A new friend

We met our newest friend last night, Emma Rathkey. She was born Monday morning to Michael, Kendra and Noah. Unbelievably, they hosted our weekly potluck dinner and community garden work party Thursday! Welcome to the group, little Emma :)

After some amazing food (it always is with these folks!!), we headed to the garden to harvest the bounty. Emily asked (via e-mail from Cairo) if we are swimming in tomatoes yet. Well, those are Brandon's feet sticking out from those tomato plants -- you be the judge! We picked six bags of green beans and some yellow zucchini that Brad says are big enough to make dugout canoes.

I need your support!

In a couple weeks, I will be joining with tens of thousands of others in the Portland Race for the Cure. My fund-raising goal is $250. Please click HERE if you'd like to donate -- any amount will help. THANKS!!!! :)

http://race.komenoregon.org/goto/liz_wood

Books, books and more books

Still drowning in new textbooks, the THS library workers convinced their principal (and my 7th-grade English teacher!) to hire me for two more days this week. So I just finished my second subbing stint at Tigard High. There are still way too many books to process before students arrive next week, so I might just get a few more hours before it's all over. We'll see.......

A familar face

I was watching "The Today Show" yesterday morning when I saw an Oregon State University T-shirt in the crowd. I caught a glimpse the next time it peaked from behind the anchors, and it was Jan Kittelson - a long-time family friend. Talk about random!

Free is a very good price!

Ma called today -- she's digging out a spot for a pond and had a bunch of ajuga to unload on me, if I was willing. Let me think..... duh! She gave me, literally, a bucket full of the lettuce-like ground cover, along with a bunch of other goodies. I went straight home and got to work, adding the foliage to my woodland landscape.
Here are a couple bad photos of my backyard garden. I need to get some better ones to show off my free plants. WOOHOO!

The patient

Here he is, ol' Patchy

Do cats like bananas?

Linus, our four-legged boy, had a mole-like thingy removed from his back this week. It had been there for a long time but recently took on a life of its own, and the vet said it should come off. They sent us home with a half-drugged (and very angry!) cat and a bag of medicine -- cherry-flavored pain killers and banana-flavored antibiotics.

Anyone who's squirted medicine down the throat of a cat knows that it's loads of fun -- regardless of the flavor. But add to that the artificial fruitiness and you've got one pissed off feline. Luckily, the doses are gone and he's healing just fine. But I'm calling him Patchy until all the hair grows back.