That Jolie Girl

Bike Ride Along the Willamette

My husband is training for the Portland Marathon in October.  He has to do these really insane runs to prepare.  This Sunday he had to run 15 miles.  My Father-in-law and I rode our bikes in support.   We handed him food and water along the way. 

This is the second time I've accompanied my husband on these long runs.  The first time I didn't have my camera and I saw Blue Heron, Baby Osprey and lots of other cool wildlife.  This time around this little guy was the only wildlife I saw. 

I just love these weird flowers that were going to seed.  They look almost alien.

On the Springwater Corridor, there aren't too many places to stop and rest.  This is one of the few places that had benches.  It was such a pretty day even if it was super hot. 

I got a new bike seat this week.  The first long bike ride of the season was done on the bottom seat.  That is just wrong.  Why did I ever think that this seat was a good idea?  I've moved up to the grandma of all seats and it's made me so much happier. 

2nd Annual Block Party

We live on a super cool block.  Here is a full run down of this year's block party.  I couldn't have said it better myself!

Baby Ruby

My niece got her very first dog this week.  Ruby is the cutest, sweetest, tiniest dog ever.  She is a dachshund and we think she might be a mini.  She is currently about 4 pounds.  The ohhing and ahhing never stopped during my first visit with her.  I wanted to put her in my pocket and take her home with me. 

Taking her picture proved to be quite difficult.  She couldn't stop wiggling long enough to snap a photo.  I think this picture makes her look like a ferocious beast.

Wondrous Art Wednesday

Kurt Weiser is my WAW of the week.  He takes ceramics to a whole new level with the beautiful paintings he does.  I especially love when two pieces of work come together to make one amazing work of art. 

  

God Bless the Shop Vac

Most people who know me know that I'm not the best housekeeper.  Let's face it my priorities are about making stuff, not cleaning stuff.  So when I need to do a super good cleaning, I have my husband bring in the Shop Vac from the garage.  This is the miracle worker of cleaning tools.  With one machine I can get cob webs, base boards and everything in between.  It is the best for getting rid of cat hair which seems to be everywhere in my house.  Basically I use it on every surface of the house and all of it's nooks and crannies.  I did a big cleaning this weekend because my Father-in-law will be staying with us soon.  It will be great to spend time with him in my freshly clean house. 

2008 Olympics

I've been waiting for the Olympics to begin for months.  I was glued to my TV on Friday night for the opening ceremonies.   I really didn't think anyone would be able to top Bjork's performance in 2004.  The Chinese were incredible.  Using 15,000 performers made this a spectacular show.

The drummers in the top picture had precision accuracy on drums that would light up when hit.  Here is the countdown to the ceremonies.

The raising of China's flag.  I took a few pictures with my iphone during the ceremonies.   The beauty of these ceremonies will be remembered for a long time.  Here is a great slide show of the highlights. 

Wondrous Art Wednesday

Heather Knight is my WAW Artist of the week. I love the look of her ceramic work. You can almost feel the texture through the picture. You can see more of her work here.

A Chorus Line

My husband and I bought season tickets to this year's Broadway Shows.   We had talked about doing this for years.  Finally we got of our duffs and did it.  Having season tickets makes me feel so grownup!  The first in the series was A Chorus Line which we saw on Saturday.  A Chorus Line is probably my all time favorite musical.  I first saw the stage play when I was in high school when I treated my friend and her mom to see it.  I've seen the movie (which is horrible, but what can you do) a million times. 

This production was very good.  I had some issues with the sound.  The orchestra at times overpowered the singing.  Other than that, it was a great show.  Yes, I did cry...a lot.

The whole day was a bit of an adventure.  We live about 10 minutes from the Keller Auditorium.  We gave ourselves 45 minutes to get there so we would have plenty of time to park and find our seats.  Little did we know that downtown had turned into a parking lot due to 80,000 people attending the Flutag competition on the waterfront.  It felt like we were driving in New York City.  At one point, I got out at a red light and left my poor husband to find parking.  Luckily he made it in time for the curtain call.  It was so crazy that they announced the play would start 5-10 minutes late and the whole audience applauded.  After the first number, they opened the doors for the stragglers.  At least 100 people streamed in.  I'd never seen anything like it. 

After the play we had a fabulous meal at A Cena.  It's currently my sister's favorite restaurant and I can see why.  The food was incredible!  It was such a great day.

I bought the soundtrack on vinyl in high school.  I've practically worn it out.  After the play on Saturday, I re-read the history of how the play was created.  It's such an incredible story.