Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!  I miss my mother a lot but I mostly just feel so thankful that she was in my life for 56 years.  Not everyone is so lucky!  I also hope I have her good genes so that I can be just like her when I'm 88!  Mowing my lawn, doing water aerobics, walking, participating in church, enjoying family and friends, and in general loving life!  I have had a family life full of amazing women - grandmas, aunts, cousins, mother-in-law, sisters in law, daughter, nieces, and of course my mother!  

Lake Run

George signed us up for the Lake Run 5K.  Unfortunately he has been sick this week and couldn't participate so my friend Chris took his T-shirt and bib # and we ran/walked it together.  Beautiful sunny day!  Mostly flat course with a long downhill to the finish!  All around a great day and best of all it motivated me to start running again! I'd better train or next race my skinny fit husband WILL beat me!!!!

I wasn't fast but I finished!

Chris said that this was the most she had ever run in her life.  Way to go!

                                     

And most exciting of all....it is warm and sunny and is supposed to be that way all week!  Yahoo for SPRING!!!!

Sweet Jordana

Our time as dog 'foster parents' is coming to a close as Guide Dogs for the Blind have found a permanent home for our sweet Jordana!  I'm sad but also so happy that she seems to be going to a perfect place!  We sure love her and will miss her so much.  Hopefully we'll get another foster dog in the next few months.  Getting a retired guide dog is hardly like getting a dog at all.  She doesn't bark. She doesn't chew. She loves every dog and person she meets. She is housebroken and comes up to us and chatters her teeth when she need to go out....and that is only about 3 times a day!  There were 3 negatives about her.  #1 she likes to get up about the time the sun comes up.  We've gotten her out of that habit!  #2 She sheds but she can't help that.  And #3 ( Shhh, don't tell anyone at Guide Dogs!!!! ) But she will sneak a nap on the couch!  When I catch her sleeping so comfortably, I think she is smiling! We promise that if we get a dog in training we'll be tougher! 

I don't know why her eyes look so strange in this photo. This is after we got home from a walk in the rain and she was cold and wet.  Nothing like a nap wrapped in warm blanket after a chilly walk!  Great life this sweet dog enjoys!  And she's earned it for her years of guiding a visually impaired person.

Recently we took her to Barnes and Noble where Michael Hingson was signing his book Thunder Dog.  I recommend this book which tells the story of his escape from one of the Twin Towers on 9/11 with the help of his Guide Dog Roselle. It's an exciting story of trust and you get a great glimpse into the world of the blind and especially what it is like to trust a smart 4 legged friend with your life everyday.

There were lots of dogs there including this cute 'Guide Dog in training' with his puppy raiser. Jordana was a perfect role model of calm obedience and seemed to enjoy greeting this enthusiastic little guy!  The retiring guide meets the aspiring guide!

Coldplay

 First I have to admit that until about a year ago I knew that Coldplay was a band and that the lead singer was married to Gwyneth Paltrow but I couldn't have told you the name of a single one of their songs.  Then I heard "Clocks" at another concert and loved it.  When I heard that Coldplay was doing a concert in Portland I bought two tickets.  Scott was my date for the evening.

The concert did not disappoint.  They are fantastic entertainers and the special effects just added to the magic of the music!  I especially loved the millions of pieces of confetti that sprayed out of canons on us.  The pieces were tissue paper cutouts of flowers and butterflies and birds!  Magical!  And there were literally millions of them.  The photo doesn't really do justice to how amazing it was.

Another bit of excitement was created by the bracelets each audience member was given.  When remotely turned on, they lit up the whole place with little sparkles of color!

Their encore included my fav "Clocks"!  But the best part for me was the constant smile on Scott's face and listening to him sing along with Chris Martin!!

April 15th

Our Sunday School teacher shared a line from a poem with us today. I love it! So true!

That was the year in which 
we had to pay
 the tax on love, which was grief, of course. — LAURA KASISCHKE 


Pretzel

Last week at Guide Dogs for the Blind I met a dog named Pretzel. After finding our sweet Jordana sleeping in this position I think Pretzel might have been a good name for her! Does this look at all comfortable for an afternoon nap? This isn't the first time I've found her sleeping like this. It's just the first time I managed to grab the camera before she woke up.

She must have been comfortable because she was snoring contentedly!

Floods

March has had record rainfall....and when you say that about a month in Portland you are talking about a serious rain! There is also a lot of snow in the mountains and that combination means that the Willamette River is flooding.

This beach normally extends to the trees. Notice the trash can!

This looks like as swimming pool but is actually an area where weddings and concerts are held. Now it is a big duck pond!

The boat house is normally in the river. However the bridge is not!

Can you see the tree trunk that the water moved onto the bridge?

The path we usually take goes past the bench and on along the river. No exercising on that path today unless you want to swim.

Miss Jordana loves going on walks to investigate the flooding!