WANTED

Ah geez, now our dog's gonna have a police record.

Sweet Sid's Silicone Situation

I really have a wonderful family. Really, I do. But we seem to have this one,… well… genetic flaw. I’m not proud of it. Sometimes, (although rarely), I actually even try to hide it. This was one of those times when I tried my darnedest, albeit unsuccessfully, to hide it...

The other night, I was sitting at my computer checking my email, when my sweetie, Sid, walked in and sat down beside me.

“I think I need your help.” He said nonchalantly, as he handed me a wadded up paper towel. “I think I got some silicone in my hair.” He turned to show me the back of his head.

As I looked at his head, I felt that familiar feeling start deep down in my stomach, that ol’ family flaw…

The back of his head looked like the end result of a full-on sneeze from a bull mastiff. There were big globs that looked like snot, with a fine snotty mist covering the surrounding area. My stomach began to shake as that ol’ feeling grew stronger. I felt my face contort as my eyes squinted and my cheeks tightened. I struggled to control it.

“Um,… yeah, you do have a mess there…” I managed to get out.

My shoulders began to tremble and shake. I was glad he was turned away from me so that he couldn’t see how hard I was fighting this urge – so that he couldn’t see how difficult it was for me to hide this hideous flaw.

“So what gets out silicone?” I snickered. I was loosing the battle…

“Nothing. It’s 50 year silicone!” He sounded a bit put out.

“Nothing?!?”

At this point, my entire body was racked with tremors. I was picking gingerly at the mess in his hair with my fingers. My cheeks ached. I wanted to let fly with the bust-a-gut laugh that I was trying so hard to suppress.

"What about WD-40? Paint thinner? Acetone???” I asked with tears in my eyes, still grateful that his back was turned to me.

“Nothing!” He responded, “It’s silicone for Christ sake. It’s meant to stand up to anything and everything!” His frustration was apparent now. “Can’t you just comb it out or something?”

“Uh,…” *snicker*, “A,… a comb is NOT going through this,…” I giggled, poking at matted blob with my finger. I was trying to leave him some small shred of dignity, but OH GOD, it was hard!

“Well then just CUT it out of there!”  He demanded.

I could tell he felt foolish,… poor bastard. *snort!*

The hair/silicone globs were matted and stuck so tight, right to his scalp. There were two different places that were about the size of quarters. I had to peel the plastered mess off his skin before I could even begin to cut it away. He howled in pain as I did so, which didn’t help any in trying to suppress the urge to laugh. I could see it pulling on his skin. *giggle* I’d peel and snip and snicker,… peel, snip, snicker…

“God damn, can’t you be gentle?” He whined. “Am I bleeding???”

“Not yet,…” I tittered. Oh, man, I was sure I was gonna pee my pants.

“Well, I’m glad you get so much enjoyment from my pain, you evil Witch!” He tried to share a little humor.

“Oh, buddy,… you have NO friggin’ idea…” I muttered under my breath.

More peel, snip, snicker… I worked on the mess for about 20 minutes. Peel, snip, snicker. Then I suggested he go take a hot shower to possibly loosen up the remaining silicone. We both needed a break anyway.

So Sweet Sid hit the shower, and I locked myself in the other bathroom and let fly with a fit of laughter that made my stomach hurt. I tried to call my sister, because that’s another part of that little family flaw, the sick-o need to share.

At the end of the cutting, he had two huge bald holes in the back of his head, with an occasional tuft of ragged hair sticking out. He reminded me of my sister’s dog, Daisy, The one that had the serious case of ‘mange’. Eew!

So,... you have to understand something here,… You see, Sid has the most beautiful, black hair I have ever seen. At 56 years old, it is full, thick, and not a gray hair in it. It WAS beautiful. (WAS being the operative word there… *snort!*)

I told him we should do a full haircut, and cut it really short so that everything kind of blended in and the holes wouldn’t be so obvious. But his response was, “Oh don’t worry about it. It’s fine! I can’t see it.”

He's so funny, he truly couldn’t care less.

But the problem is, I CAN still see it, and every single time I do,… I feel that feeling again… it starts in my stomach, then my shoulders begin to shake....

Bwwuuaaaaahhhh  HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

P.S. I’ve tried twice to sneak up behind him with a camera, but he keeps catching me!!!

(BAD GIRLFRIEND! BAD!!!) *giggle…*

More police officers killed in Seattle area...

There hasn't been a law enforcement officer killed in Seattle in almost 4 years.  Now, we've had 5 killed in less than a month.  And all 5 were targeted cop-killings.  No 'accidents' or 'self defense', no 'wrong place at the wrong time'.  These were all intentially to kill cops.  I feel so bad for the families of the 5 officers that have been killed.  But I also feel horrible for all the officers working in this area.  It's like someone has declared 'open hunting season' on cops.  Oh, this makes me so angry, and soooo sad.

good coverage at this link

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Police-officers-shot-78089882.html

Bojangles

Bo-dacious!

Bo-nafide Aussie

He's got the 'crazy eye' going!!!


Bo-hemian
(all that's missing are the puca shells and gold chains!)

Bojangles,... bein'have.

Our Quest...

This is our Quest.

Yep, that's what we named her. 

Sid took these photos on his recent trip down there. 

She looks HUGE to me!  I guess she IS about 8 feet longer than what I've been sailing on up here. And she's 17 feet longer than what Bob and I had.  Yikes,... it's a bit intimidating.

These next couple of photos are when they hauled her out of the water to do the 'survey'. 

(The survey is kinda like a boat's equivalent of a pap-smear - they raise her up to look at her bottom, check for,... uh, well, you get the idea.)

I'm already working on new lettering for her name. 

We will have the new name printed, (a vinyl decal), and we'll take it with us when we go down in early January.

Removing the "Kristina" and getting Quest in it's place will be one of our first priorities once we get there.

Geez, in two and a half months, I'm going to be ON this boat,

OUR boat - on the Atlantic Ocean! 

OMG!!!

I still can't believe it's coming true....

Help!

Do you have any great ideas for a boat name???   She's a 40' Island Packet sailboat.  She's got green canvas, and green trim on the sails, and a beige hull.  We'll be keeping her in the islands of the Bahamas and Caribbean,  no plans to bring her to the Pacific Northwest. 

The poll at right has a few names we've been kicking around.  Please vote, or give us another suggestion. Ask your friends and/or readers to come over and vote too.  We could really use some input here.

Thanks!

Oh my Gosh - my dream is coming true!!!

 A little background for those who may not already know it...

For many, many, years, I have dreamed of traveling to beautiful tropical places.  (I'm just not much of a winter person.)  But for over 20 years, I was married to someone who would not do anything even remotely adventurous. It got far worse as the years when by, and toward the end, he would just barely leave the house to cruise the aisles of the grocery store. (I am NOT exaggerating here.)

My sense of adventure was so stifled for so long, that when I left that situation, I made a vow to myself that I was going to try as many new things as I could. I was going to go out and see this big beautiful world,  I was GOING to travel.  I didn't exactly know how, but I was determined to make it happen. 

Fortunately, I was introduced to sailing, and loved it.  Sailing is an wonderful way to travel, because your boat is your accommodations and your transportation.  You don't have to spend money to fly from one place to another or pay for hotel rooms. It's all right there below your feet, and - so far anyway - the wind is still free for those who chose to use it.
 

Sailing is slow, but it is also quiet and unobtrusive, so you tend to see a lot more wildlife. And you're not polluting the air or using a bunch of fossil fuel when under sail.  I was fairly sure that sailing was my best shot at travel. I was no longer going to just cruise the aisles of the grocery store, I was ready to cruise the tropical isles!  My search began,... 

Last January, I found Sid.  An electrical contractor, who was also a sailing instructor, and a certified Captain through the Coast Guard. He was looking for a companion to sail with him in the tropics.  Hmmm,...   (You'd think what he and I were looking for would be easy to find, but it is NOT.  People are not comfortable with leaving their safe jobs and comfy houses to get into a small boat and go out on that big scary ocean.) But as luck would have it, and with a little help from match.com,... we found each other.

Now, 8 months later, our joint dreams are coming to fruition.

Yesterday, we made an offer on one of the boats Sid looked at during his boat hunting trip to Florida last week. (I say WE, because I am able to qualify for the "first time home buyers" credit, and this boat will qualify, so I will get to contribute that money to the purchase of this boat. Hooray for stimulating the economy!!!)  We made a 'low ball' bid, figuring better to start too low than too high. Well, today, the owners countered, with a figure slightly higher than our bid, but still about 5K lower than we were willing to go.  So, we accepted the offer - contingent on an acceptable sea trial and survey. (That means Sid has to go down and actually SAIL it, and then it's pulled out of the water, and a boat expert does a full bow to stern survey on it looking for problems.) 

 If we are happy with both the sea trial and the survey, we sign the papers and become the owners of this beautiful Island Packet 40!

  

She is a1994, 40 feet long, with 2 nice cabins and 2 heads, (bathrooms), so that we can have company come visit and they'll be comfortable during their stay! (It can sleep up to 7 people)

 

 The boat has lots of room up above in the cockpit  for sitting around having cocktails and enjoying the warm Caribbean sunshine, and plenty of room down below for comfortable seating while visiting and eating.

Again, if all goes well with the sale, and it should,... we will have to move her to the Bahamas within 90 days, to avoid paying 5K in state sales tax.  Let's see, that would put us in the Bahamas for Christmas. 
Oh, bummer...  

I found Cindy Ward!

My sister, Jodi, recently helped me locate my childhood best friend, Cindy Ward. Cindy and I were very best friends the summer before 1st grade when I met her playin' on the tree swing at Shirly's house, until we moved from Garden Valley at the end of 7th grade.  We've not seen each other since.

Well, as luck would have it, Cindy Ward-Suzumura is living in Seattle, about an hour and a half from Anacortes where I am now living!  I have thought about Cindy sooooo much over the years, I've wanted to find her for so long, so what a thrill to finally find her, and so close by!

She does not look 50!  She still looks just the same I swear!

I'm taking Sid to the airport in Seattle on Tuesday, (He going to FL to find us a boat!), so Cindy and I are meeting for dinner and drinks!  Two childhood best friends, meeting again after 37 years. 

Oh man do we have some catching up to do! 

Three childhood friends from Garden Valley - reunited through Facebook.

Cindy Ward-Suzumura,  Linda Pogue-Harrison,  Joy McBride-Streight

Hooray for FACEBOOK!

Linda Kay Harrison - Seamstress To The Bikers

My new gig –  Biker Patch Attacher!

She Attaches Patches While U Wait!

Update from Anacortes, WA

Gracie, my african grey parrot, seems to be adjusting nicely to her new home here in Anacortes. But when I first moved to here, Sid and I both had real concerns about Grace’s safety, because one of Sid’s two cats, Scamp, is a ruthless bird killer. (Yeah, the same cat that brought that cute, fuzzy, brown -dead- mole into the bathroom!)

We thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to introduce the two of them to each other in a very controlled setting. So Sid held Scamp securely in his arms and took him over to Grace’s cage so that they could see each other.
Grace looked closely at Scamp. Scamp focused intently on Grace. You could feel the tension. Scamp could tell this was no ordinary bird, and no ordinary pet. “Why does this bird seem different than the ones out in the yard? There IS something different about this bird, but what is it???”

At that moment,… the bird spoke. This bird spoke English, like the humans! And she said,…
“Are you hungry? Want some birdie?”

Oh, that was a cheap shot! As Sid laughed in amazement, Scamp leapt to the floor and sulked off, thinking “GREAT! Not only is there a damn bird living here now, but it's gotta be a smartass too!”

Yes, Gracie has adjusted nicely, and is doing better than she has in quite a while. She’s very happy here, she has grown feathers on her chest again, and…. her red tail has even grown back!

Grace has always been very confident regarding her position in the 'pecking order' of the world around her. That is to say,… it is her belief that she holds, and deservedly so, the position of ‘alpha’ pet. (She basically feels this way about human family members as well.)

I must admit, she has always had a remarkable ability to get large predators that could squash her like a grape, to give her a wide personal space and a tremendous amount of respect. (I’m not sure she deserves that last part!)

Over the years, Grace has lived with 8 different cats, and 6 different dogs, and all of them, regardless of their initial instinct, eventually seem to kowtow to her.

For instance, the other night, Sid and I were sitting on the couch, watching a movie. His australian shepherd, Bo, was laying at our feet chewing on one of his favorite treats, a rawhide chip. For reasons unknow, Gracie climbed down the leg of her cage, walked across the floor from the dining room to the living room, walked up to Bo, TOOK the rawhide chew from his mouth, and headed back to her cage with it!

Bo was a bit taken back at first, then he looked up at us as if to say, “Hey! Can she do that?”

We were both just cracking up laughing about it, so poor Bo knew he was gonna have to take matters into his own paws and go get it himself. So he got up and walked cautiously over to the bird, who was hi-tailing it across the floor with the loot. Bo politely took one side of the chew in his mouth, “I’m sorry birdie, but I believe that is mine,” and they both stubbornly stood there tugging on it for a few seconds. Grace finally let go and casually continued back to her cage thinking, “Ah, the nasty thing smelled like dog breath anyway…” 

Meanwhile, in the other room, Scamp is quietly plotting,..."Not to worry, Bo,... Someday..., that bird will be MINE!"  Wild fantasies "flutter" through his evil little feline mind....

"Red feather? I don't see no stinking red feather!"

He is so.... NORMAL! I love our President!

Ok, I know I'm supposed to be updating my 'month in Anacortes' post... but this will only take a minute....

I LOVE that President Obama called Kenye West a "jackass"! When asked what he thought of what Kenye did, he just came out and said, "Ah, the guys a jackass." Just like that,... no 'political bullshit' - he just called it like it was. I LOVE this President!

I'm sure his 'approval rating' just shot through the roof!  LOL!!!   It did in MY opinion!
(But I already thought he was awesome!)

My first month in Anacortes

One month ago, I packed my little Kia Rio, with as much as it could possibly hold, and headed for Anacortes.

Believe it or not, I got a large parrot cage and stand, a clothes hamper, a small computer table, my laptop, a box of books, my sewing machine and large chest full of sewing supplies, along with all my clothes, coats, shoes, and my parrot Gracie, all in/on that little car.

So let me tell you about my new roommates. Sid has 2 cats, Scamp and Sarge, (Sergeant Pepper), and a 6 month old Australian Shepherd, named Bo, (Mr. Bojangles). Sarge is a grumpy ol’ fart that has terrible allergies and sneezes cat snot everywhere. Scamp is pretty cool, (for a cat), but is a stealthy hunter which is kinda sad. (He has caught everything from quail to humming birds!) Then you add my prema-donna parrot to that mix, and you have my new home.

With all these animals, there are toys everywhere. So the day I got here, I went into the bathroom to take a pee, and I’m sitting there on the toilet, and I look down and see this cute little toy beside my foot. At first I thought was a mouse, then I realized it was supposed to be a mole because he had those funny little feet and that weird nose that moles have. He was very cute. He looked so real and he had soft looking brown fur. So I reached over and picked him up. He was soft, and very real looking.  Well made and obviously still new, he hadn’t been chewed up and mangled yet. I walked past the mole about an hour later, and decide to see if he was a squeaky toy. I picked him up again and squeezed him, no squeak, but he DID feel like he was filled with some sort of ‘gel’ tho, which was creepy feeling, so I dropped him back on the floor and walked off.

Later that evening, Sid came out of the bathroom and said, “Hey, did you see Scamps latest catch?”

“What catch?”

“The mole,… Scamp caught a mole. How do you suppose he got that?”

- stunned silence from me -

“ A real mole? That was a REAL, dead mole???”

“Yea, so you saw it? And you just left it there on the floor?”

“AAaaahhhh!!!!!”    I ran to the sink and began washing my hands.

“EEeeewwwww!!! I thought it was a TOY! I even squeezed it to see if it squeaked!!!”

I scrubbed furiously....

I looked at Sid hoping to get concerned sympathy,... but he laughing so hard he almost blew beer out his nose.  BUTTHEAD!!!


(I'll do more on my first month later.  Gotta run to Costco, got company coming for a week.)

Well Hello Joy!

A child-hood friend found me on face book, Joy McBride. Yes, the one that drug me off to ‘camp’, where I got so DREADFULLY homesick. LOL!!!
(I swear she looks so much like her mother did.)

It's been fun emailing back and forth, and learning about each other.  

Her parents just celebrated their 60th Anniversary and they are both 81!  Wow. 

Joy lives in Nampa.  She has 2 sons and 1 daughter.  One son is a Marine over in Afganistan.  One is in college at - you guessed it - NNU, and her daughter is a senior in high school. 

Facebook is so cool.

Now, if I could only find Cindy Ward.  I have been thinking about her for years, and I even have dreams about her.

Sew What!?!

So I haven't found a job yet,... but I haven't been idle either! 

Shortly before I left Boise, I started making a shirt for Sid.  I've seen him wear hawaiian shirts, so I figured he might like one that was homemade. 

So I started this yellow and green one.  I had to finish it after I got here.  I put a tag in the collar that says "Specially hand made by Linda".  He loved it!  But we discovered that in my hurry to complete it, I put the buttons on the wrong side!

Now, 2 of my previous 'significant others' would have rolled their eyes and thought that I had royally screwed up, and they'd refuse to touch it because the buttons were on the 'womens' side.  But not Sid, he was so cute.  He gave me a big hug and made me feel like a little girl that had just brought him a lovely boquet of dandylions.  He said he loved it, and he actually wore it!  3 times over the next week.  And he showed everyone the tag in it with my name on it.  He never mentioned to anyone that the buttons were put on wrong.  And nobody noticed.

Well, since he like that one so much, I decided to make him another one.  I also wanted to give him a special 'thank you'  for taking me out to see the orcas.  (He knew how badly I wanted to see an orca in the wild, and he didn't give up until he found them for me.)   I actually found some wonderful, bright blue fabric with cetaceans on it - orcas and dolphins.  I knew the blue would really bring out his blue eyes. It was perfect! And I was determined to get the buttons on right on this one! I put another 'made by Linda' tag in the collar.  He did indeed love it.  He wore it when we went to dinner with his son Sean and girlfriend Diane.  He loved telling them I made it.   

He took it with him on his current 'charter'.  (He is out skippering a boat again for 5 days.)  As he was packing it, he said, "I'm gonna wear this on the day I take them out to the 'Straight'  looking for the whales."

Isn't he cute!???

OK, so I just started another one for him!  His birthday is on Sunday, so I want to have it done by then.  (Actually, he gets back from his 'charter' on Friday, so really, I need to have it done by Friday.)  This shirt is not the Hawaiian style.  This is more of a long sleeved dress shirt.  Since I've discovered that blue looks so pretty on him, I found pale blue fabric, with navy blue line drawings of the world map.   I'll put a "Linda" tag in this one too.  I hope he likes it!

WOW!

I got overwhelming response to my question about my hair.  And everyone basically said it looked better longer.  Well shit!  I wish I hadn't cut it.  It takes so fricken long to grow it all back out to one length again.  But, I'm starting today.  So in 3 years, I'll look gorgeous again!!!  LOL

New look

I got a new look.  Actually, it's an old look returned from the dead. 

Sid likes short hair, and I've always thought women over 45 or so shouldn't have long hair, so I cut it off.  It was supposed to make me look younger.  But I think it makes me look older.  I don't care for it, but Sid likes it.  I don't know if he's just saying that to be nice, or if he really does like it better short.  He doesn't strike me as the type to 'blow sunshine up my skirt', so I think he really likes it. 
But I SWEAR I look older.  Don't you think so???

That look of adoration...

Ok, seriously, have you EVER seen a sweeter face???

Koby gets this look every time she looks at her Momma.
Lisa starts talking to her, and Koby just becomes transfixed. She looks at Lisa like she is the most amazing thing in the world. Her little face just lights up, and it's like she's saying...
"Oh my goo'ness..., are you really mine? To keep forever?"

I will always be amazed at the strenght of the bond between a mother and her child.

Finally - an update!!! 8-09

Well, let’s see, it seems I have a little catching up to do. Gee,... where to start…?

Well, first of all, my darling little granddaughter Koby is 4 months old!!!

I love her sooooo much!!!

Ok, so in June, Lisa and I moved from our last apartment in Boise to a new one over by the mall. It was less expensive, except for the jerk we rented from last pulled a whole bunch of stunts that ended up costing me over $1500! Jackass! But I regress….

This nice young man named Chris helped us move to the new apartment. Cute guy, big and strong. A great help! And then,… he just really never left!

He and Lisa hit it off wonderfully. He seemed to love Koby, and hey, he was pretty nice to have around. I must say, we all adored him. So he’s a permanent fixture in the family now. :o)

Lisa got a great job doing website work for a company that is probably the biggest car dealership in Idaho. She worked there all summer and will continue, very part-time, through fall and winter while she’s in school. Lisa is getting very close to completing her degree. Her degree will be in Broadcast Communication. Her intent is to do sports broadcasting. I think she’ll be very good at it. Lisa will be the first one in the family, (except my father), to get a college degree. Go Lisa Go!!!

Lisa is an amazing young woman. So strong, so determined. Such a wonderful mother, daughter and sister. I admire her. And I am soooo proud of her!
Andrea continued to struggle with her depression and anxiety attacks. Her sleeping patterns have been very irregular for long time. She’s had a rough time.

Well it all came to a head in early July. She made an extreme cry for help when she OD’d herself on her medication. She ended up in the psych hospital – a ward of the state. NOT fun for anyone. When the State of Idaho is calling the shots on what happens to your daughter, it’s frightening. Because to them, she is just an inconvenience and an expense. They don’t CARE about getting her the help she needs. It was incredibly frustrating to find that Idaho simply doesn’t HAVE ANYTHING to help people like Andrea. There are NO programs in the entire state for someone like her. See, where Andrea is different is that she is not on drugs, she’s not alcoholic, and she doesn’t have a criminal record. Hell, she doesn’t even have anything tattooed or pierced. She’s just a good kid, with some emotional issues. Idaho doesn’t give a shit about people like that. If you’re not addicted to crack, they don’t have time for you. And I had medical professionals at St. Als, St. Lukes and other private practices ALL confirm that. They all said, “If you really want to help her, you HAVE to get her out of the state.”

The problem is that all the private hostpitals and programs are HIDEOUSLY expensive. $30K to $40K per month! PER MONTH! Geez! How can ANYONE afford that??? Well, now we know why there are so many mentally ill homeless people. Seriously.

With the help of my two wonderful sisters and my amazing mother, we found a place in southern California that we felt could help her, and that we could afford. It’s a great program that Andrea could actually enjoy too. Lots of art and creativity, meditation and yoga, and it’s located right on the beach and she could go down there anytime.

So, gee,… all we had to do was get the state of Idaho to release her from their cold little clutches so that we could get her some real help. You’d think it would be easy, but it took about a week of frustration, phone calls, pleading and coaching, but we managed to get them to let her go. What a ‘cluster’!

Finally, on August 5th, (almost a month later), they released Andrea to go directly to the airport, so that she and I could fly down to S. California and get her enrolled in a program that would give her a new lease on life. (Ken brought her bunny, Pearl, to the airport so that she could say goodbye. )

Things are going well for her down there. She’s been there two weeks, and is doing better. She's been participating in everything, and getting a lot out of the experience. It’s sooo nice to hear her sound upbeat and hopeful! I so proud of her for fighting so hard and being so strong through ALL of this,... because it sure hasn't been easy.

This has been a very shorten version of Andrea’s ‘story’,
but I’ve kept detailed notes of what she went through on the inside of the ‘system’, and what we went through on the ‘outside’. I hope to write an article or two about it, that might get published. If I can save even one parent from going this hell, then it would be worth it.


OK,…. So with Chris fully moved in and taking good care of Lisa and Koby, and Andrea safe and sound in S. California, and my job in Boise dwindling down to almost no hours at all, it seemed it was time for a change.
So on August 10th, I loaded my clothes, my sewing machine, and my little Gracie bird into my Kia Rio, and headed for new dreams in the Pacific Northwest.


Pisces IS the sign of water,… time to go sailing.

Cool video :o)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xslO6Qi_kGQ