Prom

I noticed this sign in our Albertsons recently…….

Too bad we already have concert tickets that night!  Well, I think George is glad to have an excuse not to go to the Prom.

Portlandia

I think this could be an episode of "Portlandia".

Waiting in the LONG line, in the rain to get voodoo doughnuts!

Was it worth it?  Well they are really good, unique doughnuts! 

The four of us ate a dozen in two days so I guess the answer is YES, it was worth the rain and the wait!

Goodbye & Hello!

We had to say goodbye to Pinto.  Happily he was adopted by a couple from Washington.  He is their third retired guide.  During the summers they enjoy exploring the San Juan Islands on their sailboat and love having a dog to share the adventure.  Pinto is going to have a perfect retirement!  We do miss that lovable guy though!

 But we got to say "Hello" to these three guys!  Matt, Scott and Jackson came to spend spring break with us.

They are pretty lovable too!!!!

Five Years Ago Today

It was five years ago today March 23, 2009 that my mother passed away.  I can honestly say that hardly a day goes by that something doesn't remind me of her.  Sometimes it is just catching a whiff of Eternity, her brand of perfume.  Other times I think of something I want to ask her or tell her.  Talk of college basketball during March Madness brings back a vivid memory of her sitting in her recliner with  the NCAA bracket spread out on her lap as she watched the game she loved.  Once I came to visit during the tournament and her boss was surprised that she allowed me to come during this crucial time!

Although I miss her so much, I know that the experiences surrounding her death were 'tender mercies', personal individualized blessing from a loving Father in Heaven given to me and also to her.

I flew down to Arkansas to visit my mother on Thursday March 19th.  I picked that date because it worked best with our schedules.   No other reasons.

 

I arrived on a Thursday night and Momma and I spent the next several days doing all our favorite things together.  We walked at the Community Center.  She went to her water aerobics class and then we went out to lunch with her friends.  She ordered a new HD TV and we shopped from one end of McCain Mall to the other looking for a new swimming suit for her since she was in the pool 5 days a week!  We ate dinner with my cousin Janie and her husband and had a nice visit with Momma's sister Clarice Edna. Naturally we enjoyed a barbecue sandwich from my favorite place, "The White Pig Inn". Since I love black-eyed peas, she always had a huge bowl of them ready for me.  By Saturday night I had eaten all she had prepared.  At about 10:00 pm she asked me if I would like her to make me another pot of peas.  Of course I did!  Around midnight she picked out the clothes she was going to wear to church the next day and hung them on her door knob.  We joked that she would probably change her mind in the morning. We hugged and went to bed.

I heard her get up around 7:00 but I stayed in bed until  8.  When I got up she was sitting in her chair.  The paper was folded neatly by her feet, her Ensure drink was on her table, and she was dressed for church.  I said "Good Morning" and she didn't respond but I thought she was just asleep so I made some toast, got the paper and sat down at the table.  It was then that I realized her snoring didn't sound normal so I walked over and investigated more closely and realized that I couldn't wake her up.  I called 911, police and an ambulance arrived quickly.  The paramedics thought she had suffered a stroke so they transported her to St. Vincent's Hospital in North Little Rock.  I followed in her car.  The ER doctor and the neurologist knew pretty quickly that it wasn't a stroke.  A CAT scan confirmed the bad news that she had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage so massive that there could be no 'meaningful recovery'.  She was taken to the ICU where she spent the night.  

So much family and so many friends came by to see her and comfort me!  I never felt alone.  Momma never seemed in pain, never moaned or grimaced.  It seemed that she was just asleep.  Another 'tender mercy' for her and for the family.

She left this earth the next day Monday March 23rd at about noon with me holding one hand and her beloved sister Clarice holding the other, surrounded by the family she loved so much.  Yet another loving kindness from our Father in Heaven. 

A coincidence that I happened to be there on that day?  I don't think so.  If the hemorrhage had happened when I was in Idaho, there was no way I could have arrived in time.  We would not have had those fun-filled days together nor would I have been with her as she slipped to the other side of the veil. Although her death was a horrible shock, she was her active, busy, involved, alert self until the very morning of her hemorrhage. Yet another 'loving kindness' for both of us.   

These memories of the simpleness, sweetness and constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord have done much to fortify me, strengthen my faith in my Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ, and to make me aware of the small blessings in my life.  My mother liked the New Testament verses about the value of the sparrow.  A favorite song of hers had this line, "His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me".  Even through the sorrow that comes with a death of a beloved parent, I too know that he watches me and I am grateful for the personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurance, guidance, loving kindness, consolation, support and spiritual gifts that I have been given in the past and that I am given everyday. Heavenly Father has filled my life with 'tender mercies'.

Spring in the Northwest!

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced but they,

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed and gazed but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought;

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

I memorized this poem when I was in middle school so all my life when I see daffodils the words have echoed in my mind.  Spring is coming to Portland and after the cold rainy days of winter it is most welcome!  And my heart does 'with pleasure fill and dances with the daffodils'!

Nighttime Photography

I took a "Night-time Photography Class" through our Parks Department.  Lots of interesting things you can do at night when you have a bit of instruction……

Streaking colored lights…..

Reflections in the lake….

 Photographing ghosts…..

 Light writing….

Only problem is my case of 'camera envy' has gotten much worse and I find myself dreaming of this

And trying to justify WHY I need it so much!

A visit from Johnny

Ok, I am the only person in the world who still calls him Johnny but I just can't help it!  True that he is a tall, handsome adult but to me he will always be 'Johnny', that cute little curly headed guy playing Ghostbusters and zipping around on his bike!

I love when our children come to visit. When they leave, the house seems pretty lonely.  The 10 days he was here were filled with fun!

George and John enjoyed a loud but really entertaining evening with"Blue Man Group"

John and I went to the zoo to check out the baby lion cubs.  They delight in teasing their father, who seemed less than amused with the antics of his off-spring!

We ate way too much at our favorite Indian Restaurant.  Buffets are not good for those of us on diets! Johnny is definitely NOT on a diet!

Johnny was the tour director for a day driving the 'Fruit Loop', which is a route through the orchards near Hood River, Oregon.  Unfortunately at this time of the year, it looked like this

but in a few weeks when all these trees are in bloom it will be spectacular.  George and I definitely plan to make the trip again this spring.

I particularly 'enjoyed' this sign at the rest stop since I could relate to the woman in the picture!!

Pinto is a good traveler as long as he has someplace to rest his head.

For Pinto John's visit meant another person to love!

Now John starts his next adventure in the "Paris of South America" - Buenos Aires!  I am so excited for him.