Betty's Birthday

If you’ve been reading this blog in 2009 you know a bit about Betty (and Ron), our landlords and new(er) friends. In fact, you may recall that Betty’s Craigslist ad for the apartment they created in the basement of their house said, “cat maybe, no dogs.” HA! I wrote to Betty as soon as her ad posted and a few emails later Betty was approving Mike and me as their new tenants – along with our German shepherd, Sitka. And we were still in Guaymas!

What began as a business relationship has gently evolved into a true friendship. Betty is always there for us – especially Mike – driving him to one appointment after another. Plus, Betty makes special treats for us and shares her fruits and vegetables. Additionally, Betty gave me a part of her cactus – it has grown like crazy and goes by the name of Betty, Jr. Also, Betty loves Sitka. And she has taken care of her more than one time when Mike and I went out of town over the weekend. Betty makes us feel like we are part of her family and we like that. A lot.

Betty had her 68th birthday this week and we were invited to celebrate with her family last Sunday at Annette’s Restaurant in West Salem. We all met at 9am and had a wonderful breakfast birthday party with Betty.

We hope you had a grand day, Betty! And we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you.

My Other Family

Susan’s last name began with “I” and my last name began with “J” (and still does...) I met Susan when I started the 7th grade at Alderwood Junior High…in 1967 (I think.) Lockers were assigned alphabetically and due to our last names we found ourselves “next door neighbors.”


As a coincidence, we had all of our classes together, except study hall and for that we had different assignments. Back then teachers made students sit alphabetically and…you guessed it, Susan sat directly in front of me in all of our classes. Before we knew it, we were fast friends. Plus, Susan was pretty smart so it was good for me to hang out with her!

Fast forward to high school and in my sophomore year my mom moved to Ketchikan, Alaska to fish for salmon with my step-dad. I refused to move and moved in with my dad. The following year my dad and step-mom moved to Minnesota. I again refused to move – I was so set in school, I loved it, I got good grades, I played sports, I was in different clubs and I didn’t want to move!

So guess who came to my rescue? Susan. And her dad, whom we affectionately call Albie (short for Al), allowed me to move into their house and finish high school while living with them.

Upon graduation Susan and I both attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and we later lived one year on the beach in Florida. And that’s another story with Susan’s mom and step-dad, Maryjane and Andy, who were already on the beach in Florida...


Anyway, yesterday Mike and I were invited to a family reunion in Clackamas, Oregon. Not really my family, but Susan’s family that I had grown up with and spent time with over the years.

There was Susan, Albie, Maryjane, Andy, brothers, a sister-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins…the whole gang! We yakked and yakked and ate and drank and watched the University of Washington Huskies lose an overtime game against Notre Dame.


It was one of the most enjoyable Saturdays we’ve had in a long time. It brought back lots of memories and I was truly happy to see and hug everyone that was there yesterday. THANK YOU SUSAN FOR INVITING US!

Bicycle Helmets

Well, this is a post I never thought I’d write…

I have ridden bicycles on and off throughout my adult life. Years ago when I was going to Seattle Central Community College I rode my bike to and from my apartment on Capitol Hill. It was a short ride, but one day I hit a pothole, knocked myself out, wrecked my bike, and ended up in the Emergency Room at Harborview Hospital (a pretty scary place in itself!)

A few years later I rode my bike to and from the University of Washington. Yes, I rode it downhill and walked it uphill. But it got me there and back! And no accidents that I can recall.

So when I decided to get a bike in Salem to ride to work I thought no problema…within the first couple of days I brought it into the office one of my co-workers insisted that I needed to wear a helmet. So she brought one of hers in for me and I have worn it everyday since.

Today I was very glad I wore the helmet. You see, our apartment is on the backside of Betty and Ron’s house and we have a bark-laden trail that leads to our gate into our yard. And my thrill everyday is to RACE down the trail to the gate – on my bike. Every time I wonder what it would be like to crash. Well, today I found out.

I somehow managed to swerve to the right and hit a giant tree head-on. I was thrown to the ground and my bike looked mangled. A closer inspection found the front tire turned 180 degrees and a small dent in my bicycle basket (and the fake flowers survived just fine, Linda Lou.) I managed to jump back on and finish the ride to the gate, but it hurt.

And when I told Mike what happened we looked at my helmet. We noticed that a big piece of the styrofoam lining/padding broke off and the helmet definitely needs to be replaced. The bike’s front brake pads got messed up, but Mike did a quick fix that will work until I can take it into a bike repair shop.

The morale of my story is WEAR A HELMET! It saved me from a head injury today and for that I am thankful.

Pearl Jam Still Kickin’ It

I probably first saw Pearl Jam at one of the old downtown Seattle clubs - RCKNDY, the Off Ramp, the Vogue or the Crocodile Cafe…in maybe 1991 or 1992. I was bartending for a living in Pioneer Square and nights I didn’t work I was doing the club thing…it was the birth of grunge….

I was amazed at the strong, deep voice that came out of the front man, Eddie Vedder. He’s a little guy and he had that long, long, wavy hair and those piercing eyes. And Mike McCready – the guitar maestro.
The first show that I fully recall was Drop in the Park in September 1992. Pearl Jam sponsored a free show for about 30,000 of us in Magnuson Park on Lake Washington. Eddie was crazy. He threw his microphone cord up until it wrapped around the scaffolding, then he shinnied up the scaffolding on the side, “monkey-barred” himself over to the middle of the scaffolding, sang and then slid back down to the stage via the microphone cord. The crowd went wild!

Well, Saturday night in Vancouver, WA I was not disappointed with Pearl Jam. All these years later they still have the licks, the power, and good music. Eddie’s voice is as strong as ever. The venue was perfect. Our seats were just 10 rows back, in the center section. Cousin Mary and son Jordan sat in the same row, only 15 seats away.

What else can I say. Mike had a great birthday show!!!

Sitka

My friend Steve recently lost his best friend, his dog, Professor Jiggs. And I am extremely sad because those two had a very strong bond. Just like the one I have with Sitka. It made me realize that I haven’t blogged about my girl in a long time so this post is about Sitka.

We rescued Sitka from a German shepherd rescue group in the summer of 2001. We had just bought our house in Duvall, Washington and it sat on 1/3 of an acre with a large, fenced back yard. We both had German shepherds as family dogs when we were growing up so we went searching for another one.

After doing lots of research and finding a purebred dog rescue group we applied to adopt a dog. It was quite a process with lots of paperwork. Before we were approved, and after seeing Sitka’s picture on their website, we took a ferry to Poulsbo to meet Sitka at her foster family’s large farm. Unfortunately, she was kept in a 10 x 12 kennel 23 hours a day and only was allowed 1 hour of freedom each day with her so-called “German shepherd expert” foster dad. She was on her 1 hour freedom break when we were there and she paid absolutely no attention to Mike or me. All she wanted was to chase her tennis ball when her foster dad threw it. And he spoke to her in German so she wouldn’t be distracted by people talking in English. Weird.

The foster dad explained that Sitka was raised with her sister in a human family with a mom, dad and 2 kids. He also explained that having 2 female dogs in the same home was not so healthy because they would continually fight for the alpha position. Apparently, Sitka was the non-alpha sister, only loved by the mom in the family. So the family gave her to a rescue group at age 3.

The foster dad attempted to discourage us by telling us that Sitka would never be a typical family dog…we’d never be able to touch her beautiful ears or lie on the floor with her and watch TV together. So we took another ferry home and talked about her for a few weeks while we were still in the adopting parents “approval process.”

Finally, we got the call that we had been approved. All this time I had been looking at Sitka online everyday and hoping she could come home to live with us. So we made arrangements to go back to Poulsbo and bring her home to Duvall. That first week I was able to work from home so that I could be with Sitka and help her adjust to her new home – and freedom. And Mike did the same the following week. She was wonderful. She was shy in the beginning, plus neither of us know German, but she settled right in.

She didn’t dig holes. She didn’t eat shoes. She didn’t bark. She let us touch her ears. She let us roll around in front of the TV with her. And she even slept on our bed with us. She was just perfect! And she still is.

When we first decided to move to Mexico we didn’t think we would bring her. But the more we thought about it, the more we knew we couldn’t leave without her so she made the trip with us, went missing 2 times (once for 6 weeks!), and has now settled into Salem with us in our new home.


Our beautiful Sitka.

Mike's Surprise

It is Thursday night, September 17, 2009. I did it. I kept Mike’s birthday surprise (tickets to Pearl Jam!) a secret for over a month!!!

Tomorrow morning I will give him a gift bag with some cool shirts, cards from me and Sitka, a collage I made with pictures of Pearl Jam in concert, and an email confirmation for the concert tickets.

I cannot wait!

Dinner at The Brick

It wasn’t too long ago – in fact, it was the day in late May that I interviewed for and accepted my job – when Cheryl was visiting from Seattle and we went out for a late breakfast. Neither Cheryl or Felipe liked the picture of Cheryl I posted.


So when Cheryl and husband Pat were in Salem last Friday they both HID THEIR MUGS when I got out my camera!

But we were soon joined by Betty and Ron and we all enjoyed a nice evening at The Brick on Liberty Street in downtown Salem. Mike and I love this place. It’s a sports bar/restaurant with good food and a casual atmosphere. It’s not too far from home and the price is right.


We had a good time with good friends!

Liberty

CT Scan

Mike and I went to Salem Hospital yesterday afternoon for his CT scan. The machine was different than the other ones Mike was used to. It looked like a giant doughnut - about 8 feet long, 8 feet high, 2 feet deep and it had a giant doughnut hole in the middle. And that’s where Mike’s head went.

It was not that claustrophobic machine that Mike was thinking of. I got to go in too and the tech eased a heavy protective jacket onto me. Mike laid there for about 5 minutes while the doughnut hole rotated around his head, taking a sort of “moving picture.” Soon enough he was done and we were on our way out.

While walking toward the parking garage we spied Mike’s neurologist. Mike called out to him and told him he had just had his CT scan. The neurologist invited us upstairs to look at the results. Wow – we’ve never had that kind of offer in Seattle. The doctor pulled up the pictures on a computer and compared them to the pictures we hauled with us from Mexico City to Salem.

We were a little nervous, but the doc said everything looks good. The shunt and pump that were implanted in Mike’s brain in Mexico City are working properly and there has been no shifting of the shunt and pump. (If you remember Mike’s Mexico City doc told us in May 2008 that it was URGENT that Mike have a third surgery to “repair” the work from the second surgery. NOT!) We left the hospital feeling very happy.

On another note, Guaymas and San Carlos were heavily damaged recently when Hurricane Jimena worked her way up the Sea of Cortez. See our friends' Bliss', Brenda's and Ale’s blogs for info and pictures. Our hearts go out to those towns and the people that are already struggling.

Mike's Health

I am a little late in posting this, but Mike had appointments with his neurologist and his primary care doctor last week. (Thank goodness Betty was able to drive Mike to his appointments - THANK YOU BETTY!)

And the news is good! His recent tests indicate that his body chemistry is all back to normal. He is feeling strong and eating well. He needs a CT Scan (Cat Scan) in the next couple of weeks and then another appointment with his neurologist to review the results. Unfortunately, Mike is a bit claustrophobic and he is not looking forward to the CT Scan. Poor guy…so many tests and pokes with needles. I’m still giving him vitamin B-12 injections and I just hate inserting that needle in his arm.

But at the end of the day I am much happier to have Mike sleeping in our bed instead of a hospital bed. And we are so lucky to have great medical insurance to help with the costs. Today is a day to be thankful.