Tuesday, December 29, 2009

It's official. Life is unfair. So what CAN you do about it?

Pam's note: This was forwarded to me in an email recently. I thought it was perfectly appropriate to share as everyone starts thinking of their New Years' Resolutions...
-- -- -- -- --

Dr. Zimmerman's TUESDAY TIP:
All reports are in. Life is officially unfair.

What Dr. Zimmerman Has To Say About This:
That's right. Life is unfair. And that's been especially evident during the Great Recession. Lots and lots of people got hurt who did nothing wrong. In fact, they played by the rules, did their best, and still lost their jobs, homes and savings. It wasn't fair.

In a sense, we all became the victims of a few politicians and a few businesspeople who made decisions and carried out policies that feathered their nests while they destroyed ours. And I'm angry about that ... because it isn't fair.

HOWEVER, we do NOT have to remain victims. No matter what has happened or is happening in your life financially, occupationally, physically, relationally, or emotionally, you CAN rise above it. You CAN become bigger and better than the unfairness.

You CAN get through this ... and any other unfairness in your life and your work ... IF you nurture your maturity. For maturity, you see, is the capacity to face unpleasantness and disappointment without becoming bitter. It's knowing that it's not so much what happens to you but how your respond to those things that really count.

Marty Nemko, the author of "Cool Careers for Dummies," talks about that. Growing up, he knew his father had survived a concentration camp during World War II, but he rarely heard his father talk about it. So one day Nemko asked his father why he never complained about his suffering and losses.
His father simply replied, "The Nazis took five years from my life. I won't give them one minute more. Martin, never look back; always look forward."

He's right. And when you're in the midst of great trial, trauma, and unfairness ... when you need to get through the tough times ... when you need maturity more than ever, I recommend the following three strategies.

1. Practice acceptance.
As sociologist M. Kathleen Casey put it, "Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgement of the facts of a situation, then deciding what you're going to do about it."

In other words, when life smacks you down with some of its unfairness, you can't afford to waste your time on griping, groaning, whining, blaming, or complaining. That will only make you bitter.
Your first step has to be "acknowledgement." You acknowledge the fact you're in a tough situation, AND you're going to do something about it. That will make you better.

Perhaps the best example of that very strategy was Noah and his Ark. He acknowledged the fact he was in the midst of tough times ... with the whole world set against him. And he was determined to do something about it. As one anonymous author put it, everything I need to know about life I learned from Noah's Ark.

One: Don't miss the boat.
Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built his Ark.
Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six: Build your future on high ground.
Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.
Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

So the first step towards maturity is acknowledgement ... accepting the reality of your situation ... which is quite different than "woe-is-me" submission. And once you've got this step in place, I recommend the second strategy, which is ...

2. Control your reaction.
If you can't prevent the bad things from happening in your life, if you can't stop the unfairness in your work, you CAN at the very least control your reaction to those things. After all, as Bushrod H. Campbell points out, "If I've learned anything in my 70 years it's that nothing's as good or as bad as it appears." It's all in the way you see it and react to it.

Jerry Smith, a builder from Duluth, Minnesota, gave a vivid example of that. When he was working in the Black Hills of South Dakota in the 1980's, a major forest fire roared through the area. In the midst of that, he stopped at a fast food restaurant for breakfast. As he was eating, a teenage boy and girl came in with their parents, all looking as if the end of the world had arrived.

The mother began to tell anyone who would listen how a forest ranger roused her family from their campsite in the middle of the night. He'd told them they were in a fire danger zone. "Get in your car and leave immediately," he'd ordered. "Do not gather your belongings. Just head east to the main highway."

"We had planned and saved for this camping trip for years," the mother lamented. "It is just terrible. Our vacation is ruined!"

A short time later, another family came into the restaurant -- a mom, dad, two boys, and a girl. All were smiling, laughing, and in good spirits. They sat near Smith and the mother began recounting a familiar tale. "We were amazed at the way the ranger took control of a difficult and dangerous situation," she began.

"We scrambled to get dressed and in our hurry, I was barefoot, my daughter was wearing my husband's boots, and the boys were in their socks! What a wonderful experience it was!" she exclaimed. "This is a great vacation we are having and we will remember it forever!"

So you see, both families were in the SAME situation, but their reactions to it were very DIFFERENT. It only goes to show that you DO have control over your reaction, and you need to exert that control when life is unfair. As TV writer and producer Susan Harris puts it, "Anyone can be happy when times are good; the richer experience is to be happy when times are not."

Finally, to practice maturity, to get through the tough times, I strongly suggest that you ...

3. Give thanks for the tough times.
"What?" you say. "Give thanks for the tough times? That's just plain crazy." I can hear you say it.
I grant you the fact that it's not "normal" to give thanks when life is unfair and work is overwhelming. But I'm more concerned with what works and doesn't work than what's "normal." And the smart folks ... who do the best job of getting through the tough times ... have learned to give thanks for them.
The smart folks give thanks for the LESSONS that come with the tough times. And there are always a host of lessons to be learned. As author Brian Tracy says, "In life, difficulties are placed in our path not to obstruct, but to instruct."

I know that's been true for me. When I lost many of my family members ... due to the ravages of divorce, alcoholism, suicide, gambling, unemployment, and imprisonment that ran through some of my family members ... I learned how to take care of myself, no matter what. And I'm enormously thankful for those lessons, even though I would not want to repeat the experiences that brought those lessons.

As poet Joseph Addison said hundreds of years ago, "Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses, and disappointments; but let us have patience, and we soon shall see them in their proper figures."

So smart folks give thanks for the LESSONS that come with the tough times. And smart folks give thanks for the LIGHTNESS that comes after the bad times.. They give thanks for the bad times, because without them, the good times would not be nearly as sweet.

Helen Keller knew that better than most. And despite the fact she was not able to see, speak, or hear, she still climbed to international fame, proclaiming, "The marvelous riches of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse."

Senator Bob Dole learned the same lesson. As a senior, retired, and distinguished politician, Dole says, "I think one of life's greatest pleasures is when a person can look back and be almost as thankful for the setbacks as for the victories."

Now that's maturity.

Action:
Identify two tough situations in your life, or pick out two areas where life is unfair to you. And then take a good, hard look at your reaction to those situations and areas. Are you CONTROLLING your reaction? Go back to point 2 and re-read that section if necessary.

Make it a GREAT week!
Dr. Alan Zimmerman
http://www.drzimmerman.com/

Monday, December 28, 2009

AdSense, Amazon, SpongeBob, and slide whistles

Frank and I have been experimenting with some new blog stuff for the new year. If you are a regular reader at his blog www.deafchefatlarge.com you might have noticed he recently added some Google AdSense spots.  He's had some of his favorite cookbooks listed on an Amazon widget on his site, and after jonesing on his widget I added one here, too.

I'll experiment with the Amazon links here, but don't be surprised if you see some weird things show up. I'm kind of attracted to totally random, silly stuff. Either way, if I come across something amazing and think you might want one too, I might blog about it here and include a link for you to get your own.

For starters, (and I'm experimenting here) Rachel and I are huge (albeit closeted) fans of SpongeBob Square Pants. We quote lines from one episide or another so often... well this morning she was saying that the fog we've been having makes us feel isolated. In the nanosecond pause we both pictured Squidward when he went into the future and ended up nowhere and everything was white. (You know exactly which episode I'm talking about, don't you?) So as Rachel was talking about the continued fog we both looked at each other and said
"Alone. alone... alone      alone   ..."

Now if I told you we really really want slide whistles really badly, you'll understand, right?
I'm gonna have to get a couple. I think the 59c variety will do. Oh look, here's a link.






I think we could stir up a good bit of mischief at the mall food court with these things, don't you?

Don't worry; I'm too thrifty to spend $9.99 on shipping for a 59c item, but next time I order something you bet I'm throwing a couple of these babies in my order.

Allrighty, so I wanted to let you know we're playing around with different ways to monetize our blogs. Just to see what happens. Of course, some days I think my mother is my only reader... Hi mom! How deep is the snow out there on the farm? Hi to John. Frank and Rachel say hi!





Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Teeny tiny kitchen

This is it, folks. The fridge is next to the stove and there's no more space.

Yet somehow we have managed to not starve to death, cooking in this space.

Now here's where it gets tricky. The yellow pot on the stove is melting white chocolate - I'm making white chocolate peppermint bark in the pan on the counter to the right of the stove.

Balanced at the sink is a pan of cooling peanut brittle. One bump and I'll have to re-do the batch, but it was quick and easy. I used a microwave recipe that actually worked out beautifully. Ok, it rained all day, so the candy was a little soft and sticky, but it wasn't bad. I'll make another batch and share the recipe.

If you click on the picture, it should take you to the flickr page for this picture. You can then hover your mouse over the picture to see extra notes about all the stuff you see.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Setting up the tree


Yes, yes, we're bad Oregonians with our fakey pre-lit tree. You can call it lazy; I call it thrifty.

At least I try to rationalize that I can pay $30 once for a pre-lit tree and I'm done for several years. You can point out the gorgeous 7 ft Noble firs selling for $5 at the makeshift tree stand in the grocery store parking lot.

Fine. Laugh at me. Maybe next year I'll treat the family to a real tree.

If you're living outside of the Pacific NW and wonder how on earth a $5 Christmas tree can be called gorgeous, I have two words for you: Shipping Costs.




PS: The black cat staring at Frank and Rachel as they arrange the branches is Violet. She's planning how she will un-decorate the tree and bend all the lower branches. 

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Ravenous Couple

I love comments.

The other day I posted about our first visit to Super Pho and was delighted to see a comment from Ravenous Couple. Of course, I had to go visit their blog to see who they are and... wow. I'm new to Vietnamese food, and don't get to L.A. often - ok, almost NEVER - but I love their blog. 

At home we've been exploring Asian cooking. In the past two weeks Frank has brought some interesting items home from the grocery store: two different kinds of hoisin sauce, a big bottle of sesame oil (a little goes a long way and we've got enough to last us several years), various spices and seasonings...

A couple nights ago he made a beef stir fry that was outstanding. After many guinea pig dinners, we think he finally got the seasoning just right. Ok, honestly, the beef cut was wrong for the dish and the fast cooking made it chewy. Very chewy. Think Violet Beauregarde and her meal flavored gum at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. For a while I was worried that we would end the meat chewing with the flavor of blueberry pie and be rolled out of the house to be squished...

But the flavor was perfect!

Anyway, back to Ravenous Couple. Love the blog, added it to my Google Reader, and recommending you take a look.

Hey Frank, can we try some Thit Kho? Looks tasty.




Friday, December 11, 2009

Noodle bowls at Super Pho

Last week we went to Super Pho for the first time. In fact, it was our first time at any Pho restaurant.

The food was fantastic and it is now our new favorite restaurant.
Would you believe these huge noodle bowls were only $7.95?

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Scared of Santa

I'm a little twisted.
I find great joy in the unexpected.
This year, I'm changing my computer wallpaper daily  - with one disturbed Christmas picture after another.

Creepy scary Santa pictures with crying kids
funwithsanta7, originally uploaded by willandmaggie.


There are several great collections out there. You know you want to look:

http://www.creepysantaphotos.com/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/santa/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/51152705@N00/

Enjoy!





Monday, December 7, 2009

Portland isn't as weird as it thinks it is...

Well, I guess I can hang my head in disappointment now.
Both Korinne in NE and Deborah in Orlando, FL have pointed out that their town/state are weirder than dear old PDX.
Here's Deb's email - hot off the wire.
-Pam
PS: I still love PDX, so there.
------------------------------
Science has now proven what we knew all along! ;o)
Happy weekend, eh!
Luv yuz all, ya know!
Deborah

-----Original Message-----
From: News Release
Sent: Wed 11/18/2009 2:42 PM
To: Deborah
Subject: Florida Named Strangest State; NYC & Lincoln, NE Named Strangest Cities
PRESS RELEASE
Florida Named Strangest State; NYC & Lincoln, NE Named
Strangest Cities
(MMD Newswire) November 18, 2009 -- Tableseed.com, a new
service that helps restaurants get more customers using birthday
email clubs, has analyzed nearly 2,000 Associated Press (AP)
"strange news" stories that were released in the past year. After
segmenting all of the news stories by location, the state of Florida
was the runaway winner of Tableseed.com's strangest state award.
Further analysis led to the conclusion that the three strangest cities
in the US over the past year were New York City, New York; Lincoln,
Nebraska; and Madison, Wisconsin respectively.
The rankings were calculated by collecting all of the AP's strange
news stories released over the past year, segmenting them by the
location where the stories took place, counting the number of stories
in each state and adjusting for population.
A sampling of the 169 strange stories that came out of Florida this
year were:
* Man calls 911 after eatery runs out of lemonade -- Boyton Beach,
FL
* Florida lotto winner seeks to open a nude dude ranch --
Brooksville, FL
* Dead shark left in Miami street after failed sale -- Miami, FL
* Man wearing sleeping bag as cape attempts robbery -
Gainesville, FL
* Man allegedly flings jellyfish at teens at beach - Madeira Beach,
FL
Here are the top ten strangest states in Tableseed.com's rankings:
1) Florida
2) New Hampshire
3) Alaska
4) Wyoming
5) Maine
6) Wisconsin
7) Vermont
8) Pennsylvania
9) North Dakota
10) Ohio
The strange news data was also broken down by city, which
resulted in New York City easily winning the strangest city crown. A
few of the strange news stories out of New York City included:
* Businessman accused of demanding dentures with gun
* Turtles crawl on runway, delay flights at JFK
* Goat wanders into nursing home in the Bronx
Here are the top twenty strangest cities according to
Tableseed.com's rankings:
1) New York City, NY
2) Lincoln, NE
3) Madison, WI
4) Philadelphia, PA
5) Chicago, IL
6) Cinncinnati, OH
7) Boston, MA
8) Detroit, MI
9) Dallas, TX
10) Pittsburgh, PA
11) Columbus, OH
12) Salt Lake City, UT
13) Des Moines, IA
14) Portland, OR
15) San Antonio, TX
16) Cleveland, OH
17) Sheboygan, WI
18) Fairbanks, AK
19) Denver, CO
20) Tampa, FL
The full rankings can be found on the Tableseed.com website at
www.tableseed.com/strange/
*** Contact Information ***
For more information on this story, contact:
Aaron Quinn
Email: aaron@tableseed.com
Phone: (888) 345-9376
Website: http://www.tableseed.com/
###

----
This press release distributed by Mass Media Distribution LLC.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Four Horse

Pam's note: I once made the mistake of asking Frank for a Sign Language name. It starts with the letter P but is not something I like to use ... in mixed company... or any other time.
I once thought it would be neat to have an Indian name, but I'm sure his reply would be something like this joke that was recently emailed to me:


A man asked an American Indian what was his wife's name.


He replied,
"She called Four Horse."


The man said,
"That's an unusual name for your wife. What does it mean?"


The Old Indian answered,
"It old Indian Name. It mean: NAG, NAG, NAG, NAG."






Saturday, November 28, 2009

Is it canine or feline? No.

We were sitting in the living room when there was the sound of a herd of elephants charging up the stairs followed by a ruckus in the hall and a few crashes in my bedroom.

Without turning around, I asked, "Was that canine or feline?"

Rachel replied, "That was Felinicus Dooficus."

Oh. Ollie is upstairs.




Friday, November 27, 2009

Baba


Yesterday I was harassing Caesar and Ollie. Caesar doesn't like it when the cats tough him because it usually involves claws and Caesar's tender bald belly... Not a great warm fuzzy combination.

So as I'm harassing the two, Frank tells me to be nice to his Baba.

Baba?

"Yes," he says. "That's what I call Ollie."
(Remember, Frank is the Deaf guy...)

"Why Baba?" I ask

"You know," he says with a twinkle in his eye. "Ollie Baba."

... I smacked my forehead as I walked away from the weirdo.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Frank's wish list...

This year at Thanksgiving we kids (ok, we're six adults and two teenagers) are drawing names for a Stocking Stuffer exchange. Tina had the smart idea for us to exchange wish lists instead of just names.

Today I texted Rachel and Frank, reminding them to start working on a wish list. I didn't mention that it's probably a good idea to keep the items within the suggested dollar limit for the stocking exchange because I thought that was obvious....

Nevertheless, here is Frank's wish list, directly from his text:

Blackberry cellphone, laptop computer, cash for new sweateurs, cash for work shoes...
New lamp for by my recliner.
Penthouse magazines.

I think I know what he's getting in his stocking.
Magazines.


...And coal.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

July Camping Trip, part 4

Continuing from yesterday's post, here is what we did while camping at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Central Oregon.

Adventures of Pam & Frank
DSCN7781, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

On the way down the mountain we stopped at a viewpoint to admire Mt Bachelor (left) and the Three Sisters.

Sounds like if there's one Bachelor and Three Sisters, there's gonna be a girl fight in the future. Of course, one of the Three Sisters has a bulge and geologists are monitoring it for future volcanic activity...


Hwy 20, west of Bend, Oregon - from our "dash cam" at 55 mph.

Can you imagine living in this house? Oh, what an incredible view to have in your backyard!!

It's about a 2+ hour drive over the Cascade to get home and I want to show you something. This is Mt. Jefferson in the distance:

Heading west on Hwy 22 - heading downhill, riding the brakes, rounding a curve, and oh, what a view. It's hard to see in this photo, but the white bit above the trees in the center of the photo is snow-covered Mt. Jefferson. (In July.)

This photo is out of order from our road trip home, but I wanted to show you what the forests normally look like going over the Cascade mountain range - lush thick forests.
Now take a look at what we encountered near the mountain pass...

B&B Complex burn area

It's a shock to drive through mile after mile of lush forest, then go around a bend and see this. These trees were part of the B&B Complex burn that devastated the area a few years ago.

Since the fire, there has been some new growth, but it's still incredibly different from the rest of the forest. This pointy mountain (below) is Mt. Washington.

The B&B Complex was an extreme forest fire that raged through this area in 2003.

There is a pullout on the highway where you can park and walk to a viewpoint. There they also have signs that explain what happened. I'll let the signs do the talking:



Ahhh, at last.
No matter how much fun you have on vacation, it's always good to come home.
Adventures of Pam & Frank
DSCN7836, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Highway 22 coming into Salem

I love zooming down this hill.
Shot at 55mph from the "Dash Cam" - this is usually one of the prettiest views of Salem. (Not so great when your windshield is dirty, but still very nice.)

We're sure the cats were glad we were home, too.

The cats babysat themselves.

Since we were only going to be gone for two nights, we just put out a huge bucket of water for the cats and filled up two pie plates with food. I guess we overestimated their appetites, but at least they didn't starve for anything more than attention.




Monday, November 23, 2009

July Camping Trip, part 3

Continuing from yesterday's post, here is what we did while camping at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Central Oregon.

Adventures of Pam & Frank
DSCN7752, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Enjoy the fire now while it's actually burning. One thing we learned about building campfires is that we suck at building campfires.

...until the camp host told us to douse all the kindling and wood with lots of starter fluid first...

...too late for this fire...



Adventures of Pam & Frank
DSCN7759, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Yes. S'mores for breakfast.
Why not?
We're on our first vacation in many many years.

Adventures of Pam & Frank
DSCN7764, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

It seems most of our camping time was spent building fires and managing meals. That was fun, though.

What surprised us was the climate on the mountain. Again, we were at an elevation of about 6400 ft in a part of Oregon called the High Desert. Of course, this is a very arid part of the state and the sun is intense.

This photo was taken at about 6am and the outside temp was only 50 degrees. Everyone was bundled up in sweatshirts and heavy pants to keep warm. Pam had been pulling things out of the cooler and placed a hershey bar on the table. In about 30 minutes the sun melted the hershey bar into chocolate soup.

Adventures of Pam & Frank
Rachel's Cabin, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Rachel's Cabin

The kiddo opted out of sleeping in the tent with the snoring adults, so we laid down the back seat and slid her twin air mattress into the car. Yes, in our little car! It wasn't super warm (the mattress was cold) but it was cozy and quiet.

And she was safe from bears!

Adventures of Pam & Frank
DSCN7773, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

We forgot some kind of blanket or pad for the pooch to lay on, but he seemed happy sunning himself in the dirt.

He got a good bath at East Lake before we packed up the car and left the mountain.

Coming up next: Central Oregon scenery and the trip home



Sunday, November 22, 2009

July Camping Trip, part 2

Continuing from yesterday's post, here is what we did while camping at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Central Oregon.

One fun camping activity was to have the teenager take self portraits while Mom and Dad were loading up the car to go swimming. Please note how straight her hair is; it squiggled up into tight curls as soon as it got wet.

Adventures of Pam & Frank
Rachel, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

We brought some games to play in the afternoon. Of course, since we knew we were camping on a mountain in bear and cougar country, we had to bring along the Survival Game. According to the game, we all died.

Adventures of Pam & Frank
DSCN7727, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.


Adventures of Pam & Frank
DSCN7728, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

I think his finger is stuck up his nose...?
(Yes, mom, that's a box of Twinkies in the food bag.)
Ooh, which reminds me to ask: Have you ever tried cooking Twinkies over a campfire? Just stab one with your weenie roasting stick and roast until golden brown.
MmmmmMmmm!

At dusk, we had a contest to see who could take the scariest picture of themselves.
Frank wins because he's smoking.
He quit smoking a month later, but that's another story.


Check out our sunburn!

Adventures of Pam & Frank
Scary Sunburn!, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

And no camping trip is complete without S'mores.

...Mere seconds before she burned her fingers on the metal prongs.

Here's a video she shot moments later.

Dusk at the campground

Highlights:
Unhappy Caesar makes a nest in the dirt
Dad acts normal (for him anyway)
Mom acts like a mom
Rachel shows off her burnt fingers


Coming up next: More camping fun




Saturday, November 21, 2009

July Camping Trip, part 1

It occurred to me today that you haven't seen the photos from our camping trip in July. It's been pretty hectic around here since, so that's no surprise.
Without further ado, here they are...

Our very first-ever camping trip as a family was a 3-day weekend at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Central Oregon.

We had a blast.
(Figuratively, not geologically...)

Adventures of Pam & Frank
Hangin' out, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

The car was full and we were anxious to get the heck on the road.
No chairs of any sort made it to the campground.
Oh well...



Adventures of Pam & Frank
Mmmmm, bacon, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Mmmmm, bacon



There were absolutely no mosquitoes to worry about, but there were lots of moths. Lucky for us (maybe lucky?) Caesar kept the tent moth-free.

Of course, there were a few slimy half-chewed moth carcasses left behind on the air mattress.



Our campsite among the ponderosa pines

At the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.
Our campsite elevation was over 6400 feet. We all experienced a few symptoms of altitude sickness, which surprised us, but on the upside it forced is to take it easy and relax. After all, it was a vacation.


Adventures of Pam & Frank
The tent, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

The tent

Set up for the first time... in the dark... without instructions.
It didn't collapse on us, so we must have gotten it right!

Here's a video Rachel took that first morning.



Highlights:
Caesar drinking water... and more water
Dad sitting under a tree with coffee
Our pathetic campfire
Mom's clown shoes

Coming next: Camping activities




Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Seventeenth

This month on the 17th we're going to have one of our traditional Pot Luck and Board Game Nights at our place.

Yes, I complained earlier that it's too small, but we're going to give it a try. We recently had a birthday party here with 14 people and there was enough room for everyone, so I think we can do it.

For more info, go to http://salem17th.blogspot.com/





Thursday, November 12, 2009

Rachel has insomnia

And when i got up at 5 this morning she was busy cleaning the living room. 'Hi mom! We need more duct tape.' what? 'I

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Keep Portland Weird

That was on a bumper sticker we saw when we first moved here. It took a while, but now it all makes sense, and I wish more than ever that we lived right in the middle of it instead of an hour or so south... Here's some of the delightful weirdness courtesy of Flickr:
(We don't know these people, but if would be fun if we did!)

"David and his Art Trike"David and his Art Trike
David and his Art Trike, originally uploaded by gregraisman.
Makes perfect sense to me.
"Nice Socks!"
Adventures of Pam & Frank
Nice socks!, originally uploaded by METROFIETS.
Nice socks? What about that cargo bike?
What's that you say? Cargo bike?

One of the comments on this picture (by the photographer) is:
"We make them this way! This bike pictured above is just one example of the bikes we make. Any of our bikes can have a pallet or a box - just pull the box and put on the pallet - no tools required. The pallet works really well for awkward loads like couches, pet carriers, stoves, pottery wheels etc."

I don't see the need to carry my couch or pottery wheel across town on my bike... But if I could get a keg of beer on my bike, then we're in business.

"Katie getting ready for Kegging Day"
Yep, a keg on a cargo bike.
Is you jaw on the floor? Is that the most wonderful thing you've ever seen?

Just a side note: I want to paint my house to look exactly like that one in the background.

...placing my order today.
See more at www.metrofiets.com





Friday, October 30, 2009

My dual Halloween costume

Rachel and I found a really tacky jacket at Goodwill so I thought I was just going to dress tacky for the day.

"Tacky" Halloween costume, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Wrong.

An hour into work, I realized I had a dual costume...



Adventures of Pam & Frank
PoW costume, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.



Not sure why this is funny?

Look. http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/