Africa trip part 1

Susie and i took most of December to go to Africa to visit mom and dad (Friberg) before they retire from being missionaries there. I had great plans of blogging every couple days while we were on the trip, but Internet access was a bit of a problem, so i'm going to do a little catch-up work and hopefully will recall any details i need.



We flew out of PDX on December 2nd and met up with Toby and Lynne'e at LAX. Air France had the cheapest air fare, so we headed to Paris for a 12 hour layover on our way to Johannesburg. On a side note, i was quite pleased with Air France. We flew on Boeing 777-300's which i think are the newest of the 777 family. The service was excellent and the food was good. I'd fly with them again.



The flight to Paris was around 10 1/2 hours and none of us really slept that much. The seats on the plane were fairly comfortable, and all things considered, there was enough leg room, but those seats are clearly not made for adults to be able to sleep in. I sat next to a German guy that was coming back from the SEMA auto show. He works in Italy for Lamborghini - i want his job.
We made it to Paris in one piece, and had around 12 hours to do some sight seeing. One of the other passengers gave us some tips on how to get around on the subway, so we plotted a course and headed out to see the City of Lights.



Paris was chilly and raining on and off, but not bad enough of either that it stopped us from doing our tour. Warmer clothes would have been a wise choice, but since we were on our way to summer in South Africa, our wardrobes were a little slim.



We caught the subway into town and wandered around in search of something to eat. We found a small cafe and headed in to get out of the rain. Right across from the cafe were these Christmas trees - it seemed funny that in the middle of Paris we would find Christmas trees for sale, but there they were, and were priced around 70 Euro each (around $100).



After a light lunch, we decided to go to Notre Dame. We asked directions and somehow in the translation i snuck a 'si' in which the French cafe owner understood, but thought was very funny that i didn't use an 'oui'.



The directions were a little vague, i suppose there might have been some steps lost in translation, but eventually we found it.



It seemed a little sacrilegious to take pictures in a church, but it was quite awesome in there. This is one of the two huge stained glass windows that are approximately in the center of the cathedral.

After Notre Dame, we headed to the Eiffel Tower - i'll put that in a new post ...

Announcing "Sparkle Avenger"

Sparkle Avenger
I'm going to post the few pictures of the WOU Gladiator Challenge and let Mike do the commentary since he viewed the event from the stands. He'll give you the spectator's perspective. Here is the pose I chose when I was introduced. As you can see it needs some work. The ending stance is more in line of "Walk Like an Egyptian" not a Gladiator.

The Finished Look

I thought Mike had posted the final touches of the sink hardware. Here it is. The faucet is a good match with the decor. All Mike needs to do now is caulk the baseboards and put in a door plate between the carpet and the travertine. Maybe this weekend.

It is finished...almost

Holy Cow! Look at the master bath. What can I say, Mike and I are good, although we did have help from friends. The counter came today and we can assemble the faucets tomorrow. The only question that remains is lighting. I don't know if the pictures will turn out, but you can put your vote in for what lights you like best.
It is beautiful!

Mike's 35th Birthday

I must say that Mike is a spoiled man. His birthday fell on a Tuesday and on Friday he was still celebrating. Lucky guy! Here are some of the top pics.
At home, we celebrated with Banger and Mash, a favorite of Mike's. He had the privaledge of eating from the "blue plate" and enjoyed his meal. It was followed by some cheese cake.




We went to Sybaris, a locally owned restaurant, to feast upon the delicacies. This year they didn't do the "Octoberfest" which was a bit of a disappointment. The food was still fabulous, and Mike got to wear the Happy Birthday glasses.


Our friends Josh and Jess were with us to celebrate the night. We were a jovial foursome and greeted the two older couples next to us. The sweet older lady asked Mike to come closer so she could get a good look before guessing his age of...25. Pst! Mike, of course, quickly agreed with her.

Sturgeon fishing on the Columbia

In April Susie and i went to an auction for the school that is a part of our church. One of the item to bid on was a full day of fishing - our choice as to the time, location and type of fishing to be done. We talked to G Brown - the sponsor of the trip and determined that Sturgeon fishing was the deal. So yesterday morning, we started out pretty early and met G Brown and Kevin (his fishing partner / deck hand) and headed up to the Columbia.



Neither Susie nor i have ever been Sturgeon fishing, so it was a great new experience. G Brown has a 20' jet boat and it had one of the best engines i've ever heard! He uses the boat for all kinds of fishing, and likes to use it as a ministry. He often takes kids from under-privileged homes out, and is a staple for the ACS auction. He's a model for taking this things he's been blessed with and using them to bless others. It was a pleasure being out on the river with him and Kevin.



We started fishing at some seemingly random spot on the river and almost immediately after Susie had put her line in the water, she got a bite. We all watched anxiously for a follow-on nibble, but no dice.



After almost an hour in that spot, one of the lines started bouncing, so elbowed my way past Susie and grabbed the fishing rod. We had been instructed to set the hook like we mean it, so i gave it a grand jerk and started reeling the bad boy in. It didn't take all that long, but it was a fun reel. I could feel that he wasn't a huge fish since i was able to muscle him when i wanted to. I got him to the boat fairly easily and we popped him into the boat to see if he was a keeper. Keeper length is 46" and he was slightly under 40", so we took a couple pics and released him back into the water. (ok, i'm kidding about the elbowing, but it makes for a better story.)



Unfortunately that was the only fish we caught all day. We got a couple other nibbles, but none that resulted in a fish. We changed spots a couple times and saw a couple other boats bring in fish. About mid-afternoon the wind came on strong and started whipping up whitecaps, so we packed it up and headed in. It sure was fun being out on the water and away from work for the day. It was also great to meet and fish with G Brown and Kevin.

Building the vanity

I really enjoy working on woodworking projects in the garage. I'd enjoy them more if i had a great big shop and i didn't have to shuffle the cars and tools in and out of the garage, but i'm not complaining too loudly. One problem though, for the most part, i'm not the best woodworker out there - i can get things done, but not always to exacting specifications. So when we started working on the bathroom remodel, i secured the services of one Josh P Williams; although he managed to avoid the camera lens.

Josh flew in on a Friday night and after some Saturday morning planning we headed to Home Depot and then on to the Hardwood Center. A couple hundred dollars later and we were back to the garage and ready to get to work.



The overall design came from a picture in Pottery Barn that Susie found. Needless to say, it was very cool, but would have left a hefty dent in the savings account.



We used Alder wood since we knew we were going to stain it. It turned out to be the least-expensive of the woods we found but still were able to find some good sections of the right thickness. I've never used Alder before, but it quickly became a wood that i'd use again in a heartbeat. It cut really well and has a beautiful grain. In a way it's a shame to stain it, but for what we want, we need a really dark color.



If you thought the last picture i posted of the mess a planer makes was impressive, just take a look at that pile!!! We ran most of the boards through to get them to an equal size. It made for a great pile of sawdust (which i now surrounding the blue berry bushes).



It took about 2 days to make the vanity, with a couple breaks for fun stuff in between.



The next steps are to stain and finish the vanity, install it in the bathroom, then call the counter-top guys to come measure for a new top.

Josh - thanks again for your help, it looks awesome!

Remodeling the bathroom

This topic will take a few posts to cover - but a bathroom remodel is an obvious choice for something to blog!

A while back we decided that the master bath needed a little freshening up - so it started out with a simple removal of the wall-length mirror being replaced by two smaller mirrors. Of course nothing around here ends with a simple mirror change - with or without smoke, so we took the next step last weekend and started tearing out the old sinks and the flooring - note exhibit A.

(Exhibit A)


Exhibit B proves that i can't claim all the work. Susie is all about demolition - the rubber mallet is never far from her reach.



We didn't get any pictures, but Josh Smith is my tiling expert, so he was brought in to help get things kicked off. We added a wrinkle of adding under-floor heating. It was about this point in the process that i noticed a warning label on the heating strip that said to test the resistance of the strip BEFORE, during and after installation. Let's hope that AFTER will suffice ...



Susie can read Japanese words in the tape work.



I got the finishing touching in place and then grouted the tiles.



This next weekend Josh Williams is going to be here to help out with building a new sink cabinet base. I'll try to get some pictures of that ...

Ned, the Killer Beast!!

Ned is growing up. He's come along way from kittyhood, where he bonked his head on the chair more than a few times, didn't know how to chase and sneak up on things to adult kittyhood where he has successfully had his first kill. Lucy, you may remember, use to bring us love gifts of shrews and snakes when she was alive. Ned is now successfully following in his big sister's steps with field mice and shrews. We are so proud! ha ha! He hasn't got the full handle on things; he left one alive and we had to scoop it up in a bag and dump it over the fence. He's learning though.

New York, New York

As you all may or may not know, it is one of Mike's goals to make it to all the Major League Baseball Stadiums. Since Yankee Stadium is to be demolished at the end of this season, we decided that this year would be the perfect time to go see a game, catch a Broadway show, see Lady Liberty and have some fun. So that is what we did.



Mike was a bit tentative about going to a Broadway show, but I was persistent. No way was I NOT going to a Broadway show while in NY. I guess one might call that selfish, but I don't care. When in NY go to a Broadway show. The first night we started with a classic "A Chorus Line." The second night, after Mike was hooked, we saw a more contemporary show, "Avenue Q." It really is The Muppets and Sesame Street wrapped in one. Hilarious!


 

HILLMANS AT THE COAST

My brother Mike found this cool trail that was 2.7 mile in and out. The crew trekked down to the Hart's Cove to see the water fall and the scenery. It was beautiful! Besides being 5.4 mile round trip without a lot of water and no snacks for the younger crew, it was great. I think Alyce got Mexican out of the deal.

Newport Aquarium
These are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend. This was a cool "old school" diving gear. We all got in it and put our faces in the helmet. Fun stuff. Mike's snapshot is hilarious to me. All you see is cheeks. Love you brother.

Independence Day Fun Run

My friend Jill one day posed the question to me about running in a marathon, specifically the Portland Marathon in October. Of course once she mentioned it I couldn't get if off my brain. We both signed up. However since then injuries have sidelined us to short distances. To challenge ourselves we decided to run in the Independence Day Fun Run from Monmouth to Independence. It was great fun. We're still trying to figure out the marathon thing.


This photo is irreplaceable. I started skipping for the crowd who gathered to provide a bit of entertainment. The resulting picture is a "classic susie."



This is at the beginning of the race. It is pretty cool. The race happens before the parade so the streets are filling up with residence who have come to see the parade. They start saving seats the day before. It is serious business. Josh, Jess, Brayden,Abby (with signs held high) Mike, Lyda, and Shelia were all cheering us on.




Of course Mike wanted to know what it was like to walk down the middle of the street. He and Lyda strolled down Main Street gleaming with pride.

A Ned for all seasons

This post is about Ned ... the cat. Every year he starts slowing down as the summer starts heating up. He's a short-haired cat, but it's pretty dense fur and it's not too heat-friendly. We like our kitties playful and energetic, so when he starts slowing down, we send him to the beauty parlor to get a trim. This year we found a new place not too far from us that does kitty grooming, so we took him in about a week ago. He's not one for riding in his carrier and he made sure that i knew that dislike had not changed over time. We got to the grooming place and i was chatting with the lady behind the counter about what the expectations from the quaff touchup were. She mentioned that the 'lion cut' was an option ... i looked at Ned and he gave the thumb's up (it was more of a mournful meow, but i'm pretty sure it meant 'gideup').
It took the beast a couple days to forgive me for dropping him off at the hands of the shearers, but he has a new and youthful spring to his step, is chasing stuff in the evening and prances around like a tiger out of his cage. To document the occasion, i took a few pictures of him - unfortunately none of the 'before' state, but a couple of the after - i hope you enjoy.





Shadow cat ...



Don't try sneaking up on me, i'll eat you for dinner. Notice my tail poof, it's very tough.



I'm outta here you losers!



Leave me be - i'm sharpening my meditation skills