Raincharm’s Weblog

My Sunday exploits came back to haunt me Monday morning.  As long as I stayed put I was fine. And after I got moving I was fine. It was that short time between sedentariness and movement that let me know I had used muscles that had not been used in a while.

That combined with a little too much work (think 5 days worth into 3 days due to a 2 day class). I am losing time, and the soreness doesn’t help me bounce into overdrive.  Actually – I usually call these gaining days – when I gain more work than I get done.

And, when I finally left work today it was pelleting. I thought a hard rain at first. Then I noticed that the rain had a bit more substance than just rain. And some of it bounced. Not really hail, not really rain, not really snow – pellets.

And while all of my little life is moving along at vastly different speeds I get to stop to see an award – thanks to a fellow planet person.

Thanks, ababsurdo, and quoting directly here  of course, all awards have guidelines:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate some blogs that show great attitude or gratitude, (i.e. turn lemons into lemonade).
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.

In turn – I nominate The Mother Project, a friends first hand commentary about one form of growing old and away at the same time. She has been so busy with the rest of her life recently that her 2009 efforts have been elsewhere – but still – using her experience to educate the rest of us.

The bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle …

At least today. First Purple Daze soccer game of the season is in the books.
Beautiful day for a soccer game, nice friends, friendly opposition, couldn’t ask for more. Well maybe for a win, but that’s not the only reason I play.

Time to take the car in for its regular oil and other bits appointment.
I don’t miss getting down under the car to do the oil changes. Well, maybe just a little. That stopped when we got a Honda that was too low to the ground to get my head and body under. It was not realistic to change the oil and that was the start of the end of automotive mechanic Jay. Still did some here and there, installed a few radios, but now it is just easier to take it in.

Growing up I thought that you were supposed to take care of your car. I mean to do the work. I changed a few gaskets, replaced a water pump, and more things than I can remember.

When I got the first Honda (1980 Civic Sedan) it was when not every town had Hondas. So I got the book on how to take care of it, starting with removing the engine. I also purchased an extra fan belt and some other things that I forget now. I figured if I got sidelined in a backwater town, a good mechanic and the book combined should be able to get it back on the road. Well – for the next 280,000 miles the only time it dumped me on the side of the road was a blown out tire. Theoretically I could have changed it, but I was not into road work on the side of a freeway during rush hour. After hanging out for about an hour a nice State Patrol person changed it for me, in the drizzle.

UPDATE – it looks like the first family member out of our bracket will be Ashlan (if Oklahoma loses). It would be very difficult to root for OK anyway. My big test is whether to root for my draw, UConn, or go with the home favorite MSU (Rey’s team). The rest of the teams left are Carls.

Saturday day was basically a rain storm.
So I stayed in an did some home work. Pretty boring but has to be done work. So boring I even took a nap in the afternoon. I rarely take naps, but was just out of steam. And I woke up OK. One of the reasons I don’t take naps, is that I never really wake up well.

But we had Saturday night to look forward to.
Seattle Men’s Chorus with Debbie Reynolds.
What fun, with a friend and her aunt
(get better Janet – who was supposed to attend, but got pneumonia instead)

Ashlan – red shoes, but really sore toes on the right foot.

And the rain has subsided, and the Seattle Sounders FC won their second game. [I don’t know how the US team fared – OK I checked 2-2 tie in El Salvador]

On to tomorrow.
Biggest question in Seattle – Is it going to snow in April too?

Actually, I am frequently not of that mind. I love the weekends. I have plans for this weekend (a few, not full). But about this time I am realizing how little of my weeks work got accomplished. At least planned work.

That’s about all I have to say for now.
Except – the sun is out.
Of course it just about caused an accident on the freeway when everyone had to slam on their brakes to figure out where their visor had gone, or locate their sunglasses.
[Lest you think we are firmly in the grip of Spring, I had to scrape all of the windows this morning. To let the sun in and the vision out.]

guess what I have been working on – again.
Making progress – through the school stuff (I think), on to Retirement contributions (why?), but I still have a few forms I haven’t “used” yet.

This week had a rather interesting start.
I woke up to the radio, as I do every day.
Then I turned off the radio, as I do on the weekends (unless I have to get up)
After a few minutes I said to Carl, “It’s Monday isn’t it?”
I am not sure he answered, but I turned the radio back on.
I even got up just a few minutes later. (I have been known to actually fall back to sleep even with the radio playing. That is why the old, black and white TV is connected to a timer to turn on a bit later. I could probably sleep through the TV too, but the cacophony of the radio and TV is enough to get me out of bed.

I blame this trying to sleep in on the late night trip fueled by a Coke. I have not had a soda for a while, and a Coke for even longer. But I felt like I needed caffiene and that was the offering at hand in the small shop in the dorm.

And yesterday, please note that I did not call Inez/Gene/Bubs the Octo-Mom.

Happy Birthday Mom
From the precocious one

The 4, Bubs facing camera

To the learned and wise one, albeit not fully grey.

Love to you. Can’t wait to see you this summer.
The middle child.

So – what’s a person to do?

Yardwork ? Not today. Today is a good day for a walk.
Carl & I had been walking at least once during each weekend, and it was really great.
Then, for reasons as various as rain, snow, vacation and an organized walk, we missed many weekends.
So today was the day to get back on the horse. Only not really on a horse. We don’t have one, and that would not be walking anyway.

We walked from our house to the Ballard Locks and back. 10 miles total, including some good hills. As we were nearing the top of one long steep hill near the zoo, a couple at the top asked if we couldn’t find a closer parking space. We stopped at the Portlock store and got some salmon sandwiches that we ate at the locks. Some picture corners at a photography store, stickers and some finger puppets at Archie MacPhees.

Now back home it is time to let the feet have a break, until one of us has to get up to make dinner.

Oh – and my friend and I decided on a name for our Seattle 3-Day Crew team – “Flaming Pink Rain” I like it.
Now I need to find a Michigan team with mates to walk with …..

I just reread the post below. Boy am I wordy.
What I meant to say was, “Soccer is great. I love this game. It is fun to play, a great place to meet people, and fun to watch. We had a fantastic time at the Sounder’s game. Can’t wait to go again.”

Yesterday started early, and basically improved as it went on.

Ashlan and friend arrived safely, managed to get a car, managed to get into their hotel room early, temps in the high 80’s at least. Sounded like they were having fun.  And she checked in to let us know things were going fine. (Carl was much relieved.

Work – went fairly well for such an early start. Got a few things done.

Soccer – went GREAT. What fun. It was the Seattle Sounders inaugural game. Seattle – March – Rain.  A statement of fact most years, although this year had been leaning toward snow. It rained all day at work. It was pouring on the ride over from work, until we hit Seattle. Now blue skies were not really evident, but it did not rain – the entire match.

Saw some friends, including two that we had not seen in years. Now I want to figure their last name so I can find them again.

We had seats care of a friend with season tickets. They were at the top of the box (18-yard) on the sideline and in the front row! There is a walkway between the seats and the field, but the seats are raised enough that those in the walkway don’t block view. The stands were packed with 32,000+. The end zone seems to be devoted to more organized chanting and cheering, but everyone was having a good time.

In soccer the most unique (from other sports) form of support that I am aware of is the scarf.  For the Sounders the ticket to this openning match was attached to the scarf given as part of the ticket package. So 2/3 of the ticket holders had these scarves. Then they had put scarfs all around town one day last week, and if you saw one you could take it. They were draped on statues, light poles, etc (I did not see any myself, but a workmate did). Then you can go the old fashioned route and just buy one. We may have to do this yet. [Carl did buy two t-shirts for us that were large enough to live in, so we could wear them over our jackets.] At the start of the game they said, “Show us your scarves,” and and it was quite a visual site. They also went up after every goal.

Speaking of goals there were 3 of them. All for the Sounders. The New York Red Bulls had two good attempts, but both were saved by Sounder goalie, Kasey Keller (you may remember him from US teams). The game was great. They are so fast, and you could really see the physical aspect of soccer at this level (not quite like what I play).

After the game ended, we skedaddled out – easy since we were in the front. I thought about staying to see what would happen, but the early morning told me it was time to get home.  Caught a bus right away, got a seat and took off.  Home and in bed before 11.

What fun. I am really happy the MSL is back in Seattle.