Paddleball

Here's a paddle ball that I painted. It's the Tankinator!! I gave this paddleball to a special younger friend who is as dog crazy as I am. This past year, I learned to play paddleball. Paddleball is hard. I started out doing 5 or less. Then I practiced, practiced, practiced. I can now do over 200 if I'm warmed up. We've been having paddleball tournaments at work. There is one young man who used to be able to beat me. Now, however, I can give him a run for his money. On the Fourth of July, I gave a paddleball to my nephew, Butch. He can now do over 100!! The guy is going to beat me really soon. I find that paddleball, like everything else in life, takes a lot of practice and tenacity. (Did I spell that right?). It's a great stress reliever. I also tend to do it when I'm talking with people. It helps the ADD. CampPupp is leaving tomorrow for camping!! So, I gotta get back to work to get all my paperwork done so I can go on PTO tomorrow.

I love Sneakers

This is a picture of the sneakers I wore today. I put it on the shelf of my desk at the clinic. I have a desk in a box at the clinic and I have a desk in my office at Youth House. I am rarely at the clinic these days. Melanie wrote a blog on ten icky things to step on and said that she doesn't like shoes much. Me, however, I *LOVE* sneakers. I love the way new sneakers hug your feet. I love the soft comfortable easy feeling of a pair of broken in sneakers. My favorite brand of sneakers is Nike even though I haven't had the luxury of owning a pair of Nikes since I was in my early twenties. This particular shoe and the mate are Adidas. I'm very fond of Adidas these days. I have several pair. And how can we remember how to spell Adidas? All Day I Dream About Sex. A D I D A S . Nike, however, is a local company in the Portland area. I have tender feet so I don't go barefoot very often.

Yesterday CampPupp went to grandma's house and unexpectantly stayed the night as my room mate ended up in the hospital for respiratory issues. Today I secured two nights campsite for Friday and Saturday night in Estacada. On Sunday, we meet up with the Adam's family for family camp. I wanted a couple of extra days of camping. I need it. I need a vacation. I need to sleep in, lounge around camp and read a book, watch the kids and dogs play in the river, hike, craft and do art work, carve, and then play and talk by the campfire all night long.

Several nights ago we rented Semi Pro. DUMB STUPID DUMB http://www.semipromovie.com/ Tonight we are watching The Attic http://www.atticmovie.com/. The jury is still out on this one so I'll give the number of paws up later.

Iron Man

So, in order to keep up with Bookworm and bring my friends a bit of fun today, I went surfing to find something fun for the blog. Today's fun: Which SuperHero are you? http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/


I am Iron Man

Iron Man - Inventor. Businessman. Genius.
70%

Spider-Man 65% ,
The Flash 65% ,
Green Lantern 65% ,
Superman 55% ,
Robin 55% ,
Supergirl 45% ,
Wonder Woman 40% ,
Hulk 35% .
Catwoman 35% ,
Batman 30%

Beatrix Potter's Birthday

Today is Beatrix Potter's Birthday. Gotta love Peter Rabbit. How do I know this? On the Google Page. When you go to the main Google page http://www.google.com/ often the words Google will have some kinda clue to the importance of the day. Today when I used Google, there was a picture of Peter Rabbit and the farmer on it. I suspected something about Beatrix Potter so I double clicked on the words and it came up. Cool, eh? I gotta admit that I used Google for at least a year before I figured that one out. The movie about Beatrix Potter - "Miss Potter" was a good one. I enjoyed it. http://www.hollywood.com/movie/Miss_Potter/374260

CampPupp is in it's second week. This weekend the oldest kid went to with his God Mother so we were down a player. We hung out at home. I was a proud auntie when the kiddo asked for boards, nails, and a hammer. He spent the weekend in the backyard making a skateboard ramp. Tank helped. I'm not sure what she did besides stealing the hammer but they were both out there all day. I figured a kid in the back yard with boards, nails, hammer and a yellow lab was way better than a kid in front of the television.

I, on the other hand, didn't feel well and layed on the couch in front of the tv all weekend. One of the most interesting, yet disturbing movies I watched was Tideland. http://www.tidelandthemovie.com/ It's about a little girl with a herion addict father who gets stranded in a farm house. Very artsy. Very disturbing on many levels. Please note that the minor members of CampPupp did NOT watch this movie. This movie reminded me of a movie that I watched a very long time ago. All I remember is a dancing bear and that the brother wanted to have sex with the sister all throughout the movie but finally did. This movie is one of the Think Film movies. 1/2 Paw up.

I also watched 10,000 BC. Not at good as the hype. But not bad either. I enjoyed it as I usually enjoy movies about indigious people. http://www.10000bcmovie.com/ One Paw up!

The Golden Compass was a crowd pleaser at my house. http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/ It was two paws up and a tail wag! We loved the polar bear. And now we want to get the same kind of armor for Tank so she can be a polar bear too! Watch for the sequel.

So, we thought we had watched the new Futurama movie. Well, it wasn't. So we got the new one. http://ilovebender.com/ Two paws up at our house!

And Spiderwick!! http://www.spiderwick.com/ Two paws up! We loved it. Who knew that troll spit would be so helpful?

Then the youngest camper and I found The 12 Days of Terror!!! http://www.flixster.com/movie/12-days-of-terror It's the story that many people believe inspired the book Jaws. And you know how we love Jaws in my house! Two Paws up! And a cold nose!

Currently, we are watching Semi Pro. http://www.semipromovie.com/ We picked it up for Aunt Jenn who likes "stupid" movies like this. Early in the movie, we excused the youngest camper to the back bedroom to play PlayStationII due to language in the movie. I rate this movie as a butt sniff. I didn't enjoy it. Jenn may rate it differently. It was a butt sniff cuz I looked at it but didn't like it much. I don't usually like Will Ferrell much.

And now, to celebrate Miss Potter's birthday:
Q: What are four hundred rabbits hopping backwards? A: A receding hare line.

Q: What did the rabbit say to the carrot? A: Its been nice gnawing you.

Q: The more he takes away the bigger it becomes. What is it? A: A rabbit hole.

Q: How is a rabbit like a Q-tip? A: They both have cotton tails.

Q: What is the difference between a crazy rabbit and a counterfeit cent? A: One is a mad bunny and the other is bad money.

Q: What would you call a rabbit who is mad at the sun? A: A hot cross bunny.

Q: What would you get if you crossed a rabbit with a bumblebee? A: A honey bunny.

Q: How is a rabbit like a cornstalk? A: They both have big ears.

Q: Why is a leaky faucet like a cowardly bunny? A: Because it runs.

Q: Why is a rabbit like a cent? A: Because it has a head on one end and a tail on the other.

Shuffle

Ok...so Bookworm is at it again - doing really cool stuff on her blog that I have to copy. This game is called Shuffle. Here's the stuff that I cut and pasted from her blog:

RULES:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, ETC on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5. Put this on your journal.

1.If someone says, "Is this okay?" You say?
Arms of Love
Amy Grant

2.How would you describe yourself?
Play that funky music
Dance Mix CD
(Not exactly what I was thinking)

3.What do you like in a guy?
(I'm gay, does this count? I'm changing it to Girl.....)
What do you like in a girl?
We are family
Party Mix CD
(Man, that's amazing! Of course I want a girl who is family aka queer)

4.How do you feel today?
My Place
Better Than Chocolate Soundtrack
(Works for me!!)

5.What is your life's purpose?
Boat Drinks
Jimmy Buffett
(I'm game!)

6.What is your motto?
I Would Die For You
Prince

7.What do your friends think of you?
Grace By Which I Stand
Kieth Green
(Ok, the spiritual songs in my mp3 player can make this exercise a bit grandoise!)

8.What do you think of your parents?
You're My Best Friend
Queen
(How sappy is that? sheez)

9.What do you think about very often?
Rescue Me
Sister Act Soundtrack

10.What is 2 + 2?
Justify My Love
Madonna

11.What do you think of your best friend?
Love Will Come to You
Indigo Girls

12.What do you think of the person you like?
In My Mind
Better Than Chocolate Soundtrack

13.What is your life story?
Power of Two
Indigo girls

14.What do you want to be when you grow up?
Moon River
Neil Diamond
(No idea about this one.)

15.What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Pencil Thin Mustache
Jimmy Buffett
(Yep, I'm buying Jenn an electric razor for Christmas!!)

16.What will you dance to at your wedding?
Myth in Genesis
Venus Envy
(I hiked on my wedding day, not dancing. )

17.What will they play at your funeral?
Well, on *MY* mp3 player it is titled "Pupp Loves Jenn" but the song is really Truely, Deeply, Madly by Savage Garden which is *OUR* song.

18.What is your hobby/interest?
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
Leo Slayer

19.What is your biggest fear?
The Power of Love
Huey Lewis
(I'm not scared. Bring it!)

20.What is your biggest secret?
Bring Me Some Water
Melissa Etheridge
(Ohhh...that could be interesting...)

21.What do you think of your friends?
I'm Not a Fucking Drag Queen
Better Than Chocolate Soundtrack
(But I *LOVE* drag queens!)

CampPupp at Omsi

Here's a picture of Tank, the Chicken Lover. That's Becky in the mirror. He He, I just saw that. Tank's friend, Kris, gave her this flying rooster. It has a built in slingshot in it. Not only did Kris buy this obnoxious toy for Tank (it makes rude noises and NEVER stops), Kris bought three of them! If you like South Park http://www.southparkzone.com/ then you know how funny Chicken Lover is. Ok, so here's another wordie that I made up. http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/89487/ten_years CampPupp met up with the Adam's Family today at Omsi. http://www.omsi.edu/

The kids ran around so much that they fell asleep on the drive home. The older nephew went with his God Mother for the weekend. And the rest of us rented another Futurama movie. I thought we had the new one last time. We didn't . This one is it. We also have junk food and soda pop ready to go. Yeah, Team! Ok a different note, youngest camper has obtained a skateboard. I wonder if I need to stock up on bandaides.

Wordie AKA Keeping up the Bookworm

Ok...So Bookworm did this thing on her blog today called Wordie. This is what happened when I entered the url for my blog.


http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/89472/Pupp%27s_Blog


Way too fun. Thanks Bookworm!

Anything Packy can do, Labs can do better

This is picture of my dogs doing art to sell at a fundraiser. Packy, an elephant at the Oregon Zoo, paints and sells artwork. I figured the therapy dogs could do it too. We made some money for the therapy dog program.

My day in numbers

My friend Bookworm did a blog called My Day in Numbers and I just had to play too. So.....

5 - The number of kids I feel I currently have (wife, boys, dogs)

6 - The time I got up this morning

12 - The number of tennis balls under my couch (Labs have lots of balls)

2 - The number of books I am reading right now

22 - The number of direct client hours I have to have each week in order to not get the PRODUCTIVITY TALK

13 - The age of my least favorite animal on the planet. (13 year old girl)

1 - The number of times I looked my keys in the van today

1 - The number of yellow dogs locked in the van with the keys

5 - The number of days that I am behind on my paperwork

8 - The number of days until I go camping

2 - The number of times in the past 3 days that I had spaghetti for dinner. (We had spaghetti then the next day grandma invited us over for dinner. Spaghetti. Good thing we love spaghetti)

2 - The number of therapy groups I ran today

1 - The number of therapy groups that I ran today that were enjoyable

1 - The number of beautiful wives I had dinner with on the lawn of Clark College this evening

8 - The number of years that I have had a beautiful black dog in my life

4 - The number of years that I have had a yellow troll dog who is also beautiful in my life.

60 - The number of minutes I was late picking the boys up from grandma's this evening

3 - The number of times I wish I hadn't started this list because my life seems very boring now

I was raised on the street

I saw this t-shirt on someone this past weekend and I really liked it. We went to Avenue Q at the Keller this past month. http://www.avenueq.com/ We loved it. It was an adult version of seasme street. And, it had the best sex scene that I have ever seen. LOVED IT. CampPupp Day Six is winding down. Yesterday one boy went to grandma's house and one went to work with me. The one who went to work with me is lucky that I didn't shave his head and tattoo dork on his forehead as I had to remind him numerous times to knock before opening doors. We watched Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy last night. Ok, the boys watched it and I fell asleep. Long day for the troop leader! Today, the boys went to grandma's house and the troop leader went to work. Another long day for the troop leader so CampPupp is sacked out in the living room with the Futurama Movie. Futurama is very popular in our house. http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/futurama/index.jhtml

All I Want Is You

This is a picture of my nephew, Matt, at his swim meet. Matt is not part of CampPupp this year. Bummer too, cuz he's a really cool kid.

This weekend we watched a movie called Juno. It was very cool. When I went to work on Monday, all the young people at work really talked up the movie. The opening music was very catchy and groovy. The title is All I Want Is You. Here are the lyrics. Maybe when I get a bit better at this, I"ll learn how to put a music file here.

If I was a flower growing wild and free-All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.-And if I was a tree growing tall and greeen-All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves-If I was a flower growing wild and free-All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.-And if I was a tree growing tall and greeen-All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves-All I want is you, will you be my bride-Take me by the hand and stand by my side-All I want is you, will you stay with me?-Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.-If you were a river in the mountains tall,-The rumble of your water would be my call.-If you were the winter, I know I'd be the snow-Just as long as you were with me, when the cold winds blow.-All I want is you, will you be my bride-Take me by the hand and stand by my side-All I want is you, will you stay with me?-Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.-If you were a wink, I'd be a nod-If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod.-If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug-And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug-All I want is you, will you be my bride-Take me by the hand and stand by my side-All I want is you, will you stay with me?-Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.-If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.-If you were the love, I'd be the desire.-If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,-And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.-All I want is you, will you be my bride-Take me by the hand and stand by my side-All I want is you, will you stay with me?-Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

Today, CampPupp is splitting up. Youngest camper is going to grandma's house. Next youngest is going with me to work as there is a Domestic Violence training for young people at Youth House today and He will participate. We watched Alvin and the Chipmunks last night. LOVED IT. Very funny. CampPupp is also playing Neopets now with their new accounts. Hey, CampPupp is about working the body, mind and HEART :)

CampPupp Day Three

This is a picture of my girls playing at Agate Beach. CampPupp is in full swing. Sunday we played Wii and PlayStationII. And we watched SIX movies, including August Rush, Juno, and the Simpson's Movie. We ate dinner with chopsticks and burped the alphabet with the help of A&W. We were tired from the day before. Today, junior campers went to Grandma's house for the day while senior campers went to work. Then Senior camper McGruff Pupp got a flat tire and to waste a precious hour at Les Schwab. But I scored two working bikes at Goodwill so we now have wheels. No soap box derby cars yet though. We picked up Alvin and the Chipmonks as our evening activity. I had a bit of a hard time convincing the boys that tools were their friends and that they could pull the front tire off a bike without me. Finally, the desire to ride took over the self doubts and they started without me. Then I went out to help.

Weinermobile

One day after work, we saw the Weinermobile on the side of the road at a hotel. We stopped to take pictures because this was the first time that I have ever seen the Weinermobile in person. It seems very odd and maybe a bit stupid, but it was fun and unique. It's very bright and eye catching. The bummer was that the people driving this beast were inside the hotel so we didn't get to see the inside or get our Weiner Whistles!

CampPupp is underway. The first night we worked on the bicycles. I'm afraid that they might be beyond my skills. This sucks because the boys are really into these bikes. I had bought myself a bike at Goodwill. That bike is more rideable. Ok, so that's the one you CAN ride. The others are the ones you can look at, scratch your head, and say "Where did all that rust come from?" Then we watched movies and played Wii. Yesterday, we went to Canby to my Aunt Barb's house for a family reunion picnic. I knew very few people there, but I do try to go every year to support Aunt Barb and Uncle Don. While we were there, the boys got to met, scratch, and give a treat to Tank's Doggie Daddy, Buddy. Then we went for a ride on the Canby Ferry. http://www.clackamas.us/transportation/transit/ferry.htm I remember my Uncle Charles taking me on this ferry when I was 13 or 14 years old. The boys thought it was cool. Then we went to the Oregon City Elevator. http://www.orcity.org/blogs/artblog/artblog.html . It was done in 1955. Then we went to Mel's house for dinner and swimming. Well, the kids swam while I made my first artist trading card. Then Mel treated us to ice cream at Cold Stone. http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/ So far, this morning, CampPupp is still sleeping. Various campers wake up, change spots in the house, then fall asleep again. The only one who hasn't moved is Butch. Hayden is now in my bed, Jenn is in Jett's bed, Tank keeps changing who she is sleeping with, and Jett is with Butch. CampPupp is tired. Mission Accomplished :)

Fox Hunt

Neopets eat less than labradors

This is TankPupp. He's my little guy on Neopets. http://www.neopets.com/ Some friends and I started playing Neopets 2,524 days ago. (Almost seven years ago). It's funny watching kids play now after I've played for so long. Some years I barely touch the game. I usually pop up some time in December to get my free Advent Calendar gifts. This year, after getting my Advent stuff, I kinda lingered on. Sometimes I'm just into buying everything new that I missed the previous years. This year I've been working on my bank account. I have a Diamond Deposit Gold bank account. I get almost 200 a day in interest. There are a couple games I play to get neopoints - like Kass Basher and Kou-Jong. I also do several things to get my free neopoints - like the wheel of slime and the daily puzzle. TankPupp is a Gelert that I have used a magic paint brush on to get spotted like a dalmantion. I also added the beanie and the ball. On the game, that ball bounces up and down. Later on, I'll introduce my other guys. I also have a werelupe and a mutant kacheek.

Balloon Warriors

This is a picture of Tank and I at work. It was balloon scultpure day in DBT. It's Friday and I have to work again. Mostly because I don't have all my paperwork done. Again. Growl. I had a job interview yesterday.

The nephews are coming

So, the nephews are coming. They arrive tomorrow afternoon. I've very excited about this. These particular nephews belong to my pseudo sister aka sister in law. I have two other nephews and a niece from my cousin, but I don't get to see them much as they live in another state. I also have pseudo niece and nephew who belong to my bestest pal. I have tons of plans for stuff to do when the boys are here. I'll prolly run them ragged. I'm ok with that. It's kinda my excuse to really embrace my inner child and enjoy the summer. We're going camping for a week - camping, swimming, hiking, arts and crafts, fire building, disc golf, fishing, soccer, etc etc. We're also going to a family reunion with my Great Aunt in Canby. While there, we're gonna play on the Canby Ferry. We're going to the Plankhouse in Ridgefield and while there, visit the wildlife perserve. We're making soap box derby/downhill racers. We're making old fashioned scooters. We have several mountain bikes to get running. I want to do the downtown Portland walking tour of the water features. We'll go to the zoo and to Omsi. We're also going to Shakespeare in the park. Basically, it will be Camp Pupp. I expect that at the end of the three weeks, I'll have to go to work to get some rest. Here's a picture of my nephew Butch on my Honda Shadow.

Bones

Do you ever name your vehicles? This is a picture of my van, Bones. She's named after one of the tv shows we watch. I also know that it's a girl because she has a big safe womb that holds a lot of babies. My beloved truck's name was Clyde. We used to have a Ford Escourt named Marvin. I also used to have another van, when I first met Jenn. Her name was Whoosh because she went Whoooooossssshhhhhh down the freeway. She also had a very impressive womb. I always missed her until I got Bones. I have some skull and cross bones hub caps that Jenn got me for my birthday one year. My plan was to put them on Bones. But they don't fit. I kinda thought that I would decorate Bones with bones - skeletons and skulls. But it never worked out. We now have guardianship of the family RV. I'm working on a name. Maybe my skull hub caps will fit him. Why is it a him? Dunno. Sure, one could say the RV has a womb as well. But I just sense "boy energy" from him.

Penguin Nation

Jenn has been attending Clark Community College this past year and a half (or so). Their mascot is the Penguin - Oswald the Penguin. Here is a picture of my mom and Jenn with some penguins at the Oregon Zoo. Ok, so they are not real penguins, but my loved ones are just so darn cute with these guys. The zoo is a fav place for us. I love our membership. Anyone who has been to the zoo knows that the penguins are cute but they have a smelly problem.

Bucket List

Ok, so Mel started this trend on her blog, then Bookworm continued it.... you know I can't stand to not play, so.....

The bucket list...from a recent movie called the Bucket List .. .things you want to do before you kick the bucket.....

1 - Paint a public mural - like on the side of a big building down town

2 - Catch a big fish - like the salmon that almost ate our boat then got away

3 - Kids - one maybe two (I know, I'm getting too old for this one)

4 - Take my mother on a cruise (Ok, Jenn can come too. Since I'll have to have won the lotto to do this one, I'll take Jenn's mother too. Ok, since I'm dreaming, I'll take my cousin and my pseudo sister aka sister in law as well. Oh, and my bestest friend.)

5 - Build a soap box derby car

6 - RV up and down the Western coast line

7 - Drive a dune buggy on the beach

8 - Go to Disneyland again

9 - Participate in a Two-Spirit sweatlodge ceremony

10 - See a pod of Orcas in the sound

11 - Take a cruise to Alaska.

12 - Have a vacation home on the coast

13 - Buy my honey a 1966 Ford 150 Pick up - midnight blue

14 - Write and publish a book

15 - Go to the Smithonian Museum and while there - go to the Holocaust Museum

16 - Go to as many smaller museums that I can

More later, gotta go to work

Ok, here's more:

17 - Go to as many plays and theatre events as possible. I want to see at least one Opera, even if I hate it. I want to go to the symphony at least once.

18 - I want to show my art work. I want to do a one woman show after being in several juried shows.

19 - Go camping as often as possible. I want to share my love of camping with my nephews, then my own children, then others as possible.

20 - I want to hike part of the Pacific Crest Trail with my bestest pal and my dogs

21 - I want to build some of my own furniture

22 - I want to volunteer with an agency like Red Cross in times of crisis - like 9/11 or the Oklahoma City bombing - with my therapy dogs

23 - I want to get a long bow and get really good at shooting arrows at targets

24 - I want to shoot a gun at targets - stationary and skeet type

25 - I want to camp on the beach with family and friends - build a camp fire and sit and talk all night long after a long day of fishing, beach combing, and wake boarding

26 - I want to take my mom to a fancy tea - like English High Tea in British Columbia

27 - I want to bake salmon over a campfire on cedar planks

28 - I want to build a sweat lodge in my back yard

29 - I want to go on a week long vision quest by myself

30 - I want to hike to the top of Multnomah Falls

31 - I want to keep on finding stuff in my life that interests me so that I never grow stale

Added 7/16/08

32 - I want to learn to weld

Jenn at the DMZ

Well, here in the states we have the DMV - a nasty place full of ill tempered individuals who want something and they want it now, trying it get it from over worked individuals who just want it to be 5 o'clock. In Korea, they have the DMZ - the De Militized Zone. I'm prolly spelling it wrong and I'm prolly explaining it wrong. If we're lucky, Jenn will read this blog and explain it further in the comment section. The DMZ is the place were the peace talks took place at the border of North and South Korea. There is a building, and a table with a line down the center. There is always, still, a guard standing there. This is Jenn and the North Korean guard. The tour guide warned them, "Don't touch him, because he WILL touch you back." There will be more pictures of the DMZ in my blog as Jenn brought tons of pics home and they look great. I have a ball cap from the DMZ that Jenn brought home. We also have two very BIG Korean drums that now live at our house.

Korean Drag Queen

Yesterday was Vancouver Pride. We spent the day at the park. It was hot. We came home dog tired. This is a picture of Jenn in Korea. She went several weeks ago. This guy really isn't a drag queen, he's just a performer. I'm currently reading Brother Odd by Dean Koontz. Jenn bought me the next book in the series Odd Hours. The first two are Odd Thomas and Forever Odd. I really love Dean Koontz. And Trixie Koontz (his dog) is a good little author as well. She wrote a cute little book called Christmas is Good. I can't stand to read Stephen King. He bores me quickly. I love his movies though. And I used to read John Saul, but I stopped following him because he likes to just kill everyone at the end of the book. But, if one of his books showed up at my house and I hadn't read it yet, I'd read it. I love to read. I've read many, many books in my life. I just don't have the time these days. When I go camping next month, I hope to take a book with. The challenge will be to find the time to read when I have the nephews with me.

Bears potty down at the zoo

Here's a picture of one of MY BEARS at the zoo. I love the polar bears. They are my fav. I especially like it when they are playing in the water. The keepers give them buckets of fish frozen in water. That's fun to watch too. I also really enjoy the Eagles and the Sea Lions. Vancouer Gay Pride is tomorrow so I'm trying to do Bears on the blog until then. We're gonna have a booth there and I'm taking some young people to do free balloon animals for the kids. Vancouver Pride celebration is small but I feel it's important to show up and support it. We're lucky that we have a small celebration over here but also can celebrate across the river at a BIG celebration. Best of both worlds.

Jenn eats bear for breakfast

Jenn eats bear for breakfast. Bear Claws that is. Ha. More bear pictures. This is the same Leavenworth Bear on the day after Thanksgiving. Leavenworth is a Bavarian Villiage in northern Washington state. It was a lot of fun. We had the day to explore the town and I'm sorry to say that we never got off the first street! I tried mullied wine for the first time. YUMMO. Here's Leavenworth's web site: http://www.leavenworth.org/modules/pages/index.php?pageid=1

Bears and Pupps at the Zoo

Yesterday, for work, I went to the zoo with several awesome staff members and a handful of equally awesome young people. This is a picture of the time before yesterday that I was at the zoo. That damn bear stoled my hat. This particular bear is near the California Black Bears. Are they still California Black Bears if they live in Oregon?

Bears are friends not food

Gotta love bears - of all shapes, sizes, and species :) . I'll have more pictures of us and bears later. This particular bear lives in Leavenworth, Washington. We went there last November with the Clark College German Club.

Homophobia

This is an oil pastel that I did last year about homophobia. I was having a really hard time due to homophobia in the work place.

Big Beach Sports for the Wii is rather cool. I love the volleyball. I think it's my new morning exercise routine. Love it! I also enjoy cricket and disc golf. Volleyball, when played standing up is good exercise.

And for those who care: my ongoing project to try to keep up with the young people that I work with:

http://www.myspace.com/youthally

Jenn's afghan

This is a picture of the first afghan that Jenn ever finished after teaching herself to knit and crotchet. She gave it to her cousin, Wendy, as a wedding present.

Busy, Busy weekend on this side of the River. NOT. We stayed home more than we usually do. We didn't do the dishes. We didn't water the garden because God did it for us. We didn't work in the garage. We didn't do the laundry. We didn't bathe the dog guys. We took naps and watched dvds and played Wii and age frozen lasagna. (We didn't cook either).

Today we went to Silver Buckles. They do horse therapy with people. Jenn and I will be doing some volunteer work there. Jenn is a horse person without a horse. And I'm a dog person without a riding lawnmower. So, we'll both get some fun.

Yesterday I went to Blockbuster to rent Endless Ocean. I had researched it on the net and decided it was worth a look. But, dang it, someone had rented it and never brought it back, then just bought it. I really wanted to play with it too. So, I rented Lego Star Wars. It was very cute. I like Star Wars and yo'all could prolly figure out that I'm a Lego fan. I didn't feel well, so I ended up in my beloved recliner and played Wii all day. The game kept my attention. I did NOT like that I had to toggle my guys all around. But, despite that, I was entertained. I took it back this afternoon and now I'm playing Big Beach Sports. So far, it's rather fun. I like volleyball the bestest for now. It also has football, bocce, disc golf, soccer and cricket.

Another note on the Wii. I bought the Wii when I was visiting my mom for Easter and my uncles funeral. My cousin and her family came over several days and played Wii with us. They made their Miis to play during that time. When I got home, I realized that I still have their Miis. It's kinda cool that I got to take my cousin and her family home with me. Everyone once in a while, I get a glimpse of one of them in the background of a game that I am playing. It's nice. I like it.

I've also got my Great Brain working on the upcoming SoapBrat Derby. Please see Dork's blog for more info http://dorkanon.blogspot.com/ . So, if you have any wheels that you would like to donate to the cause, please shoot me an email. I have to come up with three of them from our camp. My goal is to have lawnmower wheels for the boys and bike wheels for me. I want the boys close to the ground for various reasons. Arthritis will be a pain for me so I want to be up higher.

Desk from Frick

Jenn and I spent the Fourth in Gresham with friends. We played Wii Sports. My Wii fitness age was 40 then 32. I love fireworks. There is just something about them. No matter how old I get, I just can't stand to be in the house when I know they are going on in the front yard. This is a picture of my desk at the clinic.

Wii is for me not for kids

These are my girls playing on Agate Beach in Newport Oregon. We love the beach but it take forever to get the sand out of the van!

Ok, let's talk Wii. On another post, I was talking with someone about Wii. Mel and Dave got Wii about a year before I did. The minute I touched it, I knew I had to have it. Jenn had bought me a PlayStation II. I like it, but it's not Wii.

On PlayStation, I especially like my Jaws game. I love eating the boats, swimmers, fish, seal lions, divers, sun bathers, etc. I wish that Wii had Jaws. They will someday prolly.

The best thing about Wii that I like is that I don't have to use a tiny toggle switch to get my guys moving. I love that I can use my body and not this stupid toggle thing. I also like to kill things. Killing things reduces my stress level. I love Link's Crossbow Trainer. I have that and Mario Kart and the basic Wii games, including Wii Sports. I also have a dumb Japanese game that has a batch of stupid games, including a sushi game. Mario Kart is very fun but driving games are not my passion.

Other games that I have experience with:

Love Marble Mania. It might be one that I buy someday. Unfortuantely, my Blockbuster doesn't have it so I can't even rent it. I would hate it if I had to play it with a toggle switch.

I also like ManHunt. The guys die well and after a while, you get to go to the sex club. It's fun to beat up the leathermen but it's all very tame.

The first game that I ever rented was House of the Dead. Love it. I love that I can set the violence level to extreme and that I can choose between red or green blood. I don't like that I can't save my place in the game.

Similar to the House of the Dead is Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. I'll prolly rent it again sometime.

I hated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was the toggle switch thing. Some games for Wii are just the same ones for the other systems, without any changes. That sucks. I also hated one called something like Must Kill All Humans. Toggle. Hate it. I also did not enjoy Pinball Hall of Fame. I own it for the PlayStation. I felt that the Wii version was the same as the PlayStaion version so I was disappointed.

Speed racer was ok. You can use the steering wheel from Mario Kart. But when I was playing it, I just thought that I could just play Mario Kart instead. I guess I liked the IDEA of Speed Racer because I used to watch it when I was a kid. (No, not yesterday, when I was a BIOLOGICAL kid).

There was a Cranium game that was fun if you had someone to play with. I had also rented Brain Age Academy once. It was ok but I really wanted Brain Age so I was disappointed. Also, it took forever to actually get to play because they made you listen to the idiot guy too much. I haven't seen Brain Age for the Wii yet. They don't have it at Blockbuster. You can prolly buy it though.

Ghost Squad was fun. I would rent that again. I rented it once when I was sick. That's when the room mate found out that despite the fact that I said I liked the Wii because it made you move your body, in a pinch, I can lay flat on my back on the couch and still kill the enemy if I need to!

I rented one of the Call of Duty games. I thought that I would really like it but I had a hard time getting the game started enough to have any fun with it. I can't remember what my problem was.

Boom Blox is the BOMB. Love it love it love it. I finally took it back to Blockbuster so that someone else could play it but I have all intentions of renting it again soon. I like games that are doable right away but that challenge me enough that I can't beat the entire game in a weekend. Boom Blox has many different strategies and games. I would buy it if I didn't have other things on my list first.

I finally got to play Guitar Hero. Love it. I sucked at it. I sucked bad. But for someone who is musically retarded, like me, it was heaven to finally have a glimpse on how it feels to make music. But now, I don't want to buy Guitar Hero. I will wait to buy Rock Band because I also want to play the drums. AND my honey is a singer and I think I might be able to get her to play Wii if we had Rock Band. Of course, we have Mario Kart because she insisted on buying it because she said she liked driving games. I told the clerk no in the beginning and explained that we were more of a "murder and mayhem" kind of family. But she overheard and insisted. I might add that the woman has never even picked up the steering wheel. But, I like it and I'm sure that the nephews will like it.

Dave got a Pro fishing game for his birthday. I played that for a bit. It was fun but I don't know if it would have held my interest long term. I did rent Big Game Hunter. I got bored of it quickly. While I love senseless graphic violence, I just didn't enjoy killing even fake deer and elk. Also, the game was slow to start for me and I need gratification much sooner than it was giving.

Currently I have rented Playground. Very fun. I played it once when Mel rented it. Playground has a batch of minigames including: nerf darts, slot cars, tetherball, wall ball, paper airplanes, basketball, dodgeball, volleysoccer, and some others. Mel and I liked the slot car racing but Dave kept trying to tell us that the object of the game was to cross the finish line and NOT to just knock each other off the race course.

My wish list for Wii is:

Wii Fitness. This is number one on my list. The second I saw Wii, I knew that they needed to do this and they did. They just should have consulted me first :) I think they need a way to put the sensor on your foot or leg and then let you take a walk with the scenery and music changing.


Rock Band

Some kind of game where you shoot things like in a gun club. I want target practice, skeet, shooting gallery, etc. I love duck hunt but I want duck hunt extreme.

Brain Age

Of course, Wii is just a small part of my life. The lawn still needs to be mowed, so I'm outa here.

Independence Day

Happy 4th !! This is a picture that I took of one of the Bald Eagles that lives at the Oregon Zoo. I can't remember her name. Dang. The other picture is an oil pastel I did last year of my pups for the Fourth of July. No one usually gets to see it because it looks like the dogs are flipping off the flag. THAT WAS NOT MY INTENT. But because of that, it never gets put into the folder when I show my stuff to sell. Independence Day is one of my all time fav movies. It has the flavor of the old sci fi movies, but with all the bells and whistles of the newer movies. It's also the movie where I decided that Will Smith was ok. Vancouver Washington is insane on the Fourth. I've never lived anywhere that goes absolutely bonkers on this day. For weeks now, every spare space on the side of the road has a fireworks stand. Every night there has been fireworks. Tonight the entire city will be on detour, people will be walking on your lawn with fireworks, you won't be able to cross the Columbia River until the early morning hours, and the sky will scream. Then, tomorrow, the fireworks will be on sale and you will hear them for another week. In California, it was illegal to even have sparklers. Here, on the streets, I see young children with fireworks that could blow their limbs off. I will have to mow the lawn today and soak it with the hose to make sure my lawn doesn't catch fire tonight. Of course, this sounds like I'm complaining. However, I really do love the Fourth of July in Vancouver. We live a bit out of town now so we don't get the full affects anymore. When I lived closer to the river and the center of town, it really was like having an apartment on the parade route. Happy Fourth !

Wii Fitness Age

So, here are some pics of my precious ones. This is Tank the first time she had to wear the cone. We called her Radar and Sonar dog that week. This is Jett at work with her "friends". Her favorite is that mallard duck. When we showed up to take her home when she was a baby, we gave Abby, Jett's doggie mommy, a duck in trade for the puppy. Abby thought it was a good trade because she had ten puppies and no duck. My Wii fitness age this morning is 31. Yesterday it was 81! Ouch. The morning before it was 41. I love my Wii. I want to get Wii fitness but it will have to wait until I get some other things paid for first. I am also interested in buying Rock Band. I played Guitar Hero for the first time last weekend. It was the first time in my entire life that I was able to make music. I kinda liked it. I'm musically retarded so this was a big thing for me. Of course, I sucked at it but I'm ok with that. I am of the opinion that everyone should do things that they suck at from time to time. It builds character.

DBT hell in a hand basket

This is a colored pencil picture that I did of Tank when she was about four months old.

I'm dog tired today. The DBT for teens group that I faciliate went to hell in a hand basket very fast today. Thirteen year old girls are my least favorite animals on the planet.

Reach for the stars

This isn't the best photograph but it's all I got of some oil pastels that I did last year. This is one of them that I sold. The actual art piece is very colorful. Currently, I am working on getting some pieces done to sell at Vancouver Pride later this month.