X is for "Xocolatl Bar"

The easiest way for me to find an 'X' word was to purchase a food I had seen but hadn't tried yet! At my work (all of one day a week that I am there!), we have sold Dagoba chocolate for awhile. I have tried some and I really have liked what I have tried but the Xocolatl bar was one I was afraid of. I think it was the prospect of trying the chocolate with chili's... I had tried another brand with this combination before and thought it was awful. But you see, the lovely thing about this blog (and my determination to finish this alphabet!) is I felt almost forced into trying the Dagoba version. I knew that I wasn't going to come up with another 'X' word and so I went ahead and purchased the bar. And do you know....I ended up really liking it! It's not something you just sit down and eat a whole bunch of....in fact I almost think of it as a savory chocolate bar. And there is definitely heat to it as well. First you get the bitterness of the dark chocolate (which I love) and then it's almost like when you are drinking a really good beer and you get the aftertaste of the chili's....while you still have the chocolate taste in your mouth. Very tasty indeed!!! ;)

W is for "Woodsy Owl"

Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute! Even though this would be a phrase I learned as a child (Woodsy was quite predominate in the 70's and early 80's) it is still relevant for my own children today. Of course Matthew knows what 'Woodsy' says but over the summer I was trying to teach Mason and all he came up with for awhile was "Give me a Hoot"! And then about a month ago he decided that "Give me a Poop" was real funny. OK I admit it was hard to not laugh....and even now it still cracks me up. Damn potty humor! By the way, the 'Woodsy' shirts were purchased here ...I couldn't resist!

and just in time for Halloween.....old Woodsy costumes!!! I love this image as it's probably something I remember seeing (maybe on t.v. maybe at school?) once upon a time. I didn't even know Woodsy was still visiting schools but apparently he is.

V is for "VERY Messy"!!!!

So late this summer (sometime in August I believe) there was a playdate of six boys at my house. My dad thought it would be cool for all those boys to have some extra fun so he stopped by my house and left a bunch of "caution" tape and yellow chains from his work that was just going to go in the garbage anyway. The boys obviously had a blast playing with this stuff and this is the mess that ensued........

All I can say is thank god this wasn't inside my house!!!!!!!

10/29: Andy wasn't laughing at these pictures since he said he had to clean up 'very messy' backyard!! ;)

U is for "Under Autumn's Spell"

Lovely, lovely Autumn......love it!!!! Lately (although not today) the weather has been fantastic. Beautiful sunshine, warmish days but chilly nights, and the most gorgeous colors on the tree leaves around town. Let me show you..........

These were taken around the neighborhood 2 Saturdays ago on a very nice walk in the afternoon.

Matthew and his kick-ass shoes (obviously I love them!) playing in the leaves. The leaves on these trees are now completely gone since last weeks storms completely stripped them down!

And then on Sunday on my way to work....yes, this would be driving along hwy 26 at about 65 mph on my way to work! The fog in the trees was amazing.... it was also really cool coming across the Ross Island Bridge but I snapped the camera too fast. After I took the picture I had a much better view/sight but at that point there were cars and I really needed to stay in my own lane.

And more amazing displays of nature when I got to work on Sunday!

Just for Autumn's sake....this I think is still one of Matthew's (and mine too) favorite poems. It's in Caroline Kennedy's "A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children" and I think Matthew still has it memorized.

Thoughts

I love the Autumn,

And yet I cannot say

All the thoughts and things

That make me feel this way.

I love walking on the angry shore,

To watch the angry sea:

Where summer people were before,

But now there's only me.

I love wood fires at night

That have a ruddy glow.

I stare at the flames

And think of long ago.

I love the feeling down inside me

That says to run away

To come and be a gypsy

And laugh the gypsy way.

The tangy taste of apples,

The snowy mist at morn,

The wanderlust inside you

When you hear the huntsman's horn.

Nostalgia-that's the Autumn,

Dreaming through September

Just a million lovely things

I always will remember.

Jacqueline Bouvier

T is for "Tour" ...as in the Keith Urban tour of course!

So back in SEPTEMBER.... (yes I am slow but nothin' ya'll didn't know!) my girlfriends Crystal, Anne and I went to see Keith Urban in concert on Friday the 15th and then on Saturday the 16th went up to Seattle and saw him again. What fun!!!! The Portland show was so great....our seats rocked! I think we were something like 17th row on the floor and we were near enough the "runway" that he has going down the middle of the crowd on the floor that we could get right up front. Such a cool experience! The Wreckers opened the show (and I admit I knew very little of their music but they were entertaining) and I was still figuring out my camera when I took the picture of Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp.

Most of the time when Keith Urban was on there was a giant screen in the background that basically showed what was going on .....in other words it made for a trippy picture!

The next morning was a bit rough in trying to head for Seattle. We were all still quite tired and yet jazzed up for the coming evening and we also planned a little bit of shopping in between. On our way up to Seattle we stopped in Olympia to visit a mall that had a Steve and Barry's store. Since we do not have one in Portland, the point of this visit was to check out the new Sara Jessica Parker line of clothing titled Bitten. What can I say...we were girls with no children with us and felt we needed to indulge in a little fashion! Actually, the line of clothing is affordably priced although it seems what we ended up buying the most of was the accessories. Lots of earrings, cute sunglasses, etc. Then it was off to Seattle to get dressed for our evening! We stayed in downtown which was of course expensive but splitting it 3 ways helps. At this concert we didn't have as good of seats, although they weren't bad either. We just weren't down on the floor.

The amazing part of this concert was that while it was really good, it wasn't as good as the Portland show! Which really shocked me...I think I just assumed that for some reason they would either be about the same or that Seattle would be even better. I guess it was just a weird notion on my part. In Portland, the band and Keith actually played a bunch of improv stuff. Not original music but just covering some past hits of various artists. If I remember correctly, they played Billy Joel's "You May be Right", Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" with all the band members taking turns at verses, Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny, Jenny" and Violent Femmes "Blister in the Sun". Which I loved, since I was impressed that a country artist would even know who the Violent Femmes are! We got all of that on Friday in Portland and then on Saturday in Seattle we got almost none of that and about a 25 minute shorter show. But it was still all good!

Sunday morning (or very early afternoon by the time we were with it!) was for shopping and shop we did. Lots of retail in downtown Seattle and plus there was Pike Place Market. I love this place. A food lover's paradise. I could go back daily for weeks just to try all the different foods and eateries. And I had to kind of keep my purchases to a minimum, because whatever I bought I was going to have to haul around with me since we left the car at the hotel until it was time to go home. Pike Place is just amazing...even on Sunday afternoon(with typical Northwest drizzle) the place is packed full of people and food and street artists and performers. I very much enjoy the vibe there!

We didn't buy or eat anything at the "Three Girls Bakery" but we enjoyed the sign! The one very important thing to do while we were there was to visit the original Starbucks (opened in Pike Place Market in 1971). We do like Starbucks and the 3 of us girls have done quite a bit of bonding over coffee! It's actually quite different inside from all the other Starbucks, dark wood paneling and floors and very tiny. But very busy and worthy of a picture outside!

So not the best shot of me and who knows who the guy is in the pic but I did say it was crowded! :) A very lovely trip with very lovely friends....

And coffee/Starbucks makes everything better!! This is according to Zoe, Meegan's daughter who is one smart girl when she told this to her mom. I can't quite remember the exact story but I heard about it today, and now I may have to force Meegan to blog about it because it was really cute!

S is for "soccer"

Matthew is really liking soccer. I am not sure I would go so far as to say he loves it but he does seem to really be enjoying himself! At this age, soccer is rather funny to watch since the kids never seem to know which way to send the ball, nor do they seem to understand much in the way of strategy. Well, except for a few of the kids. I think Matthew enjoys just running with the kids but if I could just convince him to play chase with the ball instead of his friend Robert everytime they are in the game together....hmmmmm. All things with time I guess.