Loving Summer

Just after I posted the last piece of news, I found out that Dylan and Rex went sky diving - those adrenaline junkies! Fortunately, Dylan is very good about sharing photos. This prompted me to also ask Rex for one. Rex says he highly recommends this experience and thinks everyone should do it. Really? As an adult I thank my lucky stars when I have a day that it doesn't feel like the Earth is racing up to meet my face as I free fall out of control. Those are the good days, my friend!

I'm glad they did it though. Who knows? Maybe I should do it too? Maybe actually free falling down to Earth and having a chute open will put things into perspective for me. At least here you have a chute. Well, it will have to wait. Sounds like time and money I don't have at the moment.

Last week Valerie and I left the house at 4:30am Monday with her friend, Madelyn, so that we could make it up to Albany, OR by 1:00pm to meet her new roommate and get the keys to the apartment. So, yes, a long day of driving, but I definitely scheduled time for breakfast at the Black Bear Diner in Medford. Look at these happy girls!

Valerie's new roommate, Jorden, is super sweet. She will also be a first year student at LBCC and on the livestock judging team. She is very into aesthetics and has picked out "red" as the accent color for their kitchen. Valerie and I decided that we'd go with a nice contrasting "white" for Valerie's dishes. (Never try to match reds!)

Here are Valerie and Jorden in their new Living Room. Below are some photos of the empty apartment. It's a two-bedroom/two bathroom ground floor unit right across the street from the college. They can walk to school if they want.

Above is the living room looking back at the front door and down the hall.

Here is a living room view looking toward the kitchen and out the front windows. Jorden brought some lamps.

Ah, the kitchen! It's got a dishwasher and a microwave. Electric stove/oven. The dishwasher is loud. Definitely don't run that thing if trying to have a conversation with someone or watch a show.

Valerie chose to take the parking space and Jorden is taking the master bedroom with en suite. That said, here is the main bathroom that Valerie will be using. Lots of cupboard space.

A washer and dryer in the unit?! Lucky girls!! No laundromat for you.

Here is Valerie's room. Her window looks out on a nice patch of green shrubs, trees and wild berries growing along a little creek. So, it's nice and private. This is the floor I slept on for the next couple of nights. (new carpet).

Since Valerie won't be bringing the piano with her, Michael sent her keyboard up with headphones. Good thing about the headphones. I understand no musical instruments allowed in the apartment complex. One must practice in a practice room at the college out of consideration for the other tenants.

I took Valerie, Jorden and Madelyn out to lunch and then shopping at Target to get some bare necessities. Ice cube tray? Check. Trash and recycling? Check. Broom and Dustpan? Glassware? Cookie sheet? Frying pans? Plunger and scrubber? Towels? Check, check, check, check ... Cha-ching $!

When we got home, Madelyn helped Valerie set up her bathroom. She has navy blue towels and bath mat. Her shower curtain has fish on it. At first we thought they were sea lions. My eye sight is not great. But, anyhow, blue is the theme for Valerie's bathroom. I'm not saying every room has to have a theme ...

Jorden and her dad left that evening to drive three hours home to Central Point, OR (close to Medford). Jorden will be moving back up in early to mid-September. Valerie will be moving back up Labor Day weekend.

That night, the girls and I cruised out looking for dinner. We found Wilhelms! We decided it was too sketchy to dine in. But, not too sketchy for a photo op.

After dinner we purchased a deck of cards, poker chips and a cribbage board at the local Bi-Lo. We came back home and played a little Black Jack and Cribbage on the living room floor while washing new dishes and towels before crashing out on the new carpet. 

The next day Valerie went over to LBCC for orientation and to sign up for classes. She will be taking math, english and chemistry. She will also be auditing the livestock judging class. She can't take it for credit the first quarter because she is going to a national event in Kansas City in October to compete with her high school team. There are rules that say you cannot be in a collegiate class and compete on the high school level. There you have it.

After a morning at the college, I drove the girls about 90 mins up to Portland to visit IKEA and look for a small kitchen table and chairs and bath caddy. Madelyn had some Swedish Meetballs while we were there. I had the soup. What a scene.

Valerie did manage to find a great table. I warned her she was going to have to assemble it herself. How hard could that be? Spoken like someone who has never assembled anything from IKEA. I laughed and laughed.

Nope. That didn't work. So, the girls got the table together but spent hours on the chairs. (I read a book and giggled. No help here). They finally got it right. We played cards at the table later that night after eating dinner on the floor. They were a little optimistic about the amount of time it was going to take to assemble the kit.

The next day we drove home and made time for lunch at my favorite restaurant in Ashland, The Sesame. They are right on the river across from the park. They are a little spendy but soooooo good. Also, we skipped breakfast and felt like we deserved a nice lunch. Yes, we also sipped from the stinky lithium infused spring right there at Lithia Park. And then we cruised back up over the mountain pass and down into California. Good-bye trees and cool weather. Hello hot, dusty heat.

My garden was waiting for me when I got home. It's hard to believe there are veggies in among these flowers, but I assure you there are. Do you need zucchini or cucumbers? Please, come on over. Peppers and melons coming soon with eggplant. Tomatoes, chard and basil are here for the taking too.

And now I will leave you with a photo from the past. A friend dug this up from likely 1987. But you probably could have guessed that by the hair. This was my friend Todd and I getting ready to go out dancing. I couldn't get my hair big enough. I swear there is an entire can of Aquanet in there.

Big Recap of Significant Events

I probably shouldn't start each blog post off with a recognition that time passes too quickly. Yet, I do. As usual, when life is hopping, there hardly seems time to sit down and write about it. Today I'm going to attempt to recapture some events from the last few months.

Okay, April had Michael traveling like a madman. I went to a fun fund raising event for a local high school with my friend Kelley. We met at Zumba years ago and still attend that class. But now we get together for fun events like game nights.

Then there was Easter. The Grandparents came over for brunch and the girls aren't too old for egg hunting in the back yard. They like their candy.

Someone turned 51 this year and the best kids in the world sent a beautiful, surprise bouquet. Gorgeous flowers. Best kids ever. I do love flowers.

Suddenly it was May. Valerie had her end of the year concerts. Here is a snap of her playing cello in the last concert for her in the advanced orchestra. She also had piano recitals. So much music!

Valerie also wrapped up her senior year at the last FFA Banquet. This is a photo of her officer team before she, as chapter president, passed the baton to the next round.

Spring means prom. Here is Valerie with her friend, Sarah V. (she has multiple friends named Sarah, as does Amira) getting ready to head out for dinner and dancing.

This being her senior year, it was also her last Silver Dollar Fair. Here is Valerie with her friend Madelyn getting her sheep ready to show.

Suddenly graduation was upon us. Here are some grad snaps of Valerie.

Here is Valerie with her friends (left to right): Yang, Isa, Valerie, Hannah, Ruthie. Valerie has gone to school with Hannah and Ruthie since 3rd grade.

Valerie, Raelyn, Ruthie.

Once in a while we hear from Rex. He managed to escape the grind of school and work in Long Beach with the help of Dylan who arranged a weekend on Catalina Island. I hear they had a blast. Dylan is always so good about taking photos and sending them to me.

Spring is also time for kayaking. I went out with my friend Grace on the Forebay for a gorgeous paddle and picnic.

As soon as June hit, Valerie was off to Mendocino with friends for some R&R and photo opportunities.

From left to right we have Jaycee, Sarah K., Sarah V. & Valerie.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it was boysenberry time!

I am like a bear going through the yard, eating as many berries as I save. I've got the freezer loaded and ready for a pie or cobbler or something.

On a different note, sometimes international politics do creep into life at Tifftown. With the trade war affecting business and my job being with an importer, I had to ditch the blue hair in case I needed to look for a job. Phase 1 was to fade the colors. This is Phase 2 where we cover the colors. Phase 3 will be slowly getting it to a more natural hue with natural highlights. It will be a process. It took 10 years for me to get all those colors in. I think Grace wanted to cry and throw up a little bit as she coated them in shades of brown.

Michael has the summer off until August. He and Todd have a morning routine of breakfast, crossword puzzles and reading the paper. It's their happy, quiet time.

Berries aren't the only thing popping at the ranch. We also had a bumper crop of nectarines, peaches, pluots and figs. Don't even get me started on blackberries and mulberries. Well, actually, yes, please get me started! I love all that stuff.

It's been difficult to get photos of Amira. As soon as school was out, she took off for Girl Scout Camp. This was followed by holding a job at Boy Scout Camp as a camp counselor. So, she has been gone since school got out this year. I did get her to send me a photo of herself and some friends. She has been loving the camp. No wifi or internet up there. Just star gazing, hikes in the woods and actual conversations and card games. She's been coming home Saturdays for a short laundry furlough, then back up to the woods.

When July came around, Amira came back to Chico to get her braces off. So I was able to get before and after photos. 

Meanwhile at home we also have a bumper crop of zinnias. I had to pull some out of the garden as they were shading my eggplants. More bouquets of joy from the yard.

While home, Amira and Valerie went thrift shopping. Amira found these glasses at Goodwill and thought this comparison photo of herself to one of me in 7th grade was hysterical. It really is. That girl has an awesome sense of humor. Yes, we all had a laugh (at my expense).

We did have a family road trip down to SoCal to visit Rex. Here we are upon arrival to the Long Beach Pier before reuniting with Rex.

Amira & Valerie checking out the beach.

Finally! All five of us reunited.

We had dinner together next to the pier. These kids are all grown up. We really enjoyed our time together.

The next day we headed down to San Clemente to visit our friends. The first Ridgecrest earthquake rattled a few things that morning, but no big deal. Here are the beach babes.

Here are Kelley & Bogie. Michael went to college with Bogie at UCSC. He's a math teacher down at Laguna Beach. It's been a tradition to squeeze in a visit with their family every July.

Valerie, Rex & Michael getting some vitamin D. Amira is taking a sand nap behind them.

After a big day of fun in the sun, it was time for the big family dinner.

On July 5th Valerie wanted to do something "touristy". So, Rex took us to Hollywood where we walked the walk of fame. We drove back through Beverly Hills to see how the "other half" lives.

Once back in Long Beach, we hung out at Rex's house for a bit. This is the house where he lives with all the international students who attend CSU Long Beach. They have a great front porch with plenty of seating for people watching. Or, you know, checking your phone.

And now, I'll be taking Valerie up to Oregon this week to get the key to her new apartment. She will probably move at the end of next month. She will be starting classes at LBCC in September. Rex should be coming back home temporarily in September when he finishes his program. Amira will have the next several weeks to get her on-line Drivers Ed all set. As soon as school starts (mid-August) she will be taking the written exam to get her permit. Michael also returns to work mid-August. Well, we still have about a month left of summer break. Wahooo!