Sunbeams illuminating a coastal forest in Port Orford, Oregon

Chuggnutt!

Category: Family

  • How I spent…

    Yeah, it’s one of those “How I spent” posts, inspired by Shannon’s this time. Only I’ll confine mine to my super-busy holiday weekend.

    Saturday, my wife and daughter went to Sisters with my mother for the rock and gem show. They do this every year, it’s tradition. While they were gone, my son and I returned a bunch of cans and bottles to Safeway, went to the library, and stopped by the homebrew shop so I could pick up ingredients for a batch of beer and a wine kit for my wife.

    A highlight of the homebrew shop: my soon-to-be-five-year-old son asking when we could leave because he didn’t like this store… I guess not enough toys? Too creepy for kids? I got a chuckle out of it.

    When the others got back, my daughter went home with my mother to have a sleepover, and the rest of us went back to town to check out the Saturday market, get some ice cream, and then head home again. For dinner it was Cibelli’s Pizza (had to go pick it up).

    Sunday it was off to Albertson’s to return some more bottles and cans, return some movies, and run to Bi-Mart. I transplanted a bunch of plants (one of my hop plants, several tomatoes, a couple of beans). In the afternoon we went out to my parents’ place for dinner and to pick up our daughter. It was a hot enough day that I took the kids over to Reynolds Pond and we played in the water a bit.

    I took Monday off from work, and it was a big homebrew day that I had planned with my friend Paul. After going out to breakfast at McKay Cottage, we spent a good part of the day brewing, and then the afternoon and evening turned into an impromptu barbecue and party with Paul and his wife, Shannon and Brian, and Simone and her husband. The day was punctuated with the power going out all over town (only about a half hour for us, though I heard other people were out for hours), lighting off fireworks that Simone’s husband had brought over, and a friendly poker game.

    That night at 12:30 AM, someone rang our doorbell. I, however, slept through it, and only woke when my wife, er, woke me. Muzzy-headed with alcohol and sleep, all I knew was that the dog was barking in the middle of the night so I yelled at him to stop, only to find out he was actually performing a service for once… hilarity ensues. I stumbled around in the dark for a while, only wanting to go back to bed, my wife called the police to notify them of the “ding dong ditch” (a name I’m quite sure I’d never heard before then), and left the closet light on all night. I didn’t get a very good night’s sleep.

    Tuesday the Fourth found us getting up and ready to go to the Pet Parade. After the Parade (we hung out there with Shannon and Brian), we wandered the park checking out the booths and food they have every year (festival-style), and then checked out the library’s book sale. (Scored a stack of books for only $4!) In the afternoon we were back out to my parents’ place for dinner and fireworks, and then when we got back home we did a few more fireworks when it got dark, and then watched the (in)famous Pilot Butte fireworks show. We have a pretty good view of that from our lawn.

    And that, in a not-so-small nutshell, was our holiday weekend. Sometime I’d just like to relax for a day or two, you know?

  • Not much

    No, I haven’t posted much on any of my sites this week. My aunt died on Monday, and I just haven’t felt like writing much. There’s really not any more to say; the funeral is on Saturday. In the meantime, I hope everyone’s having a good week, what with the first day of summer and the hot weather and all.

  • Memorial weekend in Lincoln City

    Our big Memorial Day weekend was spent over on the Oregon coast, chillin’ out in Lincoln City.

    …I of course mean “chillin’ out” quite literally; it was chilly and windy and rainy on Saturday and Sunday, and finally started getting nice on Monday, when we were leaving. It was in the 50s and maybe low 60s, so by Central Oregon standards, just like spring!

    It was nice. It’d been ages since I’d been to the coast, so the chance to get on the beach and touch the ocean and taste the salty air far outweighed any minor weather concerns. We stayed at the ‘D’ Sands motel right on the beach, just below the D River (the shortest river in the world). It turned out to be a pretty good place to stay since we had a fantastic view, easy beach access and a full kitchen room (condominium style). That worked out well since we had the kids and didn’t have to rush to meals anywhere if we didn’t want to.

    The trip was split between relaxing, shopping, gambling, and drinking. I know, the perfect trip, right? The drinking largely consisted of driving up to Pacific City and visiting the Pelican Pub and Brewery (right on the beach), and having a bottle of wine later while the kids watched TV, and a few odds and ends here and there. Gambling was two hours spent at the Chinook Winds casino (not my cup of tea). Shopping was, well, shopping… Lincoln City improbably has a large and busy complex of factory outlets, and then there’s all the tchotske and souvenir shops that you invariably find on the coast.

    The relaxing was the money, though. The kids and I flew a kite. We walked on the beach and played in the sand and threw rocks at the ocean. We swam in the swimming pool (a bit chilly there, too). We lazed around the room. I even got up early in the morning and walked barefoot on the beach, collecting a few rocks and shells here and there and splashing in the sea a bit. Yes, nippy! But totally worth it.

    Unfortunately, those coast trips never seem long enough. We left Monday bound for Portland, as we had an early Tuesday morning eye doctor appointment for the kids there. Perhaps we’ll have to see about a summer trip, when the weather is much nicer… the ocean’s still damn cold even then, but that’s never stopped us from jumping in anyway.

  • Our trip to Eugene

    This is sort of like those “How I spent my summer” essays—did anyone ever really have to write those? Anyway…

    The main purpose of our day trip to Eugene was to visit one or several of the children’s stores they have over there that specializes in kid beds; our four-year-old is soon to turn five and it’s time to move him from the toddler bed to a regular bed. We’d looked around here in Bend but there’s just not a great selection.

    It was a beautiful day to cruise over the Santiam, and aside from some controlled burn haziness, ran into no problems at all. It’s been years since I’ve actually been to Eugene, so it was a nice drive. And only about two-and-a-half hours, easier than the trip to Portland, even.

    Our travels brought us first to the Valley River Center, to check out a store that, as luck would have it, was having a 20% off clearance sale. We looked at a few things, made some mental notes, and headed for downtown to check out the other store and get some lunch.

    A quick note about navigation in Eugene: it’s almost criminally easy. (Granted, we only went to a few places.) I always expect more complication, but the few times I’ve been there I’ve never really had any problem figuring out where to go. Today, for instance, I think we found every place we needed despite ourselves.

    Downtown Eugene led us to the other children’s store and then the Steelhead Brewery for lunch (I wrote a review of that on The Brew Site). We still hadn’t decided about a bed, so after lunch back across the street we walked (nice, eh? The store and the brewery were next door to each other) to take another look at the styles we liked, and then it was back to the Valley River Center and the first store again.

    That was the store that won out; we bought the bed we liked, but it was the floor model and they needed an hour to disassemble it for us, so off we went back downtown again.

    This time, we were looking for a store named Down to Earth, which sells “natural products for the home and garden.” My mom had ordered a couple of plants from them and asked if we could pick them up for her; no problem. Good grief, but this is a big store; it’s basically a warehouse that spans the length of a city block and packs in an amazing variety of things. We were able to find my mom’s plants (they had to search) and while we were wandering around the nursery, an employee asked the kids if they’d like to plant some free flowers for Mother’s Day.

    Turns out, they had planned and promoted this “Free Flower Day” thing for kids, but not that many showed up. It was a very cool idea though; we left with three extra pots of flowers, all free. And I was even tempted by a “hardy banana” plant, with the bold claim of being able to withstand temperatures as cold as -20°F. It was close, but I resisted. Aside from the exotic idea of having a banana plant growing in the backyard, it’s not like we don’t already have plants that can withstand that kind of cold: they’re called “trees.”

    Back to the store to pick up the bed components, and some creative minivan-loading later, we were ready to head out of town. Almost, anyway; we had to make the obligatory trip to Trader Joe’s.

    Come on, you know the routine: Trader Joe’s simply rocks, and whenever a Central Oregonian travels to a city with one, they have to stop and stock up on Three Buck Chuck, or shepherd’s bread, or ten-pound bars of authentic Swiss dark chocolate, or whatever. Often, there’s even a list of things to pick up for other people. It’s okay. We’ve all been there. :)

    Anyway, one quick TJ’s stop later and we were on our way. We made good time coming back, just as in the morning, and pulled into the driveway at about 6:30. Sure, it made for a long day, but not as long as a Portland trip, for instance.

    Hey, that makes me think of a great tag line for Eugene: “We’re closer than Portland. And criminally easy to navigate.”

  • Boys’ week

    All this week (since Saturday, actually) it’s just me and my son at home. My wife and daughter took advantage of spring break to head down to San Diego to visit my brother and sister-in-law. Sadly, spring break doesn’t cover work or preschool/daycare, so we were left behind.

    It’s all good. We’re having a good time so far, despite the logistics of being a single parent for a week. No big plans, otherwise, though.

  • Whirlwind weekend

    It feels like a Sunday, not like we had a three-day weekend, that’s how busy everything’s been.

    Saturday we were up and out the door by 7:30am on our way to McMinnville. We had a first birthday party to attend: close friends of ours who had asked us to be their son’s guardians (should the need arise), so off we went. We made good time over the pass, despite the bitter cold and snow warnings here in Bend—in reality we had sunny blue skies and nearly spotless roads.

    Some sidenotes. McMinnville is pretty much right in the heart of Oregon wine country; we saw many signs for wineries on the way there and the way back, including the Eola Hills Winery, though we really didn’t have the time to stop at any. McMinnville itself is a town of just over 30,000, about half the size of Bend, and has a cute little historic downtown. Also, the locals refer to it as “Mack.”

    Anyway, the party was fun, we hung out and visited with our friends that evening, and had lunch with them the next day before heading for home. Over the pass this time we had to nearly stop for an accident at Lost Lake, but we missed this one by about half an hour. Traffic was backed up for three hours at that one.

    Those made for some long days. To top that off, my in-laws have been in town, and have been entertained as well. So things have just been busy. And tiring.

    Could I have another day off? To catch up? Anyone?

  • The one about the weekend

    Nothing grand to report, but somehow we managed to fill up the weekend.

    Friday night after work we had dinner at the excellent La Rosa, over on the west side. Afterward, we meandered around Wal-Mart and Shopko looking for gifts for birthday parties are kids were invited to. Exciting, right? When we got home and put the kids to bed, I cleaned bottles for the batch of pumpkin ale I had in the pantry.

    Saturday, we made Valentines cookies (heart-shaped sugar cookies, of course). Later on, my daugher went to one of the afore-mentioned birthday parties, and soon after some old friends that we hadn’t seen in five or so years came over. These were friends from the homebrew club we had back in the day, but they moved to Eugene and we just fell out of touch. But, they moved back to Bend recently, and we’re reconnecting.

    These are friends that are really into beer and homebrewing, so needless to say I drank entirely too much Saturday night and we had a great time. No ill effects, though, except for a minor headache when I woke up this morning. Good thing, too! I feel like I dodged a bullet. :)

    Sunday (today) the kids frosted the Valentines cookies and I bottled up the pumpkin ale. The rest of the day was fairly mellow; we relaxed, and went to my parents’ house for dinner.

    And I have to mention the gorgeous un-February-like weather. Sunny, mid-50s, fantastic. It probably won’t last, but that’s okay, it is still winter, technically.

  • A new car! (In my best Price is Right voice)

    Yep, that’s what we did over the weekend: bought a new (used) car. The time had finally come to retire the pickup.

    We got a 2004 Hyundai Sonata, very good condition with low miles. It’s pretty nice. I’m now cruising around Central Oregon in style.

  • Obligatory post-Christmas post

    Okay, I freely admit I stole the title from Jake. Everyone have a good holiday? Mostly? Good.

    There’s no denying it, Christmas is for the kids. We had more presents under the tree than ever, I think, almost all for them. And, they’re just at that age now where Christmas is a Big Deal, possibly the Biggest Deal of the Whole Year, so it was full frontal X-Mas this year. (Yeah, I chose that phrase deliberately, just to weed out the pervs. I’m watching you.)

    So, here’s a (mostly boring) list of what I got this year, both for my birthday and Christmas (no particular order):

    After the morning of opening presents and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over new toys and cleaning up and everything, we went out to my parents’ house to spend the rest of the day eating and visiting in our traditional Christmas manner. This is actually my favorite part of Christmas, I think, family and friends getting together to celebrate the holiday.

    This year we caught up with a family friend we hadn’t seen in four years, with an interesting backstory: he’s a forensic criminalist based in Ontario, Oregon. That’s right, he’s a CSI, although, as he put it, without the guns, the drama, or anything like that. He wants to get transferred to Portland because there’s not enough homicides in Eastern Oregon… seriously. Mostly it’s lab work, identifying meth and other similar drugs.

    What’s funny is that I was under the impression for years now that he was a forensic psychologist, which is what I’d been telling people. Doesn’t that seem more exciting or interesting somehow? I don’t know, but I was pretty amused by the thought of him matching wits with the Hannibal Lecters of Eastern Oregon…

    Ah, such is Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year!

  • Throwing a party

    I haven’t posted anything lately because I’m still recovering from this past weekend. You see, we threw a big party.

    This is the year both of my parents are turning 60, so myself and my two brothers decided earlier in the year that we were going to invite all their oldest friends and throw a surprise party for them. Somehow, we pulled it off; even with the unexpected weather, we had a lot of the guests show up (some were coming over the mountain passes and couldn’t make it), and everything went off without a hitch.

    We rented the Parish House at the Old St. Francis School, and that turned out to be the perfect place for a party—not only were we able to accomodate everyone that showed up, but my parents, my brother and his wife, and two old friends were able to stay the night. McMenamins was really accomodating, too, even though we didn’t have them cater the party; we used Costco for all the food and drink.

    So, my brother and sister-in-law got to town Thursday afternoon (from San Diego), keeping a low profile so as not to ruin the surprise (we don’t see them very often, obviously). Friday I left work at noon and we ran around getting ready for the party, and then Saturday was the big day. Getting the food, decorating the cottage, setting everything up, and then getting my parents down there without telling them what was up. (They knew something was up—we’d cryptically told them to clear the calendar for the weekend and to meet us at our house Saturday late afternoon.)

    They never saw it coming.

    It was awesome. Tell the truth, I’m a little surprised we were able to pull something like this off. We’d been planning for months, plenty of opportunity for it to get out, but it didn’t. I’d never tried to organize a big party like that before, but all went well.

    And renting the cottage at McMenamins turned out to be a great move; it was cheaper that many of the other spaces we looked at (conference/banquet rooms in hotels, for example), and it was perfect for anyone needing to spend the night—we weren’t on a time schedule to get out of there. There’s enough of a kitchen to be useful (no stove or microwave though), and if you wanted to get out for a smoke, or a drink, or fresh air, you can just step out the back and step into O’Kane’s or stay by the outdoor fire they had going. I’d recommend it for anyone looking to do something similar.

    Sunday we cleaned up and went out to my parents’ house with all the leftover food and alcohol and got together with the family again before my brother and his wife had to leave Monday. By that night, winding down, I could feel it creeping up on me: this weekend kicked my ass. Yesterday I was feeling really run down and dragging at work, today is the same but not so bad.

    But don’t get me wrong—it was totally worth it and I’d do it again, in a heartbeat. One of the best weekends, ever.