SHORTAGE!!!

Who goes to Office Max and spends $4 for a package of notebook paper? Seriously? And may I also add that when I saw myself running to every store in town to get that one last school supply, I didn't think it would BE notebook paper? Everyone is running out!

Later: It's Date Night. Dropping off pizzas at home with the kids, then heading out with my man. Wearing the heels and a "Joan" from Mad Men updo. Yowza! 

FB ad: "Dry dog food is boring!"

... How funny, my dog always seemed so enthralled by it. And how would researchers even gauge this? Are they eating the dog food?

Roz wisdom: "Cavemen aren't modest."  I don't know. We were watching a movie and she came up with it from out of nowhere.

Me wisdom: ""Fever" is about the coolest song ever recorded."

Here are some pictures of my parents' grandchildren from this summer. :) 

My kids and Mel's kids in Long Beach, Washington

Bathing Po in my kitchen sink

Burying the kids at the beach: Roz

Carter

Zane, by Harrison

Zane, by Harrison and Carter

Harrison, Brian's leg, and THE SHADOW (me in a hat)

The Choice Is Made.

My new band's name will either be "Frenetic" or "Flying Dynamite".

Bella: Mine will be 4 kids and their dog.

Me: Daddy just gave me the idea of "Tink Pinders".

Huh.

I don't remember using up all the margarine. How many batches of cookies did we make this week?

Later: visiting beautiful Washougal, Washington.

Yay Me

I just woke up from one of those "wake up and smack your husband" dreams, but am refraining from smacking him. Such a good wife.

Katie, You Are Missed

Katie Nolan's body was found today. Katie and Melanie were close friends growing up together in Touchet, and Katie was one of Mel's bridesmaids. Here's the story from the Oregonian newspaper:

Remains of two climbers missing on Mount Hood were recovered today, eight months after winter storms forced rescue crews to end their five-day search.

A 30-member recovery team, coordinated by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, carefully brought down remains soon confirmed to be those of Anthony Vietti of Longview, Wash., and Katie Nolan of Portland. In the process, the team closed a painful chapter for the climbers' families and the close-knit community of mountaineers.

"There are mixed feelings today," said Sheriff Craig Roberts, who went to Mount Hood to monitor the process. "Obviously, there is sadness because of the tragedy that occurred. But on the other hand, it's nice to have closure for everybody involved, particularly the families."

Roberts said he spoke to members of the Vietti and Nolan families, who expressed appreciation for volunteers who risked their lives in the searches last December, as well as during Thursday's recovery effort.

Members of Portland Mountain Rescue recently found remains thought to be Vietti's and alerted the sheriff's office. When the recovery team reached the remains Thursday, above 9,700 feet at the Reid Head Wall on the mountain's southwest flank, it found the second set of remains nearby.

The recovery team, which set out before dawn, took the remains by Sno-Cat toTimberline Lodge around 1:45 p.m., said Lt. Shane Strangfield, who coordinated the recovery. The Clackamas County medical examiner will examine the remains and identify them.

Vietti, 25, Nolan, 29, and Luke Gullberg, 26, of Longview, Wash., were attempting to climb Mount Hood on Dec. 11, 2009. A full-scale rescue effort was launched when the climbing party failed to return as scheduled.

On Dec. 12, search crews found Gullberg's body on a steep section of Reid Glacier.

What happened to the climbing party remains unknown. Searchers determined that Gullberg fell, then walked or crawled several hundred yards before succumbing to his injuries and the brutal weather.

Volatile weather conditions on the mountain made subsequent searches extremely difficult. Avalanche danger was so severe that even stable slopes had started to slide, making it impossible for climbers to head up the mountain. A storm system blanketed the mountain with clouds, posing a serious challenge to the Oregon Army National Guard helicopters trying to conduct an aerial search. Sixty-mph winds raged the entire time.

On Dec. 16, the search was suspended.

Strangfield said Thursday's recovery effort took advantage of a good weather window.

"It was real smooth," Strangfield said. "There were no injuries or problems."

He said the 30-member recovery team included members of American Medical Response Reach and Treat, Mountain Wave Emergency Communications, the Oregon Army National Guard, 304th Air Rescue and Timberline Lodge.

Vietti, Nolan and Gullberg all were committed mountaineers, united in their Christian faith.

Vietti was a member of The Bridge Church in Longview and worked at Island Lake, a Christian camp northwest of Seattle.

He went to high school in Montana and was a member of Olympic Mountain Rescue in Kitsap County in 2005. Vietti was a student at Lower Columbia College, where he made the dean's list for students who maintained at least a 3.25 grade-point average.

At the Longview church, Vietti was a youth group leader and often served as a driver at retreats.

Nolan grew up in the Pacific Northwest and lived in Portland for about three years. She was an outreach advocate for Catholic Charities' housing assistance program for homeless women. Sometimes Nolan headed out early in the morning to talk with women living on the streets.

She had begun work on a master's degree in social work at Portland State University and had traveled extensively, including trips to Peru and Nepal.

Gullberg, who grew up in Des Moines, worked as a sales clerk at an REI store in Tukwila and studied writing and English at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.

He participated in the Campus Crusade for Christ, belonged to a group called Climbers for Christ and listed the Bible as one of his favorite books.

Like Vietti, Gullberg was affiliated with Island Lake camp.

-- Rick Bella  

Questions

Exercise is going well. This morning I wondered, can I do more than two miles today? I ended up walk/jogging 3.18 miles today! Go me!

The Halloween candy is already out at WinCo! Does that strike anyone else as gross?

Summer Morning

Went for a walk early this morning.

Took this from a vacant lot in our neighborhood.
Hello Ptown!

CHILDWATCH: Two are playing Cooking Mama. One is cooking tacos. One is playing a computer game... and one is outside wetting himself....with the hose.

I'm home.

There will be no more roadkill tonight.

Taking a Family Reunion Break

We're still here at Fort S, and I met my friend Heather M, who lives nearby, for a quick pie date. I had marionberry pie a la mode. Heavenly. 

I love eating pie with my friend Heather, even when she talks about the movie "Calamity Jane" and gets the song "Secret Love" stuck in my head.