Trip recap

We arrived in Parkersburg in the early evening on Friday. After we landed in our deluxe hotel room, we headed out to have a meal and came back to listen to live jazz and play backgammon in the hotel library. The music drifted into that lovely room and we played for a couple of hours. Toward the end of our game, the ghost tour lady brought the group for that evening in and wrapped things up. It was there that we overheard she had been chased off as a devil worshipper somewhere along her route. Hmm. (A side note about our hotel: they have the maid service place a stamp of the hotel insignia on the first little square of toilet paper when they clean a room. That just cracks me up. I brought the toilet paper squares back to Daniel who will cherish them.)

Pictures from that evening are here:

We took our time getting out and about the next day. After a leisurely detour (code for Ted going the wrong way for about a half hour), we arrived at the North Bend Rail Trail and rented the last two bikes on hand. Ted rode the one with the handlebars a foot below the seat level, forcing him to lean forward the whole ride, and the rock hard seat. Mine had a slightly cushier seat and weirdly sticky handles. As we set out, a stream of horse drawn wagons made their way past us from the opposite direction. It was very peaceful and serene and I look forward to expanding to some bike rides here locally. The only problems I experienced were the times I was forced to ride the crap bike and of course the tunnels. I get a little panicky with the earth above my head. I am not claustrophobic or scared of the dark, but the thought of an entire mountain over my head freaks me out. So when a drop of water dripped down on me in the second tunnel I flipped my wig. Ted has captured a photo for posterity. Love it.

Photos of North Bend Rail Trail here.

After we biked around 10 miles roundtrip, we decided we still had time to visit the Blennerhassett Museum and Island.

Museum Pics are here

Island Pics are here

The island was lovely with deer and turkey and a horse drawn wagon ride. The only part that got my goat was that a house built by wealthy people was built on the island and then burned down in 1811. Why in 1988 did someone feel it necessary to rebuild this mansion on a floodprone, middle of the river island? It seems such a waste to highlight past wealth with new money, instead of using those funds to house the homeless that were being fed in the parking lot by the mobile soup kitchen as we returned to our car. Just sayin'.

Once we returned to the hotel, we decided against the ghost tour. We were so sore (and still are) from our bike rides that we didn't think a 2 mile walk would do anything for us. So we went to Olive Garden and overate. My husband indulged himself with some very sweet, very potent wine. When we got back to the room, he sat on the bed and fell asleep. Live jazz was playing in the courtyard (our room overlooked it) and a wedding was taking place. I opened the window to hear better and rested beside him. That was a really lovely experience.

Pics of a cemetery skyline that I saw several times and asked Ted to take pictures of.

No pictures this evening

While we have 2 cameras on our trip, I managed to take all the pictures on the camera that does not have a USB cord here. We are, however, having a great time. I taught Ted to play backgammon in the library of our hotel and soundly beat him. 3-0, poor guy.

Pictures will be posted on our return Sunday. We missed the entire presidential debate, but I have a feeling I didn't miss much. Tomorrow is full of bike rides, ghost tours, ferry rides, and lots more fun stuff.

Night all.

My carbon footprint was 17+. Can anyone give me a clear idea of how bad/good that is and how I can offset it if necessary? I'd love to be eco-friendly, but it muddles my mind.

I did buy reusable shopping bags though.

Ambitious leisure

My husband and I are long overdue for some R & R. My mother has graciously offered to take care of our children this coming weekend and we are planning our escape. I personally plan to explore how much sleep a person can indulge in over a weekend, but I will have some leisure activities at hand in case the first plan fails. It looks like we are going here. I would like to be able to fit in a little of this and a little of that. The trail looks nice and it would fulfill my recent desire to ride a bike without the loss of life. I would also be interested in doing some of this, but not sure if the hubby would enjoy it. I will be taking lots and lots of pictures to share when I return. And a little teaser for you adventerous types.... my mother has convinced me to go up into a hot air ballon with her and my aunt for an hour long ride in the coming month. Once you stop laughing at the prospect of me aloft over sharp tree tops with nothing but a wicker basket, some hot air, and a little fabric holding me up, I expect you to hit your knees in earnest prayer for my safety and sanity.

:0)

Pig truck

The other day I was driving home from work behind a tractor trailer. As I passed it, I noticed it was one of those livestock trucks with the layers of vented stalls for animals. It was full of baby pigs. I wept openly and without abandon for those baby pigs. It was a beautiful, cool autumn day. The sun was shining. They were piled on each other sleeping. And I know they weren't on their way to an amusement park catering to baby pigs.

I will admit that although I claim to be unfazed that my oldest is in his last year of high school and about to commence on his own life without me, I think I am wrong. I think that while I know we will get along better when his life is completely his in its entirety, I have already been mourning the loss of my wee little boy. It has been years since he was small enough to carry, or cuddle, or hug without a struggle. My boy is a man. If I were abducted by aliens tonight, he would be able to carry on without me. He would survive. I am proud of that, I am sad for that, my heart breaks for that, my eyes leak over that. I certainly have two younger ones to continue all the nurturing on, but he is my baby. My first baby. The first child I held knowing it had grown in my garden. Thus, I will cry over pig trucks with no remorse. We will all know the real reason, but I will avoid it. Because I am not the first mother to have to let go, I will not be the last.

Alas, my broken heart

No Engelbert for me. Grandma decided to go to the beach with her sisters. But that makes me happy! She's eighty and still going strong..... happy B-day to my Mawmaw (tomorrow).

In other news, I was searching online for something completely unrelated and stumbled upon this man that rocks my socks!

Dedication to the cause

If you have met me in real life, gotten past the stage where I am all deceptively shy, and then stuck around when you realized that I was batshit crazy (my new phrase I cannot stop saying but would love to replace), then you know about my quest to be the favorite. Favorite what, you might ask? Well, favorite anything at all would be my answer. I will brown nose my little puffy pink heart out to earn a little shiny star for my book. It all started with my cousin, Erin. She is ten years younger than me and her mother always called me her first child. So being the sensitive creature that I am, I rub it in every chance I get. And I convince her that I am our grandma's favorite too... that part doesn't take much. I named my daughter after my great-grandma and her middle name just happens to be Elizabeth (my grandma's favorite aunt). I didn't do it to score the points, but oh buddy it did anyway. So now, I generally like to be the favorite and have it declared aloud in public whenever and by whomever possible. It's great fun.

My grandma's birthday is next Wednesday. She will be 80. (She doesn't read this so I feel alright sharing that tidbit). Anyway, as I was driving home this evening I was given the truest, most decent gift in the quest for favorite one could ever receive. My grandma's favorite singer will be performing on October 1st in Ashland. If she is in town (she hasn't decided whether to take her annual trip to the beach this year), then I will accompany her to the 40th anniversary tour of Engelbert Humperdinck. That's right. There is no possible way I can be beaten now. Not only am I willing to get her there, I am willing to participate in the viewing of and alleged enjoyment of this performance. Did I mention this is THE Engelbert Humperdinck. I can't make this stuff up.

Fire at the Milton Flea Market

Here are some pictures from the front of my office. The fire is about a mile away.

Trendsetter

Remember that whole trip to Hershey and the stop to see the goats? Well, it seems I am ahead of the national curve as evidenced by CNN and Yahoo News running pieces (almost identical I might add) on the fainting goats. So go ahead, follow me. It will lead you nowhere, but feel free.

Long overdue safety concerns

Seems like something that should have been considered long ago.

Melody Gardot - Worrisome Heart

I heard her recently and think she sounds like Fiona Apple and Norah Jones. She is only 23 and didn't come into singing until she was 19 and was in a car accident that left her cognitively impaired. A doctor suggested she tried music and here she is. The sunglasses are a result of leftover sensitivity she has to light and sound from the accident, not to look cool.

Truth is certainly stranger than anything I can make up

So there was a trip down south this summer that resulted in Daniel and Aurelia being given some decorations for their room as their souvenir. They didn't go on the trip, but it was their grandpa, brother, and cousin. Anywho, the decorations are the sort that glow in the dark, are in the shape of constellations and planets, and adhere to walls or ceilings with little dabs of putty. Aurelia chose to place hers on her closet door and on the back of her bedroom door. Daniel chose to adhere his to the ceiling above his bed. All this should serve as a preface to the following encounter:

I was bathing Aurelia and Daniel came running from his room, in his birthday suit, yelling, "Uranus fell off my ceiling! MOM! Where do you put Uranus? Do you remember where Uranus goes? Can I stick Uranus back up there? MOOOOOMMMM! "

Several notes on this exchange:

1. Daniel was clearly naked.

2. Daniel does not know the word anus is a part of the anatomy.

3. Daniel was clearly holding a planet that was NOT Uranus (it had rings and it was Saturn).

Seriously, I do not make these things up!

Hippo Happenin's

Heather Shafer, Ted Porterfield
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/hippoxmas/

Yesterday was my ninth wedding anniversary. Since we are working opposite shifts right now, we didn't go out to dinner or anything. But Ted did bring me three roses to work and we are planning to have an adults only out of town excursion in the next couple of weeks. LONG OVERDUE, I might add!




My father has in his yard at the moment, a Navy transport bus (like a white, old-school short bus) and not one, not two, not three, but FOUR box trucks (like delivery trucks. Let us just assume that my mother is not pleased with these lawn ornaments. So if you know someone who needs a box truck, call me. I can hook them up.




The first week of school has gone by and seems to be ok.... oh shit, I just realized I didn't take first day of school pictures for the first time. I am awash with sadness. I'll just make them wear the same clothes and pose by the door before bed! Problem solved.




A-dog starts her schooling next week and is looking forward to neighbor Jenny being her teacher. I hope Jenny feels the same towards Aurelia after that first week of non-stop chatter for three hours.




I tried out a security measure for the blog, but it seemed over the top and cumbersome for those of my friends and family that don't see well, or compute well, or like security measures, so we are back to the regular way. (Sidenote to anyone who the security measures may have been aimed at... don't mess with my kids. 'Nuff said.)

They can't off this guy soon enough

Death for man who kidnapped, murdered Idaho boy
By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 50 minutes ago
A longtime sex offender was sentenced to death Wednesday for the 2005 kidnapping, torture and murder of a 9-year-old northern Idaho boy after federal jurors who watched video of some of the brutality deliberated just three hours.
The jurors' recommendation was binding on U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, who thanked them, dismissed them and then sentenced Joseph Edward Duncan III.
Relatives of the victim, Dylan Groene, remained somber as the jury's decision was announced. Duncan murdered Dylan's mother, older brother and his mother's fiance to kidnap him and his younger sister, who was sexually abused along with her brother but survived.
"We're happy with the verdict, but it's a shame — this should have been limited to one death," said Steven Groene, the father of the children. "He should have had the courage and the guts to kill himself before killing anyone else."
Duncan showed no reaction other than smiling as the verdict was passed to the judge.
He took Dylan and the boy's then-8-year-old sister, Shasta, to a remote western Montana campsite where he raped, tortured and threatened them before shooting Dylan in the head and burning his body. Jurors viewed horrifying video Duncan made of him sexually abusing, torturing and hanging Dylan until the boy lost consciousness.
"This defendant is dangerous. He is a predator who takes pride in his work," prosecutor Traci Whelan said. "He earned this day. His actions ... call out for the death penalty."
Duncan acted as his own attorney but had offered no response to prosecutors' closing argument.
"I have no argument," he told the court.
With an eye toward kidnapping the two children, Duncan stalked their family. In 2005 he entered their Coeur d'Alene-area home and used a hammer to fatally bludgeon their 13-year-old brother, Slade Groene, his mother, Brenda Groene, and her fiance, Mark McKenzie.
Duncan was arrested and Shasta rescued weeks after the kidnappings when a waitress at a Denny's in Coeur d'Alene called police after recognizing the two as they ate.
Duncan pleaded guilty in December to 10 federal charges involving the kidnappings and the murder of Dylan. He pleaded guilty to the other three murders in state court, where he also could be sentenced to death.
After the verdict, the jurors were whisked away from the federal courthouse in two white vans so they could avoid the phalanx of media covering the hearing.
"The jury speaks the mind of the community," U.S. Attorney Tom Moss said. "By the verdict today, they have given voice to the victims."
In closing arguments, Whelan reminded the jury of Duncan's lifelong "pattern of violence," including a conviction for raping a boy at gunpoint in 1980. Duncan has told investigators he killed two half-sisters from Seattle in 1996, and he is charged with killing a young boy in Riverside County, Calif., in 1997.
Duncan may now be brought to Riverside County to stand trial in the death of Anthony Martinez.
Darlene Torres, Brenda Groene's mother, said she is glad the federal case is over.
"Justice has been served," Torres said. "It's been very painful."
She said that when she saw Duncan in court, "I seen nothing but an evil, empty, coldhearted shell."
It's hard to tell if the end of the federal case will offer any comfort to Shasta, her father said.
"I can't speak for Shasta, I can't get inside her head," Groene said. "Possibly now we'll have to be dragged through a court proceeding in California. If they go ahead with the prosecution, it would be such as waste of taxpayer money because he'll never spend a day in a California prison."
The heinousness of the evidence in Dylan's murder made it particularly difficult for the jurors to remain impartial as they deliberate, said Art Patterson, a jury consultant and senior vice president of the trial consulting firm DecisionQuest.
"Generally, for human beings, it's pretty hard to maintain impartiality when confronted with such horror," Patterson said.
"How could any juror not want to see this person removed from our list of living human beings? How could you live with yourself as a juror if there's any chance this human being could escape from jail and do something like this again?" Patterson said.

Pudding Tain

Happy B-day baby girl

Today is the first day of school for my senior and my third grader. But it is also my baby's fourth birthday. It seems like her tiny little self just came into the world, but now she is so tall and grown up. One more year of tiny girlness before she enters the school world (I certainly hope the first day of school isn't on her birthday next year).

I LOVE YOU SWEET PETUNIA!

Hershey Park

Pics from the Road

HERE IS THE LINK IN CASE THE SLIDESHOW ISN'T WORKING

We got a later start than I had planned for and didn't arrive at the tipis until nearly dusk. We spent a night in the wilderness and then traveled to the farm to see the goats. Unfortunately, they suffer from performance anxiety and we didn't come away with any fainting video. However, we do have these assorted photos of our journey up to now. Tomorrow, we are off to Hershey's Chocolate World and the amusement park!!! WOO HOOOOO!!

We're off to see the goaties!!

And we know you all envy us......

Many videos and pictures to follow our adventures that will include the entire family camping out in a tipi, visiting the fainting goaties, and an excursion to Hershey Park!! Better buy your chocolate before I get there or you'll be sorry.

WTF??

This dude is seriously jacked up. And not only is that dude seriously jacked up, but that moron who was going to bring her FOUR year old daughter to live with him needs to be sterilized or shot or beaten in the streets. These stories make me want to take a Brillo and Clorox shower, but unfortunately there are far too many examples of human depravity out there.