the latest days

My days have been full, spending lots of time with Doug and with some friends. We had a very close call when I was in Oregon that Doug almost got called offshore, but then he didn't. Yay! I'm so happy to be home. My dad called on Christmas and was totally snowed in and without electricity and phone. He had walked to the top of the "hill" up the road where his cell phone gets reception to call to give me the scoop and wish me merry Christmas. He called again yesterday and had JUST gotten electricity back and his road plowed. So had I chosen to go there instead of to Portland from Tacoma, I'd have ended up stuck there until now! Soon Doug will be gone offshore (he works as a commercial diver on oil rigs) and my plan is to focus on writing my book.

I did a bit of research for it while in Tacoma. Watched the intelligent design documentary Expelled with my cousin and her husband and had an interesting discussion. I tried to meet with Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute but he wouldn't after listening to my TX State Board of Education hearing testimony... this will go in the book... I am still interested in a dialogue...

Got Schnerples? This is our super schnerple machine. It allows us to read one another's minds. :)
We're schnerplicious babyyyy!
Schnerple for one.
Can you feel the schnerple in the air?
Eating Chick-fil-a earlier today. :)
This is what it looked like outside Annie Rose's front window in Portland - totally snowed in! I wished I'd caught a pic of some of the people cross-country skiiing down the road!
Doug and me at his apartment. Notice the 8x10s he has on his wall of us :) I took all these pics with my phone so forgive the quality.
We met my best friend Daline, who was in town for Christmas, and went bowling :) After bowling we went to Cafe East before I took Daline to the airport, and she got a great pic of me with the chopsticks in my mouth looking like a walrus. I can't wait til she emails it to me! lol.
Doug and I at the bowling alley.
Me hitting a strike! (ha ha) I did get two strikes, amazingly enough, but the rest of the time I totally sucked! :) It was fun though!
Doug bowled much better than I did!
The other night we played pool. I did much better at pool than bowling!!

Free Hugs!

“Through life’s trials and hardships
we arise beautiful and free.”
— Julia Butterfly Hill

Who could resist giving a hug to him??? :)

For Christmas I finally got to do the FREE HUGS campaign I've wanted to do for a while now! Check out http://freehugscampaign.org/ for the story about how Juan Mann changed the world... and started an international free hugs movement! (And I've embedded the Youtube video at the end of the pics) He was even on Oprah! We had a blast! Me, Doug, Georgia and her kids did this at the Starbucks in Kingwood :) Got lots of hugs! Before that, we ate breakfast in the morning at IHOP and a total stranger paid for our meal and then so when Doug went to pay the waitress said a stranger had paid for it! Just a random act of kindness! I paid it forward by giving my Starbucks card with about $30 on it to pay for several customers drinks as they came in, while we were outside giving Free Hugs!

Making the signs at my house, getting ready to go.
Georgia Doug and her daughter Madelyn giving free hugs at Starbucks in Kingwood on Christmas day. What a great way to spend Christmas!!
Who could resist?

Me holding Madelyn. She's such a doll!
Someone giving Madelyn a hug!

Silly Doug!
Giving a hug!
Holding up the sign for all to see. Madelyn called them "customers" and whenever people would drive up she'd go "We have customers! We have customers!" :)
Big smile!


Doug got lots of hugs!
Yet another hug!
Mwaa!
Wonder twin powers activate! LOL. We went to the park after we gave out hugs!
Madelyn and I rolling down the hill!

I could lie and say I'm really good at handstands... but this is a cartwheel. :)
This was earlier in the day holding my abominable snowman!

comedy of errors

Berries in the snow, Portland Oregon
Copyright (c) 2008 Wendee Holtcamp

This has been the ultimate comedy of errors vacation! So the main point of me coming here was to see my daddy, who I try to see once a year. Usually I don't come in winter, and I picked a fine winter to come to Oregon! I ended up in a once in 40 years snowfall event. The thing is, I was supposed to fly home on United on Christmas day. I took a jaunt up to Tacoma (outside Seattle, WA) to visit my cousin, and had planned on coming back to see my dad on the weekend when he was off work. But because my dad was snowed in, and because I wanted to get home early to see Doug before he went offshore, I changed my flight to the 22nd - today. Well, last night I got an automated call that my flight was cancelled...

So Annie Rose was supposed to fly home also, and I was going to catch a ride with her since her friend was driving her, and I'd stay at the airport and just try to get on a standby flight. But her flight was also cancelled! I also have a rental car that I somehow have to get back to the airport but they are requiring chains on all vehicles driving around and I'm stuck without any chains. I can pay the rental car company to pick the car up, or I can risk driving without chains. Mind you there's like a foot of snow and ice on all the roadways and I have no idea whether I could make it! I can't get a shuttle or a cab because everyone's totally in the same boat. It's just a snowed in crazy mess. So I'm just biding my time, waiting and praying for a miracle that I can get a way to the airport, get on a standby flight and get home before Doug goes offshore. This morn he got the call he may be leaving... today. Nice luck I have. :(

Snow-covered lawn...
Icy evergreen
The Hanukkah hookers transformed into the Hanukkah housewives, making potato latkes!
Rose mixing up potato latkes :) Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah Hooker party

In the end we shall have had enough of cynicism and skepticism and humbug and we shall want to live more musically.
– Vincent van Gogh

What can I say, life is always odd and fun! I somehow found myself at a Hanukkah Hooker Dance party! Because of the snowy icy blizzardy conditions, instead of getting to visit my daddy (he is snowed in!) I am staying with my friend Annie Rose in her pad in Portland, which is about 5 miles from the airport (whether I'm going to be able to make it there at 4am tomorrow morn is another story altogether. Chains are required all throughout Portland, the streets are completely snowed under and iced... and I may have to find some alternate plans to get to the airport and get my rental car returned!)

But I digress. Annie Rose and her friend Samantha had planned a Hanukkah Hooker party Sat night and despite the crazy weather the show went on as planned! What a blast! It was the 5th annual one, apparently, which Samantha had previously done in Boise. We all dressed up in crazy hot hooker clothes, and dressed the guys up too. I am gonna have to have one of these at home. They do lots of funny costume parties including a mustache party, and an ugly sweater party. ha ha! What can I say it's Oregon, hippieville, my home state! Love it!