Sheesh!

A "Bit" of a lag in the blogging of late...

I've decided I'll never get all the photos uploaded I'd like for each of the events/things I want to post about... so my goal is to choose one per "event" and call it good.
The trick will be choosing the "one" photo to represent the event.
Anyway - here goes... starting with the most recent back to the start of the summer break.


Wildhorse Family Gathering
We don't call it a reunion per se... But as many of my siblings and our families as can, assemble- usually the first or second full week of July, to spend some time together. The last few years the gathering has occurred in Copper Basin in the Wildhorse area. Celiac has been the gracious enough to go up and secure camping sites on Sunday so the rest of us can drag in over the course of the week. It's pretty much a thankless job and rather stressful for her - yet she does it. (Thank you!) What do we do up there? We walk, visit, hike, visit, get wet(as in the swimming hole pictured above), visit, play games, and did I mention visit? Usually there are activities especially for the kids which is always fun. This year Ann brought a really great project for the adults. We made cement birdbaths! It was SO much fun! We used sand, Moose Milk-a mixture of some kind of cement additive and water, and cement and big ole leaves to create an organic pattern and shape (I used rhubarb) . I had to leave before all of them were unveiled - but I was thrilled with mine and plan to add some color and put it in the front of the house. It'll probably end up being a water dish for the cats rather than a birdbath but I think it's really cool looking.


The first day I was up there it got pretty cold at night and even though I was sleeping in the relative warmth and comfort of the Chuckwagon, I got cold. The next morning I got up early to walk and get warmed up. I took the photo of the frosty leaves which attest to the freakishly cool July weather. Every day thereafter it got warmer though.
4th of July - Oregon Coast


Chuck rented a lovely house for the week of the 4th for he and I and any family members who wished to accompany us there. His parents, and Sarah were there the whole week. Brianne, Corey and Dominick came for the weekend and Tyson, Angel and Lincoln were there Tues.- Friday. It was LOVELY! We had the best seaside weather EVER! Not too hot, not too cold. I found my first whole sand dollar - EVER! We took walks along the beach, ate multiple bowls of chowder, went to the Tillamook cheese factory, Dom smashed into Chuck on bumper cars, we saw some creepy looking fish at the aquarium, played games, lit & watched fireworks, soaked in a jetted tub.... it was grand....sigh...


Farewell Chuck
I believe I've mentioned before that Chuck is NOT going to Iraq, rather he's being "deployed", if you will, to Boise for the next year and a half or so. As such, he finished his job as shop chief the end of June. His workers gave him a "surprise" send off. It was pretty neat to see how highly they thought of him and to hear the good things they had to say about him. They gave him some manly gifts - a camo daypack for hiking and a gnarly looking knife for the woodsman in him. It was actually kind of surreal. Because once he's finished with his stint in Boise he'll only have about 6 months until he could retire.
Weird!
How can we be getting that old?!?



Chuck's Birthday Present

Chuck was in Boise on his birthday. I called him to see how his day went.
He said that it had been pretty good. I asked him what he had done.
He replied "I went shopping."
"Oh really? What did you buy?"
"A 32 foot, 5th wheel camp trailer"
"Oh. "
"I guess I don't need to get you anything then, eh?"

Actually, it's not as outrageous as it sounds. He will be living in the trailer while he's in Boise".
Makes a good story though eh?
It's a very roomy trailer with two lazyboy type recliners, a hide a bed, big screen TV and full size shower. It has three tip outs and is quite comfortable. The payment and space rental is less than or about the cost of renting an apartment and at the end of his time in Boise we'll have the trailer to use when he actually does retire. For those trips to Alaska and far flung states to see children and grandbabies. In the meantime, I'll have a place to stay when I go over on weekends to see ole Charlie boy.

Skills USA - Kansas City
The end of June I got the opportunity to travel to Kansas City for the National Skills USA competition.
What is that?!? you may be asking...

Well, it was over 5600 state winners who came to compete in an areathe size of 4 football field in length and one in width, in 96 different professional/technical categories from welding to culinary arts, advertising design (my student) to construction, airplane mechanics to aesthetics (makeup/nail care etc.). It is mind boggling to see them in action.

I traveled with the folks pictured ... and yes, they are about as disparate a group of folks as you could ever gather together, and despite my misgivings about Kansas City heat in June- it was a blast. My student, Pedro, pictured center, took 2nd place last year. So, this year, one year older, wiser and with more skills had high hopes. He did do very well, especially in light of two simple, yet disastrous, errors he made- he still came in 6th in the nation. It was a great learning experience for him (and me).

I got to see and do a lot of really great new things: went to a fantastic WWI museum, toured the Hallmark museum, sprinted through an amazing art museum complete with 30 or 40 foot Claus Oldenburg shuttlecocks on the front lawn, (yes, that's me posing by the shuttlecock- note: I am NOT actually touching the art :0) , rode the wooden roller coaster voted best new ride in the world 2009 (screaming the ENTIRE way), saw some really cool buildings, ate some delicious, finger lickin, drippin bbq ribs, got locked out of a rental car in 98 degree weather for an hour and a half, and probably most importantly, saw hundreds of earnest students demonstrating the power of education and dedication to a field of study, backed by advisor's, mentors and community members. It was awe inspiring...Glad I went- in spite of the heat.

Girl's camp...

OK. I was NOT that thrilled about the whole idea. My experience with girl's camp in the past had been less than positive- well, mostly rotten. Plus we had been having non stop rain for about 2 months. So- giggly girls, wet stuff and sleeping on the ground didn't add to my overall excitement level. But, I had committed to going and knew that it would be important for me to be there so I could get to know the girl's on a different level.
Long story short - it rained all around us, but never on us (other than about 10 minutes of spitting sprinkles one day). It was incredible, almost creepy, seeing the clouds come right to the edge all around us and then just stop. The girl's got along really well. They had fun. I had fun. It was pretty much a miracle. Who knew?!? Certainly not me - "Mrs. I'm not a foo foo girl, why was I put in Young Women?" ...
Dang!
Now I have to repent right?
I'll do it tomorrow.

(OK. The photo isn't from girl's camp - it's from a service project. I actually forgot my camera. I know. Shocking.)

That just about catches me up to date. This weekend we have the annual death march with our friends. It'll be in the Stanly area again. We're going to hike into Alice lake, which is supposed to be 5 1/2 miles in. Hopefully all will go well. We shall see eh?!?


So...I've messed with this post and can't seem to get the type to be anywhere near consistent. Large, small, and in -between- I'll just have to deal with it. I'm going to bed.