85 years young!

A big Happy Birthday to my Grandma Louise! Hopefully she is celebrating in style at a Vegas restaurant right now with my Daddio!!! Isn't she beautiful? This pic is from my cousin Alix's wedding last year. She still looks great! You do too Uncle Ry!
I wish we were able to celebrate together! Please know that you are loved and missed Grandma! Happy Birthday!

derby girls

Finally....
I got a chance to see what the roller derby was all about. The derby concept seems so Portlandesque to me. Even though these ladies all wear the same colors and general uniform pieces, each girl has her own look accented by her choice in tights, tank top, helmet decoration, and of course panties. For this sport, panties are worn on the outside of all layers of clothing. When I wasn't trying to follow the team scoring strategy, I was checking out the costumes and identities of all the derby girls. A few of their names for your reading pleasure; Blood Clottia, Vominatrix, Scratcher in the eye, Firecrotch and my favorite Viagrrra Falls. I even went so far as to make up a little name for myself..... Don't Mess Tess.

Derby girl about to eat floor....

So those of you that have seen my competitive side know that I would love to give this sport a try. That was until I saw ***Smack-ya Sideways***. The first time I saw this large, slightly androgynous, amazing skater, football tackler of a derby girl, I realized that this probably wasn't my sport. I had the same feeling I did the first time I saw the bully in "The Christmas Story".... fear. We moved to the floor for the second half of the derby and I was terrified that we would be accidentally tackled by the Smack-ya lady. EEEKKK! Luckily that never happened. In the pic below, she is the skater in all black in the middle.
The sport itself is pretty cool. There are always 5 girls from each team on the floor at one time. Only one girl from each team can score. They are called the 'Jammer' and they wear a star on their helmet like the ladies in the following pic.

The goal is for the 'jammer' to get through the pack after starting in the back and lap the girls before the two minute period is up. The rink is pretty small, but this does not discourage the ladies from picking up a great deal of speed!
If you have a chance, attend one of these super-charged events. Good times.

I also encourage and almost demand that if you are in the Portland area that you check out my favorite local restaurant- Fire on the Mountain! Buffalo chicken wings and Rainier beer on tap... I love buffalo anything and at this joint you have your choice of over 10 different sauces.

Below, one of my favorites, buffalo chicken salad. Also in the top right hand corner of the picture- a fried pickle. Sounds disgusting, but tastes like a dream!

I have smart friends...

If you have about 20 minutes, a warm cup of coffee or tea(it is freezing in Portland this morning!) and an appetite for some fantastic eco-writing you must read my friend Jesse's blog entry. He is, or was an Oregon transplant from the Northeast, but moved to the Midwest for a few years while his ladyfriend Jamie(my old employee) finishes her graduate degree.

Check it out-

http://eaglecapjesse.blogspot.com/2008/09/deconstructing-great-outdoors.html

Sport of the Day: Golf

A group of us decided to hit the driving range today to get some practice swings in. First of all, I love golf and wish I had the finances to really work on my game. It is absolutely one of those sports that demands persistent practice and relentless commitment. For now, hitting a bucket of balls every other week will have to do.

My original goal was to post a short history of golf, but it turns out that several versions of golf have been played in many different countries for the past 900 years, starting in China! Who would have thunk it? It was generally agreed that the Golf we know today came to be in Scotland in the 15th century. I decided that interesting golf facts were less laborious to research and summarize.

Here are a few golf facts for you-

• The World's Longest Golf Course is the International Golf Club in Massachusetts, a long par 77, 8325-yards, from the tiger tees.
  
• The World's Highest Golf Course is the Tactu Golf Club in Morococha, Peru, which sits 14,335 feet above sea level at its lowest point.
  
• The Longest Hole in the World is the 7th hole (par 7) of the Sano Course at the Satsuki Golf Club in Japan. It measures a long 909 yards.
  
• The World's Largest Bunker is Hell's Half Acre on the 585-yard 7th hole of the Pine Valley Course in New Jersey.
  
• The World's Largest Green is that of the 695-yard, 5th hole, a par 6 at the International Golf Club in Massachusetts, with an area in excess of 28,000 square feet.
  

Also a few photos from our afternoon. Tim swung like a pro for not playing in 12 years! Heather and her bf Matt taking a snuggle break.
Oh geez, you can't take me anywhere!Heather about to smack the ball.
.... And of course, what is golf with out post-game beer at our favorite organic brewery, Roots!

Inka puppy update

I blogged about Heather's puppy (Inka) about 5 weeks ago shortly after she brought her home. I am happy to report that Inka is growing big and healthy, although Heather says she is smaller than her brothers and sisters. She is the runt! The following pic was taken of her at 5 weeks.This pic was taken at 10 weeks. She is growing up fast!

Soon she will be staying with Auntie Beth and Cousin Baby for some human/doggy socialization. I'm looking forward to it! She is a sweety!

Happy Birthday Carrie!

Today is my sister's Birthday. She is celebrating in style with a meal prepared by her 'amazing cook of a husband' Darren.

My sister is a woman of many talents. I tell everyone how she was a police officer and that even though I'm way bigger than her, she could have me on the ground in a finger hold in about 3 seconds. She is hardcore! I am glad that she is no longer a police officer and now she is pursuing a safer career in nursing. This is fitting because she is always looking after the best interests of everyone in the family. I would say she is also a professional student of life. Her passion for learning is infectious and sometimes I wish she could bottle up that passion and send it my way. She will be reading and learning every day for the rest of her life and I really look up to her for that!!

Happy Birthday Sis!

S-u-N-n-Y s-A-t-U-r-D-a-Y

Saturday was another busy, but fun weekend day. My surfing buddy Sophie and I headed to the coast again to get some time on the waves. I rented a fish board to see how it compared to my big boat of a 9' board. The board was 6'8" in length, it was more narrow and it had a raised table top making it difficult to grip and jump up. While I was learning this new board, Sophie was doing great on my board. We both managed to get up several times, which was an accomplishment since the surf was relatively flat and powerless. I think we may be able to get out next weekend, only I'm going to rent the fish I had originally wanted for this past weekend.

We rushed home (not without getting the customary dipped cone from DQ) so I could turn in my board by the assigned 6pm time.

I also had plans to go out for a birthday celebration with new and old friends. J. Grube is very good friend who lives in Philomath and who I do not get to see enough. Her best friend Tiffani celebrated a birthday the day before and we planned to hit the town. We started out at the Portland City grill and below is Tiffani's Pork Tenderloin. I went small with a spicy tuna sushi roll.
My goodness the restaurant was swanky and I felt like half the people there were speaking Japanese, which provided me with several eavesdropping practice opportunities.

We managed to find our way to some great spots. In the pic below, Me, Christina and Tiffani(the b-day girl).
And of course the obligatory Jen and Beth pic. Seriously, Jenny is so much fun to go out with and she is also one of the most compassionate and genuine people I know. We could go years without seeing each other and then sit down for immediate meaningful conversation. I always learn a lot from her and her outlook on life. Did I mention that she has the cutest family you have ever seen? Love her!