Well,it's official... I have too much CRAP... even as I try to declutter and give stuff away... Had 3 estimaters come in and they all range between 10,000 and 15,000 POUNDS of crap. THAT'S between 5 and 7 TONS! ...More estimaters to come.. We will likely rent a Uhaul to move some of this stuff ourselves.

DH hath return from Caroliner... He reports that the Landlordess Loves to WALK.. as I do...however, SHE IS A FITNESS FANATIC... and wants to get a job as a FITNESS INSTRUCTOR... I fear that she is going to take me under her wing as a "project".Sigh, I sense doom.

kiwi, here is my little kayak.. DH has a big motha, I like my little short wide one... It is me as a kayak.. I have it in "Tequila Sunrise"..just love those bright oranges and reds... http://www.tp-kayaks.com/_kayaks/_otsport/stoker.html I can throw it in the back of my trailblazer and just go!

Wabby, I want a DETAILED MENU!!! please provide in list format.

Sorry Cowie and Painty, hershey bars are gone! I don't ship perishables..
Painty, will send good healing thoughts your way...
Bless me father for I have sinned, I had 2 ring dings and a devil dog ...

Or you could set them straight. I don't claim to be Mother Theresa, but I think I am a caring person. Sadly, it's just those sort of Christian vs non-Christian assertions that drove me from the church in the first place.

Since we're not arguing religion, I'll just say this.... I don't think organized religion is necessary to develop your spirituality into something worthwhile. You miss the point of why I don't want to be involved in an organized religion. I've seen as much bad as good come from it. My neighbors are involved in a church that was under investigation by the DA because they had had several children die because they didn't believe in medical intervention. One child died from diabetes because her parents didn't believe in using insulin. In the end, they weren't prosecuted because the DA decided it was the parents right to withhold medical care because of religious convictions. This kind of thing makes me crazy!!! And yes, I know not all church's are like that. But some of them are.

Just argue with yourself.

That is one adorable kayak, Schatzi. The one I have has a rudder, which makes it very good to steer (and keeps it going in a straight line when you want to also), but its length and weight are drawbacks. I love the way you are right at water level in a kayak. Years ago DH & I went on a rafting trip in Idaho for a week and they had 2 inflatable kayaks we could play with instead of riding the rafts if we wanted to. At first I really nervous about paddling because we were going through a lot of Class II rapids, and I'd never been in a kayak before, but once I got in one, I didn't want to get out. It was great fun.

Wabbit, my friend who moved to Ore. called me tonight. She said she'd gone to a rodeo on July 4th somewhere around there, I forget exactly where. Did you go to the rodeo last weekend?

Kiwi

Kiwi, you night owl you.... I on the other hand am a Morning Lark Lark Lark! Well actually I straddle both... seeings how the older I get the less sleep I require.. AnyHooo, ah White Water rafting is one of my passions! My biggest adventure was 10 days of rafting down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon.. I hiked down the Bright Angel trail ...10 miles with 10 pounds on my back in 110 degree weather... Still don't know how I made it.. Ignorance and a healthy self image I guess.!

I am having the most delicious cup of cawfee as my 2 furkids snarfle and snork, and DH sounding like a freight train.

Very cute kayak! I'll take on in green. 'Cept I've never been in a kayak in my entire life and would probably tip over or worse. I took sailing lessons once, though. Came away with some mad knot-tying skilz.

I am cranky and crampy today. Spent most of yesterday lying on the sofa feeling sorry for myself but I have pulled up my boot straps today and will attempt to get something done. Sometime. Maybe later. Or not.

School is OUT! Report cards were fair to middling. No one was sent to the dungeon however there is much room for improvement. Must get packing for summer camp. Which means doing a ton of laundry first. Pity me.

Peach! You almost made me spit coffee all over myself. Hee. Have I told you lately that I love you???

It's DH's big 5-0 birthday today. Why is 5-0 such a big deal? To celebrate he's setting glass all day long w/ the guys because we're short handed. I'm sure he'll feel every bit of 50 by the end of the day.

The big land developer came and made us an offer. It was about $500,000 more than we thought it would be. You'd think that would make us happy, but strangely enough we're both kind of melancholy about the whole uprooting and moving thing. Maybe we should just wait until we retire to sell out. Our commute to work is about 4 minutes now, and yet we still have a rural type property. That would definitely change if we sold. We'd have to move way out of town to find what we have now. I also worry about the ghost of old man Elmer hunting us down if we let somebody demolish the old barn. He spent a lot of time drinking beer out there from the looks of all the old beer bottles that were hidden up in the loft.

All this kayaking talk makes me feel old and out of shape. You youngsters are so sporty. My next door neighbor is really into sailboarding and scuba diving. And she's 5 years older than me. Maybe I need to take up a sport. naaaah. just talking.

Sorry the blahs have got you today, Sugar. Will you be having a break when the kidlets go to summer camp?

Oops. I almost forgot your question, Kiwi. Nope, we didn't go to the rodeo on the 4th of July. There are 2 that weekend, Molalla Buckaroo (that's really the name of it) and the St. Paul Rodeo. One of DS's friends participated in the wild mule race at the Molalla Buckaroo. I bet that was a funny one to watch.

Painty, I'm reading your update, and I sure do feel for you on the hair issue. I'm sure it will all be worth it, and as they always say: this too shall pass. The 2 women I am most familiar with who have gone through chemo and done the bald/wig/scarf thing have emerged from the experience looking, I swear to you, more themselves. You'll be great. Love the pics, by the way -- the red hair is FAB!
Kiwi

Thanks Kiwi... I'm pretty excited about "moving on" just now. Apparently it is like so mamy other time spans... sometimes it flashes in seconds and other times it takes forever..probably sometimes you are relatively "out of your mind" anyway! do it could go super fast OR super slow.
Hope everyone is OP today.

Pics of Painty's new dooo? Ooh I bet you look FABU. "They" say cutting ones hair is akin to a new start..out with the old in with the new. I hope this time goes swift for you.

Kiwi... Haha, Snarfle and Snork would make great names.. I have 2 Cairn Terriers (Toto dogs) Darby and Casey.. DH decided to groom them so now they look like Dingos. And, are we sailing out to sea? Where ya goin Away to?

Sug: I'm confused love, are you a student who is packing off to summer camp? Hmm, back in the day of Yore (my youth, Once upon a time .n.. Far Far away) you could use those knot tying skills to Macrame a lovely plant hanger. I hope you feel better today..

Wabby, hope DH has a good bday weekend.. We should all have a full bday week to eat and do what we please..so sad he has to work... And That is some chunkachange.. Kiwi, is right , lots of things to consider if you sell to big cheese developers.

More bloody packing ... estimates are coming in and they are between 5 and 6 thousand clams.. That's more than I would spend on a swanky vacay.. Sooo being the cheap b*stards we are, we will try to move most of the stuff ourselves.. leaving the big heavy furniture for the no doubt young strappin, hopefully bronzed and buff stud muffin movers to hump...

How mooovalas..did you know that today is Cow Appreciation Day....I think a dairy product is in order!!! A hot fudge sundae perhaps... http://www.imgag.com/product/full/ap...0/graphic1.gif
Must. Get. Cawfee

Missing cow checking in.

Painty, they probably wouldn't let you near the books at Borders because you'd rearrange them so people could actually find them!

Wabby, that's a much better birthday present than black balloons! Heh, digging out the septic tank.

Bagzzie, how's the store?

Hi SugP, Lushie, Peachie (I'm glad you weathered the storm!), Cookie (if you're lurking), and everyone! I've been quite the selfish grad student lately, missing birthdays, failing to check in, failing to express interest in anything but my homework- and I feel so bad, but it will probably be like this until graduation! Right now I'm learning about teaching literacy skills in content classes (k-12), which is required because I don't have a teaching certificate, but all my classmates are teachers. Needless to say, I'm LOST!!

Must go, I'm snatching a moment at Job #1 before leaving to go to Job #2, where I will try to snatch moments to do homework. Oh, and I got picked to present research and I haven't done the research! It's in October, so I allegedly still have time!

Still ww-onlining. Still in the 190s. No time to workout. You know when I say that, it's TRUE! And I hate it!

Naa, Schatzi, I'm just a cranky old cow who's trying to get her 12 yr old off to summer camp with enought t-shirts and socks to last two weeks. And the sailing-related knot tying skills? Lost 'em about a month after I learned 'em. Not like there are any boats out here in the backwoods of nowhere anyway. But macrame I can do!!

First day of holidays has been...just like all the other days except I didn't have to get up at 6:30 a.m. and the kids are here to drive me crazy. The little guy will be home the whole 6 weeks so I'll have to think of fun stuff we can do together. He's not the type of kid who likes non stop action with large groups of kids.

Cherry!!!! So glad you checked in. I peek into your blog once in a while and can imagine how busy you are trying to juggle family, studies and two jobs. Wow. What a trooper. And yes, if you say there's no time to work out we know you mean it because you are our workout idol.

I need to go to the post office and send back some clothes I ordered that don't fit. Some actually DID fit, so I'm keeping those, but the others have got to go. One summer project will be cleaning out my clothes closet. Ugh.

Tomorrow is FILs 76 birthday and we're all invited to a restaurant for sushi. Yay! It's right across the street from their apartment so they don't have far to go. Did I mention that the old guy had been in the hospital for about 2 weeks so they could check him out and finally officially make diagnosis of sleep apnea? Now he has to wear some sort of a mask at night to keep him breathing and I swear he was a bit more chipper yesterday when they were over here annoying us. Just as ornery, but more awake while he was driving me nuts, you know?

Oh yeah, and my parents just came back from checking out a place for us to stay in Osoyoos next year when we go over. They stayed at this place where we've stayed a couple of time before and said this time it was absolutely awful. Not because of the accomodations, but because of the company. My youngest brother and his wife and their 4 yr old, aka Holy Terror were there along with a soon-to-be-divorced friend of my SIL's and HER two terrors, 2 and 4. To quote my mother, "I have never heard such screeching, bellowing and screaming, and that was just the mothers!!!" The Holy Terror has some large behavioural problems and his parents (OK, his mother) don't seem to be accepting it or doing much about it. It was sort of cute at 2, but at 4 it's getting a little out of hand and the boy needs help. Perfect strangers were shushing the kids on the beach because they were so uncontrollable. Oh well, not my problem. Not now at least. Just a bit concerned about the fact that they'll probably be up there with all of us next year along with my other brother and his two girls, who are now 9 and 13. How very restful. I will bring ear plugs for everyone.

AND my mother caught the nasty Norfolk virus from the care facility she was volunteering at with the AIDS sufferers. Apparently most of the staff and residents got it. Uck. She said she's going to try to find something where she's not exposed to so many people because she's worried about passing stuff on to my dad and the grandkids.

Time to slap on some lipstick ("Drop of Sherry" today. Mmm!) and get going. See yas!