Back in the day

This is at the Rose Gardens in Portland.

I finally got the photos out of the new camera. We were the only ones to take pics at Thanksgiving before we left and I promised my MIL to send  her the photos of my niece. She had this childs rocker that was Big Daddy's grandfather's rocker and in front of all of this she gave it to niece. I thought that kind of tacky as no one else has received any momento. Whatever.  

Big Daddy looks happy there, we made him do the hat thing.

I ordered business cards today, most work done.

Still need to get one Christmas present, but I will not go shopping at the brick and mortars again until after the holidays. It is crazy out there. Came home and ordered the rest off the Internet.

I picked up a guy for Lyft and when I went past his house and pulled in the driveway there was a smashed car at the curb. Dumb ole me, I am thinking why did they get the car towed here. Nope, a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the street had a head on with his parked car. Which is why he needed a Lyft.

This is it, Meet Curly

The one and only baby pic on the blog.

I do not cotton to putting pics of kiddies on the Internet and this one is very innocuous photo to anyone but us. To us she is the most gorgeous little thing ever. And she had to fight so hard to get this far. What a champ.

Her other grandma sent a video of her sitting in a baby seat. Who but a grandma would take such a video. It was hilarious, but sweet.

I went to the doctor today for the regular check up and left with more medicine. For a woman my age in very good health I seem to take a lot of pills. Now I have muscle relaxers because I am too tense. Who knew?

My company sends in parts that can cause major damage and problems and I am a little tense? I am forced to work with people who not speak English, and I am a little tense? The plant quality manager has devoted his life to making people cry and I am a bit tense?

I am down to 10 minutes now to put in my contacts.

Need to work out what to pack this weekend and I hear it is gonna be a scorcher in Portland. And I think we have air in the Airbnb. Will let you know.

Gotta finish my trip report

This is a statue of Joan of Arc, and according to Punkin Head it is exact to the original in Paris. He says the guy in Oregon had a bunch of money and wanted it---and the mold had not been broken so he purchased a statue to exactly match--same mold. Kinda cool, huh.

She is in a round-a-bout and that is her flag flying above the bushes.

That is a window that Punkin Head can look out of while he is being a librarian at his college job. I must say it is a beautiful campus.

This is where the river otter lives and people claim to have seen him catching and eating salmon once in a great while.

Best meal we had was at the Country Cat, I think on the east side across the river from downtown, it was fabulous. And the least expensive meal we had.

Tomorrow we will wrap it up with the Pittock Mansion and homeward bound.

Today Big Daddy Y2K'ed us while I got a pedicure and we are hoping to be okay for the big freeze.  The lake is already iced over and piling up on shore, which most years we never even see. We are predicted to get between 6 to 12 inches, maybe 14 inches. We will be lucky to see 1 degree F. Lows to minus 18.

As Big Daddy says, BRRR Cold.

The Big Trip part one

Adrienne Vittadini ballerina shoe in black crystals with a leather bow.

You may wonder why I am featuring my foot in this shoe with that god awful carpet, well that is me waiting to go to Portland. In the second gate waiting area which was way smaller than the first one.

That day was the best I have ever felt about Delta Airlines. As we are sitting and waiting to board the pilot comes on the PA at the ticket counter and says, "That plane is no good". Then he babbled about looking around the airfield to find a plane with no where to go, and then he said "Hang on, the phone is ringing", and sure as shit we had a new plane. We got in a couple hours late and all was fine. They even brought a snack/beverage cart to the gate area where we were waiting and everyone lined up like we were waiting in the desert and had not had a little drink of soda or a pretzel in days and days instead of a few fucking minutes.

The flight was fine, Punkin Head picked us up and took us to the Benson Hotel and we had Christmas dinner. The dinner was fine, the service was bizarre and we got to bed around 1 AM Detroit time. And we barely slept all night. I have no idea why this happened, the bed was actually fantastic, the room was great. Just a real hard time sleeping for both of us.

Memorable gift giving, the kids loved their J Peterman navy watch hats and Punkin Head loved his red socks. The kids got me a beautiful vintage picture frame with their wedding photo-really nice. When we were packing to leave Big Daddy was packing a tie and I had to stop him and give him his Christmas, a red tie and red socks. He loved them. He then had to give me my present, Tahitian pearl earrings, which are lovely but they did not make the trip.

I got my hair done today-back home-and it is just too damn cold and getting colder. It is supposed to snow tonight. We are staying in and having tapas and snacks for dinner and I sincerely doubt we will see the ball drop in real time.

Tomorrow part two of the Big Trip.

Just a few last minute bits before The Big Trip

I got a manicure and pedicure.

Decorations on the lockers at the plant.

A random Christmas tree in the plant.

I have just one rant-able item for the year. Men with trendy facial hair that is gray. Gray hair on your face is not attractive, sexy, or in any way helpful to making old geezers look hot to younger women. Unless they use "Just for Men" but that is a whole 'nother ugly story.

Just one last Comcast report before Christmas, last night they called Big Daddy at 8:30 PM on his cell phone (the home phone does not work) and asked him if he was satisfied with his exemplary service. Well, you know Big Daddy is much more calm than I am and he kinda went off on them. The hilarious part was when they told Big Daddy he could not talk to them that way. You make the call and you roll the dice on whether the recipient of your glad tidings wants to converse with your sorry ass.

We are packing and trying on clothes and talking with Punkin Head and in general getting ready. We might have a trip to some falls in the Columbia Gorge so I am guessing some appropriate clothes are in order for that segue from town.

The kids are picking us up at the Portland airport, the reservations for dinner are made, Sammy the Spanky Dog is at the Heartbreak Hotel. Oh, we had to tell them about cooking his dinner. They said he did not eat well last time and then we remembered. Did we tell them to add hot water to his food? Did we tell them to stand there as he is watching and tell him it is cooking?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all and I will report on the trip if possible. If not a bunch of pics when we get back.

My head hurts

I believe I have the beginnings of a sinus infection. I have been taking the "special behind the counter-so you can't make meth-pills" for a week and it is going south on me. So I called the doctor and have an appointment for early afternoon, tomorrow. I think I need the sinus cocktail shot and some antibiotics.

Sammy Dog is sick and at first I feared that we had the rare but dreadful human to dog virus. I am pretty sure that is not true as Sammy Dog is still alive and that apparently kills in 24 hours. He is not a happy camper though. And Big Daddy did not make his pee and poop area big enough so we had a dreadful morning. First thing when he came home we have an enlarged hole and a new area and Sammy peed in them both, kinda like a christening I think.

I am so excited about my weight, and no I am not losing weight because I am sick. It is not that kind of sick. But all together as of today I have lost 17 and 1/2 pounds since the middle of June. And if they are new pants I am back in my old size, the size before I was thinner. This is also the size that sells out quickly. I am wearing the old belt as I am still somewhat between sizes and would like to be able to wear my old pants and not have to purchase an entire new wardrobe for work. But imagine the excitement of not only seeing a new number on the scales, but also skipping a number. Wooeee.

Also, I am over the moon the closer our trip to Portland. We fly out Christmas Day for the long journey to the kids and the only thing we have so far is some candy's Big Daddy bought for the flight attendants. I have to get going on all this, hopefully after the doctor tomorrow I will start feeling better.

Sweetest Day

Yep, we have a stupid made up holiday here in Michigan known as Sweetest Day. So I ask Big Daddy what he is bringing me home for Sweetest Day. He was stumped and stymied as to what I was talking about and then he remembered. As he had gone to Mexico for 6 days and it was a made up stupid holiday I did expect something. He bought flowers and is trying to pass that off as a gift to me. He buys flowers about once a week anyway so that is not gonna fly.

I think I had/have a canker sore in my mouth. I do not know what they are but yesterday I had a terrible pain on the inside of my cheek and what appeared to be a painful bump. Really the whole side of my face hurt. Then it kinda went away and today there is nothing. Now I never really looked at it-nothing good would come from looking-but the bump and pain are gone.

I do have good news for me. The kids are staying in Portland for Christmas and Mama and Big Daddy are planning a trip to go see them and their new environment. It is so exciting. New hotels and restaurants and places to see. And we may be able to go first class as we must use up our miles before Delta declares them useless. And I get to see Punkin Head and The Bride. It will be so exciting. We have not spent Christmas with PH since either New Orleans or Montreal. I can't remember which was the last trip. We never did make it to New York City.

Sunday Snippets

The Saeco coffee machine is making the most addictive coffee ever. Big Daddy is out of this world with his coffee and I must say I am also quite pleased. I had forgotten how good this coffee tasted.

Punkin Head is all settled in and is in love with Portland. The apartment is fine, the neighborhood is nice and walkable, and he is very happy in his new job and his office. He said he thinks this is the start of the winter rainy season. And he can take the bus to work so that makes him very happy.

It cooled down here, last week it was too muggy and hot and this weekend in the 60's. It will warm back up next week and I need to take advantage of the warm weather to do some outside chores.

I wanted pumpkin bread but somehow we have no loaf pan to bake bread. I was going to order one but I could not push the button. I must have put myself on the no spending diet. I have spent quite a bit lately, so next month I will get the pan. Actually it was quite a large order from William-Sonoma, so it was a bit pricey.

BD made Sammy the Spanky dog's reservation at the Heartbreak Hotel and he gets 2 baths. We picked him up early last time and they owe him a bath. So he will get one when he arrives and one when he leaves. The thing is, Sammy Dog loves a good bath, he will be in doggie heaven. We have our reservations at the Casa Monica, a very beautiful hotel in the heart of St. Augustine. It is a non-smoking hotel so we could not stay there until we were non-smokers.

My order from Amazon has not come in yet, so today I am sending BD to find a Barnes and Noble coupon and I think I will have him get the book Empty Mansions. Looks like a good story. Also The Butler by Wil Haygood.

Next week we will be building pilots vehicles again. The only difference is as for as I know all the parts are good this time. It is sure to be a lively week and I am hopeful the last week of overtime. Will try to post next week.

Yowza, and I am flying Chiquita Banana airlines

You know everyone says some of those Asian airlines are the cat's ass, I just never bought into it. I mean as much as I despise Delta the grey haired but young looking guys up front give me a bit of confidence that the plane will make it to the destination in one piece. I flew Chinese airlines domestically and felt that whatever will be, will be. But one thing that always gave me pause, these people cannot speak good, solid, understandable English. Makes you wonder if they are hesitant to take on the busy US air traffic control with their poor language skills. And losing face. Unlike the pilots on Chiquita airlines who do not seem to notice when they are losing face. Sometimes I wonder if the kids can spell airline. One Christmas day our flight was carrying a large group of stranded Pinnacle pilots and I heard one of the pilots tell a part time flight attendant that she made more money than he did. Does not give me confidence.

So anyway, tomorrow I take off for Knoxville for another work trip. This one should be fun. Big Daddy is dropping me off and picking me up at the airport mostly to save me time when I get in. Getting picked up at the curb versus taking the shuttle saves about a half an hour and we are arrive mid evening.

Punkin Head called and we have finalized the menu for the rehearsal dinner, biggest hurrah will be the shrimp and grits. Also a wild mushroom risotto so everyone should have something to eat. We are only serving 2 white wines and beer. PH says a nice Pinot Gris  and also a Sauvignon Blanc should cover it. Then a coffee and brandy, along with the chocolates in the bar for the old folks after. It should be fine. Oh, and I made an appointment with the hairdresser for uglier than shit hair I now sport, let us hope she is talented.

This is going to be a fast month, I leave Monday, The Fiancee leaves Monday, when we get back Punkin Head flies to Portland, Oregon for a job interview, the next up is the wedding. I need shoes.