Old Cari

Cari had an art show during the "Last Thursday at Alberta". I loved seeing many of her pieces that I've only seen on her blog. One of my favorites was MVP: Most Valuable Puppy. I may have to open my pocketbook and make him mine. Yep, probably gonna happen. But Old Cari was there as well. Too bad Jennifer wasn't there: Jen, you would have LOVED it. Here's the sign guiding folks on up to the Bitch Office to view Cari's work (Bitch is a magazine and they very kindly offered Cari the chance to showcase her work).

And Mark and I have decided that we are going to go back to Last Thursday again. What a kick!

Steven went along and ended up hanging out with Richard. We were so glad to see Richard, we don't get to see him enough.

Mark and I strolled through Last Thursday, taking in all the artwork and music. And noticing the Old Cari handbills posted.

This band (we think they were a band) was very entertaining! They were set up on the front porch of a house, draped in bathrobes, kimonos, and such, drinking lots of beer, and having a great time. Hope they're there next month. Wanna see them again!

Lots of people came to see Cari's work. Some of her bears are showing behind her. We're so proud of her, not just for her artwork, but for her zest for life and taking chances.

Kittens and Christopher Columbus!

A little over a week ago Brianna and Doug found a small kitten out in the street. They brought her home and we haven't found out who lost her, and looks like we're not going to. Steven may have a friend who will take her, but no matter what we're going to be sure she gets a good home.
Too darn cute, and fun to have around.

Mark and I went on a field trip yesterday, checking out the Nina, a replica of one of the ships sailed by Columbus. We meant to go and see it the last time it was here, missed out, and so we risked the weather and too our chances. Perfect day to do so!

They had a bit of information about the ship on board. Mark is checking it out.

It was exciting to get a feeling of what it must have been like to be on a ship like this. Very small, and I have to say I could NOT have lived that that. Too small for 27 men to live and work in for any length of time. Gads!

But it is a beautiful ship.

We walked on the Hawthorne Bridge so we could get a better look and an even better picture.

Mark. Bridge. Fun. Thank goodness the weather hung in there with us. :)

Memories

May 21st, 1976, a school bus from Yuba City, California was on it's way to Martinez for a school choir event. The bus drove through the railing on an overpass, flipping on it's back, and 29 people were killed. I knew almost all of those young people, and it changed me forever. I NEVER take my life for granted, I NEVER take my family for granted, ESPECIALLY my children, and I ALWAYS want to make the world a better place. The young woman in the left of the picture above is Carrie. She was one of my best friends, and my daughter Cari is named after her. She had a wicked sense of humour, was smart as a whip, and even though I was a bit older than her, we 'got' each other. She was only 15 years old. How very young that sounds to me at this stage in the game. Kathy, shown in the picture with her, is now married with four children. I know she was changed forever as well.

Lori played the piano, sang beautifully, had an infectious laugh (one of the best I've ever heard, and I miss that most of all, even now), and she always worried about her looks. She thought she was too heavy and she never got the chance to find out how truly beautiful she was.

Tom was Lori's boyfriend, he could be rather quiet, when not getting himself in a jam (and he was good at that, but it was always something funny), his birthday was on April Fools Day (he hated that), and the two of us led singing for our youth group. He and Lori are buried next to each other.

Also, one day in the hallway at work a guy stopped me, asking if I had lived in Yuba City. Come to find out he had been in the youth group with me. He's in the left hand side of the picture. It's a very small world.

A week after the accident Carrie's parents took a group of us up to the mountains, renting a small house. They needed to get away. The girl at the far left is Carrie's sister Dori, and her other sister is the second girl from the right (I do not remember her name, but I didn't know her very well) sitting next to me. My sister is the gal in the glasses, sitting right in front of me.

I had given Cari a pair of earrings and she was wearing them the day of the accident. They only found one of them, and her parents gave me the earring, set in a special made card. I had it for years, and wish I knew what happened to it.

Too many amazing young people died that day. My first boyfriend's little brother Larry, who was only 14. Amy, who lived down the street from us for many years. Marla, who introduced me to the Chronicles of Narnia. I always gave her a bad time because she started me at the fourth book in the series....her older sister was a good friend of mine during high school, and many times Marla would tag along and we never minded. She was one of the sweetest girls I've ever known. Truly kind.

And Christina, who was a student teacher, had married our choir director, and was along to help out. We all admired her, many of us had gone to their wedding, and she was pregnant. I could go on and on.

Life is too short people. Live it well. Love a lot. And make the world a better place.

And Carrie, Lori, Tom, Marla and all those we lost that day: I will NEVER forget.

Never.

More Fancy Dress

Doug serious. Enjoy it. Not gonna last.

This is a great picture of not only the young couple, but the corsage and "guy flower".

Close up of the corsage. Man, I want one of these!

Just like this picture.

Doug is starting to crack under all the scrutiny. He was hot in the jacket, and was more than ready to go.

Yep, I think if I took one more picture he was gonna blow. Well, I did take one more picture, but nuff said. Looks just like this one.


Too darn adorable.

Doug and the 'fancy dress' affair

Doug and Brianna are going to the prom tonight. Aren't they adorable?? Brianna's dress is lovely and she's beautiful.

Doug, as usual, is charming and debonair....

Everyone turned out to take picture. Amy did a wonderful job of ensuring that Brianna got all the primping time a girl needs at a time like this. Isn't it the best when you have someone like this in your life that will treat you like a queen? You're the best Amy. Brianna deserved it.

I'd like to say that they both look cute while Brianna pins on the corsage, and I'd like to say a big thank you to Mark for cleaning the kitchen. That's why I love him. He cleans.

I had to throw this one in. Baby. Big ole baby.

More pictures to follow later. :)

And a Happy Mother's Day to all!

Happy Mother's Day everyone! All I wanted for Mother's Day was to go to out to brunch with our entire family and have me some food and some mimosa. Oh yes. I don't need any gift, just some time with all of us together. So we all went out to Salty's in Portland for brunch. Right on the water. We had a wonderful view of the water from our table.

And the food was good. Lots of variety, with seafood for those in our family that like it (not mom) and lots of deserts for those in the family who like it (mom).

Doug enjoying food.

Steven. Not sure if he's enjoying the food.

Cari taking pictures, sharing them with her dad, and Mark enjoying hanging out with his daughter. For us, it's fun to have everyone together, so we enjoy that part of the whole celebration. Don't need much more than that. We love our family.

Oh, okay, okay, I do love my family, but I do love me a mimosa. And it IS Mother's Day, and so a mimosa is in my hand. Lovely way to start a Sunday morning, and it was lovely to have folks waiting on the table who made sure I never ran out of mimosa. A lovely way to spend Mother's Day.

And Doug topped it off with not only a Mother's Day card, but a couple of hand made gift certificates as well. He made them while at work at Mezter School in the Head Start Program, and I love it.

How could you not love getting something like this from a 17 year old?

And how in the heck do you ever collect on it??

I think the answer is 'not in a million years'...oh well, it's the thought that counts. Lovely.

Penguins wanna take cancer out of the game!

Tonight we had a gentleman at our Relay meeting who makes balloon animals and such. He is AMAZING!!!! He created a new friend for me. Is he not adorable?

This guy can make just about anything. He'll be at our Relay and I think that's a wonderful idea.

How could you not love this face????

Flowers and an Indian Chief

Sunday was an amazingly lovely, sunny day. So Mark and I headed out to Al's Garden Center, along with everyone else in Tigard (at least it felt that way). We wandered through the plants and trees, dreaming of all the wonderful things we can do. We checked out some fountains. We bought us a big ole rock. We bought us some flowers. We bought us some ferns. We had fun.

I love the flowers we picked out. Love, love,LOVE them.

And I got a kick out of the Indian Chief sitting in the neighbor's boat. Gonna have to get myself over there and hear the story about this fellow. He's wonderful!!!