Journals of Journeys

40/365: Scream by h pants explosion (on creative hiatus-see profile), on Flickr

School started for the Pie Dudes last week Wednesday, two days after we returned from a week long vacation in Ashland, OR and attended several plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  More later. 

In fact, that seems to be a bit of an overused statement here of late: more later.  My apologies.  It’s been a juggling act and certain things have been more pressing, such as the start up of the writer’s group I organized back in January, adding new members, trying to beef up membership; trying to get the kidlets transferred into a school where the socioeconomic makeup wasn’t bogging down their education (read: test scores) and coming up with alternative solutions when the prospects of this happening became dismal.  Mix into this all of the major changes at the fire department where hubby works that have included a change in stations (much, much busier) that have resulted in “sleep days” instead of the usual days off between shifts and you have Miss Pissy, yours truly. 

Feel free to send that crystal ball to me for my biffday.  It might be the best present yet.

Scratch that.  I watched “That’s So Raven” on the Disney channel the other night (quick synopsis: about a teen able to catch glimpses of the future) and on second thought, that might not be such a good idea. 

Coming back at ya soon (and with lots of good reads and interesting news). 

When I asked (then emailed) for your input on the memory photo compositions, you came through and helped me with a big decision.  It made it easier to get the job done, as you can see with the end results I’ve posted below. 

The size of the photos Read more…

Gee, that was quite a long “momentary absence” now wasn’t it?  Kind of like back when I was an AOL 1.0 user and they’d notify members of a system shut-down in “X” number of minutes.  Only their time clocks were much different than the rest of the world’s.  It could be up to an hour after their imposed 5 minutes ’til shut down or reverse that. 

Anyway, sorry.  I’ve been back, just really busy.  Seems the hubby isn’t as complacent as I’m used to and has been a bit picky about the baseball commemorative photos I’ve been asked to assemble.  Between that, a strong shift in the menopausal front and having the kids home playing their pre-teen wars, it’s been one hell of a bumpy ride. 

That said, which of these four (I can only make these so visible and had to blur out names, so focus on aesthetics) wins the thumbs up award?

 
Padres #1
 
Padres #2

Padres #3

Padres #4

The hubby and I are escaping for a few days before the Pie Dudes return home from camp.  I’ll be away from the computer (possibly) and most likely won’t be posting for a couple of days at least. 

Enjoy your summer everyone!

Z-dude on the mound.  Play ball! 

Second article in a series.  Click [here] to read part one.

So these are the beautiful Oregon Dunes! 

Not. 

If you click on the pictures, you can see them up close Read more…

This is part 1 of an article series.

Despite a really bad experience in Oregon several years ago that resulted in a solid year of fighting in court, I decided it was time to leave the past in the past and take the plunge by heading back up the coast into Oregon.

Of course, this was motivated by the Pie Dudes.  Read more…

Top songs from your graduation year*:

Go to musicoutfitters.com and enter the year you graduated from high school in the search box and get the list of 100 most Read more…

My sister sent this to me and it was Dave who pointed out that it was missing #8, so I decided to add my own #8. 

If you decide to post your own meme in response, please link-a-dink and leave me a comment.  

Instructions: Place an X by all the things you’ve done and remove Read more…

Hey all.

I just got back from dropping the Pie Dudes off at their first residential camp (meaning they’re away from home on their own for a full week at camp).  It was a very, very long 10 hour drive. 

Good news: I gassed up on the way back for an unbelievable $4.06 a gallon.  Can you actually believe I’m saying that’s good news?  Wow.

The scenes to and from were awe-inspiring.  Going through God’s country, up through Nevada City and Grass Valley into Truckee and then down to Lake Tahoe gives you a complete sense there is definitely something bigger than you.  But what Read more…

Tired lioness by Tambako the Jaguar, on Flickr

The Pie Dudes and I just returned from a week long trip.  I think I might have finally caught up on my sleep, but I’m pretty sure I was looking like the lioness above as the beds felt about as comfortable as that log looks. 

Our first night out we stayed in one of the KOA Kabins. My review will be posted sometime next week.  Read more…