The Cat Came Back...But The Trooper Didn't

Who can blame Kabuki, the psycho kitty, for taking the tempting opening placed before her? When her family left her for a week vacation in Idaho and left the boys' bedroom window gaping wide open, what formal feral kitty wouldn't leap at the chance for freedom and jump out the window despite the two storey drop?? Then why not enjoy that new found freedom for oh, let's just say, about a month & a half, causing the aforementioned careless family to give you up for dead. Then let's say after the freshness of the all night partying has worn off and you are feeling a little bit hungry you decide to head for home. Wouldn't you know, some would-be good Samaritan finds you just outside your family's house with your leg stuck through your collar looking like a concentration camp kitty and decides to turn you into an emergency animal shelter. There some kindly attendant notices that the collar, which formerly had your leg stuck through it, has a tag with your name & phone number on it. She calls the family after 10pm at night to let them know you have been found. The message for one reason or another is not received until later. At 7am the next morning your contrite owner picks you up from the shelter and is given the advice that perhaps you should be taken to your regular vet. Given your emaciated, flea-covered condition, your owner wishes you had a regular vet to be taken to. However, seeings how you didn't, she takes you to the one closest to home.
Now your life hangs in the balance. Resusitating you will be $$$, so mom tries to call dad for advice. Luckily for you, dad is not available and mom just doesn't have the heart to approve termination. So you get to have vet care and I.V.s for two days. Even after all that your prospects are still somewhat iffy. You come home painfully thin and barely able to stand. How you progress over the Labor Day weekend will determine your longterm life prospects. But so far, Kabuki the psycho kitty seems to be getting better each day.
As for the Trooper, that's Tucker's car. He took it on a camping trip with friends to the Oregon coast this past week where it peacefully succumbed to transmission failure. Sadly, it now rests-in-peace in a junk dealer's "lot" in Lincoln City, OR. (That's the short version of the story). The free car turned out to be not such a great deal after all.
This week will go down in history as the week of Kitty & Car Trauma!

Beach Camping 09

Every summer for the past 15 to 16 years, the Chandler clan (more or less) has gone camping on the Washington coast by Westport, WA. It is an annual tradition that the Dennis Chandler clan has never missed (even when I was 8 mo pregnant with Spencer). It is something the kids look forward to all summer long and are sad when it is done.
Over the years various people have joined us (or not some years). This year we had a group of 22 people with friends and relatives combined. The picture on the left is Spencer with his two Chandler girl cousins Kelly and Emma. They have been pals all their lives. It is great to see how they interact and have fun together.

This picture is Tucker with his cousin James. It gives Tucker way more credit than he deserves. I happened to snap it at just the right moment when Tucker let go of James' shoulder. He immediately grabbed right back on. He never was able to take a footstep on the line without holding on to James. James brought the line from home and ran it between two trees at the place where we camped.


This is Dennis flying James' parachute kite. It must be fun because lots of people tried it out while we were there. On Friday night the wind was so gusty that it lifted people off the ground. I didn't see it, but apparently it is pretty fun if you are the one being lifted. Personally that would make me a little nervous.



Cooper spent about every moment he could boogy boarding in the waves. Keep in mind that the ocean on the Washington coast is not exactly warm. Okay, it is not even remotely warm. Last year it was surprisingly pleasant. This year it was slightly chillier despite all those climate change claims of higher temps. Cooper and his cousin Trevor spent alot of time on the board. Both really got the hang of "catchin' a wave" and frequently could ride one for quite a ways into the shore. Cooper would do it over and over and over. I liked going out into the water myself. There is something quite mesmerizing, or compelling about the ocean that just draws me in. I only got wet midway up my thighs though. I just couldn't bring myself to go further than that this year.
We got incredibly lucky with the weather. It was drizzly all the way to the beach, but it seemed like the closer we got the better the weather got, which is unsual because usually it's just the opposite. Friday afternoon when we went the the beach it was absolutely lovely. Saturday was a great day also. The wind was a little chilly which kept most of the kids out of the water for the most part. There was some wading, but the only serious "swimmers" were Cooper & Trevor (undeveloped nerve endings I guess). We had great food, great campfires both nights and just an all around good time.
Who knows how many more of these we will have Kelly and James graduated from high school this year so it is the beginning of kids moving on. It has been a great Chandler tradition with some really fond memories though!

The Super Activity

These are some pictures that Spencer took on the Super Activity he and Tucker when on last week (well obviously he didn't take his own picture AND his camera survied the dip in the creek at Wildhorse.) The Young Men youth leader took boys 14 and above on a hiking trip along the Washington coast. Brave, brave man. It was a group of 13 boys and 3 leaders. The hike 5-7 miles each day from Tuesday through Thursday. They ended the trip with surf lessons on Friday which both boys enjoyed quite a bit. Tucker has decided that hiking is really cool and wants to get more "in to it". They both said they saw some amazing scenery and the trip was cool--despite all the hiking and subsequent sore legs. (Maybe some day they will be prepared to make the annaul "death march" with Crazy Lady. He didn't get any pictures of the surfing because his batteries died after the first day. Oh well. He did get a few pictures and some of the leaders took a whole bunch so perhaps there will be more memorable pictures. It is so great that their YM leader is trying to do these "mega" trips with the boys. He is building memories for these kids that will last a lifetime. I know it is a lot of work but it is an awesome thing he is doing!

Family Ties That Bind

This is a picture of my mom with all eight of her living siblings. Before we were headed to Idaho, mom had mentioned that they were planning a get together while we were visiting and would I be interested in coming. I could tell she really wanted me to go but I just said we'll see when I get there. She asked again after we got there and I said I'd see how I felt after playing golf the day before. The golf turned out to be 16 holes of 50mph wind in our face (only two holes where it was at our back). I told her I would see how I felt when I got up the next morning. Luckly I felt pretty good so I said I'd go. Spencer opted to come with me. Turns out that Spencer & I were the only non-sibling/spouse there.

It was so much fun to see my aunts and uncles. I hadn't seen any of them for several years and it was the first time in a few years that ALL of them were together at one time. I told them right up front that I was going to be obnoxious and take pictures and if it bugged them they would just have to get over it. Luckly they had been planning on some group pictures because I also informed them that it wasn't optional as far as I was concerned.

Everyone had a very nice visit and it was lots of fun listening to them reminisce about "mother" and "father" which is what they all call Grandma & Grandpa Hall.

I have very fond memories of the annual Hall reunions that happened every summer as I was growing up. It was always exciting to anticipate seeing cousins, aunts and uncles--and there were lots of us. It's funny how blood ties can create a real sense of family with people you only see once maybe twice a year. Those were some very happy times.

It was hard to get all those siblings to sit still, look in the right place and stop giggling and talking. They were almost worse than pre-schoolers! I took lots and lots of photos of each group (girls, boys, both and both w/spouses) so I could be sure to get at least one good one. Luckily I did get at least one good one of each group.

It was an awesome day and I am so very glad I went.

(If you are interested in seeing or having photos just let me know and I will send you a Picasa link to them all)

I Love Freezer Jam!

It's true, I love freezer jam! I have a particular fondness for raspberry. That is why I took the time just before leaving for Idaho to do a little freezer jam processing today. I guess I should have visited my freezer before buying all the raspberries I purchased today. If I had done that I would have discoverd about 18 more similar containers of raspberry and strawberry jam! I guess I thought we ate more of it from last year. Oh well.
But, I didn't visit before purchasing 4 flats of raspberries (or were they 1/2 flats--I always get confused) so what can you do but get them ready for freezing. It's not like we are going to eat them all--especially since we are leaving on Saturday for Idaho. So, I get the less sugar/no sugar pectin and off I go.
I purchased the blue plastic containers several years ago on sale. I guess I didn't remember purchasing so many (between those pictured here and the ones already in the freezer from last year). I was trying to get just enough raspberries to fill the little blue containers that I had that were empty. Unfortunately, I always overestimate in my berry purchasing. Happens every year (maybe that's why there is so much in my freezer). Luckily I learned the trick from my mom of freezing the jam in freezer baggies otherwise I would have been in trouble with my four boxes of raspberries. The baggies keep just as nicely as the containers.
I don't know how to can. Never really learned, so it's the freezer method for me. I always preferred the freezer kind anyway.

Some People Have Good Karma

I think I mentioned that Tucker originally didn't want the Subaru because it wasn't "cool" to which I replied "Son, you can't afford cool" Apparently he can when it's free! Yes, the car you see to the left was free!! (Not the ham standing next to it but the actual car). Dennis was telling a co-worker about the search for a replacement car for Tucker after the accident. Kyle (the co-worker) casually says he has a 1998 Isuzu Trooper and Tucker could have it if he wanted. Just like that. What's the catch you might wonder? Well, it needed to be licensed and the check engine light was on. That is an automatic failure at the emissions testing place and you have to pay at least $150 to get it fixed or approved if not fixed. (Kyle thought it was $500). So Dennis & Tucker went to check it out and of course thought it was a fine vehicle. They drove it home. Just before going to the emissions testing place, Dennis unhooked the car's computer after which it had to reboot or something. Regardless, the "check engine" light stayed off long enough to pass the emissions test (it turned back on about 20 minutes later). Licensing it was just under $100 and the front wind sheild needs to be replaced, but that's it. So while not exactly without a cost attached, it was a free vehicle to Tucker.
It was a little dirty inside because Kyle had been using it for dump trips, but nothing a little afternoon elbow grease by Tucker and Spencer couldn't cure. It obviously is not as fuel effecient as the Subaru was, but heck it was free! And the cool factor. Oh that's way up.

It Happens to Everyone

I guess it is inevitable that you will have a fender bender at some point in your life. And, if you are a teenager (or old), that is probably going to happen sooner rather than later. We would be dreaming if we didn't think it would happen to Tucker at some point. Yesterday it did. Of course we kind of assumed that it would be Tucker's fault, but in this instance it wasn't! Shocking I know. I got a frantic call from him yesterday at work around 11:30am saying his he had crashed into the back of a tow truck (how ironic is that??) and that it wasn't his fault because there was an oil slick or something. I can't say that I was exactly maternal. I was having a crappy day myself for various reasons so the first thing I said was "I don't need this today, I just don't need this." and then follwed that with "Oil slick? Yeah, right." Regardless of the intial "all about me" response, I did ask who was in the car and if everyone was okay (luckily yes). Then I hopped in the van (luckily I hadn't walked to work that day) and drove down to his school and the scene of the accident.
Turns out there was an "oil slick" which stretched almost 20 blocks!! I hit a little of it on my way to the accident. It was like hitting a patch of ice, where your brakes kind of seize up.
Tucker had been taking 3 friends for lunch and was coming to a stop at the light right by his school. He hit a particularly big patch of oil and all effort to stop was pointless. The thing that stopped him was the tow truck in the lane next to him. He ran right into the part they hook up to tow you. It looked like he was going to be towed. The tow truck driver and the guy in the truck behind him both confirmed to the police that Tucker was not speeding but driving slowly and there was no way to avoid the accident.
It was pretty scary but as I say, no one was hurt. Tucker is a little sore today and I told him to check on his friends to see how they were today. Unfortunately, his car is not. It's pretty much a goner. We only had it insured for liability because it was so old. He's pretty bummed about the car naturally.
So here's the kicker to the whole story. Turns out the "oil slick" came from a fire truck!! It was leaking transmission fluid all the way down 15th Ave. Tucker just happened to hit the big pile where it had stopped for the light. In fact the fire truck was not too far in front of them! I guess they figured it out about three more lights down the street and finally pulled over. According the the cop at our accident, there were a couple other fender benders reported north of where we were. They ended up closing off most of the street for the rest of the afternoon. Dennis is hoping to get some kind of compensation for Tucker from the city for the fire truck basically causing the accident. I'm not holding my breath on that one.
Best thing is to just focus on the fact that no one was hurt. It could have been much worse, but fortunately, someone was looking out for Tucker yesterday!