It's Been Awhile....

It's been awhile since I last posted, so here's an update on life around here...

I have most of my vegetable garden in...radishes, strawberries and cherry tomatoes on the deck, and Walla-Walla sweet onions and garlic in the ground. The only thing left is 3 rows of carrots. The weather since planting has been "iffy" at best, so I'll have to watch the tomatoes closely. (As of this post, though, it is sunny and the forecast calls for nice days over the weekend).

Several other projects on tap for the summer, too. Some picket fence repair is needed in the front yard, bathroom painting, hopefully an addition to the patio, roof repair (several shingles lost during the past few wind storms). Plus, normal yard/garden maintenance.

All that, PLUS I have a 30-year band reunion coming up in August. Back in my 20's, I played in a band, professionally. We played country/country-rock/southern-rock/originals in clubs around the Northwest for about 9 years. I left music in 1985, then had the opportunity to reconnect with the rest of the band in 2008. The drummer has stayed in music the whole time, having played in several different bands. About 5 years ago, he helped organize a rock festival in Oakridge, Oregon, and every August since then, he has played with his current band, and several other bands have been asked to play. It is called the "Just Us" Festival....meaning that the event is primarily designed for musicians to gather together and just have alot of fun playing and jamming with each other. Over the years, the festival has attracted a larger and larger audience, too.
Anyway, on top of all the household chores and projects I have lined up, I have also been practicing for the festival. I had to buy some new equipment, as I sold most all of it back in '85.
Each of us has a set of CD's with the songs we will play in August (taken from past live recordings of the band). So, we are all practicing on our own, until we can spend a few days prior to the festival to rehearse. In the meantime, I am going down to Oregon for a few days this month to jam a little bit with the guys. (all, except one of the guitarists who lives in Hawaii....he will be there in August).

My dogs, Boone and Sadie are doing fine. This summer, Boone will turn 12 and Sadie will be 10 years old! (They certainly don't act that old, though!) Boone has a condition called Megaesophagus. Basically, the muscles in his esophagus don't push the food into his stomach like they should, so he eats sitting up vertically (so gravity will pull the food and water down), then he remains upright for another 10 minutes to finish the process. I am in the process of building a special chair for him, called a Bailey's Chair. It is, in essence, a padded vertical box that he can sit in while eating and digesting, so that I won't have to manually hold him up to the kitchen counter, and prop him up with a pillow on the couch (like I am currently doing, and have done 3 times a day since January). When I go to Oregon, I will board the dogs at my vet, so his staff will need a crash-course on how to feed my "special child"!
I am still driving a city bus in Everett, Washington (it will be 12 years in October). Best gig I ever had! I meet lots of interesting people, and work with some of the nicest folks I've known.
My grown children are spread out all over, and I don't get to see them as much as I'd like to, but I try to keep in touch. I have several grandchildren who are busy with sports and school. My son, Joe, is running for Congress in Mississippi. (You can follow his progress at joetegerdine.com)
Life is good. People are wonderful. Time to go to work......