Lift with your back in a jerking twisting motion. Take your legs completely out of the equation.

Friday
We met some friends for happy hour after work and then went to a movie. Movies on nice evenings = unhappy Lisa. Went to bed pretty early because on Saturday...

Saturday
Ken was up and out of the house for an 8 am start time for the Super Leisure Olympics. 16 guys compete against each other in mini golf, croquet, bowling, bocce ball, horseballs, darts and billiards. You can read their bios on the website. I didn't understand Ken's bio, which is apparently from Steve Martin in "The Jerk".

Here are the 16 competitors before the first event (Ken is on the left, Rich is to his right and Dennis is below them):


The Super Leisure Olympics started at 8 am and finished around 1 am. I slept in, drank my coffee, picked up some deck sealer and painted the first coat on the front porch. Then I made some lunch and around 3, Kinley and I met the group at the park for bocce ball and horseballs. The organizers got an alcohol permit for the park, so folks drank beer while they watched/played the festivities. It was a beautiful day. Plus, it was an off-leash park, so Kinley got to run around as everyone threw his ball for him. He was exhausted by the end of the day.

Us in the park. Kinley is checking things out since he's the ambassador of dogs. All of these people were in our group. There were about 25 of us (players and spectators).


Kinley after running around for 4 hours. He was exhausted. Apparently, he was also drinking.


Ken ended up winning the bocce ball event. I was very proud. They crowned him as "winning the party" for that event and gave him the designating sombrero.




Horseballs was next, which is two golf balls tied together with a foot of rope. You get four sets of balls and alternate with your competitor throwing them onto a PVC ladder. Highest rung gets you 3 points, middle rung is 2 points, lowest rung is 1 point. After you've each thrown your balls, points are decided as follows: If you get 6 points on your throws and your competitor gets 2, the difference is awarded to the winner... i.e. player 1 is awarded 4 points while player 2 gets nothing. Games are played to 13. It's pretty fun and more difficult than I expected it to be. It's a great backyard barbecue game.

Here is Dennis throwing horseballs:



I stayed for the darts event (by then, it was around 8 pm). Ken placed 2nd in that. Then we dropped off Kinley and I joined Ken for part of the Billiards. I left at 12:30 and was exhausted. Ken got home shortly thereafter -- after he was eliminated. You can see all of the pictures on the SLO website.

Sunday
We woke up and went to Sauvie Island to pick our strawberries for the year. We met Mindy and Jaime out there and stayed for about an hour. We each picked a flat. Ken picked 7.5 lbs; I picked 10.3. Needless to say, we're eating berries everyday and I'll be freezing some and turning others into jam. Delicious.

After berry picking, we picked up Corey and went out to Edgefield to play some golf with Dennis and Ingrid. My golfing good luck was not there and I had a tough time. It was fun though. On one of the holes, I made a bet with Ken that if I got a hole-in-one, I could have chickens. He agreed. I took a long time to steady myself and set things up. It went way left. Ken let out a sigh of relief.


Monday
I was sore from golf the day before. I also turned a year older. Coincidence? I think not. Ken and I rode into work together and stopped for some coffee at one of our favorite places downtown. It was a treat. The work day was pretty calm and I got lots done. After work, I did the second coat of sealer on the front deck while Ken let the dog out. Then we went to our dodgeball double headers. In our second game, I caught a ball between my legs! I was excited. After dodgeball, the league went for pizza and beer at a new place with the giant open windows. Perfect for a summer night.

Tuesday
I am sorer still. My neck. My back. Ugh. Ibuprofen and strawberries for breakfast. After work, I met Ken for his softball double header and sat in the sunshine. Nice day.

Wednesday
Still sore. We are out of ibuprofen. Still eating berries. I was going to start golf lessons tonight but my mom convinced me to take private lessons rather than group lessons. She said they were more helpful for her. Momma knows. So instead of golfing tonight and being extra sore tomorrow, I'll be making jam tonight. Either are fun in my book.

Today also marks the day that our friend finds out the sex of their baby. They are very excited. I also heard that Dave H. just got a new job as a medical science liaison (translation: talking to drug companies and scientists about the status of clinical trials)! Congratulations Dave! This job is PERFECT for you. Finally, a job that pays you to be cruise director!

My .02 in favor of Google Reader

If you like reading blogs but hate wasting your time searching to see if they've been updated, Google Reader is for you. Just like your email inbox keeps track of all your messages coming in from different sources, Google Reader lets you put in the web addresses of the blogs/pages you typically read and then keeps track of which have been updated recently.

Now, instead of going to the individual blogs, I can read them all from their one site. Pictures and all. So, the blogs that have been updated recently (like Arthur's, Rob's and Brian's this week) are bolded with the number of new posts on each since you read last. No longer do you have to go to Julie's site in vain.

My two sore thumbs up.

A Boy's Weekend

Friday was our dodgeball draft. The draft is just like Tucson Ultimate's, for those of you who played. 13 captains (Ken was one) went through the player list drafting team members. The draft was closed except for captains, so I was at home starting the first part of staining the arbor. Ken texted me when they were finished and I met them for a drink and then we went to a friend's birthday party.

On Saturday, we spent most of day on the first coat of the arbor. I did most of the trim work, Ken did the high portions and the floor. The hops are just about to the deck floor; it's amazing to see how fast they're growing. We finished the first coat around 4:30. We took showers and then met a friend to play 12 holes of golf. I am really enjoying golf. Ken said I almost got 2 holes in one (par 3 course -- around 68 yards on average). He also said the day I get a hole in one is the day he quits golf. I ended up averaging 4.75 strokes a hole. Pretty good considering I have only played once before. I like walking around the gardens and grounds, chatting and having a beer at the hut along the way. My mom says you wait until after your round to have a beer, but the lure of the secret beer shed is too much for me.

On Sunday, we had breakfast outside and then did the arbor's 2nd coat. It felt wonderful to finish it. As it dried, I convinced Ken to go to the driving range. Yeah, it didn't take much arm twisting. We each hit a bucket of balls. He says my swing is really stiff and awkward. I tried getting my swing to go back farther, but I have no control that way. I slice, top and whatever other term there is for hitting the ball wrong. My Frankenstein swing works so much better and gives me more accuracy. I'll slowly try switching, but for now I'll take whatever helps to get me on the green. After we finished, I was antsy to watch some girls swings to see how they do it. Ken suggested we grab lunch and a beer at the golf course's restaurant overlooking the 10th tee. It was fun. We sat and people-watched for an hour or so. I got to see lots of swings -- what worked, what didn't. I told Ken I now know why guys love golfing so much. It is so peaceful and relaxing. Unbelievably, I actually watched the US Open on TV when we got home. What is wrong with me? Long story short, it was a golf weekend and I have sore hands from swinging the club so much. I counted that we played 4 times in 8 days -- 2 courses and twice at the driving range.

Ken said we'll take this weekend off, but I bet I can convince him to play on Sunday.

Stolen Wallet

I went out to dinner last night with some girlfriends. I arrived early since the restaurant doesn't take reservations. I sat and waited for 20 minutes until we were seated. I got up, grabbed my coat, my keys and looked for my wallet. Gone.

Not under the bench or table. Not in my pocket.

I went to my car. No luck.

Not on the path between my car and the restaurant.

One of my girlfriends went with me to look in my car again. Nothing. While she was digging through my car, I asked a guy at a nearby restaurant if anyone had turned it in. He said no but that a lady who wanders by a lot picked it up and muttered to herself that she found a wallet. Apparently she panhandles on that street all the time. I asked for a description. He gave it to me and we started looking around for her. We couuldn't find her, but when I saw a hippy-ish couple on the street who looked like they knew the area, I asked if they knew the woman who fit the description.

"Oh, you mean Joanne?"

Yes. Have you seen her? I think she has my wallet.

No luck. So in every store, restaurant and bar. Leaving my name, cell phone number and description of the wallet and the woman.

"Oh, you mean Joanne? She walks around here all the time asking for change". One of the restaurants cautioned me to cancel my credit cards immediately. Several others told us to try her bar-of-choice, down the block.

We went in and explained the woman.

"Oh you mean Joanne? She's in here all the time asking for change but I haven't seen her yet tonight. You should try later."

Sigh.

As we were going in our third bar, I got a call from a bookstore up the street. Someone just turned in my wallet. There was a toothless 50-something woman and her boyfriend going through the clothes bin outside the store. She said she wasn't Joanne but somehow got my wallet (don't know the exact story, as you can imagine, it was a bit sketchy). I thanked the shop owner for calling me and went into my wallet to give everyone a tip for returning it. All the cash was gone, even the coins. Luckily, my credit card, ID and ATM card were still there as were all other contents that I could tell. Kind of an odd scene. We all knew that the truth was not being told, but you couldn't quite do anything about it. I was thankful for what I had left. I'm sure they were thankful for the money they found. They said if they couldn't find me, they would have returned my wallet to my house, which is nice but didn't quite make me feel better.

After we parted, I immediately called my credit card company to report what happened and check the activity on my card. All clean. So now I just monitor it to make sure nothing's up. I am also thankful that they didn't take my work ID with bus pass, which would have cost me a couple hundred dollars to replace.

And so that was my night last night. I'm thankful for the outcome but feel violated and cheated. Upside, I had the most delicious cocktail after the incident to calm my mind. I think it was the highlight of my entire meal: It was called a Pegu Club Cocktail. Bombay sapphire gin, cointreau, fresh lime, sugar and bitters. Served up. Delicious.

Golf

I played golf for the first time on Saturday. Ken took me to the driving range to test things out. He loves playing. My mom loves playing. My dad loves playing. We're going to a golf birthday party in a few weeks but I've never played. Hmmm. It was time to try things out.

Driving range was fun. Ken gave me some pointers and I had some good luck. Fairly straight shots. My head down, left arm locked. It went so well that we went to Edgefield to play 20 holes with friends. It was a par 3 course. I got par on one hole (beating Ken on that hole!) but most were 6's and above. Still it was fun.

My body has been paying for it ever since though. I feel it especially in my forearms, which are killing me. Still, I'm excited to go back.

Rain and Shine

It's been raining for almost two weeks straight. Not pouring. Just a persistant spit and drizzle that the plants love but make it impossible for us to seal the wood to finish the arbor. I finished painting the rest of the slats this morning before work in the garage. Hopefully, this weekend we'll finish putting them up. We still have to seal the front and deck floors/railings/posts, but that will have to wait for now.

All of Ken's softball games have also been rained out (except for one). He has games Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to try and make up the rained-out games. Based on the weather report, it looks like they'll be rained out too.

Science Policy

At my science education meeting in DC this month, National Institutes of Health (NIH) directors explained how research funding is completely flat right now (and decreasing in terms of cost of living). A former congressman was our keynote speaker and talked to us about what we can do to help (he was the one that helped to double the NIH budget). He explained how most representatives don't know much about research and that to make better decisions, they need our help. He said that besides voting for candidates who support research, we should find out if our state representatives have science policy advisors. If they don't, he told us to volunteer. He also told us to run for office ourselves. Since I'm not doing the latter, I decided to try the former. I just wrote our state representative who was elected this month (who I voted for, like and support). It's completely out of my comfort zone but I guess that's the point. Here's my email below and his response...

Dear (name deleted),

Congratulations on winnning the election! I was so happy to hear about your win - I voted for you and really support what you are doing.

I'm writing to see if you have a science advisor who is helping you navigate the advances in biomedical research as state representative. As you know, there are many new scientific advancements occurring throughout the country right now. Research in Oregon has played a particularly strong role in the understanding of stem cells, diabetes, neuroscience, nanomedicine treatment for cancer as well as how the environment affects our genes (epigenetics). Research advances occur all the time in Oregon and I know that it can be daunting to keep up with the intricacies of all of them - especially since you will have so many other responsibilties as state representative. For that reason, I was hoping that you have a science advisor in place who can inform you about important issues in biomedical research when you need to make policy decisions. If you do not have a science advisor, I would like to volunteer to help in this capacity.

I have my doctorate in neuroscience and worked at the research bench for 11 years before moving to the field of science education to translate scientific research to the public. I currently work at (name deleted) in the office of (name deleted). I talk to teachers, clinicians, elementary school students, grandparents, biomedical researchers and everyone in between on a daily basis. I love science and believe that everyone should be more informed about scientific research - especially when making decisions about its future and the future of Oregon.

If I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to call or email me. Congratulations again on your victory -- I'm looking forward to having you as our representative.

Cheers,
Lisa

and the reply a few days later:

Thanks, Lisa! I really appreciate your support and look forward to representing you.

I also really appreciate your offer of a science advisor. As a child, I spent hours with my mom in the lab learning to count white blood cells and working with science, so these issues are near and dear to me. I would love to be able to call you from time to time for advice, and please don't hesitate to contact me as things come up.

Thanks again!

Best,
(name deleted)

So I guess that's a start. Time will tell if anything will happen from it.