An interesting weekend.

On Saturday morning, we left Portland in the rain, the trees in spring blossom. By the time we crossed Pike's Hill on I-5, it had changed to snow. The snow was coming down pretty hard going east on US 12, and the road was pretty covered going over the hill west of Morton. At my parent's home in Glenoma, they had a couple of inches of snow on the ground.

It snowed off and on most of Saturday afternoon. Yesterday, the sun came out and the snow melted. John was out shooting pellet guns. By the time we drove home, he was getting pretty accurate with it.

From my mom, I got a short book, The Ten Jones Kids, written by a great-great aunt, having some more genealogy of a side of my family about which I don't know very much. I found out from the book that one of my ancestors had homesteaded land where Boeing Field is now located. I'm going to type the book into Word, and from there copy it to my web site.

On the way there and back, we listened to On Her Own, a book on CD. It was a good, interesting story. We actually finished the last CD at home last evening.

It's back to work Monday. Wednesday is April Fools Day! The year is passing quickly.

Happy Birthday, Dad & Selita!

Sunday was my daughter Selita's 18th birthday. That makes me feel old!

Today is my Dad's 75th birthday. We're going up to Glenoma to visit them for the weekend and tell him 'Happy Birthday' in person. Joy is going to make him a lemon meringue pie, his favorite kind. It will be our first visit since their January flood.

It is a sunny Thursday, nice to have for Oregon in March!

Yesterday at Fry's I bought a some box set DVDs. I got Love Comes Softly Series, volumes 1 and volume 2, along with the Ultimate Flint Collection, starring James Coburn. I also got a 16gb SDHC card for Joy's Canon PowerShot SX110 IS camera, enough space to store 4000 of its 9 megapixel pictures on it.

A Wonderful Weekend!

Joy and I had a great time this weekend. Despite the forecast of rain for the entire weekend, the weather was cooperative, overall. We had some rain, but not enough to change any of our plans.

We drove over on Saturday morning, going through Albany, Corvallis, and Philomath on the way. We caressed, cuddled, and kissed in the car as we drove. We ate lunch at Sizzler in Newport. They had a good salad bar, with lots of fruit. We then bought a Subway sandwich to eat for dinner, then drove to the Grand Victorian to check in. It is a lovely, Victorian style home. Our suite was on the top floor, with a private balcony and a 2 person Jacuzzi in the bathroom overlooking the Pacific. We highly recommend that any couple wanting a very romantic and sensual trip away at the coast visit this bed & breakfast!

We filled up the large tub and soaked together with the jets going for 30 minutes or so, looking out the window at the ocean --and at each other! After drying off, we cuddled together on the large king-size bed reading stories to each other.

We then watched a DVD, How to Strip for Your Husband, Lover or Partner, teaching Joy some moves to use as my own personal stripper. While she was getting herself ready, I put Dirty Dancing on to give her some dance music to get her into the rhythm. She then practiced by herself for a few minutes, while I rested in the car, then demonstrated her routine for me on my return. Her show was fantastic, spectacular, erotic, and arousing! After her striptease, we danced naked together very briefly (it was chilly!) on the balcony in the dark with the stars above us, hearing the crash of the surf, before returning to the tub to heat us up for some awesome, great, fabulous sex.

Yesterday, we ate a great breakfast prepared to our specifications; we'd selected waffles with warm syrup or blackberry jelly, scrambled eggs, hash browns, orange juice and tea. We drove down across the Yaquina Bay Bridge to the shops near the aquarium. We bought a blown glass oil lamp at Pyromania, and then some various gifts and souvenirs in one of the other shops.

We spent a couple of hours at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, enjoying Oddwater, the sea otters, the seals and sea lions, the sea bird aviary, along with Passages of the Deep. It was fun seeing Joy touching the rays, horseshoe crabs, sharks, sea anemones, etc. She was like a little kid, all excited.

We stopped at Chinook Winds to eat, but the buffet had just closed for an hour and the smell of tobacco smoke in the air was making Joy nauseous, so we just drove back to Portland, Joy napping. Going over the pass of the coast range, it was snowing like crazy for a few minutes! A few minutes later, on the east side of the hills, it was sunny again.

We ate dinner at Chevys, using a gift card that I got from work for most of the bill.

The only downside of the weekend (other than the Chinook Winds issue) was that Joy's Canon SX100is camera wasn't behaving correctly. It would frequently display the message: Lens Error, Restart Camera. At first, we could turn it off and back on and it would function. But, it got to the point that it wouldn't work at all. I had my older Canon SD550 camera with me, so we still got some good pictures, but my camera doesn't have nearly as powerful of a zoom lens as does Joy's. Fortunately, her camera is still under warranty, so I'll take it in today to get repaired or replaced before our trips to California and Las Vegas this summer.

The first day of spring, 2009.

Today is the 1st day of spring. In the last couple of days, I've seen daffodils, crocus, and some trees in blossom. I'm ready for some warmer, drier, nicer weather!

Joy and I are looking forward to our excursion to Newport, on the Oregon coast. The forecast is for rain, but hopefully it won't be pouring down all weekend--and even if it is, we'll still enjoy soaking in our 2 person Jacuzzi bathtub in the Victoria Suite, looking out at the ocean. We can still do some dancing out on our private balcony, even if it's raining--we can always go back inside and warm up again.

We're going to drive down I-5 to Albany, then take US 20 through Corvallis and over the coast range, a route that I haven't taken in many years. It should be fun in our new Taurus; although it isn't a sports car, it still handles much better than our old van did.

On Sunday, we'll come home via Lincoln City. We're planning to stop at the Outlet Center and do some shopping--maybe get Joy a new swimming suit for our vacations this summer (since it is now spring, they should have summer clothes for sale!). Then, we'll go eat lunch at the Siletz Bay Buffet at Chinook Winds Casino, before heading home.

We got another car!

Yesterday, we bought a maroon 2007 Ford Taurus SE sedan with about 31000 miles on it. It will be nice to have a newer, more reliable and more comfortable vehicle for taking trips out of town. Cruise Control, yeah!

Joy and I will drive the new car this weekend when we go over to stay at The Grand Victorian bed & breakfast in Newport. On Saturday, depending on what time we actually get on the road, we may visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It will fun to relax at the beach for a couple of days.

Joy was sick :-(

We'd planned to go get a newer car, but that didn't work out. Joy got some kind of stomach flu over the weekend. Saturday night, she was up most of the night in the bathroom.

Hopefully, we'll be able to go out this evening. We need a newer vehicle for taking trips, like our one from this weekend to Newport, and our family vacation this summer to California. It will also be good to have cruise control, etc. Most likely, we'll end up with a 2007 or 2008 Ford Taurus.

We had a good time seeing Taken with our friends Les & Keri. Unfortunately, they aren't going to be able to make it to Las Vegas with us. We'll just have to take lots of pictures to share with them of Zion and the Grand Canyon.

It's Friday the 13th--again

I'm not superstitious, so I enjoy every Friday, including Friday the 13th. We're going out Sunday to buy a new car to replace our dead van. We've been getting by ok with a single vehicle, but our Subaru is rather old itself, and I wouldn't want to take a long trip to California, etc., in it. We're looking for a used car (a couple of years old). Cruise Control is a necessity, in my opinion. Driving for very long without it, my foot starts to get a cramp. Must be a sign of getting old.

Joy and I are going to see Taken tomorrow evening with Les & Keri. It will be fun having a double date again.

We're planning to make our reservations this weekend for both our California and Las Vegas trips, to lock in rates, flights, and cars. It looks like we'll be staying in the Stratosphere Hotel while we're in Vegas. We'll probably go to its Top of the World restaurant for our anniversary dinner, located in the top of the Stratosphere Tower, kind of like the Space Needle--but almost twice as as tall. We're planning to get there a little before sunset, and stay and watch the city lights come on down the strip.

We've added a day at Magic Mountain to our California vacation. Through AAA, we can get tickets for only $27 each, saving quite a bit of money. It will be fun to ride some world class roller coasters again. But, it will be a busy week.

We're kind of up in the air as far as our Grand Canyon trip. It would be nice to stay at a motel in Tusayan, Arizona (minutes from the park), but rooms there cost about $100 a night more than do rooms down in Williams (60 miles further south). So, Joy and I have to decide what's more important, time or money! :-)

Another week begins

Joy was over at Lincoln City with some ladies from our church. She had a great time, even though it rained, snowed, and hailed. Her favorite time was traveling there and back with our friend Keri. Even though Les & Keri are our best friends, we don't see them nearly as much as we'd like, so a chance for Joy to visit with Keri for several hours was fun for her. We've invited Les & Keri to meet us in Las Vegas for the end of our vacation down there this summer and go see Grand Canyon and Zion with them, along with an evening of strolling through the casinos in Las Vegas. It'd be a lot of fun to spend 4 days with them, away from home and the daily grind, enjoying nature and visiting.

I did some more vacation planning over the weekend. I'm going to try to have a mini-vacation with Joy once every month or so, even if it is just a weekend away, but at home [ship the kids off to friends' homes; they like doing that anyhow.]. A regular time, to keep us well connected with each other, laughing, dancing, kissing, teasing, pleasing, cuddling, snuggling, playing, and more together.

I went to see Taken on Saturday evening. It was the first movie that I've seen in quite a while that I'd consider purchasing on DVD. I'm looking forward to taking Joy to see it with me.

On Sunday morning, we changed to Daylight Saving Time. I wish they'd just leave the time alone! I like it staying light longer in the evening, though.

Another month is beginning

It's already March, 2009. The year is going by pretty fast.

Next weekend, Joy is going to the coast for a women's retreat with some of her girl friends. It will be strange to sleep in an empty bed again for a couple of nights!

Yesterday, Joy and I sat down and made some tentative plans for summer time vacations. In June, we're planning to go to southern California--Disneyland and California Adventure, Universal Studios, San Diego Zoo, and Sea World for a family vacation with the boys. It will be a long drive there and back, but we should have a great time at these amusement parks and zoos.

In July, for our 2nd anniversary, we're talking of going to Las Vegas for a week. Sightsee in the casinos along the strip, see the fountains, go see some of the spectacular evening shows (e.g. Sirens of TI or Fantasy at the Luxor), take Joy out dancing [not that I'm any good!], etc. We'd also likely take day trips to Death Valley and the Grand Canyon, to see some of America's scenic wonders. Neither Joy or I are big into gambling, so we might spend $20 between us in the week for that--just shove it in a slot machine and play it out--and then move on to much more interesting ways to play in this destination for adults [at least for Joy and I!].

It will be nice to get pictures from some more areas to add to our online albums. Right now, all of the photos are from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii, not that those places are anything to complain about. Hopefully, we'll be able to add Nevada, California, and Arizona to our photographic history together.

Fighting a cold

I've been fighting a nasty cold for the last few days. At least I can work from home, so it isn't using up my sick time. I have multimedia duty at PVC this weekend. Hopefully, by Saturday, I'll be over the sickness.

We may be going up to visit my folks, depending upon how my cold progresses.

A Great Valentine's weekend

I had a great weekend with my wife, Joy! On Saturday morning, we took a Portland Spirit brunch cruise. We had good food and some interesting couples to visit with. It was cloudy and rainy in the morning [and it was even snowing as we drove to the boat dock], but by the end of the cruise, the sun had come out.

Saturday evening, we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. With it being Valentine's Day, we were expecting a wait, but when we checked in, they told us it'd be around an hour and a half wait. However, we didn't actually get seated until almost 2 hours and 15 minutes had elapsed. The food and the company were very good though.

Yesterday, Joy and I went to see The International. After the movie, we drove down the the Old Spaghetti Factory by the Willamette River and ate a good dinner.

To end the weekend, we watched An Officer and a Gentleman on DVD.

Now, it's back to work Monday, but that doesn't seem so bad after a lovely weekend.

February is underway

It's already February 9. The year 2009 seems to be going by pretty fast!

We had a quiet weekend at home. We watched Uncle Buck, Old Yeller, and Savage Sam on Saturday. On Sunday, we went to eat at Sweet Tomatoes and then watched Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men.

It's coming up on Valentine's Day. It'll be a grimmer holiday for lots of people due to the layoffs and other economic issues.

Our old Ford Van has reached end-of-life. It needs a new head gasket, and that would cost more than it is worth. We'd hoped to keep it going for a few more months, but we'll need to start looking at another vehicle pretty soon.

Super Bowl Weekend

On Sunday, Super Bowl XLIII will be played in Tampa, Florida. We get together with a bunch of our friends to watch the game and have good-natured arguments about the various teams. The ladies tend to watch chick flicks in another room, while the men watch football.

I tend to cheer for the AFC team, but I've never liked the Pittsburgh Steelers, so this year, I'll be cheering for the Arizona Cardinals; go Cardinals!

I have multimedia duty at PVC for the weekend. Dr. Jiri Moskala, from the Adventist Theological Seminary will be doing a series, starting this evening and all day tomorrow. On Sunday morning, there's a funeral, so I'll be at church almost all weekend.

It's hard to believe that January 2009 is almost over already.

President Barack Obama

Though, I was at work, I had CNN.com's live feed of the inauguration running, listening and switching over periodically. President Obama's (that sounds so good) speech was good, calling on all Americans to become involved in turning around the economy. At shortly after 9:00 AM, even before the oath of office, the White House web page had already been updated to reflect the new American President.

I know that Mr. Obama won't be able to deliver on all of the sky-high expectations people have for him, I hope that we'll give him some time to work. It is great to have a President who can speak grammatically correct English.

A new phone.

It was a good weekend. On Saturday evening, we celebrated Christmas (a couple of weeks late due to snow!) with Joy's sisters and mom. We played games on the Wii and ate lots of good food.

My old Motorola phone broke on Saturday and Joy's keys weren't all working, so we went to T-Mobile yesterday. Joy got a purple Motorola flip phone. I got a G1 phone, using Google's Android operating system (based on Linux). It's kind of cool to be able open a terminal on a phone! I'm hoping to eventually put all of my music, etc. on it so I can leave my old PDA behind and carry around one less device, but we'll see.

Monty Python Marathon

I'm watching three Monty Python movies with my friend John, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life. They are good for a laugh. I got them for myself as a Christmas present as part of Monty Python's Holy Trinity.

Tomorrow, I go back to work for the first time since December 17. It will be the first 5 day work week since before Thanksgiving, so I'll have to get back into work mode.

Happy New Year 2009

It is now 2009. Each year seems to go by faster and faster.

Last evening, we rang in the new year with a bunch of friends. We ate lots, drank soda and punch and toasted the new year with sparkling cider. We played a couple of group games, Apples to Apples and Encore. I liked Encore the best. In it, each team has to come up with songs with specific words or ideas, like dancing or feelings, and sing seven words of the song.

We took it easy today, watching Must Love Dogs and some Austin Powers movies.

Merry Christmas!

We had a white Christmas here in Portland. The snow is starting to melt, but we still have several inches on the ground.

I got a digital photo frame, socks, slippers, jacket, and knives. Joy gave me some power tools, and a cool rolling tool chest to store and organize them.

We had plans to go to a party with some friends across town, but the weather has interfered with those plans, so we'll have a quiet evening at home.

John is playing some new games on the Wii. James is at work--a double shift.

Four days until Christmas!

It's been a very snowy, winter weekend. We have about 6 inches of snow outside. Unfortunately, we're now having freezing rain, so that will make driving very treacherous. I'm off work for the year, but Joy still has to get to her job. We spent the day watching Christmas movies that we had recorded on our DVR. John and Joy also finished decorating the tree. Our house looks very festive!

All of my Christmas shopping--and wrapping--is already finished. I'm more excited to see the recipients of my presents open them then to open my own presents.

It's supposed to stay cold and snowy until Christmas. We might even still have a White Christmas for a change.

A Winter Wonderland

We went to the PAA Winter Concert on Saturday afternoon, then I went to watch the PAA girls play basketball against DeLa Salle. They played well, starting the second half with a 10 point run and their opponents never could catch up after that. Go Cougars!

We had a rare snowfall here in Portland on Sunday. I worked at home yesterday. Today, there is still some snow and ice on some of the streets, so I stayed home again. Hopefully, I'll be able to drive to Beaverton tomorrow for my last workday for 2008, but they're talking about more snow and/or freezing rain, so we'll see.

On Thursday, Joy and I are going to see The Christmas Sweater with our good friends Les and Keri. Christmas is next week, so Merry Christmas!