19 Things About My Trip to Oregon

We got back from our Camp Yamhill and Vicinity World Tour a couple of days ago, and it took me all day (at work--yes, I'm a slacker) to catch up with everything that's been going on in our blogmunity. I noticed a couple "19 Things About Me" posts, so I thought I'd steal that, put a spin on it, and use it for my "What I Did This Summer" post.

1. We didn't get to leave Idaho on time because we had a dead battery. (The infamous Frost Car Karma strikes again.) But Triple A saved the day.

2. We got to eat at The Original Taco House not once but twice. YAY! We also tried to invite all our Renovatus friends to join us at Stark Street Pizza on Sunday night, but they had a better party to go to. We did get to hang with our totally awesome friend Tom, and later Matt and Steve from Underground Railroad of my Mind, though. So that was cool.

3. The burden on my heart got a little lighter when I discovered that Taco House can deliver their food to Maryland for just the cost of the food and the FedEx.

4. My parents' cat is hilariously well-endowed in the testicular region. Nothing makes Killer laugh harder than the sight of Sparky after a long absence. I know Bob Barker wants me to get him fixed, but it would be a crime to destroy a monument like that. I'm pretty sure he belongs in the Guiness Book of World Records.

5. I got to see Tabitha and Rebecca Marie twice. Suck on it, Sucka!

6. I got to meet Rebecca Marie's Mister. He's very cute. Pretty eyes. Nice, too. I won't say more because I don't want Rebecca Marie to feel like she needs to protect her territory. I'm very happy with Killer Kortan, thanks.

7. Rebecca Marie can't understand how Ty has dodged the marriage bullet so long. She thinks he's cute and has a certain "sumpin sumpin." She said that Ty is lucky that she's already married or he'd "be in trouble." That made me laugh. And also gave me a little hope that maybe some other (single) girl in the world will think the same thing and I might have blood-related nieces and nephews some sweet day.

8. It was wicked, heinous hot the first two days of camp. Like, around 105 degrees with no air conditioner for miles. I do not function well above 75 degrees. It was a problem.

9. Lara is my hero for bringing squirt bottles to fill with water. Spritzing ourselves and everyone around us kept us from completely losing what was left of our sanity.

10. At the camper registration table, I was introduced to a camper whose mother had been in my cabin the first time I ever counseled at Camp Yamhill. That's right, I'm on my second generation of campers. If I once mothered his mother, that means I am officially a granny. But it made the kid feel special that he had a connection with me, and he enjoyed reminding me that he made me feel old at every opportunity. (Nick Rucker quickly stopped him from saying that he made me look old, with a well-timed "Look, Kid, there's one thing you never say to a woman. And that's it.")

11. There is a sign near the metal bridge at camp that says "Pearl Lane." It is a memorial for one of the camp's benefactors. One day I was leading the kids to class and the cutest little cutie, Samuel, (with the giant brown eyes and irresistible dimples and cheeks for days) said, after seeing the Pearl Lane sign, " Hummmm, this area always has resembled a pearl, in my view." It was officially the cutest thing EVER.

12. I may have to be hypnotized to rid myself of this overwhelming urge to pinch kids' cute, chubby cheeks. I controlled myself and didn't do any actual pinching, but it was a near thing.

13. I promised Ty that we would partake of many, many Burgerville Fresh Strawberry Shakes during our sojourn. It turns out that I am a filthy liar. We could have stopped and gotten some in The Dalles on our way to Portland, but I wanted to get there quickly so we could eat at Taco House AND make it to the Columbia/Cascade 50th Anniversary Campus Collage. But on Tuesday, I went into town to buy Cool Whip and stopped at Burgerville. I bought 3 shakes (for me, Killer, and Ty). I put the boys' shakes in front of the air conditioning vents and drove fast all the way to camp (nothing new there). Back at camp, I hustled around looking for the guys, with the shakes quickly turning to more milk than shake. I eventually found the hubby, but the brother had absconded to the Flying M for some more-edible grub, so I gave his quickly-melting shake to Bonnie. Little did I know that by the time we got back to civilization on Saturday, all the strawberries in the Northwest would have mysteriously disappeared and we'd be smack at the beginning of raspberry season. I am a bad sister, and not to be trusted with matters of milkshakes. He might forgive me someday. But I wouldn't blame him if he didn't.

14. At the aforementioned Campus Collage, I got to see the parents of my childhood best friend, and Tabitha (who sang a lovely version of "Down to the River" or whatever that song is called), the newly repatriated Jared and Jenny Ranum, and the Illustrious Matt (of CCHS, Cascade, and Renovatus fame) and his lovely mother. I also saw Tabs' best girl J's dad, whom I've know since I was an embryo. And Jason Hill, but only from a distance. I also saw a whole bunch of people none of you bloggers have any reason to have heard of. I saw most of them, and others, again the next night at the banquet, but they were dressed fancier. Kaydub and Marm were at the banquet, and even though the visit was brief, it was great to see them. They rock. Officially.

15. During a family dinner, I realized that growing up with my aunts has been like growing up with two mother-in-laws. They always have something snide to say (usually about your weight, but sometimes about your job or your skin or your education or your outfit--or all of the above in rapid succession); they seem to think they are experts on every medical condition; everything silver cloud has a gray lining; nothing you do or say will ever be good enough; and they are convinced that they know how to run your life better than you do even though you are happy and successful and they are miserable. Thank goodness my actual mother-in-law has better manners than my aunts.

16. Playmobile toys are still just as much the bomb now as they were when I was a kid. I need to start a day care just so I'll have an excuse to buy the French maison and the Pirate Ship. I wish I knew how to link, because these things would blow your mind.

17. Because something was evidently in the water last summer and practically everyone I've ever met had babies this spring, I got to cuddle 4 babies in 24 hours last weekend. =) I can't even decide which one was the cutest because Calvin, Kaylia, Jacob, and Lilyanah are officially the four cutest babies ever. (Until I meet the next crop, I suppose. As they say, "every baby is the sweetest and the best.")

18. I was having trouble sleeping one night at camp and happened to look out the window beside my bunk. I had a moment with the stars and after musing on the wonder of it all, I had a little pity party while I worried that living in Maryland is going to keep us from making it to camp for a while. It better not! I've counseled at 3rd & 4th 20 times in a row, and I don't want some little thing like an entire continent to get in the way of my record.

19. My cat evidently has a nervous stomach and abandonment issues. Every time we leave for more than a couple of days, he ends up having, um, severe digestive issues. He's white and long-haired...you do the math. Poor Pookie. And poor Ty for being stuck with bath duty.

Whew! That was long. But that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone at this point.