Missing...

My camera!! Not because it was stolen or that I misplaced it, I lent it to Lisa for her trip back east with Buck. I am going through withdrawals. I didn't realize how much I had come to depend on using it at a whim. I do have my old Canon SLR but there is no way for me to see if I have taken the picture right. I have become spoiled with my digital camera in that it gives me instant gratification when I see my pictures right away. She gets home on Thursday, thank goodness!

The weekend...

Started with Steve doing his first Angel Flight mission yesterday at just about 3. He flew a young man from the deaf school home to Klamath Falls. He had a good flight though he did have to dodge a few clouds. I spent the afternoon and evening scrapbooking with Camille and Susan at Scrapbook Fever. I had to leave to pick Steve up at McNary Field at around 8:30 then return to pack up my stuff. It will be nice when they put in the lights at his home field (Lusarti) so he can do night landings then he can drive himself home. We went to Brookstone Alzheimer Care center to visit Grandma Lucille. She was in a good mood when we first got there but she started talking about being dumped there, wishing she had died twenty years ago and the fact that she didn't belong there. It is very depressing that she has to be there at all. After dropping Steve off at the airport I came home to finish my class kits for next month and to do my instructor layout for Monday. I haven't the foggiest idea where to start, gee...

It has come to this...

My dear mother-in-law and her siblings were notified by registered letter that their mothers household property were to be sold at a garage sale. Their sister stated in the letter; "Dear sisters and brothers"; Mom's household belongings will be sold on October 13, 2007 at her house from 8AM - 9AM for family members, and 9AM - 3PM for the public. Only cash will be accepted. Proceeds from this sale will be used for Mom's care. I again repeat who in their right mind would do this to their mother? I could no longer stand on the sidelines and have become actively involved with helping stop this lunacy. I am now in contact with Grandma Lucille's attorney, keeping him advised as to the comings and goings at the house thanks to a dear neighbor of Grandmas. The attorney was stunned to hear the things going on "in Grandma's" best interest. He said it looks like he will have to file a "protective order". I am guessing to stop the madness...

So sad...

Norma and I went in to see Grandma Lucille yesterday. She was very happy to see us. Aunt Mary and cousin Deidre were already there visiting. Of course, Grandma is very upset that she has been taken out of her home and "dumped" in the nursing home. It is so sad to see her this unhappy. I can not imagine putting your own mother in a place that she doesn't want to be. What kind of a person ignores the wishes of a loved one? Sure Grandma is elderly, she will be 94, has memory losses but she has always told everyone that she wanted to remain in her home. There are so many ways to handle this kind of situation but Aunt Cheryl has chosen the one that made her mother, her siblings and the rest of the family extremely upset and mad. Steve says he believes that Cheryl thinks in her own twisted way that she is doing what is best for Grandma. This has turned out to be a true nightmare...

Julie, Grandma Lucille, etc....

My dear friend Julie was in town for a quick visit to see family. Sarah arranged for us to meet for lunch. Steve had planned to fly to Hillsboro for lunch and get an update on Audio-Mojo but that fell through so he joined us for lunch. We landed up being Janet's "special needs" table. Boy they were busy in the restaurant! Grandma Lucille keeps asking why she was dumped at the nursing home. She wants to go home but it appears as though that will not happen. We are still upset by what has been done to Grandma and it has now progressed to sadness. Now knowing that she will not be returning to her home makes me so sad. I stopped in at the scrapbook store to get a piece of paper for a birthday gift I am working on and found that all of my card kits have sold!! I am now trying to do housework, laundry, get my two page Halloween layout done for my class on the 11th, and my cards for the 18th. Oh and I think I mentioned I making some dollies too. There isn't enough time in the day!!

Class, then other things...

My class went really well, it was small but that is okay for the first time. I still have issues that need to be addressed in the next instructors meeting. I got home from class to find that my dear mother-in-law Norma had found out that her mom had been moved to a nursing home. This has been an ongoing issue with a sister who is the conservator of Grandma Lucille's estate. The rest of the siblings have had to battle to keep their mom in her own home. It is unfortunate that one child seems to think she is the only one with her mothers interests at heart so therefore she should make all the decisions. What makes a person act this way is beyond me. I hope that we can convince the judge to stop this lunacy and return Grandma to her home. I just need to pray...

Nerves, big time...

Tonight is the night I teach my first class at Scrapbook Fever. I am nervous though Sarah says I shouldn't be that I will be fine. I already have my classes for next month scheduled but I have get my samples done by the end of the week. I am also in the process of making little dolls and Christmas angel ornaments for my brother-in-law Raymond's farmers market. So I will be busy this week. Lots on the agenda too, as my friend Julie is in town. Since she is only here for a short trip I will only be able to squeeze in a quick visit on Friday as the rest of her time is all booked up. The cooler weather has settled in here and I am starting to notice that my legs and feet are cold. Not a good sign as I will be wanting to turn on the furnace and Steve is not ready. So the annual battle of the thermostat should be starting anytime soon. These pictures are of the cards I will be teaching tonight. Wish me luck...

Oops...

I had my details wrong about Steve's first flight. It will be next Friday at 3PM. He will be flying a 13 year old, deaf boy home for the weekend to visit his mom. He is a regular passenger to Angel Flight so Steve doesn't have to do all the paper work as it has already been done. Hopefully the weather will co-operate and he can fly the direct route to Klamath Falls.

Pilot in Command...

This is Steve's new official title with the Angel Flight organization. This group is a volunteer based outfit that flies individuals that have financial hardships that can not afford regular air travel. He has wanted to do this since he heard about Angel Flight. He would be flying only individuals who do not require medical attention in flight. He may be doing his first flight on Friday. A young person needs a ride to Klamath Falls. Steve says it is a two hour flight and it leaves at 2PM. I will need to go to McNary Field to get pictures of him and his travel partner so that he will have a record. Angel Flight likes to have these photos so they can post them on their website. I am excited for Steve as he puts his love of flying to use and that it benefits others as well.

Quiet weekend...

Saturday I spent most of the day with Sarah and my scrapbooking friends scrapping at First Christian Church downtown. Sarah and I left for awhile to attend the memorial service for "Red", my sister-in-law Lisa's dad who recently passed away. Steve spent part of the day at McMinnville Airport doing his orientation with Angel Flight. He said it went really well and he was home by four. I was home by 8:15 and we spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up on our day. Today we both woke with nasty headaches and so we are just taking it easy. Lisa and Buck stopped by on their way back from Lisa's ten year high school reunion. She said she had a good time visiting two of the gals she played softball with the whole time she was in school. She said lots of little children running around, many classmates already married and divorced. That is a shame. I borrowed the Harry Potter movies from Sarah a couple of weeks ago and have only seen the first two. So after yesterdays question from Sarah about when she would be getting her movies back, I decided to finish watching them so I can get them back to her. I am half way through the sixth book right now and hope to finish it this week but it might not happen. I teach a class on Wednesday and I have to have my examples done for Octobers class too this week so I think I may be putting off finishing the book for at least another week.

A change in the weather...

Well it looks like we are finally getting to the "normal" weather conditions here. Fog is making its regular appearances on the coast and we have cloudy skies. According to the weatherman it was supposed to be partly sunny and reach 77 degrees, well it is very cloudy and 63 degrees. Welcome to Oregon, the state with the least reliable forecast. It is usually "hangar" night for Steve but it has been called off, they can't get to the hangars as the Port of Portland is repaving the areas in front of them. So I will be making dinner, something that requires me to use my oven, instead of the chicken salad's or grilled burgers that have been the fare for the summer. I have noticed that the heat didn't bother me as much this year as the cold did. And I am noticing that my comfort zone has changed. It is 70 degrees in the house and I am wearing my sweatshirt! Geez...

Remember...

It is hard to believe that six years have passed since that awful day. Those who chose to attack our country and to kill innocents will not go unpunished, whether it is here on earth or when they are denied entrance to heaven. While there are many who feel we do not belong in Afghanistan or Iraq that is their right, but we must support those who chose to fight for their right to disagree. Our military needs our support be it overseas or on American soil. They need to hear that we appreciate the sacrifices that they and their loved ones make for us all. I took these pictures at Salem's Riverfront Park when the flags from the "Healing Field" display were there.

Loads scrapbooking and laughs...

I spent Friday night scrapbooking with Sarah and my friend Camille. It seems that when Sarah joins us all we seem to do is laugh ourselves silly. I can't help but enjoy how she views life. She isn't a go with the flow girl, she blazes her own trails and lets the world know to look out. Oh, to be that young and know what I know now!! At times I don't think I see her enough and that will be the week where I have had lunch with her at least twice a week and scrap with her on the Saturday. She is just so much fun to be with, she just makes me feel so young! We have tried getting Lisa interested in scrapping but she is just too busy with life right now. I suspect once she and Buck set the date things will start to change, but who knows. On Saturday Steve flew to Hood River to see a new car and airplane museum that just opened on Friday. He camped over night with Phil and Bob returning this afternoon. So I spent Saturday scrapping with Camille, her sister-in-law Susan and a couple of her friends. I managed to get a dozen pages done, all in all a good weekend.

Warm September...

It looks like summer has finally come to the Pacific Northwest. We are experiencing 80 degree plus weather finally, though you can tell it is getting to be fall as the night time temperatures dip into the low fifties/high forties. So leaving the windows open all the way is not the smartest thing to do! Steve seems to not mind it at all but my joints can't handle it. I wake up cold and achy all over. It is such a pain getting older!!

A sad day...

Steve left here about 10:30 to drive up to Hillsboro. It is not a happy trip as he is going up there to clean out his office. He hates doing this and still hopes that funding will happen for Audio-Mojo. I was still feeling good about their funding issues till Monday. Now I am worried about my hubby as he is not fond of job interviews and these things do take time. We are not destitute by any means but we seriously need to be watching our pennies. Which means Steve will have to watch his plane excursions that involve overnight camping. We aren't worried about fuel costs as we have the fuel all paid for at Lusarti Field but anything past that is an issue. I am praying...

Not good news...

Steven received an email last night saying that one of the venture capital groups has pulled out of the funding talks. So my dear husband will be driving to Hillsboro tomorrow to clean his office out. He had put it off hoping that things would turn around for the company but it is looking grim. The board of directors has not given up but they recognize that they have to downsize immediately. So they are giving up their larger office space and moving to a much smaller place. They are not giving up on the funding hopes but also recognize that many of their employees will now start seriously looking for work. It is a sad time because the product they have designed is ground breaking for the television and speaker industry. Hopefully someone will finally see that and dive in with lots of money. All prayers are greatly appreciated.

A shout out to Anne...

One of my scrapbooking buddies has a birthday today. So here's wishing you a Happy Birthday Anne! Yes, this is a birthday month for many of my friends and family. My sisters is the 5th, her son Sam is the 9th, my friend Marys is the 19th and my mom's is the 27th. I guess I better get with it on the birthday cards...

Class kits..

I spent the evening last night and this morning putting my kits together. They are done. I didn't seal them closed as I am putting a chalk ink into the kits and they didn't have any the other day when I was at the store. Jessica, the class coordinator, is going to check on those for me. I also picked up a Bo Bunny teachers kit to do that day. That I will start working on tomorrow. I have already started designing my cards for October and I hope to have those done by next Saturday. The weatherman said it is going to rain tomorrow evening but you would never be able to tell by the warm weather and sunny skies we are having today. I need to run to Costco to get a couple of things and was going to go today but I have talked myself out of it. Now that I think about it I think they may be closed tomorrow, darn. I may have to change my plans.

Sad times...

My dear sister-in-law Lisa's dad passed away yesterday morning. After a long fight he lost his battle with cancer. This is hard to write about as I think about my own Dad. He is healthy, some angina, but doing well and will be 78 in December. He is also six hundred miles away and there are times when I wish he was just next door. I would love to be able to just give him a hug when ever I needed to. So when I feel like this I just give him a call and tell him I love him. This picture is of Lisa's husband, Craig (Steve's brother) and her Dad, Red. It was taken on Easter Sunday in 2005.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Sarah and I went to the last summer concert at the Oregon Zoo last night. Unfortunately we didn't bring a blanket with us and I nearly froze to death. But these two were worth it. They are guitarists, though I don't know what description would really do them justice. Latin rhythm with a rock feel is about as close as I can get. I had planned on getting their CD but waited too long and they were all sold out by the end of the concert. Sarah received these tickets from Terry and co-worker who introduced Sarah to their music. I initially dreaded the drive to Portland, I never like that drive, but what added to that is the fact that this is the Labor Day weekend. But it turned out all the major traffic was heading south so we just sailed right into town. Sarah said that she would drive but that I would have to take a tranquilizer first. Apparently I make a lousy back seat driver, sorry kiddo I can't help myself. I sure enjoy spending time with my kid even if she can be a stinker at times.