Not "Up To Par"

I get to write so often about the fun I am having and how good I am feeling. Well, this is not that type of blog. I am going to complain and tell you how lousy I feel! Sorry.

But first of all, on Wednesday, instead of going to my support group meeting, I spent time with some girlfriends. I met Kay for coffee. She is a special friend and old neighbor, who we lived by, when we lived in Tigard. It is always nice to catch up on what is going on with her, her family and friends. Then I met, Janii and Kay, for lunch. Janii is my friend that has cancer and she is doing terrific. She and her husband are planning a trip to Puerto Vallarta and Hawaii. I am so happy that she is doing well with her cancer. She is one "tough chick" to tolerate her weekly chemo treatments. (Tori always called me a "tough chick" while I was having my chemo and I love using that phrase!) Kay, is the registrar at Hilhi and we worked in the attendance office together. Students used to think we were sisters because we seemed to always dress alike. It was really quite, unbelievable. Kay would walk into our office and there I would be, dressed in the same outfit. But she is petite and I am "jumbo!"

On Thursday night, we met Sonny and Marion at Billygans for dinner. They are long time friends from when Denny taught and coached at Lake Oswego High School. We have been on several trips with them and we all went to Arizona for a month a couple of years ago. They are planning on building a house, not far from us. Can't wait to have them closer.

That night, I started to get a sore throat. The next day (Friday), it was a super-duper cold. So I spent the entire day in bed. I didn't get to watch Denny "test" his props on his racing boat. And today I didn't get to go to Tori's soccer game. So, I am feeling sorry for myself. Boo-hoo!

A problem I am having, it that I am suppose to go to Reno next weekend with four girlfriends. I'm not sure how smart that would be for me. The reason I am probably sick (also have an infection), is because my white blood cell count is extremely low. It is 2.0 and should be between 4.0 - 10.00. I am beginning to think about flying on the plane and being in the casinos with so many people. Gosh, I hate to not go. We have gone to Reno together for several years. If I wasn't sick now, I wouldn't even think about not going, even with my WBC counts being low. I will have to give that some serious thought.

Hope all of you have a great weekend. I plan on spending today in bed again. At least I am getting caught up on some of my recorded TV programs.

Love to you all,

JO

Shoot, Shoot, Shoot

Hope all of you are having a great week. Our weather is super. It is getting cooler but the sun is shining. I love fall time in the Northwest.

On Saturday, I went to the memorial service for Betsy, from my support group. It was a very nice service with lots of people there. She was a nurse for twenty years and then worked in mental health or many years. I was surprised to see Bea there, one of my girlfriends that I worked with at Hilhi and Century High School. She had both of Betsy's kids in her class. Penny, a gal from my support group, was there so it was nice to see her. We picked up several booklets about Betsy, that Penny will share with the other gals in our support group. I have a luncheon date on Wednesday with a couple of girlfriends so I will not be going to our meeting.

On Sunday, we went target shooting with Scott, Julie, Kyle, Tori and friends of theirs from their old neighborhood. We bought Tori a little pink gun for Christmas. This was the first time she had shot it. She did great and even hit the deer target.

Kyle hit the deer target right in the heart. We went for Mexican food afterwards. I think the place was called South of the Border. It was expensive but excellent. The chips were four times the size of regular chips and the salsa was the best Denny has ever tasted. The Margaritas were also fantastic.

On Monday, we went to our cousin Cathy's house, to celebrate Ilene's 84th birthday. She was like a second mom to Denny when he was growing up. She is in a care home and sometimes her memory and mind are not the best, but I think she recognized us. She was so happy to see both of us.

That night we went to Kyle's football game. His team got beat pretty bad. They played a much larger (and probably older) team from McMinnville. Kyle got to play quarterback for a few plays. He had one great pass.........................but it was intercepted!

I got the results of my last blood test and it showed my white blood cell count as being very low. In fact, the lowest it has ever been. It is 2.0 and it should be between 4.0 - 10.00. So, I am suppose to stay away from crowds and sick people and be cautious about eating fresh fruits and vegetables. But I am feeling great.

Today I am hanging around the house and getting little things done. It is nice to be retired!

Hope all of you have a great week.

Love to you all,

JO

Boating And The Lion Walk

We have had a busy week. On Tuesday, we decided about noon, to take our boat out on the Columbia River. The weather was perfect. We just drifted down the river through the house boats.

We stopped at the Island Cafe, a little restaurant on the river. The food was awesome. We have always wanted to stop there and will certainly eat there again.

On Wednesday, I went to my support group meeting and we passed the candle for Betsy. I will be going to her service tomorrow. That evening, we went to Kyle's football game. He is playing great and loves football.

On Thursday, I was supposed to go to my monthly luncheon with my girlfriends, but I was tired and decided it was better for me, not to go. I was so sorry to have missed it.

Today, we went to Newberg to the Lion Walk at Kyle and Tori's school. Each student walks or jogs around the track as many times as they can in a given amount of time. It is a fund raiser for the school. Tori jogged around 7 times and Denny, Julie and I jogged around 6 times with her. Her little face was so red and she did such an awesome job.

Kyle jogged around the track 13 times. He ran fast the entire time. The school record was 13. There were a couple of other students that also jogged 13 laps so each one will be able to be Principal for two hours.

I hope all of you have a nice weekend. Our weather is a little cooler, which I like.

Love to you all,

JO

Wonderful Weekend

We had a great weekend. We took off on Friday for Moses Lake, WA. where Denny raced boats on Sat. and Sun. It is a beautiful lake and park and a perfect place for boat races. We were afraid it would be too windy but it ended up being fantastic weather. Denny had his boat running great, even though there was a last minute panic because he couldn't get the pin through the prop shaft. But, thanks to Lee, it all worked out. It seems like no matter how prepared and organized you are, there is always some last minute thing that comes up. It is a hectic time getting the boats started and out on the course. Here they are lined up to get started with an electric starter.

On Saturday during the first race, he was ahead but he ended up having to be hauled in because his motor took on too much water.

In the next heat, he won and on Sunday he won both heats. His boat was "screaming!" He was going about 94 miles and hour. He has one more boat race in two weeks.

We decided to stay on Sunday night and come home on Monday since it was about a 4-5 hour drive. We stopped by to see Justin, our son, on our way home. All the rest of his family were at school. He works for the Oregon State Parks.

Their house, right in the park, is very nice. He has two guys working for him. Al, the park host, is such a wonderful man. He told us that Justin is doing a wonderful job and he really enjoys working with him.

Justin looks great and I think this is the perfect job for him. They love seeing deer come into the park and there are lots of ducks and geese since the park is right on the Columbia River.

Bella is growing and is such a well trained dog already.

It was a wonderful weekend with Denny racing great and getting to see Justin. Hope all of you have a super week.

Love to you all,

JO

Betsy- One Terrific Lady and Friend

Kyle had his first football game last night. The weather was perfect and he played great. He had one super tackle. He got to play quarterback the last couple of plays. The next play was going to be a pass so he was disappointed when the time clock ran out. Scott is helping coach the team. Two pretty nice looking guys!

I didn't have my camera for Tori's first soccer game last week but Julie's neighbor sent this picture of Tori with her friend, Makayla.

We didn't pass the candle at our support group meeting for Betsy because our facilitator was gone and she wanted to be there, so we will pass it next week. I didn't think I had any pictures of her (so I was going to get one at our next meeting) but I found some on her CaringBridge site. She was an awesome lady. I was lucky enough to have been able to sew with her on our support group quilt several times. We also took a writing class together. She was a terrific lady and I will really, really miss her. She was one of my favorites! Have I ever said that, "Cancer sucks!"

She and her husband have a sailboat. Here she is driving it near Whidbey Island. Huge boat!

Hope all of you have a fantastic weekend.

Love to you all,

JO

Kyle Has An Electric Scooter

We went to Newberg over the weekend to celebrate Kyle's 11th birthday. We were unable to go on his actual birthday because Denny was sick. So we went to Tori's first soccer game on Sat. morning. Julie is co-coaching her team. They aren't suppose to keep score but I heard them say that they won something like 12 - 2. Tori is playing better this year but is still a little shy about attacking the ball. I think she is afraid she will hurt someone!

We gave Kyle an electric scooter for his birthday. He loved it. It was nice because he told us, "Thank you," when he first saw it. After riding it a short time, he came up to both Denny and I and gave us another hug and said, "Thanks for the scooter, I like it!"

Here he is letting Tori ride it but as you can see, he is following close behind her to be sure she is okay. They live on a culdesac and on a hill, so apparently, the scooter has enough power to go up the hill.....thank goodness. Here Kyle is giving Tori a ride. Whenever I take their picture, Tori always gives her big brother a hug!On Sunday we went for a ride. Here are Kyle and Tori standing on a rock pile.

Scott and Julie had bark dust delivered while we were there so we all worked spreading it for about an hour. Then they BBQ'd spareribs and salmon and we had a nice relaxing dinner. Here is Denny sitting on their deck.On Monday, I met Amy and Carolyn for some "mega" shopping. We went to the Cascade Station by the airport. They both live in Forest Grove and we usually meet in the Hillsboro area so it was nice that I only had to drive 20 minutes to get together with them. We went to Marshall's, Ross Dress for Less, Home Goods and IKEA. We all ended up buying things. Then we went to Red Robin for lunch. Since Amy and Carolyn both have birthdays recently, we splurged and had ice cream sundaes. It was a fantastic day. I love shopping and having lunch with them. BUT, they both seem to always make me buy things that I don't need!!!!!

I will be going to my support group meeting tomorrow. One of my favorite gals passed away on Saturday. I will write more about her after our meeting because I am hoping to get a picture of her.

Hope all of you have a great week.

Love to you all,

JO

Kyle Has A Cell Phone!

I went to my support group meeting on Wednesday and we passed a candle for Leslie, the gal who recently passed away. I didn't not know her because she hadn't come to our meetings for a long time. She was too busy traveling and having fun. In fact, she was on a cruise scuba diving and had to be life flighted home and died within a week. I like that she was having fun instead of being in bed for several months. She was on of the three originals in our group. Betsy, one of my favorites, is not doing well. I visited her last week in the hospital and Eileen, also. Eileen is now in a care center. Our group can go weeks or months and not have anyone die and then it seems like several gals take a turn for the worse all at the same time. I don't like it!


On to brighter things.............Yesterday was Kyle's 11th birthday. We were supposed to go to Newberg and have pizza at Safari Sam's but Denny has had the flu/cold for a couple of days. We thought it best that we stay home. We will be going there on Saturday for Tori's soccer game and a BBQ at friend's house that Denny went to school with. They are starting to plan their next class reunion.


Kyle wanted a cell phone so bad. That was all he talked about but Julie and Scott told him that he could not get one until he was 12. Well, he got one. Apparently, as he was opening the box, Scott called the cell phone that was in the box! It sure surprised Kyle. It can't be on during school hours and it has to be in a backpack. Hopefully, he doesn't lose it! It was cute yesterday, when he called me on his new cell phone. I didn't recognize the phone number. The person on the other end said, "Hello" after I said, "Hello." We both said "Hello" again and then I said, "You must have the wrong number!" He said, "I'm sorry," and hung up! I didn't recognize his voice since I usually talk to him after I have talked to Julie on her phone. He called me right back and this time said, "Grandma, this is Kyle!" Then he told me all about his new cell phone. He then called Grandpa's cell phone. I am sure he will be teaching us both about things we can do with our cell phones!


Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the nice weather we are having.


Love to you all,


JO

Family Reunion

We picked up my sister, Carol, on Friday and drove to Newberg. All four of us kids were there as we "walked the streets" with Mom.

It was fun to try to remember what stores were in which location when we were growing up there. We did a great job of remembering. We then walked by two of the houses we lived in, which were within walking distance of downtown. What fun memories. We ate at Little Cooper's Town, a sports pub in Newberg. It was great. Then we went to Scott and Julie's house since some of them had not seen it. Of course, they all loved it. They have it beautifully landscaped and decorated inside. Plus, the view is awesome.

Saturday we had our family reunion in Lake Oswego at my cousin, Kathy's. It is so nice of her and Jim to open their house to all of us..........there were over 40 of us there!

Two of our cousins came from South Dakota and surprised us. It was the best family reunion we have had and is certainly was our largest. I think it is the first one that all four of Mom's kids have been at together.

That night, Carol's son and his family came over to watch the Oregon football game. Carol doesn't get to see her grandkids very often so it was nice for her to be able to "play" with them.

On Sunday, all three of Carol's kids came over, as did Tony and my brother, Richard. Julie and Scott stopped by on their way home from a wedding in Astoria. Tori (our 6 year old granddaughter) and Olivia (Carol's granddaughter) had never met each other and they got along fantastic. (Tori had her face painted at the Astoria Market.)

Here are more pictures I took while my family was here. This is a picture of me, Mom and my sister, Carol.

This is the "cousins" that were at our family reunion.This is my girlfriend, Midge, who lived at our house our junior and senior years in high school because her parents moved out of Newberg. She is like part of our family.This is my cousin, Donna, who has MS and we are always there for one another during our health battles.This is my youngest brother, Michael, and the special lady in his life. They are both doctors in Asheville, NC.

This is my brother, Richard, and Tony who both live in Las Vegas. This is Lloyd and Mom, who also live in Las Vegas. It sure is a nice place to have family so I can visit them!

Denny wasn't at our family reunion because he had a boat race in Rockaway. He got first on Saturday but on Sunday he "blew a gear case." He will have to work fast to get it ready for his next race in a couple of weeks.

Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and had time to enjoy it with your family.

Love to you all,

JO