A whole lotta travel planning going on in the Amerson household (at least when *I* am home...)

We are hoping to go to Europe in late April/early May. I checked out our frequent flier miles.....and they have halved the amount of miles it takes to fly to Europe!! Which means we have enough for FOUR tickets (or two tickets to Europe, and enough for one of our tickets to Australia). So we must go.

Shopping around (and I *DO* shop around....), I found us flights where we fly into Frankfurt, Germany, then fly home from Rome. Here is our itinerary so far...




We fly into Frankfurt (leaving here ~11am on a Friday), arriving early Saturday morning. Either we hang out in Frankfurt and spend a night, or we catch a train directly to Bacharach, on the Rhein river.



We will stay in a B&B or small hotel here. From this base, we will take a train north and across the Rhein to a town called Moselkern on the Mosel river, where we will disembark, then hike for a bit to get to this:



This is Burg Eltz, a BEAUTIFUL castle that is over 800 years old and was never destroyed/bombed, etc. Rick Steves' favorite castle. After this, we catch another train back to Koblenz (also on the Rhein river), then take a KD river cruise back down to Bacharach (another Rick Steves recommendation). More relaxing and exploring the area until Tuesday with a local rail pass.

On Tuesday, we will take a train out of Germany and into Amsterdam. Ethan really wants to go back. Hopefully, our trip will coincide with Queen's day, which is a nationwide celebration of the Queen's (official) birthday--parties and festivals everywhere, and it is also the ONE day when ANYONE can sell things. No yard sales the rest of the year--just this day!! So they have tons of little second-hand markets set up, and performances of local dance groups and music and all sorts of excitement.

We stay in Amsterdam for four nights, exploring the canals and houseboats and doing at least one bike tour.

On Saturday, we will take a train to Paris. May or may not work in a stop in Brussels. Rick Steves recommends that we get off the train for a few hours here, explore the Grand Place and have a nice lunch, then reboard and head on to Paris. However, then just completed the upgrades for the super high speed Thalys trains, so we may just go straight through. Still deciding.....

We are in Paris for 3 nights, exploring the architecture and history; we will be there for the free day at the Louvre and many other museums (along with a few thousand of our closest friends...), but we will not stress out (WE-WILL-NOT-STRESS-OUT...repeat....), and just enjoy what we can, taking in the ambiance. Definitely going up the Eiffel tower at sunset, and climbing all the steps up Notre Dame and the Arc du Triumph for their views...

We leave Paris on Tuesday, taking a cheap flight to Rome, where we will spend our last three nights. Lots of ruins and architecture and great food and dodging cars and wonderfulness....then we fly back home.

I am sure I will tweak this a bunch as I go, but this is the basic plan so far.

Looks like Mom had one more update in her....

......although...I am not sure I can get past the OMG from *my* mother!! Who taught her that?!?

This email was titled "Croatia"--she went through Zagreb then on to Dubrovnik--I found her a 3 night sea kayaking tour, where you stay in local B&Bs and take guided kayak/snorkel exploration tours during the day. Sounds like it went well.



Alyca

O. M. G!!!!


Unbelievable!!!

Absolutely Awesome!!

Touched!!!!

My Heart is FULL!!

Thank you thank. You THanK YOu. SO muCh for FinDing this place and putting it all together

We are on. Our way home

WILl talk soon

Love you

Mom

A final update from Mom (now in Croatia)

Hi Alyca
CheckinG in

We made it To ZegreB. JuSt. Fine
I am. Sitting on the pLane awaiting také off

Rode. A river boat last night
What a Trip that was
I. felt like I was Living inside of a postcard. It was breathtaking view of lots oF castles
UnbElievable
I am taking lots of pictures
I wont Remember whicH one was where
But beautiful any way

Let others know I am okay

Gotta hang up and FLY away

Bye

Love

MoM

Pictures from our hike up to Baker Lake

Ethan and I went camping this weekend with Justin and Kim (Brian and Erin came up on Saturday). We headed out noonish Saturday to Baker Lake, and had a really nice hike up, with some beautiful views.

An update from Mom

I think she was having issues with the Czech keyboard.......

Hi Alyca,
Yep, got another one. Today.
It is not gold tho, but bronZe has a nice shine to it!

I am racing on the senior woman,s grand master,s.
Tomorrow, we are not racing, so we will check out the City It is so beautiFul here! The weather has been perfect!
Let eveRyone knoW I am Doing great!

Gotta hit the sack

Také care,
LovE

Final tally:

Silver with the Grandmasters women in the 2000m; Bronze with the Grandmaster women in the 1000m; Bronze with the Grandmasters women in the 200m; Silver with the Senior women in the 200m; Bronze with the Senior women in the 500m. So, you could really say she rocked it. A medal at every distance she competed in!

Today (Monday), they took a train into Budapest. They are staying there for 3 nights, doing all the Rick Steves recommended activities--their number one focus is to go to a public bath. Don't worry--they wear clothes in the public baths....

After Budapest, it is another train ride into Zagreb, Croatia; then a flight down to Dubrovnik where they meet up with another paddler and do a 3 day sea kayaking adventure. Mom got a housing for her camera that is waterproof, and promises to bring back lots of pictures!!

Mom

For those of you who are following along....

A few links to make things easier.

Here is a blog by Wasabi (Mom's club in Portland). They are blogging some of the races. Mom is not involved, but they do talk about the boats swamping the first day and how some of the races are going. Mom is on (I believe) the Grandmasters women (over age 50), and maybe the grandmasters mixed team. Pretty sure about the GM women, since we saw the picture of her in the medal lineup, and the Senior women did not get a medal.

http://www.wasabipaddlingclub.blogspot.com/


Here is a link to a website where a photographer is taking pictures of the races.

http://www.dragonboat2009.com/photo-galleries

He updates it daily (so far), and there are LOTS of pictures to look through. I have looked through them ALL so far, and there is just the one with Mom in it. I will let you know if I find more......To look through the pictures, just click on one to make it bigger. Once it is up, click on the top right of the picture ( on the > symbol) to go to the next picture


Here is the link to race results--they are posted live within a few minutes of the race completing.

http://idbfworldchamps.com/

The top of the page has some navy blue buttons to get results for day 1, day 2, etc.


Are we all caught up??? Keep sending good luck vibes to Mom--there are a lot more medals out there to win, and I know she is using her medals to make a curtain for her window. She needs a couple more to finish it!!

Mom wins a silver medal!!!

Mom is in Prague, and today was the first big day of racing.

I believe Mom is on the Grand Dragon women's team....because there is a picture on the link above of Mom at a medals ceremony, and reporting on the official site that the US Grand Dragons women won a silver medal in the 2000 meter race.

(It is Picture #43....you will recognize her by her cane.....)

In Australia in 2007, mom won a bronze medal in the 500meters with the Grand Dragons mixed team...so this is a GREAT start to her meet!!

Paddle hard, Mom!!

After 36 hours of swearing, taking things apart, consulting the internet, dragging out our behemoth of a ladder and sleeping in alternate locations, we have finally silenced the chirping of the fire alarm in our bedroom.

We were mystified when the beeping continued despite changing the battery, vacuuming out any dust or bugs inside, resetting the system and giving it dirty looks.

We drug the ladder out of the garage and got up into the attic above out bedroom--on the internet, there were stories of people having beeping fire alarms they didn't know existed in their attics. I figured we MUST have one up there.

We were even MORE mystified when the beeping continued after we removed the unit from the ceiling (ours are hard-wired into the house, and have a battery backup). The beeping continued out of the empty hole. How the hell is that possible?? The beeping would not stop even when we tripped the circuit breaker. I figured they were mislabelled.

We nearly divorced.

I went to the manufacturer's website for tips, and followed ALL of them.

Except the tip where they say that the beeping could be coming from another source. What idiot has a cell phone with a fire alarm beep and doesn't recognize it, I thought. How stupid ARE some people??

Apparently, we are those idiots. The beeping was from our carbon monoxide detector, whose battery was running low. It is plugged into a socket at the foot of our bed, and in our teeny master bedroom, the sound bounced off the walls and we only THOUGHT it was coming from the hole in the ceiling where the smoke detector goes.

The beeping began at 5:20am on Saturday. I know this, because Ethan was just closing the garage door to go into work for some overtime when it started. I figured I needed a new battery, but 5:20am is not the time for me to be coordinated and stand on a chair, so I went downstairs and slept on the couch.

The rest of Saturday was pretty busy--Ethan spend 5+ hours using our new powerwasher on the deck (which looks fabulous now, by the way...), and I was busy with some other cleaning projects around the house. We tried changing the battery, etc in the afternoon, to no avail. Then we headed out to Justin and Kim's for the Seahawks game, and got home around midnight. At this point, we were tired and tried turning off the power to the alarm system, planning to deal with it in the morning. WHen this failed, I slept on the couch upstairs, and Ethan slept on the couch downstairs ( I totally got the better deal--the upstairs couch is COMFY!). Then, around 4am, one of the actual smoke detectors got sick of the beeping coming from the bedroom, and IT started chirping. Every minute. Both of them. I moved into our spare bedroom, closed the door and slept a few hours on the air mattress in there. Not comfortable.
After a few hours of this, I moved to the newly vacated couch downstairs for some sleep. Eventually, I got up and used a hand carved cane we got on our honeymoon to push the reset button on the smoke detector while standing on a chair(it is up on the vaulted ceiling in our living room and VERY hard to reach), and shut it up. Several hours later, after much hair pulling, we got the other alarm silenced.

I am still hearing beeping in my head.

I have often felt a sort of kinship, a feeling of understanding and connection with lesbian and gay couples. The discrimination, the anger, the rudeness, the stares. I think I have a teeny bit of an understanding as to how that feels, and what it is like to be in a loving relationship that is not respected by the outside world.

In case you couldn't tell from our numerous pictures posted on my blog, Ethan and I are in an interracial relationship. Shocking, I know.

In the early days of our relationship, back when we first met in college, I thought nothing of the differences in skin color. Ethan was very sweet, oh-so-kind, intelligent and sensitive, and gorgeous to boot. What more was I looking for?? Having been raised in the boonies with almost no people with ethnicities other than my own, I had never formulated an opinion on who I would or wouldn't date.

After a few weeks, I remember talking on the phone to Davinie and mentioning his race. Not a big deal, just thought I should throw it out there. She was cool, didn't seem to think much of it, either.

Most of my family was pretty cool about things--they ALL are now. Some had concerns. Was I now becoming a part of the 'black community'? Would my kids be accepted in 'white society'?? I think it was mostly naivety and concern for me and my happiness. I am pretty confident now in the acceptance by my family of my relationship. If that makes any sense whatsoever.

Ethan and I have been together, somewhat off and on (bus mostly on) since 1995. That is fourteen years this fall. Now that my family has really gotten to know him, they love him and accept him and our relationship.

Okay, the back story. Got it???

Here in the Pacific NW, we are relatively sheltered. This area is known for tolerance and acceptance. I get funny looks sometimes when Ethan and I are out and about holding hands or presenting ourselves as a definite 'couple', but for the most part, people really don't care if we are interracially together.

Leaving this safety bubble is another thing. We have had obscenities screamed at us, rude gestures, serious anger directed our way. Why??? We were walking down a street, holding hands on vacation. This has happened in Las Vegas, it has happened in Reno, we had some issues in Miami.....

Anyway. I compare this to a homosexual couple. Screamed at for holding hands or kissing. Having people try to talk you out of your relationship. I could no more stop loving Ethan than I could cut my own leg off. He is my soulmate. We don't get to choose the skin color or eye color or shoe size or height of the one we fall in love with--you fall in love with someone's soul, and take the physical package that comes attached. I feel the same way about same-sex couples. Do you honestly think that this is a CHOICE?? That they CHOOSE to make their life more difficult by being in a same-sex relationship?? That they ENJOY being stared at and getting evil looks?? Really?? You think they do this for fun?? Doesn't sound like much fun to me. No one would choose the additional stressors that come with being gay/lesbian. This is who they are. This is how they are. Everyone is different. Everyone is born with their own uniqueness. Some differences are accepted, and some are not. I try my best to accept everyone as they are. I do not always succeed, but I do try. I think the world would be a much better place if we all at least TRIED.

Because it still makes me cry every time, even a year later

Because I love travelling vicariously almost as much as I love actually travelling.

I feel compelled to share what an awesome trip Mom is about to take. I have been doing some European exploring, and helped Mom devise a wonderful trip that I am extremely jealous of.

On August 24th, I will drive Mom and a friend to the Seattle airport. She will be in Seattle for a dragonboat race, then leave from here to go to Prague for the 2009 World Championships of Dragon Boat Racing. Very exciting. She gets to Prague Tuesday morning, then has practices that afternoon, and the real racing starts Wednesday. Racing continues through Sunday. Paddle hard, Grammbon!!

Once she finishes racing on Sunday, the 30th of August, the real fun starts...
On Monday morning, she will board a train to Austria. Exact destination is not yet determined. The town of Graz is one option, as is Vienna. A ~5 hour train ride through the beautiful countryside, ending in the early afternoon. They will debark the train, head for a hotel for the night, then have the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday to explore the city.
Wednesday morning, they head to Zagreb, Croatia. Only a 2-3 hour train ride away. They spend the rest of Wednesday exploring Zagreb, spend a night in a hotel, then fly out of Zagreb Thursday afternoon, heading for the coastal town of Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is where the real action is happening. Only a 50 minute flight away, this is where Mom and her friend will be met by a company called Adria Adventures (Dubrovnik is on the Adriatic Sea), who will whisk them away for a few days of adventure http://www.adriaadventure.hr/ Mom is doing the Elaphite islands kayaking weekend tour. Three days of sea kayaking, snorkelling, and seeing beautiful sights and amazing turquoise waters. Lots of fun.

On Sunday, their trip ends. They will take that short flight back to Zagreb and spend the night there. They have Monday morning to relax and see some sights, then it is off to Frankfurt, Germany on an early afternoon flight. They will head to a local hotel, then enjoy the evening in Germany. Their flight home to Portland leaves midmorning on Tuesday.

Sound like fun?? I know *I* want to go!!

I had absolutely nothing to do with this page.....

WARNING: Bring tissues

This is one of the things that is good about small town america--they look after their own.

The ABCs of Me (following Sabrina's lead)

A Agnostic. Strongly. If there is a god, I seriously doubt he/she will be deciding my fate based on what specific things I think happened thousands of years ago. If Jesus appeared on a Tuesday and I say Thursday....do I really go to hell?? All religions teach basically the same thing--be good, do good things, act kindly. I follow that. I don't need to be scared into acting a certain way by organized religion which inevitably becomes a place people use to justify being an ass 6 days a week because they are in church every Sunday. I will take my chances in the event that there IS an afterlife. Going to churche doesn't make you a good person. BEING a good person makes you a good person. Raised Mormon, but lost my soft spot for that religion when they funded Prop 8 in California.

B Babies. Maybe we will have them, maybe we won't.....but that is between Ethan and I and I really wish the rest of the world would butt out!! What we choose to do or not do is of no concern to anyone but the two of us. Unless you are offering to bear, pay for, and babysit our child, quit nosing in!!

C Cats. We have two of them--Shadow (aka the Shadow Man, aka the Shadowy Man of Shadows) and Boo (aka the Boo-Kitty, aka Boo Kitty Boo), who have somehow endeared themselves to me despite the fact that they spend their days vomiting on my carpet, eating my houseplants and dispersing fur evenly throughout the house.

D Driving. I always drive. I don't like being in the car when I am not the driver. I prefer to be in control.

E Ethan. Of course. My first, my last, my everything. The reason I strive to do well, the example I hold myself up to.

F Football. Ethan and I are season ticket holders for the Seattle Seahawks, and are fairly dedicated fans. We also do fantasy football, and will be resuming our own league this year (after a 1 year hiatus because of stress/work overload)

G Gigabytes. I need more of them to keep up with the (literally) tens of thousands of pictures I have taken with my Canon 10D since I got it in 2004.

H Harborview. Where both Ethan and I work. We will both retire from here in about 27-28 years. I believe in their mission, and I LOVE being involved with trauma (even though that is no longer the primary focus of my floor)

I Iceburgs. I literally started squealing and dragged Ethan out of the shower when we were on our Alaskan cruise in 2004 so he could see what ended up being the first of THOUSANDS of small iceburgs on our cruise up the Tracy Arm Fjord. I could not get over the sheer size of some of them, and the electric blue color and crazy shapes.

J July. As in the Fourth of July. Something I have not celebrated for quite some time. Now I feel like my country and I have something in common, that people out there feel the way I do. And I can listen to the patriotic music and the national anthem and be proud once again of this country and the way we conduct ourselves.

K Karma. What goes around, comes around. At least, I hope so!

L Lord of the Rings. The one book, growing up, that I was not able to read. You may know that I am a reader?? I read all kinds of books. My childhood shyness was coped with through books--who needs to learn social skills when you can hole up with a good book instead?? Anyway....this one has a section about 150 pages in, that lasts about 30 pages....that BORES me to the point where I tried twice to read it, and had to put it down. After seeing the first two movies by Peter Jackson, I was inspired and had to head back and try again. Now I have read it cover to cover 5 times (still slogging through that boring section....), and am obsessed with everything Lord of the Rings. I have seen the movies HUNDREDS of times. I play then in the background on my laptop while I scrapbook. And I listen to the special features, and I listen to the director and actor commentaries.....obsessed.

M Mountain. As in Rainier. I look for it every day. Sometimes it is visible, sometimes not....but I always look. And ooh and ahhh. And make Ethan look, because he takes it for granted, having lived here all his life. I want to hike there and camp there and I just LOVE that mountain!!

N Nicknames. None. Alyca. My name. No nicknames--never had them, never will. Just Alyca. And I extend this to my inability to call others by nicknames, as well. If you are introduced to me as Toby, then Toby you are...even if you do become a lawyer and all grown up and want to be called Tobias. Just like Ethan will always be Ethan and not 'E' or 'honey' or 'sweetie'. Too goofy. I cannot make myself do it.

O Outlet. As in creative outlet. Mine are photography and scrapbooking. I scrapbook as a way to showcase the bazillion photos I take (mostly while on vacation). I finally finished the album for our Hawai'ian trip in Sept. '08. I have a simple, photo-centric scrappy style.

P Plane. What I hope to be taking to Australia this February. Still working out the funding details, but we are hoping to do a 2 week trip. I went back in 2007 with Mom and was blown away by the beauty and vastness, and the REEF. I must take Ethan there to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef with me. An experience unlike any other I have had.

Q Quilt. I have been working on a quilt for Ethan for about 4 years now. I blame the terribly crappy sewing machine for making it take this long. I just inherited the sewing machine Mom had throughout my formative years, the one that made the garters and armbands for prom, the one that made countless clothes and costumes for us. Anyway....this one actually works and I am endeavoring to finish the quilt before it gets cold outside again this fall. I am about 75% done with the top, just need to finish it off, add a border and sew the whole shebang together.

R Room. My scrapbook room. It is 4.5 feet by 5.5 feet, with custom shelving (thanks, Mom!) floor to ceiling on one wall, a custom desk with custom shelves to the ceiling on a second wall, and more nooks and crannies to store things than you could believe. I can *just* fit inside, close the door, sit in my comfortable chair (thanks, Mom!) and enter my own private world. I put the Lord of the Rings movies on my laptop and scrap away.

S Seafood. Can't do it. I have a serious mental block that prevents me from eating seafood of any kind. If it is not dead when kept underwater, I don't eat it. No shrimp, no crap, no fish. Occasionally, on our wedding anniversary, I will eat a few bites of seafood as an anniversary gift to Ethan, who is still appalled that I have such a seafood aversion. I will cook it for him, but I am not eating it myself!! The very thought makes me want to gag.

T Travel agent. What I would be if there was any money in it. I love to browse and look and think about travel, even when it is not for me. I am currently working on a trip for Mom for when she goes to Prague at the end of August. Right now, I am looking at a 3-4 day kayaking adventure in Venice with a meet-up with the local dragonboat team. Or sea kayaking in Croatia or Turkey. Maybe a tandem bike tour through the Czech Republic and into Slovakia and Hungary.

U Umbrella. I have never purchased one. We do have two freebie giveaway Sonics umbrellas...but they were last used at the Rose Festival in Portland a few years ago. Seattleites don't use umbrellas. We just put our heads down and keep walking. Only a handful of times have I truly been dumped on while walking home.

V Volcano. I'd love to go back to Hawai'i and do a helicopter tour over Mauna Loa to see the lava flowing.

W Web. As in the internet. I like to browse. My current favorite website is www.everything-everywhere.com I have spent the past month or so going from the beginning of this guy's journey, trying to catch up to today. He is travelling the world solo. Going....well, everywhere. And seeing....everything. Very cool. Lots of pictures of amazing sights and sites. I am inspired. Right now, I want to go see the Twelve Apostles in Australia (too bad they are nowhere near where I will be when I go there....)

X xe.com Where I go to figure out how much foreign tours cost in USD

Y Year. Our yearly new years resolution remains the same: To watch every episode of star trek. We are waiting for blockbuster to send us more Deep Spacer Nine (they are on serious backorder right now), but we are halfway through Voyager, with only Enterprise (and DS9) remaining. Maybe we will finish this year??

Z Ziplining. Ethan and I have done this five times now, and each time is more fun than the last! We are now making it a point to go Ziplining on every vacation we take (if there is any available nearby). So much fun!!

Alas, the record was tied but not broken

Twenty nine straight days without measurable rainfall. Only 11 minutes before midnight last night, it started to rain. Just short of the record!!

The longest Seatte stretch ever was 55 days, but 29 days is the longest not in July or August. I have to say........I kinda like the rain. Not every day, mind you...but it smells so nice when it has been dry and warm and it starts to rain in a summer evening!


Today is a very special day. My special someone turns twenty-thirteen today. We are celebrating by going to a Storm game tonight, and I have made a scrapbook mural that I am going to secretly put up over his desk today while he is in a meeting. It is a lovely scrappy photo collage with pictures of Ethan and I all over the place. We only have pictures of the two of us together on vacation. Almost none at all of us on a regular day or even in the city of Seattle. Anyway. That is his gift. I am sure he will like it. It is just a matter of getting into his locked office with him out....I am hoping one of his coworkers is there during Ethan's meeting to let me in. Worst case....I meet him for lunch as usual and bring it with me. No fun 'surprise' moment, but I know he will appreciate it anyway. His desk is a little boring at the moment. And I stuck with masculine colors/patterns and kept the flowers and bling to a minimum....

Mr. and Mrs Ethan Amerson
June 14, 2003

Hanging out before the ceremony

Papa at the reception

Grandjack and the pastor who married us relaxing after the ceremony.

Sabrina helping Ethan with his bouttonniere

Sorry......computer crashed earlier.....pictures resume

A painting of Ethan's grandma and great aunt Alice that I had made for Ethan's 25th birthday. We wanted them to be present at the wedding.

Wedding pictures: Reminiscing

Here are some wedding pictures that I actually have on a CD. These are all the digital pics my photographer (well, his wife...) took. I bought the negatives for my wedding pictures years ago....and learned that since they were taken with a Hasselblad camera and are large format, it would cost me upwards of $5 per picture to get them scanned and usable online or for editing. I have well over 200 pictures. Do the math. So.....we are going to get a very fancy large format negative scanner. Eventually. They are spendy, but much cheaper than sending the negatives to a lab to have them scanned, plus...then we will have a scanner!!

So.. Enjoy a few pictures of the new Amersons.

Sabrina giving Alexsandra some last minute instructions for her flowergirl duties. Check out the beautiful arch that Davinie decorated for us!

Eric and Mike being goofballs. They were officially our ushers, and the earpieces they have are just that--earpieces. Not connected to anything, just a wire that ran under their collars. Very high tech and all

Happy Loving day!!

On June 12th, 1967, Richard and Mildred Loving won their nine year
legal battle and the Supreme Court granted them the right to be married
in the state of Virginia. This victory also legalized interracial
relationships nationwide, overturning hundreds of years of racist
laws.

We've made progress this year. Interracial marriage was illegal in 22
states when Barack Obama's parents got married, and now he's the
President of the United States. The option to identify yourself as
multiracial finally appeared on the U.S. Census in 2000, and now
multiracial people are the fastest growing demographic in the U.S.

However, racism is not dead. There is still racial prejudice in our
daily lives. Loving Day is a great way to fight this prejudice through
education, and to build multicultural community. Join thousands of
others all over the world in celebrating Loving Day.

Probably going to cause someone cardiac arrest by *actually* posting something on here, but so be it.

Absolutely nothing going on with the Amersons. You can tell by the way I haven't posted anything. Nothing at all.

We are not going to go to Australia this fall. We are looking at February, right after the Superbowl ('cause we are NOT going to be out of the country missing that!...unless we plan it out in advance and figure out where we will go to watch it, etc....but probably not). Hopefully the airfare remains cheap as it is now--about half the price I paid back in 2007.

We are thinking about using our timeshare for the week of Thanksgiving this year. We also have a buy one, get one for $50 airline ticket that expires at the end of November, so that would work out nicely, and get us a cheapie vacation in.

Other than some far off travel plans, we are same old, same old. We live fairly boring lives. It is massively hot up here, or at least it was the past few days. A bit cooler today, but still sunny and beautiful. Of course it is supposed to rain tomorrow in Portland, where I will be for the Rose festival. It ALWAYS rains on me at the Rose Festival. Every single year. Whatever.

Someday I will start uploading pictures again. My adapter for my big camera for some reason makes my desktop computer freeze up, so I can't use it. And the camera card port won't recognize the camera card anymore. So my only option for getting pictures from my laptop or big camera to the desktop is to burn them onto a CD, and that is annoying and takes time and I don't like wasting CDs, so I haven't been doing it. I will break down and start, though. We have a million blank CDs from a sale after Thanksgiving a few years ago. They are not spendy, so I suppose I can waste them. I cannot burn over top of a CD that already has things on it, so they become one-use items.

I would like to put up some pictures from the Cooper Kids Coast Christmas last year. Specifically those of the marvellously wrapped gifts the Amersons brought; just to remind others in the family of what the plan is for this year.....I have a great one of Steve turning Matt on.....

The big excitement in our life lately is the neighbor from across the street who keeps coming over to our house and unscrewing the light bulbs from our garage lights (exterior) and the porch light. Apparently they are too bright. Regular, energy saver bulbs. And if you know the topography of our street, you will recall that the house across the street is probably 40 or 50 horizontal feet away, and the BOTTOM of their house is above the ROOF of my house, since there is such a steep hill there. But my lightbulbs are too bright, and he decided we weren't doing a good enough job remembering to turn the lights off at night (he asked us to, and we were trying to remember to, despite the fact that it is safer having little lights on at night to prevent the rifraff from stealing things from darkened corners, and we WANT to leave them on--as we have for the three and a half years we have lived in this house). So anyway, he has done it a few times, TOLD me after the second time. I yelled at him for like 10 minutes and told him we would call the police if it happened again. I also suggested he purchase a curtain, if these lights are so terribly bright that they disturb his sleep. Mind you, there is a STREETLIGHT about 15 or so vertical feet right above our lights, but he is insistent that our lights are the culprit. I suggested he get a second curtain if he truly needs more light reduction. I have considered giving him the mailer I always get from Bed, Bath and Beyond that is good for $10 off a $50 purchase. Pretty sure they sell curtains. And those eye cover things for spas and foofie ladies. Anyway. You will have to see our lights to truly appreciate it, but drunken college boy had seriously better not come back over to mess with my lights again!!! AND...they are RENTERS. I seriously consider calling the owner (I am sure I can look him up online...we met several times a few years ago when he was living in this house, before he moved. Seemed like a nice, reasonable guy), and letting him know what his renters are up to. If it happens again. Which it probably won't, since our little talk cleared things up.

Anyway. Woohoo, excitement...