Two Years - - Happy Anniversary - -

Congratulations on two years of marriage. We hope your Anniversary day is extra special.

Portland's International Car Show

This afternoon we ventured out to MAX to ride to the Convention Center where the International Car Show was being held. MAX stops right in front so the ride was easy. Roger loves looking at new cars so he was like a kid in a candy shop and I had fun, too. Mostly, when I found this electric 1917 vehicle with rounded glass windows and a trunk filled with batteries. The mechanism shown in the photos is the charger. The yellow car is likely my choice if I were to get a new car - Hey, you only live once.......................

Why I LOVE Portland...............

Today I had a long list of errands to do but, instead of taking the car, I walked three blocks to the MAX that took me down to Pioneer Square. Then a half block walk to Macys, another half block to the shoemaker, a one block walk to the ink refill business, two blocks to a fabulous lunch at Pazzos, two blocks to the Symphony office, one block to Powell's book store and one block to Penzey's spices and one more block to the streetcar that took me home.

Imagine - all those places within walking distance or by using public transportation. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz I've a feeling "I'm not in Kansas any more."

Today At Aquila Glass School

Yes, my creative juices are flowing again. Groupon offered a glass fusing class for half off so I took advantage of the deal and I'm SO glad that I did. This afternoon I spent 3 1/2 hours learning how to design fused glass objects; four jewelry pendants, a small bowl and a rectangular platter. All ten people at the class were interesting people - most with some artistic background - so it was a good opportunity for us to also learn from each other.

The man is a retired engineer so his designs were very precise and clinical. The tree was done by the girl next to me and the top photo shows my "creations".

It's difficult to know what the completed pieces will actually look like since this our first time doing this so in about a week or so I'll give you photos of the items after they are fired in the kiln.

Portland Play Day.................

Today was nothing but fun. Allison joined us here for brunch this morning. I fixed a new strata recipe that I found on the Internet and we all agreed that it is a "keeper".

This afternoon Roger and I took the streetcar downtown to the Schnitzer to see the Oregon Symphony production that included "Three Broadway Divas", young women with amazing voices who have starred in a large assortment of Broadway productions.

We had a "green light streetcar day", meaning that we had no wait on either end so we were home by 5:30. We earlier had planned for dinner out at South Park but Roger is catching a cold and we decided that he needed chicken soup and I needed a Manhattan so we're back home ready to enjoy the rest of the evening.

We've been promised "Spring weather" the remainder of the week so Bella is looking forward to some walks down by the river (me, too).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERESA !!!

Happy Birthday, Teresa - have a fabulous day !!!

A Boring Update..............

When writing a blog it's more fun when there is something new or exciting to talk about. January in Portland is just "so-so" - weather is pitsy - not too many activities - no reason to go out into and cold and rain. BUT - soon things will come alive again. Sunday we have tickets to the Symphony, Tuesday I have a glass fusing class and in early February several of my lady friends and I will be participating in some charitable organization affairs.

This week has been a "personal improvement" time for me - nails, pedicure, haircut so I'm ready...................

Two nights ago Allison and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Hotel 50, about ten blocks from our condo. Because of the cold / rain, we drove and took advantage of their free valet parking. Dinner was surprisingly wonderful so now we have another new restaurant on our list of favorites.

Things We Learned About Blu Ray (The Hard Way)

When Ashley visited she told us how much she liked watching movies on her Blu Ray so we old folks decided that we needed one too.

What we learned............. (that wasn't included in the set-up manual)

(1) If your wireless connection is within 20 feet of the TV, get one with a built-in wireless connection.

(2) If the TV is farther away you need to install an Ethernet connection that plugs into your Wireless Router and then into a wall plug. The TV also needs an Ethernet cord and plug. You can save money by getting a machine without the built-in wireless connection.

(3) Depending on which method you use, remember to set the Blu Ray to the appropriate "Wired" or "Wireless".

Now the good news. I signed up to Netflix and we started watching our first movie - WOW - it's in 3-D and the picture has the same quality as a movie theater. We are really excited so all the angst getting it set up has been forgotten.

Thanks, Ashley - we wouldn't ever have known such a thing exists without you!

One Year.............

Last night was a very special evening with dinner at Cabezon to celebrate our first year together. The restaurant specializes in fish so Roger enjoyed Monkfish and I had my usual, Cioppino. The location is out of the downtown area but we've decided that it's worth the drive. It is cozy with excellent service and a menu that changes, daily.

Chris is on his way to Georgia

NO, not U.S. Georgia - the Country of Georgia. Chris left from PDX this morning. His flight will take him to Chicago, then to Poland and finally to Georgia. Iraj met Brian and Caroline at the airport to see Chris off to his new adventure and they returned here for breakfast.

We were curious to know what the cost of living is in Georgia because Chris is making a salary that is comparable to the median monthly salary of a Georgian. The currency is a Gel and one Gel is worth about twice as much as an American dollar. The Internet indicates that in U.S. dollars the cost of a loaf of fresh baked bread is 36 cents. A liter of milk is 85 cents, beer is $1.00 and a liter of gas is about 55 cents.

Chris will be teaching English but he won't know the city or area where he'll teach until after a week's orientation and training.

We're very excited for his new opportunity and we hope to be in regular touch with him.

Time With The Girls.............

Yes, my cold has finally gone away and I'm back to a normal and healthy schedule.

Ann came over for Hot Lips Pizza a couple of nights ago and I had one more bottle left of 2000 Silver Oaks. Pizza and an exceptional red wine made for a fun evening.

Last night Allison and I went to Restaurant Iorio on Hawthorne. We used a Groupon ($12 for $25 worth of food) and we had a fabulous meal. We both love to share so we started with sharing an appetizer, hand made butternut squash ravioli and Coho salmon and dessert. We are already talking about returning. (If you haven't tried Groupon, please check into it. It's a great way to get "deals" on all sorts of things. I've bought one for a glass fusing class that I'm excited to try and I've purchased several restaurant deals that have all been fabulous).

We're experiencing the usual rainy January but we're having a warm spell with temps in the 50s so it's pleasant to be outdoors.

We purchased a Blu Ray DVD and it has taken almost one week to set it up. Anyway, the problem was that the WiFi range for the Blu Ray is only 20 feet and we tried to set it up 45 feet away. No where in the instructions did it tell us but after calls to Comcast, Netflix and Samsung we finally got the information. As a last resort, Comcast is coming over Sunday to try connecting an Ethernet adapter so we'll see if that works. Our goal is to watch Netflix movies from our DSL line to our TV.

Close - But Nothing To Quack About..........

Ready For The Game !

GO DUCKS !!!!

The Week At A Glance.................

SNARF, SNORT, SNIFFLE, SNEEZE..............................

Yep............. that was my week.

Today begins the second stage COUGH AND CHOKE..................

The good thing is that no activities were scheduled so it was easy to stay warm inside.