The News

First, the weather:

What a beautiful weekend of Indian Summer we're having! I'm wondering if the seasons are all mixed up this year. It certainly has seemed so throughout most of 2008. It looks and feels like summer, yet the calendar says it's autumn. Then there is the fact that it seemed like fall had already begun before the calendar officially announced its arrival. Now, although there is only a tiny bit of the usual fall color, the temperatures are back to being pleasantly summery. But, somehow the feel of fall is here, even with the mixed up weather. It's a bit crazy, but so enjoyable! We spent the afternoon over at the river front in Portland, soaking up the sunshine and savoring every last bit of delicious, unseasonable warmth.

Moving on . . . A little update about my job:
September 25th (Thursday of last week) was my one month anniversary date. Friday actually marked a total of five weeks on the job, so tomorrow begins my sixth week at work. I'm still lovin' it! Every day is a new challenge that really feels like a great puzzle to me -- but, hey! I love working on puzzles! It just keeps me wanting to conquer the next one!

Next subject . . . our house:
No, it has not sold! Not even one offer has been presented! We are content with that, since we really don't want to move anyway. Now that both of us are working, our financial crisis has passed. Just barely breaking even isn't easy, but neither is uprooting, packing, and settling into a very small apartment--which was being considered for awhile. God has provided just enough, and for that we are extremely grateful and feel very blessed. Yes, once again, God has taken care of us.

Well, let's see now, did I leave out anything that you've been wondering about? Feel free to let me know if you want to know anything else. I may or may not tell you, but you can ask. :-)

And, now for the rest of the story . . .

Click here to read the finale to the Government Island saga.

The Story Continues . . .

If you've been following this story, click here to jump back into my adventures on Government Island.

Or, if you haven't been following the story, simply scroll down a bit to: "A Trip to Government Island".

Another Continuance . . .

Perhaps "ditto" would be in order--ditto to what I said last night. I'm tired and I hear my pillow calling for me, so I'll have to delay my "Government Island" continuation once again.

Tonight I worked a little bit later than usual, so, of course, got home a little later than usual. Since arriving home late, I have:

1. Picked up the mail
2. Put away stuff brought home with me
3. Eaten supper
4. Read and answered email
5. Refilled all the bird feeders (5) and squirrel feeder
6. Cleaned and refilled the bird bath
7. Watered some flowers
8. Visited with a neighbor
9. Played with the neighbor's kitties
10. Emptied all the waste baskets (9) and replaced liners
11. Took trash bins out to curb
12. Cleaned up the kitchen (left messy from the weekend)
13. Did the ironing from Saturday's laundry

Now it's 9:20 -- now can I go to bed?
I'm too tired to get up and go.

Too Pooped to Participate!

Hi All!

I know, in last night's post I said I would tell more "tomorrow" (today) about our trip to Government Island, but, as I also said, we spent today over at the coast (the Pacific Ocean), and now I just don't feel like working on my blog, so I'm going to put it off till "tomorrow" again--tomorrow night after work, after supper...if I feel like doing it. (How was that for a nice long, run-on sentence?)

Oh, the beach was

A Trip to Government Island

This is where I was exactly one week ago, to celebrate my birthday. It was decided that we should take a little trip over to Government Island, which is in the middle of the Columbia River, which separates the states of Washington and Oregon.Our son had taken our canoe across the river to camp on the island several times, but Larry and I thought he was crazy to do such a thing! The Columbia River is a very big river with very fast current, and people drown in it every year! Not exactly my idea of a fun time, let alone a great way to celebrate one's birthday. However, that little adventure is exactly what was decided on my birthday.
We loaded up our gear and piled most of it into the canoe, since a kayak doesn't have much cargo space. The trip across the river was actually a very enjoyable ride--not at all scary, like I thought it would be.

I loved it!
The benefit of carrying most of the stuff in our canoe was a nice surprise to us:
The extra weight causes the canoe to sit a little lower in the water, which results in a much more stable ride.

We decided to explore the island before eating the dinner we had brought with us. The first thing we discovered was the abundance of blackberries. Make that--an explosion of blackberries!
It was amazing!
They hung on the bushes like clusters of grapes on heavy vines! Some of the berry bushes were more like trees! We really got sidetracked there for awhile--yum! (Who needs dinner when you have all this luscious fruit?

Next came our big, scary adventure--a close encounter with a mad cow! She came on the run, rushing right up to us, with big eyes full of rage, looking just like a bull ready to attack! I was truly scared to death!

All I could think was, I survived a canoe trip across the mighty Columbia River, only to die on this serene little island--killed by a mad cow!!

More about this tomorrow -- I need to get to bed to be well rested for tomorrow: church in the morning, and then a trip over to the coast.

Close Encounter With a Mad Cow

Now, back to my story . . . When we first landed on the island and surveyed our surroundings, we had noticed a herd of cattle grazing quite a ways away from us. So what? Who's afraid of cows, right?

We set out on a walk, paying no attention to the cows that we were walking toward. We were simply intent on reaching the other end of the island, as we walked, talked, and enjoyed ourselves in this special place. The herd of cows was nowhere near us, and we had not noticed that one cow was apparently stalking us--keeping an ever-watchful eye on us as we came into her territory.

Suddenly, she charged right at us, but stopped just a few feet away from us. Her face (especially her eyes) and her stance told us she was not happy with us! Yet, we had done nothing to provoke her! Larry and Jim managed to shoo her away, and we continued walking further away from her, more toward the woods on the other side of us. Although we thought she would calm down once we moved further out of her territory, she only seemed to become more agitated and determined to charge at us. She did this several times, and each time Jim and Larry worked hard at scaring her away from us, even throwing sticks and stones at her. However, she was not about to be deterred, and finally charged us one more time in the most fearsome way yet, getting very close to us--stopping just short of being within arm's reach. It was at that moment I thought sure I would be killed on the spot. It seemed to me that she was looking straight at me. I cried out to Larry and clung to his arm, as he and Jim broke away from Patti and me, and charged the cow. She finally moved back away from us and we continued our walk, totally shook up!

A few minutes later, when I finally gained enough courage to turn and look back, I saw her come out of the woods with a tiny calf at her side. My trembling heart melted at the sight. She was simply a distraught, new mama, concerned for the safety of her new baby.
Isn't that just what any good mother would do for her child?
What a joy to realize the reason for her strange behaviour toward us!

More about this island get-away tomorrow night . . .

Continuing Our Adventure . . .

We came upon this delightful little meadow of yellow daisies.
What a pleasant sight to behold! Especially, so soon after our frightful experience with the mad mama who had challenged our proximity to her baby hidden in the woods. We just had to stop and soak up the cheerfulness here.
Just beyond the meadow of yellow daisies, we arrived at the other side of the island, coming into full view of water again.

Looking across the river from here, you can see Vancouver, Washington.
It was somewhere between the daisy meadow and this spot that we spotted an eagle flying directly overhead, low enough for us to realize what huge birds eagles are! We stood there in awe of such an amazing sight! During most of our walk we saw no other people. The island is uninhabited (except for wildlife), and is accessible only by boat. (Who knows how the cows got there!) Boaters are allowed to camp on the island. (Our son enjoys doing that).
The bridge you see in the background is actually a freeway that spans the Columbia River, connecting the states of Oregon and Washington.
Government Island is in the middle of the river--a place that has always intrigued me.
On our way back across the island I found a machete! One side was completely covered with rust. Jim offered his neck to see if it would still be able to cut.

Right next to the machete was someone's driver's license.
The next day Larry was able to locate a phone number for him (on the internet), called him, and then mailed his license back to him.

It was also on our way back that we spotted the eagle. While I was busy looking up, I didn't realize that a small snake was crawing right next to my foot! It was about the size of a garter snake, but was black with a red stripe down it's back. Yikes! Fortunately, the scare was mutual!
By the time we got back, we decided it was getting too late to cook supper, so we just did some snacking while we enjoyed the beginning of twilight. Jim went to get us another bunch of fresh berries from the blackberry "bush".
Larry and Patti got a few more goodies from our cooler in the canoe, while I just sat "like a bump on a log", assigned to birthday girl status.
What a treat for me to just sit and look around at my favorite time of day, watching the sun set over the water!
We enjoyed the time of twilight and sunset, but finally decided we better get back across the river before darkness set in.
Time to "hit the dusty trail"! (Perhaps "the wet and wild river road" would be more accurate.)

What a delightful way to celebrate my birthday!

Finally it Makes Sense!

It felt so right to turn the page on the calendar this morning! The month finally matches the weather! What a wierd summer we've had--a huge disappointment to what one normally expects for summer weather! I hear it's supposed to warm up during the week. Who knows? Maybe we'll have summer instead of fall.

It's Labor Day, but so far, there is no labor happening at our house. Outside it's gray and unappealing, so it would be a good day to be busy inside, but neither of us seems to have any enthusiasm for much of anything.

The deck is still covered with little puddles of water from yesterday's downpour. The sky looks like a lumpy, worn out mattress, ready to lose its old, matted stuffing any minute--as soon as there is a slight tearing of the ugly, tattered covering.

So Far . . . So Good!

One week down, many more ahead (hopefully)! I really enjoyed my first week on the job! Hopefully it won't be just another "too good to be true" experience. My first impression has been that this is a a very welcome change, and will be a big improvement over my last job.

The office seems to be a very fun place to work. The boss frequently brings in something yummy to eat, and yesterday he allowed us to order in pizza and salad for lunch. He said he is going to barbeque for lunch next Friday. Everyone in the office seems to be friendly and pleasant to work with.

The work is stuff I really enjoy doing--as opposed to being a receptionist, as in the last job. It's a somewhat relaxed atsmophere, unless there is a big "rush job" going on. I didn't hear or see anything in the first five days that upset me, turned me off, made me nervous (or want to run), or caused me even the slightest concern.

Yea! So far...so good!

Finally Employed

Tomorrow morning I will be starting work at my new job. Yes, really! I finally have a real job--permanent, full-time (Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 5:00), with benefits, in a office, doing something I really enjoy--legal work. I'll be working for a company that provides legal support services, such as process-serving, court filings, legal document preparation, court record searches, document retrieval, motor vehicle search, skip tracing, and notary public services.

I am very happy for God's provision, and excited to be going back to work! It's been four long months of job search, hoping and praying for just the right one. A week and a half ago this job showed up and I applied for it immediately. Two days after sending in my resume, I was called to come in for an interview. Just one day after that interview, I was called to come for a second interview. At that second interview, I was offered the job. Waiting for the right one seemed to take forever, but when the right job came along, it happened fast!

Between the two interviews I spent three days studying, to be tested at my final interview. Tested on what, you ask? Oh, just the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure--the stuff attorneys have to learn to pass the bar exam! Actually, I was assigned only 30 pages (8-1/2 x 11) of reading for my test. Reading this stuff almost drove me crazy, but I passed my test with flying colors, so those three days of studying were well worth it! Actually, I did most of my studying in a hotel room, while I was out of town on a business trip with my husband. So, I even managed to enjoy some swimming in the pool on a break from studying.

Back to being a working girl.
Back to getting up early every morning, being gone all day, and coming home tired.
Back to getting a paycheck.
Back to the new "normal".

I think I'm ready for the change--I hope.

39 Years

Thirty-nine years ago today we tied the knot--a good, strong one!

We've shared a lot of good times, and some hard times too. But, no matter what has come our way, we've always known that with God and each other, we could make it through.

So, here we are today, 39 years later, with a love that's stronger and a faith that's deeper than the day we said "I do."

"Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot wash it away..." (Song of Solomon 8:7 NIV)

Beauty That is Captured and Captivating!

Tonight we did a double celebration: a belated celebration of our first date (July 10, 1968) and an early celebration of our wedding (August 22, 1969). This sunset was what welcomed us back home after a very nice evening out, celebrating the beauty of a faithful, loving partnership that has lasted for more than 40 years!

Beauty That Cannot Be Captured

Tonight I sat alone in the "family room". (How ironic is that???) Larry has been gone for the week and I've been here alone keeping the home fires burning--or something like that. I was supposed to be working this week, but, alas, not all that glitters is gold!

Last Friday I got a phone call that informed me that I would be "on-call" instead of at work, beginning Monday, August 11th, and the job would start "no later than Thursday". Immediately I suspected the job was not going to happen after all. Nonetheless, I have determinedly set my alarm eah night for 5:30 A.M. to be up and ready for work, ready to leave the house by 7:00, just in caae they should call and say, "We're ready for you to come in." I have waited ever so--no, not so patiently each day for the call to come, but no, it has not come. Today I finally called to check on it, only to have my suspicions confirmed--the temporary job has been cancelled--no need for extra help after all! (How do you spell what I felt?)

Let down
Disappointment
Relief
Sadness
Frustration
Gladness
Relief
Disappointment
Peace

Oh well.

Who cares?

Tonight I saw beauty in the skies--over and over, it just got better and better! I tried several times to capture it with my camera, but it just would not allow itself to be captured by camera lens. It was only available to the naked eye! It was mine alone to ogle and enjoy and marvel at!

Trust me--it was true beauty of God, for