I will never forget

May 21st, 1976, is the date of the Yuba City HS bus crash: I wrote it about it last year.   This time of year is difficult for me, even now.  My sister Linda says the same thing.  She was in the choir, and would have been on the bus, but due to having to make up a math class she wasn't able to make the trip.  I am SO glad she wasn't there.  

Cari is named after my friend Carrie Emrich.  Carrie was sassy, very smart, funny as heck, had a wry sense of humour, and followed a different drummer.   Cari is all of these things and more.  I am so proud of her, and I know Carrie would have been thrilled that she is her namesake.  She would love how brave she is.

And as I said last year, I will never forget.  The accident shaped my life, made me realize that life can't be taken too seriously, and that we have to be there for others.  Make the world a better place.  Make a difference.  

Garage sales rock!

This last weekend my Relay For Life team held a garage sale.  Capi and I joined Rhonda on Thursday night, organizing everything and getting ready for the sale.  

Lots and lots and lots of clothes.  Kids and adults.  Something for everyone!

Puzzles galore, toys, and books.

VHS tapes of every type.  

I already have most of the kid ones.  Reminded me of when the kids were small.  

The cute dog was not for sale.  He's a keeper.

Fluffy cat was not for sale.

Rhonda is a keeper as well.  She is our team captain and she works her butt off to raise money to fight cancer.  She goes above and beyond what is needed and I adore her.  Oh yes, she's a keeper.  

We raised over 800 dollars.  How wonderful is that?

Football and dinner

Yesterday Mark went to an all day meeting for Tigard HS Football (Go Tigard!), and at the end of the day all the families of the coaches came to Jenkins Estate and had dinner. There were three young boys there, VERY busy, having a good time running and playing and eating apples. And moms and dads chasing them while they did it.

I'm too lazy. I loved doing that when I was doing it: not no more. Keeping track of Doug is about all I can handle at this point.

Jenkins Estate is a beautiful older home turned into a conference center, and the grounds are lovely and green and peaceful and just plain amazing. Intel used to have a lot of functions there (the site I worked at before is right down the street) and I've always loved it here.

My friend Carol and I decided that we should become caretakers for the estate. Then we could sit on the big ole porch every nice evening and just enjoy the view.

Mark liked the view, but he was tired after being in meetings since 8 that morning.

Intel IS Involved

Today was a celebration of Intel volunteering in the community, held at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland.  There were bands and ice cream and lots of folks.  And big ole checks handed out to worthy organizations.  The American Cancer Society and the Ronald McDonald House received checks, and I was able to touch base with Karla (my ACS gal) and Lyndsey (my RMH gal).  That was wonderful, and I'm glad to be a small part of help those organizations gather up funds.

There were also lots of news people out and about, reporting on the festivities.   Hey, I've seen this guy on TV!  Coolness.

My friend Kathy has also seen this gentleman on TV and made a point to talk with him about Relay For Life.  You go girl!  We're going to kick cancer's butt yet, and we're going to need all the help we can get.

Hey!  Victor!  What did I tell you about getting that arm of yours in the way when I'm trying to take a picture of that cute girl standing next to you??

Not that your arm isn't cute.  Really, it has a certain charm all it's own.  But come on man!

Here she is.  Too gosh darn cute.

Quite an event, and the weather was amazing!  

I didn't take a picture, but I had myself some coffee ice cream from Ben & Jerry's.  Oh man, it was GOOD!!!

Almost as good as CAKE.  Almost.

Here she is again.  Cutie.

And Victor's cute arm.

Ah, security is out and about as well.  You sure don't see folks on these contraptions very much, do you??

Kathy gets the word out to another local news person.  Get the word out the Kathy.  Cancer needs a smack down and we need to get everyone involved.  

Take me out to the ballgame...

Tom had two things he wanted to do while he was here. One was ride the tram.

He did so. Mark did not.

The second was go to a Portland Beaver's game. So we hopped on Max and took ourselves to Portland. And I did not let Tom stand there. I'm a good sister that way.

He sat down and behaved himself. What a good brother!

We saw Lucky, the Beaver. He was very popular.

Watching the game.

The park looks so nice. What a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Pitcher winds up.

Well, son, that sure looks like that was a strike!

Swing, batter batter, swing!

The Beavers won! Tom and Mark are glad.

Mary and Tom are glad.

Hi mom and dad!

They usually let the kids run the bases after the game is done. Fun times for the kids.

And because it was Mother's Day they let the moms run as well. Look at that mom go!

Mark watched the kids and moms run. So did Mary. No way. Not going to happen.

When I went to load my pictures, I found this. Hmmm....

Gee Grandma Erna, and Grammy Jo: THIS is YOUR grandson.

Which side of the family did he get THIS from????

Mommy Day, 2009

All I wanted for Mother's Day this year was for all of us to go out for breakfast. A place of my choice. I got my wish: wonderful!

Steven was wishing I had wished for dinner: much later in the day, and easier to be awake for.

It's hard to be a good son this early in the morning.

And look at Cari. My children are NOT early risers!

But they waited, and talked, and were such good sports about it all, that it was a wonderful Mom's Day present. Having everyone together, including Tom, and having breakfast together. I love going out for breakfast. Almost as much as I love CAKE.

So glad Tom was here.

And of course I was glad Mark was there.

Not too bad a picture. I'm trying really, really hard to not have my eyes shut. I'm so bad about that, and we're looking into the sun.

I like this one better of me, but Mark is rather 'off'.

It was a nice morning, so it was actually nice to just have everyone hanging out, talking, catching up. Cari had some great stories about an ad shoot she went on for work at Mt. Hood.

The J&M Cafe is a great place to eat. I love the fact that you get your own coffee mug and get your own coffee. You never have to wait, and their coffee is very good to boot. Happy Mom's Day to me!

Once we got our table it was time to decide.

Steven and Doug both decided on biscuits and gravy. Oh yes, good choice!

Mark decided to get his wife coffee first thing. That's why I adore him so much!

Later that day Mark and I were driving home from the store and Mark noticed a duck hanging out. I had to take a picture. Cool duck.

I baked up some Mom's Day cupcakes Saturday night and took them to the house on Sunday. There was a local car club cooking up a lunch for the folks staying at the house. And they brought roses for the moms.

How sweet was that? They were beautiful.

I found some festive 'mom' cupcake decorations.

And pretty flower rings. How colorful is this?

I hope my mom and mother-in-law had a wonderful mom's day. I know how very lucky I am that I have them both in my life. I love them so much.