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Since we discovered that we have a cherry tree in the backyard, we’ve been battling to see who eats the cherries first, the birds or us. This year we cheated and bought a humongous net to wrap the entire tree to protect the cherries and let them get ripe before we picked them. Cherries are unlike tomatoes in the fact that you can’t pick then and then let them ripe. Last year I picked them too early because I was afraid that the birds were eating them all. This year Steve pruned the branches back quite a bit and we’ve got literally bunches of cherries, more than I ever remember in the last 2 years. They look like bunches of grapes in fact! They are so ready to be picked and they are ripe and ready to go! That will be my chore tomorrow. Yu-um!

Okay, that was cheese-filled….

…but more importantly, Clarence and Annie decided that of all places they wanted to visit, they wanted to come see US in Oregon! Yippeee!!!! We planned every moment of each day and it whether or not we did all of those things, which mostly we did, it all worked out perfectly and (I think) everyone had a grand ol’ time!

Clarence played tennis with Dad Barker, we’ll let him tell you that story though. Annie & I went to the gym and I worked her hard. We drove 3 hours to Clear Lake to our rustic cabin to stay overnight. For being a rustic cabin, it was pretty darn cool! We had to walk a hundred paces to the bathroom, but who cares!? It had electricity and heat, much more than I had expected.

We shared, more like took over, the group firepit, made a stinkin’ awesome fire (mostly thanks to the boys, although we did help by letting them do all the work really) and enjoyed our tin foil dinners that we brought with us.

In the morning, we rented a rowboat and set out to catch some fish. We were the only ones out in the water at 7am in the drizzle, but in the end it was worth it. We had periods of rain & sun, mostly decent weather. Clarence soon found himself at the oars, and he loved working the boat (I think he more enjoyed being in control). For his first time at real fishing, he caught 3 fish! Annie caught 1 and Steve also caught 1. I had a nibble or two, but in the end I sacrificed so everyone could get their enjoyment of catching fish. Um, for some reason we never got copies of the fishing experience from Clarence & Annie so I have no pictures to share with you, but here’s one of the fish being cooked after the fact.

And this is of Steve, reluctant to eat while Clarence documents the entire trip…and I do mean the entire trip, almost to a fault of being labeled as a Japanese tourist.

This is where Clarence & Steve played a few rounds of horseshoes

This is Clarence taking an awfully long time to play his turn in the longest game of Hearts known to mankind.

Clarence made me pose over and over again at the Japanese Gardens. He will not be happy to see that I chose this photo instead of the other ones where my arm is so perfectly parallel to the tree limb behind me…haha!

Annie loved being able to plant-talk with Steve I think. Clarence and I just don’t have the same ability to have plant-talk

and this photo represents Clarence trying to be creative in his photo-taking like Dad.

We also let Clarence tour the dental school at OHSU while we went to the antique stores in Sellwood. When Clarence was done, he took the new tram down the hill to the South Waterfront area where we picked him up. That’s something that none of us have even ever done yet! Come to think of it, he’s never talked about that experience except that he didn’t take very good photo. Well, we took our Michigan friends to see a movie and have dinner at the Mcmenamin’s Kennedy School. It was a pretty decent movie judging that by the fact that no one fell asleep and we were all comfy on the couch so I think it was a success.

Thanks for coming! See, doesn’t everyone else want to come and visit us too now?

Happy birthday to me! Not quite as well decorated as my mom used to do, but very thoughtful and caring of Steve to get me a huge cake to share with many friends for my birthday. Good thing they all came too, I sure couldn’t have eaten all that cake myself, and believe me I sure ate enough afterward!

So, here’s catching up. Like you haven’t already looked at Nancy’s blog for details, she’s so much better at posting than me! Steve and I were the “stopover” legs for Nancy & Dad’s little excursion to Hawaii. What did we have to show them besides the rain? Well, a lot of grocery stores, a trip to the Chinese bakery & a trip to the Japanese Gardens. We weren’t that exciting to be around, but we sure did enjoy some good food while they were here! And isn’t that what it’s all about anyways?

Nancy & Dad contemplating the zen of the rock garden at the Japanese Gardens

If it weren’t for Dad’s Chinese skills, we never would have known or realized that the garden’s brochure shows the writing on this rock as being mirrored

With the excess of apples that I had, Nancy took it upon herself to make some lovely apply muffins!

Lovely sushi and other delightful treats!

If you’ve ever wanted to know what happens when a power transfer station looks like when it blows up in real life…well, this is about what it looks like (from a distance anyway)

Sunday after church, we’re driving home and I we see the hugest, blackest plume of smoke coming from the direction of our neighborhood. Of course I was thinking, that better not be our house…and it wasn’t. When we realized from about where it was coming from, we had to go drive by and check it out. All the traffic lights were out so it took a few minutes to get there. At first we thought it was the Chevron gas station, what else could make smoke that black after all? Then we thought, maybe it was from one of the restaurants in that shopping area by 24 Hour Fitness. Then, we realized what it was, wow…we drove right past it as the fire trucks were arriving. All the masses were headed on foot in the general direction of the fire. Funny how people gather toward catastrophe instead of away from it, eh?

The power was out for about 3 hours from this little incident. So, fire in the ‘hood once again, but this time not so close to our house!

This is a picture I took from in front of our house toward the transfer station

Yes, we’ve been very lax in the blogging field. That’s because I’ve been busy studying…yet again. Next week, I will catch you up on all the happenings. Here’s a little picture preview. You’ll have to fill in your own captions though…laziness on my part, I know! What’s the world coming to?

As Dad and Nancy are enjoying 80+ weather in Hawaii with Jason & Heather, we are getting forecasts for snow in the valley…again. Are we in Canada or something? This is what we woke up to on the Tuesday morning the week that Dad & Nancy arrived.

So, the floor is in…well, mostly. I think we may need a couple more boxes to get it all finished, but here’s a couple of progress pictures so you can see how AMAZING it looks. We were pushing toward getting it all done before Dad and Nancy came for their weekend visit, but we didn’t quite finish the kitchen and eating area, so these are pictures of the living room (minus the heat registers that we still need to buy. Look at the last post to see how yucky it was in the wine colored carpet before.

You know what I wanna do so badly now? I really want to slide across the floor on my belly since it’s so smooth and clean and AWESOME now! I did pull Nancy across the floor by her feet one evening, I wonder if she got that same exhilaration that I was envisioning in my imaginary slip-n-slide moment.

Finally, I can lay down on the floor (even though it is only plywood right now) and not smell that “pet” smell anymore…or whatever it was, ack! Earlier this week, Steve and I ripped up the carpet and pad that was in the front room and gave it away. Surprisingly to me, several people responded to Steve’s “free carpet” ad on Craigslist and the smelly stuff was picked up the very next evening. I was laughing out loud as I vacuumed the carpet for the last time before we ripped it up. I know it seems weird to vacuum something you’re about to pull up, but I didn’t want the new owners of nasty carpet to think it was even nastier by leaving all that dust on it! So, HALLELUJAH to that!

I guess I should now answer the the real question of, “what are we doing with the floors then?” We got some engineered wood flooring and in addition to ripping up the carpet, which was by far the easiest demo of this whole process, we have also been ripping up the linoleum and particle board substrate in the kitchen, eating area, down the few steps to the garage and into the powder room. Yup, it’s all gonna be wood floor. Steve of course has done the majority of the work. My only job has been to yank out the 2 inch staples and nails that held that particle board down, which is no slight task either. We’ve both been a bit tired this week, needless to say, but the final outcome will be fantastic. Stay tuned for the finish!

Chinese New Year seems to have come upon us very quickly this time around. Since it is a lunar calendar, I can never quite keep track of exactly when it’s coming…but in fact, this happy day of celebration is tomorrow. The asian and asian-influenced people at my work usually pool their money together and go out to eat at the local Chinese restaurant up the street for a “feastive” celebration and it’s pretty fun and great food.

If you didn’t already know it, 2009 is the year of the ox. What is an ox? Well, the Miriam-Webster’s definition is exactly this: an adult castrated male domestic ox. Hmmm…take that as you will. Some would call it the year of the Buffalo (maybe they meant a water buffalo) although this is would be a new zodiac sign to me, but maybe the definition would suit you better than being “a castrated male ox” so you choose.

Here is “what you are” if you fall under the zodiac sign of the ox:

The Ox of Chinese Astrology is no bull in a china shop. Steadfast and solid, this powerful Sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. Oxen tend to be plodding and methodical; they approach projects in the step-by-step manner that serves them best, and they never lose sight of their goal. They are tireless workers who are detail-oriented and believe in doing things right the first time.

The world may perceive Oxen as being far too serious or incapable of loosening up. This sturdy sort is less than social by nature and tends to become introverted in a crowd. To make things worse, they can’t be bothered with what other people think and prefer to do what makes them feel best. Behind that calm facade, though, lives an Ox who can feel hurt, lonely and unable to connect with others. Friends and family are a great source of comfort to this beast, even if they don’t always understand what makes the Ox tick. As a lover, friend, family member or housemate, the Ox makes a wonderfully strong, tender and affectionate companion who is protective and always reliable.

Out in the world, though, Oxen tend to be stubborn, dogmatic, my-way-or-the-highway kind of people who have no concept of when to back down. Oxen don’t care to be pushed, especially since they think they’re the good guys of the Chinese Zodiac. There is some truth to that theory, since the Ox is smart, trustworthy, caring and honorable. If you need honest, steady and unbiased advice, call on the Ox.

A good lesson for mighty Oxen is to strive to overcome a judgmental nature that keeps them from getting close to others. If they can learn to value their own good qualities, they’ll have more room in their hearts to invite others in.

So if you don’t happen to visit a Chinese restaurant anytime real soon, there is your red paper placemat substitute. I hope everyone has a prosperous new year!

Happy Chinese New Year!