A fact of life

Let's face it.  It is wet in the PNW.  There are a lot of gray gloomy days and a lot of rainy days.  We don't really expect sun before July 4th.  It isn't good to get our hopes up.

That is a small price to pay for the beauty that we endure.  We get to go to places like Multnomah Falls, the Columbia River, Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, and Devil's Punchbowl just south of Lincoln City.  We have Mount Hood on our east which is a vista that never fails to mesmerize me.  We have Mount St. Helen mostly north of us, and on clear days we can still see her cropped top.  We can't forget the little things, too, that brighten our days.

One of the greatest moments of my life

On June 11, 2011, Rod and Mike tested for black belt, first dan.  I knew Rod's test would be a breeze.  I was very apprehensive about Mike's testing.  The testing judges divided the testers into 6 groups.  Three groups were current black belts looking to receive their next dan.  The first test was forms.  When Mike's group was finished, they were called to attention and Chief Master Shin asked them how many were nervous.  Five or six little ones raised their hands.  I was completely focused on Mike and his errors, so when CM Shin asked that question, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Many of them must have been making silly errors.


Board breaking was my next concern.  He had to break the boards this time.  For his power break, he set his holder into position and then stepped back.  He stepped back some more.  He stepped back some more.  I sat in seat next to the black belt who has spent a lot of time working with Mike.  I looked at her and said, "He's too far."  She nodded.  I began an attempt at some type of mother to son psychic communication.  "You are too far away, Mike.  You are too far."  Then, I gave a cry of a prayer, "Lord, he's too far away!"  Don't you know, that that boy scooted forward about 2.5 feet.  He got himself into a good board-breaking position.  Do you mind if I say that an angel pushed him?

The following Monday, Mike came running in from taekwondo shouting, "I'm home!"  Now, just so you know, he never does that.  He likes to come in quite inconspicuously so that he doesn't have to share his Slurpee.  Then, he came around the corner with a brand new do bok and a beautiful black belt.

I hate my kitchen

I have a galley kitchen.  I keep looking online and in magazines for ideas on how to remodel my kitchen to make it more practical for a family of seven, but my kitchen is backwards to every other galley kitchen I've been able to find.  


In the average galley kitchen, you can walk through to the dining room.  Not so in my house.  In my house, the dining room is on the other side of the kitchen.  On the wall between the two rooms is a huge built-in designed to hold dishes and small appliances.  My sliding door to the backyard is also in a very different place than in all of the other kitchens I've seen.  This makes the remodel options I've seen useless.  


I cannot have more than 2 people in the kitchen at a time.  That makes preparations difficult...as does the small amount of counter space I have.  


I guess I can just hold on a few more years and my family will shrink.  Shrinkage, however, will only be temporary as my children marry and have their own families.  Then, the kitchen will be entirely too small for any family get togethers.  


I will get some pictures to put up of my layout.  Maybe some poor soul who wanders across my blog will have some great ideas.