2022 – August part 1
We are down to the wire (in time) before Amber and Josh visit. I would work (as is normal) during the day and then at around 4:45 when I got off work I’d head out into the kitchen and we would paint paint paint until sometimes 2 or 3 in the morning. On the very last day before they came, we didn’t sleep at all. We sent to kids to bed sure, but Maryia and I stayed up and ensured that everything else was done. The same day they came to visit our gas dropped again- this time BELOW $4 to $3.89 a gallon. Let’s keep this trend going!
I’ve been looking into my family history and genealogy and saw that I’m the 11th generation Nutmegger/Connecticuter in my family. Crazy how much history is still on the East Coast – before that the history was in England.
Amber and Josh came out to visit on Friday morning (so I took that day off of work). One of the things they wanted to do when they visited was to see the waterfalls that the Gorge had to offer. Even though Amber had lived in Portland during the Cascade years she never went. We took them on an easy hike (Bridal Veil Falls) and then to Multnomah Falls. Not really enough to give us a workout but I think Amber and Josh were pretty well spent by the end of it.
The next day Maryia went to a Cascade reunion with Amber. Not something I’d go to unless I was paid pretty fairly to do it. I have spoken at length over the years about the damage that Cascade had inflicted. I struggled with depression pretty heavily during those years too and it isn’t something I’d want to relive. I don’t keep in touch with anyone from Cascade. The very few people who I tried to, have all made it known in one way or another that their life has moved on from when we were friends.
Anyway, all that is just to say that I did not want to go to the reunion. Maryia didn’t either, but it was her friend who wanted her to go. Instead, I’d take the kids and have a fun day with them.
We went to a few parks, In-N-Out, another park that had a water area they could play at, followed by a movie and show at home. Even with all of that, the kids were still waiting for Amber and Josh. The next day we went to a lighthouse. Elijah asked Josh if he could call him his dad. Josh said “You already have a dad” and Elijah responded disappointed “Oh.. okay” Well if that isn’t a sucker punch to the gut then I’m not sure what is. I asked him later on about that and he doubled down on it- acknowledging that he wanted another dad.
We finished things out with dinner at the Dennys in Tillamook (as the Tillamook cheese factory was too touristy for them, and they didn’t want fish and chips either). We returned home and had a quiet evening before they had to get up early the next day for their flight back to Sacramento.
Random update: The weather! At the end of July (ending on the 31st officially), we endured Portland’s hottest week on record (records date back to 1940). We had seven days at 96 – 102 degrees. What ended up doing it for the records was the low temps not getting as low as they have historically. That brought the overall averages up. Global warming is no joke. Also ever since we had the wettest Spring on record, we haven’t seen any rain. There is no rain forecast for at least the next month too, if this keeps up we may break into some of the longest streaks of dry weather.
just Pray