Catching up, Part II

Mother's Day, 2012, Salem, Oregon.

Jake graduated from Willamette University with one degree in Biology and another in and Rhetoric Mass Communication. Quincy flew up for the ceremony and it was an excellent culmination of Jake's college career. The legendary Willamette Weather Machine worked its magic and the day was beautiful.

I flew up early to see Quincy's show in Ashland at Southern Oregon University, and both the set and the show were excellent. Jacob and I drove from Ashland to Salem, and we picked up Stu at the Portland Airport.

The rest of the weekend was also excellent. We had a last visit to the amazing Salem Farmer's Market with Jacob's friend Janelle and her sister. We found, in our last trip to Salem, one more wonderful restaurant, and also finally found a comfortable hotel. Here's hoping it wasn't really our last trip. Salem is a great town.

On Saturday, we had a surprise -- Jake needed help moving out of the dorms so we spent most of the rest of the reliving the ritual of moving out of an apartment. Lots of grime can accumulate in a couple of semesters, but he got mostly packed and cleaned and moved lots of stuff over to the Kappa Sigma house.

Graduation wasn't until Sunday afternoon, so on Sunday morning, Stu and I had a chance to visit Silver Falls, in the Cascades. Willamette hosted a trip to the Falls every year on Family Weekend. Despite attending 3 of the 4 weekends, Stu and I never made it there so we decided it was about time. Oregon has a pretty amazing system of state parks. The woods were beautiful, and the falls were too. These falls (below) might look familiar. Last time I was at the accupunture doc, I noticed that the poster on ceiling was of Silver Falls. I suspect similar photos appear in a lot of motivational-inspirational-beauty-etc. posters.

Before we went to Oregon, I got a new camera. Hence all the photographic playing. I will see if I can find a slideshow plug-in for blogspot.

So the rest of the morning  -- we got Quincy at the airport, headed back to Salem for Willamette's graduation brunch, then went off to the ceremony. We rounded out the day with dinner with Janelle's family.

So what was next for Jake?

He spent a week or so at the Kappa Sigma house doing some home improvement before driving back to Cruces for the summer. He spent a week in Hawaii with Janelle, then, in early August, headed up to Montana State University to work on a doctorate as a member of the Molecular Bioscience Program. Bozeman is a great town and Jake has some good time ahead of him.

The sun was setting as we took our last group shot on the Willamette Campus, in front of the famed Chicken Statue.

Congratulations to all the Willamette Class of 2012.

Catching up, part I

Last big post (not about a dirty bike) was the Christmas update, and the world did not stop at that point. So here's part 1 of catching up.

Kids went back to school in January, Jake for his last semester at Willamette and Quincy to Southern Oregon. Stu and I made our first trip to Oregon of the year to see Quincy's Winter term play -- Midsummer Night Dream. It is one of her favorite shows, so she was excited to be Assistant Master Carpenter for it.

Oh, yeah. Shortly before our trip to Oregon, Stu had surgery for a torn ligament, torn rotator cuff, and bursitis all on his right shoulder. That was the start of a rather long involvement with physical therapy, doctor checks, and more PT. Looks like I left that out of updates.

Meanwhile, farther north along I-5, Jacob was busy writing away on two theses and visiting graduate schools. During a rather busy week, he visited Washington State University, Montana State University, and Oregon State University. All visits went well, but the program at Montana State in Molecular Biosciences was most to his liking. He got a nice offer, so he committed to become a Bobcat.

At the end of March, kids were back for Spring Break, and we (minus Quincy) completed our 5th Bataan Memorial Death March. Out times were worse than last year, but Stu was barely a month post-op, so finishing was really the goal. The day ended up much hotter than average, and finishing was a bit of an accomplishment. Jacob's friend Janelle marched with us, earning all-around kudos for being willing to walk a marathon on the second day of her spring break. It was a poppy year, so much of the walk was more beautiful than usual.

Kids headed back to school, and things quieted back down. Part 2 will be coming soon.

On a sad note, Annie, our beautiful black mutt who shared our home since December 24, 1999, succumbed to cancer in mid-February. She died in our back yard in the caring hands of our gentle vet. It is always sad when a companion dies, but there is something strangely satisfying knowing that we were with her in the end, and were as loyal to her as she had always been to us. I think maybe Widget misses her the most, and she enjoyed tormenting that dog.

Dirty bike means a good time, right?

Teens no more!

Kids have been home for spring break for a most excellent week of sun, food, conversation, and relaxation. They go back today, and we will miss them. But through a miracle of scheduling, their planes leave within an hour of each other, so we only will take one trip to El Paso!

It was a busy week -- Jacob and Willamette friend Janelle arrived home on Saturday and were up at 3 am the next day for the Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon. The weather was warmer than usual, and Janelle, who is from Hawaii, proved plenty tough enough for a 26-mile walk in the desert. Kudos to her.

As usual, the March was a day to remember sacrifice and to march along side current active military.

Quincy celebrated her 20th birthday last night. I was concerned that the strainer we gave her for a present was too prosaic. She considered it to be stylish.

Traveling...

Jake is getting back from a week of traveling to visit grad schools. His travels took him to Washington State University, Montana State, and Oregon State. He really liked all the schools, so now he has a decision to make!

In the meantime, Stu and I are on a plane heading to Medford for a weekend with the Q. More later...

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide

December 24, 1999 to February 13, 2012

RIP, Annie.

Our beautiful, feral, orange-eyed puppy died today. We exercised the omnipotent human option, thus sparing her a longer passing from cancer, which she was diagnosed with in early January.

She was probably the worst dog I will ever miss. Before she died today, she menaced the 18 year old cat and snacked on dirty cat litter. That's just the way it is.

Good friends

One definition of good friends: people who, when you just saunter into their homes on a Sunday morning, ask if you want coffee or tea and welcome you at their breakfast table. Even if you have been out sweating over miles of trail and road.

Time again to train for Bataan. Stu and I have been walking into town on Sunday mornings and showing up at random friends' homes for breakfast. This week we headed west from home into town and went south around A Mountain. Between biking and walking, we are getting to know A Mountain pretty well. Seems like it should be about time, after living in town for over 20 years!

We might have to take a week off -- Stu tore a ligament in his right shoulder and will have it repaired on February 20.