Monday, April 28, 2008

Girl Party '08 in Phoenix ROCKS!!

We four lovely ladies have safely returned from Girl Party 08! Nope, Anita, no one was arrested. We have now been terribly spoiled by the luxury of a private pool. No saving chairs, no "pool open" hours, no one (you don't know) kicking you....so very fancy! I'm quite sure we can't go back to hotel pools.

This gang of chicks also has a history of picking a Saturday during Spring when a big Portland school is having prom, and going to dinner downtown, to dine, gab, and gawk at prom kids in their over-the-top garb. We call it -- get this -- prom night. WELL! We had the luck of scheduling our GP dinner the same night as many Scottsdale proms, so we got our GP dinner and prom gawking in the SAME NIGHT! Our top vote went to the young lady in the silky ivory number with the slight train, jeweled front, and draped back. We all gave her a 10. Plus, there was a wedding in the hotel too! We hit the jackpot!

Our house was great, the food delicious, and as usual, the company spectacular. The weather was perfect!! SUCH fun.

Our gondola ride at the Hyatt Scottsdale. Our gondolier serenaded us in Italian! (Our dressing in matching black and white was purely accidental.)























What's a Friday afternoon at the pool without big hats and tequila shots?


















My sweet sister attempting to not do the aforementioned peeing her pants from laughter.























Our Kristin enjoying herself some pool time.


















We were all impressed with Stacey's finery, complimented by Russian Red lipstick. Fabulous.























Sure, you all wear your lucite-heeled, clear vinyl sandals year-round, but I only wear mine to Girl Party. OK, I would have worn them in Kathryn's wedding, had she asked me to bridesmaid. But other than those two circumstances, the lucite Girl Party shoes remain tucked away.























At work, if we are out-0f-control busy, we often say "my hair's on fire." Thanks to a duraflame log by the pool, it appears my hair is really on fire.


















Our sweet Kristin posing with our delicious junk-food cereals, and of course, the unbelievably delicious Nilla wafers. Mmmm..


















GP08! SUCH fun!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Girl Gang in Phoenix for GP08!

It's finally here!! Thursday, April 24 through Sunday, April 27, I'll be in Phoenix with my Girl Gang for Girl Party 2008! It took 262 e-mails (I'm not kidding) but we are ready! We are looking forward to:
  • Four days of kickin' it in the sun ('sposed to be in the 90s!) by our private pool!
  • Three days of "Quiet Magazine Time" (our time-honored tradition of waking up whenever we want, getting a cup of coffee [or a bloody mary], and sitting and flipping through stacks o' magazines and gabbing quietly. Boys historically insist on ruining QMT with yelling or football or general boy stupidity. And that's why they ain't invited to GP08.
  • The delivery of our perfectly planned-out list of groceries from Safeway.com between 5 and 7 p.m. on Thursday! No point wasting valuable GP time grocery shopping! Yuck
  • Cocktail hour during Oprah in the pool -- as there's a TV mounted above the bar on the patio!!
  • Talking, talking, and more talking. And possibly some laughing until you pee your pants
All capped off by a fancy dinner out Saturday night. If this is the year I can convince them to get matching pink leather or pink satin jackets, I'll let you know.

Our digs...




















Here's us at the last Girl Party in Kahneeta a few years back. Hopefully we can get back to makin' this an annual event!! Big thanks to our families for taking care of everything while we are gone. And BIG thanks to Farmers Ins. for finally giving Poo Friday off!! Whoo-hoo!!

Have a great weekend!!

From left: Stacey, Tiffany, Kristin, & me

Representin'...

What's better than playing on your company's co-ed softball team? Getting your own Marmot T-shirt and having your husband play in your stead! Whoo-hoo!

My husband graciously agreed to be a Marmot this year for spring softball! He joins a long-standing team of people who have never practiced together, yet get out there and give it their all. I join a long row of spouses and family members sitting in the sun in a lawnchair enjoying a cold one (250 feet from the Boise River please.)

In game 2, he was even recruited to pitch. PITCH. I had no idea I was married to the pitcher. That's fancy. The Marmots are currently 1 and 1.




















He springs into action while playing third base. NO, I couldn't get up and walk around the chainlink fence.
















From Josh "Coach Jeb" Butler's original team-building e-mail: "In lieu of practice (that's French for 'in the meantime'), feel free to getcho grass roots selves together and throw, run, catch, and do chin-ups. Any amount of stretching you factor in to your regimen is NOT ENOUGH. Do it. You are old. You are not nimble. In fact, other than your own little fuzzy Marmot of a mother, no one even thinks you're cute! So warm-up those muscles, exercise, and gosh darn it, let's be the best Marmots we can be!"
Here's my husband and his fuzzy Marmot mama.

















Time (and St. Rogue's Red) heals all (softball) wounds.

















(Second from the right in the khaki shortpants) playing nice with other Marmots.






The HVAC Upgrade is complete!

WHOOOO-WEE!! The HVAC upgrade is complete! Our waterheater has been replaced, our furnace has been replaced, there's now an AC unit where formerly there was none, and there's new, shiny ductwork to all the rooms in the house, unlike before.

While 'Jason' and 'Todd' could not have been more polite, conscientious, fastidious, professional, and just downright nice, it will be good to have our house back, after sharing it for six dusty days.

BIG thanks to Art and Carolyn for keeping Miss Ginger from eating anyone's legs off on those days when I was unable to work from home!

Jason lying around (sealing up the old vent).










This is the AC unit that will keep you and me cool when you come visit this summer. :) It's a slightly larger AC unit than we were anticipating, (OK, it's nearly as big as my car!) but there was some special, so we got upgraded for the same cost we were originally quoted.












Behold!! Our new furnace!























Me standing in the attic, looking down the hole to the pipe in the kitchen a floor below.


















We lost most of the ceiling in the basement. Still beats doing laundry in the garage. :)















One of the messiest days. Though the boys cleaned up after themselves each night!









Birthday Visitors!

Debra and Ludger were in town over the weekend, visiting Art and Carolyn and celebrating Ludger's birthday! We took Ludger (who's native country is Germany) to his first softball game. He asked -- and it's a good question if you aren't familiar with baseball -- how many people can you have on each base?

























Before heading off to birthday sushi and the world's best sake ever, we all hiked to the top of Camel's Back to view the vistas around Boise.

















Later we returned to the house Art and Carolyn are housesitting for cake and tea. Here's "Brew," their ward for the month. He's such a good boy!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Brrr!!

HVAC work continues. We haven't had heat since Monday, and this a.m. it was 48 degrees in the house! Brrr! Miss G hasn't been seen in a week! We hope they are able to get everything back up by Friday. We have had hot water, thankfully!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Kelly Was Here! Kelly Was Here!

It was so nice to see Kelly, however briefly, on her way through to move to Denver! She, Jeff, Django, and Lucca stayed over Friday night and helped christen the backyard firepit! Miss Ginger was, after initial posturing, mostly a gracious hostess, even sharing her kibble and blankets with the "mosquitoes," as we called them, because they are so tiny and buzz around your feet. Jeff didn't complain at all about having to sleep in our scary, partially finished basement! After stuffing them full of pancakes and coffee, we sent them on their way. It was a lovely visit!
























Tiny dog introductions









































Kelly and Jeff in the kitchen, preparing to go...
























Backing the truck and trailer out...























Tiny dogs on the toolbox!!























Farewell Kelly, and good luck on your Denver adventure!!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

April Showers Bring...SNOW!!!

We woke up to a blanket of white this morning! It looked like there was ice cream sitting on the skylight in our bedroom. About an inch just made everything pretty, without messing up traffic too much.

I was amazed how much more snow we had at our house than was in town, even though we are only 1.5 miles out. We have about a 600-foot elevation difference.

The sun was out by 1 p.m., and got up to about 55. 'Sposed to be 70 degrees on Saturday. Whoo-hoo!






Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me...

Art turned 64 on Tuesday! He spent the day on an 18-mile bike ride along the Greenbelt with his lovely wife and high school friends Steve and Louise, who were happening through Idaho on their way back to Portland. We met them all downtown for dinner in the evening. It was fun to be out in town, even with a bunch of folks who were moving a little slow from their day's adventure. :)

Happy birthday Art!















A Free Hat!

I got a box in the mail yesterday! Inside was fancy vellum paper with a shiny gold seal!

It was a new UO hat!! (Which was lucky, as we were running low on UO hats in our household.) It has APPLIED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT embroidered on the back. There was also a card thanking me for choosing the UO and the AIM program.

A free hat! Imagine! Free with $30,280 tuition. Go to aimdegree.com if you'd like a free hat too.



















































Sunday, April 6, 2008

The Selfish Brulee...

Tonight we walked downtown for dessert, but as it was lateish Sunday evening, we found few desserty-type or coffeehouse-type establishments open for business. So we stopped by the co-op and acquired a couple of desserts to be schlepped home and consumed over decaf.

My husband accused Carolyn of being selfish because she got the last creme brulee in the case instead of buying a larger dessert we could all share. Here's Carolyn coveting her selfish brulee.

It was fun to walk about town, and there were lots of folks out enjoying the spring sun!


The Housesitters Have Arrived!

The parents have arrived for their housesitting stint in Boise! They arrived Friday and have spent the weekend here with us. Monday morning they will be off to stay on Glacier Drive for the month. Here they are enjoying cocktail hour on the back deck.

And, somewhat coincidentally, their close friends Rosemary and Dale happened to be passing through on a summer adventure -- on their way to Utah and beyond. They popped in briefly for carrots and hummus with a cup of coffee. So nice to see friendly faces!
























A New Dress Bike!

My husband got a new dress bike for touring about the North End and taking his wife out to romantic dinners in Hyde Park! He acquired this black cruiser over that fancy Internet the kids are always talkin' about.

I look forward to getting my old green bike from college (Babar) out of the garage and all tuned up for touring!


Thursday, April 3, 2008

Etched in Stone?

We have been so amazed at how comfortable we have felt in our new home from day one. Like we've lived here for YEARS. This week we discovered that it was apparently meant to be....as our names are already on it!

OK, my husband spells his name sans H, but STILL. When we found it we were together and we just stood there staring at it, and then at each other, and then back at it...it was SUCH a bizarre feeling.













The MAX Never Disappoints

On the train back to the airport (Sunday night, 8 p.m) there were few others in transit. One apparently homeless fellow named Jesus was weaving his way through the long train with this lovely and slightly aged bouquet. He briefly had his eye on me, but then the train turned slightly, and Jesus spied Lovely Laura, with her flowing gold locks and her lovely green eyes. Thankfully she accepted his offering...and then chatted with him for three stops.

After he detrained, we discussed the event and agreed, a lot worse things could happen to ya.

The New Building!

The parents are building their second outbuilding on their fancy property! It's so massive in its greatness!