Tag: Portland Oregon

One Saturday in May

Slow start this morning.

Slept in until 8.  Unusual for me.

Now on my second cup of coffee.

Cloudy skies, cold and damp outside. 

My dog is sleeping by the fire.

This could be a dreary day.

I can’t give in.  

My antidote

Turn on lights,

Tune into some happy, upbeat music.

Do little household projects to get moving.

Dust and water inside plants.

Text my sons.

Text my friends. 

Send a thank you note to the emergency clinic staff who saved my dog’s life.  

Send a thank you note to my two new doctors who are taking excellent care of me.  

Play with my dog.

Gather my art materials and create a masterpiece. 🙂

Wow!   So many ways to feel happy, connected and creative.  

It’s amazing— just writing this post energized me.  

Happy day to my blogging buddies! What are you doing today?

~Lori

Kindness from a stranger

It’s funny how you remember people. 

Take Linda.

I thought of her today.

She is not a friend, a neighbor, not  even an acquaintance. 

Her number is not in my phone.

I don’t know what she looks like, who her children are, if any.

She is a random person in my life from years ago. 

I had one encounter with her. 

I don’t remember where it was.

I  remember the day.*

I remember her talking to me. 

I did not answer.  I may have nodded.  I’m not sure.

My head hurt.  

I felt weightless. There was nothing tying me to earth. 

Her words came from a distance.  

You have  tough times ahead. You must take care of yourself.

Over the years I have often remembered her words. 

Unsolicited, barely acknowledged,

Granting  permission to rest a bit, 

To give up being in charge, in control, always needing a plan.

She reached out to a stranger in pain, in shock.

I am grateful.

~Lori

*The day I  learned my Husband had a year left to live.  In writing this post I wondered what made me think of Linda. Then I realized, tomorrow is his birthday.

Springtime in Portland

Cherry Blossoms ~Photo Lori Greer in Portland~

So pretty to look at!

I love seeing all of the trees, plants and flowers starting to bloom.

However, this is why I generally stay indoors with my windows closed.

This is why I take an antihistamine daily. It helps but I still feel terrible at times.

New carpet

Adding more pain this year is my new carpet.

After the installation almost a month ago, I still find tiny bits of fabric everywhere.

There also is a fine layer of dust everywhere.

I am cleaning everyday and know that “this too shall pass” but feel really drained.

Argh!

Adding more insults, I washed two Helly Hansen jackets so that I could put them away for the summer. The upshot was that there is now a fine scattering of lint (?) all over the jackets and, worse, all over my washing machine. I believe that the lining on one of the jackets may have disintegrated.

I have run the rinse cycle several times, wiped out the drum with paper towels and a sheet from a lint remover.

Thinking that the problem was resolved I washed some clothes only to have them covered in this fine lint.

Short of buying a new wardrobe and a new washing machine, I shall have to keep a lint remover with me at all times.

Truly small problems in light of the world today.

Time for a cup of tea and then soldier on!

A little spirit

A true story.

A five-year old girl grabbed her Dad’s whiskey and tried to gulp it down like the cowboys do in the westerns.

Furious, her Dad yelled, “Don’t spit it out! Swallow it!”

With tears in her eyes, she choked it down, gagging and crying.

Not a nice Dad in my opinion.

The little girl is now a grown woman with grown sons of her own.

She is a great mother.

Her Dad was always tough with his three children.

He was still alive when she told me this story. More than once I witnessed him being mean to his children and grandchildren.

I was not intimidated by him and found the presence of mind not to respond when he tried to bait me.

But when he was mean to my children, I put on my boxing gloves.

I stood up and went over to my children. I took them each by the hand.

I ignored the old man.

I spoke loudly and firmly to my little boys. I told them that he was a bully and that they should ignore him.

Having said that, I glared at the old man. He said nothing.

Even to this day my grown sons will laugh about the time Mom “took on this old man”.

It was a departure from everything I had been taught about treating my elders with respect.

Years later, thinking about his behavior still makes me angry.

My friend never had a good relationship with her father.

She is a wonderful artist and a really kind person.

Yes!

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Auf wiedersehen, Dilbar!

The Germans seized the super luxury yacht of sanctioned Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. At 512 feet in length, the Dilbar is one of the world’s largest yachts, complete with a swimming pool, a 30,000kw diesel-electric power plant, two helicopter pads, a sauna, a beauty salon, and a gym.

~Photo by Matti, Pexels.com~

Miss Riley

My dog has a more active social life than I do!

But then again, she is a sassy, young girl!

Riley is fifteen months old. Well-behaved, but has her moments.

Then again, don’t we all??

Life is very short indeed

John Lennon Oct 9, 2021 – Dec 8, 2021

Who needs sleep?

I should have known that I was tempting fate when I set my alarm for 8 A.M. today.

Sure enough Riley was up at 5, “requesting” my attention.

I had to get up…

I carefully made my way down the stairs and opened the door to the back garden.

A few minutes later she was back in the house.

I foolishly thought we would go back to sleep.  

To her credit, she did lie down but just could not settle into sleep.

A few puppy kisses later, I was up for the day at 5:30.

She went outside again and I made coffee.

Now she is asleep by the fire.

Thanksgiving Morning 2021
Riley snoozing by the fire.

I am wide awake sipping coffee earlier than I had planned.  

I heard a train’s whistle blow as it passed.

At least someone else is awake!

How it is

I learned years ago with my children that I had to adjust my life to meet their needs.

Some were easy adjustments, others more demanding.  

Such is the price of loving and caring for others.  

Have a wonderful day!

~Lori

A small victory

Another foggy cold morning.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee enticed me from my warm bed.

It felt wonderful to enjoy a cup of hot coffee while sitting in front of the fire in my living room.   It was still dark outside and so quiet. 

A long leisurely morning was not in the cards as I had to leave early for the gym.

Driving there I noticed that my tire pressure readings were 32 per tire.  

I know very little about tire pressure but I was nervous because 35 is the recommended tire pressure.  I could just see me with a blow-out waiting for AAA on a really cold morning.  

Also, I had planned a quick jaunt down the freeway later in the morning so this had to be resolved before I left home again.  

Photo by u0412u043bu0430u0434u0438u043cu0438u0440 u0413u043bu0430u0434u043au043eu0432 on Pexels.com

At the gym my trainer worked me very hard as she was leaving for Japan for a couple of weeks.  This took my mind off the problem.

Back in the car, one tire pressure had risen to 33…some improvement.  Still, this was not enough to risk driving on the freeway. 

So, driving home from the gym, I stopped by the local Shell station.  As the attendant filled my tank, I asked her if she could help me put pressure in my tires.  A skill not in my repertoire!

Long story short, she was so gracious and helped me fill all of the tires.  I learned how to use the machine…easy peasy!   I was so grateful to her!  I felt so empowered!

This was a little victory that had a big impact on my day.  It was a joy to drive knowing that my tires were fully inflated!

~Photo from Pexels.com~ This is not me. I dressed in warm layers and sensible shoes on this cold day.

Boo boo butt

Buying books for children leads to wonderful discoveries such as The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak.

Read this delightful book to a child, or better yet, a passel of children.

~Photo Lori Greer in Portland~

I laughed out load reading this book.  

Check out the YouTube video of the author B.J. Novak reading from his book  to a group of kids. 

You really should read this! The child in you will love it.

Don’t be a boo boo butt!!

Note: You may recall B.J. Novak as one of the writers of the American version of the hit tv show The Office.