Boo Boos

First of all, let me state the underlying circumstances. Everyone is a little under the weather. I have some coughing, achy-ness. And the boys have the same thing, except that they are on the upswing of the virus or whatever it is. Basically, no one is really at their best. Also, Ryan had to get up earlier than he would have liked in order that we could take Bridget to work.

We stopped on the way home and had the breakfast of real men--7-11 hotdogs. I had one too though it is not on my diet. When we got home I started working on two of my bikes in the garage. My crankset was loose on the Lapierre and I needed to tear it apart and tighten up the bottom bracket and then re-install it. This took about 5 minutes. I then checked my other bikes and noticed my Fuji was suffering from a slightly loose crankset too, but I didn't have to tighten the bottom bracket cups on that one. Meanwhile the boys were out front. Jack was in the kids' Jeep and Ryan was riding the little 12" bike with training wheels. He currently has a 20" bike without training wheels and so he was just riding this one for old time's sake I guess. Nevertheless, he somehow managed to get hurt on his knee. We are talking one 1/8th of an inch gash that showed a little blood. It didn't ever drip or anything. Ryan came and asked for a bandaid. I told him no because it wasn't dripping blood. There also wasn't any surrounding damage and so I saw no need for it. I asked him how it happened. He didn't remember. But he wanted a bandaid. I again said no. I told him he was tough and didn't need it. Then the tears came and the screaming that he needed a bandaid. That just made me dig my heels more. No way was he going to get a bandaid now when the damage was so minor and didn't even know how it happened. We went round and round for a few minutes and then I told him that he could put some ice on it if he wanted. He stopped the parade of tears and asked if he could go get a diaper wipe instead. This seemed like a good compromise for some reason and I said yes. By the time he went up to get the diaper wipe the dab of blood was dry and all was well. Still the whole deal was silly. I guess I wanted him to toughen up, but in reality the bandaid was no big deal. I guess was cranky too.

Now everything is hunky dory. The boys are watching Scooby Doo and I am here on the computer. I am sure that our boys will toughen up over time, but I don't want them to be wussies or sissies. I know he is only 5, but I try to tell him that he is tough or whatever which rarely works. Oh well, the trials of being the first born. I have no idea what I am doing at each new stage nor can I remember what I was like at this age. I remember the teenage years much better, but at 5--not so much. I don't know if I was a crier or not. I mean I feel pretty tough now, but I don't know how I was back then. Nor do I remember what Mom's or Dad's reaction was for me at that age. If there was somewhere close to total recall it would make it easier for me to learn from the past. But then all those embarrassing moments would be easier to recall too. It is a no win I guess.

Family Pictures

We took some pictures today, the last day that Jim, Tracy and Jacob are in town.

Here are a couple of them:

Job Update (again)

I got nothin'.

No news at all. I was told that I should here this week. But no contact at all yet.

I will call Wednesday of next week if I haven't heard anything by then.

So fingers, toes, etc are all still crossed...

Updates

Jim and Tracy are still in town. Their little boy, who is about 3 months old, is not exactly what I would call mellow. Yeah. Not at all. I haven't held the little guy yet, in fact I think I touched a socked foot once. But even though he is cute I admit to him bringing a bit of anxiety to my life. Neither Jim or Tracy have been especially sociable. They have not hung out like they normally do, other than that night at the Melting Pot. I can't imagine why.... In about two and a half months or so we will have our own baby boy. I pray he is better than our first two during those early months and better than this little guy. It seems like all of them are outliers for general crankiness. I mean after 6 months or so they all seem to pull out of it and life gets better--but there are days those first few months....uhg. Yeah, time to change the subject.

This will hopefully be the week I hear back about the job at the nice Downtown Portland firm. Everything can can be crossed--fingers, toes, eyes, etc.--is until we find out. To me it would be akin to hitting the lottery. The firm was ranked as one of the top 50 small businesses to work for in Oregon last year, and it is an area of law that I think I could enjoy. If it doesn't work out, I suppose I will have to consider that there is a good reason and that something else will come up, but I hope it doesn't come to that. Still it has been a long process. Initial contact about 6 weeks ago. Application material 5 weeks ago. Interview 2 weeks ago today. This week the partners finally have a meeting where my position is to be discussed. I don't know if more interviews will be needed, but that is possible before a final decision is made. Torture...

Last night I was up after everyone else was asleep and saw the biggest raccoon I have ever laid eyes on. At one point it was in the backyard at the same time as Clyde. Clyde looked like a kitten when viewed with the raccoon nearby. It was at more than twice the size of Clyde is is about the biggest cat--though not the fattest--I have been around. The two animals just ignored one another. The raccoon didn't like the dogs that were in the yard behind our house. It was just scrounging for food in the backyard. It didn't even care that I was looking at it. Yeah, it saw me but didn't do anything other than move to the back of the yard. Too bad the boys were asleep.

In other news, Bridget has been busy doing strawberry preserves. They are fresh from an Oregon farm. The preserves are very good by the way. More berries--marionberry, blackberry and blueberry--are ordered and will be here next month.

A Night at the Melting Pot

Tonight we went with Grandma Joan, Grandpa Leroy, Ilene, Steve, Tracy, Jim and GiGi Lois to the Melting Pot Restaurant in downtown Portland. The above pic was taken by one of the restaurant staff and when we arrived back home I scanned it. The Melting Pot is an nice place the specializes in the fondue thing. I am not a big fondue-er so this was a new experience for me. We had several different dishes, but because I am tired I won't go into too many details. We started with a couple of different cheese fondues which we dipped bread and veggies into. Then we had salad--which was actually my favorite thing of the night--I had a California salad with leafy stuff, Gorgonzola cheese and a raspberry walnut vinaigrette. That was followed by meats and vegetables that were placed raw in bite-sized portions before us which we were to then cook in a flavored broth. There were also several sauces and dips for us to douse our meats and veggies. Oh, the meat selection was great. Pork, chicken, a couple of different kinds of steak, shrimp, and lobster. Yeah, the lobster was awesome. This was followed by a dessert course, which consisted of dipping various fruits and other treats into a couple of different chocolate-based fondues.

It was sort of an adventurous night. At first it was confusing--I wasn't sure what the program was. I was hungry and just wanted to eat, I wouldn't have cared what it was just as long as it was edible and in front of me. Jim and Tracy had a disagreement as to what the program was and that was amusing to watch go at it over whether they had to split a salad or not. Anyway, the confusion that existed at the beginning, at least among the first timers, was replaced by full bellies toward the end. It was a very nice, fun evening.

The kids were all at home with Cassie and Sabrina. I understand that Jack and Ryan had fun here as well. And Cassie may not have had as much fun, but she wound up with 40 bucks for her troubles watching our boys plus Jim's and Tracy's little Jacob.

At the Zoo

We went to the zoo today and here are some pictures.

"Welcome to the zoo, may I eat you?"























Let's see here, Daddy, I think we should have taken a left at Albuquerque....
Tractor time. The boys love seeing and playing on this tractor every time we go.


Polar bear there is wondering what that bright thing in the sky is..."I thought this was Oregon!?!?" (Bridget is sure to scoff at this comment)

Ryan and Jack really like the polar bears. To bad they aren't as cuddly as they look.

This is one of the younger elephants.

What is black and white and red all over? One of these after the tigers escape...(nyuk nyuk nyuk).

Too bad the giraffe wasn't closer. They always seem to keep their distance whenever we go.

At the end of our time there Jack started pooping out and so I had to carry him.

Father's Day

We went to church and during priesthood the relief society provided the men chips, 7 layer dip and brownies. I passed on the brownies but ate a bit of the dip and chips. This was great because church is from 11 to 2 and despite the blandness of the dip it hit the spot.

We came home and Jack took a nap and I went for a bike ride. It was just a short ride, but I did hills and it was a good workout. Plus the ride back down is quite a rush down some of the roads. On one of the roads I caught up to some cars ahead of me. There are times that a guy on a bike can get through twisty turny descents faster than many kinds of cars.

I arrived home and our home teachers came by--just randomly--and dropped off some cookies. I did have a cookie, and it was pretty darn good. Soy free too, since one of the home teachers has a soy allergy (You would be amazed at how many things have soy in them, at least I was surprised).

Around 5:30 the Wights came over. Cassie and Sabrina played with the boys and I grilled the steaks.

Leroy put some dry rub stuff on them, which turned out ok. I am more of a salt and pepper sort of guy myself, but that is ok.

Dinner was fun and we all relaxed afterwards with some dutch apple pie and ice cream. I did have some of that even though I had planned originally not having any. It was good.

Jack didn't have any apple pie. Instead he had an ice cream drumstick. This is what he looked like afterwards. His hands are shiny with melted ice cream.




It was a good day for everyone. Plus this evening Ryan and Jack have been playing so well together. For the past hour or so they have been just having a nice time playing in their room. No yelling, screaming, or other roughhousing. We hate to send them to bed and interrupt their playtime.

Anyway, it was a good father's day. Hope all of yours was as well.

Wiffle Ball

Bridget and Ryan were out playing some wiffle ball this morning and Ryan was whacking them pretty good. He actually usually does better than these videos show. He hits them on the roof some of the time too. He is pretty gifted with hand-eye cordination compared to most kids. Not that we think he will be a professional athlete or anything. It is just nice to know that at the playground he won't likely be the one picked last.

Someone Lost a Tooth!

Just not anyone that need to. I had a root canal about 5 years ago. It went bad and something crawled and died apparently inbetween the crown and the inside of the tooth. They couldn't save the tooth, but luckily it was my very back top molar and I only bit down on half of the surface anyway. Thus it could be worse.

Still I had to go to the oral surgeon and have the procedure done because the roots were long and tricky. $435 later I am a little lighter in both our bank account and in my head. I am supposed to only eat things that I don't have to chew--like eggs, ice cream, pudding, etc. I am also not supposed to do any stenuous physical activities for 48 hours. So I am going to have to delay training again--darn it ;).

It was not as painful as I thought, in fact not painful just a pain in the rear. The hole is still bleeding a bit four and a half hours later. They said it could take 6 hours to stop so it is not a big deal. Just a hassle to have to have gause packed in the back of my mouth.

Anyway, glad I waited to do this until after the Vikingman.

2008 Rose Festival

The Rose Festival lasts for a week or more this time of year in Portland. These pictures are the result of two trips that the boys took with Bridget. The first trip they found an old sail ship--Pirate-style. The boys loved it. They got to go on the ship and check it out. It was very exciting for them.


Monster Trucks!























Clowning around...


Pony rides! I think Ryan was more into it than Jack.


Gotta love the cheesy state fair sort of rides. Ryan and Jack are on this one, but on the second trip Jack would not get on any of them--probably a smart move.


Ryan at the end of the day with a prize from a game they played there. They had a great day.























After the pirate ship left the Navy and Coast Guard ships came to port. The following pics were taken last Friday. They were having fun while I was driving out to Idaho for my triathlon. Wish I could have done both. I missed the first day they went too because of work.












































Ryan on the carny rides. On this day Jack wasn't having anything to do with them.






SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!!

Job Interview

I had an interview today!

My interviewer is a partner at a "boutique" firm for a particular area of law in Downtown Portland. I am being purposely vague. If this gig does come my way I will then be more forthcoming.

After arriving at the firms office up in one of the towering buildings in downtown we went to a nice little restaurant nearby. It is one of those places where at least a sport coat is recommended, if not required to eat there. Yet it was not overly spendy. I think with tip it was close to 80 bucks. Well that does sound sort of spendy. Neither of us had anything to drink either, just water with a lemon.

After a bit of conversation we ordered. The soup was made largely from pureed potatoes and asparagus. Very good. Then the main lunch course was some concoction that had lots of fancy foreign words in the title. It was basically a bed of wide noodles covered by finely shredded beef that had been stewed in a tomato-ish sauce. There were quite a few herbs in the sauce and it had a very fresh flavorful. On top of all of this was a lightly steamed green leafy vegetable that I was not familiar with. Again it was very good. Dessert was amazing as well.

During the interview we ate. It was more like a long conversation with random questions thrown in. He even admitted that they were off the wall questions. After several of these questions I asked him how it was that he came up with these particular questions. Did he think of them randomly as we were eating or had they been refined over time. He said it was more the later. He likes to ask similar questions so that he has a way to compare how interview went later. The questions were never about the law. One was, "If you had to go back to law school for one year at Lewis & Clark what would you change." Another was "Have you ever had someone think that they were an adversary of yours, but in reality you were on the same side? If so, how did you convince them of this fact?" Or "How would your best friend, other than your wife, describe you?"

I think I made it through the minefield at alive, but I have no idea how likely a job will be forthcoming. The lunch interview lasted about 2 hours. It actually went by pretty quick. I will take that as a good sign.

There is no timetable for when I will hear back, but hopefully soon. I would really like to work for these guys. But if nothing else I had a great lunch.

Vikingman Triathlon

Finished it. 6 hours, 58 minutes and change. It was very windy which slowed everyone down quite a bit. It was very hard. I am very very sore. I can hardly walk at all.

If interested an overly detailed report CLICK HERE

For Pics CLICK HERE

Weather

Seriously...This is freaking JUNE!!!



I am glad that someone in the family is proud to be an Oregonian. (see below)

Also in 5 days at this time I will be on my way back and recovering from my half ironman distance triathlon. In 7 days I will be recovering from a preliminary interview for a position at a nice law firm in Downtown Portland. I am hoping both go off stellarly (if that is a word--if not, lawyers are known for trying to make up new ones).