GRRRR! I Hate Computers!!

I have been trying to update my blog with pictures from our recent trip to Hawaii (last week) and haven't been able to make it work because of our stupid computer!! Between our computer at home & the computer at work I am going crazy. I takes my computer at work 20 minutes or more to warm up every morning. The good news is that we are scheduled to get new computers at work in December. Meanwhile I just have to grit my teeth and find other things to do while I wait for the computer (s) to get it together.
I was able to get one picture on as you can see, but that is it! The only reason I can do this is because I am using Dennis' laptop. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the photos from Dennis' laptop.

The Old Man

Dennis' 50th birthday was Wednesday, October 7th. We both took the day off and played golf together. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, perfect for golf. He had a great round and despite being barely able to walk I did pretty well (The new exercise routine at the gym the day before left my quads like jello. Going downhill even slightly was a bear!) That's how we celebrated the day of his birthday.
Since it was his 50th after all a party must be held (even though I didn't want to, party pooper that I am) and Wednesday being the middle of the week and all it had to be another day and someplace else. Kathy (Oma) graciously allowed us to have it at their place. Luckily Saturday, the 10th was also a pretty decent day and we held the party in the back yard. We had most of his family (including his aunt & uncle from Port Ludlow) plus a few of our friends. It was a very nice evening. We had tons of Mexican food and everyone just hung out in the back yard.

We lit a fire in an old washtub so that everyone had some place to get warm as the night got a little chilly as the sun went down. The kids also strung up some Christmas lights to give a little light and set the mood.

I figured I would throw in this picture of me, with my friend Peg and sister-in-law Lisa just because I hardly ever include pictures of myself.

Have I Done Any Good...

I was watching the Sunday morning broadcast of General Conference last night (that's the beauty of satellite TV & being able to record stuff to watch it when you want) and listened to President Monson's talk about doing good. I actually saw the "challenge" in the Ensign about how he wanted everyone to do something good as a gift for his birthday. I had wanted to get my Primary class to do that and even wrote a letter home to the parents about it, but for whatever reason never got any further with it than that. I was feeling a little guilty as I saw the little montage of all the things kids/people had sent to show what they had done because I totally planned on doing that with the primary class, but....

Anyway, I was still feeling that challenge for myself to try to do something good every day. I guess blogging about it is my way of publicly acknowledging that I plan to do that and it started today. I had thought about it last night and made a commitment to try to do something good today. I even remembered that commitment this morning as I was driving to work, which is pretty amazing for me to actually remember something the next day!

Then of course I promptly forgot it for the rest of the day. I was driving home later that afternoon and realized that I actually had done something good today!!

We had a little power outage this morning at the school. The main transformer blew at about 7:30 am. We had about 1/3 the power we normally have which meant no computers, no intercom, and very limited lighting. We did manage to get through the whole school day, but Seattle City light said they had to shut the power completely off 10 minutes after school let out so they could do the repairs. True to their word, the power went out abruptly at 2:45pm.

Unfortunately one little 6th grade Somali boy happened to be struggling with his stuck locker and worrying about missing bus when the power suddenly went out. It was the literal straw...he was so upset he started to cry about all of it--stuck locker, missed bus, dark school. Now came the debate about who could drive him home. You are supposed to have a special "license" in order to drive someone home--which I don't have. Unfortunately though all the people who did have the special license were already driving another student home or had meetings. Apparently in emergency cases someone without a special license can drive students home. That was me! My good deed in the world today was to drive the little boy home!

Here's hoping that there is some good deed I can do every day. (Not that I am going to blog about it daily, it just seems like a worthy goal) Most days it probably won't be anything as dramatic as today, but it seems like just trying would make the world a little brighter!

3rd Time Lucky & Other Stuff

Tucker next to his third vehicle in a year, through no fault of his own as past posting attest. This time around he is driving a 5-speed (which he loves) Honda Civic. Seems like it will be a nice reliable car for him. Although not as cool as the Trooper of course, the gas mileage is waaaay better which beats cool any day. He has already started adding stickers to the back window.

Spencer turned 14 on September 11. Mom & Dad chauffered by Roberta came up for the occasion. We had a birthday dinner on Friday night (pot roast, mashed potatoes and butterschotch pie) which was ready just in time for their arrival. He opened presents and this next picture is a picture of his list (he prepares one every birthday and Christmas) with the top item clearly crossed out with a big "No". What was that top item? you might ask. That would be the lap top that Dennis said "No way in ... was he going to get" What's that right next him? Why that would be the laptop that Dennis got for free from work! We added some ram and a video drive and we now have one very happy 14 year old!

Here's Cooper on the first day of school. I was not there to take the picture (how sad is that) because I had to go into school early. Spencer took his picture and Tucker took Spencer's. Tucker doesn't start school (community college) until the 29th so no one took his picture. Cooper rode his bike by himself to school that day and has pretty much done the same thing every day so far. Pretty independent kid.

Here's a few from our visit to the Cupcake Cabin over Labor Day. We were going to go to a resort near Mt. Hood but due to the unplanned rescue of Tucker after his Trooper broke down and the return of the half-dead cat, we postponed it until another time. Luckily for us our friends, the Roches were still game to have us visit the Cupcake Cabin. We went up Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon. The weather was iffy, but a few games of killer croquet were still played, as well as Perudo and other card games. It was nice to get away even overnight. We are planning another visit the first weekend in October.

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!