I Forgot

I forgot to tell you that I got a new pair of sunglasses. Costco had a $15.00 off coupon, so I was able to use some birthday money I had set aside to buy them. Here's what they look like:



I totally love them. Here's what the web site says about them:

They feature the best lenses available on any sunglass and offer maximum protection on the road. They feature an extended lens which covers the blind spot perfectly.

In addition to this, they offer skull fit arms which provide maximum comfort especially when combined with the rubber nose pads which prevent the sunglasses slipping on the nose bridge. The great thing about the Monza sunglasses is they come with polarized lenses as standard and the polarization is amazing. Never before has glare been combated so well which gives your eyes a well earned break, even in intense summer light. Premium Polarized ® lenses contain a polarized film embedded into the lens which blocks 99.9% of reflected light and eliminates glare.

As with all Serengeti sunglasses, the lenses feature Serengeti's famous photochromic protection. The lenses lighten in overcast conditions and darken in bright sunlight which give perfect vision at all times. They also feature Serengeti's patented Spectral Control ® Filter which blocks 95% of troublesome blue light waves and reduces eye fatigue.

Besides that they are cool.

Phew! Carmen has really stinky farts tonight. I'd better go take her outside. Ta!

It Truly Is A Small World.

Sophie's class went well on Wednesday. Everyone was very impressed at Sophie's recall story. It was impressive, I just hope it wasn't a fluke. Sophie does seem to enjoy the class. There is a malamute, a German Shepard, a Vizla, and a German Shorthaired Pointer in her class. I really like the German shepherd's mom. We've talked a lot during class, but we just know each other by our dog's names. She's Josie's mom, I'm Sophie's mom. Last week we were chatting about people who have dogs that do sports, and she mentioned she knew a gal that showed and coursed Basenji's. Since one of my friends at work shows & courses Basenjis, I asked who it was.

"Julie Leicht." She said.

I stared at her. "Oh yeah, I know her, too. I work with her. How do you know her?"

She stared at me. "I work with her, too."

"You work with her? Where do you work?" I said, wondering when Julie got a second job I didn't know about.

"City of Gresham." Says Josie's Mom.

More staring in disbelief. "YOU work at the City of Gresham?? I work at the City of Gresham. I'm in the Accounting department. What's your name?"

Okay, to make a long conversation full of staring and repeating the same thing back and forth, we determined we both worked at the City of Gresham. She's a police officer, which explains why I didn't recognize her (Police & Fire are housed in a different building than the rest of the City departments) and she didn't recognize me. We both live in Vancouver, we both take our dogs to A Dog's Life Doggy Daycare, and we both work at the City of Gresham. What are the odds?? She lives about 3 miles from me. It really is a small world!

After class I was craving an ice cream cone, so I went to this little place I had seen near the daycare. I'd never been there before, but they advertised fresh made custard ice cream. They had a drive through, so I didn't have to get out of the car even. I placed my order and got up to the window, and the two young gals working the drive through were admiring Sophie. They gave her a puppy cone, and were impressed at how daintily she licked it. It was funny. Sophie acted like it was no less than her due. I think she likes having an admiring public.

It Might Be Working!

I was across the street tonight talking to my neighbor when all of the sudden Carmen & Sophie came zooming towards me at top speed. They were supposed to be in the house, but I must not have gotten the door shut all the way and the wind blew it open. While they went running down the street chasing another neighbor's cat (sorry, kitty), I flew in the house searching for my car keys. As I ran to the door to get in the car and start the Sophie Chase, Carmen came up to me and went back in the house. I grabbed the clicker and the stinky treats that Sophie likes on my way to the car. I only had to drive down two houses to catch her. I clicked the clicker, called her, and she came up to me. When she realized I had her stinky treats, she actually let me pick her up and throw her in the car! Woo hoo! A Sophie Chase that lasted less than two minutes - and that included finding my car keys!

Yay Sophie! I'm so proud. I can't wait to tell her teacher.

Skunked!

I hate it when I go looking for a letterbox and can't find it. I had dinner with my parents last night and afterwards we went up to Mt. Tabor to find two boxes. Got skunked on both of them. Grrr! So I emailed the planters today. Der Mad Stamper wrote back that he had removed the box for maintenance and forgotten to update the clues, and Calli-K wrote back to say that yes, the box was gone. Sigh. I hate not finding boxes!!!!

Here are some pictures I just took of my kids. Aren't they cute??

Who Thought of This One? They Ought to be Shot.

I went to Costco tonight. It's always so much fun to go there. While I was on the shampoo aisle, there was a lady, her mom, and her toddler, who was just old enough to walk on her own. Cute little kid. Unfortunately, the ladies weren't really watching her. So she's running around all over the shampoo aisle getting into stuff. She has on these little baby sandals that squeak like a squeaky toy ever time she takes a step. Every. Time. Yes. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Maybe you haven't gotten the full horror of the situation. Let me try again. EVERY SINGLE STEP this child took her shoes squeaked.

I want to know who on earth thought that squeaky shoes would be a good idea on a toddler. I figure it must have been a man with no children. Even worse, who would BUY such a thing? "Oooh! Looky, Marsha! Shoes that squeak with each step my child takes! I've got to have those! I don't care WHAT they cost." Right. I was ready to remove her shoes and hide them after two minutes of exposure, and I'm sure if I'd stuck around longer I would have gone completely around the bend.

Okay, all you moms speak up. Would you buy them for your toddler????

I Resisted

My letterboxing girlfriends Maiden1974 and Camp Fire Lady invited me to go letterboxing with them today. Yes, on a workday. Maiden is a teacher so she is out for the summer, and CFL is a "domestic engineer" so they have all this free time to go letterboxing WITHOUT ME. They encouraged me to have the "letterboxing flu" but I managed to avoid it. It was VERY tempting though.

I got my teeth cleaned this morning. I love how teeth feel after getting cleaned. I decided since I was close by that I'd go look for a letterbox, but had no luck. I was going to go up to Mt. Tabor to find the beginning of a trail, but for some unknown reason the City of Portland closes the park to motor vehicles on Wednesdays. WTF? Who closes a park to vehicle traffic on Wednesdays? And why? So the squirrels can have a neighborhood party in the streets? So, no box for me!

Sophie's class was good today. She was really good. We went to the park afterwards and went looking for bunnies. We were stumped, though. No bunnies. Well, we'll try again next week.

Still Using the Back Up Pair

I didn't get a new pair of sunglasses over the weekend. Still using the crappy back-up pair.

Just in case you wanted an update.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there! I went and did a little research and found out how Father's Day actually got started.

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.
Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972.

Pretty cool, huh?

Oh, and a Couple More

I was having trouble posting my pictures last night on here. I have a couple more pictures of the "supervisors".

Painting the Entry

One more chore has been checked off of the house remodel to-do list. My wonderful parents kindly came over today and helped us paint our entry way. For those of you who don't know, our entry way is open all the way up to the 2nd floor ceiling, so it is pretty darned high. We don't have a ladder, but luckily my dad did and he was nice enough to take his Saturday off (and the day before Father's Day to boot) to come help us.

So here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The finished entry.






The Painting Team.






The Supervisory Team

So it is all done now and looks great. On to the steps!

Tragedy has struck!

Back when we had money, ‘lo these many years ago, I bought a really good pair of Serengeti driving sunglasses. I’ve had them, oh, I guess four or five years now. I love them. Last night I got in my car to take Sophie to class and found my beloved sunglasses laying on the seat in two pieces! Somehow they snapped right in the middle of the nosepiece. I tried taping them up, but it doesn’t work very well. Besides, I look like a stupid nerd with taped glasses.

Normally, I would never spend money on something so trivial, but Serengeti’s are made for driving and they are awesome. Since I drive so much, I figured it was important to invest in a good pair of sunglasses that cuts the glare, aren’t too dark, and cuts through the rain haze. Here’s what Serengeti says about their lenses:

“Our most versatile lens, Serengeti Drivers enhance your vision regardless of the weather conditions. Automatically adjusting to changing light, they are the ideal choice for any condition from rain or fog to bright sunlight making the Drivers lens a favorite of professional drivers, military and commercial airline pilots all over the world. Not to mention chubby women in Washington who drive 50 miles a day.”

Okay, I added that last sentence, but you get the idea.

The web site also says:

“Made from only the finest materials in the world, Serengeti’s glass lenses provide unsurpassed visual acuity. And because the advanced technology is molecularly engineered into the glass itself, it does not wear out or wear off. In an age of disposables, our lenses can last a lifetime.”

Yeah, but what about the FRAMES???? Ah, but the website has that covered, too:

“Not only are Serengeti’s lenses technically advanced, but so are their frames. Serengeti’s frames are manufactured with the consumer’s facial features in mind for style and for comfort. So when you put on a pair of Serengeti’s, a combination of superior lens technology and craftsmanship make Serengeti clearly the world’s finest.”

Can you tell these people think a lot of themselves? Superior lens technology and craftsmanship blah, blah. Your stupid glasses obviously can’t stand up to a 25 pound whippet walking on them, so they must be CRAP!

Of course, I have a cheap-o back up pair, but I never liked them as much, and they are too dark for driving. This just sucks!

Maybe I can talk Greg in to going to Costco tonight and getting a new pair.

Need a Puppy Fix?

My friend Diane's whippet had puppies! If you want to see something cute, check out the pictures. Whippet puppies are the CUTEST ever!

I Have a New Favorite

I have a new favorite author... Katie MacAlister. I've read a number of her books lately and have been so impressed with all of them. Her stories are funny and sexy and so entertaining. One of the best parts is that she has really unique story lines. The one I'm reading now (Blow Me Down) is about a lady who gets sucked into a virtual reality game. The last one I read (Hard Days Knight) was about a lady who goes to a renaissance fair and meets a jouster. No boring formula romances here!

If you try her books, let me know.

Can you believe it is the middle of June already? This year is just flying by.

Not much going on this weekend. Did some work around the house. Yawn. For a boring weekend it went awfully fast.

Did you read this story? Isn't it an amazing story? I can't imagine what those families must be going through.

So, did any of you solve the Bianry Eyestrain clue that I linked to the other day? Pretty cool, huh?

And We Have A Winner!

Sophie & I had our first training class on Wednesday. She did really well. We are clicker training, which is something new for her. The stinky venison & green-lipped muscle treats were a big hit. She was willing to work for those! We worked on name-recognition, which seems kind of silly since she's 6, but that's okay. She did really good. We also worked on Sit and Place. She's an old pro at sit, and if you give her some of those stinky treats, she'll do it all day (well, at least for a good five minutes). Place is a handy command that tells them to go sit on their blanket or pillow or whatever "place" you designate.

It was kind of weird because we did it all with just clicks and treats. No verbal commands. We'll get to those, but I guess we are starting with the behavior and then putting a name to it, once they are doing it right. Sounds good to me, anyway.

A Dog's Life, the daycare where this class is being held, has a doggycam that you can use to watch your dogs at daycare. They have the cameras on all the time, so if you are ever bored on Wednesday nights around 6:30-7:30 for the next 5 weeks, you can watch me and Sophie on your computer! Isn't technology great?

I didn't end up going to the letterboxing gathering tonight. Oh well. I did manage to FINALLY get the Ace of Fun letterbox. It's only about 30 blocks from where I get my hair cut, so I stopped by and had a cup of hot chocolate and stamped in. The person there had no idea what I was talking about and I made him look for it three times before he came up with the box. I have worked harder to get that damned box than any other letterbox of my acquaintance. But now I have it in my book for ever more.

I Feel So Old

On Sunday I went to Greg’s niece’s graduation party. I can’t believe Paige is graduating! She was born the same year I graduated from high school, so I’ve known her since she was 4. Can that be right? She was born in ’88, and I met Greg in ’92, so that is 4 years, right? Wow. And now she is all grown up, graduated from high school, and off to Western Oregon State in the fall to be a CSI. Ask me how old I felt at that party on Sunday. Pretty darned old. It’s seems like a million years ago since I graduated from high school. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time, just to start my adult life all over again and maybe make some different choices. Hmm. Maybe I’ll make a top ten out that. That would be kind of interesting, wouldn’t it? I’ll have to think about that.

Hmm, nothing else has been interesting enough to blog about. You don’t want to hear about my chores. Yawn. You don’t want to hear about what I’ve been doing at work, ‘cause that’s boring. I told you about letterboxing on Friday. Just haven’t been doing that much since then. I do have a training class with Sophie tonight so that will be something for tomorrow. And Friday I’m getting my hair cut and going to another letterboxing gathering.

For your amusement, here is a link to a virtual letterbox called Binary Eyestrain. See if you can solve it. You get a prize at the end!

Pinecones & Puzzles Gathering

I went letterboxing on Friday! There is never a bad day when letterboxing is involved, I tell ya.

Some very famous letterboxers, Mark & Sue, came to Portland this week on vacation. I know, it doesn't sound like everyone's dream vacation, but us letterboxers do weird things in pursuit of just one more box. In great Portland letterboxing tradition, we had a gathering for a "meet and greet." It was held at...oh, wait. I can't say because it is a mystery clue. Okay, go look up the clues for the Spirit of Dartmoor box, decode it, then we can come back to the story. Dum de dum dum. Dum de dum dum (this is the Jeopardy music, in case you can't tell). Found it? Decoded it? Know where we are going? Okay then.

So it was held at this place that you just decoded. One of the letterboxers, Gerlfren, that I had met up at the Spring Flinger gathering in April came down from the Seattle area to meet them even. She got together with Maiden1974, Campfire Lady & Calli-K (yes, those are all trail names) in the afternoon to do some boxing around Gresham before heading to the gathering in the evening. I planned to meet up with them after they found Maiden's highly evil Seasonal Anagram and we were going to find another box I didn't have.

So I get a call from Maiden saying "Can you come over to the park and help us? I can't find the deep hole I used in my clues, so we can't find any of the boxes." OMG! I was LMAO. She couldn't find where she had planted her own boxes following her own clues! Of course I had to go over to the park then and rub it in, so I went through McDonald's for a quick snack and drove to the rescue.

I arrived in the park to find that Maiden had left to pick up her kids, and the other three were wandering around in the woods looking around every deep hole in the park. Luckily, it isn't a very big park. I was able to get them pointed in the right direction, and just as we were about to start the skies opened up. It was just pouring! The shower lasted about 10 minutes and we hung out under the trees and got soaked. It was pretty fun.

After that we ran over to Mount...oh, wait. I think these boxes are more mystery clues. Okay, we went to this other place to get more boxes. Found three boxes there (one of which I had tried to find about a million times with no luck. Funny how it helps to have more minds on a clue to make it all become clear).

Once we had gotten our boxes, we headed over to Maiden's house to hang out before it was time to leave for the party. It's always great to go to Maiden's house, because she always has interesting boxes at her house that she will let you stamp in your book. She gave me the new stamp that she carved for me. I'm calling it "If I Only Had a Brain" and will use it as a traveler. You can only get this traveler if you do something brainless while letterboxing in my presence. It got a good workout right away. By the time the night was over, the whole group got to stamp it in their book.

We added Der Mad Stamper to our group while at Maiden's and headed off to...er...the place you decoded earlier. It's a great place and we had a good time. I got to meet a few new local boxers, see a bunch of old friends, and meet a few out-of-towners. A good time was had by all!