Life with Lola & Hoku ; The Adventure Continues

Here we are again

ScottK — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:28:08 +0000

Two days until Thanksgiving 2011. Man times sure does fly as you get older huh ? Today is one of my Nephew’s 23rd birthday…… 23rd did ya get that ??? Sheesh, I feel ancient just typing that. But seriously Dave….hope you have /had a great Bday and many more to come. : ) Plus one of my OLDER sisters turns 48 on Saturday.

I am on the last day of my stay-cation, and it has been highly over rated, however I guess I am glad to just be home reading/cleaning/vegging than going to work over the past 7 days. I should be grateful I suppose. I should have gone back to work yesterday. Since I will be working on Turkey day , P and I are doing a nice dinner tonight and then he will be going to his sister’s house on Thursday. And since I am writing this now I get the extra added pleasure of wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving day. As always my hope for you all is that you are surrounded with people that you are truly thankful for and that love and laughter abound at every table across the nation and beyond.I hope and pray that all differences can be set aside for the day (Lord knows they will still be there Friday). And before you ask ….yes yes you may ship me all leftovers up to and including any pumpkin logs, pumpkin pies, green bean casseroles ….ahhh you get the picture. Have fun , be safe and most of all….enjoy each other.

Once Bitten……

ScottK — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:55:32 +0000

Is it me, or are there others of you that get a bit apprehensive about starting a new read when 2 of the past 3 have not grabbed you as you thought they were going to ? When you pick up a book that you think is going to be a gem and find out that it is just a lump of carbon or nicely colored glass. One of the books I read recently even had glowing reviews on goodreads by some friends of mine that I trust. Needless to say, our opinions varied, and that is okay…really. You all don’t ALWAYS have to agree with me, although it is highly advisable as I seem to be right , for the most part, at least 75% of the time.

Part of the problem lies with me, I suppose. I am trying to branch out, read some things not in my usual hit list of spy/espionage, thriller , or cop books and , for that reason GR has been a great help. I feel that I have branched out greatly and have gained alot from that,with only good things to come. Along with that I am sure I will also run across some more that are not to my liking and that is okay as well.

I said all of that to say this next part. Yesterday I had some free time and some cash in my pocket, the two are a deadly combo, especially when I have nothing at home I wish to read. So, I grabbed my bus pass and headed on down to Powell’s yesterday. I am quite proud of myself because I only walked away with 2 books, both slightly used and both Authors that I have never read before. John Irving and Wally Lamb.

From the John Irving stacks I got A Prayer for Owen Meany , and from Wally Lamb I chose I Know This Much Is True. With the Irving I got lucky, because there was a nice lady there who LOVED LOVED LOVED Irving he is her FAVORITE. We put our heads together and out of 2 other choices ( Widow for one Year and Son of the Circus ) she told me to start with A Prayer For Owen Meany. Wally Lamb I had no such mentor for, but IKTMIT struck me as interesting. As I left, and got back on the Max , one thought did strike me as odd. Of these 2 authors/books I have not seen a whole lot of male readers of either……maybe that is just me being weird but as I recall over the years I have seen many women with these much more so then men , just a fact, at least I did not walk out with Twilight or New Moon under my arm. I started the Lamb book last night and am enjoying it so far.

Why there is a smoke detector in our freezer

ScottK — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:22:51 +0000

Things happen…..and sometimes,when things happen drama may ensue. The thing about drama is you never really know when or where it is going to show up, I suppose that is what makes it dramatic. But I digress….on to the story.

One day last week, while I was at work, I called our house to check in on the goings on. Patrick answered and I could tell something was afoot, he sounded frazzled and distracted. I then asked him how his day had been. His response was “You will not believe the day I have had.” I told him to try me……. apparently he had been making some popcorn and had left it in the microwave too long allowing it to burn. Patrick, deciding to eat the good kernels anyway took it from the kitchen into the living room. Here is where drama comes in, the smoke from the bag of popcorn activated one of our smoke detectors, as they have a habit of doing, and started shrieking it’s lovely alarm.

Now for a little back story, Lola, as many dogs do I suppose, really hates the sound of a fire alarm. She quickly gets upset and starts crying and barking, as she did in this case. Hoku, completely oblivious as to why Lola was so upset then began barking and whining too,because,hey,let’s face it, if Lola was doing it she wanted in. Patrick ran over to the alarm and tried shutting off it’s piercing shriek, but could not reach the button. So as anyone might do, who had two whining dogs at his feet, he took it down from the wall and went outside with it. All the while the alarm still just a’shrieking. And, of course when P went outside he did not shut the door all the way and the girls brought the ruckus outside, which in turn brought out a neighbor. Try as he might P could not get the cover off to remove the battery, so he asked our neighbor for some help. Neither could get the cover off, so Patrick, in a spark of genius, ran in and got a towel, in which he wrapped the alarm. He then took it and put it in the spare fridge in the garage……where it remains….about a week later. I am sure the battery is dead by now, but after all the above would YOU want to go check ??? I almost fainted from lack of oxygen to my brain, from laughing so hard while listening to this story, I hope you did too.

More to come………

I have said it before…..

ScottK — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:24:41 +0000

……and I will say it again, some things need to be repeated and repeated……as if calling them into reality from a long way off. I forgive all of you who don’t believe me beforehand, just so you all know. CLEAN SLATE….. that’s what I am talkin’ about here. I am going to TRY A COMEBACK here at the ol’ bloggin’ hole.

I have spruced the place up a bit, got rid of some dead links and am in the process of adding some new ones. I know I have said this before, however, since we all know that the third time is the charm, let’s make believe that this is the third time ‘mmmmmkay ? Thanks. Oh and….. STAY TUNED !!! Until next time,

Buh-Bye

Strange days in PDX

ScottK — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:29:51 +0000

Portland has always been known for it’s diverse population, as a matter of fact, one of the most common bumper stickers reads"Keep Portland Wierd".

That being said, I should not have been surprised, on Saturday when I saw 20 dogs and their humans, parading down a street near my work, all bedecked in Irish green beads and sweaters, being serenaded by a bag pipe player. Nor should I have been shocked when 60 men and women assaulted our bar later that day , all in pristine white wedding gowns.

Another year comes to a close

ScottK — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 03:12:32 +0000

Apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas , I think New Years Eve falls into spot #3 in my most favorite holiday list. Just think of all the possibilities, fresh slate, wipe the board clean etc etc . I am not the kind of person that normally makes resolutions, or even really thinks about the things one could do with 365 freshly baked days ahead of them. I am not a planner, I don’t make lists. I live my life pretty much seat o’the pants and swing from one week to the next, blissfully unaware of time passing until 365 days later, when I look up and say “can you believe another year has flown by ? “

But this year I feel a change coming on , I doubt I will become a list-maker person or become completely an organizational zen master. Nor do I really know why I feel the need for a change. Perhaps it is because I hit the big 45 this year. Maybe it is because this has been an incredibly hard year for us,again not sure, but, I am seriously thinking about rekindling my blogging efforts. I know that more blogs are dying all the time, and perhaps the time of the blog is long gone, swept away while making room on the fresh slate. As for me, I miss it, I miss the connections it helped me form, I miss the cathartic nature of writing and let’s face it I kinda feel bad for letting it (the blog) slip this badly in disrepair and limbo. There are a few things that I will NOT be committing to, writing everyday is not going to happen, I will not be feeling bad because it doesn’t. Also reconnecting with my Goodreads folks will be happening,along with that, is more reading. Sadly enough, my reading habits have fallen way down in this the year of transition. Although I will not be committing to a million things these are 3 that I really do miss. This list of things I want to achieve may not seem like much to you, I could bore you all with the balancing my checkbook weekly, or joining a gym, or eating better, but I won’t. These 3 things are in my top 10, because they mean something to me and I enjoy them, that leaves 7 others though, maybe not as enjoyable, but they will be just as helpful as 2011 rolls on.

So in a nut shell WordPress, Powells and Goodreads beware, I am coming back to you all. My wish for any readers I still have left, are for an easier 2011,filled with way more ups than there will be downs and a joy filled rest of the Holiday season. As always I wish you all Light,Love,Friendships, Joy and Laughter, for the remainder of the season and throughout your New Year.

Why I thought Burlesque was just Okay

ScottK — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 08:53:59 +0000

I like many others I have spoken to really were waiting with great anticipation for this movie to come out. Don’t get me wrong I love Cher and it really was great to see her in a movie again. Throw in Christina and you would think that it would be awesome. It just seemed to me that the producers and director had a meeting and said "Hey we have Cher and Christina in a lot of scenes together….who needs plot." Or let me rephrase….it had a plot, there was just nothing new in it. Without giving too much away,there were just way too many archetypes in this movie. The struggling older mentor, the bad guy who is just trying to "get ahead", the small town girl with big aspirations and maybe the secret to save the struggling older mentor…you get the picture I am sure.

All of the above make for an okay movie,but you leave with the feeling of having seen it all before. Now do not get me wrong. It was good to see Cher on the big screen again, the songs were great, costumes were awesome and Christina did a great job with this being her first movie. So,let’s just suffice to say that,although the movie may not be gracing my DVD collection when it comes out, the soundtrack will absolutely have a place in my CD rack,as well as a spot in my Ipod.

The Catch you guys up Post

ScottK — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:42:00 +0000

Hi…..it’s been a while. However most of you that read this blog are also my FB friends so all of you are caught up, and may want to skip this post. All 4 of us arrived safely in Portland,although, there was a bit of doggie drama. we decided to send our dogs the day after we left, so that we could get a good night’s rest, rent a car, all that stuff. Luckily, I have some great friends in Maui who agreed to ship the pooches for us (Thanks again Jenna and Jo). Now for the Drama Part…we got a call from Jenna the day after we arrived saying that the cargo folks were not going to be able to send the dogs because it was too cold here in Portland. Long story short after a few calls to the vet,and Jenna, they were able to fly and we picked them up the day after we arrived. All things considered it went rather smoothly, even though they just got settled in the Hotel,then had to get resettled at the Apt. Yeah that is right,we had to get an Apt not a house, but it is working out well, so far. There is a great enclosed dog park within 5 miles of us that we found so they have been getting exercise.

Things worked out great with us finding a car. We got the first one we actually looked at. It is a 2001 Subaru Legacy GT,fully loaded with dual moon roofs, 6 Cd changer the works. Of course we were a bit skeptical at first, but we took it to a mechanic who ran diagnostics on it who said, that if he were in the market, he would buy it, so we did. The KBB on it was $5900, but we talked the owner into $5000, due to the fact it will need new tires soon, and apparently with an all wheel drive vehicle, we have to get all 4 at the same time. All we have to do now is to find jobs, and with the good fortune we have been having, that will happen relatively quickly (send Job Karma). I have yet to meet any of my Portland peeps yet ( Logan, Kimberly and Karen I swear it will be soon). I have been very busy building shelves and dressers and nightstands ( Thank God For Ikea).

In summation:
Things are going well.
The folks in our small Apt Complex are great (There are only like 10 units).
Doggies are happy.
We have a vehicle.
And I feel that this chapter of our adventure is going very well.

I would like to thank all of you who wished us well, and sent good moving wishes. NOTHING got smashed,dashed or broken in their travels across the Pacific. I will be sure to keep you all updated as things progress. It is good to be back on the mainland, a bit chilly but good. : )

A whole lot of leaving goin’ on

ScottK — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:12:04 +0000

The container which Ryan,Patrick,Shannon and I have lovingly packed, leaves tomorrow. Ryan & Shannon leave the following day. One week later Patrick and I leave with the dogs to follow on Thursday. All of that is really enough to cause anyone to have a nervous breakdown. But……but….I don’t feel one coming on. Now, that might be because P has already had enough breakdowns for us both ….or it could be that I am confident. Confident that the friendship I have made with Shannon and the one I have deepened with Ryan will continue long after we are dust. Confident that the container was packed with enough care that no items will break. Confident in the fact that I know we are doing the right thing by leaving Maui now.

Make no mistakes, just because I am confident does not make the leaving easier. Despite the fact that bad things happened to both P and myself on Maui, I will miss it. But here is the thing……..it’s not going anywhere. It will be here waiting for us when we need a break from the mainland hullabaloo. And if the saying is true, that a memory is a photograph your heart takes…well then I have plenty of those to take along as well. I am confident, in Love, in Friendships but most of all, of the fact that there are more friends to find and love, and many more photographs to take with my heart.

A Farewell to Books

ScottK — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:55:28 +0000

Today, I have to do something that most bibliophiles would cringe to do…….. I am taking 4 boxes of books to my local Library. For them to keep. Which means they will no longer be mine. Only a matter of time before spines are broken, pages are dog eared and pages get creased. But that’s ok…I won’t be dealing with them then.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am ANAL about the condition of my books,I do NOT lend them to friends unless they heed my strict guidelines. When I lived in Portland before and I would take books back for store credit they would most times ask me if I even read them. When I am buying a new book I can take up to 15/20 minutes to find the "right one" no blemishes smooth pristine, that’s the way I like ‘em. But, enough about me ……more on my books. I knew, when we started talking about moving that this day would come…..and…..hey, I have read them already. In a geeky way though, it’s kinda like loosing a friend ( ok I said geeky). And on a slightly happier note the 2 boxes of unread books I do get to take are twice as big as the boxes I am giving away. Plus they are going to a good cause. Kinda selfish really to keep them, after I have read them (some more than once). The love needs to be shared with many, not just kept to ones self. So good bye old friends…….I can not promise you a good home , but at least you will be read, and that’s what you were meant for. If it makes you happy, know that once I reach Portland your numbers will grow exponentially.