This is it!

I've found it! This is the perfect way for me to get to climb Mt. Hoot!
It's called Reach the Summit .
It's a mountaineering program that benefits the American Lung Association.

It's a program that meets, trains, and then guides novice climbers to the top of different PNW peaks (Mt Hood is one), while raising money for the American Lung Association.

Reach the Summit puts together training hikes and technical training days for the next 3 months. They provide all the food, shelter and the technical equipment for the climb. Then, the end of June - we climb Mt. Hood as a team!!! It would certainly be a great way to test out these lungs since I quit smoking 2 years ago!

It's a pretty popular program, so I have to raise $3,200 in sponsorships to do it. They're summit success rate is 94%. Climbers in past years have ranged in age from 17 to 60. I could actually DO this! I could have a photo of ME doing this!--->

If I'm going to do it, I need to sign up ASAP. What do you think? Should I do it? I'll have lots of training to do I know. Thank Gob I've already lost 15 lbs! (You know you all are gonna get hit up for sponsorships if I do it!)

Mom-isms

My sister Kate was talking about our Mother on her blog. She listed a few "Mom-isms".
Kate defined "mom-isms" as a phrase or word that your mother uses a lot, that you have no idea what it means but it was probably popular a zillion years ago when she was a teenager.

Here's a few of OUR Mom's "Mom-isms"

*Choc-o'-block: means "full", as in "My tree out back is choc-o'-block with robins." As if it's not just easier to just say "full".

*Putter: Used to explain her plans for the morning, as in "Oh, I'm just going to putter around the house." There will be picking up a little bit, watering plants, maybe filling bird-feeders, but no serious work is being done.
*Putzy: similar to putter, but maybe less goal-oriented.

*Ish Kabibble: OK, Kate had this one wrong on her blog - Ish Kabible was actually a character from the 30's or 40's with a really dooffy hair cut. So if she cut your bangs too short, Mom would say - "Oh damn, now you look like Ish Kabible!"

OK, so I guess it's inevitable that we pick up "mom-isms" from our mothers, because Friday, my daughter, Lisa, and I were running errands together, and she said something, and then laughed at how many of MY phrases and words SHE uses. She said her friends give her shit about the funny things she says. I called Lisa to have her list a few of the next generation of "Mom-isms:

*Peeing down both legs: means VERY excited about something.
* Hunker down: means to squat or stoop lowly .
*Meaner than cat shit: means bad.

She says there are a lot more, but that's all she could think of right now. It's true! When you're trying to come up with some, they're hard to remember! But in everyday talking, you find your conversations are just chuck-a-block with them! ^_^

My Bucket List

With the passing of my 49th birthday,
(and therefore my youth, Glob rest it's soul...),
I've decide it's time...
I've never officially put it into writing until now, but here is my
"Bucket List".
(These are not just things I want to do,
these are things I am GOING to do before I kick the bucket.)

1. I am going to visit at least one country that is NOT on this continent.




2. I am going to fly, meaning sky diving, hang gliding or AT LEAST para-sailing.

3. I am going to scuba dive.

4. I'm going to attempt to summit at least one glaciated mountain peak.
(probably Mt. Hood, it's only 11,000 ft.)
by comparison: Rainier is 14,000 - Denali is 20,000 - Everst is 29,800


5. I'm going to South or Cental America to photograph humming birds.

(This one was actually on Dad's list, but I'm gonna do it for him.)

This list is not all-inclusive, there are other things I want to do, and intend to do as well. But these are the more difficult ones that I'm GOING to do!

Have you made a Bucket List?

My AeroGarden Update...

Here is my Areogarden today. My petunias are getting bigger!!!

This is how they looked last time, on February 11th.

"Sure, everybody wants to buy a fast, red car when they reach that mid-life crisis." ~ Dr. Phil

Ok, so I bought a fast, red computer instead.

>big toothy grin!<

Isn't it cute????

Belize

" Hey, Guess what?"

"What?"

"Bob bought his airplane ticket to come see us in Belize!"

"Aaahh, Baloney! He's not coming down to see us, he's coming down on March 15th to look for property. He's staying for 10 days!"

"Yea, but Linda didn't even get invited along, so who cares?"

I have bush tits!

Oh, my gosh, they are so tiny and cute!
We have a suet feeder out back, and the last 2 days, there have been about 12 or 15 of these tiny, indistictly marked little birds all over it. It took a while to figure out what they were because they have no wing bars or eye rings or anything other than their tiny beaks to identify them. (And their tiny size, they're only about 4" long and about 1/2 of that is tail.)

Here's a better picture of a bushtit.
Aren't they cute??? I LOVE SPRING!!!
"Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.”~ Dorthy Parker (isn't that funny!)

I've also recently seen a scaup and a shoveler!
Scaup on left
and
Northern Shoveler on right.
(I didn't take these photos.)

I love being over here in Oregon, where I am seeing new and different birds all the time!!!

Another option for "Chemo Quips"

Maybe we should START by making cards FROM chemo patients. Sassy things that chemo patients can give to family and friends, letting people know they are strong and ok.

That would be easier to market to our target audience.

What does the "board of directors" think?

Chemo Cards

I have more ideas for our chemo cards.

One of which is to have a portion of proceeds go to either the Susan G Komen foundation, or to basic cancer research. But that's sort of a no-brainer.

I have a list of names, cuz we have to call them something... Can I put ideas on our blogs, or will they get stolen? Not like anyone but us reads these.

I've been finding some good graphics. We also should get some cute photos of Jodi, Pam, Sue and some other "bald beauties" and have a permission form to use the photos on our cards. Since Pam is currently a "bald beauty", I thought we could ask her if she'd be willing to pose for some photos for us. (Like this photo.) And maybe just some good facial expressions.

We can't let this idea drop. We need to get on it.

Now that I have replaced the burned out grow light on my Aerogarden,
my petunias are coming right along!

My sprouts on Jan. 31st


















My sprouts NOW!

Questions and Answers

OK, my answers to my last two questions.
My greatest fear is being alone and being rejected. If I were the last person alive on this planet, I'd be terrified. But with my luck, I'd find one other person, and they'd say "Stay away from me, I don't like you." That would kill me.

And the other... a hammock strung between two trees. Those things tip and flip! There was a LOT of laughing involved. Hysterical!!! Nuff said.

Best Mom Ever

...Actually, it was hair brushes and spatulas. Depended on if we pissed her off in the kitchen or the bathroom! My therapist says the tight pony tails were all a part of that too.


Actually, I had a wonderful childhood, and I try hard to be as good a Mom as I had, but those are big shoes to fill.
We love our MOM!!!!

Questions and Answers

My sisters and I are having problems coming up with things to blog about, so we are asking and answering questions of each other.

1. If you could have one magic power, what would it be and what would you do with it?
I would like to be able to apparate. (Not sure if I spelled that right.) I’d like to be able to disappear from one place and appear in another. I’d use it to go visit my family anytime I wanted. I could get to work and home again without fighting traffic. Lots of good uses for that one! It would have been great to have when my daughters were teenagers too. I could have checked up on them anytime.

2. What is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?
Cheap undergarmets. I was never one to spend money on something that nobody ever saw, so they’d get in pretty bad shape before I’d replace them. Well, One day, I had just finished work and stopped at Albertsons to buy some milk or something. I was standing there looking pretty “together”, wearing a very nice, expensive suit. But my ½ slip was very old, and all the elastic was stretched out at the waist. So as I was in line it did what a slip does, and slipped. Right down around my ankles. Well, what’s a person to do. I stepped out of it, picked it up, stuffed it in my purse, and grinned at the man in line behind me. He was trying very hard not to die laughing.

But the worst was back when I was working at Fred Meyer. One day I was in the back room (thank gob) and as I was walking along, something slid down my pant leg and out onto the floor. One of the guys there was walking behind me. He picked up a pair of ratty looking, holey underwear (that I’d worn the day before, and obviously was still in my pant leg), he said, “Eeeeww! I think you dropped these, and from the looks of ‘em they must be your favorites!” And threw them at me! (I think that is worse than the Jumpin’ Farts!)
I win! I win!

3. Name one or two things that scare you that you'd like to try this year (or at some point in your life.)
Sailing on the ocean. Yes, it kind of scares me, but I hope to get to do it. And I’d kind of like to try skydiving – But I doubt I’ll be doing that this year!

4. If you could talk to 2 people who are dead, who would it be and what would you ask him/her or what would you talk about?
I’d love to talk to Dad, again. I have a lot of things I’d like to ask, and a lot I’d like to tell him. I think I’m so much like him, it’s scary. I’d like to talk to Bob’s Dad – because I’d like to beat the hell outta the little skunk. And I’d like to talk to his mother, because I’d like to ask her what the HELL she was doing during Bob’s childhood and why in Gob’s name did she not own a baseball bat. I’d also like to talk to Princess Di, just to tell her that we loved everything she was, and we miss her.

5. Other than your children, what have you accomplished in your life that you're most proud of?

Well, hmmm,… I think I’ve learned to be a better person. More patient, more open minded, more conciderate.

So here are MY two questions for Jodi and Kate.

6. Other than losing a family member, what scares you most?

7. Where is the funniest or most unusual place you’ve ever had sex?

I hate computers!

It still won't let me remove that photo!

I can post, but not comment. Hmmm?????

ok, so...

Regarding Jodi's cancer cards... I think you should start making a list of what they would say, inside and out, and then worry about the picture. That will be the easy part. Photos are great. But with cards, even stick figures can be cute.

It would be easy to market them. Send samples to every cancer unit, prothetic shop/manufacture, and appropriate web sites and organizations. Set up a website where these places can place orders and where individuals can buy them.
Go for it!!!

And regarding Kate's Winter post... It rained here yesterday morning, but then the sun came out and it warmed up. It was beautiful! I went out and pruned my shrubs yesterday without wearing a jacket. (snicker...)
And the dress is very cute. You could even MAKE it!

So does anyone have any idea why I can't comment on other blogs? Any idea what I need to do?
:o( Help!