Current Mood: Beautiful Day

It has cooled down nicely.  It didn’t get nearly as hot as it did yesterday.  Yesterday we got up to 100degrees and today about 87….so much better. And it didn’t last, it started to cool down around 6pm.  Yesterday it was getting hotter at that time…icks.

The clouds moved in and it started to rumbled.  But since it was finally nice, I went for a walk which meant of course that it started to rain.  On the way back there was a huge clap of thunder.  Next thing I know my hubby was calling me to make sure I was on the way home.  I just heard it, but he saw the lightening.  I felt perfectly safe and not worried, but some folks south of us got hit :  Two men struck by lightning while standing under trees in Damascus =(

We got through this heat a lot better then last time.  But we were better prepared…we had our 2 fans and got air moving, then spent the hottest part of the day downstairs.  That was a pain, because I can do some work but the work that I needed to do is a hard to do down there…..I need my desk and chair, a proper set up.

Tomorrow and the next day will be nothing but focus on work…..icks.

Bizarre origins of wedding traditions

Talk about your runaway brides — the original duty of a “Best Man” was to serve as armed backup for the groom in case he had to resort to kidnapping his intended bride away from disapproving parents. The “best” part of that title refers to his skill with a sword, should the need arise. (You wouldn’t want to take the “just okay” member of your weapon-wielding posse with you to steal yourself a wife, would you?)

The best man stands guard next to the groom right up through the exchange of vows (and later, outside the newlyweds’ bedroom door), just in case anyone should attack or if a non-acquiescent bride should try to make a run for it.

It’s said that feisty groups like the Huns, Goths and Visigoths took so many brides by force that they kept a cache of weapons stored beneath the floorboards of churches for convenience.

**That is kind of whacked.  I’m so glad that the meaning of the best man as changed…..

This are pictures that we took while at Powell Butte I think nearly all  of them are Torn’s work, I’ve put the our pictures together and have lost track.

Mt St. Helen’s 1

A Daisy Field 1

Mt Adams 1

**Hiding in the background.

Mt Hood Through a Field of Grass

**I really like how Torn took this one.

A Daisy Field 2

Mt Hood 1

Meadow 1

Mt Hood Zoomed In

Mt Jefferson Peeking Out

A Young Buck with Velvet Antlers

Wooded Area 1

Self Portrait Powell Butte

Meadow & Mt Hood

How can you not fall in love with this scenery?  And we are just addicted of trying to get that perfect picture of Mt Hood.

Current Mood: Sad

I sucked on the treadmill today. I went to a different one so I could see the TV better when I’m running, because I moving around too much to read and the machine felt totally off. So it sucked. =( I’ll pay for it tomorrow….it is work the legs day with my trainer.

Felt off the rest of the day. Doesn’t help that it stayed pretty overcast and chiller then the last few days.

It was great to see the Celtics win! I really wanted them to win and in Boston, even though I hated seeing them lose in LA.

But that wasn’t as enjoyable as it should’ve been. My sister called and one of my nephews is in the hospital. They don’t know what is wrong except that the ER think it is his brain, they have him on a breathing machine and the CAT scan didn’t show anything so he was going for a MRI. He had headaches last night and got sick today and was glassy in the eyes….then the hospital was like you need to get your husband here. That is not a normal thing….. =( So my thoughts have been with her and the family.

White Rose

Our hanging plant

Current Mood: Chilling

The weather has finally gotten a little better for now….still 5 degrees chillier then it should be.  It won’t be that chilly if our house faced east/west and got some direct sun……so we have to turn on the fire place/heat sometimes just to feel comfortable in a t-shirt.  But at least we have been getting some sunshine…..thankfully.

I made sure I got out of the house this weekend and went for walks.  I hate being inside and chilled, when I can enjoy the sun an get warmed up.   When looking up local parks online, I found out that we had small trail in the next neighborhood over.  That is so cool….something different and less chance of people.  It is actually on our road, but our road has about 50ft that blocked off and grassy before it continues.  It looks like that wooded area has been there for awhile.  The trees are tall and thick, there are wild rose berry bushes, buttercups daisies and little white flowers everywhere and it is dark like an older area should be.  It is surrounded by neighborhoods, so you can hear them sometimes, but it is still nice.

Neighborhood Trail 1

Neighborhood Trail 2

Neighborhood Trail 3

Neighborhood Trail 4

Neighborhood Trail 5

Neighborhood Trail 6

Wild Roses 1

Wild Roses 2

Mt Hood From Our Road

Rabbit

I have more pictures from walks in the neighborhood.  Got some of some beautiful white roses….but I think I have posted enough for today.  =)

 Al Gore backs Obama for president

**I totally forgot to watch this.  =(  But I did watch it online.  =)  I’m wondering if Gore is going to start campaigning on his behalf.  I would love to see that.

Fight The Smears 

**I’m getting sick a tired of all the lies that are posted about him, I get sick of those emails that are sent out spreading the lies.  It is crap spread that is started from shit spreaders and racist. The stuff goes around so much that people think that it is true.  Fox News plays into it big time….gggrrrr  Hello….he has opened his life up long before he throught of running.  He is the only one that has been honest…he admitted that he “inhaled”  He has 2 damn books about his life…..that sold like hot cakes and you know who was buying them?  WHITE people!  If he was racist, they won’t have been buying them…and if he had been muslim, who the hell cares….the Constitution does not require that you have to be a jesus lover….

There are good muslim and bad muslim….just like christians….KKK anyone?  Actually until the state of Israel was founded by extremist zionists, who debilitated went about destroying muslim/jewish/christian relations among families that have worked together for centuries.  If anyone actually reads and studies history you would learn that they did use to work together in peace and with respect.  There was an extremely revealing article in The Nation about that when they were reviewing a book.

Current Mood: Working

I know it has been a bit since my last post.  Been feeling blah and so really had nothing popping into my head to write about.

My legs are hurting from today’s workout.  My trainer really pushed me today.  I finally made some progress over the weekend weight wise, not much but something.  Which is a good thing, because I was getting really pissed.  It was like damn it, I’m watching my diet and working my ass off….gggrrr  This is the part that sucks on getting old, harder for your body to bounce back…annoying as hell.

I was trying to find an article that was posted yesterday on a local news site but I can’t find it.  =(  It was about the funky weather we have been having and that most folks are calling june-ary.  It has been about 10degrees below normal.  It is suppose to be in the 70s with some dry weather but it hasn’t been happening….hell, Government Camp and Timberline got snow yesterday and none of the snow from this winter has melted.  Usually there is grass showing, but it hasn’t been happening up there.  It has been crazy.

Told Torn that everytime we move funky weather hits.  All the hurricanes that hit a month after we moved to Florida, the extra rain, floods and mudslids that hit the West and North of Portland last fall.  I actually think it is Torn’s fault….when he lived in Washington years ago, they had snow and winters they almost never see……lol

I’m so looking forward to the next few days, it is suppose to be dry, sunny and in 70s.  =) I don’t want a repeat of the major heat we had a few weeks ago, just want to be comfortable with the windows opened…..that isn’t too much to ask for, is it?

Seaside 4

Seaside Sunset 1

Cannon Beach 1

Cannon Beach 2

Torn at Cannon Beach

Toni at Cannon Beach

Toni & Torn’s Cannon Beach Self Portrait

Cannon Beach 3

Butter Cups 1

Butter Cups 2

Purple Flowers at Ft Colombia

Ft Colombia 1

Ft Colombia 2

Ft Colombia 3

From the Washington side of the River

From the Washington side of the River 2

Ft Stevens 1

Ft Stevens 2

Ft Stevens 3

Self Portrait Ft Stevens

Ft Stevens 4

Sneaking a Picture of Torn

Ft Stevens 5

Jeep

Toni & Jeep

Purple Flowers at Ft Stevens

Current Mood: Exhausted

Well, it has been hard to get work done that last few days…icks….

Thursday we knew were heading to REI to pick up a tent and sleeping bags and stopping by to see a friend afterwards, but it took longer then expected.  We knew the tent we wanted to get, we will be putting it together this weekend to make sure we know what we are doing.  But what was confusing was the sleeping bags.  Unless you are doing the basic camping and don’t want to work up to back packing, the normal bags that we grew up with don’t work.  You want the ones that compact as small and as light as possible….so you have to figure if you want down or sythenic….and they aren’t squares anymore.  They are mummy like in shape, then there are men’s and women’s.  Women’s are suppose to be narrower at the shoulders and wider at the hips….well, I have wide shoulders so I ended up with the same one as Torn’s….just had to have my zipper on the opposite side so we can zip them together.  Even camping, I have to sleep on his left side…..too weird not to……lol

After REI, we headed into the city to have lunch with our friend.  By the time we got done it was too late to head home, because we would be stuck in rush hour.  So we had about an hour to kill….so headed over to the 1st smoke free strip bar I’ve even been in and killed some time talking to the girls and throwing them our money.  =)  I can’t wait for February 2009…all of them will be smoke free…I’m so going to love that.

By the time we got home it was after 7pm…icks.  So I had to get some work done before heading to bed.

Today, had my trainer today…..did not meet my weight goal….gggrrr  I’m a little peeved by that.  But got my work out in.  I really needed to get my nails done, but didn’t know if they could get me in.  My new saloon I’m going to works better by appointments then walkins, which is very different to what I’m use to.  But they are consistent on their work and there are 2 designers.  The husband is the main designer and loves to come up with different things, so I’m pretty happy with the work that they do.  The only issue that I have with getting my nails done is the time that it takes…..usually 3-4 hrs since I get a pedicure with a design.  So it takes a lot more time then it would normally take.  But there is no way I could got back to no design….it would drive me nuts……lol

I did get a few things done before I left for my appointment, luckily some of my other work was light.  I will be attacking it some tomorrow.

So we didn’t get our movie night in tonight.  =(  If I hadn’t been tied up earlier today, I would have had time for it.  We’ll probably watch some movies tomorrow after the Belmont.

Here are just a few more pictures from our weekend.

Seaside 2

Seaside Seals 1

Seaside Aquarium 1

Seaside Aquarium 2

Seaside 3

Lewis & Clark

Seaside 4

When I got to gym my trainer told me he was feeling mean today and then proceeded to work my ass off big time.  Today was legs and my knees still feel weak.  He wants me down by 1 & half pound by Friday….if not I’ll be stuck running the stairs for an hour that day….icks…  I’ve eaten maybe 1200 calories today and trying hard not to eat carbs……….this is a bitch.

Well, the day was pretty much wasted after that…..we got home to no hot water.  =(  I had noticed that I barely had hot water to wash my face last night, but just thought that I hadn’t waited long enough.  Called the landlord and they got someone out to us about3pm and found out it was temperature gauges, so they got fixed….but we had to wait a few hours for the water to heat up and for the sediment to settle in the heater.  I still ended up with yellow water for a bath/shower, but it was hot.

What sucked today is that I spent it cold from all the sweat from the gym.  It really sucked not to be able to take my shower when I needed it.

It really messed me up on focusing today.   I did get our pictures from the weekend resized, but still haven’t gotten them in galleries yet.   I hope to have time to post a bunch of them tomorrow,but here is a few pics.

May Storm 1

A storm view from our back yard.  I love the contrast of the dark clouds with the trees.

Seaside 1

From our 1st day, we actually had some sun and blue skies

.

Current Mood: Chilling

I did get some work done, but after taking it lazy today.

We watched the Indy 500, been out of Indiana since sumer of 2004 but not use to being able to watch it while it takes place.  For some stupid reason, the black it out in Indiana and don’t show it until after it has been run, even if it has been sold out….morons.  We aren’t racing fans, but it is the big event, so we watched it.  We really wanted to Patrick  or Castroneves to win it, but it wasn’t meant to be…..didn’t help that Patrick couldn’t get her car up to speed.  It really shows how important the engineering of cars are to winning a race, not just the driving.  I still can’t believe Andretti knocked out a team mate….that was messed up.   Felt horrible for Sarah Fisher.  =(  Wow, Carpentar was like 15-16 laps down and finished in 5th….that was very cool.

Afterwards it was my normal weekly attack on the household cleaning.  We trimmed some of the dead leaves off of our household plants and I worked on the rose bush that we brought.  Since we aren’t planning on staying here, we planted it in a big pot so we can take it with us.  It feels great to have a rose bush again, I use to have about 8-10 of them Indiana.  I hated not having one in Florida, the climate is horrible for them.  Most of the things that we love grow so well here.

There is nothing like being able to step outside and smell the freshness.  I don’t remember having that in Florida.  We really enjoy it.

Started to do some work in the late evening and now I just don’t want to do a thing.  I believe I’ve earned it.  =)  Beside tomorrow is a day with my trainer……can you say ouch……lol For a day that wasn’t very intense, I’m pretty tired….very strange.  =)

2008 May 11 MN Falls 1

2008 May 11 MN Falls 2

2008 May 11 MN Falls 3

2008 May 11 MN Self Portrait 1

2008 May 11 MN Falls 4

2008 May 11 MN Falls 5

2008 May 11 MN Falls 6

Everytime we visit, we have to stop and see the falls.  The power of the falls is just awesome to see and not something that ever gets old.

2008 May 11 MN River 1

2008 May 11 MN River 2

The olympus took some really stunning shots of the river on a calm day
2008 May 11 MN Hill Top 1

2008 May 11 MN Hill Top 2

We took a hike up a big hill not that far from Torn’s folks.

2008 May 11 MN River 3

I really love how the red of the Flag contrasts with the blues of the sky and it’s reflection into the river.

Current Mood: Beautiful Day

I hope everyone had a good Saturday. I had a pretty good one, chilled out, went tanning, went for a walk and enjoyed the weather, spent minimum time on official work, the rest of the time on “work” was stuff for me….like pictures from my walk. =)

Fashioning A Memorial Of Art And Stone

Ray “Bubba” Sorensen was only 19 years old when he first saw the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” and decided that patriotism was at an all-time low.

“People think Memorial Day is just a three-day weekend,” said Sorensen. “I decided to go out there and paint the rock to say ‘thank you’ to the soldiers for their freedom and flag-raising.”

Three years ago, a group of veterans on their way to the Vietnam Wall Memorial dropped by the site in Adair County and asked to sprinkle ashes there.

Sorensen offered to incorporate them into the paint so that they wouldn’t blow away. Everything happened so quickly that he never even got the names of the eight veterans whose ashes now reside underneath his 2005 painting of a helicopter.

**I love the fact something that was made by one person, not by someone giving lip service. That is inspiring.

Trapped By Reggie

Torn saw how Reggie was sleeping and just had to get a picture. Of course, now that he was out of bed Alexis felt that it was time for me to get up….grin

Little Flower

Little Blue Birdie

Orchid

Little Yellow Flower

Colorful

I love how colorful and green it is around here.

Purple Flowers

Dog Sign

I just had to get a picture of this….grin

2008 May 24 Clouds 1

2008 May 24 Clouds 2

2008 May 24 Clouds 3

2008 May 24 Clouds 4

2008 May 24 Clouds 5

We had a storm moving in today and it hit tonight, but until it did it made for some beautiful pictures. I’ve always loved the sky, it is always changing and gives striking contrasts with the blues and whites.

Current Mood: Chilling

I hate it when I have everything balanced one, enter a few things and now I’m off by between the 2 reports……gggrrrrr  Damn, my head hurts from it.

I had more thoughts to post, but my brain is not working for that……….lol

But here are some more pictures I took the other day.

Flowers 1

I like the contract between the blue and lite greens.

Flowers 2

Old, big trees

I love seeing the new growth on pine trees.

More flowering trees

My addiction for pictures……lol

Wild Flowers

Alexis is adorable.

Reggie curled up sleeping on my bag.

Rose buds from the bush we brought and planted in a pot.

Reggie being nosey.

Torn took that one.

Alexis sleeping.

I love the way she stretches out.

It was a bit cooler today. Made it beautiful out. Didn’t actually get out and enjoy it other then tanning and the store. But we weren’t dripping in sweat……….grin

After doing some house work, I was trying to get some work done that I’ve ignored since Friday. Even got our checkbooks taken care while on the phone with my sister….grin

I finally got my pictures downloaded and resized, but too tired to put them up. But here is a few:

Light Yellow Flowers

Alexis Sleeping Cute

Reggie & Sunbeam

Portland students to study Ore.’s racial history

**Now this is really progressive and forward thinking. We really wish that did that when we were in school. Torn learned Indiana history and I learned Maryland….and that was a slave state and it was rarely address. It would create a much better understanding of the issues that face us when it comes to racism.

PTSD Marine Kills Brother, Self

**You have no idea how much this pisses me off that our military personnel do NOT get the treatment that they have earned and deserve. What really pisses me off is how the media makes it out like it is so new…..it has been going on for centuries. Any one remember their history and the march on Washington from our WWI vets? And the fact that over 50% of homeless males of the ‘Nam area are vets?