, but really, I'd rather just repress the whole 169 minutes (plus Pirates 2) and think of Pirates of the Caribbean only as the first movie they came out with.

And now? To bed.