We're getting a three-wheeler

Have you heard of the Elio? It's a new car (coming fall 2015) that has three wheels and lots of personality.

We been planning to get one after Brad's car kicks the bucket, as long as the actually start manufacturing them and all the parts work like they say they will. They get crazy-good gas mileage, and we hope to use it as Brad's commuter and also for errands around town. The best part? They plan to sell them for $6,800!

They've been touring the country with the prototype, and last weekend was Portland's turn to see the cutie in person.

We went to Washington Square, stood in line, chatted with other excited future buyers, and got to sit inside.

It has one seat in the front and a second behind that can fold down for extra storage.

We both tried each position and found both comfortable. There was plenty of room for us. But we also saw a couple VERY big dudes climbing inside without trouble. It's surprisingly roomy.

But it was odd to be "driving" with walls so close on both sides. I'm sure we'll get used to it.

The back was a bit claustrophobic to me, but Brad didn't mind. I'll make him sit back there ;) My one concern is that you CANNOT get out of the back with a driver in place. (At least the way the prototype is built - perhaps the final product will be a little different) That concerns me a bit in case of a crash where the driver was incapacitated. In fact, my heart rate is up just a tad thinking about it.

We loved it. Assuming the mechanics of it all comes through, we hope to be a proud Elio owner someday. We just need to decide which color to get :)

Weekly Wednesday: TURKEY!

My family of school employees tries to do something fun once a week during the summer. But first, Mom and Dad went to Europe for a couple weeks. Then Brad and I were camping at the Redwoods. So this was our first official Weekly Wednesday of 2014.

Actually, Mom, Dad and Eryn went golfing last week in my absence. Fine with me - I can't stand golf ;)

Since it was HOT, we picked indoor, air-conditioned bowling for our outing. But first, lunch in at the Hawthorne Cartopia.

Then a round at Grand Central Bowling:

In typical Dad fashion, he face planted on his first throw and then complained about sticky shoes the whole time. Oh, Dad...

I totally sucked the first few frames - and then I suddenly became a bowler... and got a strike.

Followed by a second strike.

And then a third! TURKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never, in my whole life, done that... And then I WON!

HAHAHA - from last place to first place, baby!

We celebrated with a chocolate caramel tort at nearby Pacific Pie Co.

Yeah, it was good ;)

:)

Nos. 28 +29

A week of camping meant lots of fireside reading.

I polished off Nos. 28 and 29 before our trip even ended! I'll never pack just two books again :)

These are both from the pile that Eryn is weeding from the THS library: The Cornbread Killer, by Lou Jane Temple, and Blue Blood, by Pamela Thomas-Graham.

The Cornbread Killer was a culinary mystery in the same series as No. 27. It was good but not great.

Blue Blood is part of the Ivy League Mystery series. The main character is a Harvard professor - though this was set at Yale. It was a typical murder mystery, but it kept me guessing.

Summer reading continues... :)

Kickboxing!

Lindsey and I got our sweat on yesterday for a kickboxing class with my young friend, Brittany.

Brittany just graduated from THS and works at Fierce Fitness Kickboxing, her family's gym in Southwest Portland:

To raise money for her summer trip to Italy, Brittany taught after-school classes to staff at THS. I worked out with this tough cookie for seven weeks and loved it. Now that she's back in the good old U S of A, I decided to give the real thing a try - at her gym with bags and gloves and everything! (At THS we just air punched)

See how tough we are?!?

I was intimidated to go to the gym by myself, so luckily Lindsey is always ready for an adventure and agreed to go with me. After an intense hour, we goofed off while Brittany took our pictures.

 Love Lindsey in this one:

HA!

Why didn't I take a picture of Brittany?? DUH! Next time.

So we both loved it, and I plan to sign up and make it a regular part of my workouts. Because the class started at 5 p.m., Brad couldn't make it. BUT... I learned that Brittany often also does a 7-8 class on Tuesday/Thursday! I told Brad and he got really scared - because now he has to go, too!

She's also covering Wednesday's 7 p.m. class this week - we we'll be there together :)

Summer streakin' - Week 3

** Monday - 30-minute bike shakeout while watching Netflix:

** Tuesday - hiking along Highway 101:

** Wednesday - hiking in the Redwoods:

** Thursday - more hiking in the Redwoods:

** Friday - 3.03-mile run plus some hiking in the Redwoods:

** Saturday - 16-mile bike ride in the Gorge:

** Sunday - 3.5 miles on the 'mill:

:)

Union thug

At the end of June, I had the privilege of representing my union chapter at the state conference.

 

Delegates from around the state met for several days at the beautiful Red Lion Jantzen Beach in Portland. Tigard-Tualatin Chapter 51 had the best snacks :)

 

I was there all day Friday and Saturday, listening to and participating in important business, including elections and votes on dues increases, budget proposals and such.

 

We had 10 delegates, Lisa, Holly, Deena, Tim, Linda, Diane, Jan, Christie, Ben and me.

A few of us got out for a short walk along the Columbia River after lunch Saturday:

It was a fascinating, though sometimes frustrating, experience.

Not everything came out the way we hoped, but the Tigard-Tualatin Chapter 51 representatives fought hard for our members.

What an experience! :)

No more skunks

We knew skunks sometimes bedded down under our deck. But a couple weeks ago we looked out back and saw a whole family of skunks sniffing around the yard in broad daylight!

Baby skunks are crazy-adorable!!

Then a few days later, they were out again - in the middle of the day! This time, there were SIX babies and a momma.

I decided to take back my territory by spreading my human urine on their deck access points. It took just a couple days of peeing in a jar and pouring it around the deck, and the skunks disappeared! Just to be sure, I crumpled up some newspaper and stuffed it loosely in the openings. The paper has been undisturbed!

YAY! :)