Sunny and 80, TWO DAYS IN A ROW!!!

While the rest of the country has been sweltering in 100 degree heat, it's pretty much been 60 and drizzling here since June. (Before that it was 50 and drizzling, etc.) But this weekend finally felt like summer!!! Woke up this morning to actual thunder and lightning though, and it's raining again now. *sigh*

But while the sun WAS shining, Stan & I spent Saturday morning puttering about the yard. Stan built a step up to the gazebo out of scrap wood from Claire's house and then spent the rest of the morning, well, breaking stuff.

First he "fixed" the bump on the gazebo floor where the deck has settled more than the posts. (This is right where you step into the "front door" of the gazebo.) It was only a little bump, not really bothering anything... But Stan wanted to cut a chunk out of the decking, grind the post down, and then screw the small chunk of deck back down. I wasn't so fond of that idea, and said I thought we really need to take the whole plank up and do it right, like we did with the one in the middle. Next thing I know, he's got a circular saw out, running it sideways between the deck and the post, trying to slice the post off that way!!! What he succeeded in doing was mangling the front beam of the deck. Then he put a bunch more screws in the deck to hold it to the post. So now there's a dip in the deck, screws sticking up where they didn't quite go in right (he didn't use deck screws...) and a big mess of patching material on the face beam that looks like a heron pooped on it or something!!! But there isn't a bump anymore... *face palm*

Then he went to work assembling his new Road Trip Grill. Which he broke the handle off of before it was even fully assembled. Then he tried to glue the handle while the grill was hot and got a big glob of permanent glue stuck on top. Then while we were toting it off to Woodlawn Park the screws fell out of the legs and it crashed and got all scratched up and broke the handle again. Then when we were done he put it on the back seat of the KIA where the grease pan leaked all over the car. REALLY wasn't his day...

BUT.... We were going to Woodlawn Park to see TREK IN THE PARK which makes everything better!!! Stan and I arrived about 1:30 for the 5pm show and got one of the last spots in the amphitheater! By 2pm everyone else had to sit in the field behind the stage. They are considering moving to a bigger venue next year because it has gotten so popular. People apparently were showing up at noon to claim seats even last week when it was raining. Anyway, Natalie and Phil joined us soon after and we had a cookout while we waited for show time. (Stan's grill functioned admirably despite the rough treatment, and Natalie & Phil are officially not a couple but still hanging out all the time anyway. Go figure.)

Trek was fabulous of course, and we had a marvelous time! "Mirror, Mirror" was the episode they did this year. Very creative as always. There's a part where the crew beams up from the planet and ends up on the parallel universe "evil" Enterprise, complete with different uniforms. You know how the "beaming" in the show looked like swirling sparklies? Well, they accomplished this on stage by having girls in sparkly, Treky costumes that ran around the beaming crew, changing parts of the uniforms on the crew as they went around!

Fabulous fun, and more lounging in the backyard until bedtime, enjoying every last moment of sun.

Then Sunday we woke up to more sun!!! Church, then went to Fred Meyer, then Stan & I went hiking up to Angel's Rest. Which is a much nicer hike when it's not raining. And you can see more than just clouds at the top. It's still very "up" though, but we are trying to get in shape for a Mazama mountain climbing trip to the Steens Mountains in a month. Anyway, had lunch at the top of Angel's Rest before heading home and an afternoon nap.

For dinner, Colleen and Maria came over and Stan barbequed in the back yard. I'd forgotten that the girls haven't seen the yard in a while, and they were surprised at the path and vegetable garden, etc. (They both missed Patrick's birthday party as Maria was at U of O, and Colleen was still in China.) We got to hear some more of Colleen's China trip and some about the Art Camp that Maria is working at this summer as a counselor. It sounds a lot like the Rock & Roll Camp that Eli used to go to actually.

In other news of Stan's kids, Patrick and Alisha finally set a wedding date of July 15th next year. And Alex broke his foot playing soccer and is in a walking boot type cast for the rest of the summer.

Oh, yeah, and Nick got his driver's license. On the first try. (It really helped that I know the basic route they use and had him practice that a lot. But he believes it's just because he's awesome.) Now I'm going to start teaching Maria to drive, starting tomorrow!

I'm also working at JaCiva's on Wednesday, filling in for Mimi who's got some appointment, and Tami can't fill in because she's got some wedding related appointment to go to. A few extra dollars helps as long as I can still walk afterward!

Last week I redecorated the utility room. It's now kinda cute instead of "industrial" as Lindsay put it. Nick and I painted it turquoise with a bit of pale pink trim (that 50's Florida look, lol!), cleaned off the shelves, and got turquoise baskets to put everything up on the wire shelves on, and made curtains. I like it!

And perhaps the sun will come back again tomorrow...