father's day

Since my beloved is up and out and doing stuff I am taking it upon myself to enjoy dad's day on his behalf. I'm still in my jammies, the kids are frying bacon and eggs, I might not move much at all today...

My uncle Dwight gave Joe a bow a couple of weeks ago. Its a real hunting-type bow. We know nothing about hunting-type bows, so Jim and Joe headed over to my brother's house yesterday for a crash course in proper bow handling, shooting, etc. Turns out Joe isn't a big fan of the bow, but Jim has discovered a new passion.

He spent hours yesterday afternoon shooting the bow. Twang, thump...twang, thump...twang, thump. After digging arrows out of the chip pile about 20 times, he realized at some ungodly early hour this morning that what he really needed was a couple of hay bales to aim the bow at. So up he got and headed to the feed store to buy himself $20 worth of father's day hay.

I am glad he has a new hobby. Sometimes it seems like he just works and sleeps and that always makes me feel bad because he spends so much on everybody else's hobbies. I say that now, but I just googled 'archery equipment' and see that we can spend a whole lot of money on bows, arrows, braces, and all the other stuff he can buy for his new hobby. Ah whatever, no matter what it will be less expensive than three motorcycles a year and 100k worth of medical bills.

So enjoy your bow honey, we love you and you deserve it!

sheesh, what a week!

I can't believe its been a week since I blogged. Its been kinda wierd and awful.

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goodbye my hero

On Friday we went to my Grandpa Robin's memorial service in Oak Harbor. Ya know, I'm not sure how old he was, but he was eightysomething. He got sick around December, so it was a pretty quick run, which is best.

Grandpa Robin was a retired Marine Corps Officer who fought in three wars, a fact that always made me very proud. I think I had more respect for him than any other person I've ever met. We are losing our WWII vets now, so if you know one who is still with us, shake his hand and thank him for serving! Without them we'd all be pledging allegiance to the Communist flag and electing a new Kaiser every four years. Anyway, at the end of his service three Marines marched very slowly in, played taps, and presented Faye with an American flag. It was very moving and I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. I love the way our military keeps ceremonial traditions alive.

I'm a pretty matter-of-fact kind of gal. We all expect to lose our grandparents and I've felt pretty blessed to have so many of them around for this long. When my Grandma Tutu (Robin's wife) died 4 years ago, I wasn't sad about it, it had been a long time coming, she led a good life, yadda yadda. Then last year my Grammy Beaulah died and I felt the same way. But Grandpa Robin was my last grandparent and since hearing that his illness was terminal I've had a few sad moments thinking about that. For the first time in my life I am walking the earth without those ancestors. It makes me feel old.

Last month when we were landscaping we pulled out a shrub and laid it on the sidewalk. Out rolled a perfect Robin's egg. Now I've been a semi-country girl all my life and I have never found a Robin's egg in the wild. I thought it was kind of a cool reminder of my Grandpa Robin, the circle of life and the newness of spring.

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mom giving us all high blood pressure

Yesterday when I was on my way to a job interview I got a call from my sister Sandy saying my mom was being rushed to the hospital with chest pains and high blood pressure. Yikes! I turned around and headed toward Bremerton. None of her family were within shouting distance, Nick and Sandy were in Seattle and I was in Burlington, so I called my amazing friend Bridget who works about 5 minutes away from the hospital. Bridget left work early and headed over to see how mom was doing. She convinced the nursing staff that she was mom's daughter, barged her way in, and took charge. All things that I knew she would do, that's why I called her :) Turns out mom was fine, probably a panic/anxiety/stress induced thing. The docs made her spend the night, which didn't make her very happy.

The story goes...As she was getting ready to be transported to the hospital, she looked up and saw a God dressed in a firefighter's uniform. Thought she'd died and gone to heaven ;) Might have been this guy:

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the job search continues...

Which kind of explains the lack of blogging. Lots of emails, cover letters, googling, phoning, etc. Lots of interviews, lots of not-very-interesting jobs out there. I'll find something, but I refuse to jump at the first thing offered. Unless, of course, it's perfect.

That's it for today, gotta go dig through my 'business casual' wardrobe to find something appropriate to wear.

cya

you don't have to like motocross to enjoy the photos

This is 19-year-old Josh Hill from Roseburg, OR. Josh is one of the young hotshots on the pro motocross scene.

Nice to know that if the whole MX thing doesn't work out for Josh he can always be a plumber...

race update

I forgot to get pictures of the James Gang. Sorry. Suffice it to say that they all look good, haven't changed a bit, are still loud and crazy, and we had a lovely (too short) visit. The Gang is down to Dwight, Debbie, and Samantha (14). Ian has finally moved out and is living in Texas. Rumor has it that he loves it there and is gainfully employed. What more can you ask for for your high-school-drop-out-hard-partying-twenty-three-year-old son? Amanda (15) is in Juvy. Stole mom's car, went on a three-day joyride, ran out of gas, called to get picked-up. Mom obliged by sending men in uniform to get her. Don't mess with Debbie James!

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speed racer

Katy raced at Hannegan on Thursday night. Once again she started kinda shaky then got into her groove and finished strong. She got the holeshot (which is a really big deal in motocross racing)!!! But then she, uh, kinda got "stuffed" in a corner and went off the track.

When Katy's racing, pictures are always so much more entertaining than mere words. See for yourself:

good start
getting to the front
woo hoo, holeshot!
uh oh
nothin' hurt but her pride

The funny thing is, I ordered her a 'butt patch' that goes on the back of her gear pants that says "COTCHA LOOKIN". Too bad we haven't gotten it yet, would have been perfect for these pics :)

gas prices

Thanks Mom, for the funny email :)