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24 September 2010

Games 09-18-2010

I wanted to get this up a lot sooner, but this week has been crazy and when I finally have time to sit down in the evenings to write up a blog post I'm exhausted and don't have the umph to do so.

SOOOO FINALLY I am ignoring the dishes and laundry for a moment and writing.

Have I mentioned it rains in Oregon? 

Well it does. A lot.

I've pretty much made my peace with the rain and have decided to just enjoy our weather, which some people would love to have but don't.  This wet, wet year has been completely testing that resolve.

Even though I'm now going to be okay with all the rain (don't ask me how I feel in the middle of winter in our wetest months), my camera is not.

I was disappointed to see nothing but rain expected for the kids games Saturday and hoped it would just hold off.

It didn't.

I ordered a rain sleeve for my camera, but I had waited until Friday night to order it so of course I didn't have it for Saturday. 
09-18-10 (33)
Adam had two games, one right after the other, and we got through the first game with no rain.  The second game it was lightly sprinkling and I was taking pictures using Robert's waterproof jacket as a cover since our umbrella broke in the move and I hadn't replaced it yet.

Adam is the one with the scrunchy face about to tackle #89.

The first game was tough with the opposing team playing dirty.  They were kicking shins and pulling on face masks.  Adam even took a few punches to his ribs. 

Adam got really fed up with the kid that kept punching him and took him down hard the next couple plays.  The punches stopped. And to prove cheaters never prosper - Adam's team won 18 to 6.

They had about 30 minutes to rest and get something to eat and then it was back on the field for the second game of the day. Our team was tired and this 2nd team was tough and hitting hard, but they held out and the game ended a tie - 0 to 0.

09-18-10 (37)After Adam's game we went home and while Adam showered and changed, Carus got into her soccer stuff and Robert made the kids lunch I ran to Walmart to get an umbrella.  It was now raining steady and I wanted pictures of Carus's game.

I got back just in time to stuff everyone in the car and head for the soccer field.

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, and most of them aren't that great.  It is hard to hold an umbrella and focus the camera.  I should've sucked it up and took the little point and shoot. I just love my camera so much...

I did get this one --->

It was raining, humid, slippery, and their opponents were really good, but it was still a good game. 

They tied this game 4 to 4. 


So that's what we did last Saturday and it's what we will be doing again tomorrow. 

Race for the Cure Portland 2010


Race for the Cure Portland 2010

Sunday, September 19th, Adam, Carus, and I met up with Gramma Barbara to walk in Portland's Race for the cure. We had joined my Providence Diagnostic Imaging team. Providence Cancer Center got every team member a bright pink wig. While Adam was a great sport and did put on the wig for me to get a picture at home, and did put it on for a moment there at the event site, his embarrassment over being a boy with a pink wig won out and he took it off.  I had teased him that I was going to make him wear it, but in the end I let him be.  There were other male team members wearing the pink wigs, but it has to take a lot of confidence for a boy to pull that off and at Adam's age I am glad he doesn't have it.  He will, just not yet.

Race for the Cure Portland 2010After their games on Saturday, and getting up at 6 a.m. to go to the race, the kids were pretty tired and weren't too enthused about walking 5K with me. But they toughed it out and made it with very minimal complaints.



They changed the route this year and because of it there was an overlapping-type point.  We walked one direction down the street a-ways and then went around a caution cone and walked back the other way.

All along the caution tape kids were playing with it and hanging on it and someone ended up putting their hand out for a high five.

And it spread.

Most of the kids and a few of the adults were holding out their hands and everyone would high five them as they walked by.  Adam and Carus LOVED this - as did most of the other kids.  And so many adults were enjoying having all these kids to high five.

Encouragement to keep going. Keep walking.  Encouragement to keep "fighting".

Race for the Cure Portland 2010


Northwest Oregon is pretty famous for the amount of rain we get and this year has been pretty wet; so of course it was forecasted to rain Sunday.

The forecast had actually said it was going to rain pretty much all day.  But most of the walk was dry. 

The event's grounds (Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland) were all muddy from all the rain we've been getting, but the sun was out with the few gray clouds and we weren't too worried. 

I still brought the umbrellas because I didn't want my camera getting wet.  And good thing too, because in the last stretch of the walk, probably no more than 1/2 mile from the finish line, it downpoured. It only lasted a few minutes, or perhaps yards and we just walked out of the rain, but we did have the umbrellas up for a bit. 

The rest of the day - ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! High 70s and sunny!

Race for the Cure Portland 2010

There is always something that makes me tear up at this event. 

Actually, it is a lot of somethings.

All the pink shirts (which are survivors and current fighters).

This pink shirt in particular started me off.

Look at all those names for just one person.  Including her.


In celebration of Me!

Race for the Cure Portland 2010



This was another one. 

If you can't read that little boy's card it says:

"I race in celebration of MY MOM"


And he was walking hand and hand with his mom. 


I am so glad she was there to hold your hand little guy, I hope she will be for a long time yet.


 

















After we crossed the finish line we headed for the Max Station for the long crowded ride back to Beaverton where we had parked our cars and then we went for our annual post race breakfast/brunch/lunch. 

I didn't see the goofy face Adam is making trying to get a drink of his rootbeer until after I sat back down and was too tired to worry about it. 


Race for the Cure Portland 2010

I hope we get to help in the very teeny tiny way we do for a long time yet.

Or until they find a cure. Which ever comes first.


PS: You can still donate and help save some tatas!

21 September 2010

Experience helps

Occasionally with work I will run into a dictation with issues.  Issues that make it difficult to hear what I need to hear.  There are times when the doctor yawns while speaking, listens to music that occasionally is too loud to just be background noise, has someone speaking in the background, tries to talk over the phone ringing or fire alarm (I hate that one!) or even dictating while eating (which is always fun to listen too GACK!).  But mostly we have mumblers.  Either they are at the end of a super long shift and are exhausted, they forget to speak clearly, or they are just naturally mumblers.

One doctor in particular seems to try to race through their dictations, but yet is usually speaking clearly - as long as you can separate the words that merge together with the speed.  Sometimes this is as easy as slowly the playback down.

But occasionally, they get in more of a rush, are tired, have a million things to do, or whatever.  The other day was one of those days for a particularly speed-racer doctor and I found myself listening to:

There are no intraluminal filling defects seen within the pulmavaschaturasagest pulmonary embolus.

Because of experience with this doctor I was actually able to hear:

There are no intraluminal filling defects seen within the pulmonary vasculature to suggest pulmonary embolus.

I was so glad that they like standard statements and that I know them without even having to think about it.  When I slowed the playback down a little bit more, it was a bit more clear, which made me more confident that I actually knew what was being said and I didn't happen to be completely winging it.  It feels good to gain just a teensy bit of confidence, especially since I was having a particularly hard day.

Note: I wrote the sentence down WHILE listening to it to try to capture the nuance of the doctors slurring of 4 words into 1. It still doesn't give it justice.

12 September 2010

First games

Saturday was the first games for both Adam and Carus.

Adam had his jamboree, which is pretty much getting a few teams together and scrimmaging.  It isn't a full football game and they don't "technically" keep score.  It is good for learning each boys' strengths and weaknesses and gets them more worked up for their next game. Plus it's just fun.
Jamboree 2010

Doesn't he look so much older?  He's #87 there in the middle.

Adam's team won 1 of their 3 scrimmages.  I, unfortunately, didn't get to see much. I had to run home for my camera lens during half of the first game, but got to watch the second half. 
Jamboree 2010

Then was only able to watch a couple plays of the second game before it was time to leave to get to Carus's game.  Robert and I were hoping we wouldn't have to split up the kids games, but I guess it's inevitable with both of them in sports. 
Jamboree 2010

Going over the rest of the game schedules we think we will be okay for the most part with a just few endings/beginnings missed; and we are alternating.

And I got a text right before Carus's game started - Adam assisted in sacking the quarterback. He's a lineman and apparently this is a BIG thing for him to do - AND he was super excited about it (as well as his team and coaches).

Carus's first game was an actual game and not a scrimmage; however, at her age they don't keep track of each teams' wins and losses.

Carus's first soccer game

OH.MY.GOD!  Her soccer games are so freakin' exciting to watch! I can't concentrate on taking pictures and cheering for her at the same time. And poor Robert. He called once Adam's games were over to get directions to the field and I couldn't give them to him coherantly. Luckily he had an idea where he was going and I was able to give enough to get him there in time to see most of the second half.

Carus's first soccer game

She is sort of hidden by her teamate in this photo. She has her hands up in the air celebrating the goal she just kicked. SHE SCORED! FIRST GOAL OF THE GAME IN THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON!! YEEAAAHH!!! GO CARUS!

Carus's first soccer game

They said the game was a tie game - 2 to 2 because the last goal scored didn't count because of a technicality of some sort. Sorry, don't know all the rules...

HOWEVER, by my count we got 4 goals. So if that last goal didn't count then we were 3 to 2. In my opinion - we won.
It was a great way to spend our Saturday morning.  If you want to see what we did Saturday evening and Sunday, go here to the previous post for a yard project update.

This week I go to football practice and Robert goes to soccer practice. 

Saturday Sept 18 games:

Adam - 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Carus - 3:15 p.m.

Yard project update - Steps and flower bed

Yard redo - progress

The view to the steps.


We originally planned on 3 steps - but that didn't work out so well and with a bit of swearing and a lot more digging and leveling and digging and leveling - a little more swearing - and another trip to buy one more rail road tie, we got 4 steps.

It will be leveled out at the top of the fourth step and a stone patio will go in with a fire pit in the middle.

There will be a small flower bed along the fence in the back and down the side. 

We are replacing the stepping stones going through that gate, or maybe digging those out and resetting them. They have gotten buried a bit and we haven't quite decided what we're doing. We would like all the stepping stones throughout the yard to match. They currently do not.






Yard redo - progress

Since no one will be walking along the fence - and we were really tired of digging - Robert said I could have a little flower bed. Provided nothing I planted got to big and interferred with being able to walk by. I planted two blue sedge grasses and three balloon flower plants. 


I really love them.  Both kinds of plants should make it through winter okay with their tags claiming hardiness down to 0 degrees and below.


Yard redo - progress

Steps from another angle. The little lost looking stone in the middle of that first step will go underneath the crooked one on the end, and then others will be stacked to bring out the wall one more stone - I really hope you understand what I'm trying to explain. If not, I'm sorry.

Of course bark mulch on each step and spread out more to the grass and topping off the flower bed. Also some plants on the steps along the fence and along the retaining wall (kind of encouring people to walk down the middle at the 'safest' point).

We had hoped to have it fully done before fall, but with the kids games and everything else we are running out of time. We need to get some bark mulch to prevent too much erosion over winter and will continue to work here and there.  This project is kicking our butts - but in a good way I guess. Digging up clay dirt is a really good workout! But I will be so happy when it is done and I can sit and enjoy my view with a fire in my firepit.

07 September 2010

First day of school 2010

Adam. 6th grade.

First day of school 2010 copy

How in the beejeebus can I have a sixth grader?

Carus. 3rd grade.
First day of school 2010 (6) copy

Three years apart.

First day of school 2010 (10) copy

Goof-balls

First day of school 2010 (9) ED

1 more day

One more day until school starts.

Just one.more.day.

But it's gonna be a fun day isn't it!

I need to call the school bus company to see if they are actually going to pick up my kids.  We were supposed to get a postcard in the mail with the route/pick up time/drop off time info but I didn't get one.

I also need to see if I can find out what class Adam is supposed to be in.  They hadn't had a chance to place him last week. Cutting things close aren't we people?!

And by 8 a.m. we already had a case of the shut ups.  They go like this:

"Shut up"

"No, you shut up"

"SHUT UP"

"YOU SHUUUUTTTT UPPP"

"Just go"

"SHUT UP ADAM"

The kids have picked their 1st day of school outfits and I, thankfully, thought far enough ahead to say, "pick them out and have them approved by me."

Carus tried to go with a black and white shirt AND black pants.  Yes kid, I know there will be those phases of all black/goth/depressed - but let's not start them so early.  Mmm'Kay. 

Now she is trying to convince me to finally let her wear the pair of hand-me-down shoes she got 1-1/2 years ago that are still just a smidge too big. And would fall off when she walked.  Unless she walks all weird and careful-like - which is funny to watch, but I can't send her out in public like that. The shoes are better and I've agreed to consider it if she can wear them all day today and not fall on her ass. I've also suggested for her to find her most thickest socks to help with any possible slippage.

Then she brings me a pair of socks - "Are these yours?"  Um, no - those are some of those hand-me-down socks from B*, but they look a little dirty. I can wash them for you.

Carus then puts the socks on my desk.  Yeah kid, cause that's where dirty clothes go.  See if you can go find a nice stinky pair of your pubescent brothers' socks. Also one of his shirts after a day he forgot deodorant.  That helps me work. Thanks.

Adam's first attempt on his 1st day of school outfit - a pair of pants that are really starting to show their age. And by tomorrow will also be highwaters on him. Freakin' kid will not stop growing.  He wants to wear just a plain T-shirt too. Not a nice Polo I forced him to buy (picture day!) or his funny joke T-shirt that he picked out (he has a great sense of humor). Plain is okay though.

Adam now enjoys reminding me several hundred times a day that he is taller than me.  He is. By 1/2-inch. Maybe.  BUT NOT IF I WEAR HEELS! HA! 

Adam also now enjoys being able to say "SHOTGUN" and then actually being able to sit in the front seat (as long as not both Robert and I are in the car. I have permanent shotgun.)  The newfound freedom also being taken advantage of is deciding which music we listen to, which I allowed until he tried to blow my speakers yesterday because the music just wasn't loud enough.

CRAP, I'm old. I told my kid to turn the music down. At least he still likes my music.

Also, did you know, that 12-years-old is the 'I am not a kid' age.  Yeah, I am already hearing "Nah, I don't like that anymore. It's kid stuff."  But yet, he is saving up for a Nerf gun. 

What am I thinking? Nerf guns are awesome! You can shoot someone and it doesn't hurt!

It's all good - his voice is changing and is CONSTANTLY squeaking, which allows for many hours of teasing him.  He is a GREAT sport about it and laughs it off and tries to make it squeak again just to get us to laugh. Like Sunday when he laughed and sounded like Mickey Mouse and I started crying from laughing so hard, he spent an hour trying to do it again. Awesome!

Today, after work, I have 1-1/2 hours to squeeze in:

1.  The cooking and eating of dinner. (It might just be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.)
2.  Adam needs a haircut
3.  I need to go to the store (mother nature sucks)
4.  Return library books that are due tomorrow (cause I will forget tomorrow)
5.  Carus's back to school night to find her classroom, lunch room, etc, meet her teachers, drop off school supplies, etc. 
6.  Football practice on time - at 6 pm. It's a scrimmage.

Guess what - it just started P.O.U.R.I.N.G. BRING ON THE MUDDY FOOTBALL GAME! WOOO!  Robert better not bitch about how dirty my car is after today. I will end him.

Is it Wednesday yet?

* B is a friend who is 13 and gives us hand-me-down clothes. She has great, designer-esq clothes and I will save hundreds on outfitting Carus because of it.  She has also hand-me-down'd some training bras to Carus, which she is so very excited about. And I have an embarrassing/funny story about those; not sure if I should share because it will be grounds for her to hate me.  But maybe someday.  It is that good.

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