BACK TO WORK

Starting today, the 25th, I'm back to work full time after taking some time off to be with Jill and Gabriel in the daytime during this fun but challenging transition we're going through. Gabriel (see the new picture in the margin to the left) is getting better about sleeping each night.. marginally.. and so Jill is better able to get along by herself. Judy has come over a few times with either cooked meals or just to help with some chores, though, and it's been greatly appreciated.

HEALTHY BABY - FATIGUED MOM

Gabriel passed his two-week check-up with flying colors at Dr. Snyder's office. He's better than birth weight - gaining nearly a pound in ten days - and everything else checks out fine, including the slight irritation in his left eye that likely occurred during birth. The appointment ended with a handshake from Dr. Snyder and a congratulations on a healthy son.

Jill, on the other hand, did not fare quite as well at her own two-week medical check-up with her midwife. Physically, she seems to be healing just fine. But Mary Popkes, her nurse midwife, said she was not getting enough rest given the stress and adjustment that a new mom must undergo, particularly after an unmedicated birth. So, Jill's now doing a better job of spending more time trying to sleep during the day when Gabriel is napping.

GABRIEL MEETS MORE FAMILY

I apologize right now for not having photos prepared to go with Gabriel's introduction to other family members.. hopefully when I get some time...?

Grandpa Dave got to meet Gabriel on Thursday the 19th. Both enjoyed the visit very much it seems. Dad returned to Oklahoma on the following Sunday.

Last week, Leigh and Teri flew up to Portland to visit, take a short vacation and meet Gabriel. They returned to New Mexico on Saturday. Friday they all went on a trip to the coast, which included stops in Astoria and Tillamook.

Jim Ed, Andrea, Jim, Laurie, Tyler and Drew drove down from the Spokane area over the weekend to visit everyone. They came to the house on Saturday for a few hours and got to meet Gabriel. It was a very enjoyable visit. And I nearly sold our 1950's dinette set.

I do have a photo of our own family.. mom, dad and Gabriel altogether:


THANK YOU FOR THE GIFTS

Gabriel has received a number of thoughtful gifts recently for which he and we are very grateful. Just as soon as we get a bit of a break, Thank Yous and/or birth announcements will be sent. Thanks again!

We're also grateful for hot meals prepared by our very generous neighbors Greg & Sandy and Vassam & Sahar (and Grandma Judy already mentioned), as well as a bounty of local farm produce from Mom.

Thank You All!

BABY BOOM AT JOHNSON GARDNER

Something very clearly is in the water here as a new announcement was made this week. My employer Jerry and his wife Sue announced that they are expecting their third child in the Spring of 2005. Emma, their oldest, was overjoyed with the news and apparently lost sleep over her excitement. Henry, their four-year-old, was happy also, but he's all new to this; Emma is a veteran.

Congratulations Johnson True Family!

HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL

We were officially discharged from the hospital on Sunday the 8th, so we've been home for some time. But our departure was a day late due to a mild case of jaundice he exhibited shortly after birth. The carotin color extended from the top of his head to his belly button. On all of his early pictures, including the one in the left index of this page, he has a tan color with a slightly orange hugh - note how his hands have a normal color and his face is tan in his first-bath-at-home photo. With exposure to indirect sunlight, much eating and, well, getting rid of what he ate, the billirubin is gone and his color is now normal.

Gabriel had his first visit to the pediatrician - Dr. Kelvin Snyder - on Tuesday the 10th, where he checked out quite healthy and beginning to gain wait due to his growing appetite. His jaundice was confirmed to be on the mend.

Saturday the 14th, we visited the postpartum care center at St. Vincent's hospital. Gabriel has been a bit fussy when it comes to beginning a meal and every now and then he expels the majority of what he did consume. But after checking him out and seeing his eating technique, Gabriel is actually a voracious eater who is prone to overfilling himself and triggering reflux. His initial fussiness was deemed normal and, it does seem, it has gotten better over time. Our own theory now is that he's not too keen on the foremilk (the skim milk that he gets at first) but strongly prefers the whole milk that follows. I wonder how he got to be so finicky...

All in all, he's a healthy little guy with a mild and sweet disposition. His mentioned fussiness is gradually waning, he's gaining weight, beginning to fill out and as all the nurses at St. Vincent's said, true to his name Gabriel. We couldn't agree more.


GABRIEL'S VISITORS

It almost goes without saying that Gabriel has had frequent visits from both of his grandmothers lately. But in addition, he's also gotten to meet other family and friends.

Since Thursday night, his great-grandmother MeMa, great aunt Sue, Toni and Terran have been in town to have some fun and visit. Below is a photo of Granny Reid (is that the name you want to go with?), Sue, Toni, Terran and Gabriel.



MeMa has enjoyed the gliding rocker, particularly when she gets to hold Gabriel. He seems to enjoy it very much as well.



Earlier in the week, Gabriel got to meet Davon, his first friend and playdate buddy. Davon and his mother Diana are in the photo with Jill and Gabriel below. Interestingly, Diana is a fellow alum of Robert Service High School in Anchorage, but graduated four years after me. She, her husband and Davon just returned from visiting their family in Anchorage and brought us back some frozen red salmon.. very thoughtful of them.


Note the beautiful basket of flowers in the table from my colleagues at Johnson Gardner. Thank you!

LARRYMOBILE RECOVERED

As part of the birth story last week, I noted that the Larrymobile, our backup car ('89 Toyota Camry) was stolen the night Jill's water broke. Well, last week, the Portland and Hillsboro police departments sent John and Judy a letter informing them that the car was recovered and towed to storage in the Gateway area of Portland - as if that was a safe place for it.

No one called us, so the storage fees racked up over the weekend.. turns out they knew of its whereabouts since Saturday the 7th. How on earth is a towing company going to make money if everyone is informed on time? Of course we have no recourse in the matter. Anyway, we went to inspect and drive the car home, John, mom and me. And for the first time, I got to see what car-stealing cretins leave behind in stolen cars once the fuel tank is emptied.. mind you this has been in the middle of a 90 to 100 degree heat wave:

1. Empty beer bottles and bottle caps;
2. Cigarette butts and a lovely cigarette aroma;
3. Empty chip bags;
4. Dog hair in the back seat; and the clincher,
5. A bag full of raw chicken meat and half-eaten polish sausage.

Remember, the car was stolen and abandoned in the mentioned heat wave apparently with the windows up. So, count your blessings that the internet cannot yet transmit neither aromas nor odors. The flies were in heaven, though, I can assure you. I nearly emptied a can of Lysol in the car before rolling down all the windows for the drive home. In my travels, I have slept in some very interesting places.. In Guatemala alone I've slept in flea-infested shanty towns that miraculously hug the walls of ravines and rat-infested government housing "colonies." But never there did I feel even remotely as filthy and disgusting as I did for the 40 minutes driving that car home. I took a shower immediately upon return.

The car continues to air out in the driveway a week later.

HURRICANE CHARLIE AND THE HARDISONS

Les and Dolores Hardison, Judy Korynasz's uncle and aunt, have a winter home on the Gulf side of Florida. Well, it turns out that Hurricane Charlie did indeed cause some damage to their home, but apparently not as devastating as Les had initially feared. I won't go into it in full detail but I invite readers to check out his accounting of the story at his website: Hardison.info. (Click either Current Newsletter or Work In Progress on the main page).

We all wish you both a quick return to normalcy - and more importantly, a competent, efficient contractor.

GABRIEL FRANCIS KORYNASZ REID

At 4:17am, Friday August 6th 2004, Gabriel Francis was born in maternity room 21 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. And Jill and I (and Gabriel and many relatives) could not be any happier. There could be no better 32nd birthday present for me!

Vital Stats
Term: 39 weeks, one day.
Weight: 7 lbs. 14 oz.
Length: 21.25"
Head: 13.5" circumference

Visitors on Pins & Needles in the Waiting Room
New Grandmother Dianne
New Grandmother Judy
New Grandfather John
New Aunt Kate
New Uncle Tom

We would both like to thank everyone for their prayers, good wishes, gifts and flowers.

OFFICIAL BIRTH STORY (How it went!)

At this point, the following is how we best understand how & why everything occurred.

At 10:20pm Tuesday (August 3rd), I arrived at the Orenco Station MAX parking lot to discover that the Larrymobile (Larry Wachdorf's old '89 white Toyota Camry) had disappeared. I suspected the car had been towed because I left it overnight, unintentionally, at the seemingly safe MAX parking lot in the newer part of Hillsboro. I was also aware that Tri-Met (the local transit authority) was trying to discourage park & ride lots from becoming long-distance free parking for airport passengers via the MAX Red Line.

Jill, after I got home, fretted that the car was likely stolen and that we should report it as such. We did, Hillsboro police verified that they had not gotten a report that the car was towed by Tri-Met, and at midnight at John and Judy's, an officer took down our information for a stolen car claim and report. We have still not heard anything of it.

Needless to say, everyone was pretty rattled by the theft, particularly Jill given the importance of our back-up car with Baby on the way. But by 1am, we were able to go to bed.

"Bill...Bill...Wake up...My water broke" was what I heard Jill say before groggily glancing at the alarm clock: 2am. And indeed, it unmistakably had. Not only that, she began a series of surprisingly intense contractions thereafter for more than an hour before they began to subside. So, figuring active labor would start within 24 hours as is normal, we anticipated the arrival of Baby one week early.

But that's not exactly how it happened. Jill's contractions slowed down to be irregularly timed and lacking intensity. For the better part of Wednesday, Jill was in early labor as both of us fully anticipated active (hard) labor to start up at any time. On top of that, we were pleasantly surprised on Wednesday to find that Tom and Kate had flown up from Sacramento at a moment's notice to be here for the birth.

Early labor seemingly ended at 11:30pm Wednesday when Jill began getting more intense contractions at closer intervals.. 10 minutes, 8 minutes, 5 minutes.. and every now and again, 3 minutes. Things progressed and Jill began to have a mild ache in the back of her pelvis which required pressure during each each contraction - all positive signs that we would be heading to the hospital before or at the crack of dawn.

But by 5:30am, the contractions waned back to 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes apart with diminished intensity. Somewhat discouraged, we went to bed and Jill was able to get fair rest in between each. A noon visit to her nurse-midwife Mary Popkes helped us to understand that we were technically still in early labor - active labor does not regress - and that the hormone oxytocin that passed through Jill's cervix when her bag of waters broke was the culprit for the more intense but temporary contractions.

For the remainder of the day, we tried pretty much every trick in the book to naturally induce labor based on Jill's frequent conversations with her cousin Cecilia Wachdorf

Cecelia Wachdorf

(Credit: Les Hardison's www.hardison.info website)

and what we learned in our Bradley birth class. But ultimately, nothing really worked. So we made a series of three phone calls. We contacted the nurse-midwife on call at Jill's women's clinic and she advised that we head to the hospital ASAP to have the baby monitored given the duration of time that passed since Jill's water broke and the resulting increased risk of infection for the baby. We called Kerennsa Brougham, our Bradley instructor, and she recommended a couple of other strategies for kick-starting labor, then encouraged us by saying we were doing everything right under the circumstances and that given the odd events, a trip to the hospital was likely in order if the last strategies didn't work AND Baby was not behaving irregularly. We called Cecilia and she essentially reinforced both our own instincts and what Kerennsa said.

But nothing worked. So, by 2:30pm, we were ready to head to the hospital. But as we were leaving, we noticed that Sundaye was behaving funny, even for an older cat, and showed possible signs of a kidney infection - great timing! Jill had to make last minute arrangements for Tom & Kate to take Sundaye to the vet and have her checked out while we headed to the hospital to check in.

By 4pm, we were at St. Vincent's maternity ward. We checked in, were sent to triage, reviewed our birth plan with the nurse(s), and were assigned room 21. Shortly thereafter, we met Katie Raetz, the attending nurse-midwife. Mary Popkes, Jill's own nurse-midwife, was surprisingly not on call as she said she would be the day before. We were a bit disappointed, to say the least. Katie examined Jill and found that she was at 3cm, fully effaced and at zero station. All very good signs. Plus, she confirmed that the baby had a full head of hair!

With Katie, we then decided that Jill should try a very low dose of Pitocin to kick-start her contractions. Pitocin, as you probably know, is a manufactured hormone that mimics oxytocin, the natural hormone that induces labor, among other things. After Jill received an IV, she was put on a 6 ml/hr dosage. Along with Katie, BJ was our outstanding attendant nurse. She, we learned, is the chairperson of the St. Vincent's low intervention birth Task Force. We were encouraged and very much appreciated her presence and care.

But the pitocin didn't quite do the trick, so the dosage was doubled to 12 ml/hr after a couple of hours. That DID do the trick and at 8pm, Jill began what most would consider active labor. Contractions began to occur every five minutes with growing frequency and greater intensity as the night went on. Nothing overly intense, but certainly active labor that we had expected Wednesday morning. So Jill labored through it with my coaching - encouragement and massage.

By 11pm, an examination revealed that Jill was at 4 cm. BJ and Katie were encouraged that the Pitocin had done it's job, so they took Jill off of the IV and let her use the birthing ball in the shower. Jill gladly did so. So, she and I went into the shower and I sprayed her lower back with warm water as she went through contrations. But as time passed, her contractions reduced in frequence and duration again. By midnight, BJ let us know it was a good idea to go back on the Pitocin given that labor was slowing down as fast as it was. Jill was examined and she measured 5cm dilated.

Jill was discouraged. She was exhausted, she was uncomfortable with being on the IV again, and she wasn't as dilated as she thought she would be... not only that, but the contractions returned with greater intensity. And between midnight and 1am, she became very distraught, feared the yet-to-be-reached transition period, and was very tempted to get medication to reduce the pain. We got some alone time to discuss what to do. We talked and decided that her fatigue was not so bad that she was losing control and no matter how much she hated being on the fetal monitor and the IV, she did not want drugs that would make her groggy and the baby drugged. So, I strongly coached her to look at each contraction individually and to take them as they come. At 1:30, her exam revealed she was at 6cm dilated - on the verge of transition. This scared her but clearly also encouraged Jill to keep going without the pain medication. By 2:30pm, she was at 7 cm dilated.. clearly on the doorstep of transition.

Contractions then became very rapid and very intense - as they should. Jill's controled her breathing like a pro through wave after wave of increasingly intense labor. Jill didn't see it, but the fetal monitor revealed that she was definitely in transition. She was getting so close that for the last hour of first stage labor, she spent most of her effort controling exhales in short breaths to stave off a strong impulse to bear down and push. I pretty much bear-hugged and held her, sitting on the bed, and guided her through deep inhales and short rapid-fire exhales, all while encouraging her.

By 2:30am, I noticed that the new attending nurse paged the attending nurse-midwife Katie and had fired up the baby warmer table for delivery. I consciously pointed both out to Jill to make sure she knew.. they expected Jill to be pushing VERY shortly. By 2:45am, she was 9.5cm dilated; Jill couldn't have been more encouraged nor more fatigued.. well yes she could as she would find out. Five short but overwhelming contractions later she was at 10 cm and given the greenlight to begin pushing.

And as fatigued as she was, she did so.. reclined at roughly 45-50 degrees. She was way too tired, in my opinion, to squat to deliver and I was way to tired to support her in a squat. We had slept very little Tuesday night, had only a slight nap Wednesday, very little sleep Wednesday night due to the "false" labor and didn't get to sleep Thursday as we tried all sorts of things to get her labor going again. We were both completely exhausted and now Jill had to push the baby out.

But she did it and afterwards stated that pushing was the hardest part of it all. After an hour of pushing, the Baby was fully crowned but couldn't move forward anymore. Jill pushed and pushed, but was exhausted. With the fetal monitor showing Baby's heart rate beginning to drop, Katie performed an episiotomy to help delivery. 17 minutes later, our BOY was born and immediately placed on Jill's chest. We looked at him and easily decided that he was indeed a Gabriel.

After a couple of hours, the nurse returned and I got to help bathe Gabriel. Shortly after that, we learned that the whole family had lost patience and were standing outside (apparently another family in the waiting room learned that their relative in maternity had a tragic emergency - she delivered a part of her uterus for some strange reason). The nurse asked if they could come in and we said yes. I greeted them at the door, but I was so tired I don't know how much of a greeting they got.

But it was the hardest and most rewarding twelve hours we've either experienced (except for maybe my birth.. maybe I'll write about that later). Jill's whole body, from forehead to feet and my back and arms from pushing on Jill's lower pelvis with every contraction, were sore and fatigued. Except for the Pitocin, which we both view as having been a necessary evil under the circumstances, the birth was natural and most importantly, avoided an epidural and the resulting introduction of strong narcotics to our baby. Gabriel responded by being very alert, active and immediatley latched on for an hour-long feeding. Jill and I had to work hard, diligently and constantly the whole 8+ hours... anything short and the outcome may have been very different.

Friday morning, we were congratulated by attendant nurses like heroes for going drug-free through, effectively, 50 hours of on-and-off-and-on labor. They were particularly congratulatory that we managed to do it given the use of Pitocin during labor, which most people know can make contractions much more intense than naturally. I was very proud, and still am of Jill and her strength and resolve to avoid Baby from feeling the effects of strong pain medication.

If he doesn't yet know it, he has a very strong and very loving mother.

Well, that's our birth story. I'll do my best tomorrow to post what happened after that. Until then, here's another photo of our Angel Gabriel (or Saint Francis as I like to call him when I'm trying to pacify him).

SURPRISE ENDING TO THE VILLAGE

One of the most annoying aspects of entertainment journalism today is the public conspiracy by movie reviewers of nearly every stripe to avoid Spoilers in their reviews. To the uninitiated, Spoilers are details of a movie's plot that are meant to be a surprise to the viewer and are frequently integral to the movie's success. The Sixth Sense, by M. Night Shyamalan, is perhaps the best example.

Well, his new movie, The Village, promises to have a surprise twist at the end of this gothic tale and no one seems to have the intestinal fortitude to come right out and reveal the ending, or even hint at it, in the name of professional critical integrity. HOGWASH.

Because I personally think that studios are leading critics around by the nose, I've decided to research for you, dear reader, the ending of this movie and post it on this website. I call it The Spoiler Spoiler(tm). You'll find it by holding the button down on your mouse and scrolling over the blank space immediately below. Remember, It's a surprise ending, so don't view my Spoiler Spoiler(tm) if you think you'll complain to me that I ruined it for you.

**The End of the Movie Spoiler Spoiler(tm)**
You get up and leave the theater wondering why you wasted $8 on such an awful piece of garbage... Wait, there's more:

The monsters are not real, but rather the village elders posing as monsters to keep the villagers scared and pent up inside the village. The Village is nothing but an elaborate false construct by the William Hurt character in the year 2004. He inherits his murdered brother's billions and buys a wildlife refuge, in the middle of which he has devised a village for people whose family members have also been killed by violent crimes. He wants to protect them from the evils of the outside world by keeping them in a 19th century hamlet. They have grown up knowing nothing of the modern, outside world. The surprise is revealed when the blind lead character ventures out into the woods in search of a town for medicine and after climbing over a wall, is nearly run over by an SUV.

Clever, huh?! Not really.

There's plenty of things you can do for $8 - entrance to a museum, fee for a State park hiking trail, a good meal at a cheap Thai restaurant, a month's sponsorship of a needy child.. plenty of stuff. If you can't figure out something else to do with your money, send me a tip for helping you save your hard-earned income!

UPDATE: MORE FALSE CONTRACTIONS
 
They're still irregular and not very frequent, but they are varying in intensity. Jill's still doing alright, but having more difficulty sleeping due to general, not contraction-ralated, discomfort.
 
UPDATE: A TRUCK FULL OF VISITORS?
 
Leigh emailed with greater detail about their pending visit to the Portland area. I couldn't sum it up any better than she has:
 
Wanted to let you know that Teri is going to be heading up there with us as well.  I believe Toni and Taryn are going up with Sue...not sure though so don't quote me (oops, I did quote her-ed.).   Teri and I aren't sure if we are going to drive or fly...depends on how much time she can get off.... Both girls are excited about going.  They want to camp, pick berries, play with Elle and Toni said she wants to go fishing. 
 
Looks like Me-ma will have to charge up the batteries on her scooter as the girls will be keeping her and the rest of us on the go.  As for my take on the berry canning....it's gonna be cruel, simply cruel.  I'm still on the good 'ol South Beach Diet and won't be able to enjoy the fruits of my labors. LOL

I thought South Beach allowed you to eat darker fruits like berries and such because of the Vitamin C and antioxident content compared to the pure carbohydrate content.

Either way, sounds like great pun!

FALSE CONTRACTIONS 
 
Jill reported having Braxton-Hicks contractions for the first time on Friday. Apparently, she had them irregularly for the better part of the afternoon, including off and on at home and at Costco. Changes in her activity did indeed stop the contractions, so she knew they were false at the time.

We're approaching our 38th week and I'm not able to travel much further than an hour or so from home. Adding insult to injury, I've been working like a dog, unable to help Jill and we've been having a heatwave in the Portland area.

TOM TO GET SWORN IN

Unbeknownst to me, a State of California judge can swear in a freshly-minted attorney for another state (republic). So, Tom doesn't have to make the trek up here to a local county courthouse, stand behind a line of gay couples rehearsing their nuptuals, and get sworn in by an Orygun judge.

Mom and Dad will be in Sacramento next weekend for the ceremony. Tom, have you paid all of Kate's and your parking tickets? Probably not a great time to have that brought up.

We might have gone also, but we didn't want to take the risk of our baby being a Californian. (With apologies to Kate, of course.. we love you anyway)

VISITORS EXPECTED SOON
 
Looks like Portland/Vancouver will be a crossroads for quite a few people in the next few weeks.
 
Sue will be driving Me-ma, possibly Leigh, Toni and Terran (sp?) up here in the near future. She's on her way to Sheena Flowers' wedding in Anchorage. Jeff Bahr will be flying to Portland, switching planes, and then heading to Anchorage himself for the same reason.
 
The girls and Me-ma will likely stay in the area for a while, the former enjoying various entertainment and recreational opportunities afforded up here.. like mowing my lawn. Just kidding! I think Mom has some bright ideas for them, including berry picking. Weigh them before they pick.
 
Leigh, I am told, may come up to also pick berries, vegetables and fruit in the local orchards along with Mom. I don't know what army they plan on feeding, but I expect our Christmas stockings this year will be rather heavy and clink like glass.
 
Alternatively, Charlotte Wachdorf insists she'll be headed our way in time for the birth of the baby of undetermined gender. For her, it's simply a matter of getting someone to accompany her all the way from Illinois (or is that Texas?) to Portland.
 
HOME IMPROVEMENT IN ABSENTIA
 
While I've had my hands full with work, there have been many nice volunteers helping with sanding, priming and painting of doors in the house before the baby arrives. Specifically, I wish to thank:
Jill, John, Mom and Dad.
Thank you!
 
GAMES
 
If you're looking for addictive on-line amusement to fill some time or reduce some stress, check out Orisinal.com. The games there are all free, amusing, suitable for the whole family but a little too cutesy for my taste. The best of the few I've tried is Floats. 

UPDATE: TOM PASSES THE BAR!

Tom called today around 4pm to say that he passed the Oregon Bar exam on appeal. As I referred to many days ago on this blog, Tom's initial grade on his first Oregon bar exam was below "passing" by the narrowest of margins. But he appealed some questionable scoring on a few essay questions and they granted him enough additional points to get him through.



Congratulations!! Hopefully he and Kate get to celebrate tonight in addition to ceasing his (re)study of Oregon law. Now he can look for a job in this direction and/or prepare for the California bar exam.

WHERE DID THE MONTH GO?!

I looked at the website and realized it's been a month since my last entry.. that's how busy it's been. Much has been going on, so here's my attempt to fill in the gaps.

OUR LAST HURRAH, EH!

Realizing that Jill is not going to be able to travel anywhere after her 34th week, we decided to take a long weekend in our favorite long weekend destination, British Columbia.

It was pretty much a garden tour:

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver's Chinatown


Classical chinese gardens are highly manicured and controlled to achieve full balance of textures and structures very much in line with the balance of Yin and Yang. Unlike English gardening style, every square inch of a classical chinese garden is planned and controlled for that reason. It's not our favorite because we enjoy nature taking its course in the garden.

Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island


I like this shot of Jill enjoying the rose garden, then at peak bloom. We spent the entire day there (2pm to close at 10:30pm). We first enjoyed High Tea overlooking the rose garden and the Italian garden. A full pot of wonderful, loose-leaf tea and then all sorts of finger sandwiches, cakes and other good stuff to thoroughly sate your appetite. We then spent the rest of our visit enjoying the gardens - which are always different when we visit because of the different plants in peak.

Van Dusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver


Van Dusen Gardens is a former golf course that was purchased by Vancouver for a questionable princely sum "rescued" from housing development and is now a remarkable botanical garden, displaying a wide variety of species from all over the world. It's a definite must-see while you're in Vancouver.

UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver


The University of British Columbia garden is great because half of it is a large woodlands garden with all sorts of native cedar, spruce and fir trees with all sorts of large plant species from Asia. The above photo was taken by Jill. It shows a pink peony-headed or heroin poppy, a purple poppy and some red cape fuchsia. We have the red cape fuchsia in our garden and the hummingbirds love it.

When we weren't at gardens, we were eating at Hon's House of Wun-Tun... the best place in town for cheap, outstanding Cantonese food.

Who knows when we'll be back again, but we look forward to photographing the baby at all of these favorite places when it's old enough.

ME-MA INJURES HER HIP

Me-Ma fell and cracked her hip - barely avoiding a full break - in Tempe while we were in Canada. She was in the hospital for a couple of days, but she's been on the mend in Las Vegas at Sue & George's. They haven't yet moved to Pahrump as their house hasn't been finished yet as I am told (here's a link to info on their new neighbor). Her recovery is in our prayers.

PROFFITT SHIN-DIG IN GALLUP

Because she got hurt, Mom and Me-Ma both missed Terry's reception dinner after his recent wedding in Kansas. Tom, Kate, Sue, George and a host of others attended and reported it was a nice event, though Terry was working the room and wasn't able to visit people for an overly long time. But that's what you do at an event like that held in your honor. Susan, I believe, is the name of his new bride and we wish them both much happiness. I understand they're now in Hawaii enjoying a nice honeymoon. Good for them.

NEW KITTEN FOR MOM

Chance (or Tuesday as she was formerly known) was formally adopted by Mom when she was in Tempe. The five-week old kitten - long on black and white hair but short on common sense - was a nearly-dead orphan before Melissa and Miranda spotted her on a bicycle outing not long ago. The kitten was clearly abandoned by its mother, so it's been nursed back to health and now happily residing in Vancouver USA. She apparently is rather fond of Ellie and plays non-stop with her. That's a good thing as Ellie's so quick and jerky in her movements that she freaks out Nino and forget about Sundaye entirely.

BIRTHING CLASSES Q&A

And finally, we're in full swing with birthing classes. Right now, we're taking two of them: the hospital (mandatory) classes and the Bradley classes.

Q: What are the Bradley classes?
A: The Bradley(tm) method of birth is a natural childbirth approach that is notable because the husband is the coach.

Q: What do you mean by natural?
A: By natural, we mean with little or no medical intervention, i.e. drugs that induce, accelerate or deaden the pain of pregnancy.

Q: Are you completely insane?
A: Maybe, but that has nothing to do with our decision to have a natural birth. The whole idea is that medical births as they are commonly practiced in hospitals in the U.S. are flawed in ways that potentially harm the mother and the baby. They pose harm to the baby via the potential effects of labor pain-killing drugs and use of devices to extract the baby because epidurals (administration of drugs to epidural area near mom's spinal chord) actually slow and delay labor. They pose harm to the mom because the use of medical devices and procedures - episiotomies, etc. - are more common if inducement drugs and epidurals are administered, which in turn significantly increase the chances of need for a far more tramatic cesarean section birth.

Q: That's great, but does Jill have any idea what she's in for?
A: No, but then no first-time mother does. Yet natural childbirth is what the body was designed to do. It's a matter of physical preparation through exercise and relaxation techniques as well as education about the whole process that helps get through the inevitable difficult parts and avoids unnecessary difficult parts.

Q: What do you mean by unnecessary difficult parts?
A: Many things that uninformed couples do, before and during the hospital birth, can serve to complicate or make the birth far more miserable than it should be. Going in to the hospital too soon, not knowing what can be done pre-admittance to get baby into the best position possible, the mom not knowing all of the therapies that are available to her instead of drugs, the mom being allowed to lie flat on her back during labor, limited amounts of time for various stages of natural labor before inducement is required, inducement drugs administered at too-high dosage causing far more painful labor, artificially painful labor that then requires the mom to get an epidural, the epidural slowing labor and increasing the chance of a cesarean section, the rate of which are on the rise nationwide. All of these things can be avoided with education about the woman's body, labor stages and strategies for different parts of those stages to get through them without drugs.

Alternatively, a fully natural birth has many benefits, including a fully healthy and alert baby that is immediately ready to feed, an alert and healthy mom that is able to immediately begin breastfeeding and will have a higher success rate of sustaining breastfeeding through infancy, and a hormone surge that serves to reduce the size of the uterus more quickly as well as return the mother to her healthy normal weight sooner.

Q: But what if there are complications you can't control?
A: I didn't say we were militant, I just mean that we want to do everything we can to avoid medical intervention. If the baby is breach (butt/legs first), the chord is around the baby in a complicated manner or anything else, we are prepared to allow the doctors to intervene for the health of Jill and baby. But if all is normal, then a natural birth it shall be.

Q: So what does the dad do during all of this?
A: He's the coach. He is the anchor while Mom goes through labor, works with the hospital (nurse-midwife in our case) personnel on behalf of the laboring Mom, massages and comforts Mom in any way necessary and helps her to rest, relax and position herself however (soaking tub, labor bar, pregnancy ball, however!) so that labor passes as well as possible. His presence is particularly important through Transition - the short 45-minute to hour window of time when the Mom is insistent upon pain relief. Transition is immediately before the less painful Pushing stage begins and with Dad there to encourage her, she can get through the short Transition and begin delivery with less discomfort. Most women can get through late-stage labor without pain medication, but for whatever reason turn 180-degrees and psychologically demand it in the short, final transition stage, even though things will get much better very quickly soon after.

MORE LATER!

MORE NEW BABY PHOTOS

Well, not of our baby, but of a couple of new arrivals over the past few months.

First up, William Gardner, son of Matthew and Dana Gardner, Seattle Principal of my company and his wife. William was born a premie, but he's adding weight and growing quite quickly every day. Here's a shot of him sleeping quite soundly and happily based on his smile.

William Gardner


Second, Noah Chow-Monreal of Waco, Texas. His mother, Inga Chow, is an old friend from Baylor and his father is another alum, Richard Monreal. Looks like little Noah is excited about getting teeth!

Noah Chow-Monreal


IS THIS LINE OF QUESTIONING GOING ANYWHERE?

Yesterday, I had the privelage of testifying before a hearings examiner in Seattle as an expert witness regarding negative economic impacts of construction activities on nearby business.. noise, closed lanes, etc. It was a bit stressful, but it was a great experience. In fact, it was my first time to be an expert witness like that.

I apparently did an okay job because opposing counsel got a bit flustered.. rubbing his eyes and red-faced in frustration. I didn't stonewall, but he just wasn't able poke many holes in my study, his primary job. At one point, counsel for my clients while leaning back in his chair, turned to the hearings examiner and asked if the opposition's line of questioning was going anywhere. It's a question that comes as close to a slam of opposing counsel as one can get in such a formal setting.

I haven't heard how the rest of it went, but all should be well.

NEW BABY PHOTOS

Well, not of the baby itself per se, but it's certainly part of the picture. Here's a shot with a happy mommy and daddy.


And check out the fantastic job the daddy did on replacing the old window trim!

Turns out it's not necessarily the baby's head I was rubbing and poking as I previously discussed. It might very well have been the baby's backside. According to Jill's nurse-midwife, the baby is turning upside down and rightside up, so nobody knows. We still think it was the baby's head based on the shape.

Yesterday we went through a litany of possible names.. I'm the only one that likes Rufus... and spoke them to the baby. I figured the baby had a right to input on a name, so we felt for response after saying each name a few times. Only two got a response:

William and Charlotte

But I'm not inclined to name my own son, if it is a boy, after myself - plus, William is a little too popular of a name right now. What about Ronald Wilson?

By the way, I forgot to mention that we registered the baby at Babies R Us. You are welcome to check out the registery if you care to, but please feel no pressure to do so. I'm not very crazy about when people send announcements and invitations to absolutely everyone in hopes of casting a wide net for gifts. The news is then cheapened, in my opinion, amounting to nothing more than an invoice. So there it is: all is appreciated but nothing is expected.

JUDY HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL

I didn't get to post it Friday, but Judy did actually get to go home on Thursday rather than Friday. They still expect her to have a speedy recovery. She's pretty well confined to her bed with her foot in a cast, elevated with a pillow. Unfortuntely, she has to use her crutches more than she cares to because the halls in their home are to narrow for their wheelchair with the leg support fully extended. Otherwise, all is going well over there.

MOM AND DAD CHANGE REAL ESTATE GEARS

Jill and I had dinner with them at the Raccoon Lodge Friday night.



They let us know they backed out of the five-acre deal, feeling that the general contractor was trying to rip them off and would likely do so no matter where they purchased up there because there wasn't much competition. So, they're looking for a home more like ours.. smaller, likely 30 years or so in age, and with a bit more land than the typical new home these days. All in all, I think this is a good strategy, also.

RONALD REAGAN

I'm not going to bother writing a lot about President Reagan. You'll find tributes on TV - it's times like this I'm grateful we don't have cable TV and its monotonous, redundant news channels - and all over the web, among the best of which is this one by Peggy Noonan, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal and a former speechwriter for him.

But I've been impressed with the resonance his death has had in the minds of most Americans across most of the political spectrum. It seems that to those who are Democrats/liberals/members of the press, Reagan was a "great leader" whose legacy was chiefly "the restoration of American spirit and confidence" but little else - what incentive do they have to canonize him? To those who are Republicans/conservatives/libertarians, he walked on water... and even Jesus didn't get to personally vanquished the great hobgoblins of the 1970s: Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, union contract-driven stagflation and the Soviet Union.

Somewhere in the middle is the the truth about Reagan and his legacy, though I have to admit that I lean towards the latter category of inclination: major change in the world is a very complicated thing, but there's no doubt in my mind that his rhetoric, decisiveness, charisma and ability to stare down the Soviet Union and force them to blink will and should be most remembered. A negative legacy is there as well: I have seen firsthand the human toll his militarization of Latin America has taken. All too many women and children south of Mexico are widows and orphans - and their peace, that comes only with justice, is just now beginning to take shape. We might not have pulled triggers, but we gave aid and comfort to those who deserved the exact opposite.

But on the balance, the world is a better place because of him, no matter what some bitter opponents might say. Who but the malevolently self-loathing would prefer the Soviet Union's health? He was like everyone's favorite feisty but good-natured grandfather; a welcome member of the family. And just in case you forget how much like family he was received, here's the 1984 Electoral College map. As you can see, nearly the entire country was blue - and, so it seems, it has been since Saturday when the sad but long-expected news broke.



Rest in peace, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

YES - STILL ALIVE

To say that the past several weeks have not been extremely busy would be a lie. So, updates have been non-existent. But much has gone on - and I'm still committed to describing the rest of our Kaua'i trip among other things, so I'm taking a quick breather and doing some posting.

JUDY HAS FOOT SURGERY

Tuesday morning, Judy Korynasz had reconstructive foot surgery at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland. Instead of having artificial reconstruction, the doctors utilized bone tissue from her hip to rebuild depleted structure in her foot. The surgery went very well, though Judy took a bit longer than expected to wake up afterward. We have since learned that mildly low blood pressure was to blame.. nothing too serious.

She should be home tomorrow, Friday the 4th. They originally expected her to be home today, Thursday, but several factors may be contributing to the delay. First, foot reconstruction requires a longer healing period before she gets to begin walking in physical therapy. The healing process is more delicate and unlike her knee replacements, she will not get to begin walking immediately after her surgery. She is more than likely going to have to wait at least two months. You have your work cut out for you, John!

Second, her care at Legacy Emmanuel is apparently not as diligent as she received at Medford, Oregon's Providence Hospital. The doctors and nurses rarely come by and, when she presses the call button for nurse assistance, they take up to a half hour to check in on her. I have to say that Providence is, indeed, a superior health care provider. Finally, her occasional low blood pressure might also be contributing to her day-longer stay. Again, it's nothing serious but remember: hospitals make more money the more time you spend in them.

We look forward to her returning home for the remainder of her recuperation (how's that for alliteration? - and a rhyme to boot).

MOM AND DAD UPDATE

It looks like they've found five acres of land overlooking the Columbia River in Woodland, Washington. They plan to have a Lindal cedar home built, with a central "great room" full of tall, large windows to maximize views. Sounds great to me. I did a walk-through of the property a couple of weeks ago, Dad with his machete in hand. It's a nice piece of dirt, no improvements whatsoever, but plenty of privacy, a small seasonal creek on the periphery, and plenty of space for a nice woodlands garden and a pottager, to say the least. I'm excited for them. And apparently, the home will only take six months to build.

This weekend, Mom was in Montana at some big antique fair. I'm sure I'll get the full report soon and when I do, I'll provide details. Apparently, she and Jim Ed picked up some sort of Vegas-bound hitchhiker. We'll see what that's all about soon enough.

And regarding the Washington State car registration fiasco. Mother went in to the Washington DMV to register her truck. Because she listed the date of her permanent relocation to the beginning of her apartment lease, April 1, State law requires that she pay the balance of sales tax on her new truck because she purchased it in a different state and moved within two months of that date. Well, the WA sales tax rate is 2% higher than the New Mexico rate, so she was charged $1,200!

I told her to go back and tell them that because you had not yet decided to actually make Washington your permanent residence until you purchased land - anyone can rent an apartment anywhere on a temporary basis - she should not list April 1 as her new residency date. She did just that and they gave her money back. Moneygrubbers. And the fact is, if Washington didn't work out for them, it's not their primary residence.. both of them are on the move most of the time and Dad could just as well claim Tulsa as their primary residence because he's there more consistently than than she is up here for longer periods of time due to his job.

BABY UPDATE

I can honestly say that there is little news about the baby other than the fact that it's growing like a weed. We figure it's now over three pounds and adding half a pound every week or so for the next few weeks. Jill is in her third trimester now and is definitely getting a bigger belly, but she's still comfortably mobile. Gardening has become a problem as she can't bend over to pull weeds, plant things, etc. so easily, however.

Each night we talk to the baby some and we're able to feel its little head pressing against the top of Jill's belly. We play with it a bit.. pressing here and there and usually getting a reaction of different movement. If it could speak, I suppose it would say "Cut that out, will ya?!" Or something along those lines. It apparently has a developed sense of hearing and can identify bright light, so we're going to be a bit more diligent about talking to it, reading to it and playing music - Vivaldi, precisely.

Since I don't have any ultrasound pics yet scanned, here's a 3D ultrasound image of a 30-week fetus for everyone to see.. the kid should look something like this:

THINGS CRAZY AGAIN.. NO RECENT UPDATE

All in good time. We have learned recently, however, that if you move to Washington after purchasing a new vehicle elsewhere, do not declare permanent resident status until after 90 days of purchase.. or face Washington sales tax.

More later...

JILL'S SURPRISE KAUA'I TRIP PART II

We arrived on the island of Kaua'i just before 6pm. As we approached the island - the Boeing 707 flight was less than 30 minutes - I had grown cranky about the three hours that we lost stuck in the Honolulu Airport. It did not help matters that it was 9pm at home in Hillsboro and we were somewhat famished because we never exactly knew if the next plane was ours, so we didn't take the risk of missing a flight sitting and eating a $9.00 hamburger. Mechanical issues held the plane to the ground at Maui, its point of departure. But the Hawaiian Air knuckleheads wouldn't get a substitute plane for us, as would a professional carrier, and while we waited, three similar Hawaiian Air flights departed for Kaua'i while we sat, tempers simmering. The other flights were booked, so there was no chance of stand-by.

Not only that, but our gate (beware Gate 41 - it's the one with dead tumbleweeds accumulating in the corner) was the last at the end of the interisland terminal, so Hawaiian personnel never felt compelled to provide us with updated information about our flight, which gate the plane would utilize - that was never a done deal until the last minute - and whether or not anyone could fly stand-by, how, where and at what cost. All of this information was only had by hunting down a Hawaiian rep. somewhere in the terminal like a wild boar - not an entirely inappropriate metaphor - and practicing interrogation with a smile. Complacent is the adjective that comes to mind when I think of Hawaiian Air staff, but it somehow just doesn't characterize their slack-jawed shock that a passenger might not only dare to expect punctuality as the norm, but also some measure of effort to inform passengers of delays. I expect and plan for manana mentality south of the Border, but we quickly learned that Hawaiian Time is very real.. and provides evidence that Polynesians did indeed cross the Pacific and land in South America looking for new foodstuffs. The Incans not only gave them the sweet potato, but clearly passed on their Mesoamerican bad habits.

But upon first glance of Kaua'i through the airplane window, much was forgotten. The island is spectacularly rugged; more on this later. Lihue, the location of the airport and the island's largest town, is located on a valley plane that slopes from the nearly 6,000-foot mountains to the northwestwest down into the ocean. To the immediate south of Lihue are the closest peaks, a short but imposing chain running due east and right into the crashing surf - a frozen echo of the lava that once flowed here, into the waves as if it truly had been seeking reflief in the cool waters.


Map courtesy of the Kaua'i Visitor Bureau - I'm sure they don't mind the traffic

Kaua'i is the northermost and oldest of the Hawaiian chain of islands. As a result, God's hammer and chisel - wind and rain - have had longer to shape Kauai's geology. Thousands of years of erosion have produced dramatically-carved peaks and valleys on the island, all covered in the brilliant, moist greens of which only tropical climates are capable. But, as we would find out a few days later, none are more impressive than the northern Na Pali Coast, a photo of which I posted a while back and can still be seen if you scroll down to April 14 or click here.

Our hotel for the four-night stay was the Aloha Beach Resort between Wailua and Kapa'a on the east "Coconut Coast" side of the island. The resorts are older (1970's), particularly compared to new development on the south coast in Poipu. Ours was a former Holiday Inn resort, as evidenced by the elevator's visibly expired permit enclosed by a cracked plastic sheath. Popcorn ceilings, somewhat outdated carpets in the common areas and other little features left no doubt that if you had the patience to sit in the lobby, the mobs of Japanese package tourists would clear long enough that you might spy the ghost of Larry Dallas. But it was still well-maintained, had lovely Hawaiian landscaped grounds and was immediately adjacent to Lydgate Beach State Park, which proved on our last morning to have the best snorkelling Jill's yet experienced - though not necessarily the best location; San Blas/Kuna Yala in Panama is is hard-pressed to lose its top position. After a great Korean BBQ dinner in Kapa'a, we concluded the night at the hotel room planning the next day's activities.

Aloha Beach Resort & Lydgate Beach State Park


More in Part III Later!

KATE GIVES HER NOTICE

Congratulations, Kate! She gave her two-week notice to Hanna Brophy and will be taking up a new position at another law firm in Sacramento thereafter. I can't say I know much more than that, but a clean break from something old to something new and better is always worth celebrating. If anyone knows anything else, I'll post it.

MATTHEW AND DANA GARDNER HAVE A BOUNCING BABY BOY

Wednesday night, Dana (wife of Matthew Gardner, Seattle Principal of my company Johnson Gardner.. Gardner Johnson up there) had to have emergency caesarean section due to complictions with her health. At 34 weeks, the doctors felt the baby would be developed enough to do just fine. And after a very successful surgery, they were right! William is just over 4 pounds and happily occupying special accommodations in the Premie ward of Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington.

Congratulations Matthew and Dana!

RICK AND LIBBY BAHR GET EMAIL

Rick and Libby, living in Las Vegas, sent an email recently to make the announcement. I quote:

This is just a note to let everyone know that we have jumped into the 21st century, and finally have broken down and got E-mail. We also have a new phone number as follows, 702-644-2247(BAHR). We hope everyone is doing well, and hope to read or hear from anyone soon.

Lots of Love,
Rick and Libby

The new email address is: mannymoe3@netzero.com

Now I better not hear of anyone signing them up for Peter Pan's electronic newsletter... but if you do, let me know ASAP!

UPDATE YOUR LES HARDISON EMAIL ADDRESS

Les Hardison, Judy's uncle in Florida, emailed the other day to remind me that his new email address is les@hardison.info - the old URL and email address have expired. I have updated his website address for the Les Hardison link in the left margin of this page. Give it a look sometime. I personally appreciate his dry sense of humor.

BABY PHOTOS DELAYED

Yes, it's been a while. A whole month since the big ultrasound March 31, even. I hope to utilize Mom's new scanner with the ultrasound photos, but I will say that the baby (of undetermined gender) is very happy, healthy and active. All systems and organs checked out just fine. We have prints of the the little tot yawning (it looks like), a wisp of a hand near it's mouth. It has a Charlie Brown head with a high forehead, so Jill says it's "definitely Bill's kid."

Photos will be up soon. It was 1lb. 10 oz. or so a month ago, so we figure it's about two pounds now. It kicks and squirms all the time now, so now even I can reliably tell when it's moving.

HAPPY 55TH BIRTHDAY TO DAD

Dad was in town this weekend for his birthday. Well, only until noon on Sunday the 25th. But after a day of looking at properties in Clark and Cowlitz Counties, Washington, he came back to town and we took him out to Campbell's Barbecue for the largest display of meat I've ever seen in my life. Here's a shot of the founders of Campbell's, now passed away. He was a former NASA technician that moved his family up to Portland back in the 1980s as I recall. Plus, a shot of their infamous beef ribs - Jill's favorite.



For fun, I'll repeat the joke he told at dinner:

An elderly lady went into the doctor for her annual check-up. The doctor asked her if she noticed any unusual changes in her health. She replied nothing really, other than that she has developed frequent gas but it was odorless and silent. The doctor gave her a little bottle of pills and told her to return to his office when she ran out. A month later, she returned and upon seeing the doctor, expressed her frustration with the medicine. "I took those pills you gave me and all they did was give my farts a horrific odor." The doctor replied "well, now that we've fixed your sense of smell, we'll work on your hearing."

On the real estate front, it looks like they are going to pass on the big land deal (lack of investor interest, really) and go for a five-acre parcel upon which to build their own home. They'll likely buy a house in Clark County (Vancouver) in the meantime, so we'll see how things progress.

JILL'S SURPRISE KAUA'I TRIP - PART I

With some conspiring with Judy, I was able to pull off a surprise trip for Jill to Kaua'i, Hawai'i. She did expect a 5-day trip to New Orleans and the Gulf, but it was a big lie. She didn't seem to be too upset about it when she found out, though. I booked flight, hotel and rental cars in Honolulu and on Kaua'i. I just had to keep it a secret until we got to the airport - and manage to sneak the snorkel equipment into the luggage when Jill wasn't looking. I scored on both accounts.

John and Judy dropped us off at PDX Thursday morning for our flight. They knew (well, pretty much everyone but Jill knew) so they had big smiles for her when we left. I'm surprised she didn't get tipped off on that, but I think she was tired from packing the night before. We headed into the terminal and I pulled out our E-Tickets on Hawaiian Airlines (non-stop from Portland to Honolulu - no hassles through San Francisco or LA!). She looked a little puzzled, inspected them carefully, and then looked completely dumbfounded - in shock you might say. I pulled the wool over her eyes! She was pretty much speechless and stunned through security and half-way to the gate.

She stopped at the ladies' room, and when she came back out I guess it had sunk in because her face was kind of red and she had the biggest smile on her face I've seen in a long time. Poor girl, dealing with the awful pregnancy rash a few weeks before that kept her home from work for a week. The doctors still don't know what it was. And it's making a comeback of sorts right now, but not as severely. But for a while at least, she forgot all about that. In fact, on the levelator to the gate, her eyes even leaked a little bit. But that's okay - it was because she was happy.

The flight to Hawai'i was uneventful - the best kind. We quickly became acquainted with Guava-Passionfruit juice as it's everywhere on the islands when you ask for "fruit juice." I suppose it is if you consider fruit juice to be a drop of concentrate and "high fructose corn syrup/and or cane sugar." But I digress. We left Portland at 9:05am our time, but arrived at 12:30pm their time.. they do not observe daylight savings.

Honolulu had become a sprawl, the older city like the head of a gray octopus whose tentacles slithered far up onto the sides of the surrounding green mountains, house after house in all directions. I don't remember Honolulu being so big, but then again, I had not been there in twenty years. It was cloudy and slightly rainy and I confused the clouds with plausibly dense smog. Waikiki was clear, however, and to my surprise, Diamond Head is still protected by a barrier of greenspace so that uncomfortably close highrise hotels cannot be developed and block its view. Even through the airplane window on the ground, there are good views of Diamond Head crater to be had (the one below is from another website).



We had a 3.5 hour layover in the Honolulu Airport, so I rented a car from the Honolulu airport to do whatever sightseeing we could in that amount of time. I had heard all sorts of horror stories about the security at the airport, Honolulu traffic - "don't do it" was all I had heard online when I did research. But what the heck.. how many times am I in Hawai'i, right?! We got the car and took off for downtown Honolulu. And in the amount of time we had - thank God we had our E-Tickets - we only got to see the famous statue of King Kamehameha. Here he is on King Kamehameha Day, when the locals adorn him with countless flower lei's.



We had time only to spin the block a few times and never got to park and take a photo. Well, it was an experience, anyway.

We returned to the airport in time - only to realize our flight to Lihue on Kaua'i had been delayed.. and would continue to be for three hours. We could have gotten over to Waikiki for photos of the beach and Diamond Head. The lesson is that you should use Hawaiian to get to the islands, but use Aloha Airlines for interisland travel. We finally managed to get our plane and off we went to Kaua'i, the northernmost island in the chain and geologically the oldest!

More in Part II Later!

JUDY TO HAVE FOOT SURGERY... SORT OF

Judy got in to see a real surgeon and he said that her foot can be fixed, but she needs to schedule surgery sooner rather than later. So, she's at a dilemma about when to do it. She doesn't look forward to the six month recovery and how it will affect her ability to help Jill with the baby, but at the same time if she doesn't do it soon, who knows what permanent damage she'll do to her foot by not getting it fixed. We continue to urge her to move forward quickly.. the baby's always going to be there! More when we know what she's going to do.

TOM HAS HIS BAR EXAM REGRADED

Tom has asked to have his bar exam essay questions regraded. He missed passing by only 3 points.. practically nothing. Tom, did you spell your name correctly?! Maybe you can get points for that. Anyway, he's still signed up for a retake on July 31-August 1, so we'll be seeing him soon, either way. Good Luck, Tom. And my condolences to your Nevada Wolf Pack. They played admirably, but a team of 5 superior players can only beat teams with deeper benches for only so long. Georgia Tech just happened to be the one to do it. Either way, UNR is bound to have a much better recruiting season this year. Here's to the future!

NOAH CHOW-MONREAL IS BORN

Inga Chow-Monreal, my old friend from Baylor, emailed recently with a photo of her and Richard's newborn son, Noah.. see below. He's a cutie. Inga reported that she went to the hospital with an awful belly ache from eating too many cookies, only to find out she was nearly completely dilated. (?!) She only went through two hours of labor and Noah was born.



Welcome to the big world, Noah!

TULIP FESTIVAL IN WOODBURN

The first weekend in April, Judy, Mom, Jill and I went to Woodburn, Oregon for the Tulip Festival. The event is held at the fields of the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. The link gives all sorts of information about the event, as well as information on getting a catalog. It's well worth it - they have a great selection of all sorts of spring and early summer bulbs.

We walked through the fields, snapped a lot of photos and enjoy the sunny views of Mt. Hood in the background. None of my photos of Hood and the tulips turned out well, of course. Afterward, we had a great meal of Dutch-style homemade sausage! Good eatin'. Here's one of the better photos

THINGS ARE KINDA CRAZY - HERE'S SOME EYE CANDY

I haven't updated in a while, much has been happening, but unfortunately it's going to have to wait. In the meantime, enjoy this view of the Na Pali coastline on the north shore of Kaua'i, the destination of my surprise trip for Jill.



More soon enough!

XX EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: TOM HEADED TO THE UNR GAME IN ST. LOUIS XX

You heard it here first, folks. Tom and his father-in-law Ron (adult supervision) will be flying to St. Louis for Friday's UNR game against #3 Georgia Tech. His day has been cleared of responsibility so all he has to do is pack!

No, Tom, I'm not kidding! Yes, your wife arranged it. Thank her and give her a kiss!

Have a great time and don't forget the drink coupons.

UNR STILL ALIVE

It's official: The Wolfpack are THE underdog of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Ranked #10 in the West, they're the lowest seed still standing.

UNR thumped heavily favored (#2) Gonzaga on Saturday to make it into the Sweet 16. I only got to watch the first four minutes of the game, but based on what I saw, I'd say it was basically decided that early. Gonzaga came out a little too aggressive and got into very early foul trouble, particularly their star forward. He had three fouls by the end of the first half. What, does he think he gets SIX fouls like the pros? So Nevada capitalized and took it to the hole aggressively - no one on Gonzaga ("Gone-zaga" - Dick V) could afford to foul.

They're next opponent is #3 Georgia Tech on Friday (26th). Who knows what the future holds? I do think (sorry Tom) that the six-day break is a bad momentum killer for UNR. Tech has the coaching advantage, so we'll see how this plays out.

BABY KICKING MORE AND MORE

Well, we're half-way through the 19th week and Jill reports that the baby is quite active, kicking and wiggling as babies are wont to do. Until last night, the kid hasn't been big enough to make movements that can be felt through the outside of Jill's belly until last night. Jill said the baby kicked around a lot and she even felt it from the outside. I, unfortunately, wasn't immediatley there so I didn't get to feel it. Soon enough!

KATE FINALLY ABLE TO READ THE WEBSITE

Hi, Kate! Looks like her firm finally changed their firewall and now she gets to look at all the vile content of this website. Though I suspect Blogger hosts others that are a little less SFW.

IF I WERE A CARPENTER...

The weekend was gorgeous: sunny, breezy and low 70s. So, we did much work outside. Mulching, mowing, weedpulling, planting. But the fun thing is we got one big project done and one that's nearly done and the latter involved power tools. On the first, we set two cedar posts and strung wire between for the raspberries to grow up on. Plus, it'll make the picking easier!

On the second, I'm nearly done building a new cedar planter box for the front walkway where the whiskey barrel used to be. We're going to put a trellis up against the front of the house between the patio and the garage door. We're going to grow:

'Nelly Mosier' clematis,


climbing hydrangea,


and possibly hardy kiwi - YUM.


Plus we'll stock it full of bulbs for springtime. It's going to look great.

FAST HARRY MAKES CONTACT

I received an email from Harold Kapp yesterday - he's presently in Corvallis. He's finished taking survey classes at OIT in Klamath Falls and mentioned he had spent the summer in Alaska surveying for the BLM. Kinda sounds like fun, except for hummingbird-sized mosquitos, I'm sure. I anticipate that the next time he heads up to PDX (his sister lives in Hillsboro), we'll be having a visit. I think I can line some work up for him, even.

UNR DOESN'T SUCK

Looks like this year's Cinderella Story at the NCAA tournament may be Tom's UNR Wolfpack. Last night they shocked #6 Michigan State with a 72-66 upset victory for their first NCAA tournament win ever.



The bad news is that their next opponent is #2 Gonzaga, which some analysts have predicted will take the whole enchilada at the end of the month. Last night, Gonzaga wiped out #15 Valparaiso 76-49. Valparaiso stayed somewhat competitive through the beginning of the second half, but the Zags shut them down with serious D for the rest of the game and never looked back.

Good luck, UNR. You'll need it. And, if it's any consolation, you can always look forward to an Awful Awful after its over. Tom - are you going to the game?

JAMAICAN ME CRAZY

Well, after a long drought, Oregon finally got its very own truly Jamaican restaurant yesterday. Montego Bay opened its doors, and after many days of driving by their location on our way home from downtown Portland, we saw lights, customers, drinks being served and so we stopped.

Dinner was good. We started with Jamaican beef patties, which are nothing more than spicy, savory meat turnovers (empanadas) in a savory pastry crust. They were very good. We had refillable Jamaican limeaid wash (overly sweet limeaid - Jill: "I feel like I'm drinking sugar water"). And then the main courses: curry chicken for Jill and curry goat for me. MMM.

Jamaican Patties


Both were good, but our ignorance of how Jamaican curries are served on the island might have detracted from our experience. Mainly, the curries were diced meat - with bones - curried as a thick stew, served with beans and rice and asparagus spears. The bones, well bone fragments, were not exactly easy to remove from the dish. They had to be extracted from our mouths, to a napkin, as we supped. So that was odd and perilous for our teeth, to say the least.

The owners were clearly excited that their new restaurant had finally opened - occupying the space that the Oregon Culinary Institute cafe once filled. After we finished, the female of the owner-couple proved garrilous as she talked our ear off, asking how the food was, if we enjoyed ourselves, how much work they had put into the place, etc. I don't know when it happened, but early in that monologue - I hesitate to call it conversation - we went from patrons to patronizers. I felt like a counselor obliged to validate her. Only we were paying her.

What I didn't say, which I wished I did, was that the prices were a little too steep for the dining experience they were providing. Dinner entrees ranged from $13 to $18 for the dish and a side of beans/rice and fried plantains - which they substituted with asparagus for whatever reason - I didn't complain. But their restaurant is very casual, open, not at all intimate and the dishes, though exotic, aren't exactly gourmet. For $13 to $18, I can have a more luxurious dinner in downtown or elsewhere and not be badgered by well-meaning owners. They were proud parents, so I shouldn't criticize too much. The problem is that their ingredients are clearly special order and their space might be very expensive, so they really have cost control issues. They're passing it on to customers, understandably, but once the luster and novelty wears off, they'd better be prepared to reprint new menus to reflect affordability.

While waiting to pay, I noticed something very interesting. When we arrived, a family of three were seated on the right side of the room and we chose a table just on the other side of them from the front door. But as the evening progressed, four black couples and families arrived to dine. As they did so, they chose to sit on the opposite side of the room away from the first family, all white, and Jill and me. A profusion of empty booths on our side eliminates the excuse of seating availability by us.

It reminded me of Prof. Henry "Skip" Louis Gates' recent special on PBS - America Beyond the Color Line - about the progress of the black community over the last twenty years. While seeing a profusion of economic improvement and entitlement, he openly criticized Black America's growing trend of self-segregation.. specifically in the Atlanta suburbs. Not to mention on the airwaves, i.e. the WB and UPN networks, and elsewhere. Despite Portland's progressive facade, it doesn't speak well of things when people don't want to eat near each other.

But I digress. We payed, left and when we sat down in the car, we noticed that some punk vandalized our windshield with a marker. Clearly writing his/her name or full contents of their vocabulary, the word "poop" was plainly scribed. Jill wanted to call the cops, but I urged circumspection and proceeded to the nearby convenience store for an overpriced kitchen sponge and bottle of Formula 409 for windows. Adding a little bit of elbow grease and the word was scrubbed from the window. And so, it was agreed, we wouldn't be visiting the restaurant again at night and until prices were more reasonable.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

Hopefully everyone is wearing something green today, unless of course you're a Loyalist and you're wearing orange - just like Mrs. Kirkpatrick, my old librarian at Campbell Elementary School in Anchorage. If so, go hifreann leat!



SOMETHING TO REDUCE PRODUCTIVITY

Here's a little game you'll find amusing. The object is to figure out the right sequence of events that makes everything grow and progress the fastest. Movements out of sequence cause other objects to grow slower.. give it a try!

GROW

OSAMA BIN LADEN WINS THE SPANISH ELECTION

So here's the lesson: If you massively attack an anti-terrorist democracy immediately before its election, that country will fold like a cheap tent and run.

No wonder the Mexicans hate them. So our Spanish friends have provided even greater motivation for Al-Queda to attack the U.S. this year. They won't be successful because they've signaled their strategy and they're not smart enough to try something new. If I were a Spaniard, I would not be proud. However, shock of all shocks, NPR actually had a Spanish supporter of the rulling PP (Partido Popular) party - Aznar's party.. Spain's Reagan.. saying "nations are like spouses - you stick together through thick and thin."

I suppose Spain just filed an all-our-fault divorce.

BUT - if Al-Queda truly bombed Spain for their support of the Iraq war, THERE'S YOUR PROOF OF A LINK!

More, better commentary than I can even dream of writing:

Andrew Sullivan
Jeff Jarvis
Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds

But the BIG loser is: Latin America. How the heck could they be conquered by these Spaniards? I mean, really, their conquest by the Spanish can now only be viewed as a major miracle. I suppose the Conquistadors were right all along.. God truly was on their side. Spain, alone, is clearly incapable.

BABY UPDATE

Yesterday, Jill turned the 18-week corner. Not only that, but her rash is clearly clearing. So, to celebrate, I've found a photo of what the typical fetus looks like at 18 weeks. Many may recognize the image, but I do not know its origin.



Pretty cool, huh? Jill has definitely noticed that the baby has been moving around. She can sense its gymnastics during the day or night. It isn't large enough for me to feel its movements through Jill's belly, though. All in good time.

JOHN KORYNASZ'S EYESIGHT RETURNING

John went to the doctor the other day and learned that he will be able to forego surgery because his eyes are improving so quickly. As a matter of fact, the doctor said that he'll be able to get a pair of corrective lenses soon and he'll see well enough to drive. That's fantastic news and we're very happy for him.

UPDATE: JENNIFER RICE JUST READ THE BLOG

Greetings from Oregon, Jennifer!

OY, VAY I'M BAD AT UPDATING

As if that's much of a headline. I'm serving up a steaming load of update today...

MOM & DAD'S WASHINGTON HOMESTEAD

Just a couple of weeks ago, Mom and Dad were in town to look around at potential land for their next house. They want to be close to the soon-to-be grandchild, but also residing in the income tax haven that is the State of Washington - with sales tax-free shopping across the river in Oregon. It looks like they've narrowed their choice to a couple of properties:

A 40+ acre site near Kelso, Washington on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River and the lovely cities of Longview and Kelso, Washington.

A 5 acre site near Woodland, Washington also on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River, but with a better potential view than the other property.



At this point, it looks like they're leaning towards the 40+ acre site so that they can build a home on a larger lot and then sell off smaller lots (3-8 acres) to other people. So, it's really a commercial investment for them if it goes through. Looks like financing is working out so far, Dad just has to find an equity partner. The 5 acre site in Woodland (closer to Portland/Vancouver) is just big enough for a home.. it wouldn't be subdivided. I'll be working on due diligence for them at a bargain: only 5% of cashflow over the lifetime of development!

In the meantime, they've found an apartment in Vancouver, Washington to rent until they figure out what all they need to do. They should be moving in later this month.

MEETING ELLIE PHANT

Mom has a new travel companion: Ellie, a then 11-week-old hairless Chihuahua. She's a cute thing, and particularly hyper at night. Especially if she gets to chew on catnip for a spell. She kept Nino on the run, so that was something. I don't have pics yet transferred to the computer, but when I do I'll post. She has a couple of nice sweaters right now, which she definitely put to use while here, but she hasn't yet been outfitted with a rain slicker that fits. Again, photos will be posted when it happens.

TOM & KATE BATTLE THE OREGON BAR

While Mom and Dad were in town looking at property, Tom and Kate were at the Portland Airport Holiday Inn studying for and taking the Oregon Bar Exam. It lasted two days and after it was all over, they seemed to feel pretty good about it.. but neither would dare to say it was easy or they aced it for fear of a jinx. Here's hoping that they did just that, even though we will refrain from overconfident language here, also.

Upon return to Sacramento, Tom learned that he had leapfrogged a bunch of colleagues and was promoted to an assistant managerial position at ETrade due to his good performance and law degree. Congratulations!



But it doesn't look like there was much competition, does there?

ME-MA AND THE GIRLS VISIT

The following Sunday, Me-ma, Toni and Terran flew into Portland from Las Vegas for a visit and then they joined Mom in her honkin' huge Toyota dual-cab truck (with DVD player and in-flight service) for a drive up to Spokane/Idaho for a visit at Jim Ed and Andrea's. While they were here, we visited the Spaghetti Factory for plenty of messy fun, then that night they were entranced with slugs and earthworms. I'm pretty sure Gallup doesn't have the profusion of slugs that we so enjoy up here.
The girls got out their disposable cameras and snapped photo after photo of the slimy little buggers... here's a little bit of info.

On the way out, they apparently stopped at a bunch of waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge on their way to Tri-Cities and then north.

THE DOWNSIDE OF PREGNANCY

Even though we're both as happy as can be about the new addition to the family, things lately have taken a pretty bad turn as Jill has battled a pretty severe pregnancy rash. I won't even begin to link a photo of what it looks like. Take my word for it, you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy. So far, only Jill's cousin Cecilia Wachdorf, a Ph.D. midwife and nurse, has had a grasp of what Jill has and she's been an incredible resource for us.

Thank You, Cecilia!

Photo courtesy of Les Hardison - www.hardison.info

The one doctor that would bother to see Jill misdiagnosed it as a third trimester-type rash, while her former OB/GYN wouldn't even see her and told her to just dose up on Benadryl. Jill's done that in combination with other treatment recommended by Cecilia.. and the Benadryl hasn't even been good about helping Jill sleep.

So, we have the TV and VCR hooked up in the bedroom and when Jill can't sleep, she watches a videotape until it does the trick. If we had WebTV, she could simply read this website and that would certainly do it. But she is showing signs that its slowing down and getting better. Tomorrow, she finally gets in to a dermatologist, so we'll see how that goes. We all hope she gets better very soon.

JUDY MANAGES TO FIND A QUACK DOCTOR

After being told by a knowledgeable foot surgeon in Medford that her foot can be fixed when she's ready, but now in Portland, she visited a Portland MD and they guy told her that she had to have her foot fused as it was a lost cause. So, after grappling with the unnecessarily bad news, she's on the look-out for a second, informed opinion here in the Portland metro area. Updates will come as we hear something.

BETTY RICE AND FAMILY DOING WELL

Dad's sister Betty (formerly?) of Plain-Old, Texas wrote to say hello and congratulate us on the pregnancy. She finally found this website after Dad apparently gave her the address but was missing some address characters for some reason.

She wrote to say that she's getting along fine in the real estate businesses in Dallas (refurbishing condominiums and townhouses and reselling, as I recall) so that's great news. Jennifer is now at The Ohio State University in Columbus working on her Master's and likely Ph.D. in Geography (I think..). She apparently enjoys it over there, but Betty noted they had a mild winter. What, like only 50 below? Jennifer has a boyfriend in Austin, so she's doing the whole long-distance relationship thing. Here's hoping all works out for her.

Gary is apparently raking in the money working for a mobile home distributor. Betty says he gets to travel a lot and is quite happy, so that's great news, too. If either of you read this and want to elaborate yourself, email me (wer@johnson-gardner.com - click my address over in the left margin) and I'll be happy to do so!

BILL GETS A SECOND-HAND PDA!

This week, my boss bought himself a new Palm Pilot PDA, so he gave his old one to me. The little devil is lots of fun. Any time I want, I can organize my schedule, write memos, to-do-lists, send emails, do expense reports and I even downloaded a schedule for the MAX light rail Blue Line so that I know when I can catch a train anywhere to head home or to work. Now if I could get it to do my taxes, clean the house, install interior door panels and cook I'd be set.

NEW STOCK INVESTMENT

I'm documenting that today, I sold 8 shares of Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) and then purchased ten shares of Sanofi-Synthelabo (NYSE: SNY), a french pharmaceutical company. I do so because WaMu has slowed down in its price momentum AND it's too large a share of my portfolio. I need a foreign investment, so there you go.

Not only that, but they announced yesterday that their new test drug has had phenomenal success at helping to curb cravings for cigarettes AND help with weight loss AND reduce bad cholesterol AND the drug will likely be used to treat ANY addiction that has chemical mechanisms. By that, I mean that any addiction that releases endorphins (eating comfort foods, smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc.) will likely be successfully treated by this drug because it blocks the endorphin mechanism, thus killing the positive feedback loop that creates addictions in the first place. No rush or calm or general good feelings will be generated by smoking/drinking/insert addiction here with the use of this drug. So, I got in on it while it was early.

The price was right, too.. $34 and change per share, its P/E ratio is below 19 and it appreciated 33% in price last year without being overpriced as the P/E ratio I just quoted indicates. We'll see....