Showing you Oregon,one post at a time. Did you know that I post the links of many of my stories and articles on the sidebar? When you have extra time, please scroll down to see more. At the bottom of this page there are links to many other blogs that I enjoy.

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Hello, friends, thank you so much for stopping by. I really hope that you will enjoy your visit to Oregon Gifts. Due to spam, I am not accepting comments from anonymous people. Please email me at: oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@hotmail.com if you are unable to leave a comment on here. I write back through email when I can.

My words and photographs are copyrighted, and may not be used without permission, even on Pinterest.

~ Kathy M.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I'm Finally Back!

Hi Everybody!

I am so glad to be back on my blog with a bigger, better and more reliable computer!  I want to thank my Best Friend Husband for the upgrade, and for Susan at Paul the Computer Guy in Bend for all of her hard work in troubleshooting and transferring everything over from our laptop to this desktop.  She did outstanding work, and I know it wasn't easy.

Since I have made an entry, Cary had a birthday.  It was one of those low key ones, but Jimmy brought him over fresh crab from the Pacific Ocean that he caught himself.  I gave Cary a massage, and will buy him some new planters for the front sidewalk when the weather gets better.

Dad and Jill are moving to Arizona, permanently, and that has been kind of emotional for me.  They are having to downsize their whole house, going through and sorting a life time of stuff; keeping some and distributing others.  They leave today, and I hope that the weather cooperates.

We have been having quite a bit of snow the past week, but it melts off by the next day.  Here are pictures from yesterday morning:


Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews


Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews


Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews


Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews


Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews


Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews


At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Hi, we are having computer work done, so I won't be able to get online much over the next few days. 

Please leave me an email if you want to; I will check that as often as I can.

Thanks,

Kathy

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Today's Quote:





The Woman With The Long Brown Hair:


In the mid 1980's I had kind of a weird thing happen one morning.  I was a single mom living in Eugene, and working for an insurance company. Our neighborhood was not quite "bad", but there was a lot of foot traffic, and the street was one block removed from one of the main thoroughfares.  We lived on 8th and Jackson, if you know where that is, about a block down from The Frontier Market (one of Eugene's hippie stores).

I had gone to the supermarket the night before and bought some groceries; some staples. Besides milk, and hamburger and bread, I also bought things like green beans and cream of mushroom soup.  Which was a good thing, come to find out later.

I woke up that morning with a bit of free time on my hands before I had to get ready for work.  My little girls were getting to sleep in a bit before daycare.  I had taken my bath the night before, so at the time I would have been normally been in the shower and getting ready for work, I heard a knock on the door.


I thought, now who is that? I answered the door and there was a tall woman with long hair standing on my porch. She didn't look scary, but she didn't look quite right either, in manner; not physically.  The woman told me that she was hungry, and could she please come in and have something to eat? 

Though surprised, my intuition was not really alarmed, so I let her in; not something I would usually ever do. It was like a God thing, if you know what I mean.

The lady headed into the kitchen, and I asked her what she would like to eat.  I offered up cereal, eggs, toast, etc. She said, no, what she really wanted was a can of green beans mixed in with a can of cream of mushroom soup, heated up.  I thought, that is weird ... if I wouldn't have bought those last night, I wouldn't even have them here to feed her what she wants.  (Those were in the days before I had a stocked pantry.)  I said okay, cooked up her requested meal, and asked her what she wanted to drink ... milk, juice, coffee?  She said no, what she really wanted was some Pepsi. So, that is what she drank. 

She was a good eater, and ate everything right up. As the girls were beginning to stir around and awake, she said thank you, and she left.

After I got the girls ready and took them to daycare, I went to work at the insurance company.  In the break room, I told everybody about what had happened that morning.  Most of the people scolded me, telling me that I was crazy, and that she could have killed all of us.  I knew that they were just worried about me, but wasn't sure that I deserved to be in so much trouble for just being nice!

Then, my friend Jan sat down next to me and quietly said that I had done the right thing, and that it was okay to entertain angels among us.  Thank you, Jan, I still remember your kindness, 25 years later.

I know that the lady wasn't really an angel.  I later saw her around town, and learned later that she had been in a bike accident, and had some sort of brain injury.  But it was still odd to me that I had just bought exactly what she wanted for breakfast ... green beans with cream of mushroom soup, heated up.  And that I even let her in.  

I wonder what she is doing now?


The end.



At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
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Sunday Morning Update:

Hi,


Well, I easily survived my "procedure", was told that I was pretty much okay, to eat more raw veggies and come back in 5 years.  They were really nice to me, and knocked me out completely.  If you live in Central Oregon, Dr. Maddox is your go to guy for this.  They did have a hard time getting the IV in, as I was worried about, but, as in most cases of difficulty, the third try was the charm.  

I appreciate everybody who was thinking about me.  Besides the comments left on here, there were phone calls and well wishes from my FB friends.  My daughter said that she had never seen so much fuss over a colonoscopmy before, but I really appreciated hearing from everybody.  The worst part was feeling vulnerable.


Yesterday, I was a busy bee; cleaning, laundry, putting the new sheets on our bed (they did have deep pockets and fit fine).  Today is vacuuming and paying bills day.  I packaged up the prizes for Gwen, Becky and Lisa, and will mail them out tomorrow.  

I finished Harriet Spies Again, and am halfway through with Ramona's World.  I am having fun reading all of these kids books.  I did this in the mid 90's, and again in my Children's Literature class in 2000.  I like how it helps me to remember what it was like to be a young girl and the things that made me happy and worried me at that time.  I am going to keep buying more kids books as the opportunity arises at used books stores and the library sale.  Things are so different for kids now.  Much more unsafe, and so filled with technology.


Last week, my new online friend Lisa Ricard Clarno, Writing in the Buff http://www.writinginthebuff.net/, and prize winner of the cookie mix, wrote a blog post about how one of her stories got published in a book called The Mystery of Fate.  I left a comment of congratulations, saying I had a story that might have fit in there too.  Then, to my surprise, I received an email from a woman named Brenda, saying that they were going to do another book, and that she would like an outline of my story to see if it fit in to their theme.  I sent it off, but I haven't heard back yet.

As I was writing back to Brenda, I thought of another story.  I am am going to post it in a minute.

Have a wonderful Sunday!


Thursday, March 18, 2010

Dear Diary, Dear Reader:

Good thing that I have photos as a back up to my writing on here, so that there is something I can post to let you guys know that I am still alive and well. 


I have been working hard on our Oregon Independent Aggregate Association (OIAA) stuff.  They put me in charge of the website www.oraggregate.com and of the newsletter.  I am a volunteer, but then so is everybody else at OIAA.  I enjoy it, but it takes a lot of my time.  That is in addition to my own blog on MSHA (the Mine Safety Health Administration, which is under the Dept. of Labor).  MSHA has been doing this abuse of power thing and charging mine operators high fines.  All the money they collect for things like peeing in the woods (I am not kidding you), goes into the general fund.  Now MSHA is increasing their enforcement and their fines (up to $85,000 to $220,000 per episode).  So, there is a grassroots movement across the nation to help get them back to being normal and fair.  OIAA is one of those groups, and Cary is on the Board of Directors.  This is our way of being politically active, and of trying to keep our gravel pit in business.


In trying to figure out what was going on and how things worked, I created a blog about preparing for an MSHA inspection last spring.  (I swear, if I had known about blogging when I was in college, I would have made each big paper that I wrote a blog.)  That website has grown into a major resource page, and, I'm not kidding you, there are people from all over the world reading that blog.  Check out the cluster map on the bottom of the sidebar on that website if you don't believe me.  I am not going to even tell my brother that there are 5 people in Russia following me on that site.  If you want to check it out, here is the website address:  www.lrmincmsha.blogspot.com


All that work takes me away from here, my beloved home base, where I get to be creative.  I am still writing and thinking when I am doing the OIAA stuff, but it is more factual than fun or feelings.  Except for the newsletter.  This week was my first newsletter, and I had to do a lot of updates to our computer to be able to use Word 2007.  Oh, man is it cool.  I hadn't even used Word forever, and I am having so much fun.  The newsletter should be sent out today and also be posted on the OIAA website at www.oraggregate.com.




Other News for the Diary:  

The A-Frame behind us has been rented, to someone we know.  Nobody has lived there for 4 or so years, so it will be different.  I hope that they are not too nosy when we start using the hot tub again.  Or too loud.

My Dad and Jill are moving back to Arizona for good, and that makes me sad.  But, Jill is giving me her mom's old sewing machine, and that makes me happy.

I have to go in for a colonoscopy tomorrow.  Just routine, because I'm getting older.  I think I am more worried about the IV than anything else ... I've never even had one of those.  Today I am on a clear liquid diet.  Yesterday I was in Bi Mart, and for some reason started telling this older lady about my upcoming event.  She was so nice.  She told me that she had colon cancer in 1991 and so she has to have a colonoscopy every once in a while, but not to worry about it; the stuff you have to drink is the worst part.  Then she told me that she had one breast removed also, but that God wasn't finished with her being here yet.  That lady just radiated God's love.  I gave her a big hug and told her thank you, that she was making me feel so much better.  When I told her that I had never even had an IV, she broke into a big smile and said, "Oh, honey, well, bless your heart!  She reminded me of my Grandma Johnson when she said that.  We both knew that I was lucky to have never been sick enough to go into the hospital and get an IV.  (I had my girls in the hospital, but didn't need an IV.  I never did like the idea of Demerol during childbirth.)  

That nice lady at Bi-Mart reminded me to be an encourager to others.  So, I took the Grandmas next door corned beef and cabbage last night.  It was really good stuff, if I do say so myself.  The Grandmas were happy.


I am reading "Because of Winn Dixie".  It is exactly like the movie.  I love it when the movie people stick to the book.  ("The Princess Bride" did that too.)  Gloria Dump told Opal to not judge people because of their past, but take a look at how they are doing right now.  That helped me a lot to change my attitude about my new neighbors.  People really trying to make a fresh start should get a second chance.


I bought new sheets for our bed yesterday.  Blue.  I don't know if they have deep pockets or not, and I hope they fit.  We will soon find out.


One last thing, I found a new reality show that I really like.  "Billy the Exterminator".  It is so funny!  Watch it if you get a chance.


Have a great day! 

The end.



Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Messing Around with Picassa and The Day Before Yesterday's Sunrise:

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews


At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
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Monday, March 15, 2010

Italy #2: Positano and Naples

Yesterday, Casey, Savanna, CJ and Courtney, along with their friends, took a road trip around Italy.  They began in Positano, and then drove to Naples.  Here are some of their photos, which were on their FB page.  Thanks for sharing your adventure with us guys.  We miss you a lot!

 CJ and Casey

Savanna with CJ and Courtney

 Positano



 Running in Positano:  Courtney, CJ and Elisa

 Driving to Naples

Castle in Naples

Naples, Italy



At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
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Seattle 5K Runners:



Our big girls, Shanna and Cheri, participated in yesterday's 5K run in Seattle.  Posing in the top picture with the ladies, Cheri is the last one on the right, and Shanna is standing next to her.  Posing with the Shamrock Boys, Shanna is the second one in, and Cheri is wearing her hat.  What great pictures (from Shanna's FB page).

Way to go girls, we are very proud of you!



At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
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A New Baby at Deep Creek Ranch:

 


This little baby was born this weekend at my friend Keri's horse ranch in Sisters.  He's so cute that I just had to copy these pictures from Keri's FB page.  Rachel is also in the top picture.  Congratulations, everybody!



At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Reading, Writing and Math:


Sometimes those of us who live in La Pine like to make fun of ourselves.  Most of the people who do not live in La Pine make fun of us anyway, so we might as well.  

There are jokes about La Pine being the home of the first toothbrush, because people here only had one tooth when they were invented.  Ha, ha, ha.  There is a certain dialect here that we call Lapinese, where words are shortcutted  (that word itself may be a good example). Words meld into their own versions around here, and our grammar here isn't always the best.  All of this was much more noticeable when I moved here in 2001, and I fell right into it.  Since then, La Pine has been "discovered" and different sorts of people have arrived to insert their influence into our little town.  Which is probably a good thing.

I tell you all of that to tell you this:  I suck at math.  Yesterday I wanted to make us some homemade macaroni and cheese.  It actually turned out really good.  But I was having a  bad-math karma day, and had a hard time adding 3/4 cup and 3/4 cup to the cheese sauce mix.  So, I went on Facebook and made a joke about how we did advanced math in La Pine, using the small measuring cup twice.  I was trying to be funny, you guys!  Nobody laughed or even gave me a thumbs up.  Gwen did write me a good thing to help me out for next time:  Three quarters and three quarters equals a dollar fifty.  She is good at math.  I can tell.  I didn't even know that you could do little stories like that for math like you can for the number of days in each month of the year. As in, 30 days hath September, April, June and November, etc.

It started me thinking about my math issues.  I had to take Senior Math in school, that class that math challenged students were required to pass before they could graduate.  This was after you couldn't pass algebra, and they wanted to make sure you could balance your checkbook after you left their school.  That was back in the old days, when they cared.

Anyway, taking Senior Math always made me feel kind of dumb.  But, I found out later that I wasn't really dumb, because I am good at reading and writing.  Two out of three isn't bad.  That is 2/3 smart.  (See I can do a little bit of math.)  So, I went back on Facebook and told a story about my Senior Math teacher.  On the first day, there was this sweet girl, a friend of mine, who was in my class.  Her name was Joni Slonecker.  When the math teacher was calling roll, he butchered Joni's name, calling out "Johnny Slow Necker!".  She slunk down into her seat.  I think it was the slow necker part that really got to her.  I felt her embarrassment.

At the time, I was a little judgmental about that math teacher, wondering how in the world he could not say her name correctly, and thinking he did it on purpose.  But now I think that he was just better at math than at reading.  There are very few of us who are super good at both.  Except those like for my daughter Kristin, who inherited her father's math skills and whatever else she got from me that helped.  Kari, Nigel and I are more word people.

Nobody even gave me a thumbs up on Facebook for that little story, but I thought it was as good one.  So, I am on here trying to explain further justify myself.  Like Paul Harvey and The Rest of the Story.  Cuz this is my diary, and I can. That is the best part of having your own blog.  Besides a place to put all the pictures.




At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
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No Copying!


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I LOVE THE STATE OF OREGON.

I LOVE THE STATE OF OREGON.
Links to My Oregon Blog Posts (Except for Central Oregon):

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