So I met up with the OSU students in Portland and rode down to Corvallis with them. Once they were settled in, I headed off to my dad's place. The next few days were mostly student devoted, although I did break away to meet up with some awesome friends. I had lunch with a few at OSU and the old ELI gang - of which sadly many have moved on - was able to get together to have a big bash as well. It was great to see everyone - Even Lis Skyped in from Africa. Sweet! The food was awesome too. The ELI was always blessed with outstanding cooks. After the students at OSU were all set up, I headed down to UofO to meet with my contacts there. I hadn't been to the campus in ages. It was gorgeous with all the summer flowers and greenery. I had a good visit and got some business done. I think all three Oregon groups will be well taken care of this year. I look forward to following their adventures.
With all the study abroad business finished for a while, I was able to take some real time off. Russell had come in a few days earlier, but he was planning to work for the whole week, so I headed to mom's house and spent a nice long weekend with her. We spent lots of time chatting and even got around to cleaning out her garage to make room for her new car.
But let me back up and talk about THAT. When I first arrived, mom was telling me about how she was looking for a new car and she had found one that she liked, but she couldn't find the model she wanted as a 5-speed in the color she wanted. She had given up on that particular car and was looking at other options. Between every mediocre assessment of other cars, though, she would light up and tell me how cool the Honda Fit was. I heard over and over how the back seat can fold up to fit a bike in the back and how comfortable the seats were. Finally, I suggested we just find a Fit. We were pretty sure we could get one in Seattle (based on info mom had received from a salesperson) so we started hunting up there and looking for a train ticket. Things were going to be tight, but we figured if we could home in on a dealership that definitely had the right car, it would be no problem.
Luckily, in the eleventh hour - just after we had contacted Russell's sister in Seattle to pick us up from the train station, we got a tip from a dealer mom had been working with that a dealer in McMinnville might have the car we were looking for. We called, got the confirmation, and were over there within an hour. Mom gave it a test drive and jumped right into the purchasing negotiations.
At this point we were back in the office and we met the dealer's "closer", a new kitten named Pilot. We were warned that Pilot could be feisty and to be careful. Duly warned, we didn't try to pick Pilot up. He was having none of that, though, and launched himself at Jose right away. Jose passed him to mom, who then snuggled him for about 30 minutes until it was simply not practical to have a cat in her arms. At that point Pilot was passed to me. He continued to snooze in my arms for another hour or so. He seemed totally sweet to us. Apparently the "feisty" comment had been based on a stunt Pilot had pulled a few days earlier. He was hiding under one of the show cars in the dealership when a family walked by. They had a two year old toddling behind them, and when Pilot spotted her, he decided she was just his size. He jumped out from under the car and grabbed onto the little girl's back. Having had no idea there was anything under the car to begin with, the little girl was understandably terrified and it took everyone a minute to figure out what all the shrieking was about.
Pilot now comes with a warning.
In the end we weren't able to get the car that day - but we were able to drive it home the next. Mission accomplished! And the garage was ready. We were both quite pleased with ourselves, I think. I'm super happy to think of my mom commuting in a car with modern safety standards for once.
After the long weekend with mom, I headed back to Russell's parents' place. They have been slowly but surely turning the outdated, jerry-rigged country home they bought into a country palace. When we last saw them, they were just getting ready to tear the monolith fireplace out of the center of their house. Apparently the fireplace came out and the kitchen as well and they had been living out of a temporary kitchen set up on their back porch for most of the year. They went to great efforts, though, to have the house back together before Russell and I arrived. They pulled it off too. We heard stories of the remodel, but we got to enjoy all the fruits of their labor. The result was really impressive. There's something to be said for being out of the country for a year. I can't wait to see what they tackle after another year.
More to come as we head back to Portland.
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