Sunday, August 28, 2011

An amusing paradox in poem

Or "How a clever innkeeper provided with nine empty rooms had no difficulty providing separate lodgings for each of 10 travelers. "

From a late 19th century British magazine…

Ten weary, footsore travelers,
All in a woeful plight,
Sought shelter at a wayside inn
One dark and stormy night

“Nine rooms, no more,” the landlord said,
“Have I to offer you.
To each of eight a single bed
But the ninth must serve for two.”

A din arose. The troubled host
Could only scratch his head,
For of those tired men no two
Would occupy one bed

The puzzled host was soon at ease –
He was a clever man –
And so to please his guests devised
This most ingenious plan.

In room marked A two men were placed,
The third was lodged in B,
The fourth to C was then assigned,
The fifth retired to D.

In E the sixth he tucked away,
In F the seventh man,
The eighth and ninth in G and H,
And then to A he ran,

Where in the host, as I have said,
Had laid two travelers by;
Then taking one – the tenth and last-
He lodged him safe in I.

Nine single rooms – a room for each-
Were made to serve for ten;
And this it is that puzzles me
And many wiser men.

From The Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles & Diversions, Fallacies, pg 142,143

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's off to the fair we go

August 11, 2011 Thursday

Today we went to the Nevada County Fair! Leah and her family live up in the foothills near Grass Valley and they invited Jacob and I to come to the fair with Uncle Roger. It's a long drive up there, but it was worth it. Uncle Roger drove his amazingly awesome pick up truck and we talked farming most of the way up. Uncle Roger and I are kind of farm pals. :) Right now he's doing bees, so that occupied a great deal of conversation.
 
We stopped at Leah's house to visit until Birken got off of work and then we headed to the fair. Here Jacob and I are posing with Lizzy. I hadn't met her yet!


It was a great fair. Similar in size to our fantastic Clackamas fair, but probably three times the amount of people (a common characteristic of California). Also, it was interesting as I usually associate fairgrounds as being fairly treeless, but Grass Valley is covered with Pines, so the fair rides were "nestled" in them.

Polly and I sharing a moment...


Me and Leah!

Uncle Roger and Jacob took on The Viper. It was Jacob's first real "adult" fair ride!

Southward ho, to California we go!

So I thought I would go ahead and do a play by play of our trip. I'm not sure if I'll get through the whole trip, but I'm gonna try!

August 10th, 2011, Wednesday The rice fields were gorgeous as Mom, Jacob and I flew over them. Colusa county (where my grandmother grew up) is famous for their rice fields and the good duck hunting that accompanies them. :) The ricefields were brilliant shades of green and since the fields are divided by little dikes, it reminded me of a patchwork quilt created from green batik fabric like below. Just gorgeous.


During the flight I mostly worked on the crossword puzzle (I'm not very good) that's in the back of the magazine and finished reading a book.

Aunt Susan picked us up and we drove to Aunt Debbie's (& Uncle Ken) for a light snack that she graciously provided. It was nice to see their place and meet Gidget (their new doggie).

We then headed over to Sally's house for dinner with her family and the Walkers and Jason (Ellen's fiance). Man, I was tired. The day ended watching Cheers as I referenced here.


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Back to our regular scheduled programming

Well, I'm back. In fact, I've been back for 24 hours, I'm just so sneaky that way. I had such grand intentions of blogging while I was gone, but obviously that didn't happen. It was busy. But a good busy.

The flight home was good. I got the window seat (love the window seat) and when the person sat down next to me, I decided he was probably a pastor and (ta-da!) he was. We talked the last five minutes of the flight, found out he teaches at Western Seminary, has a son partially involved in the same missionary organization my cousin and her husband are serving with, and he probably taught at the Western Seminary my cousin's husband attended... also when I posted about it on facebook, I found out a friend has known him for a long time... such a small world. I also thought it was especially cool that he knew Michael Farris. Apparently he knew him in Olympia, WA and he said that Michael was the smartest man he'd ever met. Anyways, it was fun talking with him.

So I was all worried about missing out on summer here, but I guess it's still kind of sticking around, which I appreciate. We ate Costco hotdogs for dinner last night and it was appropriately warm to eat them outside. I mean, who puts in an outdoor food court in Oregon? Nine months out of the year you fight to get near the heaters. I also have high expectations of the vegetable garden, although I haven't made it out  there yet. I'm hoping there's at least one tomato. And yes, I miss that about California. Oh the oodles of ripe tomatoes. Yum.

Today was a visit to the Naturapath (me) and a specialist at OHSU (mom) and my goodness, the new buildings at OHSU are simply amazing. Next time we go, I'm going to take a decent camera with me. I've been in two different waiting rooms and both point towards the North. You can see right up the river, the bridges and into Portland. Mt St Helens and Mt Hood look amazing. Basically, you might want to pay to be a receptionist in these rooms. These pictures don't do the view justice!

See that little cloud dot on center right? That's where Mt St Helens is. And it looked way bigger in person!


And this was just on the eighth floor!

Then because I hadn't done enough yet, I spent the evening with my friend Kate. We are both mutual star gazers and we looked at stars and talked for about an hour. Or I could say, we tried to look at stars but for the first fourty minutes we had a band of clouds that was directly over head. Like we could see stars on each side, but nope, directly over us was a band of clouds that took forever to dissipate. Oh well!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Packing up

I'm in California right now. Visiting friends in preparation for a wedding...

Yesterday in a fit of why don't we have any of our flowers inside, I went a picked some bouquets (neverminding the fact that they'll die while I'm gone) and then I picked a HUGE sunflower to put in my room. I am sure it helped with my packing. (If I could've found my phone, I would be posting a picture of it. But I have no clue where my phone went which is very odd. I know it's in the house and I'm starting to wonder if it got scooped up into the garbage. Argh.)

I have a love/hate relationship with packing. I love the challenge of it (And yes, I pronounce that in my head as Inspector Clouseau does with a mangled french accent, "SHALLANGE!)"  yet sometimes my brain feels like it might explode with all of the options that I overthink.

I consider the perfect packing job to consist of an outfit for every situation that I'm likely to come across and for each item to have been worn once (depends on the item, that is). In my mind, the perfect packing job can be achieved. But it does take practice and it involves learning over time what works best for you.

Over the years, I've learned that the one item I can't live without is the denim skirt. No matter what. One time I forgot that rule and spent the whole trip wishing I'd bought it. I also always pack a swim suit, cause you never know when you might end up in a hotel and it would be a crime to miss out on a perfectly good swimming pool.

So yup, back to California. It's warm here and there are fresh tomatoes and peaches. I love visiting, but I definitely enjoy coming back to Oregon! And now I'm watching Cheers (season one) which so far is pretty funny...










Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Mini book review: The Help



First off, I'm going to start this by saying that basil pesto is really one of God's best gifts to mankind.
I just had to share that.

Also! Today I finished The Help. It was a fascinating read. 
The author did a great job of pulling you into the world of Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's. A good story like this sucks me in so gently that before I know it, I realize I'm peppering my thoughts with phrases like "Yes'm" "Oh, law" or even the scandalous "dammit, minny" (shocker I know!)  Or I'm speaking to myself in southern drawl. Always an amusing combination. Especially since it turns itself on and off. 

Conversation while making jam this evening:

Me: Now how much sugar do I need? 
Southern Mamie Me: I sho am busy.
Me: Oh, 4 cups
Southern Mamie Me: Now, why ain't these berries boiln'?
Me: Okay, where's the pectin?
Southern Mamie Me: Laws a mercy,

I had a hard time putting it down. Which is why I have a love/hate relationship with fiction. All my self proclaimed self-control can go out of the window when there's a good story to read. That's why I tend to stick with non-fiction. It's easier to put down!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Why I like airports (imaginitive title, hunh?)


I like airports. For the most part that is. It probably helps that so far (Lord be praised) I really haven't had a bad experience in one. Maybe if I had to spend a week in a strange land in a strange airport in strange weather I wouldn't like them, but so far that hasn't happened, and I'm praying it never does.

But back to the main subject. I like airports and I've been thinking about why.

I think first off, I love the feeling of anticipation and excitement you get at an airport. If I'm going to go and pick someone up then I'm excited to see them.If they are here for a visit than I am full of anticipation for a wonderful time. If I'm going somewhere, than the excitement is self-explanatory and there's a quiet nervousness/anticipation of setting off into the unknown. And if I'm dropping someone off, well, that can be a little disappointing, but even then I am either a) excited for them b) have fond memories of our visits, or at the very least a little part of me thinks "If I really wanted too, I could just pick a flight and be off!" It provides options and I like options. And day dreaming.

Airports are also fantastic for people watching. And I like to people watch. One time Scott and I stood along the main througoughfare and counted how many people crossed in front of us at the Chicago O'Hare airport. I don't remember, but I think it was around 100 people in a couple of minutes. It was amazing.

It's also fanastic for people watching when you are waiting inside for someone to arrive. Slowly you see who's waiting for whom, see the excitement when they meet and then off they go happy and content.

Airports are also wonderful for running into completely random people that you know from somewhere else. It hasn't happened often, but it's still cool to think about how God must have orchestrated it. My friend Rebekah is visiting this weekend and ended up flying with a friend. Neither one realized that the other was heading to Portland this weekend.

Airports (on layovers) also give you a teeny sample of whatever state you are passing through. I've always wished that airports had an observation tower so you could climb up and see what the city/country looks like...especially if the weather's cloudy when you fly in,  but I'm guessing that will never happen. You also get to see different restaurants (well, sometimes) and different peoples.

One time when Mom and I were flying out of San Jose, the sewer truck backed up and bumped the airplane. Everyone had to unload while we waited for an engineer from Oakland to inspect the airplane and make sure that it was okay. We played card games the whole time. I'm thinking it was during rush hour so of course it took forever for the engineer to arrive.

I also love the Portland airport. I haven't done tons of traveling, but so far it's still my favorite airport. It's international, but not too big. It's modern, but it doesn't try to hard. Also, there always improving it, trying new things. There's also an amazing view of the runways, Mount Hood and the river from the top of the parking structure. We almost always park up there and spend a few minutes watching planes take off and land. 

We also once got a tour of the outside of the airport. That was pretty cool. Mom had flown in from California and she called me and told me to park the car. I did, and then brought in whatever boys I had with me. We then found out that the airport was having a special public relations day and they were offering free tours of the grounds. We all got in a bus with just one other person and the tour guide (who turned out to be an exec) and got driven all round. It was Awesome. That was the first time they had offered something like that, and as far as I know, the last time. So it was pretty special. I hope they do it again sometime and that we actually hear about it.

So the original picture is from picking up Rebekah on Thursday. She's visiting from Spokane this weekend and it's been loads of fun. We were supposed to have some girl time this evening, but as soon as we sat down, a certain someone called and it's now been an hour and she's still talking. Imagine that. I think I'm going to have to go kick her off!  I want to go to bed. Ha!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and some animals




On Wednesday of this week, we went to a zoo concert for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. I wasn't super familiar with the band, but my brothers love them and I do like swing music. I figured it would be a fun experience as I had never even been to a zoo concert before...and it was. The one thing that would have made it better was some earplugs. I hate loud music. It wasn't until the last 10 minutes that Mom and I found out that the information area had earplugs to hand out... Well, next time then...

We decided to go early and see some animals. What we didn't count on is that it was either a) siesta time or b) dinner for the animals so there wasn't much to be seen. 


At the lion area. There was none to be seen. It was pretty typical!

Proof that I was at the concert!


Another typical scene...!

Dad and I right before the concert. Dad looks pretty rad here with his cap backwards, but the sun was throwing shadows on his face, so I made  him turn it.  :-)

Snapshot of a Saturday morning

Why is it that when you have things you want to write about you don't have any time? All these fun things are happening, but I'm too busy living life to write about them. haha. Tough life, eh?

It's Saturday though and there's not a lot happening today. So far, I haven't done anything but browse the internet and read an article during breakfast on using bamboo plates and silverware at a music festival in Happy Valley. I did have time to read this blog post which was pretty amazing. God is so big.

Right now, I'm working up my courage (ie self discipline talk) to start vision therapy and I have a little boy lying in my bed looking at a Curious George book. Apparently, he has a stomach ache.

It's quiet today here, several boys are spending the night somewhere, one is running errands and I think the other one's outside. Mom's taking a nap and I don't think Dad's out of his pajamas yet (gasp). These types of Saturday are a luxury in the summer here. So I'm focusing on enjoying it! And hopefully, eventually, my friend Rebekah who's visiting, will appear out of the guest room and we'll sit around laughing and talking about plans for the day.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Leaving and eating

As I've written earlier, a friend is moving to Hawaii. And while I am rather peeved about her leaving me behind, I guess I'll let Laura go. Katie (the sister that's not moving) used her journalistic talents today and live blogged a few minutes from the day. I didn't know she was live blogging but I walked in at the right time in order to get a mention on her blog. (And no my dress wasn't that sexy, but I appreciate the awesomeness of the compliment) If she had kept live blogging it would say that we sat outside on the patio in the summer (finally!) weather and talked just as girls do. And instead of getting all sentimental (we just don't do that) we instead talked about stuff I cannot name here. I think we could've talked all day, but unfortunately I had a (argh) vision therapy appointment.

So that's it for right now. I'm trying so hard to get to bed earlier and I just have loads more to write because my life is so, erm, um, fascinating. But I will end by saying that eating homemade peach ice cream and beating your brothers at Ticket to Ride is a pretty good way to end the day.