Starlight Parade

After Mary and I went hiking I came home basically long enough to shower and get ready to go meet Holly. We were heading downtown for the Starlight Parade, which is one of the many Rose Festival sanctioned events. The parade started at 8:30pm, but we knew we'd need to get there early to get a seat, as it is a hugely popular event. We met at Lloyd Center and took the Max down. Found a spot and sat. I of course forgot my book, so we did a lot of people watching. Thankfully there were a lot of people to watch. There is also a run before the parade so we got to see and cheer on the runners! Here are a couple of pictures:

Holly and I waiting for the parade to start.

The crowd in front of us.

It was a good parade to watch, lots of marching bands from high schools in the area and lots of people around. It was 10:45 when the parade ended and by the time we got packed back into one of the Max trains and near enough to walk back to Lloyd Center to our cars it was just after 11:30. I got home at midnight....late night and long day for me, but VERY satisfying! Woohoo for happy and good weekends.

Beautiful day!

Yesterday was a busy, but beautiful day. My friend Mary and I decided we were going to go for a hike. So we ventured out at about 9am to head to Silver Falls State Park just outside of the cute town of Silverton OR. We arrived and had our $3 out and ready to pay to park when a couple came driving by and handed us their parking pass. For some reason they had just paid to park and needed to leave, so they shared the love, which was very nice. We tried to "pay it forward" on our way out, but there weren't any cars waiting where we could reach them. Next time! Anywho, we set off and hiked the 5 mile loop and it was absolutely wonderful! Here are some pictures:

South Falls

Us behind South Falls

Our lunch stop. Wish this was the setting for my daily lunch break!

Such a nice fall!

This was a beautiful rainbow created by the fall spray!

As you can see it was a gorgeous day! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Green means go...

...that is, when it comes to most traffic lights. However, there is the cutest traffic light on my daily drive home from work. And no, it isn't cute in any regard other than how it functions. Every day that I have driven home from my current place of employment (coming rapidly upon 4 years-yikes) I drive through this intersection that has two stop light fixtures. And every day that I have driven along my merry way and had to stop at this light I would anxiously await the moment the lights would turn green. You may ask why? Well, for no other reason than my sheer excitement (yes, I have to use that word as no other can describe my thrill) to see the green light on the fixture on the right take seconds longer to turn green. As the light on the left turned from red to green signifying all of kingdom come to go as that is what green means, the light on the right had a sort of "blank look" on its face. Yes, the red would disappear and you would anxiously be awaiting the green as it took its sweet time in appearing. Crazy, huh? I know you are saying right about now, if you haven't said it before, that I have lost my mind, gone bananas. Fortunately, or unfortunately, you wouldn't be the first to say this about this VERY topic. A previous roommate of mine who knew of my secret admiration of this slightly slow and delayed response of the traffic light already proclaimed by "unbalancedness" (if that is a word). I don't know when or why this "quirk" was righted, but today, on my way home from work, as I sat awaiting my slow green light to shine in all of it glory I was utterly disappointed as its cute "glitch" had been corrected. I will forever think of the delayed response as I drive through that intersection and smile remembering my "unbalancedness", but being thankful that I can appreciate the "little things" as that is what life is about.

Car--revived

So I got my car back today. A great turn-around for sure. I saw the old transmission and it was a mess....had been leaking everywhere, except out of the car where I could have noticed it. Apparently the car was "very loud" and the guys fixing it said they couldn't believe how loud it was. Hmmmm.....maybe it was just because it gradually got loud that I didn't notice it...that is what I am going to tell myself. Anywho, once I turned it on I realized it WAS indeed A LOT quieter than when I had dropped it off yesterday. It drives well, and even though there is a new clutch it doesn't feel like it driving a different car, which is a plus. Woohoo for fixed cars!! :)

Dropping the tranny....what??

So, for the first time since I've had my car (4.5 yrs) it needs some major mechanical work done...and yes, I know that dropping a transmission is spendy, but alas, it must be done. I took my car in to the husband of a dear friend from college. He and his family shop have been so good to me thus far. They are also going to try to turn it around in one day!! Keep your fingers crossed for me. It is so weird to not have a car. When I dropped it off today I asked to see the transmission that would be blessing the rest of the engine guts shortly (lightly used--50,000 miles, versus maybe 150,000 on the current one...). I thought of taking a picture...then I thought again and decided I might look like too much of a dork, so I settled with looking up a picture of a similar one online...enjoy...I sure hope to once I get the car back...
...hopefully I won't be able to or have to see it in this form again, but this here is the guts of my car being able to go, and go, and go, and not pop out of 5th gear on the freeway...which by the way threw me for a loop the first time. Thankfully a friend who knows manuals snapped me out of my "stupid, I don't know what's happening" mode so we could keep going. Since then it has been heart racing angst if I needed to get on the freeway just waiting for it to test my limits.

When I called the shop to find out how I would need to pay them I was told that infamous... "by the way....we also might need to replace your clutch while we are in there." GREAT! Anywho, hopefully by the weekend I will be relearning to drive my car as it will drive completely differently with a new transmission and even more differently with new tranny and clutch.

Here is the clutch...I just knew you would want to know what it looked like too! Admit it. Enjoy!

My little girl

Just practicing and trying to learn the basics. This is my little girl "Ezme". She says hi!!

New to the blog world

So I have never had a blog before, actually was just introduced to the idea not that long ago. I know...I am "young" and should be up to speed with all this technology, but I'm not. So here goes a try. I am still very much a novice at this, that and my life is pretty uneventful so this will probably be VERY basic at first and then may expand from there.