Christmas Before Thanksgiving

Gingerbread House

Santa & his Elves

Ice Apples, shortbread cookies, cranberry punch and lots of pointsettias

Every year at about this time, our favorite nursery kicks off the holidays with their Festival of Lights. It all Christmas all the time. Wonderful trees and pointsettias and glorious decorations. Last night Mayanne, Al and I (AJ was too pooped to put up with stuff he doesn't like...shopping & decorating) enjoyed an evening of holiday cheer. We bought a few things but nothing earth shaking. Today, it's back in to Thanksgiving mode as I go on a quest for a decorative turkey. As I have been looking for over a week without success, I've come to realize that Thanksgiving is being relegated to the little blip after Halloween and before Christmas. It's kind of sad.

God Bless America

Election 2008. What an exciting night! What amazing times we live in! How far our country has come in our 232 short years! Regardless of who you voted for, you've got to admit that electing a black man as President is an historic event. We vote by mail here in Oregon so we don't get to go to the polls. I so enjoyed watching on TV as people spent hours in line to cast their vote. No one was standing over the ballot boxes with guns. No one had to sneak in to vote in order to avoid persecution. All registered voters, regardless of race, religion or status could have their say. We can trust that our system works, flaws and all. I really do pray that God blesses America. We had a small election party here last night and as Jana watched the returns with us, she was so thrilled for her students who have engaged in the election process like never before. How fantastic for those minority children who can now say, "I really can be whatever I want to be. I do have a voice. I can be heard". I'm sure there's a party goin' on in Mrs Avison's 6th grade classroom this morning.

Habitat for Humanity Trickery

The Recruiting Poster. Ha!

The families that will get a brand new house. They put in 500 hours of sweat equity.

The Gracia's new home.

This week, Habitat for Humanity is building 2 houses here in Salem. I was recruited to help in the hospitality tent...right up my alley. Of course I said yes to a 4 hour shift serving coffee and pizza, checking construction guys in & out and doing general hostessing duties. However, in reality, when you show up at a work site for Habitat, YOU WORK! My co-"hostess" and I pushed wheelbarrows around cleaning up after crazy messy construction workers. At first it wasn't too bad, just picking up papercups, empty boxes, and empty caulking tubes. We got the place looking extremely good. Then we found where the left over siding was thrown and our ordeal began. Did you know that siding is mage od concrete and that it's very heavy? Yikes! Being the psycho cleaner that I am (so was my partner) we worked to get every piece of siding picked up and thrown in the dumpster. Needless to say, I'm pooped! But it's a good pooped. Two dear families will have lovely homes and I had a tiny part in helping. If you ever get a chance to volunteer with Habitat, do it. They are amazing!

Meet Tucker

After we got home from the beach on Saturday, Don & Cheri headed to Vancouver WA to pick up their new baby. On their way back to Jefferson they stopped here to show us Tucker, an 8 week old purebred Sheltie. He's a tiny boy so he is not show quality. But because they only wanted him for a pet, they got a relatively good deal on him. He's a doll and even from the first, he was a gentleman and slept through the night. It will be fun to watch him grow up.

Is It Really The End of October?

It's hard to believe that we are approaching the first of November. Usually by now our days are dark and rainy and windy. Fall = blustery. However, we are enjoying spring-like whether here in the valley and even at the coast. This weekend, Don & Cheri Suklis celebrated their 23rd anniversary. It's been a challenging year for them but they have worked hard and can see a little light at the end of their very dark tunnel. On Friday the four of us headed over to Lincoln City for a couple of days of R&R. And we really did R&R. We did some shopping at the outlet mall and that was the extent of our vigorous activity. We took a long drive up the coast to some places we'd never been before and enjoyed some gorgeous Oregon scenery. We ate at the Pelican in Pacific City and then headed back to the house to watch a video of a comedian Don & Cheri discovered. His name is Jim Geffigan and his video is called "Beyond the Pale". He is very pale skinned, has extremely light strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes- making the video title very appropo. He is also hilarious. Anyway, this morning Al got fresh donuts and we lazed around till lunch time when we headed to Mo's for clam chowder and garlic toast. Yum. After a run through Starbucks, we drove home and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Ahhhhhh!

New England's Got Nothin' On Us

We are having a magnificent Autumn. I took this picture near Al's office.

It's so neat that you don't have to go out in the country to get such wonderful color.

Bright blue skys, a setting sun and lovely yellow trees reflect on the Willamette.

IT'S A BOY!

The ultra-sound left no doubt that it's a boy!

The fabulous hosts of the party.

Lots of blue presents.

On Friday afternoon, Maryanne and AJ had the ultra-sound that would tell them lots of good things about their baby, including it's sex. That evening, Jana & Lauren hosted a reveal party for all of us so we could get the news at the same time. Jana made delicious homemade pizza and bread sticks, Lauren made a wonderful salad and I brought cake. Excitement was running high when AJ and MA finally showed up. They kept us in suspense till we sat down to dinner. After a 6 to 2 vote in favor of a boy, they revealed that their first child is indeed a baby boy. YaHoo!!! After dinner & before dessert, we surprised them with baby boy gifts (all of us purchased boy and girl things just to be on the safe side). It was so much fun! I'll keep you posted as things proceed.

Just Another Day at the Office

On Frday, Al treated all of us girls in the office to a "spa day". He held down the fort while we were wisked away in style to an afternoon of pampering. Sara had an earlier appointment so she met us at there.

It was LaVerne's first ride in a limo.

Maryanne showing off her pretty toes. And no that's not a beer!


LaVerne and I enjoying our pedi. And yes that is wine!


Sara soaking before she gets all pretty in pink.

What you don't see are the massages and facials. It sort of spoils the ambience to have someone burst in and take a picture. All in all we had a grand time together. Don't we have a nice boss?

Construction Update

Monday morning the giant back hoe took aim at the office driveway. Tuesday morning with a 15 foot hole between the area where we're allowed to park and the front door, Maryanne & I had to squeeze up against a wall and gently scoot around the abyss...in heels no less! The street situation has become so challenging that when clients call, we tell them to either stay home or prepare for an obstacle course, hard hat required, or take care of business over the phone. This whole process has been an education in patience and flexibility. The good news is...new sewers by the end of the month.