Back to work time.

We had a good Thanksgiving break. We ate lots of good food with the family.

Friday, Joy went out to do some Black Friday shopping. I stayed home near my computer so that I could give her directions to the stores--plus I avoided the crowds! Friday afternoon, we met Les & Keri to go see A Christmas Carol. Les & I want to go see it in 3-D sometime, but the ladies aren't interested in that, feeling a little queasy just from the 2-D version.

Saturday evening, we went to a ballroom dancing class. They were teaching the cha-cha-cha. The class was definitely targeted at people who'd been through other dancing classes. I felt very awkward. It was still fun, but I want to learn some basic steps at home (via youtube or DVDs before venturing out in public again!) After the dancing, we went to the Spaghetti Factory by the Willamette River for dinner. We split a vegetarian lasagna dish, reducing the cost--and the calories!

Yesterday, we put up our outside Christmas lights and decorations. Our house looks pretty with the bright lights and other Christmas figurines--snowmen, angels, reindeer, etc. Last evening, we did another movie with Les & Keri, Couples Retreat. The scenery from Bora Bora made us want to take our own couples retreat!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Last evening, while doing some cooking, we watched Planes, Trains & Automobiles to get us in the Thanksgiving spirit.

We're going to get together with Joy's family today for food, laughter, and some football. Even though I'm a vegetarian, I always find plenty to eat and have never left the table still hungry. Yummy, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie!

Tomorrow, Joy is getting up early for Black Friday shopping, then in the afternoon, we are going to see Disney's A Christmas Carol with our friends Les & Keri. We're also planning to get see Couple's Retreat with them on Sunday evening. Another movie that Joy is looking forward to is The Princess and the Frog. She is a frog lover, so will enjoy watching that animated film; its trailer looks funny.

A Good Weekend to Remember

Over the weekend, Joy & I went to a Weekend to Remember seminar. It was very good. At the end, on Sunday, we renewed our wedding vows. We're already talking about attending another one sometime in the future and also having some marriage enhancement meetings in our home.

On Saturday evening, we went to The Melting Pot in downtown Portland for a date night. The food was spectacular, but very rich. We had a cheese fondue, salads, a vegetable entree and Bananas Foster for dessert. Joy has already set this as one of her favorite restaurants and we're looking forward to visiting it with friends sometime.

I have this week off for vacation; unfortunately, Joy still has to work.

The Friday before Thanksgiving

The holiday season is rushing towards us. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving. I have next week off; I'm sure that Joy will have a Honey Do list for me to work on.

Joy & I will be at a Weekend to Remember seminar at Jantzen Beach this weekend. It should be a good recharge to our marriage. John will be spending the weekend at a friend's home, so we'll have the house to ourselves so we can dance and play together.

Joy is already looking through advertisements in preparation for Black Friday shopping.

We're already talking about vacations for next summer. We're thinking of taking a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, but nothing is definite yet. After last summer's trips to California and Vegas, we're going to try spending less money in 2010.

Stormy Weather

There have been high winds and rain here in the northwest. Along the coast, there have been gusts of up to 90 mph. Even here in the valley, the gusts have reached around 50 mph. Another storm system is supposed to come through this afternoon.

This weekend, Joy and I are attending a Weekend to Remember conference with our friends Les & Keri. It should be a good refresher for our marriage.

A trip up the Gorge

On Saturday afternoon, we drove up the gorge with our friends Les & Keri. It was cloudy, but still pretty, with the yellow fall leaves against the backdrop of the Columbia River and its waterfalls. Our first stop was at Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. We next stopped at Shepperd's Dell. We've driven past this many times, but had never stopped. It was interesting to see the lovely waterfalls that can't be seen from the road. Our next stop was at the Bridal Veil Overlook. We strolled along the trail with I-84 and the Columbia River below us. We hoped to see some otters across from Horsetail Falls, but they weren't out. The snow level was down to about 1500', so we got some pictures with snow on some of the hills. Back in Portland, we went to eat at Chang's Mongolian Grill.

Friday the 13th

I don't suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia or any other superstition that I'm aware of, so I like Fridays.

Joy had a sleep study last night and today. They are trying to see if she has narcolepsy. Hopefully, they'll figure out something so she can be more rested after a night of sleep.

The freezing level tonight is supposed to get down to around 1000 feet, higher than our home, but still pretty low. The ski areas up on Mt. Hood are all open as of today. Maybe they'll have another long ski season this year.

A nice visit

My parents came down yesterday afternoon to visit with us and attend a Portland Dahlia Society meeting. We had a good dinner and visit, and I worked on my dad's computer.

The weather has been a mixture of sun and rain. I saw a couple of rainbows on my way home yesterday.

An elementary school down the street from us burned down yesterday. All of the students and faculty are safe, thankfully.

A Brilliant Sunrise

There's a lovely, colorful sunrise out this morning.

The men's conference that I attended was very good. The weather was interesting, too. It was sunny and clear when I drove to Gladstone on Saturday morning. By lunch time, it was raining in buckets, with several flashes of lightning.

Yesterday, we did some work around the house. I started getting some shelves set up for Joy to put some of her nicknacks on.

A very rainy Friday

It was pouring when I drove to work this morning. There were winds of over 80 MPH at some of the peaks in the coast range last night. The weather forecast is for there to be several feet of snow in the mountains between now and Monday. I'm sure that the ski areas and skiers are ecstatic about this.

This evening and tomorrow, I'll be attending a Men's Convocation at the Holden Convention Center in Gladstone.

I'm glad that it is Friday!

Portland VMware Users Conference

Yesterday, I attended a VMware Users Conference, sponsored by the Portland Area VMware User Group. It was interesting, but targeted more at IT (for doing server and desktop virtualization), rather than a developer using it to run a different operating system, such as Linux, as an application hosted on my computer.

I won a nice backpack in a drawing. They also gave away a Macbook Pro notebook computer. That would've been nice to put in the new backback, but no such luck! Oh well, with several hundred attendees, the probability of me winning was very low.

A strong storm is forecast to hit the northwest tomorrow through the weekend, with the Cascades getting several feet of snow. That will make the skiers and ski resorts happy.

It's November

We had a fun weekend. Saturday evening, we had a double date with our friends Les & Keri. They came over so Joy could get Keri into a costume. While they got ready, Les and I watched the Oregon Ducks whip USC in football. After the ladies were dressed, we went to eat at Olive Garden, then stopped at a local club for 30 minutes or so. Returning home, we put on a variety of music types and danced in our living room.

Yesterday, John and Joy both slept in until about noon, even with the time change. I sure wish that they would just leave the time alone!

Now, it's back to work time--and Thanksgiving is only a little over 3 weeks away.