SheSue Experience

In middle class neighborhoods the ratio of books to children is 13 to 1.  In low income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 book for every 300 children.  When my kids were little our income bordered on low, yet we owned many books.  How many books do your children own?

The Children’s Book Bank in Portland, Oregon was opened to address this issue.  Owner Dani Swope works to collect new and gently used books from the community to give to preschool children who don’t have books of their own at home.

As a volunteer, I spent an evening helping her sort and clean books that she would later package into bundles to bring to children in need.  She talked about her experiences teaching, discovering that the problems she had teaching them math had more to do with their lack of reading skills than lack of math skills.  She showed an obvious passion for her work, thrilled and a bit amazed at both the generosity of the community and the need she is trying to fulfill.

Sorting through the books brought back many memories of my children when they were young.  Many books I remembered reading to them, many I knew they would have loved.  I can’t even imagine a world without books.

For more information or if you want to volunteer or donate books, you can contact Dani at:  danis@childrensbookbank.org.

My daughter and her husband are currently vacationing in Egypt.  They left last Saturday and I haven’t heard from them since.  Mommy panic begins.  Stories and rumors about the Middle East are not pleasant.  I know that she is all right because my gut tells me so.  When my kids are in trouble, my gut tells me.  But still, she’s only 19.

She traveled to Central America for 5 weeks last December.  She emailed me the day she arrived and every 2 or 3 days thereafter.  Thus the worry.  Today, I got on the phone with her travel agent.  I knew her itinerary and the names of the 2 hotels she was staying at, but couldn’t find contact information online.  I sent her an email, but haven’t received a reply.

Here is what I found out from her travel agent:

• If you are in Egypt, a 10 second phone call home is around $90
• A call to Egypt from home is less, but still very expensive.
• I can call the hotel, but confusion usually results in a lengthy conversation, creating a very expensive phone call.
• I have been unable to find and neither can the travel agent, email for the hotels.
  
• If you have an international calling card, very few places will allow you to use it and if they do, you are charged for the privilege
  
• They have very, very few Internet cafes if any
  
• They do have Internet from major hotels, but there is a waiting line to get access and once again, it is very expensive and very slow

Both the travel agent and a good friend who lived briefly in Egypt both assured me that I shouldn’t worry.  Since she is with her husband, she should be fine.  Be very wary of traveling as a single lady anywhere in the Middle East, however.

My daughter and her husband are both bright and resourceful.  I know my daughter will eventually send some communication because she doesn’t think I know her arrival information.  (I did find that out from the travel agent)  In the meantime, I stay away from any news about the Middle East.  If anybody has any ideas of ways to communicate with her, I’m all ears.

I’ve always wanted to do a corn maize and I finally did it today.  I also finally figured out how to put a video in my post.  Isn’t that a-maizing!  Okay, I’m being a little corny!  So shoot me, it’s late.

So this is the   Pumpkin Patch corn maize on Sauvie Island near Portland, Oregon.   They have quite the set up with a produce market, a gift shop, animal barn, hay rides, a ‘cow’ train (for little ones), a cafe and 2 mazes; the big one plus a lighted one that is haunted in the evening.  And don’t forget the pumpkins.

The animal barn wasn’t terribly exciting; chickens, rooster, goats and a couple of bunnies.  The produce market was average.  The gift shop did have some nice crafty things plus home made items.  And I found a cute bunny to add to my collection.

On to the A-Maizing maze.  Here is the tent where you purchase your ticket and begin the maze.  They have ‘Passport’ cards that help you with the maze.  The cards have questions for a variety of categories.  Naturally I chose the health and fitness card.  As you make your way through the maze, you will come up on numbers.  At each number, you read the corresponding question on your Passport card and the correct answer tells you which way to turn.

Here is the start of the maze.  Next watch the video as I make my way through part of the maze.  I did pretty well through number 7, then got totally turned around.  There were several school groups there.  I joined up with a small group of mom and 2 kids.   It still took us a while, but we finally managed to make our way out of the maze.

Now I can say I’ve done a maze.  Now it’s your turn.  Be A-Maizing!

So how do you meet new people?  I hate bars, so that’s out.  When I look up social clubs, they’re all about finding a date.  I just wanna have fun says the blond in me!  Lurking around on the net I found 2 great sites  You have to sign up on either site, but they don’t send you a bunch of spam and it’s free.  They are both set up so you can find groups of people who enjoy doing the kind of activities you enjoy.  Or hey, you might go outside your comfort zone and get SheSue’d!

www.Meetin.org – When you first get into this site, look on the left side of the page and find your city or the major city closest to you.   Click on this city. The main page for your city has general information about the city.  If you’re new to the city, this is a great place to find things like rentals, jobs, maps, weather, places to party, etc.

Click on events and you will get a list of the most current events from all of the interest categories.  If you click on groups, you get a selection of groups like outdoors, art, cooking, fitness, volunteering.  If you click on one of these categories it will list the planned activities for the next several weeks.  If you want further information about a particular activity, you will need to sigh up as a member.  Then, when you click on a particular activity, you will get information about that activity including where, when, how to get there and a bio on the group leader.

With either group, you can join in on a planned activity or plan your own.  To plan your own, you must first be active in planned activities.  They have training on how to plan an event of your own.

Hint:  some activities are at private people’s homes.  The only way to participate in these activities is to have met the group leader before.  How do you meet them?  Drop them a line and let they know you are interested in their activity and suggest getting coffee.  Or ask if they are going to be at another activity where you can meet up.

www.Meetup.com – On the home page, you can enter an interest and your zip code or just your zip code.   If you enter both, you will get a page of activities in your interest and in your geographic area.  It tells you how many miles away the activity is.   If you enter just your zip code, you will get a list of categories similar to in Meetin.  You select an interest area and you will get a list of groups formed based on that interest.  With Meetup you actually join that interest group.  They will send you via email all the activities they are planning.  Or you can check out the activities on the website.  Once you sign up for an activity, you will get all the information such as where, when and how to get there.

Neither group are high pressure anything.  No fees to join.  Every activity indicates if you will need  to bring money such as entrance fees to movies or money for lunch or dinner.  The only downside I have found is that there are few folks in my age category.  But hey, that hasn’t stopped me yet!

This was our 4^th year and my daughter promises me that we will continue to go even though she is now married. I am talking about the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. My daughter is a self-confessed Shakespeare geek. She took a year of Shakespeare in college, me I just go for the good company.

We always plan our trips so that we have a day to play away from Ashland, time to peruse downtown Ashland, time for Lithia Park, time for the book exchange plus try out some new restaurants and of course Shakespeare.

This year we spent most of a day at Lake of the Woods, about 35 miles northeast of Ashland. It’s a good sized mountain lake. We decided try out canoeing. My daughter was a little leery as she had only been canoeing with people who really didn’t know what they were doing. I, however, had had many hours practice on lakes and doing whitewater on the Clackamas and Sandy rivers. My skills solved her fear and she soon found herself relaxing. We have a mystery to solve on this lake. About half way across the lake there is a natural wave. Not caused by boats. If anybody knows why this happens, I’d love to know.

The Ashland book exchange is fabulous if you are an avid reader, of which we both are. It is like a used bookstore, except all the books are free. That’s right, free. You are highly encouraged to bring in some books to “exchange” for books you find there. They sell what they can on ebay to pay for the store. We always bring a bag of books with us, and then search for treasures.

Downtown Ashland was a little disappointing this year. The street bums have moved in. There was a wide variety of beggars to wade through including a large woman who, when the temperature rose, sat naked with her cup for money. We did, however, find a new bunny for my collection at the street market. The market operates during the summer months along the bank of Lithia Creek. Local artisans display their wares along with local musicians and tasty treats.

We are never disappointed with the plays. Ashland’s Shakespeare festival brings in actors from all over the world. I am always impressed with the actors who perform in more than one play. I mean, it’s hard enough to learn the lines for one play, especially in the language of Shakespeare.

There are 3 theaters; 2 indoor and the famous outdoor theater.  Very different experiences.  The theaters are not huge, so it’s hard to get a really bad seat.  Before the evening plays, they have a show in the courtyard in front of the outdoor theater.  We’ve seen jazz dancing, singing, and this year juggling.  These shows are free and last about 30 minutes.  You can also get in on a behind the scenes tour of all 3 theaters.

This year we saw Othello, a western version of A Comedy of Errors and a 60’s version of Midsummer Night’s Dream. My daughter always gives me a general idea of the story of the play so I can follow along. Othello was very dramatic, A Comedy of Errors was cute and Midsummer was hilarious!

Fav place to stay: Best Western Windsor Inn. Very nice big rooms, a fitness center, pool and good bagels at their continental breakfast. When you book, ask for a room on the 2^nd floor. You will get high vaulted ceilings.

Fav restaurant this year: Lark’s at the Ashland Springs Hotel. The place is very spendy, so we decided to order just appetizers and a salad. There was so much, we couldn’t eat it all. The crab dip is to die for. On another night, we ate Indian food at Deep’s Indian Cuisine. Also fabulous. I’m not terribly adventurous with food, so my daughter was proud of me for trying it and I really liked it. We decided to make this a new tradition. That of me trying out a new food every year.

If you’re planning to go, the best hotels and tickets are during the week.  If can only go on a weekend, plan at  least 3-4 months in advance.

I can’t wait for next year To Be in Ashland.

I sit for most of the day at my job. Add arthritis and I have the ingredients for neck pain. The arthritis causes your joints to stiffen, causing you to move your neck less. This causes the discs in your neck to settle. Your discs are filled with a jelly like substance. They are located between each vertebrae in your neck and need an air cushion between them. If they don’t, the discs squish and can put pressure on your nerves. These nerves can give you a headache as well as cause pain in your neck,shoulders, arms and hands. If gone untreated, it can cause the disc to rupture. At this point, you would be looking at surgery.

As with just about everything, you can do things to prevent this. Stretching is one method; Just move your head forward and back, leaning sideways and turning to each side. A chiropractor or massage therapist can stretch out your neck for you.

One method I use to relieve the pressure that builds up is a cervical traction thing. It has a metal bar and pulley system that fits over my door. A bag filled with 20 pounds of water hangs off the pulley and a collar that fits around my head is on the other end. It essentially stretches my neck. It may look like I’m being strangled, but it really does feel good afterwards.

You can get one of these traction sets from Grafco. It’s called an over-door cervical traction set. It comes with complete instructions and pictures. Once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty simple. In the beginning I had to have my son help me. Hint, put the bag of water on your chair while you put the collar on. Then hang onto the collar as you lower the bag and sit down. I use mine for about 10 minutes every week.

For more information on neck pain, check out: http://www.neckpaintraction.com/categories/necktraction/articles/treatmentnecktraction.shtml