Mpls Misc

After arriving at at the MSP airport, I made a quick trip to the Mall of America (half hour!) and then started to head north through the city. My 200 mile drive would take me up I-35 through Duluth and then east for an hour or so to Washburn, Wisconsin. By the time I hit the road, rush hour was getting into full swing.

Boy, I had forgotten how icky rush hour is in the Twin Cities. I thought Seattle-Tacoma was bad, (and it is) but after being away for so many years, I had underestimated the Twin Cities’ “slow and go” freeway crawl. I was on the south end of town and had to head north across the entire metro. Because of rush hour, and since I had a rental car and was not at the mercy of anyone else’s transportation, I stayed off the freeways as much as possible. My route took some nostalgic turns through old neighborhoods where Frank and I lived.

Here are some miscellaneous pictures of my journey through town:

This is the first apartment that Frank and I rented together.

How to lose 60 lbs in 40 days

This special weight loss diet is easy because all you have to do is lay around in bed for 5 weeks and then exercise like heck during the last week. Plus, you get to eat as much lemon jello as you want.

BEFORE         AFTER 
  

Here's how to do it:

Step 1. Have a relatively simple surgery.
Step 2a. Develop serious complications.
Take ambulance ride to another city for an emergency surgery. Ask if they’ll put on the flashing lights for the hour-long road trip.
Oh, they’re already on.
You’re probably too sick to be excited about all the attention, though.
Step 2b. Have entire large intestine removed.
That's 4 pounds gone that you won't gain back.
Step 3. Spend 2 weeks in the ICU. Remember, you have a breathing tube in your throat, so you will get your fluids from your IV for the first full week.
You are allowed exactly 4 ice chips, so enjoy them while they last.
Step 4. Plan on having about 8 more surgeries, one every other day, so no food after midnight on even numbered days and morphine for dinner on odd numbered days. When you get a break between surgeries, you're on clear liquids only, so you can have more jello and tea and broth until the next midnight deadline.
Yum yum. Don’t you just love jello?
And don’t forget, red food coloring makes your insides red, which is a no-no for intestinal surgery, so you only get lemon jello.
Lots and lots and lots and LOTS of lemon jello.
Step 5. Let the nurses hook you up to a TPN bag so you can get all of your nutrition through your IV instead of by mouth.
Be sure to joke with the nurses about strapping on your “feed bag.”
Step 6.  Slowly add more food to your diet but don't go too fast.
Try drinking Boost. It'll kill your appetite for anything else.
Step 7. By now you have been lying on your back in bed for about 3 weeks or so. You should have lost at least 40 pounds via muscular atrophy alone. Good job. (And don't worry about that huge scar across your back. It may look like you have been hit with a bullwhip, but it was just a sheet wrinkle bedsore, we promise.)
Step 8. By week 4 you should be mostly back to your old diet. Sorry the food is so bland; our diabetic menu is also heart healthy.
Why did you only eat half of your dinner?
It was gross?
Do you want some lemon jello instead?
Step 9. On week 5, you're going to re-learn how to get out of bed, walk, put on your socks, and sit in a chair. It's hard work, but you've got to get those muscles working again. 
To get the most out of your workout, call your physical therapist names and he/she will work you harder.
Feel the burn… and the stabbing pain… and the cramp…
Oh nurse, when can I have more pain pills?
Step 10. If you are losing weight too quickly, grow some facial hair. The weight of a mustache and/or beard should help to offset your rapid weight loss.
By the beginning of week six, you should be near your goal weight.
My goodness, you look thin. Nice job.

“Ok Mom, you were right.”

My child uttered these magic words to me today.
Yes, Rachel, I am blogging about it.
I must tell the world.
It’s some sort of motherly validation and proof, or something like that.


Last night Rachel placed two cans of pop in the freezer. I warned her that they would explode and to take them out.

“No, they won’t explode. It doesn’t get that cold.”

I told her about my own (stupid) act, when I left a case of pop in the back of the car overnight.
In Minnesota.
In the middle of January.

The next day I had a bit of sticky cleanup to contend with.
At –10F.
But it was my fault and so I had to clean it up.

She insisted it wouldn’t explode. Okaaaaaay.

Today she opened to freezer to get the pop out. A pair of cans flopped out, their sides had split open and foamy brown spray was frozen all over the right side of the freezer.


I handed her a large bowl, threw a towel on the floor, nodded toward a pancake turner and said, “Go.”
I will be smiling about this for quite a while… for at least 30 years or more, anyway.

“Mom, I think because you’re laughing you get to do some of this…”

Rachel's essay on not feeling like writing an essay

Note: This is an essay that Rachel wrote for school. 

Hopefully (her mother says,) there will be many more. 

Hopefully (Rachel says,) this is the last one she will ever have to write. 

Ever.

_______________________________

Essay writing is the most tedious thing any teenager could do. In fact it's never going to get done if we don't feel like it. Essays are a downer to anyone's homework load. I despise essays, but I'll give you some tips for when you do feel like it.

Tip number one:
Watch TV in between paragraphs for one round until the commercial, then write a paragraph and watch some more. Don't knock it 'till you try it. It worked for me. I watched "Liar, Liar" with Jim Carrey. Unfortunately it was over before I finished this which leads me to...

Tip number two:
Intervals, Intervals, Intervals! Get a timer or a mother to tell you that it's break time. Either 15 minutes or just write 6 sentences then get up and mess around for 15. Just don't forget to go back to essay writing or you're in big trouble when it's due.

Tip number three:
If you're working on your rough draft you can doodle on the margins and sides. Try to concentrate on topic though when building stick figures, even if you're making fun of its boring-ness. Pretty simple, eh? Well that's tip number three.

Putting these tips to use of course requires basic logic and a boring essay to write. Now you can waste time without wasting it. Maybe even procrastinate while procrastinating... Maybe, but I'll do that tomorrow.

It's official!

We received EXCELLENT news today:

If you can't read the doctor's handwriting, it says,

"Patient is in complete remission."

Time for a change...

Three years ago today I started my first blog.

It was a way to share all the jokes emailed to me without bombarding my friends with zillions of nonsense email. I just put the word out and if they wanted to see that day's joke, they could. I also started to save fun websites that were accessible from my day job du jour in a call center. My co-workers visited my blog to find an interesting site to help pass the time during lag times between calls.

Since then, this simple blog turned into a portfolio of 18. Not all are public - in fact most are not - and I use them as my own sandbox to experiment, learn HTML, park future blog posts, etc. I keep them separate so I can work on the HTML of one while experimenting with some gadget in another. It's been a lot of fun and I have learned tons.

This blog, "The Adventures of Pam & Frank" is an extension of a series of emails I sent out in the late 1990's to keep friends informed on our hilarious adventures as DIY home-fixer-uppers. (They really were hilarious.) "The Adventures" emails later evolved to share funny parenting stories and to let everyone in our lives know what was happening with a job search which started in 2001, eventually landed us out here in Oregon in late 2002.

Since then, "The Adventures" has been an exploration, and often travelogue, of life in Oregon written for the folks back home. There have been posts in here about crafty and business stuff, social experiments (giveaways and blog parties) and lots of food.

But no real focus.

And other than my mom, no regular readers. Which doesn't really bother me, but why am I blogging when I can email her? Maybe on the off chance that my real life friends will read this? Maybe a few of my foodie friends in the call center.

I guess it's time to change the focus of this blog. It's been fun, and I don't want to kill it, but like my most hated cliche "Something for Everyone" my blog was all over the place and lacked focus. (I really do hate that cliche. Nobody has something for everyone. It's impossible.)

With the events of this past summer, I also have been struggling to find something to do. I'm not quitting my day job, but I am looking for something that I really enjoy doing that could lead to a new career. So I started contemplating what I am really good at, what I like doing, and what I have a lot of experience with.

Here's a rough list of random things that I like to do or have a lot of experience with:

Being funny
Write stuff
City driving
Baking cookies and desserts
Folding laundry
Eating ice cream
Living frugally
Blogging
Marketing (as in business and advertising stuff, not shopping at the grocery store. Although I have a lot of experience with that, too.)
Photography
Crafty stuff
Sewing
Managing curly hair
Watching tv
Salem & Portland

I decided to start with the thing I like the most and the thing I think the most about: Marketing.
Oh wait, I've already got a blog about that.

Next on the list - what do I have the most experience with? I hate to say it, but Living Frugally is at the top of the list. I wish I didn't need to know how to do it, but I do.

(This is the part where the little lightbulb goes off. Can you see the glow?)

I have already decided to change the focus of this blog from random stuff to... something, so why not blog about frugal-ness for a while and see how that works out? If I don't like it, I give myself permission to change once again.

You're already asking, why not blog about food? Eh, I read more about food in blogs than I write about here. If you want to read a food blog, you can start with Frank's blog. It's pretty good.

Oh - last thing. I know this is "The Adventures of Pam & Frank," and it will still be, even though I'm the only one writing the darn thing. As long as we are still alive it will continue to be an adventure.

So onward. From today forward, this will be a blog about Frugal Nesting. (Do you like that? Nesting is a joke on our last name.)  I think Frugal Nesting fits so much better than simply "frugal living." Frugal Living to me makes me think of something like a bowl of plain oatmeal that was bought in the bulk section of the grocery store but Frugal Nesting makes me think of a bowl of oatmeal topped with a little bit of leftover yogurt, some sliced apples from the tree in the back yard, drizzled with honey that you got from a neighbor for watching their cats while they were out of town, and eaten for brunch with the family while playing a game of cards.

Good?
Good.

Our Latest Adventure: 29 days in the hospital

It's been a long time since our last post. Did you think we died?

Not to be dramatic, but one of us came close. 

I've been quiet about what's going on here until things settled down, but now I'm able to talk about it. Here's our latest adventure in a nutshell. In April Frank was diagnosed with cancer in his large intestine. (Colon cancer is not just in the butt but can also be in the gut.) He finished his radiation and chemo this summer and did very well. He still has all his hair, which is nice, because I think he looks silly without a moustache. 

Yes, if chemo makes your hair fall out, ALL of your hair falls out. Frank was lucky.

He had the tumor removed in August and that's when the adventure took a rocky turn and turned our lives upside down. He developed a nasty infection, got terribly sick, had an ambulance ride to the hospital, 3 more surgeries, kidney failure, antibiotics, etc etc... It was touch and go and for the first two weeks his doctors wouldn't say if he would make it or not. They would just say, "Well, he's very sick. We have to wait and see."

Very scary. I cried a lot and spent a week by his side in the hospital. Poor Rachel was stressed out and worried about her dad while trying to get ready to start high school. She just had to wait her turn for my attention. 

When it was all done, we counted up how many days Frank was hospitalized: 29.

At this point he he healing very well. Due to the 3 surgeries to clean up the infection, he was left with a large open wound. At the beginning it was 6" long (his belly button is gone forever) and 3" wide and about 2 1/2" deep. Something this large can only heal from the inside out, and so he has been wearing a wound vac since he was finally discharged from the hospital a few weeks ago. Yesterday when his nurses changed the dressing they told him it has healed to the point where he may only need to wear the wound vac for maybe one more week. Yay! Wearing it means he has a tube from his abdomen to the vacuum unit and cannister that he has to wear like a fanny pack or purse. It's a hassle and he hates it. I don't blame him.

Now that he's healing, the other side effect of his illness is starting to kick in: the financial side. We've got health insurance but with the deductibles (his own insurance ended during this ordeal and so I switched him over to mine, which means we have to meet two deductibles this year) the medical bills we're responsible for are whopping big. On top of that, he hasn't been working, of course, but I've been taking time off work to take care of him, so our income is ... wait. What income? 

Meanwhile, we have set up a page on Facebook for Frank called Support Team Brown. Yes, you are correct. It is a poo joke. Please visit Support Team Brown - And please Like the page to spread the word about Salem Oregon's very own Deaf Chef and help him as he recovers from cancer.

Our goal is to have 10,000 likes by the end of October. Thanks!

Monty Python goes to school

Yesterday was Rachel's first day of school (FDOS). She's starting high school (Do I feel old? Yes.) at a new school and does not know a single person in her class. Yes, she was nervous, but I reassured her that many of the other 500+ freshmen in her school feel the same way.

On the eve of the FDOS, our dear friend Marcy gave Rachel some excellent advice: Quote Monty Python movies.

If Rachel declares "Your mother was a hamster..." and another kid chimes in with "And your father smelt of elderberries!" then she knows she has found a kindred soul to hang out with.

You can give this wise advice to your kid as well. Of course, if your kid is not a fan of Monty Python, they probably won't be able to correctly answer to "What is your favorite color?"

"Blue. No! Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!"

Your kid will have to fill in the blank with their own personal weirdness.

List: Music Discovery Websites

I'm kind of a weirdo.

One of my happiest moments is when I'm driving down the road, either an unfamiliar highway or one packed with traffic zooming along just above the posted speed limit.

Blasting from the radio (or the 14-year-old's iPod) is a collection of really great music that I have never heard before. No matter what my mood before, this always makes me happy.


Lately I have been streaming music from various websites and blasting music into my kitchen while I cook or bake. Our current kitchen has a swinging door that I can close to confine most of the sound to that part of the house.

Sometimes it's hard finding new music, but over time I have collected a nice list of websites that help introduce new stuff, indie bands, unheard-of labels, and emerging artists hoping to make it big. No matter what genre you like, you'll probably find some great new stuff here, too. All legal, of course.

Here's my list:


last.fm - my current favorite. Type in a song or artist you like and get a radio station with a playlist based on that artist or song. You can also "scrobble" which means last.fm will look at what you have stored in your computer and make a playlist based on what you already have. Lately I've been playing "Groove Armada radio," "Bela Fleck and the Flecktones radio" and sometimes I'll crank up the bass and listen to "the Gorillaz radio." (I need bigger woofers, though.)

pandora - same concept as last.fm but I just prefer the radio station that last.fm creates better.

ilike - listen to 30 second samples of stuff and get free downloads of stuff you've probably never heard of (because they're new emerging artists). Shows you what's popular on their site or you can explore based on what you like.

emusic - monthly subscription for bargain downloads. We discovered a lot of good stuff here, including Pam getting hooked on Of Montreal.

Amazon - Start by looking up an artist or album you love. Then scroll down to see other music purchased by customers who bought your favorite album... browse from there. This is where I nearly wet my pants upon the discovery of Mrs. Miller, Florence Foster Jenkins, and Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.
Holy crap.
(I think this subject is a blog post all by itself.)

iTunes - I'm sure you've heard of iTunes. Honestly, this is probably the last place I go for music.

MySpace - I'm personally not a fan of MS, but this is where Rachel discovered so much fantastic music like Hot Hot Heat, The Fratellis, Hard Fi, Say Hi To Your Mom, Does It Offend You Yeah?, and a buttload of other fantastic artists. We have discovered many more artists here than at Facebook.


1227.com - You're going to hate me for this, but I love this site.

Summer Rant

It is July and I am cold.

Actually, I am freezing my butt off. Oh yes I'm here in Oregon, not Antarctica, where it should at least be 80 degrees by now. The windows are open and the thermostat in my house reads 64.

I reluctantly shut off the furnace for the season a couple weeks ago. If I had firewood, I'd build a fire in the fireplace because I'm so dang cold. My nose is icy and my nostrils feel frosted when I inhale. Doesn't that just sound wrong to want to build a fire or turn on the heat in July? I'm just tired of being so cold all the time.

It's just not right.

Our weather here in Oregon is usually so wonderful that I keep some weather widgets on my computer wallpaper just so I can be accurate when bragging about our weather. Hmph. It's depressing to realize that compared to Salem, Oregon: it's a little warmer on the coast, toasty warm in my Wisconsin hometown, and delightfully HOT in Rancho Mirage, CA (near Palm Springs.)
Gee, I'd like to be there right now...

Yesterday Rachel asked if we could go up the mountain to our favorite bend in the river at North Fork.

"Uh, that's a mountain stream fed by snow melt. I'm gonna have to say no."

"But mommmmmm..."

"How many days have we had over 80 degrees this year?"

"Ummm, 2? Maybe 3?"

Yah, No. Maybe by the end of August it will have warmed up enough.

Is it warm where you are? Has June delivered its June-like weather to you and your garden? Does July look like it's going to be everything you hoped it would be - as far as weather goes?

Comment here with your weather bragging and gloating. At least I can warm myself up by imagining your weather!

Testing my webcam

I’ve got a webcam on my computer that I haven’t really used… because I’m a little scared to. And like many gals, I’m pretty critical of how I look so I don’t like to see pictures of myself let alone share them with other people.
Today the little voice in my head yelled “Get over it!”
So I got over it. This is me.

Now I have a question to ask you… How does the color look? I’m not sure if my camera is off or if my computer’s color settings are all wonky. This picture looks very lavender to me. I’m wearing a chartreuse t-shirt and my walls are frappuccino beige.
I’d appreciate any comments on the color… and any kind words about my picture.
Thanks!
-Pam

PS: I fiddled with it and came up with this version. It's a little better... What do you think?

Rachel's love for longboarding, part 2

Yesterday I showed you Rachel's workshop and told you how she's been building longboards. I included a video of some guys on the Ceviche longboard.

Today I have to show you the Whirling Dervish longboard. This is what got Rachel totally hooked on the sport - and the art of building these boards.

I want to mention that I talked about her building presses to create the concave and camber curves in the wood when she glues the layers of wood together. You can see at the beginning of this video that the board with the green wheels has an arching curve down the length of the board. This is the camber and it gives the rider some flex and turn control when riding the board.

Hope you enjoy the video. It's amazing how much their skating looks like an art form or some kind of modern dance. Oh - and they're not falling off. They're sliding - they wear special gloves to protect their hands and reduce friction on the pavement. That's part of the sport/art of longboarding.

Ceviche Longboards

Since moving into our house, Rachel has taken over a portion of the basement where there is a workshop.

She learned how to use all the tools and has started building longboards. She even built a press to form the concave and camber curves in the board while creating the board. I'm so impressed with what she's been doing in her workshop.

Her second longboard looks like a Ceviche. That's the black one on the right.

She has been building her third board, the longer one in the picture above, over the past few weeks and took the trucks and wheels off the Ceviche-style board so she can fit them onto the new board.

Longboards and skateboards are fully customized when built, starting with a collection of components that you purchase separately. Trucks are the metal hardware that the wheels attach to. The picture below is the belly of her first board with one set of trucks and wheels already off.

So how are longboards different from skateboards? (Here's my mom's-view explanation. You other boarders may disagree and I welcome any clarification.) Skateboards are smaller and nimble for jumps and tricks and looping in and out of skateparks and bowls. You've seen these boards on the X-Games, Tony Hawk video games, and in pictures on boys' t-shirts. Longboards are less about vertical jumps and airborne tricks and more about cruising, gliding, and horizontal maneuvers.

Skateboards to longboards is like:

Jeep Wrangler - Cadillac Escalade

barn storming - hang gliding

chihuahuas - labrador retreivers

...kinda sorta...

Here's a video of some guys using the Ceviche.
Tomorrow I'll show you a couple of guys on the Whirling Dervish longboard.

The Picture of Pam & Frank

Typical.

Mr. Fenton's Shenanigans

Pam's note: I can relate to this. 

When Frank and I were first married, we would do our weekly grocery shopping at 1am, which was right after Minneapolis bar time. Sometimes we were SUI: shopping under the influence.

(Yes, mom, we took the last bus from work at the downtown Marriott to the Uptown Lund's, then took a taxi home from the store. Our SUI never had a chance of a DUI.)

While shopping in the nearly empty store, we'd play hide and seek among the stacks of boxes in the aisles, which were being stocked on the shelves at that hour. 

The manager made the rounds each night, asking shoppers if they were finding everything all right. One time I was having a hard time finding Frank's hiding spot, so when the manager asked if I was finding everything, I jokingly said, 

"I can't find my husband..."

"Ahh," the manager replied. "Aisle 6."

♥ ♥ ♥

This is why women should not take men shopping against their will.


After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart.


Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men--he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out.


Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women--she loved to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart.


Dear Mrs. Fenton,


Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.


1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.


2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.


3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.


4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away."


5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.


6. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.


7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.


8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"


9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.


10. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.


11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the "Mission Impossible" theme.


12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.


13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled "PICK ME! PICK ME!"


14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!"


And last, but not least


15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!"


Regards,
Walmart

Wow. Lost and Found via the Internet

One day I was poking around the internet and decided again to Google the names of some people I have lost touch with over the years. I do that every so often to see who shows up. You never know.


On this particular search through my list of names, I found a guy who could possibly be Nilo, one of my host brothers from the 4-H exchange trip I took to Spain in 1987, so I emailed him with a link to my Adventures blog. I asked if he might be a member of my host family, and mentioned a couple of details I remember about him.


I put the matter out of my head because I was busy with moving and two road trips down to southern California. Que sera', sera'.


About a month or two after sending out that email to Nilo in Spain, I got this reply with pictures.

It's my "other family!"

The reply is bittersweet, though. When I was in Spain my host sister, Ana, and I did everything together - we were the same age and had a lot of common interests. In the middle of Nilo's letter he simply says that she died in 1996 (approx age 29.) I cried and cried over Ana, partly because I felt so bad for her and her family, and partly because I was disappointed I wouldn't get to reunite with her again. That sad news aside, it looks like everyone is doing very well.


I have translated the letter here: (and am VERY surprised I can still read Spanish this well; I haven't really used it since '87.)




Pam:
We are glad to know you are well. We have looked at many of your photos of your family.
You were in Valladolid and Matadeon (Spain) in 1987? You were 19 years old.
We now live in Leon from July to October and in Matadeon from November to June.
Javier lives in Madrid. Nilo (Jr.) in Leon, although he travels world wide. Ana Maria died in 1996.
We think of you often and continue to be your "Second Family."
Looking forward to more things from your life.
We wish the best to you and your family,
Kisses,
Nilo (father) Chiqui, Javier, and Nilo (son)




PS: You might notice I added a page translation gadget near the top of this page.

"TRADUZCA ESTA PÁGINA" is Spanish for "Translate this page" and the instructions tell you how to read this page in Spanish. I did that to make it easier for my "other family" to read this in Spanish. If you' like to read it in another language, the widget has other language options as well.

I hope the translated page is readable and any grammatical errors are hilariously funny instead of confusing.

Handerpants

A friend emailed this to me, and my first response was "...No."

But the more I look at these, the more I want a pair. If you know me as well as my family does, you'll understand why. Ok, well maybe you won't really understand why, but you won't be surprised that I want these.

The website lists these features:

Fits Most Hands
Breathable Cotton
Form Fitting
Prevents Chafing
Absorbs Sweat
Distracts Enemies Non Toxic
Great For Jazz Hands

What will I use mine for?

Frank, our anniversary's in a couple months, so there's still time to place your order...

I need new shoes

My old pair of Sketchers are just about shot. I wear them ALL THE TIME.

Have you tried the new ones that make your butt look good? My butt needs all the help it can get, and I'm sure my feet would appreciate some help too. Ok, they're not dress shoes, but my Nikes are uncomfortable and need to be replaced too. I wonder if they're comfy or if the rocking sole is like wearing a pair of chunky Steve Madden loafers.

(*Gasp!* An Oregonian is eschewing her Nikes for another brand?? Don't tell anyone, 'k?)

Frank wears Sketchers in the kitchen. He has for years. I wonder if they make a shape up style with non-slip soles?

If you're a little weirded out that all of a sudden I'm blogging about shoes, so am I. But our aching feet tell us it's shoe time.

Adopt me please

Frank's plea on a restaurant napkin, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Frank's plea on a napkin

After wandering around the Portland RV Show a few weeks ago, we stopped at a nearby Denny's for supper. We were seated at our booth minutes after a table of 15 arrived. We were handed menus, followed by water and coffee. And some half-n-half for my coffee.

We placed our orders and waited. Our waiter brought us a pot of coffee and apologized in advance for the wait - 15 orders ahead of ours in an already busy kitchen.

Being restaurant-y people, we understood. We drank more coffee and I ran out of half-n-half, so I wrote this on a napkin and pointed it at the empty containers, hoping to catch someone as they hurried past our booth.

Rachel and I were giddy and silly, as usual, and as soon as the half-n-half arrived, Frank wrote out this plea on the napkin:
"Adopt me please"

Rachel immediately used my napkin to formalize the deal...

Adoption papers part 1, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Our waiter stopped by a minute later, saw us snickering, read the note, smiled, then said

"I don't think my dog would like it if I brought home a mutant turtle. Sorry. Good luck, though."

We tucked a 20% tip under the coffee carafe as we left for the night.

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.

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!