Archive for the 'family' Category

changes

Published
by
wiz
on November 4, 2009
in family and just me
. 3 Comments

I seem to be going down the same road as my sister and one of my brothers. They have been unable to drive in the dark for some years. I have felt uncomfortable doing so a number times in the recent past but last night - scary!!

I had boy-watching duty while DD attended ballet class. (DH was at a soccer game.) With the time change, it was dark driving to her house. I didn’t like that at all. When I got there, I explained my situation. Obviously I stayed but the future will be different. She will need to find some one else to watch the boys if she wants to take her evening class.

While driving home, I really struggled to label, name, identify in some way what I was feeling. I came to the conclusion that the changes between darkness and headlights/street lights is actually painful for my eyes. I had an instant head ache behind the wheel.

I told DH about it and he said I’ll just have to drive more slowly. Ah, no, that is not going to alleviate the head ache.

So, life changes coming though they shouldn’t be too dramatic. I seldom go out at night and if I do, DH’s usually with me and driving.

anniversary tradition

Published
by
wiz
on July 11, 2009
in family
. 2 Comments

It has come and gone again; the wedding anniversary.

The celebrating began around noon when Jerry got home from work with two “bugs,” the lively lobsters. Pretty convenient working for a seafood company; you know exactly who to order them from.

Into the carefully packed car and off we went. The question was whether to turn north or south on Hwy. 101. The weather report was such that the coast would be a good choice and it was. We drove amid the Friday afternoon tourist traffic to Ecola State Park. A table was procured on the bluff away from other tables and we proceeded to tote all our stuff out there.

Jerry’s first project was to light the stove and get the water heating, mine was to pop the cork out of the wine bottle. Then I found some flowers (weeds) for the vase and lit the candle. The candle has always been a problem, the wind would blow it out even with a tall holder with a short candle. This year I utilized the beacon from Moot 5 (thank you, Lisa!!) as it is an enclosed little “lantern.” It worked like a dream!

Garlic sauteed mushrooms were the first course, which Jerry cooked to perfection. The water finally boiled and the bugs met their demise; 20 minutes later the real feasting began. When the lobster and wine were gone, it was obviously time for a nap, for Jerry anyway. He lay down on the blanket while I sat in the chair and read a book, with occasional glaces at the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

Time passed and it was time for coffee and carrot cake. I only make carrot cake (our wedding cake) once a year, for this event. After that feasting was done, we slowly packed up and went for a walk. The sun was so warm all afternoon with very little wind, it was amazing.

We drove into Cannon Beach for the requisite finishing ice cream cone. I passed on that but Jerry had his coffee almond fudge in a waffle cone. (I would be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous, but the ensuing tummy ache would not have been worth it.) We wandered the streets with the rest of the tourists while Jerry ate.

We finally headed home, another anniversary gone.  However, another anniversary to look forward to next year!!

26.2 & camping

Published
by
wiz
on June 6, 2009
in family and just me
. 1 Comment

The two were back to back so I may as well put them in one post; it may be long.

I tried to not put any undue pressure on myself as far as the marathon went. With that in mind….

Friday after arriving in Newport, Jerry and I went for a little walk. We then had a “munchie-lunchie” dinner; all foods I was used to. I did not wish to eat some new cooking before the event.

Saturday I rose at 5:30, my usual time. I had my usual breakfast, did my usual stretches, wrapped my legs, and then headed to the the start area. We walked about a bit then the start at 7:00 arrived. It was chilly and the course passed the start area at mile three so I decided to wear my fleece until I passed it off to Jerry at that time.

As had been the norm, I walked the first two miles. I ran to the three mile mark and gave Jerry my fleece and he had some Chapstick for me, which I had requested. I walked the hill down to the bay front and then ran to the Embarcadero where the sidewalk was concrete. It is far less forgiving than asphalt.

I decided to walk for some time just to make sure my leg was warmed up. At about mile 8 I started running; felt wonderful. However, that lasted about a 1/4 mile. My lower left leg tendons felt like they snapped out of place. Not a pleasant feeling at all. OK, I walk; and I did, the remaining miles.

Jerry “caught up” with me on his bike about mile 10. It was very nice to see him. We chatted for a bit then he moved on as there were plenty of runners/walkers in the area.

The course was an out and back so as I saw mile markers for the return trip and for the outgoing, I did the math and determined the turnaround would be between miles 15 & 16. Gee, I was correct! Some folks were lamenting “where is the turnaround?” I gave them my answer and hoped they were encouraged.

About mile 15 I felt a large blister forming on the bottom of my right foot. Oh well, with that and my bum left leg I could probably stay with an even gait. Mile 20 brought the popping of said blister; I felt it go. Bummer. I still felt fine having been very good about drinking at all aid areas.

Jerry showed up again shortly after the burst blister. I was basically by myself so his riding did not hinder any one. After a bit I did realize talking with him was taxing my strength. I told him I needed to zone out again with LOTR. He went on his way to meet me at the finish.

I actually felt quite fine the entire time and finished at 5:52:01/ 13:26 pace. I was of course pleased to be done and I almost started crying but didn’t; wasn’t sure I would be understood if I did.

The finish area was less than advertised so we went back to the motel. I was able to assess the blister damage. Not pretty! The ball of my foot had blistered, popped, and skin shifted. It was about the size of a silver dollar. After showering, I put on ointment and a band aid. We then went for food….Local Ocean, the best stuff in town.

I did some serious hobbling and felt quite embarrassed. When we got back to the motel, I looked at the blister and it had filled up with fluid. I removed the band aid which had been holding the fluid in. Great relief ensued and that was that! No more problems all week.

Totals: (approx.)
run - 2.0
walk - 24.2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now on to the camping!

Sunday we headed to Silver Falls State Park. We didn’t have a reservation but hoped that it not being a weekend it would not matter. We were correct. We paid for two nights and ended up staying a third. Monday we did some biking, 9 miles, on trails and single track. The waterfalls were quite pretty.

Wednesday, having checked the weather report we decided to go to the coast. Cape Lookout State Park was our destination. We secured a sunny site for two nights and basked in the warmth. Thursday was still sunny, and we felt we had hit a boon with warmth at the beach. In the afternoon we went walking, though we avoided the beach because the wind had picked up. Upon returning to our site, we saw that our staked tent, with sleeping bags & mat & “luggage” bags had rolled to the next site. We were astonished!! The wind gave no indication of letting up so we put everything in the van and moved to a more protected site. The rolling of the tent had badly bent four of the six tent poles. Fortunately Jerry was able to bend them into a usable shape. We pitched our tent in a wooded area of the campground and proceeded to prepare dinner. Hmm…. the rains followed the wind. We did cook but ate under the protection of the van tailgate.

It continued to rain through the night but we had hopes of drier weather as we went north Friday to Nehalem Bay State Park. It misted heavily as we made camp. It did not deter us from feasting on oysters cooked on the fire. During the night the rains returned and when we awoke Saturday, we were wet.

Time to give Mother Nature the nod and head home. We packed up a very wet campsite and drove home to arrive in time to cook a 9:00 breakfast. Then the unpacking and drying out commenced.

After all was unpacked and set to dry, Jerry went to Chinook to hang some more sheet rock. Home again, same projects……

taught by The Master

Published
by
wiz
on May 18, 2009
in family
. 1 Comment

I like to think I am a good student.  When The Master speaks, I try very hard to comprehend and remember all he says.

Today I set to work building a computer work station for Jerry to use for his coaching endeavours.  Our desk CPU is seven years old, rather full, and slow.

Having recently acquired Daddy’s laptop, I utilized that unit.  I had to do some “tricky” stuff to get the monitor to work and get the laptop screen to be blank.  I knew there was a way to do it, however, I had to do a lot of trial and error to do it.  But I was able to get all aspects of the set-up working well and working properly.

Jerry can now do his work on a regular keyboard, use a mouse, view a nice flat-screen monitor, and have a printer at his beck and call.  I did have to load Office as the unit did not have the programs (Word, Excel, & Outlook) that I know Jerry will need and use.

All this reflects on The Master….my dear son Barney.  His positive influence is endless.  Thanks, Bud.

officially official

Published
by
wiz
on May 17, 2009
in family
. 0 Comments

Jerry has accepted the offer to be the Astoria High girls soccer coach.   He has a dynamic former college player as his assistant, something he felt necessary.  He picked up equipment from the past coach today and seemed quite pleased.  He said it will help him get back in shape.

Local soccer camp is the week of August 10, then a week of conditioning, then two weeks of daily doubles, then school starts with practice or games every weekday.  This will continue until November.  Then we’ll start again next August……

Soccer ~ it’s a kick in the grass!

change of scenery (20 miles scheduled, 16+ miles covered)

Published
by
wiz
on May 10, 2009
in family and just me
. 0 Comments

This may be long…..

Mom called Wednesday saying Daddy had taken a downturn in health: fluid in his lungs, unable to pick up his spoon at lunch, falling asleep at the lunch table. Mom was distraught, as she well should have been! I asked if she wanted me to come up to Seattle and she said yes.

I then packed, including all running gear, for an unknown period of time. I researched the mileage around Green Lake for Friday’s 20 miler - 7.14 times around.

I arrived at the Norse Home about 10:30 Thursday morning. I had lunch with M&D. Later that afternoon, Richard came by then Thomas. Richard visited for some time then left while Thomas stayed for dinner. As he departed, Robert arrived. He hung around for a bit then it was time to go to Sea-Tac to pick up Connie (from Spokane) and Dot (from Eugene). I drove to the airport with him. We had some time to talk things over concerning M&D. Oh, and when we were all at M&D’s, Daddy really perked up. After getting Dot and Connie, we went back to Norse Home to say hi to Mom.

Friday dawned with a run scheduled for me. I set out and walked to the lake for a warm up then the run. I was doing fine, though getting tired as expected, when I experienced something new. I had done 5 laps (14 miles) and was about 1/4 into the 6th when I started seeing “peripheral stars.” I felt fine but it was like sparklies around my iris, and it was most disconcerting. I made a conservative decision to turn around and head back to the house. (I had ID with me but nothing indicating where I “belonged” in Seattle.) I walked and the sparklies stopped about 10 minutes later. I mentioned it to Dot when I got to the house and she immediately gave me a name of the phenomenon–inner ocular migraine. So, no worries but it seemed prudent at the time to go home.

Obviously I did not do the proscribed miles for this week. Am I concerned? Not really. Had there been support along the rest of my route, I would have continued.

It’s Sunday and I am now home.  I may write about Daddy later, I may not; I don’t know. A brief note here in case I don’t. He really rallied with all of us visiting, coming down and eating meals, but we all know the end is imminent. It may be a day, a week, a month, six months but only God knows. Hospice will come when needed and I believe we have taken care of all eventualities.

sheet rock

Published
by
wiz
on April 9, 2009
in Chinook and family
. 0 Comments

Headed over to Chinook this morning. Where was the warm weather predicted?!? The furnace is still not working, and I was hoping the sun would lend some heat. Alas, clouds and rain.

Anyway! Time for some updated pics. The best ones are of Peggy’s bedroom. The before pics are at this post. The walls and ceiling were completely removed.  Now for today.
Sheet rock done and awaiting plaster; Jerry will start slinging it today. He also patched the kitchen ceiling so it’s ready for plaster as well.

The view in the front room certainly looks like a construction zone! Tools and insulation abound.

Sunday Gabriel was running down the street and his face had a close encounter with the sidewalk. It has healed quite a bit but I only just got the picture as the camera has been at Chinook.

quick update

Published
by
wiz
on April 8, 2009
in family
. 0 Comments

Peggy, Nikolai, and Gabriel (PNG) have been living with us for over two years.  They are now in the process of getting their own abode.   Enter Chinook house.  It was a house severely damaged in the 12/2007 storm and left empty from that time.  We purchased it at a “bargain” price and are doing much repair and remodel to make it habitable.

I am training for my fifth (and last!) marathon.  I usually do a blog entry after my weekly long run.  The marathon is in Newport, OR, on May 30.  Today’s count showed I have 271 more training miles to cover.

Jerry is still involved with the local soccer league, but he has stepped down from the HS coaching job.

Chinook house

Published
by
wiz
on April 7, 2009
in family
. 2 Comments

Originally posted 3/9/09

We went to Chinook to take pictures and measurements Saturday. The first thing that needs fixing is the furnace!! It was cold!

Here’s a simple rundown of work, not in any particular order; I just wanted to get pictures up here.

Front room/fireplace - remove rest of carpet, refinish floors, paint, wood stove insert for heating, install ceiling fan for circulation, replace entry door (door knob would be good!), remove door to upstairs and reconfigure that doorway.

Bedroom #2 - carpet removed, floor sanded and finished if in good enough condition, ceiling repaired, closet sheet rock repaired, sliding door weatherized better, paint, check light fixtures for functionality.

Upstairs bathroom - replumb for shower, repair hole in wall (currently looks down to kitchen), replace broken faucet, paint, eventually replace inefficient windows.

Bedroom #1 - remove & replace ceiling in room and closet, carpet removed, floor sanded and finished if in good enough condition, sliding door weatherized better, paint, check light fixtures for functionality.

Main floor den - sheet rock walls & ceiling, texture & paint, add opening window on south wall, needs flooring of some kind, change door to utility room.

Kitchen - repair hole in ceiling, sand swollen cabinets so they close, replace counter-top (curling at seams), lighting is goofy; may change.

Stairway carpet, ALL carpet, will be removed, attic insulation to be removed and replaced.

OK, enough. I can’t write everything that needs doing. It’s a lot. I don’t see PNG moving in until June at the earliest.

all is well

Published
by
wiz
on December 8, 2007
in family
. 1 Comment

We weathered the storm quite well.  No internet at home; I’m at the college right now.  I’ll post our adventures and pictures when we get cable at home.  It may be some time as the cables are still flat on the ground.  Cable is a low priority utility, some folks still don’t have electricity.  Crews are here from all over the west, as far away as Utah from what I’ve heard.  Kudos to them for all the work they are doing.

ta