Busy Summer

Well, it's been a very busy spring and summer! Here are some highlights...


Jeremyah and James having lunch at the Village Green

Jeremyah and Meadow with our friend Alloquois in Portland

James playing guitar
Hank chillin in the hot pink
Ella twirling in her fancy skirt

Meadow and Ella being fancy girls

Hank!

Jeremyah Hendrix

She's fashionably lean...and she's fashionably late...

My family walking down a Portland street

The teeter totter at Kenton Park

Ice cream at Cool Moon in Portland

The boys riding the Max

An owl at the Portland zoo

Calliope gets a ride from her papa at the Portland zoo

Kisses from my Meadow

Portland's Chinatown, home of Hung Far Low

The BEST Thai food I've ever had...Typhoon in Portland

After dinner...and drinks!

Heading home, nice and toasted!

Gene loves Emily

Ruby!

Calliope!

Best friends! Fourth of July in St. Helens, OR.

Pooped Ruby.

Me and my Boo.

Tha girls.

Explosion!

Natasha (my niece), Meadow, Jaden (my nephew), Jeremyah, Kenyon (my nephew), Tyson (my nephew), and Latrissa (my niece) at the water slides.

My brother, Brett on a sucide mission...

My brother, Clay on a suicide mission

Pooped kids!

James at the PSE company picnic at Lake Tapps east of Tacoma

Jeremyah mid-air hopping to the velcro

Father and son battle!
Grumpy ice cream girl

Martinis and a cigar after a long day

Discovery Park

Fisherman's Terminal

Anyone know what kind of flower this is?

I've been much too busy to write any kind of substantial blog. I promise more will come...

Home

Have I mentioned how much I love my house?


I love it.





We met with the owner last week to talk about a lease option to buy. Then James and I had a budget meeting over a couple of drinks to see if we could afford it.

The answer is yes and next week we will meet with the current owner to sign the papers.

I can't believe we're going to own this house...

Here's a little virtual tour:

This is the entryway, which is one of my favorite things about this house. Coat closet and bathroom included.

Kind of a mess right now, but there's the bar and dining area.

The kitchen. Another if my favorite places.

The living room is cozy.





This is where I update my blog, e-mail and play Scrabble online! www.isc.ro

Littleun and nephew trying to run away from the camera while playing legos. Note the vintage Star Wars sheets. They were James' when he was a kid some 80,000,000 years ago.

This is where we BBQ. Yes, even in the rain. We're Northwesterners for fuck's sake!

Here I am, happy that this house gets to be mine.

Election

Thank goodness we get to be rid of GWB in less than a year. Eight years is too long.

I'd been on the fence for a long time regarding which Democratic campaigner I wanted to secure the party's nomination. Hillary has experience, and she was the first lady during my favorite president's years in office (favorite since I've been alive...and, no, I don't care that he received head in the Oval Office--that's a private affair between Bill, Hillary, and Monica...no pun intended). The idea of a woman in office...finally(!)...stirred the feminst in me and I felt fairly certain that Hillary was the one.

Then, one day a couple of weeks ago, I was bored at work and not feeling very productive so I ventured over to Morag's Leafy Corner to read any updates she had to offer. It was there that I was directed to this speech Obama made on the subject of race, which is a difficult topic for me. Recall this post last year regarding racism.

I realized that what I've been missing in the 90 second sound bites through which I have come to know Clinton and Obama is the passion, the feeling behind the words being uttered by each. In listening to Barack speak, I felt the nurturing, passion, and genuine love for the people of his country that I just don't feel when listening to Hillary. Traditionally I have found that it is generally the woman who is the nurturer and will fill a home with love and compassion but somehow I don't feel that Hillary will kiss the skinned knees of our country with the same touch that Barack will. I think that's what attracts people to the womanness in Hillary--the fact that a woman is biologically more nurturing and compassiontate than a man. But when I listen to her speak I hear coldness and stoicism that I don't believe will lead our country out of darkness.

And the mud slinging has to stop. I've only really heard about it from Hillary's side but I'm not so naive as to think it's not coming from Obama's camp.

But, really, how is it demeaning for Barack to pull out a chair for Hillary? In the era that they both grew up it was the polite thing for a man to do. Yes, feminists everywhere, we don't have to assert ourselves as man-hating to claim that we are feminists. I simply believe that we all need to stand up for the rights of people everywhere. Equal rights should not be narrowed to specific groups...in my mind that's a form of segregation. Let's open our minds.

I want a woman in the White House, too. But I don't think Hillary is the right one.

And if you can tell me honestly why it was demeaning for Barack to pull out her chair for her, please enlighten me.

Thanks to my friend Ali for the great conversation following my listening to the speech that convinced me definitively that Barack Obama should be the next President of the United States. She helped me to understand that it's the compassion and nurturing that makes the difference between the two.

Spring?

I wish it was spring...

However, this is what my house looks like this morning. It isn't a ton of snow but it's treacherous.


This is what the driveway looks like. When I drove into the garage (next pic) I almost crashed into the house.

I'm really actually pretty upset about it.

We didn't get to have Thanksgiving dinner with my mom and siblings like we planned because my mom was in the hospital so we planned to do it at our house tomorrow (March 30). That apparently has to be canceled. I don't feel comfortable having everyone drive out here when conditions are so bad.

Damn.

Smiling

I am watching Discovery Health right now, a story about a model who is pregnant with her first child. I was ecstatic to see them include (DHC) the part about the couple choosing to have a doula, and even more so when I heard that the mom-to-be was given the best possible gift from her own mother...

Her mother told her that giving birth was the best experience she'd ever had.

Teenagers...

I've been sick the last few days. Ugh. I'm tired, cranky, and I don't feel good. I couldn't sleep last night until I downed a nice amount of NyQuil.

Gross.

Today I stayed home from work and slept mostly, but this evening I've been treated to some arguing and angst from my wonderful teenager.

Shit.

I've tried very hard since he returned home from rehab three weeks ago to maintain a balance in giving him the freedoms he deserves while keeping a hawk's eye on his activities. I've been pretty clear with my feelings about him hanging out with the friends that he used to get into trouble with and tried to encourage him to form new friendships with people who don't drink or use drugs. He has tried and tried to push those boundaries, much to my dismay. I have come to a point where I dread the words..."I know you're probably not going to like this, but how would you feel if I..."

And I hear these words every. single. day.

He has one friend in particular that he has practically been obsessing about--the one that he got into the most trouble with (they once got picked up in a hobo camp under a bridge in Everett after running away). He has asked me day in and day out if I would be OK with him contacting this kid and I have repeatedly told him no.

Fast forward to last Friday. I had an awesome conversation with one of my bosses about the power of letting go and that no matter how much babying I do now, the kid is seventeen years old and has to be allowed to make his own mistakes and enjoy his own successes.

*Nothing I do now will give us back those years that I was not his mother*

Not even holding him hostage in our house. I think somehow I thought that, if he had the things here that he enjoys, he wouldn't seek out those old friends.

OK, so Saturday our in-home couseling session went well and I spoke up about the letting go. Well, I swear he took that and ran with it. Despite my best efforts, he decided that he was just going to go ahead and call his friend--yes, the one he used to get into trouble with.

Yesterday I spoke with him about it. He insisted that it was what he really wanted to do and that he was just trying to be honest with me about it. I explained to him that, doing something that he knows I strongly disapprove of and then being honest about it later doesn't change the fact that he blatantly went against something that I explicitly said no to.

Today he went and hung out with that friend.

Did he get high? I doubt it.

Is this opening a can of worms I don't feel ready to deal with? Definitely.

Anyway, he came home late (we knew he would be late because he had to take the bus) and was acting weird. When I went to talk to him about it he layed there on his bed with a smug grin on his face like he doesn't give a shit how I feel. He says he cares. But his actions tell me he doesn't.

So here I am...in this place I never expected to be (with this particular kid). I'm confused, hurt, and afraid of what's to come. I almost feel like, if he relapses, then it's my failure. It will be because I failed him. It will be because I didn't keep him close enough and watch over him.

But on the other hand, I know I have to let go. I can't take responsibility for his successes or failures. I can only stand close by and support him.

Fuck.

Good Friends, Good Food; New Friends, New Food

Today I put into action an idea that's been brewing for some time. My friend Iris and I created a blog to connect people and food. I'm not going to go into detail about it here because I want to save all my food mojo for a new posting on the new blog.

But please go check it out.

www.communitycooking.blogspot.com

We are asking everyone to send in submissions and like us if you're so inclined. We'd like to connect as many people as possible so that we can all learn new ways of appreciating food.

Peace out!