Lire in a Box

Mark and I went out and bought him some good walking shoes.

Someone approved of the purchase.

Mark had to check this out for himself.

If you come to the Vander House resident,

and put out an empty box,

the box will be filled with a cat before you know it.

Trust me.

Tom in Portland

Tom came up for a visit. 

We went to Portland to eat food and drink beer.

I decided to try something different.

Very different.

I decided to try the Champagne of the North.  It's so tart that they include some fruit syrup with it so you can cut the tartness.

I have to say I liked it without the syrup, and with it.  Different....

See???

We walked off our beer and food.  Tom wanted to go to Portland Market.

We went to Portland Market.

We even had some blue sky.

Loved that!

Much walking was done.

Fun was had.

 

Walking in Portland

One Sunday morning we met up with friends Janet and Carl and went for a walk in Portland.

Mark got to see a train!  He likes trains...

 

After much walking we went out for breakfast.

I love the note 'put a fried bird on it!' in the menu.

And it was a great breakfast.

More walking was done.

We found the statue that our ex-mayor did a 'expose yourself to art' poster.

 

Okay.  I couldn't resist.......

 

The Shamrock Run

Last month I traveled on down to Portland and took part in the Shamrock Run.  Or in my case 'walk'.

Folks tend to dress up for the event, so I decided my hair from 'Queen's Day' in Amsterdam would fit the bill.  It matched my shirt: very stylish.

Beer.  Always a winner. But the lines were too long, so no beer for me....

I love Portland!

 

Mark came to pick me up afterwards and we walked through town and got some lunch.  Nice way to spend the day!

Lire: Nurse Cat.

Mark had a weekend of not feeling well about two weeks ago.

Lire comforted him pretty much the entire time.

She's very good that way.  

Fridays rock!

A week ago Friday was an amazing, sunny day.  I decided to go out and enjoy the weather.

I wanted to go and check out the big ole 'guy made out of metal'.

The weather has been so dreary lately that the sunshine was so very welcome!

I passed the pond down the street.

I walked to the mall and it still cracks me up that there is a car dealership in the mall.  Really?

We call this 'the monkey house'.  For years it was covered in vines and trees: you couldn't see the house at all.  Then one day it was for sale and a young man bought it to fix it up.  Steven and Doug talked to someone at the house who told them the woman who lived there had worked at the research center in Aloha and had two or three monkeys that had been used for research living with her at one time.  Don't know if that's true, but we still like to call it 'the monkey house'.  Has a ring to it.  And the house looks SO much better now.

Got home and as I walked out of the bathroom I admired my penguin with the football in my hallway.  My friend Kseniya put it up in my office: her son Jon did it and I LOVE it!  He greets me every morning.  Oh, I added the football.

That night we barbequed some steaks, opened a bottle of wine, and Mark built a fire.

It was a wonderful day.

Polar Plunge

Today I decided to celebrate Mark and my 33rd wedding anniversary by taking part in the Polar Plunge.

The Plunge benefits Special Olympics.

Got a kick out of some of the costumes.

Mark was such a good sport and hung out with me. 

He enjoyed it and I think he's going to join me next year!

I made sure I knew where the changing room was.

I didn't want to be in my cold, wet clothes for very long!

Thank goodness this tent was heated.

Here is the beach before the crowds showed up.

This is my friend Bill, who is a coach for Special Olympics.

I'm very proud to be his friend and I was glad to support his efforts in helping this great organization.

Okay, say it.

We're still cute together after all these years.

There.  I said it.  Deal with it.

Yea Special Olympics!

There was a costume contest.

Had to get my picture with the Polar Bear.

I found penguins!

Life is good!

Here we are, waiting in line to run into the river.

It was exciting and for a good cause.

I am so lucky to live in an area that gives me so many opportunites to do stuff like this.  I love my life!