Sunday, September 27, 2015

a week's worth of pictures (well, almost)

Initially I had 99 pictures - and that was not all of the ones I took.  I decided that perhaps I should  hold back just a little.

Corey arrived last Sunday just about this time.  I didn't get any pictures on Sunday.  The ones I took on Monday came out in thumbnail form as I was using my phone.  So I borrowed most of these from the ones that Corey took.

First 11 pics are of some of the animals that we saw on the Wild Safari in Winston, Oregon (who would have believed?)













The next day we went to Watson Falls and Crater Lake.  Here are some pictures that I took

North Umpqua River

on the trail to Watson Falls





Watson Falls



Sea Gulls basking at Diamond Lake

Crater Lake

it looks bluer than picture shows

Crater Lake National Park



We took it easy on Wednesday as Corey had laundry to do, posts to catch up on, and of course we played games each night that he was here.  

Our final expedition was to Tri-City where we picked up Jaime and took pictures of the city (I will not be posting the ones that I took of Corey as I don't have permission)


never had food there.  Would like to, but it's out of business.  Yet the sign and boat remain


Tri-City Fire Department

bus yard not far from youth center that Jenna attends

Corey left Thursday afternoon.  We took some final pics of him and Jenna hugging.  

Yesterday Jenna and I went to Riddle.  Took several pictures of the park and surrounding buildings.  This is just a few of them













Riddle High School





Jenna (my scavenger) found this mask 


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Coming Out




     If you were to look at the family photographs from my mom’s collection (now in Corey’s possession) you probably would not find a huge amount of photos of Patrick.  He hated having his picture taken.  There are probably at least four times as many photos of Corey and me – the camera hams of the family. 



It seems like at least half the photos we have of Corey, he appears to be wearing these stupid gold sleepers.  Corey was always sick – or at least it seemed he was.  My mom had bought a boatload of sleepers in assorted sizes – though they were all the same color and all for Corey.



Until his tonsils were removed, not a year went by that he didn’t stay home from school with a case of tonsillitis.  I think he may have gone an entire school year without staying home from school with some kind of illness.  But every year after that he would miss out because he was physically sick.



  Corey was skinny for so much of his youth – we had believed that his health and his weight might have been due to being premature.  The sicknesses continued through high school, college, and work – it continued.  He told me that he was always sick while preforming at a local theatre not far from our house in Midvale, Utah.  I do remember one time in particular when he was playing a villain in a show.   

He’d gone to the theatre with absolutely no voice.  He did go on stage while somebody read the lines as he mouthed the words.   It may have been more disastrous that his mouth movements and words were not in sync, but a very talented actress on stage was able to cover it up with telling him that he was so evil that his words weren’t in perfect timing with what was being said (or something to that effect).



Though I have raved about having awesome health and being able to breathe, I developed another sinus infection about two weeks before Corey arrived in Oregon for a visit.  It was not the worse sinus infection I’ve ever had.  In fact, of all the sinus infections I’ve ever had, it has been the least painful.



However the medication has seemed slower at fixing me – and my breathing has sounded exactly the way it had in Salt Lake.  Gosh darn.  Roland kept reminding me that I needed to become well before my brother came – not only didn’t I want to make a liar out of myself – but Corey has always been so receptacle to any kind of germ.



 He would seriously get sick while watching documentaries about sick people.  And it wasn’t because he was a hypochondriac.  It was because he was closeted.  I had actually never made that connection before until he mentioned it the other day.



For more than half of his life Corey had been dealing with the issue of same sex attraction.  He liked guys and fantasized about guys in the same manner that his peers fantasized about and liked girls and woman.  Corey had been conditioned that there was something wrong with his perception.  Thus Corey could never admit to anybody how he felt.  It was an embarrassing secret – one he tried to pray away, one he tried to shake off, one he tried to ignore, one he did feel ashamed of because he’d been conditioned to. 



All that pain, all that sadness, all that fear, all those daily battles within himself, all that constant fighting to change his perception, all of that turmoil and struggle had to come out.  Bottling it all up had contributed to his becoming physically sick.  He told me that after he came out, he didn’t get physically ill all of the time.  He doesn’t get sick.  He can actually be around sick people now. 



His health has been like a metaphor of his life.  When he kept it all in he felt sad, ashamed, angry, beaten and physically ill.  Now that he’s come out he has experience happiness, confidence, responsible, controlled.  Corey is one of my greatest friends.  His coming out has made for a more solid relationship.  Each of us is comfortable with one another and don’t hold back any “secrets” we may have.  And that just makes us stronger.


Friday, September 18, 2015

Monopoly is NOT my Favorite Game



          I don't recall ever having liked the game Monopoly.  First of all, it involved math.  Collecting properties had its perks I guess.  I always wanted the utilities and railroads.  Buying houses and hotels never seemed all that exciting to me.  I always ended up being out of the game when I'd land on them - unless I was playing it with my brother and his friends (which I don't think I ever was) who would milk the game and owe one another to be paid back "whenever you do get the money - or a little at a time - each time you pass go"  Wasn't Monopoly already too long of a game?  I don't like Monopoly.




          Jenna LOVES Monopoly.  Seems good at it.  I beat her for the first time tonight.  It was all well and good when I landed on her hotel infested property, but it wasn't so cool when she landed on mine.  Takes after my mom who was somewhat a sore loser - but she was even a worse winner.  Jenna gloats.  Like me, her favorite things to collect are the railroads and utilities.  The rules vary when we play by ourselves.  When Roland joins us there isn't as much lenience.  We have to mortgage everything.  Jenna and I will make bargains with unmortgaged   property in order to get out of debt. Whatever.




          I don't like Monopoly still.  Same reasons as before but as an adult I cringe at being able to mortgage for only half and sell hotels and houses back to the bank for far less than what we paid for them - sort of like owning property in real life and trying to get loans and having our life events change at the throw of the dice.  Monopoly is not fun.  Paying taxes is not fun.  Having the banks milk you for more money than they fork out - Monopoly is not just a game.  It's real life.  And I don't like it.




Sunday, September 6, 2015

Labor Day Weekend is for Family

      Facebook has added a new feature.  If you would like, it will give you notifications of what you posted each date however many years ago.  Roland, Jenna and I had spent the day driving and spending time with friends in McMinnville. I happened to check facebook with only an hour left on September 5th - or else I would have missed reminiscing some great posts of years past.



      In 2010 I posted that I enjoyed spending the day playing games with the family.  At that point Bill and Kayla were not married.  Corey and Kayla were both at home and Roland and I decided to visit.  Patrick's family had also come.  They were about to leave to go home and make dinner, but I had actually made a huge chicken salad sandwich which I had put on a loaf of French bread and cut it into pieces, but there was still plenty left for Patrick's family.



      Ellen and Candy loved the chicken salad and ate it all up.  I was happy that I didn't have to take any leftovers home.  I was grateful too for the extra time it had given us to play games.  I have always enjoyed playing games with the family.

      One year later I had posted how much I enjoyed the Walden Family reunion. I was introduced to the Walden family after Jenna had turned one.  They are related to the boys by their mother.  Very hospitable people (mentioned in this post



      Jenna, Biff and I had planned on going to the reunion in 2013 but for whatever reason did not go.  Labor Day was on September 2nd.  Mom had gone into the hospital on the 1st.   I was scheduled to teach a class to the youth.  I heard my phone go off during my lesson.  I knew it was about mom. 

      On September 5, 2013 I posted the following: "This post is for those interested in the welfare of [June Cannon] - who was doing so spectacular before Sunday morning, and a freak fall sent her to the hospital. . She is now in hospice at St. Marks room 3W21. They are making her as comfortable as possible. Those who would like the details can message me and I will let you know. Or if you are friends with [Peggy] or [Corey] you can learn more details on their fb pages."  Still with family - but not a fun way. My mom passed away five days later.



      This year Roland will work on Labor day this year. He will take off Wednesday - which is our anniversary. Celebrations this year won't include the same group of people. Two of my sibs remain in Utah, one in Las Vegas. 


      On Saturday we went to McMinnville to spend some time with Beth and Graham - who loaded our trunk with food.  Graham also parted with the clarinet he had played which had remained in the closet since their arrival in McMinnville.  So Roland and Jenna are able to practice together - even if Jenna leaves her instrument at school. Here are a few of the pictures that we took.









Thursday, September 3, 2015

Opportunities, Pros & Cons




            We all make decisions.  Each choice we make has consequences whether good or bad as mentioned in this post


            When we were living in Utah, Jenna had the opportunity of learning Spanish through the dual immersion program.  While some parts of Oregon offer this same program, the particular county we live in doesn’t offer any foreign language until high school.  I really did not wish to pull her out of the program.  She’s no longer learning Spanish at school, but she does have other opportunities here that she did not have in Utah.

            She would not have been enrolled in band while in the sixth grade.  We may not have been able to afford the instrument.  We have the opportunity to do so here. 



            There is only one elective at her school.  We had to do away with crafts in order to keep her in band.  She loves crafts.  She has an opportunity to do crafts at the youth center she attends after school.  In Utah we couldn’t afford the after school activities.  The state of Oregon pays for her after school activity here in Douglas County.  For that, I am very grateful.



            When I post this to my blog, Jenna and her classmates (entire school really) will be at the Memorial Pool for their first-week-of-school celebration.  Can you imagine?  We never did that in Utah.  There was an activity at the end of the year. Certainly not a kick off for Labor Day weekend – which for her starts in less than 20 minutes.  She will then have the next four days off.  So what was the point of starting just four days before?



            There are certainly things that I’ll miss about the opportunities she had in education while we were living in the Granite School District.  I am grateful for the new opportunities that she will have here. 

            It rained yesterday, and though we really do need the rain and it is greatly appreciated, I’m happy that there is enough sunshine for the children to enjoy the pool right now.
            Opportunities.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Happy Anniversary – You’re Outta Here!





Just off of I5 sits Myrtle Creek. There is a Dairy Queen near the freeway’s exit. My first introduction was on June 5th when sweet Denise drove me back from Roseburg to Myrtle Creek so that I could secure the property where I currently live.  We ate at the Dairy Queen before we went back to Roseburg and parted ways.  (See this post)




Roland and Jenna also visited the same Dairy Queen just a week later.  We’ve been there a few times, but not often.  Occasionally Roland has surprised Jenna and me with DQ treats that he’s picked up when he’s been out driving – or as with this photo from this post






Jenna and I have enjoyed Dilly Bars, ice cream cones and peanut butter parfaits.  It now appears that our ice cream treats may be a thing of the past – at least for the remainder of this year.  





Yesterday we decided we would go to DQ for Family Home Evening – eat a little something – listen to Jenna tell us about her first day.  A sign on the marquee said:

Closing Aug 31st
Reopening Nov 1st

What??????



         The DQ that has been a part of this town since 1949 (although not named DQ until a later date) New ownership wants to call it: Tommy’s All American Burgers.

What??????

         We had no clue that when we went to the DQ, it would be for the last time – not by choice, but because it was the last day it would be opened under that name.