Oregon vacation - Part II... more Pics

Here I am with my Mom and Dad on the Newport BayfrontOn Thursday, Aug 30th, it was opening day of the OSU football season!! GO BEAVS!!! Our stadium kicks ass!! Our team kicks ass! This was a night game and my dad and I arrived early to take it all in! We were up against Utah, a supposedly very good team. We looked bad against them in the 1st quarter, but then it was all OSU after that. We took out two of their best players - some good offensive guy got a broken leg, and their quarterback broke his shoulder. They were beat down!!

Below is the largest jumotron re-play screen on the west coast! I think even in the Pac-10! GO BEAVS!!

Here is the team warming up o the field in the sun Check out the eastern side of our stadium - Reser Stadium (formally Parker Stadium, which I still call it sometimes). This is the side with the suites and Club section.

My vacation in Oregon....from my current vacation from work....

Hey all! This past week I was in Oregon from Monday - Friday visiting my family and some old friends. Friday - Saturday I was in Vancouver with my father's side of the family working at our Garden & Home center. Here are some pics from the week:

Me and my mom at Big River on the patio

My brother, Joe, the manager of Big River

Getting drinks with old childhood friends - rooftop desk of The Dream. I've known both of these people since we were all 4 yrs old!

Aug 29th - My mom's 62nd birthday! Our family went to the cost for the afternoon. Here they are walking along the bayfront of Newport, OR. Seals like to lounge on the docks at Port One Newport in the Bayfront. They were really funny. We spent about 20 mins watching them.

Random Topics

Click on this link... I'm confused. Is it possible to over-develop your arms? Why does Carrot-Top appear to have black eye liner on at all times? Please vote on the staus of his pants..... Pesonally, I am voting for Manpri's.

The Two Corey's - is anyone watching this?

Like I have said a million times before..... Islam sucks.

Going away drinks with my Microsoft co-workers

Thanks Jeslyn for taking this pic!!

Such a nice Sunday....

Hey folks... Today was a good day. It started out very drizzly, rainy and damp. But we finally we able to head to the park with Janni. I walked down to my newly discovered Cap Hill Sunday Farmer's Market. I think it's been around for the almost 7 yrs I've lived here, but I've never noticed, so it's new to me. I picked up some very fresh carrots, raspberries and a beautiful bouquet of flowers....all for under $20. Once we were home I attempted to make raspberry cobbler from a recipe I have that calls for blackberries - I followed the recipe to a T, but something didn't turn out correctly. There was supposed to be a crumbly crust on top. Hmmm......

Fresh Carrots

Yummy Raspberries

Look at these beautiful flowers!! Amazing against our red wall

?? Not sure what happened here. I followed the recipe.... well, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, the berries were still delicious!

Well, well, well... look at who is very happy to get some rubs from his dad :-)

Che Guevara: A total psycho

I'm in the middle of a great book, Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him by Humberto Fontova

This author was on the Michael Medved Show about 2 months ago and I happened to catch this segment. I long has wondered why folks would sport this Che t-shirt I that see alot on Cap Hill. I formally did not know much about the Cuban Revolution. All I know is that Cuba sounds like it was an amazingly hip place in the early 1950's, that I hope Castro dies, and I really feel sorry for the Cuban people. Other than that, I admit I didn't know much.

But wow! After hearing this author on Michael Medved, I was in a rush to get this book. I finally got around to reading it this past week. It is a MUST!! A whole part of history is missing and has been re-written by the NYT (surprise!) and our own American media. Che Guevara is no one to idolize! Just when I think Hollywood can't piss me off more, I give thought to this morons who look up to this killer!! How stupid can people be?!!

Our trip to Westport - Part Two

More pics of us enjoying the beach today. Westport is about 1 hour, 40 mins from Seattle.... maybe almost 2 hours, but totally worth it! The temp today was about 75 and even the water was somewhat comfortable....

Rob and Janni in the Surf!!

Me with the waves

Me, close up with the waves

ML and Rob

Finally on our way home...

Our trip to Westport, WA: July 14, '07

Rob, Janni and I headed out to the caost today. The weather was great! There were TONS of people surfing and boogieboarding. Here are some pics:

Janni ready to go hit the surf!

Me being a goof

Rob and the sand dunes behind him

The beach at Westport full of surfers and families having fun

Rob and Janni getting ready for some tennis ball surf time

My friends Jason & GG Hastings @ Ivar's - Seattle

After checking out local tourist hot spots the EMP, Science Fiction Museum and Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, my self and the Hastings clan went to Ivar's for an early dinner. Here are pics of Jason & GG (Jason is wearing the Diver Dan mask)....and just GG...

Our cat Matty - enjoying the sun, sitting outside our dining room window

Me and my doggie...

Royal Lippizaner Stallion show!

ML headed up to Everett today to see the Royal Lippizaner Stallion show. I loved it!! My parents took me when I was little, but I can't remember, so it was so exciting to see them again!! Such beautiful creatures. Here are the best pics out of dozens I took.....

Summer '07....New Job...

Today, Rob offically left for his new job with Air Photo, heading out to the Lake Chelan area - he will be gone off and on for the entire summer. It's a little bittersweet for me, but it means he will rack up a lot of hours and move closer to the next part of his career. Good things all around.

New pics of our cats

Hey folks... I know this is not the most exciting blog from me....but here are two cute new pics of our cats!!

Easter 2007

God blessed us with a wonderfully sunny day for Easter. I spent the afternoon with friend's at Naarah's, and enjoyed watching all the kids hunt for eggs :-)

I met one of my favorite authors today!!

Jodi Picoult, one of my all time favorite authors, was in Seattle today for a book signing at the library downtown. Her latest book, Nineteen Minutes, just came out a few weeks ago and she read from the beginnin of it. I highly recommend it!! She took Q&A afterwards and explained how the book came about, what she learned in her reserch into school shootings, etc... Jodi lives in New Hampshire, and most of her books are set in New England - I discovered her last year while we lived in NH. Reading her books got me through a very cold winter back there! :-) She's so nice and down to earth. Here is a pic from today:

Happy Spring from Apt #314

I put up this egg wreath a few weeks ago, as it makes me think of Easter, Spring time, spring colors etc.... Enjoy!! :-)

Girl's Night Out: Rosebud on Capitol Hill

Rosebud was the destination for us ladies tonight, for a well earned girl's night out. Rosebud is on Pike Street in Cap Hill. It's a great wonderful local place - the menu is varied. Most of us tried the Butternet Squah Soup w/ shallots. Some had salad. I tried to the seared shallots. The lavender lamb bolognaise with fresh fettuccini was very popular in our group. We discovered a new Cabernet by Root:1 from Chile. YUMMY!!

ML actually has some raves....

I often RANT on this blog, or either just post pics of happenings in my life or complain about political issues I care about - all fair topics, but not always of the substance people are looking for. Let me take the time to post some RAVES...

For starters, the first RAVE on my mind would be the dinner I had last Saturday night with my friends Jennifer, Vonna and Adrian ( I hope I spelled that right). We dined at Veil in lower Queen Anne, and let me tell you what I delight this was (minus that parking, as I promised no rants). We all started out with a wonderful Champange cocktail suggested by our server - wonderful. It was a course menu, but I opted for 2 courses, and had the Risotto, and Duck Breast entree. My Gosh, my food was some of the best tasted in my life.... For dessert, I opted out of an "entree" and instead sipped on a Bernad-Griffin Syrah Port - very good... a new wine experience for me. Too bad I left my camera at home, as it would have caught my friends and I in pure culinary bliss! For those who have not been to Veil, please go. It's worth it!!

Is Global Warming a Scam?

Hmm... You decide. Al Gore? Hmmm.. Read here and get back to me... You may have to register on the NYT website, but it is worth it. Thanks to Dan Sytman for this link...... My take on this whole thing - it's crap. ML's opinoin it this: Yes, the earth may have warmed up a bit and Yes, there are A LOT of humans on this planet. But how much do we really contribute to climate change? Let's take an obvious example: The ice age that ended about 12,000 yrs ago.... what led to that ice age in the beginning and what brought us out of it? Humans were not in the population numbers we are now and we certainly did not have industrial revoluation at our disposal? So, how did we as a race affect the planet back then? What did we do to bring the planet out of the ice age to a "gloabl warmning" of 12,000 yrs ago? Hmmmm.... I can't seem to put my finger on it. Was it all those campfires cavemen were starting up to keep warm and cook meat? Could that have brought us out of the ice age? I mean, after all, the argument is that HUMANS have the greatest affect on the earth's environment.... If it weren't for us, clouds would not move. Weather patterns would cease to exist, right? The sun might get wind that we are more powerful than it? Seems to me that there is a bit of a flaw in this argument?

ML builds a bed!

So, as of yesterday Rob and I are finally not sleeping on the floor any more - after about 13 months. With the help of IKEA and my brother, I put thogether the bed all by myself, even without a drill - used an old fashioned phillips screwdriver and have a blister to show for it! (beofre, middle and after pics below). But man, it feels so good to not be on the floor college-style anymore. I'm inspired to keep working on the apt, esp the bedroom and get it where I want it - after living here for 9 months! HA

CA Weekend: babies, sun and fun...

Well folks, long time no blog from ML!! :-) I'm back bloggin' now, so watch out! This past weekend (Fri-Mon) I was in Sacramento for my friend Christina's baby shower (pic of the pre-festivites here) .....she's due on April 15th and in no mood for pictures, so instead, here is a pic of me and Renata. We are in Walnut Creek shopping and enjoying the 70 degree weather. It was the best vacation I've had in a looooong time - a much needed break from Seattle for sure.