Sunshine? Why hath thou forsaken us?

This morning when I walked around my yard I caught some faint whispering...

"We need you!

We are ready to burst forth and be fragrant"

groaned my geranuims. 

"We need you!

We are ready to grow and give!"

piped up my peppers.

"We need you!

We are ready to bear more fruit that will be enjoyed by many"

sighed my strawberries.

"We need you!

We are ready to have company come sit around us and make smores and talk, visit, and discuss"

flicked the flames.

Sunshine!! Hurry up already!!

We need you!

We need you!

We need you!

AAAAAHHHHH!!!!

I am still screaming!

Give me a sec to calm down and I'll tell you what happened.

OK, here goes.

When I was a kid I wasn't afraid of a lot. Mostly snakes, spiders, gremlins under my bed - you know, stuff a small town kid might see often. Being a small town kid meant lots of time in the great outdoors. Our parents couldn't tell us to go play in the freeway, so they told us to go play in a field instead. So we did. With the Umatilla River close at hand we had many adventures. I think I still have a map of Snake Island along with the hidden path to THEE best rope swing ever. All this exploring in the wilds of Echo led me to add one more thing to my list of fears - ticks.

Remember when I told you about my very first hunting experience?

If not look here http://goltergoonies.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-part-1.html

That story contained mention of some of Satan's children - ticks.

Well, fast forward to today. My bestest friend and I had gone out to Mark's parents house to clean it up a bit before Mom came home. When we were done we thought we'd go out and play with our cameras a little bit and see what we could see.

I took a picture of the house with all the dirt that Mark had been digging up all day (he was getting ready to put in sprinklers for his parents).

Then my bestest and I headed out into the field so I could show her the pond. Owen tagged along with us and the grasses were pretty long; almost head-high to Owen. Everything was so green and pretty, very clean smelling with all the rain we've been having. When we got out to the pond we saw some ducks and a funny little bird that kept yelling "TEEK! "TEEK!", over and over again at us.

Those warnings would come back to haunt me.

As I moved in to get a closer shot a random thought passed through my head. I turned around and said to my bestest: "Hey, when you get home tonight look for ticks." (giggle, giggle)

Her eyebrows shot up to the top of her forehead "WHAT!"

"Mark's Dad was telling me a while ago how this has been a bad year for ticks. He's found a bunch on his dog Maggie. Don't worry though, I think she must have been up higher in the hills. I doubt there are any down this low. (I am banging my head against the keyboard right now shocked at my own stupidity)

We kept taking pictures and listening to the little bird shout it's warning at us "TEEK! "TEEK!"

After a while, we walked throught the lush thick grasses back to the house and continued on our merry way home. Our paths parted and once I got home I was getting a snack for the boys when I looked down at the front of my sweatshirt.

I saw a little bug crawling by the pocket of my favorite Gap hoodie.

Watch out little bug I thought and then I flicked it off with my hand.

Only... here's the problem. It clung onto my hand and it wouldn't let go. I drew my hand slowly and carefully up to my face so I could see exactly what it was. Hmmm... didn't look like any bug I'd ever seen before. And then, just like that, I knew. I flung that little sucker down on the counter for all I was worth. I quickly grabbed a small plastic container and trapped the little booger inside it. My next move was what any educated person would have done. I googled the word "tick" and then I chose images.

Uh-huh - it was a tick all right! And it had crawled on me!

My next move was what any woman who had found a tick on her would have done - I stripped off all my clothing and ran screaming into the shower.

Once I was done checking myself everywhere (and I mean everywhere), I stripped Owen and threw him into the bathtub. I carried our clothing with the broom handle to the laundry room and washed everything on hot (DIE YOU TICK SCUM!)

Then I blew dry my hair on the highest heat and ran a fine-toothed comb through it. Then I called my bestest. (I know, I should have called her right away but I was still trying to figure out how to tell her I had exposed her to ticks)

My bestest: "Hey you!"

Me: "Ummm.... are you still wearing the same clothes you were wearing earlier?"

My bestest: "Well, I changed pants... Why? (indrawn breath) Did you find a tick on Owen?"

Me: (practically sobbing) "Nooooo, it was on meeeee! Hurry! Hurry!Hurry! Go change, go shower, go look everywhere 'cause I can't stand the thought that I exposed you to ticks!"

Luckily she didn't have any. Phew!

Once I had everything under contol I went to have another look at Satan's pet. Can you see it's beady little eyes? It's mouth just wanting to get a hold of your flesh? It's body ready and waiting to be bloated on your sweet blood?

Ok, I'm freaking myself out again just looking at the picture. 

Mark found me wringing my hands together, staring at the tick and trying to decide the best way to dispose of it. Should I flush it? I've heard they can jump and I know where my imagination would go with that one - so no, flushing was not an option.

Should I try to squoosh it? I've heard they have bodies like armor and what if it didn't squoosh but managed to escape and then I had an angry unsquoosed tick on the loose in my house - I would have to move. Squooshing was not an option.

My bestest called me and when I explained my dilema she told me what to do. Burn the little sucker. Light it on fire and never look back. Hmm... I liked that idea. (picture me rubbing my hands together laughing in evil delight - Mwa haaa haaaa!)

Of course, I still wouldn't get close to the thing so Mark had to do the honors.

Die You Horrible, Disgusting, Never-should-have-been-created Creature!

Whew! That was a close one. I tell you what - if I never see a tick on me again in my life, it will be too soon!

I should have listened to what that sweet little bird was trying to tell us - "TEEK! TEEK!"

It was trying to warn us about the ticks but I couldn't make that out because of his accent.

Now I know better...

Learning to like Portland

I have always lived in small towns in Eastern Oregon. Growing up in Echo was a lot of playing on the river whether it was finding swimming holes, floating down to the overpass, or just rock skipping. It was sledding in the winter with tons of your friends and 4-wheelers to pull you back up the long hill. It was the whole town cheering you on when you went to state playoffs for sports.

College in La Grande was similar. Bike riding everywhere, frisbee in the park, late-night walks, lots of BBQ's at friend's houses.

When we settled in Pendleton to begin our careers, I was a little worried but I shouldn't have been. After a few weeks it felt like home. Laughing around a fire, watching children play, taking the dog to the park.

I have always loved small towns and the slow pace they have to offer. Seeing my students at the Aquatic Center, visiting with other parents and friends at whiffle ball games, walking to work on sunny days. I like knowing lots of people and people knowing me.

With Dad in Portland now I have learned some new things about myself. They're not all good things either.

The biggest: I Really Don't Like Portland.

I Really Like Some of the People who Live in Portland, but the city itself, hmm...

I have been to Portland before many times. The Zoo, downtown shopping, the airport, IKEA, a Portland Trail Blazer game and even a Metallica concert. All things that are right off the freeway. I had never really gone into the city neighborhoods and in my first day of doing so I found out that big cities are not my cup of tea. Not at all. The traffic freaked me out (the sheer speed and then Wham! A traffic jam), the fact that no one says "hello" or even really looks at you as you walk past them (not that I wanted some of those people to say hello to me), the grafitti everywhere and public displays of vulgarity seemed crude and disgusting to me.

Since Dad is going to be spending quite some time in Portland, I decided I had better take a closer at Portland and find some things I can enjoy about it while I am there. Ignore the crazy people and focus on the good stuff. Overlook the people wearing "I HATE COPS" t-shirts and find things a city has to offer families. Not an easy task for some, but I am always one for a challenge!

Mark's cousin Jeff, his wife Erin and Jeff's sister, Jennifer, have a wonderful house only 15 minutes away from the hospital and once we are off the main drag and getting closer to their neighborhood, I always feel myself relaxing and I can let go of my death grip on the steering wheel and look around a little bit. The streets are tree-lined and shady, giving off a sense of peace and families. You can just picture people picnicing underneath these trees or children having a lemonade stand.

This sign warmed my heart! They were speaking my love language!

This last weekend we went back to Portland for 3 days and on our first night there all of us walked over to this huge park that lives in this tree-lined neighborhood. There were groups of people playing kickball, bike polo, and basketball, of course. There was a section of the park devoted to dogs and lots of equipment for kids to play on. Despite some graphic language that included some f-bombs and a lesbian menage-a-trois (we were in Portland after all) the park was a lot of fun. The boys discovered a real merry-go-round and played and played on that while making some new friends. I have some great video of that! There were huge pine trees throughout the park and it was so vast that everyone had lots of room to do their own thing.

On Sunday, we went to the Zoo. But first we took a special route there.

Do you need to ask if they were excited?

I think not!

This was the way to see Portland!

Erin and Jeff - our seasoned tour guides! She was just as excited as I was to see a

                                                Banana Republic - a girl after my own heart!

(I have never actually bought anything from Banana Republic but I have often fantasized about doing so).

Caleb stood grapsing the rail for a long time and then he decided to take a quick break and try and answer the question of "Where do you think we are going?".

After the Max ride we ended up spending hours at the zoo. I would have loved to taken photos but my faithless camera turned fickle again and quit working, but I do have a lot of video from the flipcam. We were a tired group of tourists on the ride home but very satisfied with the day. It wasn't even over yet!

We went to the hospital to see Dad and he was awake and out in the children's garden with Mom. The boys were able to see him and he had a huge smile for each of them. He even reached his hand towards them and the boys gave him big hugs. Since we didn't want to overwhelm him we played hide-n-go seek elsewhere in the garden so Mark could visit with his Dad. We were very encouraged by the progress we saw and I can't wait to see where Dad will be a week from now!

This blog post is so long, I have forgotten my point.

Oh yeah! I am learning to like things about Portland - the Max, the food, the zoo. But as I was sitting in the backyard last night visiting with friends around our fire pit and looking up at the stars, I realized that in my heart, there isn't anything in Portland that could compare with the things in Eastern Oregon. I guess the Lord knew exactly what he was doing when he settled Mark and I here!

One last thing: I got something in the mail today. Something I have been saving my sheckles many moons for! I will share it with you tomorrow! (or possibly the next day - you know what kind of blogger I am!)

Missing Poppa

Our family is home now. All of us. The boys are home from Grandma's house. Mark and I are home from Portland and the hospital.

It feels good to be home. Good to be in our own beds. Good to be driving our familiar streets. Good to be "whole" again with our little family.

All of this is good but in truth it doesn't feel great. A large part of us is still in Portland. Still with Mom and Dad as he battles everyday to take a step closer to some day come home.

Home.

Even though we are not there today with Dad, I still feel like some of him is here with us. I look at Mark and see Dad - it's in the shape of their nose, the line of their smiles, their mannerisms and the things they say.  My heart aches as I listen to the grief that fills Mark's words as he tells me how his Dad is his best friend.

 His best friend and his Hero. A best friend that he can't stand the thought of losing. Memories of Dad and thoughts of what is to come are heavy on us then.

I can feel Dad smile when Owen is praying at dinner with his sweet, precious voice:

"Dear Ward, please help Poppa to feel better and come home soon. We really miss him. Help him to not fall off any more wadders. In Jesus name - Amen"

I am finding it hard to answer all of Caleb's constant questions.

"Why did Poppa fall?"

"When is Poppa coming home?"

"When can I see Poppa too?"

"If I see Poppa, will I see his brain?"

"Why won't you answer my questions about Poppa?"

It makes me want to be a kid again and have someone answer all my questions. It's the not knowing that is hard in this situation. The not knowing when Dad will come home. Not knowing how long he will have to stay in the hospital.

The not knowing if he will wake up and be the man that we remember and love dearly.

For now, we are strenthened by prayer, the wonderful family that we do have and the amazing friends that keep showing us in a hundred different ways that they are here for us. We are putting our trust in God and even though it is hard, we are taking each day as it comes, celebrating the small gains Dad makes and waiting in anticipation for more to come!

         

We love you Poppa!

Where to begin...

I have sat here in the hospital waiting room for the last 4 hours trying to find the right words to share what is happening in our lives right now. I have deleted entry after entry after entry. So I have finally decided to keep it simple. Here I go:

Mark's Dad is currently in ICU at Legacy Emmanual in Portland. He is here because they have head trauma specialists and that is what his Dad needs. Last night I started a blog for mom to keep everyone up to date and that blog will have the most current information on it. The address is:   tgolter.blogspot.com             

Now that school is out and I have ordered a new camera (my last one has been dropped one to many times now) I will be blogging a lot more. I am glad summer is here and my time is now my own. Cutting the last 3 days of our school has proved to be a surprising blessing because now I am free to be here for as long as needed. That's all for now. Continue to pray!

Bloomsday - Finally!

My camera has been on a vacation without me. It took off to Baker City with another teacher that I had a training with a couple of days after Bloomsday and has only just now come home to where it belongs. It has been properly grounded and is very contrite for it's actions.

Bloomsday was Sunday, May 2nd up in Spokane and Mark and I went and stayed with family so that we could participate.

It was a blast and I want to share some of the race with you.

(WARNING: there are a lot of pictures!)

Mark and I got up early and ate a nice healthy breakfast (Thank you Aunt Sherry!) and then we headed into town. After parking the car at the mall we got in line to take the bus downtown closer to the start.

Here is the line behind me:

Here is the line in front of me:

Racers came in all shapes and sizes. It was so neat to see everyone there ready and excited to go. You start to get pumped up before the race even starts!

The Bus Ride:

Once downtown we had to find our color group - orange. When you register you have to estimate your finish time and depending on what it is, determines your starting group. Ours was not the elite runners group just in case you were wondering.

This is the beginning of the color group behind us - Green. Notice the Tella-Tubbies? (sp?) Lots of people dress up and run in costume.

Groups are so large, that colors have to also be split so that not too many people are starting the race at the same time. Mark and I were in the 2nd orange group and there is a big sign at the front telling us when to walk and when to stay put. The race starts officially at 9:00 but we didn't actually cross the start line until closer to 9:30.

While you wait, there are bands playing and people taking off their clothes. :) The clothes, mainly sweatshirts and coats, are thrown onto the trees and bushes lining the streets and after everyone has started, they are taken down and donated to various shelters and people who need them.

Once the sign says walk, everyone starts cheering and clapping and my stomach started dancing.

You can see the Start Line way in the front to the left. Mark had to hold the camera up to get this shot.

Here's my view of the Start.

"Sometimes I feel like a dime amongst a bunch of pennies"

Once you cross the line your time starts and is recorded by a cool little thing that is strapped onto your shoe (I forgot to take a picture of it). It is pretty jam packed at first and it takes over a mile for runners to clear out a little bit and give you room.

At one point, there was even a cow in front of me.

At different points of the race there are water stations. Volunteers line up with water in their hands and you run by and grab one (You feel like a "real" runner when you do this). You slurp some from the cup while you are running and then you throw your cup on the ground, trying not to splash too many people while you do so.

This group ran past Mark and I singing and chanting all kinds of funny stuff but they quickly left us in the dust.

Young whipper snappers is what they were.

Here's me - Look I'm still running!

Then we started up Doomsday hill. It's a big sucker and even though we had ran all the way there, I had to start walking at this point. It's steep, it's tough and it's looooooong!

Here is is looking at it from the top.

After that I had to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. I wanted to be able to say that I ran the whole thing except for the hill and yup, I did it!

Here's the finish line. As you are running towards it they are playing Chariots of Fire and you somehow find you can run a little faster to finish the race.

After the race you go collect your T-shirt and pretty quickly everyone starts to put them on. On the drive home I counted how many people I saw with them on and I was up to 5 by the time we got back to Oregon.

This guy paid extra for the bodysuit. Sadly,they didn't have one in my size.

Maybe next year!

I didn't get pictures of all the bands that play along the race course or the kids who gave me a free otter pop or the hundreds of people who are cheering everyone along as they run, but I hope that I gave you a peek into the race and maybe, just maybe, made you want to try it next year!

My finishing time: 1:24:21

My faithful husband who never left my side: 1:24:20

My place: 13,873

Mark's: 13,861

Total Participants: Over 50,000

All the Wrinkled Ladies!

Anita Renfroe.
How can you not LOVE this lady? Her sense of humor is priceless!