(typed this last night waiting for an airplane)
Sitting in the Philadelpha Airport...stupid place wants to charge me $8 to get online...what kind of crap is that!?!?
So, why I'm in PA. Last month my Grandfather passed away, since he didn't want any services we just waited until the family could get together to spread his ashes. It's been almost two months, so the services weren't as difficult to get through as if it had been just after. Very nice and very short (under 30 minutes). My mom spoke, as did his cousin and some of his old union buddies. I did take some pictures of his family plot, which is right next to my great-grandparents from the other side of the family...weird. Don't know if that was planned in some manner or not. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lindsaycb wrote a letter to him, which we did place on the site for her (and no Lin, we didn't read it :)) I really miss him, his smile, his weather-centric phone calls, the constant picture taking (must be where I get it from :)) and just knowing that he was there for all of us in whatever we needed. Not a fun trip, but it could have been much worse, like when my Grandmother passed away last summer. Both of them in a year. Now I have no grandparents left, but plenty of support from the rest of the family.
Other stuff happened too. My second (third?) cousin Kyle had his 11th birthday party on Sunday, which my mom and I attended (Dad and Caitlin few out before it started) so I got to see my Great Aunt's side of the family. Bunch of little kids playing in a really nice park (oddly, right next to the hospital that my grandmother died in last summer) with the adults munching burgers and cake. My little cousin Alexis is absolutely adorable!
Next time I come out it will have to be under better circumstances...my cousin Scott is engaged, so maybe I'll get to go out for a wedding instead of a funeral :)
What else what else...not really much going on with me lately. Kate and I have been working on the new apartment, got the new kitty kat, driving around the Portland area and finding all sorts of new stuff to go see and restaurants to try. Been hanging out with our friends Gail and Cory quite a bit, and hoping that Josh and Tara will start their planned monthly visit to Portland so we don't have to come out to The Dalles just to see them (Josh has visited 3 times, Tara once...lame! I hope you read this Tara, you need to make it out here more!)
Got a backpack and a laptop from work! Finally have a system running linux that I can play on without screwing up either a) my home computer or b) someone elses computer. Maybe I'll get around to some kernel hacking, I'd really like to mess around with the memory controllers :)
That's about all for now, my flight leaves in 30 minutes and I'm kinda munchy...can't wait to get back and see Kate, Stormy and Quarter :)
(still need to post pictures)Feelin':  okay |
Haven't updated since before Memorial Day, and yes, we did decide to go to SLC and see Caitlin...took a flippin ton of pictures too! (ie, almost a dvd's worth) I'll let them tell the tale :D
( Cut for your convenience )
Not much else going on, I do have some pictures from last weekend to sort and post still but this week at work has been crazy! The van pool decided to try 4/10s and OMG it freakin' drained me! Not doing that again anytime soon (without a damn good reason anyway). Lots going on this weekend, mostly errands and catching up with stuff I couldn't do during the week (like this post ;))
So, off to not be lazy :DFeelin':  good Listenin': Grand Floral Parade on TV |
My parents finally made it in from Illinois this past weekend and absolutely loved Oregon ("It's like another world here!" - Mom) Took them all around Portland, out to Astoria, and over to The Dalles. Had some wonderful meals at Bob's, Wet Dog and Oba...where the food is always great and the marionberry margaritas are to die for (I do believe I've mentioned the marg's many times in the past...yeah, they're that good). Ended up watching the Eagles game at a great little sports bar on Hawthorne, my mom didn't care for it ("creepy") but everyone else thought it was great. Not loud, no overpowering TV sounds, fireplace, people reading books (crazy!) and free wifi...how can you beat that?!?!?
Parent's flight finally got off the ground a few minutes ago (1.5 hours late) because of snow...which is why I'm able to post now, snow day! I got to the coffee shack at the end of our street and the bitchin' camaro did a 180 in the snow...I took that as a sign to go forward (back home)...check my email and it seems that everyone who commutes from PDX stayed home today...seriously, I've been looking out the window all morning and have yet to see a single snow plow on 224...with 3+ inches on the ground that is absolutely pathetic! I do hope the roads are clear tomorrow, I really hate to miss work.
Back to doing...stuff?
/who likes my Eduardo icon? Who knows who he is? FHFIF 4-evah!
**edit** I thought they got off the ground, but they're sitting on the plane on the runway, refeuling and deicing ATM...3 inches on the ground here and everyone's flipping out...still no sight of snowplows, but I kinda stopped looking
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Kate and I have both been sick as hell the past two days, I'm a bit better today since my fever broke...but right now, kinda feels like it's coming back...blah. There's no way I could effectively have done my job today, no way at all. Feel terrible about missing 2 days of work, but after the commute I would have been useless.
Parents are coming out this weekend for 5 days! Yay! I finally get to see them, the only stipulation, we have to find a sports bar to watch the Eagles game on Saturday (Old Chicago anyone ;)) Out to the beach on Sunday, maybe out to The Dalles on Monday (with everything on the way (waterfalls, locks, viewpoints, etc)). Pretty much up in the air for friday and monday for now though :)
Back to being sick...ugh.
( Quiz )Feelin':  sick Listenin': Rachael Ray on TV |
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So, as usual, it's been a while since my last update...hope everyone in IL bore the snow well and is all dug out :)
Lets see, things that have happened:
Drove to Boulder and back for Thanksgiving, saw bro and sis, ate a ton of food, utilized the north face discount, "climbed" Flagstaff, and drove back home...put damn close to 3k on the rental car (07 Camry, with MP3 player!) Got stuck in traffic in the mountains for 2 hours, glad we had Futurama on the lappy :)
I have some pictures floating around...if you're lucky I'll post them :)
Last week 84 was closed b/c of snow, and still having the bitch'n camaro, there was no way that I was going to trek the 70+ miles up the gorge, I really need to look for another ride...soon...
Oh! I saw the remnants of my first landslide today! Coupled with the 4" tsunami on the coast a few weeks go, I can almost cross a good chunk of geologic happenings from my list (volcano and a real tsunami are still on it, plus whatever else I decide, ad hoc of course)
I've taken on the massive project of archiving all my music, all I need now is storage...lots of it. This may call for building a file server of some sorts with at least a terrabyte of storage....if not more. Otherwise, <a href="http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=270">these are adorable</a>, but not really practical...well, depends on how much space *all* of this is going to take...I did make a decent start, about 90 cds so far, only a few...hundred...to go :)
That's about it for now, not really much going on except X-mas preparations (parents are coming out for a week including x-mas proper, yay!) including but not limited to reorganization of the apartment, fun!
Later all! Feelin': mellow Listenin': Lisa it's your birthday, happy birthday Lisa! (ie The Simpsons) |
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I've been back in Milwaukie for a few hours now and finally got around to sorting my pictures and making some pages. Here's a quick recap of what I did since last week.
Friday: Arrive in Boulder
Saturday: Drove up to Mt. Evans with my sister, then into Denver for dinner and a drink.
Sunday: Drove to Nederland to see Sascha. Out to dinner with brother and sister
Monday: Started driving out to Milwaukie
Tuesday: Finally get to Milwaukie and rest for most of the day, drove up to PDX to a few climbing shops with Than.
Wednesday: Drive to Juniper Hills DGC in Madras, then on to Smith Rock and hike around/boulder
Thurdsay: Hike around Smith Rock some more and head to eat in Bend before driving back to PDX.
Wow, long long long two weeks in a nutshell...that's after the almost week long stint in PA for Grammy's hospital stay and thereafter.
Tomorrow, Brad and Doungchay are coming out for 4 days. Discing, out to the beach, and who knows what else (downtown stuff for sure). Should be great fun! I can't wait!
Anywho, here are some pictures from the past few weeks:
Trip to Pennsylvania
Boulder to Portland
Smith Rock
( A few choice ones )
Aug. 11th, 2006 @ 06:14 pm
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| » it's been a long week |
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Well, it's been one hell of a long week.
First off, my grandmother passed away on wednesday night at 11pm after being off the vent and on morphine for 11 hours (more time than anyone expected!) and is now in peace. Thank you to everyone for their well wishes and the like, they are always appreciated.
Spend most of yesterday cleaning out her garden and planting new flowers and looks 1000% better (which i can say without hyperbole ;)) This morning my brother, sister and I flew out of PA to Denver and are now in Boulder. Bro and I are going to be driving out to Portland on Monday and camping at Smith Rock on Wednesday and Thursday, then Kate is going to possibly come out to camp with me on Friday and maybe Saturday...we'll see how that goes :)
Right now, cleaning email and resting after one long week.
I've got pictures to post when I get home...or sometime in the near future.
Off to do...nothing :D
Aug. 4th, 2006 @ 12:50 pm
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| » just a quick PA update |
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Well, I'm in PA. My gram is still in the hospital, she looks a ton better than she did yesterday when I showed up. Not sure what the plan is as of yet, but she's not going to be with us much longer, so it seems. She's pretty much on a vent full time, sedatives and a morphine drip. Not good, but at least she won't be in pain when she goes.
On the plus side, I'm seeing family now that I haven't seen in 9-20+ years (depending on who it is), so that's cool. I've got a few pics to post when I get back since I don't have a stable connection here.
Hope everyone else is doing good, and thanks to everyone who sent well-wishes :D
Off to eat!
Jul. 29th, 2006 @ 11:03 am
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| » off to PA |
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Well, I just bought a ticket to PA for late tonight and get there early tomorrow...no return set as of yet so I may end up helping my parents drive from PA to IL when all's said and done.
So, gram isn't doing too hot at the moment. They pulled her off of the ventilator (or at least attempted to) and she immediately started having chest pains so aspirin and ventilation it was. She's still on that for at least another 18 hours before they try to take her off again.
Just a quick update...I gotta get ready to go. le sigh...
Jul. 28th, 2006 @ 12:03 pm
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| » sister and gram |
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I haven't seen my grandmother in almost 9 years, since my cousin was married, now she's in the hospital. She's been in and out for years but now it sounds very bad. Most of what has happened in the past she brought upon her self by messing with her oxygen tanks and suffocating herself (on oxygen), but this time it's different...she just can't breathe and is on a ventilator for the first time and has a crazy b.p. (115/52) and other stuff I probably don't even know about (bronchitis, I just found out). So I'm, more than likely, going to PA in the next few days unless I hear different from my parents, who left yesterday. Also just found out that my brother and sister are going to be heading out to PA as well...and my uncle arrived yesterday from Florida, I haven't seen him in more than 10 years...family reunion anyone?
So other stuff that's not so sad....
This past weekend was very hectic...not to mention hot. I knew that sister was coming in sometime after the 20th, but I didn't really expect a call saying "I'm leaving Seattle now"...should have known she was going to show up though, it got bloody hot outside! Friday and Saturday were warm, she arrived Sat. night, Sunday and Monday were just awful...100+ both days and we have no A/C...gah! Nasty! Last time she came into town (end of June), the temperature spiked to over 100 and dropped, literally, as soon as she left. She seriously needs to leave the heat behind next time she comes out :) Needless to say, we stayed away from the apartment for the most part. Sunday we went down to Milwaukie River Fest (or whatever it was called), it looked like the normal farmer's market with some rides attached...maybe we just got there too late. Off to Next Adventure downtown, which is a neat outdoors store, TONS of discs (they advertise 3300+), kayaks, camping gear, etc. No one bought anything, but we were all tempted by something (I want a compass damnit!). Off to Saturday Market (on Sunday) to look for some earrings for sister, she's had the same ones in for 5 years (6g hoops) and wanted some artsy-fartsy ones which would keep her ears stretched as well....nothing was found at the market, she saw some there last time, but it was so hot out that a lot of the booths were already gone when we showed up. Off to North Face, Caitlin wanted to see how the store here compared to the Boulder store. Off to Oba for some grub and margaritas! Back home for movies and sitting with multiple fans on! Yay for fans!
And I didn't take any pictures, sadly...it was too hot to think about them :)
Monday, we went back on the hunt for Caitlin's earrings. Milwaukie, Portland, near Gresham...we were flippin' everywhere! Finally ended up eating lunch at Sweet Tomato's (just down the street) and getting some earrings at the first place we'd stopped...ha! She left for SLC and Kate and I chilled at the mall for a few hours before the apartment got cool enough to sit in again. Go figure, yesterday was bearable and today is back to normal temperatrure...told ya she brought the heat!!!
Now, I get to look for plane tickets to either PA or CO or some combination of whatnots to be able to get to see Gram in the near future. Oh, and do laundry...
Jul. 26th, 2006 @ 10:59 am
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