Dryer Drama

I lost my cool yesterday.

Last Saturday Sears delivered our washer and dryer. They didn't hook it up. So we called our plumber and the earliest they could get here was yesterday. So, as the laundry piled up, we waited.

Our plumber got all the gas lines and waterlines ready to go but he informed us that he was unable to install the gas to liquid propane kit that came with the dryer because he would have to dismantle the entire dryer and it wasn't something he was comfortable doing.

I called Sears to ask why they didn't do the conversion. I was told that they could do the conversion but only if they did the install too. I said that the install was pretty much complete and all I needed was the conversion. They said they would have to uninstall all the work the plumber did, do the conversion and then reinstall. I said, "that is stupid", hung up and relayed the info to Matt. He said, "that doesn't make any sense because the delivery person said they never install gas dryers".

So, I called Sears back and said, "I feel like you guys are jerking me around. Why did you tell me you could convert my dryer but only if you install it? But you don't install gas dryers so you can't install it and that means you won't convert it, right? But why would you offer the conversion service which is obviously gas related if you won't do it because you won't install?". Sears said "sorry", they couldn't help.

Frustration!

I then called around to a bunch of local appliance repair services. I was told they would be happy to do the conversion and when could I bring the dryer into the shop? Well, I was hoping to have it done on site because, you know, I don't want to be lugging a freaking dryer around. Nope. No go.

I finally got wise and called our propane provider (Amerigas by the way). Do you know what they told me? "Lady, today is your lucky day! Our service technician is on North Military Road and you are only a few miles away. He will be there in a few hours". So, it all worked out in the end and the washer and dryer were put into service last night. Good thing too or else Matt would have headed to Utah with a suitcase full of dirty socks.

Matt Buys Shotgun. Does Not Join NRA

Last weekend Matt went to a gunshow with Tom and Mick and came home with a 70 year old shotgun. He is in love. He took it over to Tom and Kathy's house to try it out. I am proud to report that he hit his targets on the first try. He even hit a stick that Tom threw in the air. Matt modestly claims beginner's luck but I think he is naturally a crack shot. BTW, I also shot the gun and didn't like it. I think it is too noisy. Shhh.

His Mother's Child

Just like his Mom, Dar, Matt likes to photograph bugs. She is very professional about it her husband even had a book of her work printed (we have a copy if anyone wants to have a look). Matt is still at the point and shoot stage of bug photography. These are my favorite recent pictures.

We don't know what sort of bug is shown in the last 5 of the 6 shots but w like to call it the "pug bug".

First Night

I was kind of grumpy on the 4th of July. Not because of the holiday but because the stupid final inspection keeps getting pushed back and I am tired of having that hanging over my head. Well, I guess it is sort of the fault of the holiday. The shower door that was supposed to be installed on Wednesday so we could be inspected on Thursday didn't get installed until Thursday but a Friday inspection was out because the county was closed for the holiday, and so the inspection is now scheduled on Monday. Yesterday I kind of cracked at the seams and so Matt and I unpacked the TV and all its attendant paraphernalia and carted it upstairs. We went to the grocery store for some fruits, veggies and ice cream. Loaded up our new refrigerator. Made lime sodas with ice from our new ice maker and watched movies in OUR HOUSE - final inspection be damned. And guess what, Lewis County? We even spent the night sleeping upstairs on our soft, soft carpet, camping style with pillows and blankets, even though we don't have our certificate of occupancy and even though the window upstairs is not up to code for a sleeping room. So there! I feel much, much better now!

The Kittens

Norah and Audrey got another rabbit. Only this time we didn't save it. We heard the ruckus outside but all the flashlights were dead and we couldn't(wouldn't?) find the murderers in the forest in the dark. The next day Matt found an explosion of bloody rabbit fur outside and then he found the front half of the rabbit just inside the cat door and kindly disposed of it before I stumbled upon it. He is a good husband.

Walls, Walls, Walls, Walls (and Trim!)

More trim has gone up. In fact, at this point all the trim is up except for the baseboards. Yay! doesn't it look fantastic?

And speaking of fantastic, how 'bout this wall, huh? I have meant to put chinking in it for months but never got around to it and finally just decided I could live without it. Thanks to Kathy for kicking me in the butt and pushing me to do it. It is wonderful!

What wasn't wonderful was having to re-sand all the living room walls. We sanded them once, varnished them, sanded them again and then put on the second coat. I don't know if I got a mislabeled can or what but what was supposed to be a satin finish turned out disco-ball shiny. The glare from the gloss was AWFUL! We just couldn't endure the shine so we sanded it all down. AGAIN. And today we started oiling the walls for a more subtle finish. It is looking much better.

Look at all the beautiful wood. It was soooo worth saving. Although Matt might not agree right at this moment as he is varnishing the ceiling, one of the more tedious and messy tasks.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Drew and I went to Longview this evening to buy some stuff from Lowe's. When we got back we were talking with Matt in "the Room" (as I have taken to calling our little living space. It must be spoken out loud in dark and ominous tones), when we heard a loud squealing coming from the bay (the unheated garage portion of the pole building currently a maze of boxes and stuff waiting to move into the house). Drew and I are all, "what the . . ?" and Matt is all, "I know! I just heard that 10 minutes ago. There is murder going on in the bay. Norah and Audrey have something out there but I can't find what they have." The three of us went out to investigate but came up empty. Drew went home and I was futzing around on the computer when Matt came in from the bay with a stricken look. "It is a RABBIT!!!" he said. I was all, "OMG, OMG, OMG! Where is it? Is it still alive? What do we do?!!" Matt put on a pair of gloves and I got a towel and he eventually cornered it in our recently emptied kitchen sink box. We wrapped it in the towel, took a couple of pics, briefly succumed to its utter cuteness, almost kicked all the cats to the curb and kept the bunny, came to our senses and took it outside into the forest. Hopefully it had a chance to find a hiding place before Norah and Audrey discovered it was gone from the building. When we came back in they were stalking around the bay like a couple of lionesses on the veldt.

Now it was a small rabbit to be sure but we must give mad props to Norah for this catch. Remember Norah is our tiny dancer, she isn't much bigger than a kitten. It won't be long now before she drags in a freaking raccoon.

Blessed Be the Wright Brothers

The weather here in Winlock last week was a soaking, chilly rain. Thank the stars that we had a little trip scheduled. Matt got called into the office for a few days and no way in hell was I planning on staying behind so on Wednesday we headed to PDX in a downpour, boarded a plane, and landed in Burbank to 95 degree sunshine and blue skies. Ahhhhhhhhhh.On approach looking at the smoke from the Santa Barbara fire with a husk of dead insect in the foreground. It was stuck between the window panes.

We picked up our rental car at the airport, drove to the North Hollywood park and ride and hopped on the Metro so we could get to 7th and Metro downtown.

We had dinner at Ciudad, one of our favorite spots.

Behold the beautiful colors on Matt's dish of black cod.

The most delicious thing I ate on the trip: Watermelon salad with baby watercress, oaxacan string cheese, pedro jimenez reduction, macadamia nuts, marash chile. Sigh. Heaven.

Then came Thursday. I dropped Matt off at work in Westlake Village at 8am and headed to Ikea Covina. See, about a year ago we picked the handles for our kitchen cabinets from Ikea but I didn't know how many to buy so I just kept checking to make sure they were still there whenever I would go in. A month ago when all the cabinets were designed and we knew exactly how many we needed, I went to Ikea Portland to buy them only to find they had been discontinued. Did Seattle still have any? Nope? How about Utah? Nope. What about anywhere in the Los Angeles area? Covina!! They held them for me for 3 weeks until I got there. So nice. Got to Covina at 10am and it took about an hour for the employee on duty to find the handles artfully hidden by the person I spoke with on the phone.

After Ikea Covina I went to Violet's Cakes in Pasadena (This should come as a surprise to no one), did a little shopping and then made a trip back out to Matt's office to drop off a dozen cupcakes for his coworkers.

I headed back to the Woodland Hills area near our hotel for a mani-pedi. It was stupefyingly easy for my nail tech to convince me to upgrade to the deluxe mani-pedi. My eyes rolled back as my arms and legs were massaged, scrubbed, oiled and lotioned. It felt sooo nice. I tried not to think about how soon my fingernails would be destroyed by the mail route and all the stain that still needs to be applied to various woods in the house.

Back to Westlake Village to pick Matt up, then back to Woodland Hills to dress for dinner at Campanile.

I don't know what to tell you about Campanile. They sat us at the crappiest table in the house. I spent the first hour of dinner wondering what it was about us that made the hostess decided to dump us in a walkway. I settled on two possibilites: 1. Braces are undignified and I look like a pimply faced know-nothing or 2. Our nearly two years in Winlock have rubbed off on us more than we are aware and we ooze country bumpkin. Did I ask to be reseated? I did not. Do I wish I had? Yes. Through dumb luck we ended up at Campanile on Thursday night and Campanile is famous for "Thursday Night Grilled Cheese Sandwiches". It's their thing. We were torn. Do we order something off the regular menu or have a grilled cheese to find out what all the fuss is about. We ended up each getting a version of the grilled cheese. Meh. I had fried green tomatoes as an appetizer and they were delicious - once I got them. See, I received sliced tomatoes with shrimp and when I sent it back, the waiter told me I ordered sliced, not fried. That bugged me. Matt thought his salad was much more exciting than his sandwich. Dessert was great but my overall impression of Campanile was weak.(No pics of the food here. It was too swanky to break out the camera. Matt would have died right there in his chair. The only thing worth shooting would have been the architecture and the dessert: honeycomb, hot fudge, and discs of sponge cake in a tower of tasty).

But that is all of no matter when there is blue sky overhead.

Friday morning I took Matt back to work and then crossed the hills over to Malibu for a drive down Hwy 1. I stopped at Zuma Beach and took these pictures.

Then I drove up Topanga Canyon, had a late breakfast at Pat's Grill, looped back up to Westlake Village, killed a few hours watching Rudo y Cursi, picked up Matt, drove back to the airport and flew home. We landed with just enough light left to see that the sky was clear. Whew.

Beam Me Up, Matty (Ugh. Sorry bout that one)

Here we are putting in the post and beams that divide the living room from the kitchen. Tom and Kathy's friend Mick was also here to help but I somehow managed to crop him out of every shot! Sorry Mick!

Sorry about all the fairy dust in the picture. We had sawdust floating everywhere.

Douglas Charles Conrow

Most people who read this blog are already aware that Matt's dad passed away on Dec 17. We just finished writing the obituary so I thought it would be a good idea to post it here. Thank you for all your kind messages. I will be returning to WA on Christmas Day and returning to UT for the service on Jan 3. Matt will be staying in UT until after the service. I don't have much time to spend on the computer here in UT so I will write more about the experience once I am home.

Douglas Charles Conrow
Park City, UT

Doug was born January 26th 1936 in Big Timber, MT the son of John Moore and Ruth Ryan Conrow. He was raised in Butte MT and attended the Universities of Montana and Utah where he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. In 1964 he graduated with honors from the masters program in social work at the University of Utah and then returned to Montana to provide public welfare services and receive a promotion to the state director of training for the Department of Public Welfare. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) his career led him to working with families of the Shoshone and Bannock tribes on the Ft. Hall, ID Indian reservation where he founded the Ft. Hall Boy’s Club and left a piece of his heart with the people there. In 1969 he was recruited as Assistant Director to help found Weber County Mental Health Center in Ogden. In 1977 he became the Executive Director and for the next 11 years Doug was respected for his innovative programs, creative problem solving, and dynamic work environment. He was selected to be one of 25 mental health administrators (from 2000 applicants) to participate in an advanced training program offered by the National Institute of Mental Health. He held the title Diplomat in Clinical Social Work. In 1990 he moved with his family to Salt Lake City, UT where he continued his mental health calling through private practice psychotherapy and the development of programs at Valley Mental Health and the Utah State Department of Corrections. He was especially effective as a counselor in the mental health and women’s facilities at the Draper Prison. The common thread throughout his professional career was his belief in leveling the playing field and honoring the value of all humanity. In 1998 he retired to enjoy his family and friends as a resident of Park City, UT.

Doug’s way of divining the contents of a person’s heart and the careful and compassionate wisdom he offered as a mentor will be sorely missed by each and every person who knew him. Rare was the encounter with Doug that did not include his quick wit, easy laugh and generous hug. He had a great passion for lively discussions with friends and family and held to the belief that everything is better when complemented by unusual food and exotic creatures.

Doug was a restless and eternal questioner who delighted in the process of critical thought and in continually challenging conventional wisdom. He retained a sense of wonder and excitement at the world around him until the very end.

Doug passed away gently in his sleep at his home in Park City on the morning of Wednesday, Dec 17 2008. He was surrounded by family who sent him on his way filled with love.

A lively, old-fashioned, Irish wake was held at the family home on Saturday, Dec 20. He was well attended by family and friends, gathered to celebrate his life.

Doug leaves behind his wife, Nancy, three sons, John Conrow (Big Fork, MT), Mark (Jovita) Conrow (Ogden, UT), Matthew (Michelle) Conrow (Winlock, WA), and daughter Kate Conrow (Salt Lake City, UT), grandchildren, Tairah, Ashlee, Jace, Paige, Bryan, Damon, Chandler, Javier, Omar, Lance and Austin, and 5 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Linda (Pat) McKissick and brother Steve Hancock, esteemed family member Dar (Win) Jensen, a circle of lifelong friends and his special feline companion Bronwyn. Doug is preceded in death by his parents.

The family would like to give special recognition to all the people who gave such extraordinary care and attention to Doug during his years of unexplained illness and his final battle with pancreatic cancer.

A memorial service will be held e on Saturday, January 03, 2009 at 12 noon at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, 4595 North Silver Springs Drive, Park City, UT 84098

In lieu of flowers, and to honor Doug’s commitment to research and helping others. the family requests any donations be made to Huntsman Cancer Institute www.huntsmancancer.org

It was the little things in life that made him larger than life.

Good Riddance 2008

I am going to go on record as saying that 2008 was not the best year for me. Sure wonderful, new, interesting experiences were had but, as the year draws to a close, I feel worn out and thin. As I write this Matt is in Utah with his dad who was overtaken with an incredibly fast moving pancreatic cancer. It was discovered the week after Thanksgiving and we are all fearful that he doesn't have much time left. And by not much time I am speaking mere days. So, between Grandpa's passing, Doug's failing health and some other things I don't feel like sharing, the last quarter of 2008 blows. I guess it is coloring my mental review of the whole year. I should go back and read the blog from earlier days to remember that there were jollier times. I plan to fly to Utah in the next day or two, weather permitting.

Here is a video that makes me laugh. I am going to be reciting the following over and over: I am the penguin. I am the penguin.

Election Night

Yes We Can!!

Screen grab of the map just after the election was called on CNN but before the night turned into a major mandate for President Elect Obama

The magic moment.

Our little watching party was marked with tears of joy, whoops of excitement and an overwhelming sense that we would be moving back to the United States of America that we feel we were born and raised in. There are many in this election who suggested that Barack Obama was unpatriotic and even anti-American because of his calls for Change. The idea being that America is a perfect nation created by God that is always guided by God and therefore beyond reproach. Here is a quote from an article in the New York Times that does a better job of making my thoughts clear than I could.

. . .a sense that the imperial power capable of doing such good and such harm — a country that, they complain, preached justice but tortured its captives, launched a disastrous war in Iraq, turned its back on the environment and greedily dragged the world into economic chaos — saw the errors of its ways over the past eight years and shifted course.

They say the country that weakened democratic forces abroad through a tireless but often ineffective campaign for democracy — dismissing results it found unsavory, cutting deals with dictators it needed as allies in its other battles — was now shining a transformative beacon with its own democratic exercise.

(a note of context: the article was discussing the views of citizens of other countries but it applies to me as well.)

When I say I want Change and I believe when Barack Obama calls for change what we are aiming for is a return to the beauty of the country as an ideal, as an example to the world. As Bill Clinton put it at the DNC, "The world is more impressed with the power of our example than the example of our power". Ronald Reagan's reference to the Shining City on a Hill from the bible and from John Winthrop has been mentioned frequently in this election season. Far from being that shining beacon, I feel that we have turned into a bully with a club, earplugs and blinders. The election results of November 4th 2008 relit that beacon. It is burning again and I hope that the flame only gets brighter as we all work together to put the economy back on track, ensure that all our citizens can afford health care, search for energy solutions, end wars started by lies, support our allies when the cause is just, mend an ailing educational system, and a host of other issues that will require the leadership of President-Elect Obama and the participation and support of the people of America.

Count me in.

Getting Messy

We needed a pad poured on which to put our heating unit. That gave Matt and Tom a chance to get dirty. I wanted to write our names in it once it was set up enough but it was still gooey by the time I left for dance class and it was too dark and cold by the time I got home to care. That is OK. The cats did the job for me. We have little paw prints criss-crossing the pad.

Rest Easy

A decision has been made.

A few months ago I posted about the trouble we were having committing to a trim color. We finally picked a color and are painting the fascia boards so that we are ready to put gutters up as soon as the roof is on. The roof installation begins on Monday (tomorrow as of this writing).So, ta da! Here it is. It is Forest 05 from Yolo Colorhouse. It is kind of army greenish and we think it will look nice with the weathered cedar siding. It blends in with our natural surroundings really well. Matt was painting when I got home from the mail route yesterday and as soon as saw the color on the house I knew it was the right choice. If you click on the Yolo link, take note of Forest 04 also. That will be the color of our front door.

Dinner with Friends

On Monday we were invited to dinner at Stephanie & Cassandra's house. I didn't take as many pics as I thought. Drew & Stephanie completely remodeled the house when they moved in and it looks fantastic. And yet, no pictures. I don't know what I was thinking. We had a great time and are happy to be making friends in our new state.

Matt, Steph, Drew & Ousta, Cassandra - FYI, I have a picture that is more flattering to everyone but Matt raised his beer bottle in toast and completely blocked out Stephanie. Sorry about that guys.

A Cassandra Special: Tofu dog with Easy Cheese. I am not sold on this.

Una's canine counterpart: Ousta (or Oustabelle, or Smellybelle depending on who you ask). Like Una, Ousta is aged, blind, losing hair, rickety, a bit smelly and still very, very loved.

I meant to write more about our night with friends but I have let too much time slip by and the immediacy is gone. I will do better next time.

Dirty Job

Somebody call Mike Rowe. This is quite possibly the dirtiest and filthiest we have ever been in our lives. The time has come to remove the roofing from the Sister House. Decades of crumbling asphalt shingles, moss, and cedar shakes beneath it all needed removal.

Tom and Matt mounting the ascent. The roof pitch is 8:12 so it is a steep bugger.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Internet I now present to you a fashion don't.

I was not allowed up on the roof until they had cleared down about halfway and the skip sheathing provided more secure footing. I guess my reputation as a klutz preceded me. I did fall through the roof at one point when I stepped on an unstable piece of skip sheathing but I didn't fall far and managed to avoid getting scrapped and bruised. So yay for a secure rope!

As of this writing the roof is about 3/4 cleared off. We completed the west side on Monday and about 1/2 of the east side on Tuesday. I didn't work on the east side so that must be why it is going so slow!! Actually, Matt and Tom report that the roofing on the east side is more disintegrated. It sounds like that would make it easier to remove but it is acting like it is glued to the sheathing and is much trickier to pry off than the west side. Bummer. We had hoped to keep it to a two day job.

The sun sets on a day of hard work. Tom went up and did some final scraping of crap off the edge and we called it quits.

Playing the Ponies

A few weeks ago Drew invited us to the horse races at Emerald Downs. The Market Street Pub was chartering a bus to the races. Matt and I used to go to the races at Del Mar with the RBF crowd in San Diego but that was a good 9 years or so ago. The race trip was this past Sunday. Here are some pics from our day at the races.

The bus riders gathering at the bar before the bus arrived

Drew was concerned (and rightly so) that the sole non-drinker on the bus (me) would get cranky at some point in the day. I am happy to go along for the ride - up to a point. But in situations like these there is a black magic moment where everyone changes and I am left alone in a sea of drunk strangers. I feared being trapped on a bus home with loud obnoxious drunks. So Drew, the man of solutions, had a "sober person's survival kit" waiting for me. He filled a camo backpack full of chocolate, candy, crosswords, a mini-lightbright, 20 questions, silly putty, a coloring book, OK Magazine and a book light in case we were still on the road when it got dark. He also threw in a couple of goodies for Matt: a John Deere sticker and activity book, Chicken in a Biscuit with Easy Cheese, and Wasabi almonds. Those last items came in handy on the way home. Matt passed out "hors d'oeuvers" to all his new friends. The most popular item in the bag turned out to be the little electronic 20 questions. It had us all in stitches on the bus ride up. I lost interest in the races after race 7 and there were 3 more to go so I entertained myself trying to stump the game. I managed to do so with syrup. It guessed peanut butter. Also, Drew, it came in handy later in the night. Matt was snoring like a Sasquatch so I played 20 questions until I was so tired I could fall asleep through the racket. THANK YOU!!!!

The people on the bus go drink and drink.

Pub owner Karla, Drew & Matt

Warm up ring

View from the stands! Mt. Ranier is gorgeous

Matt placing his first bet. We won $63 but bet about $80 so we can't claim to have won anything.

Yay! There we are on the marque

Pretty silver horsey

Poetry in motion

The ninth race was dedicated to the pub.

Horses warming up for the Market Street Pub Purse

6 people from our group got to watch the race from the winner's circle and have their photo taken with the winner.

Here we all are just before the Market Street Pub Purse. I lost $2 on this race.