7 facts meme

Processing Counselor and Jiff both tagged me for a meme, and I am finally getting to it!

Here are the rules:
a. List these rules on your blog.
b. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
c. Tag 7 others.

(Mompriest shared her facts with pictures, which I thought was a brilliant idea so I will shamelessly copy her.)

OK, here are my 7 facts...
1. My favorite cereal is:

My only complaint is that there are never any toys in the box. Would it kill them to add a decoder ring or something?!

2. When I was growing up, I had a Boston Terrier named Chumley. This isn't Chumley, but he looked a lot like this when he was a puppy:



3. I do not like to floss my teeth. I floss my teeth, but I reaallllly do not like it.
4. When I see a picture, one of my first thoughts is: How would this look with Presbyterian Gal's face on it?



5. OK, I'll admit it (but only because I am in need of another fact): I like American Idol. In fact, my mom and I recently went to the 'American Idol Tour' concert in Portland. Here's a picture I took of David Cook.



6. I love electronic gadgets; I love books. So of course I covet songbird's kindle.


7. After a long day at the clinic... trying to think of a 7th fact AND trying to think of 7 people to tag is making me feel like this:



I think this meme has made the rounds, but if anybody wants to designate themselves as one of my 7, go for it!

Wile E. and Me

I have happily settled into the routine of commuting to work with my bike on Mondays and Wednesdays. Since I work Monday through Thursday, this means I am bike commuting...

*tap tap tap* [feverishly hitting the keys on the calculator] *tap tap tap*

...50% of the time!

Optometrists spend a good hunk of their day in dimly lit exam rooms with no windows. (Did I hear an "Awwwww, poor Barb" ? Thank you.) So, the best thing about the bike commute is that I am able to enjoy the 'great outdoors' to and from work. (I have chosen my route so that it avoids as many city streets as possible.)

This morning while riding by an open field, I came across a coyote. (Actually there are two coyotes who seem to make this little field their home.) The coyote was pretty close to the road, but he started bounding away as he saw me approach. I was able to get this picture:



It's basically a good thing he started heading in the opposite direction, but I would have gotten a much better picture if he had stayed put!

the continuing adventures of garbage puff...

Garbage Puff was spotted at The Little Cheerful for brunch today. Here he is perusing the menu. (By the way, he ended up ordering the portobello mushroom omelet.)


Garbage Puff especially liked this cartoon in the menu. He thought it was funny in an existential sort of way.

Friday Five: What You Absolutely, Positively Can't Leave Home Without

Singing Owl Writes: At the moment we are trying to get the car loaded so we can hit the road, so this will be a simple F.F. This running around madly in order to leave has me wondering: What are the five things you simply must have when you are away from home?

Yay! I love road trips!


(I know, I know. Presbygal and I have got to get in the habit of wearing our helmets!)

Anyway, here are my five 'gotta haves':
1. Cell phone -- for the 'being in touch' part and for the internet access.
2. A good book
3. A howling cat in a carrier. Wait a minute! How did that get in here?! Scratch that one.
4. A camera -- so you can post pictures and blog about your road trip later.
5. Tevas! -- because they are just so darn comfortable.

looking for me?!

I'll post soon.
Promise! :)

garbage puff

Offspring #1 purchased a basic (yet nice) sewing machine earlier this summer. She inherited some sewing genes from her great-grandmother. I must be a 'carrier', but sadly the genes did not express themselves in me. (It took me an entire semester in a high school 'home economics' class to sew a pocket on a skirt. But let's not dwell on that.)

Anyway... on my recent visit to Bellingham, Offspring #1 gave me a cute little creature she had made and named "Garbage Puff". I decided he is just the right size to take along on outings, so from time to time I'll post where he's been.

This morning he went on a bike ride around the lake with Hubby and me.

Poor Garbage Puff waited at Nutty McSquirrel's house, but Nutty was a no show.

it's been a busy few days

Thursday after work I scooted up to Bellingham. It was a quick trip, and I was back by 2:00 today to attend a wedding shower. In addition to enjoying some meals with Offsprings #1&2, I was able to attend a dress rehearsal of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Offspring #1 plays Hermia in an outdoor Shakespeare production. Here she is with Lysander:



I also got to meet the delightful Mr. Tumnus, Offspring #1's new kitty. I fell in love with Mr. Tumnus. In fact, only a Barry White song can capture the essence of my time with Tumnus:

yay! the kitty!

Offspring #1 reports that Mr. Tumnus is home, cute as can be, and settling in nicely. He certainly looks happy to me:



I get to meet him soon. :)

you like me... you really like me!

Or at least a couple of you do! Diane and Presbyterian Gal both honored me with the "She's So Artistic" Award. Thank you both -- your checks are in the mail.


There are apparently some rules and responsibilities in holding this award. (Sigh, always a catch, isn't there?!) And here they are:

1) Pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself. Voilà! Here's the award:


4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte Y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award -- which is here.

The most difficult part is selecting recipients for this award, because if you are on my blog links at the right, that means I already like you -- I really like you!

But I will follow the rules (so that they don't rescind my "She's So Artistic" Award) and select five blogs (all of whom I think haven't yet been chosen). Drum roll, please.........

Processing Counselor: Great posts about her life in NYC. Also she finds some cool youtubes.
Seeking Authentic Voice: Interesting posts and pictures re: her new call to Arizona.
Rev Songbird: What can I say?! A classic!
Rev SS: This is a "blog of random sharing" (her description) by my erstwhile (because she moved!) pastor and present friend. She is an awesome pastor who "gets it" about the emergent church.
dustbunny: Even though dustbunny hasn't posted anything since (Ahem!) June 30th, when she does post (hint: get your butt in gear already!) they are cute.

and now for something fun... again!

On Monday I posted a video of (my interpretation of) how Offspring #2 solved the problem of locking himself out of his bedroom at his summer apartment. Offspring #1 recently experienced a little apartment trouble of her own. (Trouble, thy name is flea.)

So in the interest of equal time (of silliness) for both Offspring, here is my interpretation of how her problem was solved.



And since the apartment is now flea-free (it was an inherited problem to start with by the way), Offspring #1 received the green light to adopt this cute, cute, cute (did I mention cute?) kitty from the shelter. She gets to pick him up on Tuesday. As you can see, she named him after a Narnia character.



I am really looking forward to meeting Mr. Tumnus!

snippets from the week

Monday Hop n' Bop
We had the day off (extended 4th of July) so we decided at the last minute to hop on Amtrak and bop around the Pearl District in Portland. We ended up at Powell's (best book store ever) and I, of course, bought a book. It's called The New Yorkers: A Novel which had "fluffy summer read!" written all over it.

Tuesday Lunch 'Break'
My assistant went to the credit union over her lunch break. Besides the employees, the only other person in the branch at the time was .... a bank robber. Yikes! Luckily nobody was hurt, but her return to the clinic was delayed as she was interviewed by the FBI, swat team, etc.

Wednesday 'Easy Rider'
Rode my bike to work! It was a really pleasant ride in (part of the way goes by our city lake) -- took about 35 minutes. Going home was less pleasant because I was bucking a headwind -- took about 45 minutes. Overall it went well, so I'm definitely going to commute with my bike part time, weather permitting.

Thursday...
Going to watch The Royal Tenenbaums now. I don't know much about the movie, but with Ben Stiller in it, how can I go wrong?!

and now for something fun...

Offspring #2 is up at college taking summer classes and doing some part time work. On July 4th he inadvertently locked himself out of his bedroom at his (sublet) apartment -- no key. I was impressed with how he solved the problem. I'm picturing that it went something like this:




(By the way, Mallard's is a great ice cream place.)



-------------------------------------------------------------------
Another way to get to the youtube video is this link:

In the span of about 15 hours...

...I heard an aspiring young singer-songwriter, met a self-published author of a historical work, and saw the exhibit of a model railroad enthusiast.

How that happened:

#1. The singer-songwriter. Hubby's cousin's daughter, Emily (whom we had never met in person), is on a self-scheduled performance/promotion tour--a big loop from Michigan, out west, up through Canada, and back to Michigan in the course of a few weeks. She was singing at a small restaurant/bar in Portland last night, so the Hub and I drove down to see her. She has a good voice and has written some thought-provoking songs -- I would place her in the alternative folk genre.




2. The author. Emily scheduled her performances along the path being traveled by Ron Papandrea, author of They Never Surrendered: The Lakota Sioux Band That Stayed In Canada. Papandrea, also from Michigan, is out promoting his book, a scholarly historical work which took him 6 years to research and write. We sat with him during Emily's performance and bought a copy of the book (which I started reading last night).


#3. The model railroader. J.D., a patient of mine who lives in a nearby small town, has been a model railroader since he was a kid in 1955. Whenever he comes in for an eye exam he invites me to come out to his shop and see his model railroad set-up, but I've never done it. (To be honest, I thought it would be a little awkward.) Last week he dropped off a flyer at the clinic for me -- he was having an open house (or would that be open shop?!) during the 4th of July weekend. So I grabbed my mom and we headed over this morning. He does have a nice display -- of course it's a work in progress, as those things usually are.




As I was driving home, I was struck by the fact that these three people have such disparate interests and backgrounds, yet there is a common thread. They are each steadfastly pursuing their own dream, in spite of the fact that they don't appear to have a lot of public support at present. (The audience to hear Emily was very small, Ron only sold one book last night, and my mom and I were the only two people looking at the railroad display this morning.) My belief is that life is short and people need to go with their passion. (Of course I know one needs a balancing dose of reality as well.) In any event, I think they each will be rewarded for their perserverance. Emily just learned she will get to open for singer Amos Lee later this month, Ron found out they picked up his book to be sold at the Custer Battlefield site in Montana, and J.D. told me there appears to be some interest in making his railroad open house an annual 4th of July event in his small town.

in summary

Afternoon "people watching" at the flea market...


Evening fireworks at the lake...


Goodnight...

Friday Five: Fireworks Edition

This week the F5 is presented by Sally (a Brit!)...

1. Barbeque's or picnics (or are they essentially the same thing?)
Location, location, location. Although the food can be exactly the same, a BBQ is in the backyard and a picnic is somewhere else! (Speaking of picnics and food, my grandma made the best potato salad in the world, the perfection of which has never been duplicated.)

2. The park/ the lake/ the beach or staying at home simply being?
Here in Longview the big yearly event is the "Go 4th" celebration down at the lake which includes a big flea market and impressive fireworks display. It is also verrrrry interesting to people watch at this time. (Read whatever you like between the lines.)

3. Fireworks- love 'em or hate 'em?
I love laying/lying (never could figure out that verb) on a blanket down at the lake watching the professional fireworks display. I also like watching some of the nicer (i.e. bigger) home fireworks. However, I do not like firecrackers. (I have seen too many nasty eye injuries from those.)

4. Parades- have you ever taken part- share a memory...
I've never taken part in a 4th of July parade that I can recall. (And, sad to say, the 4th of July parade here in town is pretty lame. Mostly old cars putt-putting along.)

5. Time for a musical interlude- if you could sum up holidays in a piece of music what would it be?
The only song I can think of is "Holiday Road" (from National Lampoon's Vacation). It says "summer!" to me. Here's the original theatrical trailer:

the patriotic duo

The 4th of July is fast approaching, so Presbyterian Gal and I are getting in the spirit of things by re-enacting the signing of the Declaration of Independence.



Notice how Presbygal is grabbing the document... I think she has a couple of revisions in mind.