I’ll take “strange” with a healthy dose of “what the…”

The other day someone knocks on my front door. When I answer it, no one is there but a black trash bag. Strange, huh? So I very cautiously and suspiciously untied the strings fairly certain something is going to jump out at me or I’m going to be exposed to a disease like Leprosy or Chicken Pox’s or Dyslexia or something.  Well maybe not the last one. Anyway….I open the bag and what do I find?? Trash that David and I had thrown in the recycle. But wait…this is a different bag then we use.  “What the…” I took the bag to the back and slowly went through it. It sure was our garbage but why would someone go through our garbage and then return it to us??

I have racked my brain to come to a conclusion of this weirdness. I have nothin’. We thought that maybe someone went through our recycle to get the plastic and aluminum cans. Oregon has a very efficient and well managed garbage and recycling program. There are walk-up recycle centers that offer 5 cents per aluminum can and 10 cents per plastic beverage container. It’s a good way to make a little change. But why would they return our garbage??? Just a little strange huh? Needless to say, I’m now more careful what I throw away.

Tradition!! (say it like Tevye, okay?)

Sometimes when David and I haven't seen each other for a couple of days, I will go to the law school and sit quietly next to him while he studies. It's kind of a Saturday afternoon tradition now!

We sit in the commons because I don't like to go to the Law Library. It's a little too intense for me. Everybody there looks pretty dreadful. I prefer to sit next to the windows so I can see life moving around me. And also, I'm not good at being quiet. And those law students take their quiet study pretty serious.

The library of books I wouldn't even know how to read.

This is a statue that is outside the law builidng. I hate it. First off....what person would sit on the hard concrete steps, in a suit no less, to study? No one. Secondly....who uses a briefcase anymore? And thirdly....I always think it's a real person and it scares me a bit. 

The weird statue.

 Here's David doing his best to ignore me. I was pretty bored by now having finished my book. We left soon after I took his picture. I might enjoy our Saturday tradition a little more than D.

Hard at work.

Eyes, ears, tummies and Awards!

David has cute little ears. Many of you know this. And because of his cute little ears, he has troubles with his glasses staying on his cute little face. This has become more of an annoyance as of late due to the hours and hours of reading law books. So he decided he would like to try out contacts. So far he likes them okay. He had to do a “contacts class” which consisted of putting the contact in one eye and taking it out. David was a pro! It took him 10 minutes to get it in and 5 to get it out, which is great considering it was closing time and the ladies helping us were ready to GO! So they kept popping in to see if he was done yet. 

Trying to put them in at home.

He was a little weirded out by being able to see clearly out of the corner of his eyes.

 

 When we got home he practiced some more. He was having trouble and got upset because his “eyelashes are just too long!” To that I said BOO HOO. (He does have nice eyes though! )

In other news…I still have no job. I am a stay at home mom with no babies. I have found that to keep sane I needed something to fill my time so I have tried to do more crafts. I made this little sign the other day. It was kind of fun. But because we don’t live in the best neighborhood I get concerned that it will get taken.

The makings of a witch!

The final product. I need to add some glitz to her shoes though.

Sometimes I like to make her looked smashed....

The other day we got a package in the mail! I love getting mail. I eagerly ripped open the box and I read the note that was on top.

I was just so excited to see what we had won but like a good wife I waited the 10 hours until my husband came home from school. David finally came home and was just as excited as I was to open the box. Here’s what was inside!

The Goods!!

As David was taking out the food items and putting them in our very empty pantry he said, “Wow! We are going to eat like the Rockefellers!” I’m not sure the Rockefellers eat Hamburger Helper but we sure are excited to get to!

Thanks to the (Anonymous) Awards Committee who was nice enough to think of us here at 444 Jefferson!

"Do you want fries with that?"

I don't know if you know this but I love my husband. He quite handsome. He's super goofy. He is also pretty much brilliant. He knows the most random, interesting facts about everything. For example, did you know that Fred Rogers (aka Mr. Rogers) wore those sweaters to hid extensive tattoos on his forearms that he got when he was a Marine? Or that the largest chunk of gold ever discovered is in Antarctica, but international law prohibits mining on the continent. Also, did you know that Ernest Hemingway wrote the first chapter of The Old Man and the Sea while sitting on the loo? Okay, David didn't tell me that last one but that's crazy, huh??!

Anyways. It's important for you to know that I love D. And he is pretty much one of the best people alive. I simply adore that kid.

That being said; the kid has the hardest time ordering food without it ending with him and the person taking our order being so confused that it would be easier to just say “Nevermind”, do a lap through the drive-thru and start over. I'm not much help because I'm usually in the passenger seat laughing. But like I said...I sure love him!

Here's where the problem stems: D is just too polite. For example, instead of just ordering the food all at once, he will order one item then wait for it to come up on the screen then he will say the next item. I can understand that he doesn't want to say it so fast that the person is scrambling. But when he pauses, they think he's done ordering so they tell the total and ask him to pull up to the first window. Sometimes this happens 3 or 4 times an order. Each time he states he's not done ordering. Again-I'm in the passenger seat laughing.

Sometimes he says “Thank You” instead of pausing after ordering an item and waiting for it to come up on the screen. This causes more confusion for the order-taking dear and D. Again-I'm in the passenger seat laughing.

Eventually everything gets squared away and we pull forward. We usually get our food pretty quickly after ordering-no matter where we go. I think it's because they want us to go away fast.

He's just too darn cute for his own good!

Pizza Pie and the Case of the Mystery side dish.

Some foods just go together. You know? Like Peanut Butter and jelly. Meat and potatoes. Spaghetti and meatballs. Pizza Pie and....potato chips?

Potato Chips? 

Every time we have pizza D always asks, “Do we have any chips?” I always get confused and say, “No. But we're having pizza.” Then we both just stare at each other confused. This happens every time. Kid you not.

So I decided to ask the universe (or all of you). What is the side dish to pizza? Are potato chips the pizza's other half? Or is salad the pizza sidekick? 

Please place your vote! 

For David and his Potato chips comment CHIPS.

For Katie and her salad comment YOU'RE RIGHT.

 

Welcome to 444 Jefferson Street!

I finally got pictures of the house. Sans bathroom due to a not so minor leak in the toilet and the resulting buckets catching the leaking, CLEAN water.(We would be having a different conversation if it was dirty water...if you know what I mean.)

The front

When you enter from the front door you are in the Sitting Room. Our bedroom door is on the right.

The view from the front door. The sitting room leads to the kitchen. Again notice the wonderful blue walls...my favorite. (Please note sarcasm of last sentence.)

The kitchen from the sitting room.

The kitchen is in the middle of the house.From the kitchen is the door to my closet and the backroom (out of shot).

My closet. I'm pretty sure this is meant to be a kitchen pantry.  But I have more clothes than food so...

Our Bedroom. VERY small. Notice the door to the living room. We don't use it much due to the fact that we can't open it all the way. If we go through it we have to go sideways and suck-it-in to fit.  Between the closet and the bedroom is the bathroom.

This is the other "bedroom" It is such an awkward room! There is a pole in the middle of the room which makes arranging furniture nearly impossible. If one of us sits in the black chair to watch the television, we have to lean to one side to see around the pole. The door on the left leads to the backyard.

This is the shot from the doorway of the kitchen leading to the back room. The computer and the backdoor is to my right (out of shot.) David's closet is to the left next to the couch. This room really is a multipurpose!

Our lovely garage. I don't know what we would do without it.

Our backyard. As you can see, I haven't done much with it. I do like to sit back here though. I put out two chairs in hope that David could one day join me! Behind where I'm standing in more yard. I think the people that rented before us had a garden. But now it's pretty much weeds and rhubarb. Neither of which I like. 

 So there you have it. We welcome visitors! It's a small home but there is ALWAYS room for friends and family.

Blackberries anyone??

David has been working non stop since school started. He is definitely in the law school zone. In fact the other night I was on my way home from a friend's house and a man rode his bike out in front of my car. I was really close to hitting him. When I got home, I was telling David how I almost hit him and without pause David just replied "You wouldn't be at fault. He was being negligent in the fact that he...." I stopped him and said yeah but I would have hit a kid! Even when he is at home, supposedly “relaxing” his mind is still all law schooly.

I have been trying to find cheap or free things to do around Salem that don't take a lot time to do so when I can steal David away from the library we can do something together. My friends told me about a park in Salem where they pick blackberries. Evidently, blackberries grow like weeds around here.

We decided to check it out. Let me tell you...they really do grow like weeds!! The plants are everywhere! In alley ways, on the highway medians, along roadsides, and parking lots. I was surprised how high the bushes can grow. Many of the ripest berries were well above our heads. We got quite a few though.

Picking the high ones.

These where the big, big berries that were way out of our reach.

Don't they just look Delicious?

 We had some for dessert. I put whipped cream on a Vanilla wafer and dropped a few berries on top. They were delish! (as you can see, I couldn't help by try one before taking the picture!)

After picking, we went for a little walk along the river. The sun was quickly setting and made a lot of strange shadows that were freaking us out. Need less to say we didn't walk too far from the parking
lot. Here's a few pictures. 

The twisty path along the Willamette River.
The plants on the left are blackberry plants.

Along the river were a bunch of these little trails that led to
openings under the thick  brush. I wasn't brave enough to
go exploring though. I imagine the gnomes wouldn't
want me to just walk into their home!
(Just teasing...I'm always invited.)