Homecoming in Pullman

Kaitlin and I had been trying to come up with a weekend to go over to Pullman and watch some football.  We all agreed that this weekend would work plus it was homecoming.  The night before we left, I got a bunch of stuff together and packed some warm clothes...it was October you know, a bit chilly over in eastern Washington this time of year.

I worked in the morning at the dentist office, went home and packed my stuff in the car.  I left around 11:30, got on the freeway and headed to Federal Way to meet up at Katlin's house.  I got there just after noon, talked to her mom and dad and packed my stuff inside her car.  Dre was dropped off several minutes later by one of her friends.  We packed her stuff and away we went.  We stopped at the store for a few things before we left town for good.  This included the liquor store.

We jumped onto Hwy 18 and merged onto I-90 east.  We chatted about a few things, I sat in the front with Kaitlin and Dre made herself at home in the back seat.  She even started drinking way before we got to Pullman.

We got into Pullman around 6:30, found Ashley's brother Ryan's place, unloaded our stuff into the room we would be sleeping in and went to My Office for dinner and beer.  We talked to Jackie, one of our friends who still works there.

Of course we drank a little too much.  I ended up wandering around campus and talking to Brad on the phone.  I went and hung out with Ashley Atkins for a while in Community.  I wandered back to Ryan's place and I got the floor.  That night I was so cold it was hard to sleep and I was even in a sleeping bag.  I knew I needed to find another blanket or something for the next night. 

This is how cold it got last night.

We got up the next morning, ate breakfast and drove down to the blue parking lot across from the stadium to do some tailgating with some people my friends knew.  This was the first time I got to tailgate at WSU before a game.  We had a lot of fun.  People offered drinks, food, a seat, some of the RV's had TV's, other games playing on the TV's, laughter, jokes and an all-around good time because everyone was a Coug fan.  Jackie ended up scoring some free tickets into the game.  I was the only one without a ticket so she handed me mine and told me have fun.

It was almost time for Cougar football so we wandered over to the student section gate and waited in line.  The first couple thousand fans received Cougar bandanas.  I ended up with one.  We all found a seat and tried to stay warm.

It was a fun time but unfortunately we lost to Arizona State 27-14.  This was the era of win or lose we drink more booze!  We lost a lot of games over the course of the 2009 season.

After the game I met up with Ashley Atkins and her family.  They invited me out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Pullman.  We went to Walmart and did a little shopping.  I made sure to buy an extra blanket so I wouldn't be so cold on the floor of where I was staying for the weekend.  I found a good price on a twin sized cougar fleece blanket that had a stuffed Butch attached to it.  I think I paid $20 for it but it was worth it.  I hung out with Ashley and her roommate Tori for a bit. 

I made my way back to Ryan's house and re-made my bed.  I was so much warmer than the night before. 

We got up the next morning, packed our stuff and had breakfast at My Office before we left.  We said our goodbyes and made our way back over to the west side.  We got back to Kaitlin's house around 6:00 that evening.  Dre's ride didn't want to drive all the way to Federal Way so she hopped in my car and I took her to the Starbucks in Dupont.  We had perfect timing.  Her friend got there just as we did.  I went home, unpacked the car and relaxed before I went to bed.

Next Adventure:  TBA

Milo McIver Disc Golf and Mason

While I was dating Brad, he got me interested in Disc Golf.  Exactly what it sounds like, you throw a Frisbee at a goal.  If you wanted to be PC, a disc at a pin.  Brad and a bunch of his friends had planned this epic weekend at Milo McIver State Park in Oregon.  I was invited but I couldn't spend the night because I had to work in the morning.

I drove down the day before.

We got up, got everything packed into our cars, I had to follow his Jeep over to Estacada because I had to leave that night, and took off.  We didn't encounter any traffic on the way over.  We got onto the Sunset Hwy onto I-5, then the 205 and got off at Clackamas onto the 224 and then to Springwater, which took us right to the park.

I didn't realize it at the time but we had to pay to get in and he didn't let me know before hand.  He had the exact amount in his Jeep for his vehicle and I barely had enough in my car to get in.  It must have been a sign.  I was suppose to go have a good time at Milo.

We got in and drove to our campsite area.  First, we pulled over along the side of the road and took in the awesome view of Mount Hood with the Clakamas River down below.

Just then I got a phone call from someone in the place of Megan.  She introduced herself and told me I was on a list of people to call when Megan had her baby.  He, Mason, was born about an  hour ago and he was healthy.  I told her to tell Megan and Matt congrats.  She said thank you and that she would.  She had  a bunch more phone calls to make.

We arrived and met everyone in the parking lot down by the disc golf course.  We saw that a bunch of Civil War soldiers were going to reenact the war nearby.  Luckily they weren't going to be in our way and we won't be in theirs.  We played the 18-hole course.  Joel brought his video camera and Steve took pictures.  I almost got a hole in one.

We drove to our campsite and everyone put up their tents.

I did a little putting in the pin someone brought and set up in camp.  We all piled into Steve's car and drove out to Estacada in search of some food and beer.  We found a little hole in the wall place called Fearless Brewing--Brewed from the magical waters of the Clackamas River.

http://www.fearless1.com/

We all found a place to sit and ordered food and beer.  I got a burger and a soda.  I had a long drive ahead of me in a little bit so I opted not to have beer even though I wanted to try some of their selection.  We talked about an array of stuff including Aaron's thoughts on the Techno Viking...a youtube sensation.  (http://youtu.be/wv6hz6NCL5M)  After food, we drove to the Timber Park Disc Golf course just to check it out.  It was getting dark so we headed back to the campground.

We hung out, listened to music and did some crazy trick putting.  It was about 9 p.m. and it was time to drive the 2.5 hours home.  Since there wasn't any traffic it didn't take as long.  I rolled into my driveway about 11:30.  I took a shower and got ready for work the next day.

Next Adventure:  TBA

The ramp is gone!!

When we moved here back in the summer of 1996, the front yard has always been dominated by the ramp. I hate that ramp. I've fallen on it, gotten hurt on it and it's just a god awful eye sore. Mowing the lawn was even difficult. My grandparents hate it and always worried about falling on it in the wintertime in the snow and ice. We've always planned to get rid of it, always talked about it but never actually did anything about it. Every summer, "let's get rid of the ramp..."

This summer we finally got rid of the ramp.

View of the ramp leaving the front door.

Doug taking apart the railings.



Almost gone!

Goodbye ramp!!

Summer Time (2009)

I will have to update this at another time.

Losing Family Members

Last month we experienced the first death of a close family member. Pat is my grandma's husband. He had been battling kidney problems for about 8 years. Since then, he would have to go to dialysis 3 times a week and sit there for about 5 hours or more each time, while his blood went through the machine. When he started going, which was around 2001 or so, we could see a difference in his diet, his health and how weak he started getting. During the last few months, he fell down and had to be taken to the hospital, which he DID NOT like at all. He is from the generation of people who believes that he could heal himself with mind over matter rather than going to the professionals. It finally caught up to him and he could not save himself with that mind frame. On April 22, he was taken to the hospital one last time. His lungs hurt, his legs hurt and you could tell when you looked at him he was not much longer for this world. The hospital staff kept him on the machines for about a week. I went twice, his mother, sister, brother in law, my family, my grandparents, my aunts, uncles, cousins, my brother all went in a saw him for one last time. It was unreal...seriously, like it wasn't really happening. The worst part of it for me was "the talk" from the doctor the night before he died. I really didn't want to hear what I was about to hear but the doctor was really genuine about it. He explained to us in the nicest way possible what usually happens when you take someone off of life support. He said most of the time the patient will die when family members aren't around which is usually in the middle of the night to make it easier on the family. That night I stayed for about 6 hours just waiting. I had no idea what was going to happen. One by one, people had to go home. I was the last to leave just because I thought grandma needed some company. I really hoped that he didn't die while I was there...it would have haunted me for a long time and I really don't know why. I drove home that night just thinking about all the stuff we had done over the years at their house. I really didn't know Pat all that well because he kept to himself most of the time and really didn't talk all that much. I can tell you one thing, he was very creative in the things that he made. Most of the stuff around the house is all the things he created. It was weird to go over there the next day and to see him not sitting in his chair sleeping. It was weird going through his shop to get rid of things that he had saved. It was weird to think that he was the last person to touch his tools and stuff in his shop. He will never be at family functions ever again, there will be no garden ever again and the most strangest thing though was we will never hear his voice again. The next day we kept calling grandma for an update. The last thing I had heard from her was that his heart rate was slowing down, which meant he had hours to live. After practice on April 29th, my mom called to tell me he had passed that evening at 4:50. My heart sank....

What Comes Around Goes Around...

Let's take a look at the word karma. I hear people use this word a lot.

Karma frequently cast it as a sort of luck associated with virtue: if one does good or spiritually valuable acts, one deserves and can expect good luck; conversely, if one does harmful things, one can expect bad luck or unfortunate happenings. In this conception, karma is affiliated with the Neopagan law of return or Threefold Law, the idea that the beneficial or harmful effects one has on the world will return to oneself.

I have an example that comes to mind. While I was at college, I got to experience the snowy/icy weather. It sometimes stayed for months. I swore to myself I was not going to fall in it. It would be embarrassing, probably hurt and would most likely get made fun of. One day while I was walking towards the Bookie, I saw this rather large guy walking towards the stairs. He slipped on the sheet of ice, fell and his butt crack peeked out from his pants. I laughed to myself not because he fell but because his butt crack was showing. I knew because I laughed it was guaranteed to happen to me very soon. Sure enough a week later I had my turn and thank god no one was around.

I've always tried to do the right things growing up. I know we are all human and bad things happen. I was talking with someone about why bad things always happen to good people...I would love to find out why. We work hard, only to have things we worked for taken away from us. No matter what we do, we always find ourselves in debt. Or those people who seem to think there is no end to the unhappiness and find themselves in the downward spiral of the vicious snowball effect. You know, if you worked hard at it, got help you can find yourself on the other side of it. I believe people give up to easily. People don't give anything a chance to work. I've been patient the last few months while trying to find a job. I know the economy sucks right now and I have two part-time jobs to take care of bills and other fun stuff because I know that some day the economy will turn around and I'll get that job I've been patiently waiting for.

Mr. Belvedere (Seasons 1 & 2)

It finally came out on DVD. I have been waiting for a really long time. A few years ago I was browsing Amazon.com and noticed that the release of this DVD was in the works. The other day I saw that the Shout Factory was able to release it March 17, 2009. It's been 19 years since it's been on the air and I am very excited to be able to watch it when ever I want to.

Mr. Belvedere premiered on ABC in 1985 and enjoyed a six-season run, but it has endured ever since as a symbol of its time. The story of one family trying to have it all--with some unlikely help--the show wasn't afraid to deal with real issues (of the time) and still make us laugh. Affectionately remembered and lampooned, Mr. Belvedere lives on as a cult favorite and icon of the '80s suburbia.

It takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with George Owens (Bob Uecker) and his wife Marsha (Ilene Graff), a new law student, who find themselves with little time to spend with their three rambunctions kids, Marsha places an ad for some household help. Mr. Belvedere (Christopher Hewett), a quick witted. refined, portly English housekeeper. Despite George's objections, Mr. Belvedere is hired and quickley sets about whipping the Owens family into shape.

I remember watching Mr. Belvedere as a kid, along with the Golden Girls, Roseanne, ALF, Family Matters, and Full House.

Beach

I don't get to the beach as often as I should. I don't really live that far away. I think it's because of the weather and not having someone to go with me. This time going to the beach, I went with with my friend Jessie because she wanted to go. We went to Pacific City, Oregon and climbed up the large dune it's known for. When I got up to the top, my mouth dropped, wow this is beautiful. We spent about an hour or so at the beach before it started to get dark.

Haystack Rock, Pacific City, Ore.

Me on top of the dune with Pacific City in the background.

The beautiful view from the dune looking north.

My Life: In Progress

I find it interesting how bad life can get and how quickly it can turn around. Since June, I have been trying to find a job, not just any job, but a worthwhile job. I've had my parents on me every week telling me to find a job. I have been rejected from about four of them and never heard back from the other couple dozen. Two of them were written statements. I am either overqualified or under qualified for the jobs that I have applied to. Really frustrating. I was browsing through my high school's website and found out they needed an assistant fastpitch coach. I applied and talked to the coach. Today, I found out that he wanted me on the staff, but I have to go through the interview process and fill out the necessary paperwork on Thursday. 

I am getting a great tax refund this year because I let an actual accountant do them this year free of charge. I thank him for everything he has done to help me out. Still there is more to improve on and someday I hope I will be able to finally do the things I want to do!

Yard Sales

We decided to have a yard sale at the beginning of August this past summer. The first day was miserable because it was so cold and raining. It was hard to keep the rain off of the merchandise. I was actually surprised that people still came while it rained. I guess if there is cheap junk, people will come rain or shine. The next day was a little nicer and a bit less miserable. Grandma Karen went over early to set up and I tried to get there as fast as I could but...the transmission decided it was done and I was stranded just before I got to the end of our road. I tried calling grandma, she didn't answer her cell, so then I called grandpa and he came over to help me move the car off of the road. I called dad and he was on his way home to help. Grandpa took me over to great grandma's house (where the yard sale was) and told grandma what happened. I was sad my car died. A lot more people came to the yard sale to see our junk.


The next day it was sunny and warm and more people came. Grammie and grandpa came to hang out, momma came for awhile and dad was over to help out. We got bored and got one of the little bikes out we got from a rental house and fixed it up so it was ride able. We each took a turn on the bike. The picture above is of dad riding the bike. The yard sale turned out to be a somewhat success, we earned close to $300 bucks between the four people. We will probably have one next summer if we can find some more junk to sell.

New Year's 2009

Nicole, me and Lindsay, bringin in '09.

Another year has passed and I haven't accomplished anything. Well, I take that back. I did in fact make the Linfield athletic department better than I had found it and I actually finished a New Year's resolution. In 2008, I watched 365 movies in 365 days. The list of movies is on my facebook on my notes section. It was actually difficult to sit down and watch a movie everyday. I found myself watching them before I went to bed.
I haven't been to one since 06-07, when I went with Nickey, Nick and Katie to Seattle. We went to one of Nicole's co-worker's house in Lacey. It was weird getting used to having a bunch of little kids running around. Her co-workers are older than we are, are married and have kids. We played some board games, listened to music, ate food and had drinks. A somewhat mellow evening. Midnight kinda snuck up on us and didn't realize it until about 11:45. It was fun even though we had no idea who these people were, but they were nice and hospitable.

Lindsay and me just after midnight.


Me being silly.