08-31-15

I took a bunch of close up photos this evening on my walk.  This is my favorite, the sun shimmering on the lake.

So long August!

08-30-15

Today we did a loop to Beaverton and back, to get Xander’s tennis racquets restrung and to Ingress a bit.  This photo was taken in quaint St Helens, a town we’ve been trying to visit for several months.

The union hall makes me think of the strike that has started since I’ve been off work at a neighboring wood products facility.  It will be interesting to find out how it is impacting Weyerhaeuser tomorrow when I head back to work.

In AWPPW’s heyday, there were 20,000 union members on the West Coast. That number has plummeted to just about 5,000. “Unions were always a minority, but at least they were a big minority. Now they are a small minority.”

The last time this site had a strike was in 1978, when they set up 100-car caravan to block mill entrances and put up a blockade that left 160 salaried workers stranded inside the mill. 

08-29-15

One of the projects I wanted to get done while I am off work is to move my belongings from my huge closet to a smaller closet in the computer room.  Having less space forces the issue of having less things, and this is my year of de-cluttering.  It's all organized, I just need a few more bins for my out of season clothes.  Now we'll see how functional my design is and workable it is to have my clothes on a different floor!

08-28-15

Walking around Kelso, again.  We make our rounds: Kelso, Rainier, downtown Longview, the civic circle & LCC, and the lake.

A random stranger stopped us to tell us that he gets a kick out of seeing us all over the place glued to our phone screens.

08-27-15

We finally found a black dress!

Today was our second long shopping day for sorority wardrobe shopping.  Anastasia got a ton of things today, but didn't spend too much money.  The mission was shoes, jeans, and 2 dresses.

I really thought the elusive black dress might be the death of me, but we prevailed.

08-26-15

Look who went out in the woods today!  We had a great day touring the PeEll treefarm.  We saw road building, cutting (hand falling and mechanized feller bunching), harvesting (large yarder, swing yarder, and shovel logging), processing, and loading log trucks.  Wowzers!

08-25-15

One fun part of vacations is more time for reading.  I read a novel in under 3 days, breakneck speed for me.

Before Kindle's I had to hide int he hotel bathrooms to read.  Now I can stay in the warm bed.

I can stay up a little later.  I can read if I wake up int he middle of the night, since I can sleep in.  I can read when I wake up for a little while until I absolutely have to eat.  Bliss.

Tonight, though, I will read a dry book, since Anastasia and I have an early morning.

08-24-15

Re-entry back into getting up at a certain time, exercising first thing, pushing hard to get things done at work, and evening meetings.  Back to pretty sunset walks too!

08-23-15

A morning of more exploring,t hen farewell to Walla Walla and the long drive home...

Lewis and Clark, the Whitman missionaries, and wagon travel were recurring themes as we traveled around. 

This statues in Pioneer Park was pretty cute!

08-22-15

We arrived in Walla Walla on Saturday.  We explored a bit on our own, then met up with Kevin (my cousin), Jen, Brendin, and Raelynn.  We got a tour of the Whitman campus and some pool time.

08-21-15

Family Mini-Vacation!

I've been joking that with Anastasia's Europe trip, all we have money for this summer is a long weekend in Walla Walla.  This weekend we made it a reality.

Took most of the day to travel up the Gorge, stopping at old and new places to explore.  An old favorite is Stonehenge.  The sun was perfect for warm colors.  This is about when we first started noticing the smoke from the fires.

08-20-15

Redneck drive thru?

When we are out walking around, sometimes we come across a bank drive-up and Bruce realizes he has some banking that needs to be taken care of...

08-19-15

Spent the late afternoon in downtown Aberdeen.  Bruce came with me for a meeting day and we hung out and walked around for awhile before driving back.  We saw an artist working on an alley of "graffitti", and some new restaurants, and still a lot of empty buildings...  lovely day.

08-18-15

Another scorching day in the Pacific Northwest.

It's sure pleasant to walk around at sunset though!

08-17-15

Hello old friend!

This is a much loved belt.  When we moved to Longview (yes, over 10 years ago!) I wore it painting and got white paint all over it.  It turned back up and it was time to toss it or clean it up and get it back into circulation.

Decluttering has it's advantages.

08-16-15

We explored Clatskanie today.  This was a t the library; the pillars of the structure were carvings from different well known stories.

The first time I heard of Clatskanie is when a youth group from there stayed in our house in Aberdeen for a weekend.

Books, towns, continued bright sun, all life experiences.

08-15-15

I'm going to call this the summer of Seven Eleven.

Things seem to keep converging on Slurpies.  We get coupons for them and seek them out.  They come out with a sour Patch flavor and Xander seeks them out.  On our scavenger hunt 5K we had to take a photo enjoying slurpies.

Too bad they are oh so nasty!  But Xander is a fan...

08-14-15

Another photo at the lake, just a very different perspective.  I was jogging by before the workers were scurrying around.  They are sure making quick progress now!

08-13-15

We flunked lake concerts this summer.  Tonight was the last one, and I at least got to enjoy the last 20 minutes after we got home from our Rainier walk.

08-12-15

We walked at the college tonight.  There is a lot of construction, so we cut through a building to get around.  There was some really neat artwork on display; a lot of 3-D projects, and these bright photographs.  I like the reflection in the glasses.

08-11-15

Christmas in August or art project gone bad?  Both.

Several years ago I bought these ornaments on clearance mail order for like $0.10.  They weren't in good shape.  So a few months later I bought a can of glitter spray paint.  And they both sat for a few more years.

Finally decided to paint them, nice dry weather.  Except they didn't turn out very good.  So marched the whole mess to the alley garbage can.

Moral of the story?  Sometimes even $0.10 isn't a good deal.  Spending more to salvage a project isn't always wise.  If it takes a few years to get to something, maybe it should go to the trash before investing more time.  And things are rarely as easy as they seem.

08-10-15

What a beautiful morning!  Crisp air, pretty sunrise, mostly motivated to run.  Life is good, for a Monday morning!

08-09-15

And they are off again!

Heading up to Seattle - Anastasia has UW orientation, Xander is going to Canada.

Bye!

08-08-15

The start of Relay for Life.  Spent 11 hours on the track.  Walked 10 miles, didn't want to overdo it.  Great track rather  than walking on gravel.

Great view of the campsite where Anastasia and Xander volunteered, Key Club.  Do you see them clapping?

08-07-15

Wow, all four of us are under the same roof again!  For two nights, until we scatter again!

TGIF!

08-06-15

Thursday night was the big Adopt-A-Block fundraiser of the year, the block party.  A concert this year.  And Italian food, mac & cheese and lasagna in crockpots.  But, not many attendees.  Bummer!

“You need to try.” ― Emily Proctor

08-05-15

I survived!

Was sworn to secrecy at the end, but it was a day of stretching with mock interviews and role plays to invest in my career development.

Not sure how much stress a body is meant to endure!

08-04-15

Look who's home!

Look at all the chocolate, licorice, and various items she brought back with her!

Enjoying hearing more about her trip.

08-03-15

Yesterday I noticed a yummy looking recipe on Pinterest, a taco salad made with quinoa, and this evening we had it for dinner.  And it was very good!

08-02-15

Xander is getting a lesson in how expensive life is, comparing his recent spending against what his spending allowance is supposed to cover.  He keeps pushing for a higher spending allowance rather than focusing on spending less.

08-01-15

August first means First Saturday!

A day when geeks converge on an unsuspecting area of Portland to stand in the middle of the sidewalk (in the shade today!) playing with our phones and making everyone around us think the world is going to pot.

Today we were in Lake Oswego, a pretty areas with pretty statues.  Great break from the grind of the week.