Being Thankful, Part 2

Michael and I celebrated a second Thanksgiving last Sunday. Since we didn't see my parents on the actual holiday, we decided it would be fun to get together with them at our house. Dad made a turkey which was incredibly moist and Mom made her famous cranberry jello salad with chunks of celery, pineapple and nuts. I tried out a stuffed mushroom recipe from my new cookbook and also a hummus recipe. We spent a lazy afternoon sitting around sipping wine and snacking on appetizers and just enjoying each other's company.

And I was reminded of how much I enjoy just being with my family and of how true it is that the best things in life aren't things.

Flynn Again

Flynn and I just got back from our trip to the vet, but didn't learn much about why he's suddenly not interested in his food.

The vet said that he doesn't have a fever, his abdomen isn't tender and his teeth look fine. He said we could do some bloodwork to see if there's a problem with his kidneys or his pancreas, or we can just wait and watch to see if any more symptoms arise. The other idea (and one that seems most likely to me) is that it's related to Flynn's doggie dementia. The vet described it as a switch being flipped in Flynn's brain that is now making him more picky about eating. This theory was strengthened when, at the end of the exam, the vet offered Flynn a couple of doggie treats. Flynn sniffed them, then turned his head away. I pulled a different type of treat out of my pocket and he gobbled it right up.

"Well," the vet said, "he certainly knows what he wants." I had to laugh because the old Flynn would not have been so discerning. To him, a treat was a treat--anything edible was a treat for that matter. It seems we now have a picky eater on our hands. But if that's all it is, I'll take it and be glad.

Flynn

Michael and I have noticed for several months now that Flynn has been slowing down. When he first came to us nearly a year ago last January, he had enough energy to walk with us all the way over to the Dog Park which is probably a good 1 1/2 miles round trip (depending on how many times we would walk around the park). He walked right next to us and lagged behind only a bit and only on the return home.

What we noticed first was Flynn getting tired after just a short walk through our neighborhood. Then we noticed increasing stiffness in his back legs & difficulty getting up from a lying or sitting down position. Lately taking him to the vet has both of us holding our breaths, hoping Flynn will be able to get in and out of the backseat. He can get his front legs up on the seat but we have to lift his back legs the rest of the way in--he just doesn't have the strength to jump in anymore. When he gets out, he totters at the edge of the seat, peering at the ground and what I imagine is trying to judge the distance between the two. I don't think his depth perception is that great anymore, especially at night, which is when we usually take him to the vet. I have taken to bringing treats with me and bribing (I mean encouraging) him to make the leap so he can have a treat.

In September and October we noticed another change. Flynn began having frequent accidents in the house, which was odd, but not the oddest thing. What I found baffling was that he would be fine all day by himself while we were at work, but on the weekends he would have accidents after just being out a couple of hours prior. It didn't seem reasonable that he was doing it on purpose to spite us . . . the only thing I could think of was that he sleeps all day when we're gone & doesn't have the chance to have an accident because he's asleep. When we're around, he's awake more often & thus finds the need to go out more often. Now we basically put him out each time he gets up after he's been lying down for awhile--just in case.

We took him to the vet for this one about 3 weeks ago and the vet's thought was that he might have the beginnings of canine dementia. So now Flynn takes a pill once a day (nestled in a tasty pill pocket) and the number of accidents has decreased, which could be due to the pill, or could be due to the food we switched him to which seems to cause him to poop less.

The other big change in Flynn just within the past few months is that he has lost a significant amount of weight. When he was at the vet in June he weighed nearly 80 pounds and when we took him in September he weighed 70 pounds--quite a loss in only 3 months.

And within the past few days, he has slowed down on the amount he is eating. He normally eats twice a day & gobbles up anything that lands in his food dish. Now he barely eats 1 serving of food--and I have started bribing him (again!) with treats mixed in with it. It's possible he may have picked up a flu bug when he was at the kennel last week over Thanksgiving, but he's not acting sick. When I come home from work each day, he wags his tail like crazy and frisks about, welcoming me back. He still gulps down treats and he's drinking a ton of water as usual.

So today--Saturday--I am taking Flynn to the vet to see if they can figure out why he doesn't want to eat. I'm hoping that it's something simple, but taking into account all of his other changes, I just don't know.

Being Thankful, Part 1

It had been at least 2 years since we'd last celebrated Thanksgiving in The Dalles with Michael's family, so our plans were to head through the Gorge on Wednesday night, weather permitting, spend Thursday with his family and return that night so I could work the next day. We were also playing it by ear a bit since there had been some snow and ice in Portland earlier in the week, and there was the possibility of pretty bad weather through the Gorge.

We thought I might get done early at work because of the upcoming holiday, but it was fairly busy and I didn't leave until my regular time of 6:30pm. I got home and got a few things together to take to The Dalles but by that time it was 8:00pm and we still needed to eat dinner. We'd heard there was ice through the Gorge and of course the regular pre-Thanksgiving traffic so taking all of that into consideration, we decided to settle in for the night and leave early the next morning. We were both so glad we did!

Thursday morning traffic was a breeze and we sailed through the Gorge, enjoying the snowy landscape. Multnomah Falls was particularly beautiful. It looked like a cascading sheet of ice with just a small river of water flowing through its middle. Breathtaking. I wished I'd had the camera out, as neither Michael nor I remember ever seeing it look so icy. I was able to get some nice pictures of the hills as we passed through Rowena though, and as we came into the The Dalles from the west.

Michael's parents were watching for us and met us at the door. Their house was cozy warm and smelled deliciously of roasting turkey--what a great place to spend Thanksgiving! Donna and I busied ourselves with fixing side and "snack" dishes, while Michael and his dad headed out to check on some apartments that his dad helps maintain.

Soon they were back and with them came Michael's aunt Linda. She was soon joined by her daughter Shawn and Shawn's kids, Cage, Vicky & Abby. Soon after came Linda's other daughter, Melissa and Melissa's daughter, Kyla. At this point everyone who was scheduled to arrive had arrived and we all nibbled at pumpkin hummus & sundried tomato hummus (thanks, Melissa!), quinoa salad w/corn chips and lentil & potato crunchy curls.

It was a lovely afternoon spent visiting and catching up on each other's lives. Michael and I had missed the Hoffman family reunion this past summer and so had not seen everyone for at least a year. The kids had all grown taller and made those of us who went to high school together (Michael, Shawn, Melissa and me) feel more than a little old and wonder where the years had gone. :)

The turkey was very good, as was the new recipe I tried out on Michael's family: sweet potato fries. They turned out, surprisingly, like the old-style krinkle-cut fries that I have always loved. They were also very easy to make! We used salt & pepper, some olive oil and thyme and nutmeg although I think many different kinds of seasoning could be used and they'd still be delicious. I was glad that Michael liked them, since they will be a painless way to get some veggies into him that aren't McMenimen's tater tots . . . we have become used to having them on the evenings when we go out to play pool. Sweet potato fries before we go will be a much healthier alternative. :)

All too soon it was time for us to head back to Portland . . . there was talk of freezing rain hitting the Gorge sometime Thursday evening, and we wanted to stay ahead of it. Although a short trip, it was fun to see everyone, and to spend time together being thankful for what we have.

A few pictures of Michael and me, and his parents, Ted & Donna:

Playing Hooky

I felt like I was playing hooky from work yesterday afternoon, but I had the time off fair and square. A couple months ago I won a half day off with pay and had to cash it in before it expired. I decided it would be nice to take it on a Thursday since I normally get off work at 3pm on Fridays and that way I would get to leave early two days in a row!!

At first Michael thought he would end up working late, and wouldn't be able to join me, but it turned out that he was able to get off at 2pm as well, so we got to spend a rare weekday afternoon together. :)

It felt like a day in June or July--the weather was that warm and sunny, and there wasn't even a hint of the fall crispness that is normal for November. I knew that I didn't want to spend such a glorious afternoon in the house, so Michael and I agreed that we would take our new camera up to the nature park to wander the trails and practice our photography skills--well, mostly me practicing. Michael took photography classes in high school so already knows quite a bit about composition, lighting, etc. Here are some things we saw in the park:

After our photo shoot, we headed to Lowe's where we bought paint and some trim for the master bathroom. Our plan is to continue the update we started when Michael replaced the sinks and hardware earlier this year. It will be a good winter project and will look really nice once it's finished.

Not a bad afternoon's work--I mean, rest. :)

Happy Scary!

Michael and I had a pretty low-key, laidback Halloween weekend. Friday night we watched a movie with John and Amy, "Getting to the Greek," which had some pretty funny moments and definitely wasn't scary, which was one of my requirements for watching it. :)

I did some housework on Saturday while Michael and John test drove some cars (the Hyundai Genesis was a big hit) and pretended they were race car drivers. Then we hit the grocery store and made sure to get a couple bags of candy just in case some trick-or-treaters managed to find our door. Since we live on a flag lot and are tucked behind another house, I think that most people don't know we are there, which is nice in some ways, but not in others. I love giving out candy on Halloween, so not getting trick-or-treaters has been something I have wished we could change about where we live.

Sunday we each carved one of the small pumpkins we got with our CSA membership. It took longer than I remember--I guess it's been awhile since I last carved pumpkins--but we had fun and it really felt like Halloween to be scooping and scraping and carving scary faces.

We spent a few afternoon hours visiting Michael's Uncle Dick in Hillsboro. We've lived so close to him for the past 6 years and yet haven't gone over much to visit. So it was fun to catch up and listen to the two of them talk about their many shared interests: guitars, golf, pool, target shooting. I'm sure the list goes on! Hopefully, they'll be able to plan some excursions together in the near future.

We got home just after dusk and I set our pumpkins out so their spooky faces could glow from our front porch. I was concerned that Flynn would trip on one of them on his way outside and break a leg--or set our house on fire. Thankfully, neither of those things happened :) and Michael and I spent our evening watching scary movies. Although I normally don't want to watch them, I make an exception on Halloween itself, but they have to pass some pretty rigorous screening since they can't be too scary or I won't sleep. We watched one about a vampire that was fairly campy--more like a bad B movie than anything, but the next one we watched was much scarier. The movie was "The Deceiver" and was from 1997. It was good and scary in a Silence of the Lambs kind of way. But I only had to stay up for a little while after it was over before I could go to sleep, so it wasn't too bad.

At the end of the evening we hadn't had a single trick-or-treater but we still had a nice Halloween. And Michael has a whole lot of leftover candy--he scored quite a haul for someone who didn't even dress up! ;)

Uncle Tom's Birthday

My mom's youngest brother, Tom, lives in Reedley, CA, and usually only makes the trip to Oregon once a year at Christmas. But I think since my grandparents' health has begun declining in earnest, he is trying to come up to see them as often as he can. He helped my mom and her other brother and sister move my grandparents into the assisted living facility in April, and then he came up in September so they could help him celebrate his 50th birthday. I don't think my uncle could afford to bring my aunt and two cousins with him, so he made the trip alone via Amtrak.

He told my mom that the last time he'd had a birthday party, he was six years old and as he remembered, it hadn't been much fun. He had cried during most of it for some reason. My mom decided that he needed to make some new memories for his fiftieth birthday and she planned a party for him at an Abby's pizza parlor in Dallas.

Those of my extended family who could make it, did, and we had a good time chatting and just being together for a couple of hours.

The Birthday Boy and Grandma & Grandpa

Uncle Tom, Grandma, Grandpa, my mom, Uncle Martin and Aunt Kathy


My cousin, Ryan, and his baby girl, Ava


Uncle Marty, my mom, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom


It took a minute, but we finally got both of my grandparents to smile. :)




Everyone together

It was good seeing everyone, and especially Uncle Tom. I think he is planning to come again this Christmas and bring the rest of his family with him.

And I think he had a good birthday--there was no crying that I could see. :)

Happy 6th Anniversary to Us!

Michael and I decided to head to the beach for a few days of fun and relaxation to celebrate 6 (!) married years together. Our respective bosses took pity on us and granted us each 2 workdays off (Friday, October 1 and the following Monday, October 4), which allowed us the luxury of a four day weekend free from work worries / obligations.

We booked a room at the Surftides hotel in Lincoln City--complete with ocean-front view and jacuzzi tub. On a trip to Seattle several years ago to view the motocross races, we stayed in a room with a jacuzzi tub quite by accident. If I remember right, it was the only room available in an otherwise booked-up motel and we got it for the price of a standard room. We both enjoyed the tub more than we thought we would and ever since that stay, we had hoped to get to experience it again on a future vacation.

It was nice to take our time leaving on Friday. Michael headed out to do his sperm test (finally!) while I finished packing and getting the house and pets ready for our departure. I knew Chloe would do fine with extra food and water, but being a dog, Flynn would need more hands-on care. I reserved him a spot at the Laurel Acres kennel in Hillsboro, where he stayed when we went to Spokane in June. He didn't put up too much of a fuss when we dropped him off, but I still felt guilty that we couldn't take him with us . . . but the hotel didn't allow pets and Flynn is so neurotic that even if we found a pet-friendly hotel, we wouldn't have been able to leave him alone for any length of time.

We hit the road about 12:30pm and went to Lincoln City via Newburg and McMinnville. We hadn't had lunch before we left so our first stop upon arriving at the coast was Mo's restaurant. Michael had chowder, fish and chips while I had grilled cod. I'm not normally a seafood eater, but I know fish is good for me and I figured I would try branching out a bit--after all, we were at the beach and when in Rome . . . :) It was surprisingly good, although I could have done without the "cabbage salad" appetizer, which was covered in shrimp--again, not my favorite, but I did eat most of it.


We checked in at our hotel at 4p.m. and spent some time checking out our room and our view. I think we were both a tiny bit disappointed at how dated and shabby the furnishings were (think late 80's, early 90's), but the view more than made up for it. We were a stone's throw from the water and had a large sliding glass door that opened onto our own little patio complete with two plastic lawn chairs. The jacuzzi tub sat beneath another spacious window that overlooked the water, so basically, the fourth wall of our room was made of glass and faced the ocean. Lovely. The last time we stayed at the beach was about 3 years ago when we rented a room in a cute little bed and breakfast in Seaside. I loved everything about it except the fact that we could not see (or hear) the ocean from our room. In my mind, if I am staying at the beach, I want to know I am at the beach every possible moment. Give me a view and the sound of the rolling waves! That is exactly what I got this weekend and I loved every moment of it.


After we settled in to our room, we headed over to the factory outlet stores and did a little shopping. Michael was in dire need of some new cold weather clothes, and the Columbia outlet hooked him right up with some pullover fleeces and a new jacket. I found a couple of nice shirts at the Gap as well as a hat. We had really stumbled upon the best time for shopping because the whole outlet mall was practically deserted. Our anniversary gifts to each other (besides the trip itself), were kites. Michael had forgotten his at home, and I had never owned one, so we decided he needed a new red and yellow stunt kite and the purple and teal one should go home with me. We hoped there would be enough wind to fly them over the weekend.

We wrapped up the evening with a stop at the local Dairy Queen. I decided to go off of my special diet for our anniversary weekend and was very happy to indulge in my favorite DQ treat--the Butterfinger Blizzard. You can be sure I savored every flavorful, sugary spoonful. :) Michael opted for the banana cream pie which came complete with its own dollop of Cool Whip. It was a wonderful start to our anniversary weekend.

The next day dawned a bit overcast, but quickly burned off to reveal sunny skies. We had breakfast at the Hilltop restaurant which was reminiscent of a Shari's or a Denny's except that it had a gluten-free menu. I ordered a gluten-free breakfast (complete with the first toast I have had in a very long while) and felt less guilty about being off of my diet for the weekend.

We got back to our hotel and took the kites out on the beach. Michael taught me to fly my kite and we spent a couple of wonderful hours taking turns flying it. I loved the feel of the kite tugging at the lines I held--it felt like I was holding a bird as it soared. I was pretty impressed by Michael's kite-flying ability--the boy definitely has skills. I teased him that it must come from all of those hours of playing video games. His eye-hand coordination is much more practiced than mine. He almost taught me to make the kite do a full loop; I did it once, then couldn't repeat it. But I enjoyed handing the reins over to him and watching him make the kite dip and soar with only the slightest movements of his hands.


It was nice to relax in our room in the afternoon, and we both ended up napping. We had the patio door open and the combination of the soothing sounds of the ocean and the warm sun bathing our room was more than enough to invite sleep. It felt so delicious to realize that I had absolutely nothing else to do and could close my eyes and slumber away. When I awoke awhile later, I felt how needed that rest was and how much better I felt since arriving at Lincoln City. This mini-vacation was shaping up to be more than just an anniversary celebration. It was helping me let go and just be.

We headed to the Roadhouse for our anniversary dinner later that evening. I had seen a notice in the local paper that there was to be live blues music and I thought it would be fun to check it out. We got a cozy table in the back where we could hear the music just fine and we spent a couple of hours sipping wine (me) and beer (Michael) and having a not-so-politically correct debate as to whether or not the lead singer (who had an amazing set of lungs and could sing lower than Michael) was a really light-skinned black woman or a white lady. I did not think a white woman could sing like B.B. King (which this woman could), but Michael insisted she was white. We never did find out for sure but we both definitely appreciated her voice and the guitar skills of her band.

Sadly, Dairy Queen was closed when we headed back to our motel around 11:00pm, but we decided we'd make up for it the next day.

I had time for one more jacuzzi tub bath the next morning before we had to check out; I took 4 total over the course of three days and kept dreaming of the day when I will have my own tub to luxuriate in every day if I choose.

Neither of us wanted to go home and end our lovely vacation, so we grabbed some breakfast and then headed back to the outlet mall for some last-minute shopping. Then it was back to the beach to fly our kites one more time . . . there wasn't as much wind as there had been the day before, so Michael was the only one who actually got any flying time in. I dive-bombed the kite a few times into the sand before deciding to call it quits. I did enjoy basking in the sun while Michael displayed his superior kite-flying skills in the low wind. He was so good that a gentleman with a very expensive-looking camera stopped to photograph the kite as Michael made it swoop and soar against the blue sky.

Once the kite had been put away for good, we headed down the beach to check out some rocks just off the shore to see if there might be anything in the tide pools. We didn't see much but got some good pictures of the waves and a couple of thrilling moments when the rocks we were standing on became surrounded by the incoming tide.

Our last stop before heading out of town was . . . the Dairy Queen! We had a completely unhealthy (but delicious!) dinner of chicken burgers, fries and one more tasty ice cream treat then hit the road for home and a night back sleeping in our own bed.

Even though we didn't want to admit the weekend was over, we were both happy that we'd taken the next day off from work, so we had Monday to ease back into reality--which included collecting Flynn from the kennel, giving him a much-needed bath, doing laundry, going to the grocery store, and for me--going to my first yoga class in a year and a half at the little studio near our house.

It was a fitting end to a wonderfully long weekend and a great anniversary celebration.

Welcome, Josie Lynn!

Lindsey, Ken & Morgan's new baby girl arrived yesterday at 2:50pm at Albany General Hospital in Albany, OR. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 20.5 inches long.

As you can see, I am quite the proud auntie. :)

A Baby Shower For Lindsey

My good friend from college, Carrie and I got together and planned a shower for Lindsey, whose second baby will soon be making her appearance in all of our lives. Carrie's mom graciously offered to have the shower at her home in Albany, and really, we couldn't have found a better place to have it. Her parents have a beautiful home with the largest backyard I think I have ever seen within city limits. If the weather cooperated, the plan was to make it a garden party, with guests relaxing in lawn chairs under spreading tree branches.

It didn't rain, but the forecast called for cloudy coolness and we decided to let Lindsey decide whether she wanted to have it indoors or outdoors. Being the guest of honor as well as 9 months pregnant, we figured she should make the call. I was happy when she chose to have it outside. I had already peeked out back and seen the lawn chairs that Carrie and her mom had set up. They looked so inviting that I thought something would be missing from the party if we gathered inside instead.
Carrie's mom made a lovely chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, and decorated it with iced circus animal cookies--a brilliant choice. The effect was stunning--simple, yet festive.

There was a fruit platter of pineapple and watermelon wedges and both red and green grapes. Carrie's parents donated their garden-fresh cucumbers, peppers and cherry tomatoes to a veggie tray and Carrie and I kept snacking out of it as we were assembling everything.

I made a punch with 7-UP, Hawaiian punch and orange sherbet, and was thrilled about using the crystal punch bowl and cups that I got awhile back and had not yet had occasion to use. Carrie brought her beautiful crystal dessert plates, each with a circular ridge for the cup to rest on. With all of the dainty dessert things, it really felt like a tea party and set the mood just right.

Guest arrived and were given instructions to choose a name tag and select a paper basket that included the things each person would need later to play party games. We also asked each person to guess the number of Hershey's kisses in a glass container--whoever guessed closest to the actual amount (176) would get to take it home.





Another game we played involved a "buzz" word. Carrie and I chose the word "cute" as the off-limits word for the duration of the party, as it seemed like a word that most of us would use at a baby shower--especially during the gift opening part. Every guest had a colorful flower or butterfly barrette to wear in her hair or on her person, and if she got caught saying the word, she would have to surrender her barrette. The person with the most at the end of the shower would get a prize. I was surprised at the intensity with which some guests played this game. They were on a mission to catch the word cute, and woe to you if you said it! And hand over your barrette too! :)

Lindsey and the baby got lots and lots of sweet, precious, adorable (but not cute) items, and lots of ooohing and aaahing was to be had all around, as tends to be the case with baby showers everywhere.

The game that got everyone's blood pumping was one I had never played. Carrie had played it at a different shower and said it was a lot of fun--and very competitive. She was certainly right! Two miniature laundry baskets held 9 pairs of socks each. Two women would play at a time in a race against the clock and each other. We gave them 30 seconds to match the socks with the winner being the one who did it the fastest. It didn't take long to discover that there were some veteran sock matchers (moms) among us. Those ladies hands flew as they scrambled to find matches. We ended up having to have several "sock-offs" and reduced the time given to 10 seconds. The high energy and cheering was reminiscent of childhood games, and I realized that I miss having that in my life as a thirty-something woman. I don't know about anyone else, but I definitely need to incorporate some of that youthful cheer into my life again so I stay young-at-heart as the years continue to go by.

The party went on for just about 2 hours and when the first person left, it must have rung an unseen bell, reminding everyone of other things they needed to do. Everyone but Carrie, her mom, Lindsey and me left in a mass exodus, which ended up being rather nice. The four of us relaxed under the leafy branches of the fruit trees and chatted together while the wind blew gently around us. We took our time, knowing the clean-up could wait, and those moments together in the backyard were some of my favorite of the whole day.

I left for home later that night, content that we had squeezed the baby shower in among the activities of all of our busy lives. I was happy not only that it had been a wonderful party, but that I had been able to spend some time with friends dear to my heart. And I hoped that this new baby could feel the love and excitement of all of the party guests and know that she is welcome here.