Our Memorial Day Weekend

It turned out to be a bit different that we had planned, but the fact that we were able to camp during Memorial Day weekend with out a reservation meant we were really lucky.

Silly me, I didn't take any pictures of the funky (read:weird) camp ground we ended up in. It is an old mobile home park that the State Park is in the middle of converting to a camp ground...there were several run down mobile homes, some in use and some abandoned, and it was REALLY close to the train tracks!! But it was way better than turning around and not camping at all.
We went with some long time family friends and their kids...they were real troopers. We had at least some sound insulation being in the motor home, but they were tent camping. Very brave! The trains were really quite frequent in the night...and LOUD! But all of us agreed that we got more sleep than we thought we would...that said, our friends decided that one night was plenty, and they headed home after lunch. I totally don't blame them!
That first day we did the nature walk with the little kids, and the second day our family headed up Beacon Rock. It was really amazing how fast that hike was not that all the kids are old enough to do it with out needing any piggy back rides.
I see more good hikes in our future.

All in all, a great weekend!

My new laptop...oh yeah, I have a blog!

Hi all,

Long time no post.

Yeah, it turns out that I am not the best when it comes to getting around to sitting down and actually writing a post. And even when I did write a post, I was often quite hesitant to make it "real" by hitting publish. For a while I even thought about taking down the blog. The "not blogging guilt" was just one more thing draining my energy. But I have decided to cut myself some slack. I do not need to post pictures every time I put up a post. And it is not necessity for every post to be meaningful or entertaining in some way. Some times I can just ramble on about nothing if that is what I feel like doing.

We just got a new laptop for our big trip to China this summer. The plan is that we will be ble to use the highspeen internet in the appartment to kep in tough with folks while we are away.

One of the ideas is that I will keep a blog and post lots of picture and such so you al can see what we are up to. So I am practicing before we leave... please bear with me as I find my blogging legs. I am hopeful that having a new fun toy will help make blogging more fun and easy, but I am not making any promises!!

I am taking the first step right now by hitting "publish".

President's Day weekend

My dad came out last week from the East Coast to spend the long President's Day weekend with us.
Saturday was WARM, so after I got back from my Team in Training run, we took the kids for a walk around a local lake while Craig got in his run by lapping us several times. Then the kids took Grandpa to their favorite sushi resturaunt. By the time we were done, the table was littered with empty sushi plates and grandpa was thuroughly impressed with both the quantity and variety of sushi the kidos managed to pack away. (I wish I had remembered my camera!!) The rest of the day was spent napping, playing cards...


...and playing a little Wii Tennis.

On Sunday we headed up to Mount Hood...we had our skis, but were a bit concerned about the weather and the rain. The last week or so had not been good for the slopes. As we reached the turn-off for Timberline ski area, it was still raining! But about 2 miles from the parking lot it switched to snow, so our ski day was saved.

Despite the wind blowing snow and sleet at us all day, the conditions were quite a bit better than I had tought they would be. With several inches of fresh snow, we got some good powder runs in, and despite the fact that the top of the mountain was closed, I think we all got a good skiing fix.
We met up with our friends C and M at the lodge so that the boys could snowboard together.


A is on the left...its kind of hard to tell with all the gear on!)

I am most proud of W's ski day. For the past year, she has been really trying to learn to snow board and decided after our last trip to the mountain that enough was enough!! So on Sunday she strapped on skis for the first time and had a blast!! After her morning lesson, during which she wowed her instructor with her quick learning, we took her to some more challanging slopes, and she did great!

I even got to ski a bit with K after I picked her up from her all day ski school.

We closed the weekend with chocloate birthday cake with fudgy frosting goodness !!

Happy Birthday Grandpa

I was going to show you...

I was going to write about our great weekend with my Dad...

I was going to show you pictures of the kids skiing and snowboarding and bowling with their Grandpa...

And for those interesed in knitting I was going to show off some new hats and sweaters in progress...

But I have been having a few technical difficulties.
I thought this book might help...
But no. At least my tech support guy got back home yesterday. Maybe he can help me sort out some of my digital issues.

Team in Training

So, I have decided to run a 1/2 marathon this spring.

Yeah...that is WAY longer than I have EVER run before. So far in my running career, the longest I have run is 5 miles. 13 miles is going to be a BIG stretch for me. Both physically and mentally.

I have joined my local Team in Training group to help me reach my goal. In exchange for their training and support, I am raising money for the Leukimia and Lymphoma Society.
Please check out my fundraising page if you would like to make a donation. http://www.active.com/donate/tntor/tntorBSunada
I am already more than 1/3 of the way to my fundraising goal of $1,500!! (Thanks so much to those of you who have alreay "joined my team"!! )

I have to say that Team in Training is one well organised group. At every point in the process so far, I have been very impressed with this organization. They really know how to get beginner long distance folks like me up to speed. And they really know how to fundraise!

My training is going quite well so far. I run on my own 3 times a week and head over to Portland for a "long-run" with the team on saturday mornings. This weekend we did 4 miles...next weekend we will run 5 miles...then 6...and so on untill we are ready to do our race on April 15th.

I am trying not to think too much about the final distance...and how long it will take me to run it at my slow (but steady!) 11 minute/mile pace. I just keep trusting the team coach and believing in the fact that when the time comes, I will be ready for the distance. Meanwhile...I better get out and run today! This is exactally the kick in the pants I needed!

hats, hats, hats!!!

I had some new knitting techniques I wanted to learn...and I have two snowboarders and one little skier who needed warm hats to wear. Put it all together and I give you a family of hats.




First up is A's Three Cable Hat.

I wanted to work on cabeling with out a cable needle, but needed to keep the hat relatively plain to suit the boy's wishes.
I have to admit that I totally faked the top of this hat. After looking at several basic hat directions, I just kind of mushed them together...and it worked pretty well if I do say so myself. I am particularly pleased with the way the cables continue up to the top.

K's Color Hat is the first stranded (or "fairisle") work I have done. I couldn't find simple pattern on line so I just made it up as I went along. It turns out that the actual knitting of this kind of knitting is not as hard as I thought...but I assume it will feel harder once I get ino the world of following complicated charts.

For W's Periwinkle Diamond hat I wanted to do something different. So rather than cables she got a purl stitch pattern. This was a lot of fun to work out. The top of this hat was inspired by looking at other hats, but again done with out a pattern. It is basically four evenly spaced decreases done as you would for the toe of a sock.







These are my first knitted hats. For some reason I had previously had absoloutly no interest in making hats...I thought they would be boring! But that was because I was thinking about plain old hats. Now I have discovered that not only do hats make up super fast, but they are also a great way to get creative with different techniques. I see many more hats in my future!

Knitting for charity

Well, I am still learning about this Html crap. I tried like the dickens to get a button on my side bar for Knit Unto Others to have an active link, but I just couldnt figure out how to do it. I got the button...I got a link...I just couldn't figure out how to make the button BE the link.

Any way, I am getting together a few folks, including my daughters, to knit for various charities this fall. Not a huge thing, but I like the idea that we can spend a little bit of time making something that will help people in need. (Yes, I know there are lots of other ways we could help too, but this feels more active than just donating money...which we are doing as well.)

We are knitting for Caps to the Capital a project run by Save the Children and the Red Scarf Project which created care packages for kids who have "graduated" from the foster care system.

The coolest thing is the way that W and K are really digging the idea of making hats for the little babies! They are working with the "Knifty Knitter" looms, which are much easier for little hands than trying to manage real knitting needles. They both work at their projects when they are hanging out waiting for class at Kung-fu or when they are watching TV...It is super cute!!

I am currently working on my Red Scarf using this free pattern. I am also working on a couple of things for myself...A cool lace wrap called Cozy and the sleeves for my blue cardi (which is turning out quite different than i expected, but I think like it!). I really want to get started on another sweater, but think I better finish at least one of these projects before I move on to something else!

Some silly little quizzes

Wow, I never really thought I had an accent...but this quiz got me pegged big time!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West
The Midland
North Central
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

I guess my roots are showing

Dude! You're 83% from Massachusetts!

Okay, either you come from the western half of the state or from the Boston area. Still, it's not bad, so I'll give you the thumbs up. Cool!

How Massachusetts are you?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

But... at least I'm not stupid!

You are 18% STUPID!

You're not a complete moron, but you're definitely on your way if you don't watch out. Beware of brain farts!

How Stupid Are You???
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But, Wendy made me take this quiz... now I don't feel quite as good.

You are 41% sucky as a person

Your a bit lame. What the hell is wrong with you? You want to cry?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do You Suck As A Person?
Create a Quiz