Whirlwind

After taking a break for a few weeks after my father's sudden passing, I am back to blog about what we have been up to.  Corvallis has been living up to its reputation of dreary, wet days, but there have been some nice ones mixed in as well.  Jay and I managed to get out into the woods two weekends ago and do some off-trail exploring.  Turns out there's Poison Oak in them-there woods!  Luckily I wore long pants, but Jay's uber-manly capri pants couldn't spare him from the impending itch.  Picture to the left is a beautiful Trillium Jay spotted near a little stream in MacDonald Forest that day!
  I am happy to announce that Jay has successfully sold two of his beloved customized bicycles.  I know how much time and care he puts in to every bike he owns, and I know how hard it is for him to say goodbye to the memories, but I am very proud of him for making some room in the garage... to hang other bikes who have longed to dangle proudly from the rafters.
We spent last weekend with my family in Newberg and my Mom and I gave Karsyn some Easter presents - a fuzzy bunny from Grandma T and a crocheted bunny basket from Auntie C!!  Here's little KG (future rap name Lil' K?) and her cute bunnies to wish you a Happy Easter!
  When we returned on Sunday Jay discovered some moisture coming from under our pellet stove - was the wind driving rain down our chimney??!!  Jay couldn't stand the idea of water pooling up behind the stove, so Monday night he got to work dismantling the pellet stove and pulling it out to investigate.  Turns out it is just a significant amount of condensation - there was no trace of moisture anywhere but underneath - but what a scare!  At least we now know what effort it takes to get the stove out of the fireplace, should that be necessary in the future.
We were lucky enough to have a visit from Jay's dad, Larry, earlier this week, and the two of them spent a good portion of a day investigating our property lines.  Our number one priority project when the weather decides to be sunnier for more than a minute is to to reinforce the fence.  Half of the backyard and all of the west side of the yard are poorly fenced with some chintzy wire and a poorly unrolled chain-link number.  Our Little-Buddy-Shepdog has super haunches that catapult him over impressive heights (my sister's baby gate could tell you some stories!) and the not-so-secure "fence" is no match for his abilities.  In order for him to enjoy the outdoors this summer and the couch to get a rest from his day-long naps, we will be replacing the fence to match the rest of the yard. Stay tuned for all of that fun!  But before that can happen, we will be talking with our neighbors about the project and asking for any willingness to pitch in (are we dreaming?) - now THAT will be a good story!!
  In other news I attended Part 1 of 2 Raw Cuisine classes last night - recipes to follow - and tonight I shook my booty at Hip-Hop dance class!  I know I looked a little sketchy but it was very fun and I'm looking forward to next week!