This is PENCIL???!!!

I will say up front: Lori Garner is my dear friend in Texas. With that said, she is the most fantastic artist using pencil as her medium! I am amazed at the colors, but most astounding is the quality of the realism.

They say that words are worth a thousand words. And, actions speak louder than words. BUT - in the end, pictures tell the story.

I haven't asked permission to post a picture of her art, so you will have to get the full blown effect at her website.

Check our Lori's beautiful artwork at her website: www.lorigarnerart.com

Come on People! Don't Just Vote - Vote SMART!

Can you believe it?! The election is almost here! I can feel the energy as we enter the final turn and make the run for home plate. I have always been interested in the election. Exercising my right to vote has always been an important task. Let me tell you - the year the Multnomah County Elections Office screwed up my mail in ballot and I didn't get to vote - I thought I was going to freak! I felt horrible and it wasn't even my fault. How could I not vote given that so many people around the world aren't given the opportunity and are fighting to check a box. (Did anyone catch the NPR - perhaps World Have Your Say - discussion about voting and if we should feel the same about voting in every country. Just because we value it here, doesn't mean that we should expect people to feel the same about the right to vote/not vote in their own country....hmm, that will make you think.)

No matter how you are voting - hey that's a personal thing - I say VOTE SMART! Get as much information as you can to make the informed decision that is right for you.

I recently had a family member tell me that my candidate of choice doesn't vote in the Senate. They don't show up and they rarely vote. Now, I immediately balked at that idea... it just didn't seem like a sane accusation. So, whats a girl to do but to research my candidates voting record.

After some googling (can we use this as a verb now?) I ended up at www.votesmart.org. This site is wonderful. You can search all sorts of information regarding the election - including the entire voting record for both candidates. And guess what? I took the time to count: for the time period of 2005-2008, BOTH candidates had an almost even record for NO votes. AHA! My relatives accusation is blown out of the water!

Check it out. Learn something. Vote. Vote Smart.

Pep in My Step

Have you ever felt like you lost your funkiness? Lost that uniqueness or felt like you just weren't totally you? I've been on that boat for quite some time now...years actually...and I needed to get it back. My tastes tend to the funky, although it hasn't shown for a very long time. I wear blah clothes for work, and sensible shoes. I have liked my hair but always wished it had an edge to it. Something that made me feel fun inside.

Well, my boat pulled into dock yesterday and I jumped off that Titanic. Yesterday I visited Riley..that's RILEY OF HAIR BY RILEY. SHORT, CHOPPY, A LINE, CHOPPY, SUPER CHOPPY were the words that came flooding out. I wanted to feel fun and get some pep in my step!

Four hours...and lots of laughs later...I left the salon (Bella Tocca Salon & Spa, NW 21st Ave, PDX) feeling like myself for the first time in a long time. I got super choppy, short, Aline, oh..and red streaks. YIPPY!

For my friends who read this and wonder what the hell is up with me: I know your used to the boring old me. I have this thing where I love traditional and I love modern and funky. Makes picking a style quite difficult. I have been on the traditional boat for too long. It's time to jump ship and stowaway on the party barge.

Visit Bella Toccas website (still under construction, but you can get some info)
www.bella-tocca.com You can get Riley's information there.

I will be adding a pic when I get back from Rex's class reunion.

Need a Tool?

Working on your house? Want to start a project, but don't have the tools you need? Well up here in Kenton, thats North Portland, we have a very cool place you can go: The North Portland Tool Library, located in the basement of the Historic Kenton Firehouse.

"The primary objective of the Tool Library is to help build community and livability in this very diverse area of the city by providing this free resource to all residents of North Portland free of charge."

Now isn't that just the coolest?!

They currently have over 500 brand new tools in stock, including garden, carpentry, plumbing and electrical power and hand tools. The complete list of tools is accessible at the NPTL website.

If you would like to use the library and live in NoPo, want to get involved, lend support, or want to learn more: visit the website.

http://www.northportlandtoollibrary.org/

Why?

I don't keep New Years resolutions. I have a hard time sticking to what I give up for Lent. I'm bad at calling friends and even loose track of people I adore sometimes. I never miss work, am on top of work related email most of the time, and can make time for business meetings. I dislike this about myself. In the end, what is going to matter? Family and Friends vs work? Which will be the victor?

I went to a funeral today for my Aunt's mother. A wonderful woman filled with joy and happiness. It radiated from her. Everyone who stood up and spoke of her had the same warm memories to share; hugs, smiles, cookies, and more hugs.

I hadn't seen my cousins (it was their Grandmother who passed) in a couple of years. Maybe a year and a half. We live in the same city. They are a bit younger, so thus are on different levels socially. But, I really like them. I remember when they were born and watched them grow up. They probably don't remember this.

The cousins I have of the same age I also like. Yet, we don't see each other. We spend the holidays saying "we need to get together" "we never see each other". And then the guilt sets in. At times I remind myself that the contact is not coming from their direction either.

I want Sunday night dinners. I want a once a month open house. I want to see my family. I need to make it happen. Is it like Field of Dreams: If I do it, they will come. I guess I'll have to see.

Rainy Day Date

Date Day. The key to a great relationship, according to my Grandpa. He told me this when I was young and really didn't know what he was talking about. But, the advice stuck and I trust him.

Rex and I have been good at a scheduled Date Day. Lately, though, it's been going by the wayside due to busy schedules and various life happenings. So, today we took a Date Day.

Despite the rain we headed out with no set plan. Ok, one set plan: get our passports taken care of. We are leaving for Mexico in a couple of months, thus - we really needed to take care of this. That appointment put us in the vicinity of the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. I had never been, so off we went! Rain Schmain! It's Oregon right?! The garden was beautiful and well worth the soaking. Lush, green, and filled with patterns, shapes, and colors.....YUM! I can't wait to go back when I can take time to ponder the plants.

Date Day: Success!

Love Your Garbage Men

Fall is here. I got up this morning and turned on the furnace for the first time. Fog is hanging in the air and the sounds of the garbage men humping trash are making its way inside. Rhythmic starting and stopping of the truck engine, pierced with the high squeal of brakes, then - CRASH as the glass bins get dumped into the recycling. Thump thump of the trash and recycling bins as they are dropped back to the ground. Our Sanitation Technicians are making their way through the neighborhood.

I am not mocking them my friends. I love our garbage men. And you should love yours. Their job is HARD! Up before the crack of dawn, these men get ready while the rest of us are snuggled in our beds. Yoga or the gym and then coffee is not the order of things for them. Its get up, get dressed in layers that are going to get wet and stay that way, get to work in the dark, get in a big rumbling truck that is going to damage their hearing with its high decibel noise, and hump our trash. That's right: OUR TRASH. The stuff we have been chucking into our plastic and metal bins during the week. Unwrap, open lid, throw in, out of mind....until trash day that is, when it enters the world of those 5:00am workers.

The life cycle of the garbage man is not foreign to me. My brother worked for a garbage company driving drop boxes. No humping trash (their term in case your wondering)for him unless absolutely needed, but he spent his day dropping off and picking up those big boxes we all load our crap into and have them haul off to the dump.

They handle our trash, recycling and yard debris. EVERYDAY. Its hard on the body. Have YOU tried lifting your own garbage/yard debris cans? Didn't think so.

So, friends, next time your are tossing refuse into your bin, take a minute to ponder your garbage man. He has a name. He has a job. He has a family he supports with this job. And he works his ass off. Love your garbage man.

Insomnia.....

I have bouts of insomnia. It rears it's in various forms: a racing mind that stops, cruelly, only when I open my eyes. At times I wake every hour - on the hour. Victim of some horrible internal clock that someone else set. But - restless legs are the most common problem. Every night of the entire first year of my marriage was spent wandering the house, stretching, walking, cursing trying to get the "electricity" to stop running up and down my legs.
Reiki helps. Massage helps. Alas, these have not been within my reach lately and now I am up. At 3:03am. I have to be up for work at 6:30am. Yes, I could take Rx drugs for this, but I hate to take pills. I'm calling my massage goddess tomorrow.

Blog - Day One

What? Am I Captain Kirk? It will have to do for my first blog post - I'll work on titles for the future. My "To Do" list reads like a novel. Items are constantly added and as I "do" them, are happily crossed off. Alas, there are those items that never experience the roll of the blue Bic pen. The list is their home and there they stay, waiting for the day I might FINALLY get to them.

Today was THE day. "Set up blog" graduated from the list. So, here I sit with a blog and not much to say at this point. Being that its 10pm and I have been up since 7, I suppose being thoughtless is OK.

I did go a little crazy and set up a blog for Traci (The Evil Twin), too. I have no idea if she keeps a "To Do" list or if said list does exist - if items get crossed off. One thing I can be sure of: if she keeps a list and the items get crossed off: its NOT with blue Bic pen. Traci's pen of choice: the black roller ball type. Black and only black - blame the WSU Interior Design program.

I think her "To Do" list is in her head. She has spoken of wanting a blog, but not having the time to figure it out. So, voila - it's done. Well, the set up part...she has to do the rest.

If her list is in her head, can I cross it off on her forehead? Like I did when we were kids and I gave her doll a forehead tattoo? Or would that make ME the Evil Twin?

Maybe I should have named this post: "Two Done"