First Easter egg dye

Due to our conservative childhood, Aimee and I have never dyed Easter eggs. Even though we're now adults and we don't have kids around to give the eggs to, we thought it'd be fun to give dyeing a try. (Plus, Aimee has decided she's going to take her eggs to work and casually show them off at lunch time.) So we bought three different kits, boiled two and a half dozen eggs and invited Nichole and James to join in the fun. While the men played video games, we women got to work expressing our artistic sides.

We had three different kits. The traditional type, one that included a wax stick for drawing and a third that let us "tie dye" our eggs. I thought Faythe would appreciate these eggs the most so I took some photos just for her. I know how much she hates tie dye and am just doing my part to ensure she's malcontent.

We had a lot of fun chick chatting and ended up joining the guys for a round of Wii bowling and golf.

Hope you had a good Easter too!

Some rambling and The Horror!

I have been suffering with congestion, headaches, sore throat and general malaise since January. At first I thought I had a cold, flu or some sort of weird jungle-froo froo sickness. But then as the weeks and months went on, I realised that I am most likely suffering from allergies. It's worth noting that Native Americans refer to this area as the "valley of sickness," and for good reason too. The Willamette Valley is a great place to grow things since rain gets trapped between the two mountain ranges enabling plants to grow and pollinate. Also, air gets trapped and circulates the "poisons" over and over. It's not a fun place to live if you have problems with pollen.

When I moved to San Diego, I was tested to see exactly what I was allergic to. Results showed a severe reaction to dust mites (hence my goal to remove all the old carpet from the house) and a few trees but they were So Cal trees so I'm not sure if there's anything here I'm allergic to. The test didn't indicate any real problems with pollen so I thought I'd be ok moving to The Valley of Sickness. OK yes, I had some mild allergies when I last lived in Oregon but I didn't really experience them until we "went to town" to buy groceries (we lived out in the mountains and only went to the Willamette Valley occasionally - those were exciting days). Funny thing is, in my little kid mind I had convinced myself that I was allergic to shopping carts. It made sense to me since every time I touched a shopping cart I got a sore throat and congestion. Oh yeah, I did have some problems in college but I was drunk a lot or staying up all night so obviously, my health wasn't really my first priority.

Digression aside, I'm fed up with feeling like crap all the time. I've taken numerous OTC meds for colds and allergies and nothing seems to really be working, not even the "special" Sudafed I brought with me when I moved from California (I think all the meth heads know what I'm talking about here).

The other day I noticed that since I stopped eating Cheerios and milk every morning, my congestion has decreased. So on a hunch I stopped eating our 50 calorie fudgesicle dessert (so yummy) and noticed again that I seemed to be better! I have decided to experiment and cut dairy from my diet (unless it's already cooked and in my food, like butter or chocolate hahaha!) and see what happens.

I'll be sad if I learn dairy is the big problem. But at least I'll be able to sleep through the night and I won't wake up with crusties around my nose or discover used tissues under the blankets.

So, I thought I'd put it in writing. 'Cause if I don't, I'll get weak and eat some cheese.

Oh my God, that means no pizza!!!

One more step towards responsible home ownership

It's safe to say we have let our back yard go. It hasn't been mowed since we moved in and is looking a bit wild. In this photo you can see how the composter's are almost buried in tall grass while clumps of funky grass threaten to take over. Believe it or not, there's also a patch of strawberries growing in this photo. After they're weeded, I'll plant the other strawberries (sitting on the deck). And once the yard is mowed, I'll finally be able to find a place for the poor raspberry plants. (If you're wondering about the rocks on the deck, the people who lived here last seemed to collect river and other assorted rocks. I've been collecting them for future landscaping we'd like to do some day.)

Anyway, after weeks of research (Apollo laughed at this when I read what I wrote because it's actually been months), I finally found a lawnmower that met all our needs for a great price at Sears.com. After I put the lawnmower in my shopping basket, I found a $5 promo code. $5 isn't a lot but it will buy a couple Lean Cuisines so it's worth it. Then I saw that the website automatically applied a $25 discount for shopping online! $30 is more than enough to fill my tank so I was definitely pleased with that. If I had walked in the store to buy the mower, I wouldn't have got that $30 off!

When I got ready to pay, I pulled out a gift certificate I bought from James for $130.00. I got lucky with this one because there was actually $173.00 on the card. James knew about the extra $43 but he didn't care, he just wanted the cold hard cash. So this brought my savings to $73.00. And because I bought the gift certificate about two months ago, it was as if I spent only $97. Yay! This means I got a $300 Craftsman for $227 with only $97 actually charged to my account.

Apollo is happy that it has a 700 Platinum Series Briggs & Stratton Engine, is power propelled with rear wheel drive and has a wash system. Oh and that it's black! You know, because that makes it extra manly. GRRR! And because, "It's black like me!" (He wanted me to add that.)

We can't mow the lawn yet because it's raining and we decided to leave it this way until after Easter, just in case our neighbor brings over his kids to find Easter eggs. Don't you think this is the perfect yard for Easter egg hunting? In fact...that's the reason we let the yard get all crazy! Yeah!

Name this flower

Mom found these flowers while we were getting wood yesterday near a landing on a mountain top. She loves them and at one time owned a bush which died. These were found in the wild and I'd like to buy her a new bush she can plant near her house.

The flowers are bright pink, trumpet-like and the small leaves remind me of raspberry leaves. Any ideas on what kind of flowers they are?

Worms

We have a ton of worms in our garden. And most of them are huge! We put a marble (found while tilling the soil) next to this guy for scale.

I've always been a fan of worms. Even as a child I would rescue them if they were stranded on wet sidewalks or in puddles. Aimee and Apollo want to use them for fishing but for now, they're making our garden an even better place for all the plants.

Speaking of garden, we planted a wide row of about forty red onion sets a couple days ago. Next we're planting green onion seeds. We're going to stagger planting so they're ready throughout the season, not all at once. This is only the beginning though, we have much more to plant!

Older, shmolder

I recently had another birthday. This was the year I stopped wondering if I should dye my hair or just pull out the occassional grey hair.

I also have friends who are so much younger than myself that they consider the TV show Friends to be vintage and have only watched it on reruns.

I can actually refer to my high school experience as "decades ago."

I'm getting freaked out about the economy and am constantly researching potential jobs in my meager market.

I had to use an age calculator online to figure out my age since I've been deceiving myself this whole time and consequently aged two years in one.

Well, that about sums it up. Birthdays just aren't exciting anymore.

Bleeding Heart Lace Socks

This was a quick knit. The pattern is Bleeding Heart Lace by Evelyn Clark. The pattern is done nicely, you can see the distinctive bleeding heart flowers in it pretty well. Next time I'll use a more accurate color. The yarn is Knitpicks Kettle Dye in Eggplant. Normally a kettle dyed yarn would have more obvious variation, I am disappointed with it.

Strengthening

Since so many people expect me to speak Spanish and since I am brown and then there's that whole thing about how it's the second most spoken language in the US and it will make me more of an asset when applying for jobs *big breath* I signed up for a Spanish class starting Monday. I'm looking forward to it, it will be good to get out of the house and meet new people.

A local college is offering Chinuk Wawa, a language spoken by tribal people throughout the Pacific Northwest. The beginning class isn't offered this spring but I think it sounds interesting, so I'm keeping an eye out for it this summer and Fall. Like German I may not have many opportunities to speak it on the streets but I still think it will be educational.

Anyway, now that I'm taking up Spanish (again) I need to do something that involves speaking in front of people. My position at my last job helped me a bit with this, but I need more work. That and being more assertive. Any ideas on what I could do that will teach me to be assertive at the appropriate times?

I'd like a kay-sah-dill-uh please? Oder ein Käsebrot? Hallo?

Today Aimee, Apollo and I went to Izzy's (one of many po-man buffet's from my childhood) for lunch. A young Hispanic male was sitting at the table next to us. I should preface this by saying we have quite a few migrant workers in this area who do not speak English.

The owner walked up to us, looked at me and said, "Can you ask him when he's coming back from lunch?"

"Uh...."

The owner looked perplexed but then the young man asked me in Spanish if I spoke Español. I know that much and told him, sorry but no. The owner of the restaurant (an older fellow) asked me again and then asked Apollo the same thing. (Someone please tell me why Apollo is confused as a Mexican...this has happened once before in San Diego by some tourists.) Finally, Aimee, the only Caucasian at the table, mumbled something about "finito" and "trabajar" to the poor guy who finally understood and told us (in Spanish) he would be done in a few minutes. We relayed that info on to the owner who then complained that he would pay for the kid to take English classes but said he refuses. I'm thinking, maybe he doesn't understand what you're saying? Further, why did he need to ask us about his employee's lunch break?

Anyway, I just thought it was funny how no matter where I live, So Cal included, people expect me to speak Spanish. I think I'm going to start talking back to these people in German and then act appalled that they don't know what I'm saying. Maybe even start gesturing wildly while talking louder and slower. That should result in some interesting reactions.

Ready, set, go?

Today Aimee and I bought seed potatoes (including some Adirondack Blues), onion sets, two late season blueberry plants to complement my two early and two mid season plants, a couple packs of strawberry plants, bush beans, sugar peas, spinach, radish, bunching onions, and collards. Oh, and two raspberry plants! Needless to say, they should keep me busy. Oh, and we're not done either. We have to get squash, carrots and tomatoes! There may be more, depending on space. Thankfully we have a large backyard that can handle it.

Now we just need a couple warm days that will allow the soil to dry enough for me to weed and begin planting. Phew!

Cloves of my labor

Look what I did!



That's right! Rows of garlic, every single one of them is up and reaching for the sky. I'm so excited, I check in on them every few days. Sure, they're growing in rough rows that will probably need to be weeded once we get some sun, but I was in a hurry to put them in the ground so I worked with what I had (a run down garden full of dead plants and soil so wet it was almost mud). Considering I was a couple months late putting them in the ground, they look pretty good to me.



The rows are working out perfectly too. Garlic likes water, but not so much they sit in it and rot. You can see that the top part of the hills are dry while the bottom is still holding the water. Perfect!

The rest of this garden (we plan on having at least three garden areas) hasn't been weeded yet, but I need to get busy with that so I can put in my four blueberry plants and plan out my planting schedule. My goal is to have so much produce that I'm forced to give it away. Of course I shouldn't count my chickens before they're hatched but....ah hell, why not!

Early morning rambling

I don't have anything to talk about, unless you want to hear about my attempt to decide between Washington Mutual or Wells Fargo, both of which I have accounts with. In this day of poor economical news, who wants to hear bitching about bank fee's charged when a bank fee takes your savings account below the minimum account resulting in yet another bank fee? This complaint might lead to whining about said bank's outsourcing customer service to a country that you can barely understand when I call to talk to an agent about my accounts and fee's.

Instead, look, socks! First is Knitpicks Felici Putty in a simple stockinette ($3.99 - $5.29 a ball, I used about 1.5 balls). I love self striping yarns for the same reason I dislike them. Unfortunately there's not much more you can do with them other than stockinette before the pattern is obliterated. But they're good for those days when you don't want to think about what you're knitting. The stripes knit themselves. Felici is pretty soft and washes without any noticeable pilling. Then again, I've only washed my other pair a couple times.



I finished these a while ago but didn't get the photos uploaded until recently. Purple is one of those colors that's incredibly hard to photos of and always needs some tweeking in your favorite photo retouching program. Hence the reason I've avoided uploading them. This is Knitpicks Essential African Violet in Knitty's Spring Forward. After you knit the repeats a couple times, it's easily memorized. I haven't had the opportunity to wash and wear this yarn so I don't know how it holds up, but for only $3.49 - $3.99 a ball (and these took about 1.5 balls), you can't beat the price.



I'm all for inexpensive good quality yarns, so these two fit right up my alley. Don't get me wrong, today Faythe and I talked about plasma and how it could help inflate a sock yarn budget (or toilet paper). Yes, I will do what I have to do to get good quality, hand painted indie yarns (or soft TP)! I'm also saving soda cans to fund the conversion of our carport into a garage. You've got to have dreams!

Speaking of saving, I need to decide between banking with an organization that is conveniently located near my house but makes poor decisions and is charging me excessive fee's or an organization that is in an inconvenient location, has offered me a great banking package and whose banking customer service agents are all in the US (I like supporting businesses that keep jobs in the country, especially in our poor economy).

Plus, I just realized it's almost 2:00am. Er!

The irony of going green

Some Oregon fun:

--Representative Wayne Krieger has an idea on funding road improvement - force adults to register their bicycles! Registration ($54 every two years) would be the same as it is for automobiles. The usual miscellaneous fee's apply. (If you like reading dry material, check out House Bill 308 here.) I'm not sure if bicycles would be treated like hybrids (tax benefits please?) or if insurance will be required next.

--Did you know Oregon denies us the right to pump our own gas? We can't even push the pump button while the hose sticks lifelessly in our car, instead we have to wait for the attendant who's helping all the other cars waiting in line. Proponents of this idea use the "but then you don't have to get out of your car into that horrible weather" argument. I guess they forgot about paying for the gas, which is done outside the vehicle. And not by an attendant. Oh, and gas attendants only exist as an answer to job shortages.

--Speaking of gas and cars, there has been talk of taxing mileage with a GPS installed in the car. It gives a person a warm and fuzzy feeling to know you're always being watched.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting all the crazy stuff that's going on here in the state of Oregon. Especially after everyone here has worked so hard and prized themselves on being green. I guess the government didn't realize going green means losing green.

Another pair of Monkey's

I finished my third pair of Monkey's while visiting Mom this week. She requested them for her friends daughter, who's also named Rayleen. (Mom's friend liked my name so much she asked Mom if she could use it for her own daughter.)

Monkey's seem to be pretty popular as I've had another request for a pair. Thankfully, I've memorized the pattern and it takes no time at all to whip them out.

The other Rayleen requested purple and though I'm a solid color type person, I decided to "risk it" and try Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Baroness. I'm rather pleased with how they turned out too, the colorway is striking.

Blockbuster - MAJOR FAIL

I subscribe to one of Blockbuster's Total Access Premium subscriptions. I don't even know if it's offered to new subscribers anymore, but basically I am allowed three unlimited online movies at a time which may be exchanged for unlimited rentals from a store. It sounds great but I pay a hefty fee for this wonderful service. Being unemployed, I consider this to be one of my sacrifices.

Normally, after I turn in my online rental in the store, the next movie in my queue would get shipped out. I love this feature because I can get hard to find or girlie movies online and Apollo can exchange them for man movies at the store.

However, without a word to their customers, Blockbuster changed their policy today. I only learned of the changes when I saw something strange going on in my queue and I called a local store to ask questions. I was informed the corporate office isn't planning on notifying customers and is letting the representatives at the store answer any questions customers may have. Classy! Reminds me of my last job...

Anyway, as of today, when I exchange an online movie at the store the next movie in my queue doesn't ship. Instead, the movie I received from the store is added to my Titles Shipped! This means the next movie in my queue doesn't move up at all and now I get half the rentals for the same bloated price. BTW, my Blockbuster rental rates nearly doubled about a year ago.

Blockbuster is stating they're doing this so the in-store rentals won't have a due date. However, if I remember correctly, some time ago they promised "no late rental fee's" but side-stepped this by charging a "restocking fee." Either way, they get their money, eh? We'll see how they work out this no due date gibberish.

It looks like I'm going to have to check out Netflix or Blockbuster's lower plans. Or even consider not renting movies at all. Hmm, actually Blockbuster is really doing a good job at making me rethink my finances. Maybe the smart thing is to relinquish my three+ year long subscription. Yes, I think that's what I'll have to do. Thank you Blockbuster for opening my eyes!

Yay to Blockbuster for shooting themselves in the foot! Good thing they hired attorney's today to discuss how they're supposedly not going to file Chapter 11!

First socks

I was surprised to see Mom putting these socks on today, I had totally forgotten about them. They're the first pair of socks I knit almost four years ago. This was before I knew anything about gauge, superwash wool or compromising with the recipient regarding colors.

Because I had some issues with gauge, the longer Mom wears them the further they slip down her ankles as they stretch. But she still wears them.


Mom is the perfect knit-wear recipient. Even if it's hideous, she'll wear it. She doesn't put it away for safe keeping out of fear of hurting the item - instead it gets some serious wear, as indicated by the hole in one of these socks. Check out the fuzzing and felting caused by wear and tear!

Thankfully I've graduated on to finer hand painted yarns. I think Mom likes them better too but it's good to know she actually puts everything I knit her to use.

And just to be clear, I will NEVER knit this colorway again though it is fun to traumatize people like Faythe when they innocently check my blog for updates. HeHEheeEEHEeeeEEE!

My aching back

Under the hideous carpet in this house lies original to the house Northern Red Oak hardwood floors. Apollo removed the carpet from the room that will be my office, only to discover that someone at one time had laid linoleum on it. Old adhesive covered the entire floor, including about nine squares worth of tape still on the floor.

At this point I had worked on the floor for about half a day. I used only water, sponges and putty/paint scrapers.

Aimee stopped by to chat several times but she made no offer to help out.

Nasty adhesive - feel my pain!!

The carpet tack strips took a long time to remove. Nails and staples were stuck randomly in the floor, usually in unsuspecting places like under my butt, knee or foot.

And the final product, only a day and a half later! This summer we'll sand and smooth out any blemishes and refinish the floor to match the living room (though I wouldn't mind something a little lighter than the aged amber look we have now). Only two more rooms to go - one is currently being used for storage and the other has a bed and dresser in it. It's going to be a challenge to work around them but I don't mind, especially knowing it means we'll be rid of nasty dust mites and what appears to be almost thirty years of icky. Hopefully the other floors won't be as bad as this room!

The closet and most of the ugly tile is gone!

The coat closet in our living room is typical of closets in all the houses in our older neighborhood. Though we needed the storage, we decided space was more important. You wouldn't think a closet this size would make a difference, but it has! Our room is so much bigger now, especially since it opened up new possibilities on arranging our furniture.

Before the guys took it out, James drilled a hole in the floor at the back of the closet to see what the flooring looked like beneath it. We were happy to see that it was more oak!


It didn't take long for them to remove the closet. Actually, I don't know how long it took, I left that to the men and went over to Aimee's to watch a chick flick. We didn't mind leaving this to the "men folk" if that meant we could watch our movie in peace. Plus they like destroying things.


When I finally got back to see what it looked like without the closet, I saw that the guys decided to take that horrid ceramic tile out too while they were in the destructive mood. Not that I mind tile, but it was layed in the diningroom and in front of the doorway, creating a distinctive border and consequently making the space appear smaller. Plus, the tile was about a half inch taller than the hardwood floor with a border that was even taller, making it hard to sweep. And considering we have a redwood tree next to our driveway that will not stop dropping seeds that we then track into our house, sweeping is important. You can see a bit of the tile in the first photo and at Aimee's blog, where she talks about taking out the carpet.

Under the tile was linoleum and a thin layer of wood stapled down every three inches. This is when all the swearing started and I decided to appease them by having two giant man pizza's (with various meat and jalapeno toppings) delivered.


The floor is in fairly good condition in most places, though there is some severe gouging that will require replacing a few boards.

Because linoleum is under the tile in our kitchen as well and we could see a gap between the two, it will most likely break up soon. I'm not exactly heartbroken over this since the tile is a little old fashioned and not laid very well. I wouldn't mind replacing it in the future, maybe with a kitchen remodel? You know, with the thousands of dollars we have lying around. As you can see below, we're saving tons of money by skimping on furniture.


Yesterday, Apollo and I removed the plaster using a putty knife, damp sponges and some elbow grease. It looks so much better now. Next on the agenda is a some sanding and refinishing.

For more photos, click here. You can see where someone deliberately scratched the floor and severe gouging occurred. I don't have any photos of the oil spots we discovered under the plaster. Yes, the kind of oil that comes from cars.

There is nothing like a little hard work to make you appreciate what you have just that much more.

Beyonce

Introducing, Beyonce. The cat whose tail curves to the left.


I'm not sure what her real name is or if she's even a she. But we thought the name fitting.

We think the people who lived in this house last left her behind since she has tried to run inside and meows at the back door until we give her food. She's a real sweetie and is very talkative whenever we pet her. She looks a bit skinny or possibly is an older cat.

After we discovered her sleeping on our doormat and then on the dirt in the corner by the steps in a tight ball one rainy day, I set out a box with a fleece cat blanket in it. It sat there for about five days before I discovered her in it today. Though my cats don't know about her new sleeping place, I think she may be responsible for the muddy paw prints on my living room window.

I still don't want a pit bull.

One of our neighbor's pit bull puppy attacked their poodle, killing it with the clench of its jaws around the poodle's neck. They were attempting to teach the pit to not act aggressively towards the smaller dog while eating. Without growling, the pit suddenly lunged at the tiny poodle, killing it instantly. The owners had to use brute force to get the dog to release the now dead dog.

Sadly, they're giving the dog away instead of taking appropriate actions to ensure this, or worse, doesn't happen again.

Lily

I can't get enough

Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Whispering Pine and Baroness. Baroness really surprised me. Though I'm not a big purple fan, it's rather pretty in person and sadly incredibly hard to photograph accurately.

More fungus

Purple socks

Mom asked me to knit up a pair of purple socks with a faux cable look for one of her friends, so I bought some purpley wool yarn and started knitting away. After I had completed the leg, I realized it was going to be a little tight for the recipient, especially since I learned she was a big girl with a size 10 foot. I ripped it out and modified the pattern so I could cast on 6 more stitches (you'd be surprised how much this makes a difference) and was almost done with the first sock when Mom said, "Is this the sock you're making for ___?" The tone of her voice told me I was doing something wrong. It turns out she wanted purple Monkey's, which I've knit twice already.

Disappointed, I let the sock sit for a week while I thought about what to do. If I frogged it, I'd still have this bright purple yarn sitting around, taunting me. On the other hand, I don't know that many people with large feet that would like purple socks. In the end, I decided that since I had nearly finished the first sock and had memorized the pattern, I would just finish up the pair.

This isn't the last you'll be seeing of the color purple, though. My aunt asked me to knit some purple socks for her small footed friend and I ordered some new multi colored purple yarn for Mom's friend (yarn that is better suited for larger feet).

Speaking of The Color Purple and things not really relevant, have you read Maya Angelou's "Letter to my Daughter?" You should.

Our neighbors

I had worried that we'd move in to our house and discover that we had one of those type of neighbors, the kind that's cranky and unwilling to work with you when it comes to boundaries, bushes, etc. Well, my worries were unfounded since all our neighbors (even the rednecks) have proved to be awesome.

So far we have tentative commitments to split costs in replacing two fences (one has already been replaced). One neighbor, who has also become a close friend, works in construction and is willing to help us slowly remodel our house. Another neighbor is a plumber and is going to help us find a hot water heater this weekend at a lower than market price. Yet another neighbor works with and has access to roofing material. This will come in handy since we need to fix a leak in our carport roof. Yep, I'd say we're pretty damn lucky.

Unfortunately, I don't have much to give them in exchange though I did offer them access to my knowledge of yarn and knitting. I'm sure you know how that went.


Here's a couple neighbors with Apollo discussing options for the yard, which we hope to take out and redo this spring. We had just finished cutting out a giant out-of-control rosemary bush that blocked the porch, two large rosebushes and some other unidentified bush; all planted too close to the foundation and requiring an axe to chop the tree-like roots. Note the ingenious hands-free method of holding a coffee cup.

A few days before we attacked the bushes, Apollo grilled up some pork and beef Mom gave us. Mom thought it was too cold to grill but clearly she doesn't understand the relationship between a man and his grill. Fortunately we have a carport which practically serves as a gigantic covered porch where we can do as much grilling as we wish whenever we want.

It was absolutely delicious and exceptionally moist! Apollo and the guys are planning on grilling up some pork chops this Saturday. It looks like we'll be exchanging Apollo's excellent grilling skills and food for help with our house. I don't think anyone can say no to that.

Horseshoes

This horseshoe set is made up of items found on any old farm and has been lodged in a woodpecker friendly apple tree at Mom's for as long as I can remember. Other than the hole in the tree (you can see through it in this photo if you look carefully) the tree itself is fine and produces tons of apples every year.

Miscellaney

The washer and dryer I bought back in November came in a week early and will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. This means that for the first time ever, every single piece of clothing, all linens and blankets will be clean AT ONE TIME. I can't wait! I've heard that I need to use special HE (High Efficiency) detergent, which I'm totally unprepared for but I'm sure that can be remedied. I'm not even sure if this is true or is just a marketing ploy.

Meanwhile, I just ate a whole quart sandwich bag of frozen blueberries. I eat them in lieu of other high calorie or fatty snacks. My stomach is already grumbling.

Today Aimee and I went to the local library to pick up a couple books. The drive to the library is always a trip down memory lane since we have to drive right by the tiny house we lived in during my first through third grades. Nearby is the big scary church we used to run by on the way home from school (not so big nor scary now) and the alley we walked down and magically found toys in the mud puddles (we honestly thought it was a mystery).

Anyway, we spent an hour or so at the library picking out our books and went up to the counter to check them out when we discovered that even though we live in the city, our neighborhood doesn't pay city taxes! We pay county taxes which means we have to pay out-of-city fees! There isn't a county library, so we're stuck paying either $7 a month at our city's library or $10 a month a neighboring library. Aimee paid the fee for one month, we're going to reevaluate later to see if we'll even use the library that much.

Erg, my stomach.

Gah, I feel so old sometimes.

One of my cousins and her fiance are visiting and decided to stay the night. Aimee and I took this opportunity to give them both the "Wise Older Cousin" talk in hopes that we could prompt them to dream about their future rather than settling for the present. Other than one cousin who has recently started dental training of some sort, all my cousins face similar careers as their parents. Unfortunately, there isn't much of a career path when it comes to working in the woods, mills, pumping gas, bagging groceries or driving truck.

I noticed this issue when I moved to So Cal as well, especially in the Hispanic community. It was almost normal to see young girls having babies and living with her parents until her own children were old enough to date. Young men usually looked for manual labor or entry level jobs without the dream of moving up. This was hard for me to understand since it seemed like there was a vocational school on every corner and college's in every community with inexpensive Cali tuition. I soon realized this was because the younger generations didn't have anyone to encourage them and tell them it's possible to better yourself if you have want it bad enough. (Or was it because it's just easier and safer to just accept what you know?)

I tried to explain to my cousin and her fiance that they should at least make a goal of having a better life than their parents. If they could just aim at improving their lives at least one notch up from the lives their parents live and encourage their children to do the same, we would all be so better off. I don't know if they believe in themselves though. I really worry about our youth.

Hay barn

This barn has housed many animals, including horses, calves and chickens. But for now, it's used for hay and other miscellaneous items. The barn is also full of old vintage treasures dating as far back as the '50s. Manly stuff like tools, oil cans, horse harnesses, ropes, deer antlers, etc.

A corral on the other side of the barn is still used but as you can see, the chute leading to it hasn't been used in quite a while.

At least they're not parking in the yard today

One of the family's in our neighborhood recently replaced their pick-up with what appears to be a Suburban that can't keep out water. It's currently covered with a giant sheet of plastic held down by cement breaks. This can be a problem, considering we live in Oregon where it rains. A lot.

Of course they can't put it under the carport because a pop-up camper is parked there. They also don't seem to have a sense of right and wrong about the direction to park your vehicle. At least they seem to be nice, despite the several Confederate flags they use to decorate their home, cars and clothing.

I'm thinking of getting a hair cut.

"NO!" yelled Apollo forcefully.

I laugh. "Since when have you controlled me and told me what I can and cannot do?"

Silence. "Since now, when I said no."

"BWAHAHAHHAA!"

This morning, "I'm still thinking of getting my hair cut."

"OK."

Pruning apple trees and why didn't Mom just give Peanut that "_fill in the blank_" in her freezer instead of letting the dogs fight over a dead rat?

A couple days ago we left for another visit with Mom. She's constantly in need of help with chores around the house and since we're both unemployed, we're glad to help. Plus Apollo is glad to be doing something productive. (He hasn't caught the knitting fever. Something tells me he won't be catching it any time soon.)

While there, Mom and Apollo started attacking the apple trees with fervor. Luckily I'm too short and we had only one ladder, so I walked around and took pictures or "helped" by holding the ladder. (It was a long hard day of labor for me!) I don't know much about pruning trees but Grandma swears Mom is butchering them. Either way, her trees produce an abundance of apples each year, more than we can eat, preserve or give away. This is just one of the apple trees that has been on the property since the early 1900s.

The driveway leading down between a cherry tree, an unseen stream (Mom's water source) and a shed.

Cattle responding to a dinner call in another field across the creek, which lies just on the other side of those bushes lining the field. The location to the right of this photo is exactly where I caught my two trout last year.

The sky was a beautiful almost-clear blue but it was a chilly 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

Peanut is slowly losing sight in his one good eye (the other lost in a tragic No-That's-My-Dead-Rat fight with Boo, a dog three times his size) and his hearing is going as well. Sometimes I think it's because he has so much fur he can't tell where I'm standing when I call his name. But in reality, he's getting old. Poor little guy has seizures too.

Here he is enjoying a fresh hair-cut around his good eye. I usually give him a cut once a month when I visit since Mom will let it grow out like that sheepdog on the Warner Brothers cartoons and we just can't have that. Aimee and I were thinking he would look awesome with an eye-patch over his bad eye. While we're at it, maybe some hearing aids too. I'll have to work on that.

What kind of bird is this?

I know it's a bad photo but this is the best I could do at the time. Can anyone tell what kind of bird this is? I thought it was a Western Meadowlark but the colors don't quite match up. He's showed up twice now on our back fence.

Trying to leave before 8am

We're off to Mom's. I'm not sure what we'll be doing today. Trimming apple tree's, repairing plumbing problems and cutting wood are all possibilities.

I'm assuming there may be some drama related to her computer too because Mom has informed me she has Computer Rage and is shutting down her Internet access. When Mom told me she had Computer Rage I thought that was a clever term but she wasn't quite in the mood for jokes.

Hope.

It's hard for me to describe how I feel about today. I'm overwhelmed with it all, really. I have much hope for our country but at the same time I'm scared. Obama has been elevated to The Promised One status and I worry about our country's expectations of him. Obviously, being President is not an easy job and he's not going to be able to fix our problems over night or even in the next couple years. What happens when he fails? And fail he will, he's just a man. It's not that I doubt him or that I want him to fail, I just have realistic expectations.

Meanwhile, I'm hopeful that he may influence the youth of today, in particular the African American youth. I've spent a lot of time lately reflecting on the US history and the affects of slavery on our culture. You can see its negative affects on popular music, family structure, attitudes towards each other and more. It's pretty damn sad and I wasn't sure if we could ever dig ourselves out of it. Not until Obama was elected. I'm hoping Obama's election will help steer our country in a new direction regarding race relations and generally, in respect towards each other no matter which country we live in.

Maybe this will help our youth to realize that yes, you can dream and it can come true.

Watching Obama swear in, I was brought to tears. Tears for all those who have fought and died for this day. Tears of hope.

I've still got it!

109 words

Typingtest

Blu-ray folly

Did you know Blu-ray players need a firmware upgrade after you purchase them? It may take days to weeks for the "Upgrade Firmware" message to appear on your screen. Meanwhile, you'll have viewed hours of video before you see the warning which seemingly has no reason for appearing.

It seems there are two different ways to upgrade firmware: 1) download the firmware upgrade to your computer, burn the image to a CD or DVD (this is important, there's a difference between saving the file to your CD and burning the image to the CD) and carefully following the very specific instructions to get your player to install the upgrade. Or 2) plug your Ethernet cable into the back of the player and allow the player to complete the upgrade. Mine doesn't have the option to plug in an Ethernet cable so I'm stuck with the CD.

After talking to a few different people about firmware upgrades, including some who work in the industry, there seems to be a difference of opinion over whether or not every Blu-ray player will require a firmware upgrade. So you can't exactly purchase one over the other in the hopes of avoiding this issue.

Honestly, the concept of having to upgrade your firmware seems ridiculous to me. Has this technology been released before it's actually ready? It seems prudent to make this type of information readily available to consumers (or to at least educate us since this is the new technology that is to replace DVD). After all, the boxes usually say something like, "Easy Set Up - Requires only an HDMI cable (not included) for the incredible images and quality High-Definition video." It actually states an HDMI cable is needed and that it's not included! This is obviously important and I appreciate the warning. Why couldn't it say anything about needing an Internet connection or include a quip about a required firmware upgrade? I can understand if it's necessary but damn! Why the sneakiness? Why the weeks of viewing enjoyment and then suddenly, it doesn't work? It's bull crap if you ask me!

I feel bad for those who have purchased the player and don't have Internet access. Or those who do have access to the upgrade AND STILL CAN'T GET PAST THE UPGRADE WARNING and consequently cannot view time-sensitive videos. Thank God I can still view some videos, so far it seems to be only Twentieth Century Fox videos that I can't watch. I'm still testing others though.

In other news, there are reports that the PS3 (which includes a Blu-ray player) will drop $100 in April. If we can't get our player to work, we're going to take it back and wait for the PS3. I consider myself to have decent knowledge when it comes to basic technology but this inability to upgrade my firmware has left a bad taste in my mouth.

Grrrr.