Jefferson Park

This weekend The RHPB, Divot, and I went on a backpacking trip. It was time... we'd been talking about going off and on all summer but it seemed like one or both of us was always busy with something. Timing clicked for once: we both had Labor Day off so it made sense for him to take a weekend off from playing golf. Head to the wilderness, we did.

Based on recommendations from friends we decided to head to Jefferson Park. I was wary of heading to such a popular destination over a holiday weekend so was prepared for a lot of people. Which there were. From time to time it was annoying, but overall I'm glad we went. Next time I'll go mid-week!

2009

“For an athlete to function properly, he must be intent. There has to be a definite purpose and goal if you are to progress. If you are not intent about what you are doing, you aren't able to resist the temptation to do something else that might be more fun at the moment.” ~John Wooden

In 2009 I accomplished a lot, and lived with as much intention as one can muster.

Possibly my biggest accomplishment? I'm not sure if I'm an athlete yet, but I'm definitely more athletic and healthier than I was at the beginning of 2009. I've continued running (even though I'm still not fond of it), have been going to spin and core conditioning classes lately, and recently started cross-country skiing. The kids got me a set of touring skis for Christmas, so I am looking forward to spending more time on the snow, making my way to the many warming shelters in the area.

Charity

For a Monday morning, it's pretty clear and beautiful. The skies are blue and there's no haze from wildfires. On my drive to work I could see five peaks - Mt Bachelor, Broken Top, and the Three Sisters.

And when I looked at the top of South Sister (also known as "Charity") I thought, "I've been there!"

I hiked to the top of South Sister with several friends on August 10th. Yes, in Oregon some of our mountains have trails all the way up to the top. This one happens to start at the Devil's Lake campground, a short drive from Bend.

Hey...

I don't know these people. But they are pretty clever, make funny faces at each other, and can carry a tune...



I'm going to hum this all the way to Election Day.

Link via my friend Aaron.

Paulina

Oregon's a pretty big place. Even though I grew up here, there are still many places I haven't been to yet. And even though I have lived in Central Oregon for more than six years, I still haven't made it to some of the more popular areas.

Including Paulina. Until today.

Balloons

This morning I woke up early - though not as early as I would have liked. When I walked out my front door at 6:15am after rushing to dress and grab my gear...

The sky was filled with balloons! Like this one...


And this one...


I hopped in the car and instead of heading to Jewell (where the balloons were lifting off) I drove and parked a short distance away, off 15th Street just east of the school. I had a good view of the ones still lifting off and others that were already drifting over Bend.

Since the balloons were headed North, I started driving that general direction, ultimately arriving at Mountain View High School. Along the way I made some stops. At Hal Puddy park, one balloon hovered over the soccer/lacrosse field. Some more good photo op's came at the Hertz Car place on Hwy 20, where "Skyscraper" landed. I passed the Re/Max balloon, which had landed on the sidewalk of NE Savannah near Pilot Butte. After I arrived three balloons landed at the high school ("WWJD", "Independence", and "Rise and Shine"). I arrived right as two balloons landed and watched as the crews got to work stabilizing them and then packing up. It's fascinating to watch that huge balloon get packed into that teeny little bag!

And after all that activity (check out the photos) I was still home by 8:30am... plenty of time to shower and change before meeting a friend for breakfast at Jake's. (Yumm... marionberry french toast!)

Tonight is the Night Glow at the Old Mill District. I'll be the one with a camera in one hand and a (martini? glass of wine? beer?) in the other. Hope to see you there!

Ashland

Stinky and I are enjoying a weekend in Ashland, Oregon. Today was our first full day after arriving late last night. We wandered the town, had a couple of very nice meals, and saw an excellent play (The Clay Cart).

Green

Typical Memorial Day weekend weather - raining off and on, with a thunderstorm tossed in for good measure!

On the other hand my yard is loving that extra water and a break from the intense heat! We're gearing up for a gorgeous summer. Any guesses when it will be here?

Pansies

Yesterday afternoon I noticed that some very brave pansies made it through our long, snowy winter and have started to bloom! Pansies are my mom's favorite flowers and whenever I see them I think of her so it was nice timing for them to make an appearance since it's Mother's Day weekend.

Today we spent a few hours doing some spring cleanup in the yard. The kids helped me pull weeds and I cleared some of the dead stuff away. Scott even fired up the lawnmower. There is a LOT of bunch grass in our flower beds and it's a real workout to clear that junk. While pulling I found even more pansies coming back... hooray! It looks like even though the tulips and daffodils put up some nice foliage that they aren't going to bloom well; there are only a few buds and they are very small, it was just too cold I guess! There are a lot of other perennials coming back from last year, including monarda, poppy and goblin flowers. Spirea is starting to bud, lilacs are growing like crazy, and the rhododendron looks good. Not doing so well is an azalea and there's no sign of the lupines coming back. Oh well!

My excuse for not finishing? It started snowing. We scurried to put things away and hustled inside to get warm. It didn't last long, but by then I had washed "outside" off and changed clothes... so there is work to do some other day. I can hardly wait to get some annuals planted, and get some more color in our flower beds!

Sunshine

Is it spring? If not, it sure feels like it!

The birds have taken over our backyard, much to the delight of our cat. He seems to think that the dining room window is a "bird TV". He will sit on the sill for hours, chirruping and singing to the jays, robins, and other backyard visitors. He has no desire to actually go outside and chase them though. Thank goodness, he's way to fat and lazy for that!

We spent midday sitting in the sun, watching lacrosse at Mountain View High School. It was pretty easy to follow, and what a beautiful afternoon. It's a bit hazy to the west, due to the preventative burns. Other than that, it was very pleasant and warm. I can finally wear sandals outside again!

Tonight we (well, "we grownups"... the kids will be home with a sitter) are off to a birthday party. It's planned for somewhere with a deck, so we can spend more time outside.

I guess it's time to dig out the sunscreen!

Tulips

I like flowers. Not necessarily the kind sent in a bouquet. Usually the kind that I can enjoy in my yard, and occasionally snip to bring inside. I wish these were from my garden, but they're not. I bought these at Trader Joe's (only $2.99 a bunch!) about a week ago. I think tulips are at their most interesting and beautiful just before they drop their petals, like these!

Yes, you read this right. It's still snowing in Bend. In April. Even for Bend, that's late for there to be snow in town. My poor tulips don't know what to do. Mine are only a few inches tall, and started to lose hope that they will ever bloom this year. One day, it's 60 degrees and spring-like outside. The next day (or two or three) it snows again. At this point, I don't dare hope that they will find it in their little flower souls to bloom this year. If I were them, I would be pissed too.

On the other hand, the lilac bushes still seem to be doing OK. They are somewhat sheltered, against the South side of the house. They are growing, spreading, and putting out new leaves. From what I have heard lilacs like a good, cold winter. I wonder how they like a good, cold spring?

Sally

I finally met my personal hero, Sally Heatherton (of Marvelous Bend!), tonight. I was a little intimidated by the fact that BOR would be at the blogger meetup until I met Sally. There's nothing like that, I tell ya.

My life is complete. Thanks to Sally for all personal validation. :) I can now move on. You are an inspiration to me and many other bloggers in Bend. I am so impressed that you have shown perseverance and stood up to the negativity of the media in this town, for as long as you did. Somehow it was unsurprising that you are a renter!

Drool...

I have no words. This speaks for itself...



Where will you be on May 22?

Clean

After a few weekends of work, it's finally clean! That's right... my car (which has NEVER spent a night indoors) will finally be "garaged".

Which means the Stinky one won't have to scrape the ice off my windshield. Isn't he lucky?

There is still the small matter of Scott's boxes of random "stuff" to go through. And a few things we put on Bend Freecycle and Craigs List.

Wooooooo-hoo!!

Corny

Last weekend (yes, the one before we just finished- I am behind)... we took the kids to the corn maze. Not the pumpkin patch, since we weren't quite organized enough to get on the road earlier in the afternoon. But we sure had fun exploring the maze in the dark!

Everything starts off in the pirate ship. You enter through a "gangplank" on the other side.


If you go around the far side there are stairs and you can explore the deck. There is a slide and the kids can "walk the plank" - jumping off into a pile of mattresses and straw.


Then the fun begins...


We all got pretty lost in the ma(i)ze. Eventually Stinky went off on his own, and the girls also split off from us. Stinky found his way through several times. Scott had to go in and look for the girls while I was stationed at the exit. Everyone had a great time - after all it's just a corn maze right?

School

The first day of school ... an event that triggers a combination of emotions ranging from anguish to ecstacy ... for everyone in the household!

Boo started third grade today. She is excited by her school's "habitat" where they are growing a variety of crops and critters. Today they snacked on sunflower seeds from the garden (she likes the bagged ones better, because they are salted). She proudly showed off her "agenda" (a notebook with a calendar and organizer) and seems happy with her new teacher and classmates.

Stinky and QP both started sixth grade - middle school - today. This is the first year that they will be attending the same school. It will be interesting to see how things go. They are in separate "houses" so they only have music together so far. Currently they are biking to and from school, since the trip is about a mile. We'll probably re-evaluate this plan when it's not so light at 7:15 in the morning, though. That's right... they leave at seven-freakin-fifteen. School starts at 7:45 in the morning. Yaa-aaawwwwn... I am sooo glad that I am not in middle school any more.

QP said that she had a blast and that middle school is waaaay better than elementary school. How long do you think that will last? She wanted to stay and watch Stinky's practice (more on that in a minute) but she called me and said she was cold, and heading home. She decided against playing volleyball this fall (?!?!?!). I told Scott she's turning into a girl. Heaven, help us.

Stinky is happy too. He saw his new buddy from orientation and had sushi (yeup, SUSHI) for lunch. Hmm, maybe I wish I was still at middle school after all! He had a great time at his first Cross Country practice, even though it was really tough. I reminded him that the first couple weeks will be the hardest, as that is when they tend to weed out the kids who aren't as dedicated. If he can make it through that stretch then he will be fine.

Happy kids? Check. Phone calls from the office? Zip (so far). Yeah, I would say this year's off to a great start!

Spring

Did you know that it's Spring?

We spent a rainy day in Eugene visiting the University of Oregon. Over in the Willamette Valley... it's spring! Everything was green, and flowers were blooming all around us. And did I mention that it was raining?

Raindrops on Rhody's...



Peeking at trees through the sculpture Akbar's Garden in the Straub Quadrangle.


Tulips


A dogwood flower gathers rain


Flowering cherries rained pink petals


Tulips on tour