To Mask or Not To Mask April 6, 2023

Over the weekend the State of Oregon removed just about all requirements for people to wear masks. The last holdouts were in medical offices. I have to admit, after we got COVID in November of last year we’ve been very lax about masking. Christopher is the only one who wears one and he’s pretty vigilant about it. I was thinking about the fact that we have an event for parents and students of seniors at the high school and that it was at the school that I contracted COVID. I will be wearing a mask tonight. I am also very cognizant of spaces I’m in. Do they have good ventilation? How many people are in the space? How long will I be there?

I’m totally unconcerned about masking in the grocery store. I’m not in one space for very long, except for checking out and I do the self checkout. There are a lot of memes about taking jobs away from people by checking yourself out. I’m not trying to take anyone’s job, I just don’t want some un-gloved, un-masked person touching my food.

I don’t believe COVID is gone but it seems to be at a more manageable level (is there really a thing like that for a virus?). It’s definitely not in the news much any more. In the mean time … wash your damn hands!

Your Stories Matter March 21, 2023

I’ve started reading a few … they’re not blogs … what to call them? Stacks? Ok I started reading some “stacks” on Substack a while ago. They were somewhat free to read and they had other content for paid subscribers. I think the first two I subscribed to were Robert Reich, who is quite the liberal but does an excellent job at explaining the economics of things in language us mere mortals can understand. The other is Tim Goodman, who is a former TV critic from the S.F. Chronicle and then the Hollywood Reporter. Then Shauna Ahern (you might know her as The Gluten Free Girl) started one about finding your joy. I actually paid for a year of Tim Goodman’s and Shauna Ahern’s. I wanted to read the paid content.

Today’s “stack” from Shauna is about the word “ephemeral” but it was more than that. You can read it here. She talks about telling our stories. There was something in that which really resonated with me. We all need to tell people our stories or we won’t be remembered. I loved listening to my parents and grandparents talk about “the old days”. Thomas’ grandfather Ernie was a great story teller. We only visited him a few times before he passed (at the whopping age of 96!) but he always had something good to share with us.

I love to learn where people come from! We had a relatively new friend who we visited in Portland a couple of years ago. When we were chatting in her backyard I sort of blurted, “I’ve just come to realise that most of my friends I’ve known since high school and I know where they come from. I don’t know that about you and I’ve love to know more about you.” So she regaled us with her story and it was wonderful.

When I went to England about 25 years ago, to visit on-line friends, the wife of a couple I know said something to the effect of, “I dislike it when people ask what you do for a living. It’s like they’re trying to put you into a box.” I’ve reflected on that over the decades and I’ve decided that I do not ask the question to put people into a box, I ask to try to find connection points or places where I might have a gap in my knowledge. I love learning new things. I also like to find where I can connect with someone who may have something similar in their background. While talking about the weather in the PNW is sort of a given, I like finding other, more interesting things, to talk about.

So, what’s your story?

Dipping My Toe Back In The Water March 15, 2023

The Ides of March … not a significant day unless you’re an ancient Roman. It has been a cold, wet, slushy late winter. I am seriously ready for spring! The daffodils are starting to bud and will hopefully bloom in the next couple of weeks. We have a tree in our backyard that has pink blossoms. I’m not even sure what variety it is.

I’m not a fan of switching time back and forth twice a year and I am way less of a fan of having to “spring forward” in March. It made much more sense (of what sense it made) to do it in April when the days were a bit longer. I don’t understand why it’s ok for states to switch to “standard” time on their own but need Congressional approval to stay on “daylight savings” time.

I was decluttering my home office that I share with the Husband. I found three photo albums on the bookshelf and took a detour down memory lane. The albums cover about 1989 – 1995. Dang, a lot of people got married and had kids in those six years! It was fun to look back and see how young we all looked. I had no idea back then what I would be like now. I just couldn’t imagine myself past the year 2000. And here it is 2023 and it’s hard to remember that far back!

10 Years Later … April 21, 2021

I can and cannot believe it’s been almost ten years since I wrote an actual blog post. Blogging seems to have gone by the wayside for a lot of people, even “famous” bloggers. Some people tweet, others post on Instagram, and some stick to Facebook. I have to admit, I’m not much for Twitter. I like Instagram for pictures and it feeds through to Facebook. I’m not even sure if this blog feeds through to Facebook any more. I don’t write a huge amount of text on Facebook. I most share pictures (from Instagram) and share other things.

Anyway, it’s day 405 (I think) of the COVID Pandemic. Thomas and I are both fully vaccinated and we have almost two weeks to go until we can … what … we still have to wear masks, stay six feet from others, and not congregate. Well we have a fighting chance of not dying from the virus.

Now that it’s ten years later, I’m ten years older. A lot happens in ten years. The kids are 30, 27, 15 (almost 16), and 13. I’ve gone from changing diapers to worrying about how we’ll be able to afford college (likely we won’t – hoping for scholarships!) We’ve graduated from elementary school to middle and high school.

In 2011 I worked for a trucking company. I have since also worked for Levi’s, PeaceHealth, a medical supply wholesaler, a wholesale leather goods company, and finally now at FOOD For Lane County – a non-profit food bank. I like working for a mission and values driven organization rather than for some white dude in a corner office who claims to care about the employees but not so much really.

And that’s a wrap for today. Maybe I’ll write another one in ten more years!

Remember to breathe

Hi had this scheduled to post on October 18, 2011 but for some reason it didn’t. So almost ten years later, here you go …

Since I am recovering from a mild cold, breathing is not as easy as usual. However, it is not that sort of breathing I am referring to. I just read Julie Pippert’s latest post, A short merciful trip to Chi-town. I especially liked the end where she described the calligraphy. She wrote, “Calligraphers, our gracious guide Ms. Chang told us, tend to live long lives. It is because they practice breath with each brush stroke.” That is what I need to do, practice breath … be mindful of the moment.

Elizabeth in Chinese Calligraphy

Mother’s Day 2011

This was scheduled to post on May 11, 2011 and for some reason it didn’t. So almost 10 years later …

Before I was married and had kids Mother’s Day was much different. I either had to drive to Lake County or to the Russian River. I might have had to bring a dish to share. I had presents for my mom, grandmother, aunt and uncle. Not only is Mother’s Day in May but so were the majority of the birthdays in my family.

After I moved to Oregon and got married my mother-in-law, her husband, and my mom moved up here. We went out for the first couple of Mother’s Days but after Christopher was born, waiting 2 hours for a table at a restaurant became intolerable. So we started hosting Mother’s Day at our house. I love saving recipies I find from Food Network shows. I even have a directory on my computer dedicated to Mother’s Day brunch recipes!

This year was different. There are more people to consider in the whole Mother’s Day event now that Thomas’ brother, wife and daughter moved up here.

Our day started before 6am. Sarah, who normally sleeps until 7 or 8, was up EARLY. And we were out of coffee. Out.Of.Coffee! It was at that point that Thomas decided we were going out to breakfast. This was good for a couple of reasons … my kitchen would not get any messier than it was and I don’t think I had enough of the right ingredients for breakfast.

We had ‘linner’ at my mother-in-law’s house. Naturally, since it’s Oregon, the weather did not cooperate and we were barbecueing.

Hate Online September 26, 2011

Since I have a following of about six of you this probably won’t be read by many. However, you may know someone who knows someone … you get my drift.

There’s a lot of hate out there on the interwebz. Hell, there’s just a lot of hate out there. Please read this post and remember to always be mindful of what you say.

 

Walking makes me sweat August 31, 2011

But if you keep up with me on Facebook you already know that. I am walking with a co-worker … uh at work … duh. From the front of our building to the street, up to the crosswalk, across the street, and then down to the freeway overpass is a mile. That’s what we did on the first day (last Tuesday). Every day we add a tiny bit to that.

We didn’t walk yesterday. I was an hour late to work and she was slammed with work. I felt a tiny bit guilty (only a tiny bit). Today she was still slammed with work. I could have bailed … but I didn’t. I didn’t ‘want’ to walk but I ‘need’ to walk. I need to walk because … damn … I need to lose some weight! I’m not talking about some vanity 10 or 20 pounds. I need to lose 100 pounds! But beside that I said I was going to walk Monday through Friday. And I want to do it even if I have to walk alone. Am I going to walk on principle or am I going to walk when it feels good? I’m still trying to figure out what I am going to do when it’s raining though.

Things I need to remember when I want to weenie out … walking makes me feel better. My foot hurts way less, probably from the retained water I peed out last weekend. I lost 3 pounds last week. Again from all of that peeing. Walking apparently is good for getting rid of retained water. I’m not as hungry after I walk. My kids need a healthy mommy.

Changing the subject entirely … school starts for Christopher next Wednesday. He’s going to be a First Grader! He is such a boy now and it is so awesome to see him grow and learn. Since Micah is a senior now, he doesn’t have to start until next Friday but he had to register yesterday and play at a football game this Friday. High school has no respect for the Labor Day weekend! And so I don’t get into trouble for not mentioning Sarah … she’s just freakin’ adorable! She was telling me about her imaginary friends and where they lived. One lives on a hill, one lives on a street and I forget where the third one lives.

In the time it took to write this I think I finally stopped sweating …

Christopher’s 6 year stats July 26, 2011

Forgive me friends, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and reading other people’s blogs suck up most of my time. What I usually need to say I can either get done in 140 or 440 characters. It sort of alleviates the need for blogging. But I like to say I have a blog, I like to write in my blog, and in that light here I am again.

Christopher is now six! Holy Crap! Where has the time gone?!? I can’t seem to find his stats for last year (I’ll try to find them for comparison purposes) but these are his stats for 2009 …

Height – 44.5 inches which puts him in the 99th percentile
Weight – 42.4 lbs which puts him in the 88th percentile

His current stats are:

Height – 49.5 inches which puts him in the 97th percentile
Weight – 53 lbs which puts him in the 83rd percentile

He is tall and skinny! He also has a great imagination and loves telling a story about whatever imaginary play is going on. He loves Angry Birds and superheroes. I am continually amazed at how well he will pick up one skill then balk at trying something else. He definitely has his own way of doing things. He likes to tell Sarah that she is doing things “wrong”. They worked on this with him at school and we continually work with him to tell him that people aren’t doing things “wrong” they’re just not doing things his way and that is OK!

He did really well in Kindergarten this year. He was in the 1st grade reading group and just finished reading The Cat In The Hat to me last night. His teacher did an awesome job teaching him how to sound out words. He understands that an “e” at the end of a work makes the vowel say its name (most of the time). He also learned about “trickster” words that don’t follow normal phonetic convention. It’s just incredible what the kids learned in Kindergarten! I am so excited for him to start 1st grade. He just loves to learn and share what he’s learned!

And on the learning front he is continuing to learn to swim. So far this summer he graduated from Advanced Tots and did one session of Flippers. He gained some water confidence last summer. Before last summer he wouldn’t even let me get his face wet in the bathtub!!! Now he’s got loads of confidence! He’ll wear goggles and dunk his whole head!

Pictures and videos are on Facebook …

How tall will they be? April 7, 2011

It is always interesting to speculate how tall our children will be. When I was a kid I was continally told by my doctor that I would be tall … amazon tall. I topped out at a whopping 5 feet 5.5 inches. I got an e-mail from Babycenter.com saying they can predict the height of your children. I input both Christopher’s and Sarah’s information … damn they are going to be amazons!!! Christopher is expected to be 6 feet 2 inches and Sarah is expected to be 5 feet 11 inches! Good luck to them and we’ll see how this one shakes out!