Thursday, July 29, 2010

rub-a-dub-dub. i see a new tub

For my birthday, Nelson made me this card, and proceeded to go to work:


Here is why we needed a new one:


 

We had refinished it ourselves a couple of years ago.  But now great flakes of paint were peeling up.  Disgusting.

Nelson hard at work.  He did everything himself:  removed the old caulking, took off a row of tile, removed the old tub, put in the new tub, put in the new tile, caulking, etc.

 


And here is the result of all his hard work!  A sparkly, lovely bathtub I'd even like to take a bath in.

 


Aren't I lucky/blessed to have a guy who can do this?

Monday, July 26, 2010

disneyland!

Early this month, we took a much-needed vacation to Disneyland!  Nelson and I took David and his friend Kyle.  (Aaron and Heather stayed home for work.)  We flew out of Eugene the evening of the 4th, which was fun, because as we flew into LAX, we saw neighborhood fireworks all over the city!  We saw more fireworks as our shuttle took us to our motel, which was only a couple of blocks from the resort.  The weather was perfect:  overcast and a little cool, which is perfect Disneyland weather in my book.  We got to spend 3-1/2 days in the parks (Disneyland and California Adventures.)  My feet and back wore out, but it was still a lot of fun.  We flew back to hotter weather than we left!





That's kind of a weird place to leave the slideshow, but you can get your money back at the gate, if you wish. 

Nelson and the boys did Splash Mountain.  Funny thing:  I was standing watching the final splashdown, waiting for them because I don't do Splash Mountain.  As each car made the plunge, you would hear this high-pitched "e-e-e-e-e-e!"  When our guys came down, all I could hear was Nelson's deep "A-A-A-A-A-GH"!"  The lady next to me laughed and said, "That was good."  Here's the video.  (Something funny with the sound though; it sounds too high.)



One of our favorite attractions is the barbershop quartet, The Dapper Dans.  Here's a fun clip:


One thing I love about Disneyland is how the characters interact with the public.  More of the Dapper Dans:


We saw them again on our last morning at the park.  I didn't get pictures of World of Color (over-rated), or of Small World (although the song stayed in my head for a long time), or of Fantasmic, or of some other stuff.  But sometimes you have to decide whether to look at the park behind a camera lens or just go with the flow and enjoy it.

All in all, it was a great trip!

Friday, July 16, 2010

"stop, thief!"

Had a mini-adventure at Win-Co yesterday. Got out of the car and saw someone run past me through the parking lot. An elderly lady was following the person, saying, "Stop! Come back!" but not very loudly. Then I noticed the runner had a purse. I knew I couldn't chase the thief, but I could yell.

"Stop, thief! Stop that runner!" I yelled. "He's got a lady's purse. Stop that runner!" I actually yelled several times.


I think my shouting attracted some attention, because this big guy went tearing after the runner and caught her. (It was a gal in a baseball cap.) He held by her arm and took the purse and gave it to the elderly lady, who had come up to them. The thief looked like she was high. The catcher settled her down and had her sit on the curb while he called 9-1-1.

The elderly lady walked off, so I did too. Whew! I was so glad the purse snatcher didn't get away!

It took a while for my heart to quit pounding and my adrenaline to settle back down.

So, you never know when you'll be in the midst of a mini-adventure, even going grocery shopping. The best kind have happy endings.