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Uh Oh…
I just saw this article. If signed, children under 8 need to ride in a booster seat, and children under 12 need to ride in the back seat. What’s the big deal? Well, Maya’s been riding in the front seat for a little while now…the Volvo doesn’t have any airbags (too old), and on the Camry, we have the passenger seat pushed all of the way back. Ted reasoned that many small adults are in the front seat, so she would be OK. I read some reports that said that there is no proof that kids who have been harmed by passenger side airbags in the front seat were ‘properly…
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Ode to Forest Park
When we go to Portland, Maya’s favorite thing to do is to hike in Forest Park. She told me that Forest Park is her favorite place on earth. This most recent trip was no exception, and happily, Ted was able to join us this time, and I think he may be hooked as well. For Maya and I to enjoy hiking is definitely saying something, because we are two girls who do NOT like to get hot and sweaty. Sadly, there is almost no way to hike around here without getting hot and sweaty, because there are simply not enough trees to keep you shaded. So the sun is beating…
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Happy (Belated) Birthday, Sesame Street
I have a couple of Portland related posts in mind…one is about the yummy and not-so-yummy restaurants we went to, one about books I read or bought there…one about the beautiful world of Forest Park. But I had to stop and do this, because Issa and Mom-101 did it several days ago, and it will soon be too late to jump on the bandwagon. Stupid vacation. So, this started on Mrs. Davis’s blog, where she talked about popular culture influences you had as a child, due to the new season of Sesame Street starting on August 14th. She gave out a bunch of linky love on the 14th, but I…
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Convoluted Vacation Wrap Up
Hello Bloggy Blog Blog Blog, I’ve missed you so. I’ve posted, sure, but it’s not the same as actually writing something NEW, and I haven’t been reading my friends’ blogs, and I haven’t been commenting, and boy, I have a LOT of catching up to do. Let me start by saying, I’m still Biff, because I’m thinking…One Week Ago Right Now…I was getting ready to go to Seattle…on vacation. Sigh. So, today I’ll tell you what we did on our vacation to the Pacific Northwest. (Mostly Portland.) We left home and drove to Ashland, where we hoped to see a play, but we got a bit of a late start,…
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Did Anyone Else LOVE This Show?
Boy, I used to love to watch “Land of the Lost” when I was 8 or 9…Saturday morning cheezy crap TV at its finest! I loved Holly, kind of wanted to be her. Loved Cha-ka (Who, by the way, was NOT played by a member of the group, Sugar Ray, at least according to this article. I know, you’re crushed. I happen to have it on good authority that Ted’s friend’s Matt’s Wife’s exboyfriend, the actor, was Cha-ka. And I’m totally kidding there. That’s an inside joke that only Ted will get, because his friend and friend’s wife don’t read my blog.) The Sleestack were TOO SCARY (OK, even then…
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The Food Meme
We’re having a wonderful time in Oregon…spending time with family and relaxing. 🙂 Not much time for the computer. I’ve posted a few posts that I had “in the can”, but I’m running out of those…so maybe I’ll find time to write a bit about our vacation. No pics, though, because I’m not sure how to download them onto this computer, so you’ll have to wait for that. I did finish another book, so maybe I’ll write something about that in a day or two. Anyway, here’s one of my last ‘canned’ blog posts, from before we left CA. 🙂 I found this at Ally Bean’s site: How do you…
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Thinking about books…
I just finished this book….and I have to say, it was pretty amazing. I am not a HUGE fan of the short story, though of course there are those certain authors that can make me eat those words. Alice Munro, for one, can suck you in and make you feel like you’ve just finished a novel in just a few pages. Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles sucked me in and drew me from one weird world to another in a short period of time. But overall, I kind of like the continuation of a full length novel. The feeling as I’m putting the book down, and the characters will still be…
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Michelle Selden Rocks!
And who is this Rockin’ Michelle Selden, you may ask? Well, she’s an 8th grader who lives in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Why does she rock, you may ask? Because when faced with the somewhat insane policy of segregating boys and girls in her school district, because of how our brains work differently, she stood up and said, “Uh, Hello?” She got the ACLU involved, and they sued the school district on her behalf. From Salon’s Broadsheet: The school board made its initial decision based on impressively retro theories of girl- and boyhood. Among the sources defendants cited in the proceedings was Dr. Leonard Sax’s “Why Gender Matters,” which argues for…
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That Seems About Right to Me…
You Are 64% Open Minded You are a very open minded person, but you’re also well grounded. Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints. But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line. You’re open to considering every possibility – but in the end, you stand true to yourself. How Open Minded Are You?
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Time for Bacation
We’re off for a week of R & R in the Pacific Northwest, which will include a stop for dinner and a play in Ashland, OR, sleep overnight there, and then on to Portland to visit with the family, including my new baby niece, Sophie! Hopefully we will see the beautiful Chloe and her family, too. Yay! We may have blogging access while we’re there (we’re going to try, so check back from time to time), but we may not (ACK! Can I survive without my blog? Without reading YOUR blogs? I don’t KNOW!). If you don’t hear from me in awhile….you’ll know that I’m far away in the wilderness…
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25 Peeps
Does anyone know anything about ’25 Peeps’? It’s this site that is used to promote your blog, and you can also use it to find other people’s blogs. I found out about it at Sprigs, and thought, well, that might be fun, so I put my picture & blog in for submission. That’s me up there, at the Sacre Coeur, on my honeymoon back in 1993, and the glamerous looking woman is Sprigs. 🙂 So, with 25 Peeps, if people come to my blog and click the picture there, it gives me points, which keeps me on 25 Peeps. Then, since my picture (and link to my blog) are on…
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Fast Five Friday
Between terrorist plots, trying to get work all settled for while we’re gone, and a million really boring details about laundry and so on before we go on vacation, my mind is braindead for some deep post. Perfect time for a quick, fun, breezy meme type thing. I got this from Mom Maam Me, and I guess she’s done a couple of them in the past. 🙂 Thought I’d copy her, just for fun. Feel free to do a Fast Five Friday if you wish. I was trying to decide which Fast Five to do, but I like them both, so I’m doing both. Then I added my own. Guess…
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Double Thursday Thirteen (Thursday 26?)
I was thinking the other day of things I would like to do if I had more money. Then I thought, that would be a good Thursday 13! So I daydreamed a bit, and started feeling kind of spoiled and selfish, and that I lead a pretty good life….so I thought of days when I had much less, and I decided to do a SECOND Thursday 13 of things I would do if I had less money. OK, so that’s TWO Thursday 13s. I considered using one this week, and saving one for next week, but next week, I’m on vacation (I know, Biff again) and I don’t know if…
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Hospital Food
I read with interest this article about Kaiser’s desire to change over to more locally produced, fresh produce in their patient care menus. I think this is a great idea…really, who could use good, healthy, fresh food more than folks on the mend? Unfortunately, ‘hospital food’ reminds me of a story that makes my blood boil a bit. Last summer, my mom had surgery at UC Davis Med Center. The care she received was 90% wonderful. Her surgeon was wonderful, the nurses were mostly great, etc. However…when it came to food, I found them lacking. My mother is border-line diabetic, meaning she can control her diabetes through diet, and doesn’t…
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Grandma’s Famous Slaw
I consider myself fortunate in that I still have both of my grandmas. No grandpas left to speak of, sadly, but the women in my family tend to live a loooonnnngggg time. My mother’s mother lives in Stockton, and my father’s mother moved from Modesto to Portland last year. (We’ll be seeing her next week…)When she lived in Modesto, we used to go visit her a few times a year, and she would sometimes cook lunch for us. On one such visit in 1994, she served us dried out chicken and cole slaw. The chicken wasn’t anything to write home about, unless the folks back home enjoy reading about dried…