MRI

Today is my quarterly routine MRI to make sure that all is well and no detection of another tumor on my brain. While I'm okay with the fact that things will be what they are as far as my health, I am not very happy about having my appointments scheduled just willy nilly whenever. I guess that's the control freak part about me. It just doesn't seem terribly out of line to have an appointment schedule during the time of day that works best for my schedule and Tom's too. I guess I expect too much.

My appointment will be at 2pm...which I suppose will have to be okay. I have been having my appointments scheduled for 4:15 in the late afternoon for quite some time and the schedulers at my oncologists office just don't seem to give a rip about my desires!

Oh well, such is my life....lessons in learning patience and not being so much of a control freak.

Old Faithful

Here is the geyser that we visited in Calistoga. A REAL geyser! This is the first geyser that I have ever seen. It is located just outside of Calistoga, almost in the middle of no where. We arrived a few minutes before it went off and enjoyed it so well that we decided to wait for it to spout again. The geyser goes off about every 40 minutes or so. So there we sat in the heat, eating our lunch and waiting for water to come up out of the ground. It felt a little corny sitting around waiting for the water to start coming up, but it was worth it. Once the geyser goes off look out! Everyone jumps into action to take pictures or whatever. Now a geyser, that's good stuff!

Pepe & The Bottle Blondes

Last night Tom and I (along with Doug & Mary) went to a Pepe and the Bottle Blondes concert at Bethany Vineyards located in Ridgefield which is almost in our backyard - kind of. It was a blast and a pretty good crowd in attendance.

Napa Valley Part II

We have arrived home today from our vacation to the Napa Valley. What an awesome trip!

When we made our first trip in the Spring we just missed the rains and the vineyards still had evidence of the rain up and down the rows. Hardly any buds during that trip, but it was cool to see what it looks like before there are grapes on the vines almost ready for harvest.

We visited a few new wineries and one that was a favorite from our Spring Trip. The low point was Niebaum-Coppola where it felt like a big production. The guy at the "gate" informed us that even if we just wanted to look around the grounds the fee would still be $25 per person -with or without wine tasting. I smell a rip-off! Steriling in Calistoga was fun with the tram that actually goes to the winery itself. Definitely a tourist spot. There is an "Old Faithful" Geyser in Calistoga to gawk at with other people and fainting goats!

This is the beginning of harvest so we spied grapes in bins that were ready to go to "crush" and even sampled some from the vines.

The end of our time in Napa was pefect as we went to Peju for a food & wine pairing session and after visiting with the Chef and mentioning that is was our 15th Wedding Anniversary that day we were treated with a complimentary bottle of wine and the session was taken care of by the Chef. We were his guests that day. What a great surprise! I highly recommend Peju Province! Great wine and staff!

Napa has good food and wine which we enjoyed so we could have a relaxing time away from home and work. Now we are home and still have a couple of days off before we head back to work.

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend we logged over 70 miles on our bikes. Yesterday was the best non-organized bike ride we have done in a long time. We, along with our friends Matt & Kristen, took off around 9am for coffee in Portland. We crossed the I-5 Bridge and curly-q'd around until we got to the path that would take us on Marine Drive West. We made our way west past the Expo Center and toward Kelley Point Park. We crossed over the main road at one point, and we headed toward the St. John's area of Portland. The streets are lined with trees and lots of cute little houses. At one point Matt had a problem with his bike so Tom stopped to offer help or at least company and Kristen and I rode ahead a little then stopped to wait. As we were waiting I suggested a stop at the St John's Starbucks to see if our friend Dave was working...we did and he was!

He was surprised to see us and then amazed that we rode all that way from our house, 18 miles one way, FOR COFFEE! We enjoyed our coffee beverages and conversation with our friend Dave before heading back home.

This was a good route (a first for Tom and I) and I am pretty sure that Tom and I will go out for "coffee" and check in on our friend Dave from time to time.

Felida Family Whole Again

Pastor Scott has been on Sabbatical this summer - Today was his first Sunday back and his sabbatical is officially over. It was good that we as a congregation were agreeable to his need for a break, but I don't know if we would allow another sabbatical in the future...hmmm.

We had a rowdy time this morning during the worship service which was 2 hours long! Even then, Pastor Mark couldn't finish on time! Luke Hendrix spoke to us this morning and man he is an excellent speaker. We finished the service with communion and then all headed for the gym for a celebratory luncheon to welcome the Roberson's back.

I was amazed at the attendance for a holiday weekend - the auditorium was PACKED! Guess everyone wanted to be at church for the big celebration.

The church heard from many excellent speakers this summer, but it sure is good to have Scott back all refreshed and ready to teach us from God's word again.

www.felida.org

Dutch Market

For those of you that do not know...the ethnicity of my family is Dutch Indonesian. So growing up we ate Indonesian food - good stuff! It has been quite a few years since I have had the desire to try to re-create some of the foods that my mom cooked. This last week I tried a couple of items with success and now I'm onto a Indonesian food kick.

Today we went to the Dutch American Market at 9575 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy in Beaverton, OR. It was a very exciting trip for me as I have not been to the Dutch Store in many years and where they are located now is new to me. Lots of good stuff to choose from, candies, Indo foods and the deli! Tom chose a double extra aged Gouda cheese and I found several items that will be used in some of the recipes that my mom used to cook when I was growing up and some treats to enjoy until the next time we go back to shop.

This shop is great because the owners are Dutch and they speak Dutch and a lot of the customers are Dutch and speak the language. It's been a very long time since I have spoken Dutch or at least have been around family that still speaks Dutch and I'm a bit rusty, but I hope to continue visiting on a regular basis and work on my Dutch with each visit.

Tot Ziens!

Riley isn't so fat after all....

By the looks of this photo, you would think that Riley was/is FAT!

Tom took the big guy to the vet for his annual visit and shots...the vet said that he only gained 1/2 a pound since his last visit a year ago. Whew...at only 15 lb 7 oz he's just a little hefty instead of FAT!