Things I Learned in Portland

After 5+ days in Portland there are a few things I learned.
In no particular order, perhaps you will learn a thing or two, too.

Men in Portland like to wear Hawaiian print shirts. I was not given an explanation for this when I asked.

Portland is close to Vancouver.
Vancouver Washington, that is. Not to be confused with the Olympic Village Vancouver, BC.

Some people in Portland - men and women, alike - wear these shoes with these springy-lookin' shocks on the heel. Supposedly it is good for the back.

A lot of raincoats in Portland.

Recycling every where you look.

The three hour time difference is hard when wanting to communicate with the family you miss so much.

Portland - I liked you.

Cincinnati - can't wait to get back to you. And my babies.

"And This One Time, At Band Camp..."

Home Shows. They are interesting. Some folks would say fun. Get good ideas. See neat things.

Working a Home Show - that is a whole different story...

Working the Angie's List booth at Home Shows is what I am doing to help out my family financially and taking a baby step back into the working world. They are long days, usually 9 hours or so. Talking to people, selling memberships, etc. But the other half of it is the other people working at booths. They can become your friends - "covering" your booth for potty and food breaks. A nuisance - "Windows! Siding! Doors! Insulation! Which project are YOU tackling this year?!" Or, simply, a whole lot of entertainment.

In Cleveland, my "booth roomie" was Rich, a nice 50ish year old man with a helpful hand and a HUGE sense of humor. He was great. And if you ever need a solar light for a dark room in your home, Rich is your man. If you live in Cleveland, that is.

This week, in Portland, I have a great "booth roomie" to the left with Brent and Curt of Gary's Vacuflo (super-cool central vac systems...I want one) and across the "street" with female Chris of a siding and window company.

And then there is "Susie" (names have been changed to protect the innocent - or weird, in this case).

Susie is my "roomie" to the right. She works for a home builder. I noticed she was a little "off," if you will, yesterday, but she was nice enough and covered my booth when I had to potty.

Today - a whole other story.

Susie started talking today about her days traveling the world, skipping college to compete, meeting her husband and friends she has all over the world from competing in flag corp.

Yes. I said FLAG CORP.

Now don't get me wrong. I love me some band performances. One of my besties in high school was Cherie "Mark, Time, Mark!" Dunlap, Drum Major. My senior year our band competed with songs from "Carmen" and most Friday nights I would cry it was so beautiful. So trust me when I say I don't knock band people. Hey, even Rob was in the band. And I played a mean rendition of "Making Muffins" with the flute in 5th grade.

But Susie is STILL talking about traveling flag corp.
Susie is in her 40s. Susie is a mom.
AND
Susie has a picture of herself from circa 1980 in her flag corp outfit as her profile picture on Facebook.
Trust me, I know. She showed me.

She says she loves that she has Facebook now so she can rekindle all her old friendships with people from travel flag corp.
From the 80s.

You wanna know the best part?

Susie can relate to the Olympians competing right now because she knows how it feels to be a World Champion.

Yep. You and Michael Phelps, Sus.
Mono E Mano.

And THAT, ladies and gentleman, was my Thursday at
The Home Show.
Jealous much??

Jack's Big Night

Jack had a big night. According to him, he felt the loose tooth, pulled on it and it just came out!
A little bit of blood and a whole lot of pride later, we have a big boy with a missing tooth!

And I missed it.

I found out via text message when I got off my flight to Portland.
And I cried in the airport.

Especially when Jack got on the phone, recounted the events for me, and told me he and Daddy put the tooth in a safe place for when I get home and then we will put it under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy.

I love that sweet boy.
I love his Daddy for trying to make me feel better about missing this big "first."
And many thanks to Julie for calming me down, too.

If I am this emotional over missing his first lost tooth...ugh. I have to get it together.


Here is the proud boy!
(Sorry for the poor quality - cell phone picture!)

Now we have to explain how the Tooth Fairy can't possibly deliver 3000 quarters, as Jack is requesting. I'll let you know how that conversation turns out...

Can I Get An AMEN??!!

3 Children.

1 hour long Mass.

0 Children removed from church due to inappropriate behavior, screaming, bathroom breaks or crying.

Can I get an AMEN!!

Today, Mass did not conquer us, we conquered it.
And I even remember what the readings were about!

WOW! What a great Sunday indeed!

Living for the Weekend

Greetings from the Goshorn Kids!

Not much going on 'round these parts. Had a fun morning at the gym, playing with friends and shootin' hoops with Mom and Dad. Jack and Will are both getting a lot better at dribbling. Jack can even do it without looking! Brooke is getting better at "shooting" the ball. It now somewhat goes in the direction she is aiming for.

We have been working on our basement over the past few weeks...removing things, rearranging things, etc. We have had a nice man named "Mr. Jim" from Able over framing and wiring electric for the first step in the long process of finishing the basement. The kids adored Jim and hearing Brooke yell "Dim! Dim!" just melted all our hearts. I think he will be back to visit his little girlfriend!

Thanks to Miss Angela and "The Squeakel" soundtrack she sent us, these are the current hits of the Goshorn Kids:
*Brooke knows the chorus to both "Good Night" by the Black Eyed Peas and "Put a Ring On It" by Beyonce. Well, not so much the chorus but the "Uh oh oh!" part. So cute!
*Jack has really taken a liking to the 80's hit "You Spin Me" - you know, right 'round baby - but does not agree with me as to the real lyrics. We are still in a debate.
*Will likes all of the above, including "Hot & Cold" by Katy Perry. Watching him in the rear-view mirror has almost caused several rear-end accidents.
NOTE: All of these songs are sung by either The Chipmunks or The Chipettes, which puts a whole other spin on things. And please be assured, my children's favorite artists are always going to be Britney and Gaga. We haven't lost our taste.

Hope you all have a great weekend and pray for some sign of spring!

Will on Wednesday

And what a great edition this will be as it is
Will on ASH Wednesday.

I took both boys to church tonight and explained once during the day and again on the ride over that Father (aka GOD to our boys - can't quite get that one figured out) would make a cross on their foreheads with the ashes, it would not hurt, they would not feel anything, don't back away, etc. etc.

So the moment came when folks started heading to the altar for ashes. And Will says - loudly, because my children DO NOT understand the concept of no talking in church, let alone whispering - "Why is everyone getting a boo-boo on their head?"

Thus, I explain the situation again, yada, yada, yada...

As we walk back to the pew Jack says: "Why did he say DUST?"
("For you are dust and unto dust you shall return.")
For the millionith time I tell them to stop talking...

And then the gusto -
We are back at the pew and Will says:
"Mom, I got my ashes. Now I am going to turn black."

I am pretty sure the entire pew behind me was laughing at this point...

...Or was it when Will was "reading" the front of the missal describing Jesus sinking into a "pool of lava?"

Yep...just another mass with the boys. Betcha want to come to our church, huh??!!

Twitter

As you can see, I have added Twitter to my blog. I have been doing it for awhile now, thanks to Julie. I don't do it on my phone - just computer at home. But it is fun to follow other people and see what they write about. Even my husband does it...and that is saying something! So if you have never tried it - go for it! It's fun! And as you can see...I rarely update. And most are just Julie and I talking back and forth - HA! You would think we do that enough on the phone...oh no! We have to tweet too!