oh, yeah!

bowling with buddies

pre-partying with grammy and grand-dad

wooping it up with the 'rents and pink-headed sister

bubble gum ice cream - the reynolds ice cream of choice, natch.

ready to rock - thanks to parents and both sets of grandparents

werewolf cupcakes, man.

the birthday boy.

happy 9th birthday, rocco. we love that you insist long hair is 'you,' that everybody who meets you wants to be your friend, that you play your heart out at any sport you play, and that you give really, really good hugs.

TWELVE GREAT YEARS
Happy Anniversary, Hot Stuff

20th Reunion Pre-Funk

Held at The Ram (so fitting - Go Rams!) in Puyallup, Friday night

This isn't a very clear picture above, but it needs to be in here because it shows exactly how Mick spent the evening at my Unofficial Pre-Funk. He's there with Tanya and Brian Hope. Tanya graduated with my class and married her older brother Ty's best friend (class of '87), Brian Hope. (Brian was also my first boyfriend in high school, and we like to laugh about that.)

Tanya didn't plan to go to the reunion, so when Mick found that out he sent Brian a note: "Brian, why aren't you going to our 20-year reunion???" Of course, the reason that's funny is because it was neither Mick's nor Brian's reunion, but they're two guys who would act like it was. Brian wrote back that he was bummed they'd be missing it, and that maybe he could talk Tanya into going to the unofficial one on Friday night.

So, there they are above, sitting and being silly for the evening. Mick introduced himself a couple times as "Jo-Jo" from Rogers, feigning surprise when no one recognized him. And then generally had fun joking around with Brian and Tanya and Karen at that table. (I didn't sit with them -- I had too many people to run around and catch up with! Karen did too, actually, so she wasn't always there. Tanya, on the other hand, was very comfortable sitting like a queen at her throne waiting for people to come to her!) The other guy in the picture above is Steve Oberhofer; I sang with him in Choir. He now lives in Hawaii and loves it.

Tonsil check.

My two best friends ever.


Yeah, I brought the creepy guy.

Tracy Wolmacher, Brandi Bilby and Christine German. Brandi used to be the totally hot stuff babe on campus; Chris and Tracy were these tiny little cute girls that were always together on campus, walking super close with their heads together, giggling with their hands over their mouths.


Gary Sarlund. The only thing that's different about Gare-Bear is that he's got a goatee and his shoulders are a little broader. Even the tuck of snuff in his lower lip is the same. And that's what we all love about Gary -- he's the totally loyal, totally sweet, huggy happy fella we can all count on. Now Gary's an electrician like his dad, married, and has a little boy he says is already smarter than him. See? What's there not to love about a fella like that?


With Mike Peters. It was so much fun to see Mike. I swear he was about 5 inches shorter in school. He says he was always 6 foot, but I think he must've slouched or something back then. Mike reminded me that he came to my house once after a Key Club meeting and knocked at the front door. When Don opened it, Mike said, "Hey, is Anjie home?" and Don looked at his watch and said, "Do you know what time it is?" Mike looked at his watch and said, "Uh, yeah, 9 o'clock?" And Don said, "Yeah, 9 o'clock on a school night," and turned poor Mike away! This was a sweetie-pie good boy Key Clubber Cross Country Runner -- and he never came back!

I told Don that story and he says he feels awful now. I took that to mean Mike was welcome to swing by their house any time he wanted to now, and I told him so the next night. Ha ha.



This is Jay Hansen. Not a close friend at all in high school, but a nice enough guy. The end.

Christina Mendoza arranged the Pre-Funk at The Ram.

Larry Aegerter and his awesome wife, Tammy. Between the two of them they have six (maybe seven?) kids and seem to have a really strong marriage. Larry's still totally tough and adorable, a marial arts master and contractor with the military; Tammy stays home and homeschools their kids. She's currently waiting for her second kidney transplant.


We love Cheese! Jason "Cheese" Bisig here with Karen and me. We used to have all kinds of fun with Jason and Buddy (he didn't show) in Jazz Choir. They were totally obnoxious but loveable and we used to ride around in Jay's little Manza. In junior high, Jason used to come over and we'd stand on my grandparents' motorhome in the driveway and shoot baskets. He was a super fun pal to have.

Jason, Gary and Karen.

Here I am flanked by two amazing sopranos, Karen (left) and Carrie Chappel.

Karen, me and Carrie again. It was funny, I got to briefly meet Carrie's 10-year-old daughter Elena earlier that night. She stood next to her mom, saying, "Heh heh, they have Buttface Beer here. Heh heh. Buttface beer." Now, of course, that's a little gross and all, etc., etc., but the funny thing is that she acted exactly like Carrie would've acted as a kid! I met Carrie in 8th grade and she was always doing some sort of "Heh heh" kind of thing. Meeting Elena totally cracked me up.

Aw, here we are with our buddy Colin, a.k.a. C-Train.

C-Train and Cheese.

With Dori Johnson. Dori and I played junior high sports together - and then she got pregnant and we lived two very different lives. (Hi Dori!) I've come into recent contact with her again, though, and am really enjoying her. She's been a mother more than half her life, which is totally trippy, and parts of her life have been very complicated. Through it, I'm amazed at how her perspective has developed so fully. She has A LOT of brilliant things to say. She's educated herself on political issues, and takes some really amazing stands -- on health care especially. She writes them on a blog, and I admire her thoughtfulness and her articulate writing.

Maybe that's what's so much fun about a 20-year reunion: we can rehash the ways we used to be, and revel in the ways those 20 years have shaped us in unexpected and exciting ways.

I still have to post pics from the official reunion - but I'll do that tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next...

Oh, and I'll totally try to use the word totally as much as possible. It is, after all, flashback to 1989 time.

Seewer Love

The day before my 20th high school reunion (yeah, I'll get to that later!) I arranged to visit my Aunt Sharon and my cousin Lane. I brought my mom along, too. (Far right.)

Aunt Sharon (left, above) is my dad's only sibling, and Lane (in the middle next to me) is her only child. So, Lane and I grew up the only children in our families - and the only two grandchildren on the Seewer side. That worked in our favor - especially in regard to Grandma Nancy, who gave us loads and loads and loads of love and attention.

In a period of three years, back in the early 90s, my Aunt Sharon lost her brother (my dad, to colon cancer), her mother (to heartbreak and old age) and her father (to stomach cancer). Those were hard years for her and she did a lot of rallying that about wore her out.

In light of that, I can't tell you how great it was too hook up with her and have SO MUCH FUN. She's got a sharp sense of humor. In fact, she and Mom realized they had a lot to laugh about when they discovered that they each dated my dad's roommate, Rich, back in the day. They've known each other for 40 years now and this was the first they'd confided that in anyone. To have seen their faces when Aunt Sharon pulled out the old picture of old Rich was priceless.


Seeing Lane was really wonderful too. Lane has four boys (the littlest one was taking a nap while this photo was shot) and she leads a busy life, to say the least.

In addition to having four active boys, two of them have Ushers II Syndrome, which is a disease that results in full deafness and blindness by the age of 18. It's very rare and few advancements have been made - although both boys have cochlear implants, which help significantly - so she and her husband Todd have set up the Hear See Hope Foundation in search of a cure. They also have to fight hard to create the optimum learning environment for their kids in school. They've been featured on KING 5, they have a Board of Directors full of movers and shakers, hold huge fundraising events, and are absolutely remarkable parents who work as a powerful and loving team. I can't even tell you how great my admiration for them is.

And Dane and Aubrey had a blast playing with the cousins.

I've been home for a week now, but can't you tell? I'm still feelin' the Seewer Love.

Summer '09 - Sausalito visit

I won't be listing names and connections here, but these are our Willow Creek Academy pals. We spent the weekend at my friend Camille's (her kids are Josh and Abby) - but Aubrey stayed over one night at her best friend Gia's.

Our friends the Lee's hosted a big BBQ / slip-n-slide / baseball day at their house. It was so much fun.

The pretext of our trip was to head down to San Francisco and catch the King Tut exhibit (another blog entry) but it wouldn't have been complete without seeing these friends.

Sorry - not many pix of adults. We like them, too.

THE OUTLAWS

At breakfast yesterday morning Aubrey informed us that her outlaw name is Jiminy Schneikes.

Dane says he hasn't figured his out yet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY. I HOPE YOU'RE
HAVING A GOOD TIME AT WORK.
Love, Dane

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY. I LOVE YOU. (sings birthday song)
Love, Aubrey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY. I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING

A GOOD TIME AT WORK, TOO! (thankyouthankyouthankyou)
AND I LOVE YOU. xo, Anj

For everyone curious to know

how the kitchen

is coming along.

MT. BIKE OREGON
AND SOME
HOWARD PRAIRIE CAMPING

While Mick spent a three-day weekend with his brother at Mt. Bike Oregon, which they planned five months ago, the kids and I spent a three-day weekend at Howard Prairie, which we planned five days ago.

I can vaguely report that Mick came home exhausted and happy (maybe he'll post his own blog?), and I can specifically report that the kids and I came home exhausted and happy as well.

Howard Prairie on Lake Hyatt is just a half hour out of Ashland - 17 miles out Dead Indian Memorial Road. (The kids and I think this is a sad and lonely name - and when we learn why it's called that, we'll report back.)

We arrived at noon on Friday and scoped out a coveted LAKESIDE spot and spent the afternoon kayaking and swimming on the lake and doing a little bike riding through the campground. The kids also got to do a little jet skiing.

Dane admired the jetskis of the family on the beach next to us and the dad came over and whispered to me later that if my boy wanted a ride on the jet ski, he'd be happy to take him. He wanted to see if I was comfortable with that. He and his wife and baby and in-laws were totally wholesome and warm and I told him my kid would think it was awesome.

So, both Dane and Aubrey took rides with Chad on his sit-down jet ski and squealed and steered and smiled the whole 10 minutes of each of their rides. I just stood on the beach smiling and thrilled for them.

Other than the jet skiing highlight, we woke up around 8 on Friday and took a ride in the kayak together on a calm morning lake. I paddled the sit-on-top and the kids each sat on an end, dragging their feet through the water.

Later that morning, we took a six mile bike ride on a trail part-way round the lake and had a blast. Dane just zipped ahead - but always made sure to stop at decent intervals so we didn't get separated for long - and Aubrey used those little knobby tires like a pro, saying things like, "I think we should go the whole way round the lake!" (it's 15 miles) and "Mom, I'm mountain bike riding!"

We stopped at one point at a place like this:


I didn't have a camera with me and I didn't have a piece of paper or pencil, but I memorized the moment -- the scene, the scent, and especially what my boy said -- because it about melted me into the ground.

He stood there really still, squinting at the landscape, and said - speaking with this sort of cadence where he lingers on his key words (I'll emphasize them for you):

This place is a beauty.
You've got your tall trees growin' over there...
You've got this great big lake here...
You've got all this green grass growin'...

Then a slow, audible sigh.

Yeah, that about sums it up, I think.

Later, after a return ride, where Aubrey handled herself like a champ (her chain came off at least 8 times, and she only broke down to cry on about the eighth time), some friends joined us.

Here's some Chix in the Stix with our Pips:

Girl pips.

Grubby Mom feet.

Chix on the beach.

Boyz In the Hatch.

CONDITIONED

When I ask why he's rubbing conditioner all over himself in the bathtub, Dane tells me, "Um, the bottle says it's for extra body."

Box R Ranch Trip as told by Dane

So, on the first day, I was at the YMCA for the beginning. We packed up all our stuff and we took a long time for us to go there, and then we were driving there. And in the middle of the drive the girls bus stalled - it's true - and they had to wait there for an hour.

So, we took all our stuff into the tipi and we set up everything. Everybody had their own spot for their clothes and sleeping bag. I was with Keller, William, Ben, Isaiah, Jorge, Carson, and Mason. My camp counselor was named Tucker. I didn't know any of them - except I met Keller at a birthday party once - before I went to camp.

We went to sleep in our tipis and then we woke up for Polar Bear Swim. It was warm, but the water slide was cold and we weren't allowed to do the zip line. This was at 6:30 in the morning. And then we started rotations.

One of the rotations was going swimming again; another was art; and the last was sports. The next day we did archery. And I was not that good. So, there was hay and a target. And in the target there was a yellow, black, green, and a red and yellow. Yellow was the bullseye. I got the worst ever. Wanna know why? I got two in the hay and one in the white. But it's still my favorite thing.

On Wednesday we did a campfire. We roasted s'mores and they were yummy. It was a very cold night so it was nice doing that. That night, it was actually kind of raining.

Every night there was skits. There was a really good skit. This wasn't my group - and it was cows with guns. And my group did the midget exercise once -- we were midgets and we did exercises and stuff. We weren't in midget mode but we put shoes on our knees. It was a funny play. One of the counselors said, "So far, that's the best play."

Then there was the broncin' barrell. It's an awesome barrell ride of sorts. You'll have to see when we go. It's freaky -- I know how to work it, though.

When I was going there, I thought it would be a giant box with an R on it and it would have a bunch of ranch dressing in it. It's true. But it was really a giant ranch.

Every morning, I just put on clothes. I didn't care if they were clean or dirty. *

I want to go back next year!

By Dane Reynolds



*Note: Mom here. This is true. His duffle bag had many clean clothes in it when he returned. I think Dane wore the same clothes 3 days in a row -- underwear included.

What are we going to do with her?

My fart smells like barbecue chicken. -Aubrey, age 7

DANE COMES HOME TODAY!

Aubrey's been counting the days. Well, the hours and minutes, really. Hope Dane has some great stuff to tell us. Karen's right: he should post a blog giving everybody the scoop.



On another note: R.I.P., John Hughes...

My generation grew up on his stuff. Personal favs: Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Say Anything, and She's Having a Baby.

Loved thinking about marriage and love through Hughes' eyes with that last one - I always think of the scene where there are complications with the delivery and Kevin Bacon's crying in the waiting room to a Kate Bush song. Gets me every time I even think of it.

But now that I write that, I think Say Anything is the serious winner - with John Cusack hoisting that boom box up over his head...

BIKE BALLS

Quote of the Day

Aubrey, riding her bike into a curb, yells, "Ow! That hurt my nuts!"

BOX R RANCH

Guess who's heading out on his first week of overnight camp? And guess who gets to sleep in a tipi, hop out of the sack early for Polar Bear Swims, shoot arrows from a bow, and stay up late round a campfire?

That's right. Little Roscoe's headed off to YMCA camp. Aubrey's been telling him every ten minutes for the last two days that she misses him already. He's been packed and ready to go since Friday.

The rest of us will stay home and wish him well -- we'll also surprise him with some gooshy lipsticky HoneyBoy Reynolds mail so he can have the full camp experience. Of course.

Click here to get the lay of the land.

.

MERKIDS OF ASHLAND

REMODEL UPDATE

There's a lot of info I could leave here, but I'll keep it short since I'm going on week six without a kitchen. The tilers are laying slate tiles in the laundry room and kitchen today and tomorrow. Then we have to seal it, which will take another 3 days to fully dry. I might be able to install cabinets before that, but have to make sure nothing gets the floor wet or too dirty.

It's going to look amazing. It's taking a lot of patience.

Navel Contemplation

You wanna know what's good about inny belly buttons? You can hold water in them. -Aubrey, age 7

DANE LEAVING A PHONE MESSAGE FOR HIS BUDDY

Um, hi? This is Dane? And I'm, um, home today? And I'm wondering if I can have a play date with Avery? [Pause] That's all I'm really wondering about. [Pause] The End. [Pause] Um, goodbye. [Pause] I hope I can see Avery today. [Pause] Okay, bye.

R.I.P., Frank McCourt, with your angel on the seventh step.
1930-2008

Angela's Ashes was an inspired gift to his readers -- and was the subject that saved me when I wrote my first Masters paper. I met him in 1999 at the Associated Writer's Program conference in Buffalo, NY. I was giddy when I met him and told him I'd written my first grad school paper on him and the Angel on the Seventh Step. He was quite sweet in his response when he said, "Well, you probably know more about me than I know about myself."

Aw... May the road rise up to meet you, Frankie M.

ANYBODY STILL READING THIS???

Whoa... Took a long blogging break -- settling into life with no kitchen (four weeks now), teaching Sticky Slippery Messy Mix-y Textures Camp at ScienceWorks last week, and traveling north to Astoria for a writing workshop and south to San Francisco for King Tut -- so I'll just ease myself back onto the scene with this mini-update:

We went to Britt Fest last night and had front row (FRONT ROW!) seats to the Cowboy Junkies. Here's Dana and me with our new best friend, lead singer Margo Timmins: