Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Grandpa's Funeral, and Trav's 27th birthday

What a whirlwind! The last week has been pretty much insane.
Last Tuesday I found out that my grandpa had been given 3 days to live by his hospice care givers. My mom and I made plans to go visit him Wednesday, but we were to late. Grandpa Vern Harvey passed away Wednesday morning at 4am. He was 84 years old. He was ready to go. A couple months prior he was admitted to the hospital with double pneumonia. They didn't think he'd make it through that, but he did! He was healed, and his pneumonia was gone! However, the whole ordeal weakened his body and he never really recovered. He was ready to go home, and to see his wife who passed a few years ago. Although it is always sad when someone passes, we know that this is what he wanted. He was miserable down here waiting....spending all day in the hospital. Now he is where he wants to be. Grandpa was great with his hands. He was a carpenter, and a great one! He made my mom several things. A few that stick out in my mind are a house to go over her mailbox, a wood nativity scene, and a car desk for my little brother when he was very young. He lived in Clatskanie while we were growing up, and I remember lots of family trips where we all went to stay at his house. We'd always play croquet and had a great time with the whole family....cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, and grandpa and grandma. I love you Grandpa and you will be missed.
So, we got the news on Wednesday morning, the 15th and the planning began. Our family is all over. Aunt Chrissy and Justine are in Yuma, AZ, Lacee is in Orange, CA, Dylan is in NC, Tony is in CO, Uncle Don is in WA....and more. So coordinating was a little difficult. Lots of phone calls had to be made to make all the decisions, even the small ones. They decided to have the memorial on Monday the 20th, so family started coming in on Friday the 17th.
But I don't want to get ahead of myself. April 16th was a very important day! It was Trav's 27th birthday. I bought him lunch to celebrate, and made him his dinner of choice. He chose Kung Pao Chicken with Miso soup and Fried Rice. I'd never made any of those things, so I was a little nervous, but it's what the man wanted! It actually turned out really good! I'm positive we will have it again! For dessert he wanted Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream. He'd been having it all week though, and I gave him a gift card to DQ, so after dinner we drove to DQ so he could get a blizzard. It was a good night. Trav's big gift from me this year was Emma, so I didn't get him much else. A couple movie passes to Carmike Cinema's, and lunch!!
Friday the17th I had the day off work. Kind of. I told my poor, overly busy, stressed out mom that I would help her in the morning until she had to leave for her meeting. So I got up at normal time and got to work at 9. After work I had lunch with Trav, and then went groc shopping a little early to beat all the family that was coming to stay! Then I rushed to my hair appointment at 3:30. I told her to cut all the bad stuff off....and she did. My hair is very short now. A little to short. It's fine if I straighten it, but if I leave the curls to take over, the bounce up very high! So I think I'm going to spend the extra time to straighten it for a few weeks to let it grow out a little before I go back to curly! Anyway, it's fun having a new hair style. And Trav loves it. So far I think everyone likes it....but they could be lying. :)
After my hair appointment I rushed home to get back in time for Trav's surprise birthday dinner! It was a blast. It was great to see his face when the server showed us to a long table set up for 14 people!! Ryan, Darin, and Shelby were already there when Trav, Air and I arrived. Bob and Gloria came in a few minutes later, and Mike and Lynn a couple minutes after that. Then Luke showed up, and my cousin Tony arrived a few minutes later. Lindsey and Brian, and Robbie and Todd weren't able to make it. And Joel ended up having to work. But Trav was so happy to see everyone that was there. And he got spoiled with some great gifts! Bob and Gloria (who we got Emma from) got him a nice set of wine glasses, and a professional painting of little Emma. It really was professionally painted, but it was kind of a joke because it was pretty bad. Trav loved it though! He also got a bottle of wine, and some good beer and jerky!
We had a great time at dinner, and invited everyone over to our house for the after party. Ryan, Tony, Darin and Shelby, and Air all came over, and my brother showed up as soon as he got off work. We started mixing the drinks. We had fun playing the Wii, playing with Emma, drinking, talking and laughing until 4am. Happy Birthday Trav!!
Saturday I went golfing with Air. And cured my hangover with more drinking. It was such a gorgeous day out, and golfing was a perfect way to spend it! The beer cart kept bringing the Mike's Hard Lemonades, and we kept drinking them. By the end of golf, I should have stopped, but my friend Robbie invited us to a BBQ at her house. We went over and of course she had wine galore. We had wine and sat in the sunshine soaking in the rays. My cousin Lacee text me at about 6 to let me know she was on her way over, so we said goodbye to Robbie and headed home to greet her.
There were a lot of people at the house when we got there. My cousins Lacee, Justine, and Dylan were there, my Aunt Chrissy, cousin Tony, and Trav! I think my mom and brother were there to! It was a very full house. My cousin Lacee is 7 months pregnant and was adorable! She's carrying it all right in her belly! It looks like she shoved a beach ball under her shirt! Very cute. I haven't seen Justine for years so it was great to see her. It was a great time. I loved seeing everyone. Air and I really wanted to dance so we ended up going to Riley's for a couple hours to dance the night away.
The next morning was not friendly. I felt very sick. We had another birthday meal to go to for Trav's birthday! His parents! We had hamburgers and baked beans and potato salad. Yum! After I ate I felt much better. We played with Coraline and after lunch took her for a walk to the park. It was another beautiful day, and us Oregonians take advantage of beautiful days!!! Especially in the spring, after a long cold winter.
That evening we spent with Lacee, Justine, and Tony. We watched movies and hung out.
Monday morning was the Memorial. We all got ready and left the house at 11am. There was lots more family there, and plenty of hugs were passed out to everyone. After the Memorial there was a lunch. Then we headed to Grandpa's house to go over the reading of the will. When we got home we invited Aunt Chrissy, Dylan, and my parents over for games and popcorn. While we waited for them we took Emma for a walk to the park. She had a lot of fun! So much to see!
We had a great time with everyone that night playing games and laughing. When Aunt Chris, Lace, Justine, and Dylan used to live in Lebanon we would get together a ton. Now they are all spread out so it's a rare occurrence and we really enjoyed it.
Tuesday Trav and I went back to work. It was really hard to work knowing there was family at the house!! And with the weather being so beautiful! But we made it and spent one final night with Justine, Lacee, Dylan, and Chrissy before they headed home this morning. I even got to feel Ryder kick! He moved around a lot for me!
Now I'm just trying to get back into the normal swing of things. I think this weekend we will do a lot of relaxing!! And see my dad's play : The Diary of Anne Frank. Ok, back to work!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Prom!!!

I went to prom on Saturday! You may think I'm to old for Prom, but nope! One of Erika's co-workers wanted to have prom for her birthday celebration, so she rented out a restaurant and about 60 people came all dressed up! The guys were in tuxes and the ladies in fancy dresses. There was a dance floor and a dj and of course, a bar! It was so much fun to get all dressed up! I got to wear my pink formal dress that I got 3 years ago for Trav's open house when he graduated from College. He told me it was going to be a very formal event so I got a very formal dress, and then a few days before it he found out that the theme had changed to a much less formal spring dress! So I never got a chance to wear my pink formal dress, until now.
Air did my hair, I put on a little make up, and got dressed. We went to dinner at Air's mom's house. We had delicious taco's, and wine! We went back to Air's after dinner to pre-drink a little more, and then headed to Magenta in Corvallis, where Prom was. When we got there I realized that I had forgotten my id so Air, Mo and I lifted the back door of Air's Denali and sat out the back passing the bottle of wine back and forth while we waited for Trav to bring my id. (Thanks Trav) I'm sure it was a funny site to see, 3 girls all dressed up sitting in a parking lot in the back of an SUV passing the wine bottle. :)
We got into Magenta about a half hour later. All the girls dresses were SO pretty. We got some wine from the bar and walked around visiting with everyone for about an hour. We danced a little, but the DJ wasn't playing great music. We really wanted to dance, so after a couple hours we headed down the street to the Cantina. They had a great DJ with great music so we danced our hearts out! It was a really fun night!
Sunday was Easter, so we went to church and then back to my parents for Easter/Trav's bday dinner! His first of many! It was delicious - ham, mashed potatoes, green bean cass, broccoli, cran sauce...yum! And it was great time spent with the family.
Thursday is Trav's bday. He put in a special request for his birthday meal: Kung Pao Chicken, Miso soup, fried rice, and chocolate peanut butter ice cream for dessert! So I got all the ingredients and I'm going to give it a go!! I hope it turns out good!
Other than that, Emma looks like she is healing up well. She just finished her 2nd dose of anti's last night, so now we just have to make sure the lump doesn't come back so we don't need to put another drain in!! So far, so good.
Funny side note: I was belting out "your the one that I want" in the shower when Travis stuck his head in the bathroom and said "Hey babe, Grease called. They want their musical back" So funny. I love my husband!
We can't wait for it to warm up! Have a great week!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

BBQ Weather!!

Last night Trav and I dusted off the BBQ and brought it out of the garage and into the sunshine! We had our first BBQ of the season. Of course when Trav went to fire it up, he discovered that the propane tank was empty. He took it to get refilled and texted me right when he got there saying there was a pretty long line. Apparently a lot of people wanted to take advantage of the sunshine! We BBQ'd steaks, asparagus, and red potatoes and washed it all down with some iced green tea. And some sliced strawberries. Now I'm in summer mode! To bad that it will still be a while until we can BBQ outside everyday.
We had a good weekend. Friday morning Trav took Emma in to get her drain put in. The vet kept her and watched her throughout the day, and he picked her up at 5pm. The vet said to keep her from scratching at it we should put a tight little t-shirt on her. The drain was clear up on her neck though, so a t-shirt wouldn't cover it. Trav and I brainstormed and ended up cutting the sole and toes off a sock and stretching it over her head to just go around her neck. It worked! We have to hot pack the wound twice a day, and each time we change out the sock to keep it clean. Emma didn't like taking her antibiotics at all. Even though they were covered in peanut butter. She has learned that she gets a doggy biscuit after she takes it though, and as soon as she figured that out, she doesn't suck the peanut butter off and spit the pill out anymore. She just swallows it the first time and then goes right for her biscuit. Whatever works I guess!
So Friday evening we just took care of Emma. We went to Toki Teryaki to get some take out for dinner. And we picked up some chocolate peanut butter ice cream for dessert. Yum yum!
Saturday Trav was originally planning to take advantage of the sunshine and work on getting the fence gate in with the neighbor. He got a Trendfort project that needed to be done in a week though, so he decided to do that instead. He's loving his new laptop that Trendfort got him. He got the wireless router set up last night so now he has everything he needs on his laptop.
I spent Saturday with Air. We went car shopping. She wanted to get rid of her 03 honda. She never really wanted it and it was K's parents so it just had to many memories. She has always wanted a Denali and now that she's got so much extra money every month (one of the advantages of not having a boyfriend!) she could afford it, and more! So we went Denali shopping. She found the perfect one at a lot in Salem. It has all the bells and whistles! Leather seats, front and back heated! It has a dvd player, GPS navigation, On star, huge gorgeous wheels, and just looks amazing. It's black and an 06! So she made a deal with the salesman and drove the Denali home! We headed right for golf that we were late for. We got there right at the end. It was ok though, we just hung out and enjoyed the sunshine! It was Shelby's birthday and she was having a BBQ at she and Darrin's so we all headed over for some good food. It was a lot of fun. Just like a summer day!
Sunday was another gorgeous day! But Trav and I had lots of laundry (from our trip) and cleaning to do so we spent most of the day inside. We did get out in the morning for a jog, and I went to church with Air in the evening.
We were planning on going to La Grande to visit Mon and JD this weekend, but since Emma got her drain in and isn't getting it out until Wednesday....then leaving those open wounds where it went through exposed, we don't think she'll be ready to travel yet. And we know she would LOVE to play with Mon and JD's 3 dogs but she shouldn't be rough housing yet. Plus she is still taking 3 antibiotics a day...Anyway, unless she heals in one day, we are going to reschedule that trip. I think we're planning on Memorial Day weekend!
If we don't go to La Grande this weekend I will be going to "prom" this weekend with Air. One of her co-workers is putting it on and it should be a lot of fun! I love dressing up! I will be going as her date, since her original date, K, is no longer date material. We will also spend Easter with my family and possibly celebrate Trav's bday with them that day. Plus, Trav will have a chance to sit down and talk to his dad.
Either way, we have a busy weekend ahead! The forecast is calling for 10 days of rain after today, so I think Trav and I will BBQ again tonight before the rain returns! Gotta take advantage of the sunshine!!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Emma's 2nd surgery


Yes, as I feared, Emma's small bite that didn't need stitches has an abscess. The vet said it was most likely there from the beginning, but it was very small when we took her in 8 hours after she got bitten. So small that is wasn't noticeable at all. Then she was on antibiotics for the stitches until just the other day, and they said once the antibiotics were done, the infection that had been there the whole time started growing. The antibiotics were keeping it small, but they didn't get rid of it. So, now they have to drain it and sew a drain in for 5 days to make sure and get it all out. Poor little Emma. We just got the stitches all healed up, and now she's getting a drain put in. I am just praying that it all goes smoothly, it doesn't cost to much, and that she won't want to scratch at the drain while it's in, like she did the stitches. I would hate for her to end up catching on it and ripping at it, or ripping it out, or causing it to get infected....etc. I just want her to be healed!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Not out of the woods yet

Today at lunch Trav noticed a big lump above Emma's stitches, but right under where the other tooth mark was that was just a scratch and didn't need stitches. It looks like it's full of puss and probably abscessed. :( So, we're taking her to the vet this afternoon. Hopefully we're just thinking the worst and it won't be a big deal. I don't want her, or us, to have to go through another surgery....this time probably with a drain to. Ugh...... So I'm praying that it will be something small. Poor little Emma. Not even 4 months and she may already be going in for her 2nd surgery.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Vacation to Cancun!

Cancun, Mexico
Riu Caribe Resort
Ahhhhh. I love that feeling I have right after getting back from a relaxing vacation. Life seems a little brighter, like it has a fresh new start. Waking up in the morning isn't so hard, and the daily routine of life doesn't seem to treacherous. For a while. Unfortunately the feeling doesn't last for long. But I'm going to enjoy it while it's here!

Monday
The alarm woke us up at 1am. We got ready, loaded the car, and were to my parents at 2! We loaded their luggage and ours into the van and were on the road to PDX by 2:30. We arrived at the airport right on time at 4, and were checked in, through security, and waiting at our gate by 5. Our plane was on time, and in no time we were on the plane to Cancun. We had a plane change in Denver, but we arrived in Cancun at 3pm. Our resort was beautiful. The lobby was filled with plants. The floor was marble and beautiful. We were greeted by "Welcome drinks" and the staff ushered us inside and got us checked in. The weather was amazing. Sunny and 85.....perfect. Our rooms were big and had a balcony with a view that looked over the ocean. I've never had an actual ocean view room, so it was really neat. Of course our mini fridge was stocked with water, pop, and beer, and we had a mini bar with 4 full size bottles of liquor! All restocked daily!
We were anxious to see the beach and I was craving a bahama mama! We hit the lobby bar to get drinks before heading down to the beach to walk along with water and check it all out. It was a really nice beach. Soft white sand, clear-blue, warm water....ahhh. A picture of paradise.
We changed and got ready for our first meal. We wanted to do dinner at the buffet and we were all very surprised by the quality of all the food. There was Salmon, Prime Rib, pastas, salads, fruit, potatoes, fajitas, burritos, tacos, and so much more! And the dessert bar was to die for. A variety of about 10 different desserts to choose from, and they were all rich, creamy, and delicious. After dessert they offered us cappuccino's. We took them up on the offer, and we are so glad we did. The cappuccino's were so good. They became a daily, sometimes more than once a day, occurrence. After trying the buffet and loving it that much, we couldn't wait to try the specialty restaurants. There was a Mexican, Asian, and Steakhouse specialty restaurant.
We finished off our first night with some drinks in the lobby bar and watching the entertainment for the evening. There was a Mariachi Band that was really good, and after that it was Karaoke night! It's always fun to see people making fools of themselves, and every now and then be pleasantly surprised by a really nice voice.
We were all very tired and headed to bed pretty early our first night. We were excited to get up and start a fresh new day.

Tuesday
First things first! We were up at 8, and on the beach by 9. We found beach chairs to lie on and we laid on the beach and played in the ocean. Warm clear blue water is so much more fun to splash around in than freezing cold dark blue water that is on our Oregon coast. We had a great day. After lunch we spent some time at the pool. We had reservations at the Mexican Restaurant that evening, so at 5 we headed in to shower and get dressed for dinner. The Mexican Restaurant was very nicely decorated. They had big beautiful plates and the room was big and all marble. We had appetizers, drinks, and ordered our entree. I got chicken filled with pumpkin sauce that was very tasty. After dinner we went to the show of the night: Grease! It was a lot of fun. I love watching the dancing. They do such a good job.

Wednesday
We had a wonderful breakfast at the buffet before heading down to the beach. Fresh fruit, cappuccino's, fresh omelet's, french toast....the list goes on and on. I don't normally eat breakfast, but with so much good food, I didn't have a problem filling a couple plates!
We layed on the beach and played in the ocean all day. Our dinner reservations that evening were at the Steakhouse. The Steakhouse was their most popular restaurant and it was very hard to get in at a good time. My dad did the best he could, but the earliest time they had was 9:30! I was starving by 7, so we decided to go have a snack at the buffet. Our snack ended up being a whole dinner, because it's impossible to say no to all the good food they have. Even if you just have a "bite" of everything you want to try, it still fills your plate! Don't worry though, we didn't cancel our reservations at the steak house!! :) At 9:30 they brought us our drinks and a roll with butter. A few moments later they brought out an appetizer platter with vegetable tempura, onion rings, and chicken wings. It was so good. When we finished that they brought out Caesar salads. I'm not kidding, I think it was was best Caesar salad I've ever had. Then we order our entree. We all ordered the rib eye steak. Once our salad was finished they brought out soup. It was tomato and cream of artichoke. It was red and white and somehow they just separated it right down the middle. It was really cool, and very good. Once our soup was finished they brought out our steaks. They came with cooked spinach, a baked tomato, and a red potato. By the end of this meal I was stuffed. Everything was so good. They weren't done yet! For dessert they had baked alaska, which is ice cream cake that they light the frosting around the outside on fire to "bake" it. It was really fun to watch them make it and of course tasted amazing! By the time dinner was over it was almost midnight. Dinner was more like a show that night.

Thursday
You guessed it, breakfast first and then off to lay on the beach.
It was another beautiful day. Sunny and 85. We got our beach chairs and were lucky enough to find a little beach hut today, so we could get a little shade when we needed to. Trav became friends with the beach bartender Ross today. Ross mixed us up lots of special drinks. He made me wonderful bahama mama's, pina colada's, and riviera maya's! After lunch he really started mixin the drinks for us, and by dinner time Trav was ordering us shots! Ross made some delicious fruity shots. We had dinner at the buffet that evening, so we could go anytime. I was pretty drunk by dinner time and my poor parents were in for a treat. I made it through dinner fine, but for dessert I got a large plate of strawberries and chocolate sauce and I ended up getting chocolate sauce everywhere. Trav usually takes care of me, but he was as far gone as I was this night, so he was no help. My parents actually made me leave the restaurant (and the strawberries and chocolate sauce). After dinner we went to the show of the night, which I don't remember. But I'm sure it was good. I spent most of my time at the theater bar that night. On our way home from the theater we stopped at the lobby bar to order another drink. Trav ended up ordering another couple rounds of shots, and we noticed that a couple guys sitting next to us seemed interested in them. So, we ordered another round, for all 4 of us. Thats when we met Dan and Von from Philly. They were really nice. It was their first night there. We learned a lot about Philly, and they asked us if we go cow tipping since we're from Oregon. Ah Oregon, what a great reputation you give us! In conversation we found out it was Von's 26th birthday, so we of course ordered more shots to celebrate. We ended up taking shots until the lobby bar closed, and then stumbled up to our room to go to bed. We woke up at 4am and we were both laying on top of the covers, still in our clothes, with all the lights on in the room and the door to the balcony still wide open! Reminded me of our college days!

Friday
Needless to say we slept in! Not to late, but until 9:30. Then we headed to breakfast and back to the beach. We didn't visit our favorite bartender Ross though! We said hello to him and that we wouldn't be drinking that day! We had another great day just laying on the beach, soaking in the sun, and playing in the ocean - riding the waves. We had dinner at the buffet again and it was, as usual, amazingly delicious. The show for the night was Mexican dancing. It was fun to get a glimpse of their culture.

Saturday
More of the same. Relaxing on the beach all day again. Today was a pina colada day. I even got Trav hooked on them. We played cards on the beach and took naps and just relaxed. We had reservations at the Asian Restaurant at 7:30. It was really good! I don't eat sushi, but I do like rice rolls with veggies inside. They had rice rolls with red and yellow peppers inside and a wonderful soy/teryaki sauce to dip them in. The Miso Shiro soup was really good (2 bowls good) and the entrees were scrumptious. My favorites were the duck, the sweet n sour pork, and the chicken teryaki skewers. They had fried ice cream for dessert which I love. The show for the evening was Caribbean and it was so good. It was one of my favorites. The dancing and outfits were amazing. My parents went to bed after the show, but Trav and I got a table in the lobby and enjoyed the live band and a few more drinks before heading to bed.

Sunday
How could it already be Sunday? I felt like we had just arrived, and it was already our last day in paradise! We had a very lazy day on the beach, and my mom and I went shopping at the vendor booths set up around the hotel. We painted a little ceramic candle holder for mom's neighbor. It was a lot of fun. We bought a few bracelets, and my mom got a necklace and I got an anklet. I also found some maraca's for our neighbors and a hand painted Mexican margarita glass for Air. That night Trav and I saw a gentleman painting in a style that we had only seen before in Victoria when we were on vacation there one time. We loved it and ended up buying a painting when we were in Victoria and we got to get one in Mexico to! It's a beautiful beach-scape with palm trees and the ocean with a couple dolphins jumping out of the water. It reminded us of our trip, since we spent most of our time just laying on the beach looking at the ocean. That night we had reservations at the Steakhouse again, this time at 6:30! We loved the steak house the first time so I was thrilled to get to go again....this time at dinner time! It was scrumptious again and we had a great time talking and eating.
After dinner we went to our last show, and it was the variety show. It had dancing from all over the world - USA, Spain, Mexico, and more. It was another great show. After the show we got all packed up and ready to leave in the morning.

Monday
Trav and I got up at 7 so we'd have time to get one more walk on the beach in. It was a gorgeous morning, with no wind at all. We walked along the beach several time and collected some nice shells. Before heading in to shower we took one final dip in the ocean. It was sad to say goodbye. After we got ready we checked out and went to breakfast before catching our shuttle to the hotel.
Our flights were on time, and Trav and I got to sit by each other on both of them. We got home at 10pm and got ready for the work week.

Tuesday when I woke up for work I felt very refreshed which is just how I wanted to feel. Being back at work was hard though. By the end of the day I was exhausted! And COLD. Bur. Going from 85 - 45 is a big change. Tuesday night we picked Emma up from Air's. And Air had taco's for us! Yum. It was great to see Emma again. She's grown so much. She is getting so big! Her stitches looked good too.

So, now it's back to normal life. I can't wait to go back for vacation again! Thanks again mom and dad for making it possible for us to go with you! We had so much fun.