Aaand We're Back!

Well, if you follow me on Twitter on Facebook you know that somehow along the line WordPress has locked me out of my paid blog.

And, WordPress doesn't have ANY way to contact support by phone or email. AND there is no way to contact them if you can't sign in (like the forums). And I can't recover my password or reset it because the site claims my user email is invalid. It isn't. It is the same as it has been since I set it up in March.

Also, I didn't pay with Paypal (and even if I did I wouldn't still have access to the statement with some code they say would have been sent) as access to Paypal statements only goes back three months.

So, here I am. I paid for and used a website with WordPress, and for some unknown reason I am locked out, and I can get ZERO support. Super! If anyone knows any way for me to try and contact someone at WordPress that can help, besides spamming Twitter, I would really appreciate the help!

Anyway, I'm going to be posting here until such time as I can get the WordPress situation resolved.

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I'm not going to go into detail about everything that has been going on at Casa Beebe for the last ... uh...three months or so, but suffice it to say we have had an awesome and SUPER busy summer.

I am working and enjoying what I do, though it is still on a temporary basis. There are things percolating, so I am holding out hope that a long term position more in line with what I went to school for will land in my lap soon.

As is typical for us we took the boat out several times this summer, did tons of gardening and preserving, we had house guests off and on all summer long, some for a night and some for several weeks at a time. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and are really glad that we have created friendships and relationships that allow people to feel comfortable to come and stay.

We also made a few trips to Portland to visit friends for birthdays, girls weekend and a wedding, went to Bend for a half marathon and weekend hangout with friends, spent a couple days down at Lake Shasta in over a hundred degree weather.

Christopher bought himself a go-kart (125 cc shifter kart) and has started racing at our local kart track. He took first place in his class in his rookie race!!

We went to a few excellent concerts, including Kenny Loggins (amazing!), Blue Oyster Cult (meh) and REO Speedwagon (SPECTACULAR!).

And now we are into Fall! The garden is 99% done, I planted bulbs for spring and some greens for the fall garden. But the hard work of the garden harvest is done.

And we just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary!!

Ah...love.... :-)

What have you all been up to? Any questions or blog topic requests? I'm going to do a "Friday Five" post (maybe before Friday...) and probably a weekend review post will be upcoming as well.

Thanks for continuing to follow me around the internet as I get this WordPress blog situation resolved.

Plus, remember you can always keep up with me on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Instagram, Goodreads, Yelp and more!

Happy Sunday friends!

Picture Friday

Sometimes I go through my pictures and realize I have taken several and forgotten to post or comment about them. So I decided I'm going to post a few pictures I've taken recently that haven't seen the light of the internet. Because we all know that if it doesn't show up on the internet then it isn't real!!

Enjoy!

Cat Fight!

 Outside time.

 Birthday dessert: cheesecake!

 Grouchy face.

 White Russian with Pinnacle Chocolate Whipped.

 A beautiful sunset.

 Big kittens snuggling.

 Valentine's Dinner: filet mignon, prawns, baked potato and broccoli.

 Flowers from my grandma for Valentine's and Daisy being bad.

Snuggles with Roscoe.

Have a great Friday night everyone! 

Happy March!

source

Have you ever heard the saying "March blows in like a lion and out like a lamb"?

March is truly the month of transition from winter to spring, with the vernal equinox occurring on March 20th (this year, sometimes March 21st) which means, in the Northern Hemisphere, the true beginning of Spring. The vernal equinox is when day and night are of equal length. The science-y definition is: 

vernal equinox

n.

1. The point at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator, the sun having a northerly motion.

2. The moment at which the sun passes through the vernal equinox, about March 21, marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

What we really care about though is that the days will continue to get longer, and warmer. 

Spring is on its way!

The question then: What are you most looking forward to this Spring?

Me: getting out into my garden, sunshine (!!!!), the end of my schooling, and a vacation! Whooohoo! 

Happy March!

“The alchemist was dazed and dumbfounded, as the true meaning of the magic was revealed: *The dead will rise from glade to glen and ancient will be young again*. The dead had, after all, risen. From dead and dry things there was growth, and new life everywhere. And the endlessly long winter had at last turned to spring.
From life to death and back again to life. It was indeed the greatest magic in the world.” 
― Lauren Oliver

Yawn...

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Good Morning Friends...

I did not sleep well last night. I couldn't get comfortable. I was too hot. My eyes were dry and itchy. My brain wouldn't shut off. Rinse and repeat. 

I dozed in and out fitfully for most of the night. 

Around four in the morning I got up and walked around the house and went back to bed. Sometimes this helps "re-set" my brain. It worked! I fell asleep! Only to be woken up less than an hour later by this beautiful girl swatting my nose with her paw to tell me she wanted out.

That is sort of what it is like...she gets right up in my face and swats at my nose to wake me up. Rude. 

I let her out and went back to bed. I fell asleep again for another hour and then Chris got up. Grrrrr. 

I got up and made coffee and lunch and then went back to bed. I ended up falling into a deep, dreamless sleep and didn't get up until almost TEN! Whoa. That is late. 

I now feel a bit groggy and out of it, but I have lots to do today so need to get a move and groove on. 

First up: Exercise. I have worked out three days in a row and am going to make today day number four!

After getting a workout in and getting cleaned up, I'll have some food (pretty slim pickin's around here this week) and then it is time to tackle the packing. 

So far not much progress has been made with the packing. It is hard to pack for over a week where you will need lots of casual clothes and swimwear, but you will also need nicer clothes and even formal wear. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the airlines didn't charge a trillion dollars for luggage these days. Seriously, I already paid a trillion dollars for the airfare and now if I want to actually have clothing to wear at my destination you want to charge me for that, too?? Dumb. Who allowed this? 

I figure those things will take up most of the rest of my day, which has already gotten away from me due to sleeping in so late. 

I don't have any plans to celebrate 12.12.12, but I do think the date is cool. :-)

Do you have any plans for 12.12.12?

Travel Preparations

When we get ready to go on a trip there are many logistics that must be handled.

When are we leaving? How are we getting there? Where are we staying? When are we coming back? Who is watching the cats and house? What are we going to do there? What are we going to bring?

As we prepare to hit the road in our old Suburban for a drive over the potentially snowy mountain passes and put another 600-700 miles on the 215k+ miles it already has on it, part of our travel preparation included taking care of a few "maintenance" items.

First up...so exciting...fill up the gas tank! Woohoo!

Our Suburban is a 1996 and it literally has a 44 gallon tank. Do the math on that... $3+ per gallon X 44 gallons = $132. Luckily I had a bit of gas in the beastie already, but it still wasn't a cheap visit to the Fred Meyer Fuel Station.

Yes, that says 31 gallons for $98.50. The good news? Gas prices have dropped from nearly $4 a gallon a few weeks ago to only $3.17 a gallon. When you buy 30+ gallons...those pennies add up! The bad news? We will have to fill up again to make it home.

The combination of huge gas tank and lots of miles is one of the reasons we don't drive the Suburban on many long trips anymore. We find that with gas prices what they are renting a cheap economy car for a weekend or few days is actually less money. This trip though, due to the length of days and the potential weather, we are using the 'burb.

Next on the list of to-do items...an oil change! This is some exciting stuff, I know! Trust me, I was thrilled at the many opportunities my errands provided me to play jewel star and peruse facebook and twitter.

I stopped in at the local Pennzoil 10 Minute Oil Change and the nice technicians there changed the oil (using a high mileage-heavier weight motor oil), checked the air filter, brake fluid, transmission fluid, wiper fluid, radiator fluid and made sure there was plenty of air in all the tires. There was a bit of a wait (more jewel star opportunity for me!), I guess other people are getting prepared for traveling, too!

One nice thing about the Pennzoil here in Medford is that with every oil change you get a free car wash at Crater Car Wash right next door!

That was the next item on my list: run the 'burb through the car wash. There is nothing worse (okay there is lots of stuff worse) than heading out for a road trip in a dirty car. I figured I was there...it was free..the 'burb was dirty...might as well.

Here are some fun pictures:

A full tank of gas, a fresh bunch of oil, and a clean burbie...we are ready to go! At least as far as the transportation is concerned.

How much is gas in  your neck of the woods? Do you change the oil and wash the car yourself?

I wash MY car myself, but the 'burb is hugemongous and it goes through the el machino car wash.

PS...you can find reviews of all of these businesses plus many other reviews on my Yelp page.

Wish List '12

Things I am Wishing For This Christmas

1. A gold cuff/bangle bracelet. Something like this would work.

Source: Uploaded by user via Stacy on Pinterest

2. This apron

Source: time-warp-wife.blogspot.com via Corrie on Pinterest

3. A stereo like this for my car

Source: crutchfield.com via Corrie on Pinterest

4. Diamonds

Source: shaneco.com via Corrie on Pinterest

5. These movies on DVD or Blu-Ray

Happy November!

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November is a busy month. We are taking a quick weekend get away. I have four weeks left of school with a significant amount of work associated with that. There are approximately seventymillion of my friends and family members with birthdays this month AND there is that little Thursday holiday to think about, too. So, yeah. Busy. 

Did you survive Halloween? We had a grand total of two sets of trick-or-treaters. I live in a neighborhood, but I guess the kids went elsewhere or there just aren't that many. The pouring rain and howling wind stopped long enough for the kids to get out without getting soaked or blown away, so that was nice. 

My friend posted on Facebook that adults should dress up like a ghosts and carry a big wine glass door-to-door and say Happy Halloo-wiiiine! I thought this was an excellent idea for all those poor parent chaperone's. I immediately posted on my FB wall that any adult who showed up wineglass in hand would get a wine pour immediately!

Unfortunately, no one took me up on my offer so I just drank the wine myself. So sad. 

How did you do with the candy? 

We bought two bags of candy a week or so ago. Chris ate most of them. We had Butterfingers and Snickers. I sent him to the store last night to buy something else for the KIDS and he brought back York Peppermint Patties! Love them. 

I did a far superior job than in years past of avoiding the call of the candy. I ate one Butterfinger, one Snickers and three peppermint patties. I am not eating any more of them though. 

It is all about the balance. 

The sun is shining today and the sky is clear, so I'm happy about that. 

And, just because they are cute here are a couple of kitty pictures for your viewing pleasure. Have a great November 1st!

Daisy curled up inside my backpack. 

Daisy AND Roscoe "helping" me with my homework. 

Quit taking our picture...we are sleeping here!

Well lookie there....Roxie & Daisy eating off the same plate...and everyone is still alive!

My sweet Roxie girl hanging out with us. 

Hello From P-Town!

Hello friends!

Don't tell anyone, but I am skipping school today (and yesterday)!

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I KNOW! Crazy, right? I was thinking about it yesterday though, and I think this is only the third time I have not made it to class in my college career (at least at the University, I can't remember that far back to my community college days). Overall, I would say that is a pretty good attendance record. 

Anywho, Christopher is attending a work related class all day today in Portland so I decided to tag along, visit some friends and go shopping! 

We drove up yesterday, with a few stops along the way for Chris to service a few elevators. Last night we went to Hayden's Lakefront Grill in Tualatin and met up with two of my besties for dinner. 

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Hayden's is set on the Tualatin Commons Lake (which is about a two-foot deep, concrete, man-made lake). During the warmer weather it is beautiful to sit outside and enjoy the view. The bar is small but has an excellent happy hour menu with real food, like steak medallions with mashed potatoes, full orders of burgers and fries and more, for very reasonable prices. 

We met in the bar and enjoyed a leisurely visit. My friend Heidi brought my birthday present (from June) and told us dinner was her treat since we hadn't gotten to have birthday dinner during the summer. That was so sweet! She gave me the coolest wine glass! I will post a picture later because it is in the truck and the truck is with Christopher. The waitress overheard us talking about my birthday and ended up bringing us a complimentary piece of chocolate cake with a candle to share. Uhm...not on my diet...but totally worth the splurge! We split it four ways and it was lovely. 

Life: it is all about balance! 

Speaking of: I signed up for the Monster Dash 5k in Ashland this Saturday. 

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I saw the sign on my way to school the other day and decided I wanted to do it. I don't think it really matters that I have done zero training. I am going to wog it with my friend Allison. Her boyfriend Corey is going to run it. We are just doing the 5k, which is only 3.1 miles, so I should have no problem with that. And, for those wondering, no I will not be dressing up. The entry fee was only $20! So, I will balance out my cake consumption with a 5k wog on Saturday. It all works out. 

Anyone else doing a Halloween themed run this weekend?