Done Painting the House, Finally

Randy prepping the final side

We are done painting the house, finally. It was a three year Odyssey, but, with Randy's help and motivation, we finally have finished with it.



This morning, I put the last coat of paint on the east side windows and trim. It was a strange feeling to step off the ladder knowing that I could wash my brush and then be done, not having to worry about not having the trim painted.



Hopefully it will be done until we die: we painted with Sherwin Williams Duration, which has a lifetime guarantee. We will see.



As a celebration, Randy, Isaac, Zoe, and I went down to the Daily Bagel for coffee and bagel sandwiches. Thanks Randy for all your help.

Another Tuesday Trip Over the Hill

Tuesdays are vegetable days and also lunch days with Nana. Yesterday we met Nana at Si Casa Flores on Barnett in Medford for some delicious Mexican food. I had Chile Verde, Nana had an enchilada and a tamale, and Zoe had a quesidilla which she took apart and then reformed into a burrito with chicken, rice and beans.

The food was pretty good, and Zoe got a baloon.

We picked up vegitables from Mary and Vince in Ashland, then headed back over the hill. The drive was fine, and Zoe slept right through unloading, and didn't wake until we arrived at Mazama for cross country.

Yesterday's workout was a good one: 2x800m, 4x400m, 5x300m cut-downs, and then a cool down as long as four miles. I didn't run as I had Zoe and still a sore shoulder. The kids, however, did pretty well (for the most part).

The Lone Pine

Yesterday we ran up to the Lone Pine on top of Hogsback Mountain just east of Klamath Falls with the cross country team. When I say we, I don't mean Zoe and I but the other coaches. Man, could you imagine running up a rocky dirt trail that is like climbing stair sometimes pushing a girlie? I told Amy in the morning that I could tie the stroller to my waist and pull her up...maybe I will try that some other day.

I made up in about 30 minutes. My calves were like rocks, but not the good kind, and my thighs hurt quite a bit, but overall it was a good experience. About half the kids made it to the top. Four of them didn't make it because they took the wrong trail (luckily they weren't lost for too long) and the rest just didn't have it. The view was great, something that I don't see that often now that we have Zoe. Soon, she will be strong enough to climb high with me and we will share those views.

Pictures that I couldn't upload eariler today

Zoe on Papahorse

Zoe spelled out her name (almost) by herself

Relaxing in the autum grass

Happy Monday

Happy Monday! We had a good weekend, though it was much too short. On Saturday morning, I awoke at 5:15 so that I could go to Eugene for the Northwest Classic xc race. We had a good day and many good performances, with most everyone having PRs. There was one incident that took away from the experience: one of our runners was hit on the head while he was (grrr) wrestling. We took him to the medical tent and had him checked out. The trainer said that he probably had a minor concussion and that we needed to look after him for the rest of the day. He felt much better by the time that we left for home and by the time that we got back to Klamath he seemed pretty normal (as normal as can be expected, anyway).

The funniest part about the whole thing is that when we came back to where our kids were sitting, telling them what the trainer had said, two of the kids were wrestling, again! I couldn't believe it. Not ten minutes before a kid had been bopped on the head hard enought to warrent a trip to the first aid station and here they were wrestling again! I was just a bit angry and told them to stop.

Yesterday, Sunday, was pretty uneventful. We spent the first part of the day at home, Amy resting, mostly. Then we went to Amy's parents for the afternoon, and dinner. Amy has traded all day sickness for all day fatigue. hopefully that will go away soon.

Well, Blogger.com is having problems uploading pictures this morning, so I will try again later.

First appointment with Rebecca

We slept in today, because Amy had her first appointment with Rebecca, our midwife. It went well, though it took awhile to get everything done; partially that was because it was the first visit and so there were many questions about personal and family health histories. Zoe went too, and she enjoyed herself, though she wanted to join the conversation sometimes when we were trying to listen to what Rebecca or Tara (her assistant) were trying to tell us. That was okay, though, I think that it helped her to understand what is happening to the family. Speaking of the family, Amy and I were talking last night about when we go to Alaska (not next summer but sometime in the not too distant future) with the "kids". Aaaaaah! In less than eight months, we are not only going to have a kid, we are going to have kids!

Rain is falling today. Really, we don't mind it too much, though the temperature is hovering around 40, which is a little cold this early in the year. Randy and I hadn't planned on doing any painting today, so that works out fine.

Zoe and I did, however, make it to the library...in the car. Everywhere she goes, she is recognized: one of the librarians knows her from the summer reading program (actually I think that many know her from the summer reading program), and also happens to have a daughter in one of Amy's classes. Today, we heard four stories, mostly relating to apples (though one was about farmyard animals) and then we made prints with cut apples. It was quite fun, and made me think about composition, as the picture is basically an abstract. The paint that we used stuck to our fingers, but when we rubbed it with a damp cloth, came off in little chunks.

No XC practice today, but a big meet tomorrow in Eugene.

I almost forgot, I put a link to Vanessa's Blog in the links list as well. Enjoy.

A good day so far.

So far today, we have been having a good day. Randy and I finished painting the north side of the house. The only think left is the east side: predicted finish date, next week sometime.

Zoe is laying in bed, but not sleeping. I will have to get her up soon.

My shoulder hurts a bit, probably from climbing around on ladders. It sure is healing fast, though. I am glad, because it is no fun having a hurt shoulder. Yesterday, I ran with the kids at xc, but couldn't go as far as I wanted because of the pain. It hurt on both the forward and back arm swing.

Zoe informs me that it is "time to get up," so I had better go get her. She still hasn't discovered that she can get out of bed on her own. Shhh, don't tell her.

It really was a long day

Boy! Yesterday was long, long, long. It started off on the wrong foot, when Zoe couldn't articulate why she didn't want to wear pants. We had five minutes of whining, arguing, and crying that she didn't want to wear pants or her Elmo shirt. Finally, we figured out that she wanted to wear her dog dress. My goodness.

Then yesterday's blog didn't want to upload right, and that made me cranky. Then Zoe didn't want to eat her oatmeal. I left her to it, and when I came back after five minutes she had eaten half a bite (the other half was smeared on the table). I couldn't get into the truck with her and drive to Medford if she hadn't eaten anything! I almost lost it at that time, but then thought, "Hey, maybe she wants some toast". She did! So, toast it was.

We loaded up and the ride over was fairly pleasant. Zoe mostly read her books. We met my mom at her work and she introduced us around. Zoe got a sucker (a cherry tootsie pop) and we shook many hands. Everyone thought that she was cute with her quail tail.

We had lunch at Rooster's, which, as Zoe will tell you, is decorated with many roosters. The food was pretty good, especially the cinnamon roll. When we go there next, we will be sure to have cinnamon rolls, again.

After lunch Zoe and I drove to Ashland to pick up the vegetables. Vince was a little late in getting back, but not too late. We loaded up (I was careful about my shoulder, which is doing quite well, by-the-way), then headed back over the hill. The drive home went quickly, and Zoe, even though she reassured me many times that she was "not tired" fell asleep not long after we got to the summit on Dead Indian Rd. ("Not tired. Not tired," she said. "Can you think happy thoughts?" I said. "Not tired, not tired," she assured me. "What about sand?" "...At the beach...zzzzzzzzz.")

That would have made a full day, but it was not over by a long shot. Zoe slept while I unloaded vegetables, and then loaded up the computer and printer. We had about five minutes at home and then we drove to Mazama for the big Mud Run. We arrived just as the first race started. We set up the computer, then watched the finish of the first race. Then we went to work. Zoe helped me score the first two races (she also watched the runners out the door) then her Mima picked her up and took her home.


The rest of the meet went pretty well, though one school, who shall remain nameless, couldn't seem to get their scoring envelopes to me, so that delayed the whole process. And even though outside showers were provided there was still much mud in the hallways and the locker rooms. I don't know what the solution might be to mud everywhere except to close off the locker rooms altogether.

Finally I made it back to the Hill House for dinner of hamburgers, pickled beets, and potato chips. Travis is leaving for SOU on Thursday, and since he has to work his final day at Walmart today, we had dinner with him. Good luck Travis!

We made it home and put Zoe to bed, then watched a bit of the Lord of the Rings before falling asleep ourselves.

Race Today

Today is the annual Mazama Mud Run. The mud pit is deeper than last year, and we are having an open race, so it should be interesting. Also, the course is only two miles long instead of 5000m. Somehow, we need to have more mud, and even a couple more mud pits. Unluckily, I don't think that the grounds crew wants us digging up the soccer field.

Also today, Zoe and I go to Ashland to get vegetables. It is going to be a long day indeed.

Yesterday was pretty normal. My shoulder seems to be healing quite nicely. I haven't had it in the sling (except for about 30 minutes on Sunday evening), and it does sometimes feel a little creepy, but it is much less stiff and sore than it has been in the past. I worry that maybe it will be looser because of this, but really, it seems to be healing more quickly.



On another note, the other day I finished "Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie. Everyone knows the story of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, but I don't think that very many people actually read the book these days. I highly recommend it. It is an easy quick read and well worth your time.

Cheers!

The Long Prefontaine Weekend

This weekend was the big trip for the Mazama Cross Country Team (and many other high school teams in the area): the Prefontaine Memorial Run in Coos Bay.

Friday:

We left after school. Randy and I got started a little late getting to the car rental place because we couldn't find Marvin at Mazama (he is the head coach and had the check for the vans). But we made up time at the rental agency when we breezed through the rental process. Marvin headed back to Mazama to round up the troops, while Randy and I took care of our kids, he picking up his babysitter and I dropping Zoe off with Amy at ponderosa.

I picked Randy up at his house, he had left his van back at the rental agency while driving Isaac around. We found when we returned that he could not open the passenger side door from the inside. Not a big deal, but we wanted to be sure that they knew that there was a problem so that we didn't get charged for it.

We loaded everyone up and headed west. The trip was uneventful except for the near accident that we were in. A semi slowed almost to a stop in front of about six cars (three of which were in our caravan). I was driving the last car. The car behind us slowed and was fine until the car behind it slammed into it, pushing it off the road with a bang. It wasn't a big accident but it was a bit scary and surely would have ended our trip had we been hit.

We arrived in Coos Bay Fire Station (they are nice enough to host us in their weight room/meeting room each year) just after 9, got our sleeping areas set up, went to the store for some junk food, then settled in for a movie and went to sleep.

Saturday:

We awoke around 7, the kids included, which was quite odd; usually, they sleep until eight or nine. The race started at ten. I went for a 15 minute walk, then a 30 minute jog to get warmed up. I tried to go a different way than I have gone before and found that there are about five thrift stores in a five block radius in downtown Coos Bay. I was scoping them out because I had forgotten my book and so wanted to find a place to buy a new one. I had to wait until after the race as they were closed until 9:30 or ten (plus, I had left my wallet back at the fire station).

The race went better than I had expected. I was almost three minutes faster on the way back in than on the way out. I was timed in 45:32, not my fastest but much better than the sub 48 that I was hoping for.

After (most) everyone finished, we made our way back to the fire station for showers, then a walk through the street fair where we had oriental noodles, teriyaki beef on a stick, and fudge. We also watched a bit of the parade, and went to one of the thrift stores to finally get my book. I picked up four: "LaBrava" by Elmore Leonard, "Eight Great Comedies", "The sinners" by W. Somerset Maughm, and "Nice New Neighbors" by Franz Brandenberg (for Zoe). Then we went to the beach.

We played tackle football, I made it for about half an hour before I dislocated my left shoulder for the fourth time (in 15 years). Luckily, I had read of a technique where sitting on the ground you lace your fingers across the opposite side knee, relax and gently pull. It popped back in on the third try. It wasn't as bad as sometimes, but it is quite tender today.

After the beach, we picked up some pizzas, and ate them back at the firehouse while watching the duck game. We put on a movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and I was asleep by 8:45.

Sunday:

We got off early (these kids like to get up!) and then were home by 2:30. I had Marvin drop me off at the Hill house, where we had dinner, then home for early bed again: All that travel, running, and chaperoning (sp?) wears a guy out.

Did a lot of Paint Work, Yesterday

Yesterday Randy (Bailey) and Isaac came over and we scraped and scraped and scraped the north side of our trim. He is helping me to finally finish the painting of our trim that we started three summers ago (including this one). The end is in sight and we are very grateful for Randy's motivation.

In the afternoon Zoe came to cross country with me. I pushed her in the jogging stroller out toward Highway 39 on the OC&E Bike Path. I noticed that she had been quiet for some time. I assumed that she was engrossed in her book ("My first ABC Book"), but when I checked on her at the turnaround point, I found that she snoozed soundly, head lolling to the right. We ran back and she awoke when I stopped at the school for a drink of water.

While Zoe and I ran and snoozed by ourselves, the cross country kids ran their pre-race warm-up. When we returned, they seemed warm, but it is always hard to tell what they actually did. Maybe we should make them take their heart rate and then we can see where they really are as far as a warm up goes. It is so important to be ready to race when the gun goes off, and not expect to get warm on the course.

Today they are going to the Pre-district Meet at Lake Selmac, hosted by Illinois Valley. Good luck everyone.

Tuesdays are Vegetable Days

Yesterday, Zoe and I went over the hill to pick up, and deliver back to Klamath Falls, vegetables for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Whistling Duck. We trade a weekly share of vegetables for delivering 23 shares to Klamath ten times in the summer season (we also delivered in the winter season for the first time last year).

In our box this week: butter lettuce; mesclun (mixed salad greens); three large beets with beautiful beet greens attached; zucchini; cucumbers; pears; an onion; spinach; basil; and tomatoes. Mmm, they are so good and tasty (and organic). If you live near a CSA, I highly recommend looking into becoming a member.

Also while over the hill we had lunch with Nana (my mom, Linda) at No Ho's, a Hawaiian restaurant on Main St. in Medford. Man was it good. I had teriyaki pork and Nana had teriyaki chicken. Zoe, ate about a cup and a half of sticky rice. The portions were huge, and delicious, and by the time we left, the place was packed -if you go, go early (they open at 11am).

Nana is doing well, getting used to her new job at Moss Adams, and making friends of her co-workers.

Right now, Zoe and I are finishing up "Baby Galileo" learning about the planets, stars, galaxies, etc.

Have a great day all.

Getting a profile photo

First post via email

Let's try posting via email!

Have a great day all.

Jeff and Zoe at cousin Dena's wedding.

First Post

Hi Everyone! I am joining the ranks of bloggers. Hopefully this will be a little easier than the failed attempt to maintain a website. They say that I will be able to upload photos as well as post text.

We are doing well here in Klamath Falls. It has turned cold, cold, cold. Zoe and I fired up the geothermal this morning, with only one tiny catastrophe: one of the air release valves didn't get closed all the way when I moved on to the next. Warm water on old wood floors has a very distinctive smell.

Cheers!