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Another week has slipped past, and we've now been here 10 months. Where has it all gone, I want to know?
The biggest event this week was the Jethro Tull concert at the Portland Rose Garden. We've been waiting for this to come round for some weeks now, and it was well worth the wait. The Rose Garden itself is quite nice, with plenty of roses, would you believe. It has a natural amphitheater which has steps added to it. We didn't get there until after 1800, and most of the good spaces were taken up. Most people had brought blankets and/or chairs to sit on and mark a space. However, when the concert was under way, especially when it got dark, it was every man for himself, and a large crowd stood at the front. I managed to get quite close to take a few pics, although with the darkness, bright lights etc. they're not the best in the world. I should have taken Cathy's Olympus Mju to take some normal pictures for comparison. Oh, well...
One thing about the evening is that they had lots of food and drinks vendors. I didn't see much of them (we'd already eaten), but the beer vendor was nearby where we were sitting. They were charging $3.75 for about a 12oz cup of beer and $4.25 for a largeish glass of wine. Extortion! Some things never change no matter where you live!
On the soccer front things have been progressing. Graham's 1st grade team only had 4 along to practice on Tuesday, and they start games next Saturday. A minimum of 6 are required, so if things don't pick up I may just ask for the team to be disbanded and the players join other teams. The 5th grade team are doing well, and they're really beginning to think about what they're doing. They still don't have any schedule, though. I have my first game next Sunday, and I played pick-up yesterday. It went well yesterday, considering I hadn't played for about 4 weeks. I certainly didn't feel so desperately tired towards the end, and that was after over 2 hours of soccer.
The kids start back to school on Tuesday, so we've been spending the weekend shopping for stores. Unlike the UK, where a lot of the equipment is supplied, you have to buy all your own pens, pencils, scissors, etc., so we've been running around trying to find everything on their lists. The annoying thing is that most of this stuff is never used. Catriona never used the calculator she had to have last year. The sketch pads had about 2 pages used. I'm sure the schools are in cahoots with the stores. Still, only 2 days to go, and tomorow's the holiday (Labor day), so I'm off as well.
What to do for Labor day is a question. The Oregon State Fair is on this weekend, finishing tomorrow, down in Salem. We've also some people that we promised we'd go down and see there. We met them at the World Masters Games, as they run Rugby Art. They have some fine figures, and especially like their On the attack and Scissors pieces.
This week has seen a lot of just getting organized in our new home. Most of the pictures are now up on the walls, and it's looking a bit more lived in. I'll take more pictures tomorrow and get them posted later.
Well, that's enough for this week. I'll catch you all next week.