Westmoreland Asays

Year 2013 provided some of the biggest mood swings in my family's short history--perhaps the most difficult for us; however, Year 2014 feels like it will begin with a nice upswing.  I don't want to focus on the negative--or remember it frankly--so I will focus on the positive and document them here. 2013 Rewind Books read: 15 (favorite: The Tree House ) Favorite Movie: Mud Times my mother visited: 2 Camping Trips in the Great Outdoors: 4 (Meg also led two without me) Camping Trips to Hotels: 2 (Legoland, Thanksgiving @ Seaside) Trail Blazers' Games Attended: about 10 Blog Posts Written: 43 Videos Uploaded to YouTube: 10 Miles Rode my Bicycle: 2453 Miles Ran: 415 Miles Roller Skated: 45 (not enough)  Pounds Gained: 0 Pounds Lost: 0 Pictures Uploaded to Google: Too many New Grey Hairs: see above Business Trips: 1 (first in my current position) Predictions for 2014 I predict things will stay pretty much the same as 2013: I'll get up every mornin...

To balance the crazy, unorthodoxy of Thanksgiving, we observed a mostly traditional Christmas in 2013. We never seem to repeat the same traditions, so this season wasn't without its quirks: we failed to bring home a Christmas tree (not unprecedented), we put up very few decorations (inside and out), and the Tri-Cities failed to hire me and Penrose to shoot the Cable Bridge Run, thus my sense of the season was skewed somewhat. We stayed home for Christmas morning (as anyone with young kids should) and slept in until about 7:30 when we heard footsteps pounding the upstairs bedrooms. The kids still enjoy opening presents of all types, even if the gift is simply pajamas. After ingesting bacon and sausage and eggs and leftover Christmas treats for breakfast, the kids had a couple of hours to play with their new stuff before we loaded the car for a short drive to Dallas, where the the in-Oregon Boorens--including Nichole (on leave from Virginia) and her foster son and fiance--gathere...

Aaron's band teacher selected him to join a regional honor band that played in three different concerts in December: as the opening act at Jesuit High School, at the Lloyd Center, and at the Portland International Airport. I was able to attend the first two concerts, while Meg accompanied Aaron to the last (although not really able to watch, as it was beyond security). Ian accompanied me at the Lloyd Center and helped me make this awesome compilation video of the band. Even though I do not like the idea of running all over town taking my kids to practices, the impact was pretty minimal and Aaron thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

My oldest son, Aaron, has turned 11 years old, so we sat down for our yearly interview of irrelevancy (see video at end of post). To celebrate his birthday, Meg let him invite five friends for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, Catching Fire at one of the larger cinemas, and a sleepover at our house. After they came home from the movie, I wowed them with how easy and fun it was to Chromecast videos onto our TV. Having so many kids over, however, contributed to a headache and illness that besieged me for the next couple of days. Aaron continues to grow physically and develop his mind and hone his talents. He is responsible enough to manage his brothers for short stints and for getting to and from various places in the neighborhood--almost always by bicycle, his preferred method of travel--whether going to school or a friend's house or to the grocery store or the bank. He still likes going to Pokemon League, loves playing Minecraft, thrives at building complex creations with Legos, and ...

The last few years we have gathered in Dallas, Oregon, for Thanksgiving with the Booren family, but with these families planning activities with their non-Booren side of the family, and with no Asays nearby, Meg began thinking of how we could celebrate as a single family. She found a seemingly great hotel in Seaside for a reasonable price; the suite had two bedrooms, living space, a kitchen (which we didn't use at all), and two bathrooms. Meg made the reservation, and we purposefully hid the idea from the kids, so they had no idea what our plans were for the holiday--they probably figured we'd just stay home and have a boring dinner that only Meg would want to eat. I was surprised that Meg was able to hide the trip from them up until we loaded the van on Wednesday afternoon, at which point we said we were staying at a yurt at the coast. Aaron groaned while Ian and Edward cheered and began plotting what they would do when we first arrived at our campsite. Eventually Meg figure...

Grandpa as I remember him best It's been a tough 15 months for my grandparents. I lost my maternal grandmother at age 15, but all the other grandparents kept on living for decades. My paternal grandparents died within six weeks of each other last fall, leaving behind the lone straggler, Grandpa Hanna. But on the morning of November 4th, this generation had officially exited from my world. About 36 hours before making his final departure from this life, I was able to visit with him for about three hours. He slept for the duration of my stay so I was not able to share any final words or memories or news from the family with him (he always enjoyed hearing reports from what my siblings were up to). But as I read the hours away in the corner of his room, interrupted by periodic visits from hospice and other officials, I was able to reconcile the reality of what lay before me. This helped soften the blow that came with Monday morning's announcement. Grandpa and Aaron in 200...

Dr. Watson We enjoyed dry and mild temperatures for Halloween again this year. Trick-or-treating in Westmoreland/Sellwood still remains a great experience; Meg and I have determined, however, that next year we should stick to the northern part of the neighborhood because the houses there don't see the same amount of traffic as does the central region. We met some neighbors who hadn't seen a single trick-or-treater and others who prepared special treats for the kids that did visit them. Bad Ninja Edward, Ian, Meg, and I stuck together for the majority of the night, while Aaron toured the neighborhood with his friend Francesco. Edward and Ian performed as well as I've ever seen them, although Edward recommends wearing comfortable shoes as opposed to ones that match your costume. Some kind of Storm/Clone Trooper I ended up with almost as much candy as did the kids because they are so well parented and like to share and know that I like candy more than anybody e...

I'm a bit of a hoarder. But not like you think. Yes, I still have some of the baseball cards I collected from my youth boxed up in the garage, and yes I still have a few articles of clothing I wore in high school (they still fit, too, suckers). Letting go of physical items that might have some use in the future can create minor tension in my life. I have a similar tendency with information. To wit: my favorite time to visit the Oregon coast is in early fall, when the crowds of people return to their schools and offices, the winds calm to near nothingness, and the temperatures hover around perfectly-mild . I don't like telling people this, though, because I want to hog all of this to myself, or at least to my immediate family. So forget everything I just said and continue on to read about our latest Adventures in Testosterone. Meg had reserved a yurt at Nehalem Bay--north of the Tillamook but south of the Seaside--six months ago, knowing the kids would have a Friday free f...

Nearly 20 years ago while in Japan I thought I had lived through my last typhoon. Storms of this nature just don't find their way this far inland. Or so I thought . After a week where it felt like the rain was falling at all hours of the day, the sun came out with perhaps one last gift before the seasons shift back to the wet-and-grey of fall and winter. So hop in the mini-van we did, driving a few miles to the north and west to visit one of the many farms on Sauvie Island , and enjoyed a pleasant drive through quaint country. I'm not sure how much these farms rely upon the highly seasonal uptake in visitors--those like us hoping to get lost in their corn mazes and finding the great pumpkin and purchasing products grown within their borders--to pay the bills and feed the animals, but the city folk seem to enjoy walking through what is becoming more and more scarce within the urban growth boundary. We spent no more than three hours on the farm--including the time we dined ...

Aaron and Edward I dare you to find a person who does not love the first day of school (save the teachers, maybe, and overprotective parents--maybe easier than I think). Aaron begins his last year at Llewellyn Elementary (5th grade), while Edward joins his peers in the third grade. Ian has one more year to wear pajamas all day (I kid!) before he joins the ranks at Llewellyn. Although neither boy was pleased with the perceived lack of friends in their individual class and were somewhat tentative about their teacher, they both report that they are liking class so far. And even though we pushed the lights-out limit later than we ever have before during summer, they have had no problems adjusting to early-morning wake-ups.

I enjoy the end of August for various reasons. The temperatures aren't so hot, the kids are almost back in school, and Hood-to-Coast comes to town (literally, this year, as the exchange point for legs 12 and 13 was in our neighborhood, at Oaks Park, because of construction closer into town). I once again photographed the runners on Legs 5 and 35. Friday was mild and overcast and a bit rainy, and Saturday was warm, warm, warm. My body is still aging, and it takes three or four days for the extreme soreness in my upper legs to dissipate. Hood-to-Coast is all about the participants so, without further delay, I present to you my Hood-to-Coasties for 2013 (remember, these are all photos I took). I've noticed trends in race over the last decade, and 2013 was the year of the tongue and the high-five. I saw lots of tongue aimed at my direction, and five or six runners gave me high-fives or fist bumps (kind of sweaty-gross, but whatever). Here are the best tongue shots . Fam...

A few months ago Meg asked our children if they would prefer to visit Disneyland or Legoland. Apparently, they overwhelmingly voted for Legoland , much to Meg's disappointment (the kids are somewhat price-conscious, but I don't think that influenced their decision). Meg had thought to drive down with just the kids, but I convinced her to let me come, too, and to use our Southwest points to fly to Southern California (I'm not much of a road-tripper). We had thought to visit the Redwood forests of Northern California on our return drive, and although this omission disappointed Aaron, I think everyone enjoyed the relatively easy travel arrangements--plus, this leaves us with another travel destination for the future (we don't often repeat our travel destinations). Early Saturday morning we picked up some friends who drove us to the airport (and babysat the van for the week so they could pick us up again). We had to change planes in Sacramento, and that flight was del...