Ba de ya - Say do you remember. Ba de ya - Dancin' in September. Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day....Ah, September, the month of Cycle Oregon, Jada's birthday, and one of my favorite Earth, Wind, and Fire songs.
On September 2, Ellen and I rode our bikes (she on her own, and me on my own) home from soccer practice. It was 4 miles on bike laned roads. She did pretty well making it all the way up to our street which is a climb in itself. She even tried to make it up our hill, but she wasn't up to it just yet. There was just one road that I'll skip next time we try this.
September 3 was Ellen, Phoebe, and Jada's meet the teacher (or students in Jada's case). We dropped off the supplies and filled out forms. The girls were very excited to see their friends again that they hadn't seen in while, and even the ones that they had seen just the day before. Phoebe and I had to leave early to get her to her make-up guitar class. The teacher hadn't been able to make the last class, so it got rescheduled to this evening. We ate some food at the bbq and took off to get to class in time. Only 4 kids were there for the last class quiz. Phoebe did well on answering the questions, and she even was able to play her rock and roll songs without too much hesitation between chord changes on "You can't always get what you want" and "Wild Thing".
Something that I had forgotten to mention before is that Ellen has been taking care of her own showers for the last couple months with us only helping on hair shampooing during the swim class season, and even only once a week then. It's nice to finally be done with that. Phoebe's not far behind as we're only helping with the hair now.
Saturday morning, the first day of labor day weekend, saw rain. I've been watching the forecasts for southern Oregon too to see what to expect. One forecast had it raining the entire Cycle Oregon week, but checking the same site later in the day showed only 1 day which is pretty typical for CO. It rained most of the morning, but cleared off in the late afternoon. We spent all day doing errands except for a quick nap in the morning while I was watching the Vuelta a Espania. We were able to get the girls in for hair cuts in the afternoon even though we didn't have appointments, we just had to wait until there was an opening. We got lucky, and we only had to wait for an hour. Since we were in the neighborhood, we were able to stop by Gramma's for a quick visit.
Sunday was rainy again. We had breakfast at home, and since I didn't want to ride in the rain (my bike was still freshly cleaned from my last tune up, so I didn't want to get it dirty so soon) I went into work for a couple hours so I wouldn't have to go in on Labor Day. When I got home, Jada went in to school to get some work done with Ellen as a helper while Phoebe and I stayed home. Phoebe played with all of our building type toys (Mobilos, Wedgits) while I spent some time re-acquainting myself with my tent. When I got it up, I found that there was mold all down one side on the inside. I looked online to see what could clean it, but there isn't much that can be done about it. I can probably get it under control, but the stain will always be there. With my asthma and alergies, it's not something that I'll want to be sleeping in. Perhaps another time when I have some gumption, I can try to clean it up enough to take to Goodwill. I left it airing while I put a new tire on my Specialized to get ready for CO. I also went looking for a new tent online. Lucky for me, the Labor Day sale was still going on at REI so I found a tent on sale that I had seen in the store a couple weeks ago I thought would work well if I ever needed a new tent. When Jada got home, it was time to go over to our friend's house for a Labor Day back to school get together. We had individual pizzas and played some games.
Monday morning was rainy again, but I had to go for a bike ride this day to get a final warm up in for next week. We started off with a trip to the Streets of Tannesbourne to visit REI to pick up the tent. They had a few left still, but they were out of the foot prints that go underneath it. I was able to order one online so it would get here this week. Jada was able to pick up a few school clothes for cooler weather. I was fortunate that the weather held for me the whole time I was out. I rode to Bald Peak state park because it was quite steep and a good climb. I was heading down the back side toward Newberg so I could climb Chehalem Mountain next, but there was a huge dog in the road, and it was looking down the road at me. I let several cars go by to try to scare it off the road, but it wasn't moving. I finally got off the road enough to let the cars by, but I could still see it. It was still watching me. I decided it wasn't worth it, and I turned around and started climbing back up Bald Peak to back track and decide on a new route. I still managed to get 45 miles in, so that was pretty good. We spent the time before putting the girls to bed making lunches and getting the garbage out. After they went to bed, I spent an hour pulling together all my CO stuff to get ready to pack. I don't want to repeat every other time where I'm up too late the night before I leave trying to get everything together.
Tuesday morning was the first day of school. I took the girls so that I could walk them to their new classrooms. They were very excited to go to school today. They were excited to talk about the day too. I don't know how long Ellen talked to Gramma on the phone about her day. The girls have been helpful in making their lunches the night before too. Ellen made all of our sandwiches Monday night, and she did it again Tuesday night. Hopefully that'll continue. That's nice. Phoebe was exhausted at the end of her day. She was oscillating between happy and screamy. She just couldn't keep it together until bed time.
Wednesday night after soccer practice, Ellen and I rode home again. She was much more confident this time, and the ride was a little less stressful as a result. She made it up a steep hill near our house (we went in the back way to avoid the narrow, 2-lane road with no shoulders that leads to our street) without needing to walk. I just broke it down into sections for her that should could make. She said her legs were tired, but she was proud of herself for making it.
Thursday night I spent time putting together my stuff for Cycle Oregon so I wouldn't have to do as much Friday night. As it turns out, it's a good thing that I did since Friday night our friend Pete came over to visit.
Saturday was a packed morning. We made it to the farmer's market and to Ellen's soccer game at 9am clear across town. Ellen played well scoring a three goals, but she had some orange slices at half time which were enough to throw her over the edge and make her a bit surly on the field for a bit in the second half. I pulled her out to calm down, and then she was much better. After we got out of there, we had just enough time to get over to where the team pictures were happening at 11:15am. I ended up getting out on the road for Medford, OR around 12:45pm, but the rest of that story will be here in my Cycle Oregon 22 journal. Phoebe had her soccer game in the afternoon on Saturday, and I'll let Jada finish the weekend and talk about the week while I was gone.
Sunday we grocery shopped, visited Gram, and went for a walk at the new Cooper Mountain Nature Park. We probably walked about 2 miles. The girls had a great time then we headed home for "brinner." I made eggs, bacon and pancakes for dinner and even made extras so I could just heat up at least one breakfast. Before Dave left town, he made extra big portions of oatmeal, so that I could have another few easy breakfasts. I also taught Ellen how to make her own protein shakes. I was all about making breakfast easy, since that is usually Dave's job.
Monday was my birthday, so Dave arranged for me to have a gift waiting for me on the front porch after work. It is a beautiful sweater that I will be able to wear as soon as the weather gets a little cooler. We have had anywhere from 60-90 degree temperatures lately, so it should be here soon. I had to attend a union meeting that night-the girls skipped soccer practice since I couldn't do everything-and two friends at the meeting slipped me birthday gifts. I received a couple of books to help with future visits to "literary sites," and a large slice of chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting. Took me two nights to eat it, and it was fantastic. Dave was out of cell range, so I got a message from a payphone in California and then did not hear from him again for 2 days!
Meanwhile, the kids and I had a busy week of soccer, piano lessons, and finally soccer games and the Beaverton Parade on Saturday. I drove the carpool to Ellen's soccer game while Phoebe attended the parade with other parent and a younger sibling. After the game, I walked Ellen and her buddy to the parade for the last 30 minutes. It looked like everyone was having a great time, even with the downpour that lasted throughout the duration of the parade. In the afternoon it was off to Phoebe's game and wait for Dave's return. Both Phoebe and Ellen had great games, scoring goals and passing well. It is becoming more and more fun to watch them play.
I returned on Saturday afternoon of the 19th. Sunday, we had to get all the errands done that Jada wasn't able to get done on Saturday because of soccer games. So that included grocery shopping at 2 stores in the morning after going out to eat due to an issue of not enough eggs for our breakfast. Laundry had to get done, and further errands in the afternoon including a stop by Gramma's. In the evening, as we were sitting down to watch the TV and catch up with my parents who also just got back from a trip of their own, the aforementioned TV started behaving badly. It should be mentioned that for the last year or so, we didn't have a working remote control, so we had to turn it on or switch over to DVD using the tiny buttons on the front of the TV. This is, by the way, a 14 year old Magnavox 28" tube TV, so I'm sure we way out stripped the standard recommended functional life. Anyway, for the last 3 weeks or so, it has taken 10 minutes at least to get the tube warmed up so it wouldn't roll any more. Well, on this night, it came to a point where the picture was only clearly viewable for about 30 minutes. So, we decided that maybe it was time to get a new TV. But not tonight.
Monday morning, I rode my bike with Ellen to school. She is doing a better job all the time. I had promised that we'd try it at least once this year, and since the weather was supposed to be decent, it was this day. Jada and Phoebe met us over at the school since it was still too early to be on the playground by about 10 minutes. I managed to get to work just before my 8:30am meeting started. During the day at work, I felt a little off. I wasn't sore from Cycle Oregon...oddly so, I thought. The ride into work barely registered as strenuous at all. This was more of a flu-like feeling of a touch of dizzyness, feeling cold (which happens often after lunch time when the AC in the build kicks into high gear on hot days), and many trips to the bathroom. I pushed through the day and left early to meet up with everyone for Ellen's soccer practice. I made it through that too, and Ellen and I rode our bikes home again. I ran some errands in the evening including getting a new TV that'll fit into our space and dropping off some meds for Gramma. I slept hard all night, and in the morning, I still didn't feel all that good. I felt week and dizzy and wiped out so I stayed home from work, and stayed in bed from the time Jada and girls left for school until around 1pm. It turns out I didn't miss the stomach virus that had gone around Cycle Oregon last week after all. Luckily, the information that they sent out said that it has only been sticking around for a day or two, so I should be better soon.
I stayed home Wednesday as well since I didn't eat all that much or drink all the much the day before, I wasn't in much better shape. I made sure to drink more, but I was still hesitant to eat more than necessary to keep me alive. I napped all morning again. This is not the way I wanted to spend my week back. I'm wasting the fitness level I had achieved during the week on the bike. I took the girls to their soccer practices. Though I think I'm going to be fired from the carpool for accidentally delivering 2 other girls to the wrong field. Ellen and Phoebe practice in different places, but we have a few siblings on the teams, so I had volunteered to bring a couple of the girls over to the other field after our practice was done. The last time I had done that, it was at a different field than it is now, and I went there first. I recovered, but we were really late getting to the actual field. I felt horrible about that since it meant that not only Phoebe, but 2 other moms had to wait with their kids for 15 extra minutes. Just terrible.
Thursday I was back to work, but I had to leave early to pick up the girls from piano. Jada was teaching a TAG class for other teachers at the district. Friday was just tiring for me. Ellen passed her first spelling test including the challenge words. Both the girls got started on their maps.
Saturday was back to soccer all day. Ellen took her first turn in goal for her team. She did pretty well even taking one off the face, but she didn't cry or want to come out. We went over to Gramma's and shared some lunch over there. Phoebe's game was in the afternoon. Straight off the opening kickoff, Phoebe dribbled the ball straight down field and scored. She had a more inconsistent second half after she stepped on the ball and hurt herself a little bit. Late in the afternoon, we enjoyed a wonderful bbq with some friends. Phoebe raided their garden for pears and tomatoes. We made quite the haul. It was a great time relaxing with a bunch of friends we just don't see as much any more. Many of the couples now have small children. They're where we were 7 years ago still attending get togethers whenever we could, and leaving early to get the kids home before they melted down.
Sunday we had to get our shopping done because of our hectic Saturday schedule. It was a beautiful day, but we spent it at home getting the house cleaned before the fall really started. We just didn't realize how soon fall would start.
Monday was the day Mother Nature decided it was time for fall. The temperature dropped into the 50's and stayed there bringing with it some light showers and high winds in the afternoon during soccer practice. Ellen and I rode our bikes home from practice since I had taken the van into the shop to get the rear bumper replaced after Jada was rear ended while I was out of town. The nice thing is that it also finally gave us the opportunity to fix the front of the van where my bike had fallen on it in the garage. Tuesday brought more rain and cooler morning temperatures. I actually had to wear my rain coat on my bike for the first time in I can't remember how long. Finally Wednesday touched the 60's in the afternoon when the sun tried to break out a little bit to bring September to a close. I picked up the van from the shop and paid for my part of the damage. Then I met up with Ellen over at soccer practice. Unfortunately, Ellen took her first inadvertent elbow to the bridge of her nose. It bloodied her nose, and she was embarrassed that it brought tears to her eyes and took her away from practice while we got the bleeding stopped. But she wanted to get right back in there to play. I had her put ice on it when she got home, but it looks like she'll pull through. I told her about how I get popped at least a couple times every basketball season and because of the location it almost always brings tears to my eyes. The important thing is she got back in there to play again, and she didn't let it stop her.
Journal entry: September 30, 2009