Remembering A Photo

Recently, I’ve lost a hard drive full of photos and writing. Lots of photos. Probably dating back to the first digital camera I had in the late 90’s. They were not backed up. The other night, I found a thumb drive and stuck it in the laptop to see what was on it. I found pictures! Not all the ones I lost but I was still happy to find them.

One of the pictures that I thought was lost to me was one my daughter took of me in March of 2005 on a trip to New York City. My son and one of my daughters were on the trip with me and I convinced them that we should go to Liberty Island and to Ellis Island. I had been been to Liberty Island on a previous trip but it was during the restoration of Ellis Island so it was closed to the public so I had missed it. We took the ferry and it was freezing cold and crowded. There was no place to sit, especially for three people. So we split up and I stood and looked out. That evening, back at the hotel, we all exchanged memory cards and loaded all of the photos to our laptops. The thought was that we would be backing them up three fold. I looked through some of their photos because they sometimes were goofy together. Tony is my oldest and is eight years older than Susie but they get along really well, playing off of each other’s goofiness and feeding into it. One of the photos I found was surprising. Susie had taken a picture of me as I looked out from the ferry. It was special because she had taken my picture but also because the photo is evocative of a lot of emotions even to the ordinary viewer, or at least I think it is.

I thought that photo was lost but it was on that thumb drive so now I am sharing it with you and hopefully, should it become lost again, I can find it here.

Photo by Susie Martinez

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Ocean, Rain…Water, Water!

If we were having coffee, I would most likely tell you more about my first visit to the Oregon coast earlier this past week.  I really loved it.  I’m not a beach person but I am an ocean/water person.  That means that I’m not one to lay out on the beach but I am one to love watching and hearing and smelling the ocean. It makes me feel at peace. Sometimes I really wish that I lived some place where I could watch the ocean daily, from my house/apartment.  In fact, if I ever won the lottery, I just might find a small house with an ocean view, or a lake view (not really ocean but a body of water).  I don’t need anything fancy or big. Just being there would be so wonderful; so calming.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I am currently watching storm clouds moving rather rapidly, coming closer and closer.  We had a lot of rain overnight last night, but only for short periods.  We still need more rain and we are supposed to get more this weekend.  It is also very windy.  There was a short power outage last night, too.  I can tell because my clock is flashing at me!  🙂  Oh!  Here it is!  It’s raining!  See, I told you the clouds were moving rapidly!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that last night I met up with Allison from EclecticAli for the first time!  We had dinner downtown and then went off on a blogging related adventure that we will both post about later on!  Stay tuned!  It was fun to meet her.  Hopefully we’ll be able to do something else together soon.  Maybe I can head in her direction for some NaNoWriMo activities in November.  We’ll see!

If we were having coffee, we would be able to hear all my windchimes keeping time with the wind.  I love having so many. I actually have several that were never put back up when the house was painted a couple of years ago.  The painter guy put them under the stairs for safekeeping but then proceeded to enclose the “under the stairs access” when he built the front porch!  So now they are under the stairs but I can’t get to them! I should have a total of about 15 around the house but right now there are only about 7!  They make pretty music for me and let me know just how strong the wind is!

I finally finished reading The Last Will of Moira Leahy.  It was very good.  In fact, it was a lot better than I had anticipated. Now to cue up another book on my Kindle.  Not sure which one but I’ll let you know next week!  I’m also playing The Gilmore Girls in the background when I need some noise and when I sit and brush the kitty.  Long haired cats are a lot of work!  I’ve seen the Gilmore Girls entire series about five or six times. That’s one of the reasons I let it play in the background…I don’t have to pay close attention to it to still know what is going on. I’m thinking of starting Godfather after a bit.  I’m waiting to see if Anderson is coming over.  He has had an upset stomach so I asked them to keep him home until we know what his stomach is doing after he has eaten.  I hope he’ll be okay and he can come but I won’t start the Godfather because it’s not anything he can watch and I would rather watch it in one sitting than have to shut it off when he comes over.  So I’m in a holding pattern!

What is new with you?  What is you go to show/movie when you just need to run something in the background?  Or do you not ever do that?  I guess that’s one of the things that comes from living alone.  I sometimes like to have voices playing, not just music.  Otherwise, it gets pretty quiet here.

So tell me about your week.  Last week?  This coming week? What’s new? What’s planned?

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#WeekendCoffeeShare posts are a weekly blog hop hosted by Diana at Part Time Monster.  You can go check out her post and post your own if you’d like.  To post your own, you can do so here.

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A Hike, a Lunch Date, and a Trip!

If we were having coffee, it would be short and sweet as I have a lunch date to get ready for.  It’s across the river and in the Pearl.  I rarely venture out there so when I do, I allow myself a lot of extra time to drive there, in case I get lost which happens often in that neck of the woods, and to allow time to find a parking space, etc.  I’m really excited about this lunch date.  I can’t tell you too much but I will probably be back tomorrow with another share to tell you about it and share a bit about it!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that we had a couple of “cooler” days, in the 70”s but they felt hotter than when we were in the 90s!  Today we are supposed to get up to 96 which means we’ll probably hit 100 again!  At least the house is cooling off in the evenings and I’ve been able to close the windows and shut off the fans for most of the night.

If we were having coffee, I would also tell you that I am getting excited about my upcoming trip!  Anderson and I are driving to see my mom in Riverside County (California).  On the way, we’ll be stopping in San Jose, which is my hometown, for a reunion barbecue for those who graduated from my high school in the 70’s.  It should be fun, or at least relaxing and I’m sure I won’t be asked when “I’m due”.  That happened about three minutes after I walked in to the last reunion with this group in 2013.  Now, since my surgery, that won’t happen.  And if it does, someone’s gonna get a punch in the gut!  LOL!  I will also get to spend a couple of days with my daughter in Santa Rosa.  I timed the trip so it would coincide with her days off from work so we get to see her for more than just a passing hug!  Her birthday is coming up (she’s turning 25!) so we will probably have an early birthday celebration.

Anderson really enjoys hiking.  He enjoys being outdoors and all things related to nature.  That’s a good thing, even though this grandma has not ever been much for the outdoors.  I’m enjoying it through his eyes.  This week, I took him to Multnomah Falls.  I love it there and it was one of the places I said at the beginning of this year that I wanted to go back to as I haven’t been there in over four years.  We went.  I just wanted to look at the falls and enjoy them a bit and take some pictures.  Anderson wanted to take the hike to the bridge across the falls.  So I said we would go part the way and we ended up going all the way.  It’s not a long hike.  I think it’s only 2/10 of a mile but it is steep.  Then when we got to the bridge, I told him we’re not going across the bridge.  He wanted to go “just a little bit, Nana” so I said just a little bit to take a picture of him on the bridge.  Well, off he went dodging picture taking tourists across the bridge, to the end of it!  I took his picture and said we were going back down the trail but he wanted to keep going up the rest of the trail (which takes you to the top of the falls).  I put my foot down.  I told him his daddy can take him.  So down we went, back to the bottom.  I think we’ll be going back.  He enjoyed it and wants to eat at the restaurant up there.  I don’t know that we’ll eat there but maybe, as I get monthly coupons for the restaurant, so maybe for something special.

Multnomah Falls. That’s the bridge we hiked to and walked across!

Anyway, I need to get going.  I need to pick out some clothes to wear.  We’re going to a casual place so maybe shorts as it will be hot by then!  And I want to read some blogs, as I’m behind this week.  I am in the middle, well at 68%, of reading Go Set A Watchman and I want to get back to it but I don’t think that will happen until after I get back from lunch, although I will be taking it along with me on my Kindle.  Look for a review later this week, and I promise, no spoilers.

So, while I get ready for my lunch, tell me what is up with YOU!  What are you reading this week?  Have you seen any movies?  What are your plans for the week?

I’ll be traveling for the next two weekends but I should still be able to post as my laptop is coming alone on the trip.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare is a blog hop hosted by Diana at Part Time Monster.  It’s a fun time to just sit back and relax and share with us what is new with you and what might be coming up for you in the week ahead.  To join in, write your post, publish it, then hop over to Part Time Monster and click on the blue linky at the end of Diana’s post and add your post’s URL.  That’s it.  Sit back, read other weekend coffee shares and make new friends!

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Ice Cream Weather

To join in the fun of these informal blog chats, write your post then visit Part Time Monster to enter the URL in the linky at the bottom of today’s post.

If we were having coffee, I would be having my second cup. I had a first cup then a fruit smoothie and now I’m ready for a second cup of coffee. I’ve got plenty of fruit if you’d like a smoothie. Today’s had mango, dragon fruit, strawberries, and orange juice and was so good I am fighting the urge to have a second one.

If we were having coffee, you would find me yawning and looking very sleepy. I had Anderson spend the night here last night. After he went to bed, I stayed up reading until my eyes would not stay open anymore (around 4 am). Then, in the next instant I was wakened by someone touching my arm. I jumped up, gasping, sure that someone was in the house. Well, of course, it was Anderson. He woke up super early (was up before 7 when he normally doesn’t get up until 10). So with less than 3 hours of sleep, I made sure he was entertained until shortly before 11 when I figured his mom and dad would be up. He got dressed and we walked to his house, stopping at a few yard sales (this weekend is the annual community yard sale for our mobile home park). Then I walked back home. It’s pretty hot out there. We are supposed to have our highest temperatures of the year to date this week. It’s ice cream weather so I might have to venture out and get myself a soft serve cone at McDonald’s…just $1 so maybe!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the doctor has given me a “no restrictions” release! I do have to go back at the end of August for another exam then again in November and every 3 months after that. As for that “spot” on my liver that the tech reading the CT scan mentioned, my doctor says it isn’t anything to worry about. He thinks it is because I didn’t have a full prep and proper contrast for the imaging. He says he took tissue samples of all the surrounding organs and everything was fine with the exception of the one ovary on which the cyst was growing. He will repeat the CT scan again in 6 months anyway, as it is standard for this kind of surgery.

My dad’s memorial service has been scheduled. I will be going out of town the week after next. I am both anxious and reluctant for the trip and service, if that makes sense.

The trip I am looking forward to will be at the end of July. Anderson and I are driving from Portland to California. We’ll be stopping in the SF bay area to see my daughter and to attend a multi-class high school reunion barbecue then we’ll go on to see my mom in way far southern California for a few days before returning to Portland. We made that trip when he was 3 and he was a perfect traveler. I’m hoping for the same perfection this time.

This past week I babysat the boys 2 days and they went to the babysitter 1 day. When I dropped them off at the babysitter yesterday, neither of them wanted to stay. They both wanted to come back with me. And here I was worried that they would not want to stay with me after having so much fun with the babysitter! We had fun, too. I took them for a drive one day and the next day we went to the park for a picnic and to play at the playground. That was a treat for them because we really have not had playground weather until this week! And I took them for ice cream twice this week!

That’s about all here. I’m thinking I may go to a movie later so I can get out of the heat as I have no air conditioning here and it will be very hot. I also want to finish the book I am reading. It’s called Blue Hotel. I’m slowly getting caught up with my reading challenge after the long break from reading.

Your turn! What is summer like where you live? Does the end of the academic school year effect you in any way? Are you reading anything you’d recommend? Will you be traveling this summer? And movies…have you seen any at the theater recently? If you’re like me, you don’t go to the theater often. I haven’t been to the theater for anything but kids’ movies in about 4 or more years!

I hope you enjoyed our little chat as much as I did. May you have a wonderful coming week! See you next time! And now I think I will go get myself some ice cream or maybe a milkshake! That’s one good thing about the summer…ice cream weather!

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