Bad Influences

"The wise man can pick up a grain of sand and envision a whole universe. But the stupid man will just lie down on some seaweed and roll around until he's completely draped in it. Then he'll stand up and go, 'Hey, I'm Vine Man.'"

Jack Handey

Mark P: I'm pretty sure that makes me the stupid man.
Mel: I miss Jack Handey.
Jim P: My fave: Despair is like a cable that is buried just under the surface of the ground. You pull it up and pull it up, but that cable just keeps right on going, clear across a field, until you come to a bunch of guys who are burying the cable. Then just walk up to them and go, "Hey, have you seen Fred?" And they'll say, "Fred who?" And you say, "Fred of snakes?" Then cover your ears, because big laughs are coming.
Mel: “If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
Mel: "To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kind of scary. I've wondered where this started and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus, and a clown killed my dad."
Mel: One more: "If you're a horse, and someone gets on you, and falls off, and then gets right back on you, I think you should buck him off right away."
Me: "When I was a kid my favorite relative was Uncle Caveman. After school we'd all go play in his cave, and every once in a while he would eat one of us. It wasn't until later that I found out that Uncle Caveman was a bear."
Me: "Laurie got offended that I used the word "puke." But to me, that's what her dinner tasted like." 

Jim P: "If I had a nickname, I think I would want it to be "Prince of Weasels", because then I could go up and bite people and they would turn around and go, "What the-?" And then they would recognize me, and go, "Oh, it's you, the Prince of Weasels."
Me: "It makes me mad when I go to all the trouble of having Marta cook up about a hundred drumsticks, then the guy at Marineland says, "You can't throw that chicken to the dolphins. They eat fish." Sure they eat fish, if that's all you give them! Man, wise up.

Later: All the warnings in my youth about the evils of rock music have finally come true. Metallica just influenced me to run a red light.

Then Queen influenced me to park like this:

Can anybody find me somebody to park?

I walked out of the school and saw this car gingerly creeping around mine, trying to back out without hitting anything and I thought, dude, what's the deal? Then I saw how I parked.

Hubby: You did that? ha ha. I love it.
Me: I did! Do you LOVE me?
Hubby: More than ever now.

Beehive Advisor

I'm going to get along with those 12/13-year-old girls in my class juuuuuuuuust fine. Same maturity level! It has been really fun so far. Today was my first time teaching the Sunday lesson. Three girls were there today. I think we have five total.

Later: There will always be something good on TV as long as CMT keeps showing reruns of "The Dukes of Hazard." Yeeeeee-hawwwwww! Loretta Lynn was a KIDNAP VICTIM on the episode I watched today. She was so happy about being rescued, she sang "Y'all Come" for the folks. It doesn't get better than that!

Remembering "Let's roll."

Watching 9/11/01 news footage...at this point Matt Lauer is wondering if the first plane hitting the first tower of the World Trade Center was accidental or intentional, believing it was a small commuter plane, and lamenting the "damage" to the building. Still can't believe this ever happened. It's still amazing to me how quickly things changed.

Just watching this newscast go from "Uh oh, a plane went into one of the towers of the WTC" to the panic and the fear and the sadness...it was all of about an hour.

One of my dearest, oldest friends wrote a beautiful tribute to the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Makes me bawl every time I think of those poor people knowing what was happening to their plane, calling their loved ones one last time, and having the strength and courage to take the plane down before the terrorists could use it to hit anything else. Bless them all for their bravery and their love.

Shelly's note: "That Little People plane just hit me so hard. I had one of those planes. My kids had one. It says 'Thank you for saving our lives and for not hitting our school.' Actions that the passengers and crew took that day saved this school by seconds. Seconds."

Life has gone on.  I was at Roz's soccer game today and really wanted to backhand the vitriolic soccer mom standing next to me and screaming in my ear. One of my friends joked, "What would Jesus do?" The Lord was such an advocate for little children, I think He'd be a bit sad about some mother shouting at her 6-year-old daughter, "YOU'RE PLAYING LIKE A GIRL!!" I made a special point of telling her daughter how well she played after the game... I feel so superior now.

Sometimes we have to remind Roz to get her head in the game, but it was especially telling today that the other team's parents were all negative and horrible-sounding, and our cute happy little girls kicked their butts! YEAH!!!

Walloon

Word of the Day: Walloon. Use it in a sentence.

Rachel J: Before or after I google it?
Me: Before, of course
Rachel J: Dang it! Ok.....is this like balderdash? The walloon, indigenous to Costa Rica, has been known to migrate as far north as Nova Scotia.
Me: Perfect, yes, you've done it correctly.
Me: Before you scrape that gum off the floor, you'd better put on your walloon.
Stacey S: An ice cold pepsi cured my achy walloon last week.
Rachel J: No googling!!!
Me: My friend Walloon and her sister Roofine took me shopping yesterday. We bought - are you ready? - drawer knobs.
Heather M: The Walleye loved the Loon for a long time before he got the guts up to ask her out. They married, and that spring the first Walloon was born.
Me: That reminds me of "Fiddler on the Roof" - "A fish may love a bird, but where would they build a home together?"
Deirdre M: I have a graduate degree in Geography. I will abstain from this contest, because I know the Flemish will kill me if I participate.
Me: I love Google and Wikipedia. The word "Flemish" bothered me for I don't know how many years and I only had my World Book Encyclopedia from 1956 to assist me.
Dalene R: As I once lived in Namur, capitol of Wallonia, I am disqualifying myself from this fun little word game. Carry on!
Me: I love that there's a real place named "Wallonia". It sounds so storybook.
Deirdre M: Trivia question: Philippa of Hainault, consort of Edward Iii of England....
Walloon or Flemish. NO GOOGLING ALLOWED!
(actually, you can google, but the answer will still be murky)
Me: Holy poop! I think you and Dalene should be playing THAT game.
 Me: When I first saw the word this morning, I wondered if it was one of THOSE designations, like "quadroon" and "octoroon"...
Mel: The doctor finally found the brown walloon and removed it from his patient's body before he coded.
Mel: I love this game! More more more!

Then: Brennan asked Aunt Tawnee if she could make some tie dye T-shirts for him, in his school colors. She agreed and the shirts arrived today. She did a great job! Thanks Tawnee, you rock!

This is everyone's favorite

Later: Bella's soccer team won their game, 2-0. Yay!

When it rains, it pours.

I absolutely LOVE that Harrison had two girls show up unexpectedly to walk him to school this morning. Can we say "Hubby Jr"? He was still undressed from his shower! I had to rush him into his clothes because he had two chicks waiting in the living room for him. He took off walking with them... never saw such a huge smile. And he never looked back.

Carter has a new drug allergy as of today. He was prescribed a penicillin liquid for his eye thing, had to take it for ten days, and on day nine, he broke out in a weird, red rash on his neck, torso and back. It wasn't itchy, so he didn't notice it till he went to the bathroom.

So off to the doctor we went. It's an allergic reaction. The doctor told me the name of the disease and then said, "Now don't go home and Google it," so of course I went home and Googled it. It's potentially deadly. That'll teach me.

So Carter can't have any form of penicillin anymore... and possibly sulfanoids as well. I hate that I gave it to him for nine days. He was so good about it, too. But it did clear up his eye, so it wasn't all in vain.

First Day of School 2010

High schoolers!
Bella: 9th grade
Brennan: SENIOR YEAR!!

Elementary schoolers!
Roz: 1st grade (and yes she was upset)
Carter: 3rd grade

Middle schooler!
Harrison: 6th grade

The last time I was at home without kids this long was eighteen years ago, just before Brennan was born. Hmmm... can't say I hate it.

After school, the sweet relief that only the neighborhood park swings can bring:

He jumped out!!

Blue velvet shoe selfie

Then this other kid showed up.
Cute brothers 

Later: The first grader is tired and having an emotional breakdown. Her mother will not allow her to ride her bike down a busy street. MEAN. But she was so cute when I first picked her up. Her first words were "I missed you all day."

One more day...

...before school starts. We will spend quality time with the kids' wardrobes, take the kids to their various socials/orientations, and try not to stress about tomorrow. Oh, and take Bella to her soccer game.

Roz, with her knees tucked in under her shirt: "Mommy! I'm having a baby - tomorrow. I can't go to school."

Later she was looking for pants. I told her to put on shorts for now and she said, "But I want the pants with long sleeves!!"

This afternoon I dropped off Harrison at 6th grade orientation... surreal. Last week I was down the street giving birth to this kid. It's been a very quick 11 years. I'm having a hard enough time being at Carter and Rosalind's school without him. I feel like I'm missing an arm or something.

Love That Joker!

...only my undertaker knows for sure. 

Apparently the Red Cross is right and my blood *is* lacking iron! Ha haaaa!!

Not unrelated: I made the mistake of putting lipstick on Rosalind ONCE and now she needs it all the time. I secretly love it.

Bella is babysitting for our ward friend Mallory H tonight. I got this text from her: "The Hs have the cutest baby! She has tiny socks! They fit on my thumb!"

Donating blood today. Maybe.

Gee, I hope my Actifed habit doesn't stand in my way. (Hubby: "It's the meth you should be worried about!")

That silly Red Cross with its "you have to have enough iron in your blood before you can donate it" rule. The last time or two I've tried to donate blood, I've been rudely refused. Okay, just refused. Today was no exception - my iron is too low. (Awwww) But now I have a good excuse to tank up on hummus! Yay!!!

We're having a lovely pot roast for dinner tonight to celebrate my iron-poor blood.

In other news: HAIRCUTS for school!!

Guess what, it wasn't pinkeye!
Carter has cellulitis of the eyelid. Looks fun huh?
He's taking antibiotics and has been cleared to associate
with the public. Poor little eyelid.

Three boys under the scissors

Brennan :)

Harrison :) Cheese!

Carter :) 

STAT.

Today I have a boy with what looks like pinkeye, a girl with a nasty cold, a boy getting his middle school vaccinations, and two teenagers to keep happy. Cookies might have to make an appearance. Kaiser, as usual, is making me feel like the crappiest mother in existence. Thanks Kaiser!

Except look at these two little boys, who wanted a picture next to this sculpture. Just look at 'em. They make everything all better. 

Love the smiles and the Converse <3

This evening I served my first official duties in my new calling, Beehive Advisor, under Joni G. And it was really hard, too, hanging poolside with the young women. My life is pretty tough. 

In Lisa B's pool

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.