Keep Me Outta' the Gutter!

I almost had a turkey! Can you believe it? I was only one pin away! That's right folks - I'm talking about bowling. A group of my co-workers took a trip over to Hollywood Bowl last night and had some friendly competition on the lanes. It was gals against guys, and we both ended the night with with a win. On the ladies' side: Laurie, Shawn Marie and myself dominated the first game. I got a 137 - my highest score ever! It must have been the luck of my swirled-green 11 pound ball. On the mens' team: Danny, Gabe, and Heavy V beat us in the second round. I had two strikes in the last frame and thought I was going to pull-off the third, but one of the pins refused to submit to my forceful throw. So close...

Sunday Splash!

Oh, I forgot to report about the rest of my weekend - it ended with even more fun. Coleen invited us to go swimming with her after church on Sunday. We went to the Sandy river in Troutdale with Eric, Niki, Jon, and Tabitha. The water was freezing and there were so many people there! It took me a long time to get in the water since I am a big wussy (in a totally cool way of course) but I finally mananged to get out there and have fun. There were kids everywhere just jumping right in without a second thought - I guess they have thicker skin than I do. The river was really broad, but it wasn't very deep. I could walk across the entire thing! The water was all nasty brown and had a funky smell to it - gross huh? Supposedly this is one of the cleaner rivers around - way to go Oregon.

Look at them now!

Another brief weekend. *sigh* David came home on Friday evening and I was glad to have him return after another week of being gone at camp. I don't know how people can maintain long-distance relationships - I was just glad that he was able to call me everyday and that it was only for a week. I just miss him so much when he's gone. Seriously, how do people manage it? Let me know if you have any insights.

On Saturday after work we drove down to Philomath to celebrate with one of my high school friends. She got married in May in Birmingham, and her parents were hosting a wedding celebration for her here in Oregon. It was really great to see a lot of my high school buddies - I hadn't seen some of them in years! It was interesting to also see how different our lives are now that we have gone separate ways.

When looking at the lives of the five of us friends who were at the party this weekend, it is hard to believe that we all came from the same tiny town. The variety includes: My recently married friend who just bought a new house in Alabama, sports a HUGE diamond ring, has an English Bulldog named Sherman, and complains endlessly about people and events from years ago. Another friend who has gone to 3 different colleges (with no degree as of yet to show for it), gets paid big bucks to be a nanny for two girls, writes a column for a local newspaper and lives in Corvallis with a guy with a very jealous girlfriend. Yet another of the friends went to a local community college to study photography, is living in Philomath with her parents, has a 1-year-old daughter, and works part-time at a local thrift shop. Finally, one of the gals is working on her Masters in economics at U of O, works for the state of Oregon in Salem as a legal assistant, and has a very mellow social life. Oh, and of course there is me, and I am the coolest of them all!

Weddings, Babies, and other such nonsense

I swear something exciting happened... I just can't remember what it is right now, so I guess I'll have to write about the mundane stuff until I think of it. Hmmmm... Last weekend was pretty pleasant. On Friday I went to Shaun and Jessica's wedding rehersal. (David was the best man for the second time this summer - sheesh!) Saturday was their wedding which was nice. It was pretty small and simple, but I enjoyed it because it was very sincere and suited them very well. Her dress was very beautiful and Carly and Amber made lovely bridesmaids. David knocked over a candle at the reception and got hot wax all over his suit (and he only had one glass of sparkling wine!) Joey and Crystal stayed with us for the weekend again and we had Jon and Tabitha over to watch a movie with us after the wedding. (Crystal picked "The Pacifier" - what a cheesy flick! And I didn't realize that Vin Diesel was such a lousy actor! I guess it had some funny parts...)

On Sunday after church we went to Red Robin for lunch. (David had already left for yet another week of couseling out at Camp Yamhill.) Heidi and Dustin Merritt joined us and Desarae Smith (I think that's how she spells it...) came with her 3-week-old son Ethan. I got to hold him and he was so adorable and tiny. Of course it just made me want to have one of my own, even though he cried almost the entire time I had him. It was because he was hungry though - not because I am a bad baby-holder!

At least it's not a broken heart...

Is it bad luck to break a dish? I ask because our set of 12 glasses has been reduced to a sad 11. I closed our dishwasher door with a bit too much enthusiasm last night and demolished one of our precious tumblers. David assured me that they were just cheap glasses and that we could probably even find one at a garage sale, but I still felt bad. I was responsible for breaking our first dish! (Although, aren't you impressed that we didn't break any dishes at all before our 1 year anniversary? I've been know to drop a few plates and bowls in my years...)

The other blog

I have another blog.
It's name is Xanga.
It is nice.
You can go there if you want.
It is a lot like my blog spot.
They are friends.
Its home is here:
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=CRudey

Follow-up

Since I promised in my last post...I will let you know how the banana bread turned out (oh, by the way, it had walnuts so it was no ordinary banana bread!) I thought it was pretty decent, David raved that it was delicious (although he ate his warmed in the microwave and spread with butter - NOT the way it is intended to be eaten, mind you) and one of my co-workers proclaimed that it was like a piece of heaven. He/she told me that I should try selling it on the Internet, and then proceeded to eat over half the loaf! Jeepers!

Now for my movie review:

I give National Treasure "one thumb up and one thumb sideways." I had high expectations for this flick and the storyline was pretty decent. It promised action, and I think it delivered. Nicholas Cage and the other dude were great, but the female lead - played by Diane Kruger, was a little weak. I think that if they would have cast Julia Roberts, the film would have been much improved.

The film Something's Gotta Give gets only "one thumb up" from me. It doesn't get the other thumb because it creeped me out that a 60-something playboy was hooking up with ladies younger than 30. bllrrrrlllrrrr! (sound made by sticking out your tongue and shivering) Diane Keaton was really swell and I imagine myself being a bit like her character when I am more "mature." (except for being divorced and sleeping with the aforementioned playa', of course.)

The Paparazzi should have been a clue.

Celebrity sightings! Well, not exactly...but it was cool to see Gayleon (sp?) and Carly on the MAX the other day after work. I also talked to Mary (Randy's girlfriend) on the MAX one morning on the way to work. Perhaps weirdest of all, we saw Chris West at the Salt Lake City airport on our way to Tulsa. Crazy! Why are all these people following me?!

In other important news. I baked some banana bread last night that looks super delicious. I haven't tried it yet, but I will be sure to let you know the results!

OK was better than okay!

I'm back, and let me just say that it is great to be back in Oregon where I can walk outdoors and not immediately be covered in a fine layer of moisture and sweat. That's right folks, Oklahoma was hot and humid! But more about OK in a moment...first an exciting tale of daring and adventure...

I had someone arrested on Friday! As far as my life goes - that is pretty exciting! For reasons of confidentiality I can't really go into details, but someone tried to pull a fast one on me at the CU and I snapped my fingers in his face and proclaimed, "I don't think so busta'!" Well, it wasn't quite that glamorous, but he was taken away in cuffs nonetheless, and it was found that he had fraudulent materials and drugs (gasp!) on him. Phew!

After all that excitement I was certainly ready for a vacation! David and I flew to Oklahoma on Saturday and returned yesterday. It was a really great trip and it was nice to meet a lot of his extended family. We stayed with his second cousins Paul and Tammie who live in a beautiful 4 bedroom, A-frame cabin with their three adorable children (our third cousins?! - I don't know how that works!) The only downside is that they had a clawfoot tub rather than a shower with this hand-held spout thing - it was kinda' weird. Plus we were bathing several times a day because of the sweat-factor.

The 4th of July party his family threw was way totally rockin'! Several of the relatives live on a 40 acre ranch with several ponds, an orchard, horses, etc.; and that is where the extravaganza was held. They had a catered BBQ buffet, a country/rock band that performed through the evening, thousands of dollars worth of fireworks, and several inflatable structures for the kids (and adults) to play on. I climbed all the way to the top of the air-filled rock wall - go me!
By the way, I take back any comments I made about Oklahoma being flat and ugly. The area outside of Tulsa that we visited was really beautiful. It's still flat though.

Let's see if I can come up with something...

Nothing eventful has happened since my last entry, but it's been a week so I figure I should come up with something. David is still gone this week, so I've been a little lonely. He returns this evening though, and I am very excited about that! Oklahoma here we come!

This last weekend I went home and visted my family. After church on Sunday we walked around downtown Corvallis and visited all the neat little shops. I wasn't in a money spending mood - it never seems that I am these days - so I didn't buy anything. Oh wait, I did have a milkshake, and it was carmel flavored goodness. On Monday I got to hang out with my little bros and sis (both Ben and Jere are taller than me now!) We went to a playground and played kickball and frisbee and "lava tag" - you all remember that game right? My mom made a couple of her infamous pizzas while I was there too - so good!

I don't think I have any stories to tell about the rest of the week. Let's see...last night I went to Eric and Niki's house for dinner and games. Shaun and Jessica were there too and we enjoyed Niki's homemade lasagna. I've been thinking - I really need to learn how to cook. I need a signature dish. Right now that would probably be Hamburger Helper or something else pre-made and equally unimpressive. blah.

Well don't worry faithful readers, I will have some exciting stories to share when I return from the land of tumbleweed and dust....at least I hope I do.