Let this serve as a cautionary tale...

So, I'm at my desk eating my lunch and the strangest and most painful thing just happened. I'm in the middle of demolishing a tasty taco salad from Kruse Woods Deli while I surf the web during my lunch break and BAM! there is a searing pain in my right eye as ranch dressing catapults off a piece of salad, somehow finding the perfect angle to strike (underneath my glasses) and landing squarely on my eyeball.

Let me just say that what I'm feeling is more than "mildly uncomfortable."

I hope your day is going better than mine.

Hitting for the Oregon Cycle

In baseball, if you hit a single, double, triple, and home run in a game, it is called "hitting for the cycle."

This weekend, Mike and I will attempt to hit for the Oregon cycle.

Saturday - Ski at Mt. Hood Meadows
Saturday evening - hike to Bagby Hot Springs and enjoy a warm soak
Saturday night - camp somewhere in the woods
Sunday - golf at Elkhorn Valley

I was feeling kind of glum yesterday, but as soon as Mike and I started talking about the trip, my spirits lifted and now I can't wait until our Saturday morning departure!

Tonight we begin the process of packing for this trip, which will require an outrageous amount of gear for an overnighter.

A couple of summers ago, I went on a backpacking trip along the northern Oregon coast with Eric & Mike. It was an interesting "wilderness" experience, as half of our hiking was done on conventional trails in the forest and the other half was done on the beach.

This morning, I went for a jog with Maddie and we passed by a lot of kids on the sidewalk waiting for the bus. As I ran past the kids, some of them gave me odd looks, which seemed to ask "Why on earth would anybody choose to run along the road and not on a playground?" For some reason, I began thinking about our beach hike as I ran. I think it was because of what happened just south of Haystack Rock near Cannon Beach...

The three of us woke up early (thanks Mike) to make it around Hug Point while the tide was out. We could see Haystack Rock off in the distance to the north and we began plodding our way along the hard-packed sand next to the receding waterline. We were in a great mood and I seem to recall Eric and I holding hands and skipping along (this may or may not have actually happened). As we approached the south end of Cannon Beach (by Mo's), a schoolbus full of children parked in a nearby lot and all of the kids came streaming out of the bus and running along the beach in the direction of Haystack Rock. Of course, one of the alpha males decided that the kids should race to the Rock. Off they went, sprinting right past us and giving us odd looks, probably because we were carrying big backpacks. They ran and ran as fast as their legs could carry them and we just kept on hiking. After a couple of minutes they were probably 300 yards ahead of us and quickly began to tire out. One by one, they stopped running and you could clearly see that they totally misjudged how far away they were from Haystack Rock. We kept hiking along and within a couple of minutes we had passed by the lead group. It was the classic Tortoise & the Hare story. The kids were seriously surprised that we had caught up to them and a few of them looked so beat that I was afraid they wouldn't be able to even walk the remaining distance to Haystack Rock (about 5 minutes away).

There's no particular point to this blog, so I apologize if you're disappointed. Just wanted to recount a good memory.

Oh, by the way, we each had 7 pieces of pizza and a doughnut for lunch in Cannon Beach. Lunch was followed by one of the greatest naps of my life, as all three of us lounged in the grassy area by the whale (you know the one), warmed by the sunshine and shielded from the wind.

My wife likes corn on the cob.

Well, let me start off by saying that we are absolutely thrilled about our future son. He has been keeping his mama happy by kicking her in the stomach consistently throughout the day.

Last weekend was incredible. I was already riding a high from seeing our little guy move around during the ultrasound. On Friday, I went to Mt. Hood Meadows with Mike and had the best powder-skiing experience of my life. On Saturday, Eric and I went on a really not funless hike in the snow (see Eric's blog for a great trip report). On Sunday morning, Trent and I ran from church to Sherwood under a brilliant blue sky. On Sunday afternoon, Trent, Mike, and I went golfing in Wilsonville. And on Sunday evening, I rested.

I love Oregon!

Ok, so you might remember from a post last year that I have a little bit of Hollywood experience (see blog entry on 10/6/05). I'd like to put this experience to use and offer a location suggestion to the producers of Rocky VI.

Astoria, Oregon

It's got everything you need to make the perfect movie backdrop, from a quaint underappreciated downtown area to a dock along the river that is a resting place for incredibly loud sea lions. Can't you see them cheering (barking) for Rocky Balboa as he runs along the river during a montage scene? If you think about it, the sound of a barking sea lion is very similar to Rocky yelling "Adrian!" in the earlier Rocky movies.

I decided to go to a slightly different part of town this morning on my jog and I had a close encounter with these sea lions. They're considerably larger than I remembered from the zoo. I stopped at the edge of the dock (about 10 feet away from the nearest sea lion) to watch them bark at me and apparently they were a little spooked by my presence, so they slowly (and quite comically) tried to reverse direction and make their way to the water. I shrugged my shoulders and thought, "Well, that's probably the most interesting thing that is going to happen to me today" and then I continued on my run.

Uh oh. I just remembered that Astoria has already served as the backdrop for a movie. Goonies. Man, now there's a funny movie. Scrap the Rocky VI idea.

Here is a picture of the new kid on the block and my lovely wife...

It's been an eventful week! Sarah Thompson gave birth to a healthy baby boy!

Here is Ethan David Thompson...



Here are Ethan's proud parents...



We're all having fun getting to know the little (big) guy...



...Carson included...



In other news, Mike and I went on an impromptu trip to Pacific City yesterday evening...

I'm looking forward to some delicious chocolate fonduezzle this evening!

So lately you might have noticed that a certain group of sporting events are getting a fair amount of television air-time. Some refer to said events as the "Winter Olympics."

I was jogging yesterday and I was trying to think of the greatest athlete of all time. I came to the following conclusion...

The greatest athlete of all time is my dog, Maddie. Seriously. She can play in the snow, play with Jaci (Stephanie's little sister), run 4 miles with me, and still be ready for more. It simply defies logic. I'm considering allowing her to run with my number in the Newport Marathon. She would dominate the field. I would be waiting for her at the finish line with a treat.

I need to get this off my chest...

If you want to see the most depressing movie ever made, you should rent "Angela's Ashes." Seriously, it was so sad it wasn't even fun to make fun of the sadness I was feeling while watching it.

I'm slipping into depression simply writing a blog about this sad sad sad movie.

Stay away from the movie. It will make you feel bad about life.

I do appreciate all of the recent precipitation we've had in Oregon, mostly because it has brought a ton of snow to the mountains. I've had an amazing time skiing this winter.

However, I can't even begin to express to you how grateful I am for the recent sunshine. I'm a totally different person when the sun is out. I hold the elevator door open for latecomers, I hug complete strangers, and I even smile a couple of times a day.

I LOVE THE SUN!!!

When Stephanie and I lived in West Seattle, we would have a date night every Tuesday at Tully's Coffee by Thriftway (at the intersection of California Street and Fauntleroy). Last night, we decided it was time to bring back the tradition (at a local coffee shop). We drove through Old Town, which is in the middle of a massive road construction project, only to find that there wasn't a single locally-owned coffee shop open during the evening. We then drove to the strip mall by Shari's, but of course the little coffee shop there was also closed. We eventually decided that we would head across Highway 99 to the Starbucks by Safeway. The coffee was tasty and the conversation was stimulating, but the surroundings were certainly lacking. I hope that once the construction project is finished in Old Town we'll be able to frequent one of the locally-owned coffee shops that have considerably more personality than the common strip-mall Starbucks.

I find myself in the proverbial rut. But what a beautiful rut it is.

This weekend will be my 5th trip to the mountain in a row! I'm going skiing with Mike on Friday (free lift ticket at SkiBowl if you bring 4 cans of food), followed by camping somewhere around the mountain on Friday night, and then climbing the Palmer Glacier on Saturday with a ski return to the lodge.

Last weekend was incredible. Eric and I attempted to build an igloo, but after realizing the ceiling would be about 12 feet high by the time we were finished, we decided to sleep in the pre-existing 3-sided wood shelter instead. The air temperature got pretty chilly at night, but we both stayed warm with our nice assortment of gear & apparel. Just because these short trips don't require the extensive planning that they used to, it doesn't make them any less memorable.

Hi everybody!

This weekend (on a trip with Eric) will make 4 weekends in a row that I've gone to Mt. Hood to play in the snow. Life doesn't get much better than that.

Here are some pictures from when my Grandma Marr & parents came to visit for Thanksgiving and also some pictures from our White River sledding trip with Jen & Trent Thompkins...

My Grandma...


Maddie loved Grandma and Grandma loved Maddie...


Steph & Jen hiking to the sled hill...


Apparently I'm afraid of the snow...


Jen & Trent...


Introducing the Calvin Klein winter collection...


Jen & Steph...


Good times with friends...

There are certain times when I wish we didn't have a dog. And then there are other times when I couldn't imagine life without Maddie.

On Sunday morning, I had every intention of going to church with Stephanie. But as I was laying in bed waiting for the shower, Maddie jumped up and started to get her snuggle on with me. I looked out the window and saw that the sky was perfectly blue, so I decided that Maddie and I would play hooky. I gathered up my new cross-country ski equipment and we were soon heading down the road to Mt. Hood.

It was an absolutely perfect day. There was plenty of snow, it was incredibly warm, my new gear worked great and Maddie had the time of her life.

By the time we made it back to the car, there were tons of people at the Sno-Park. Maddie said hello to all of the little kids with their sleds and as they were petting her, you could almost see them asking their parents with their eyes, "Can I get one?" Maddie spread her love around to everybody nearby (she's not picky) and soon we were loaded up and heading home.

Not 30 seconds after I started driving, I looked in the rearview mirror to see Maddie's head drop to the floor. She slept without stirring until we got home.

Read the previous post before looking at this one.


Jim with Paul Revere in the courtyard of the Old North Church.


Alex (Stephanie's cousin) at Sturbridge Village.


Stephanie, Alex, Delissa, & Samantha at Sturbridge Village.


Jim and Samantha share a moment.


Yes, that is John Ashcroft in the background.

Hello. Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. Stephanie and I had a great time on our trip to New England. Below is a picture essay of our adventures (more to follow in second post)...

And for those who might be interested, we can further discuss (in person) my insights gained regarding self-realization in the formative years of childhood, or what makes a memory a good memory.



Where my house previously stood.


Stephanie enjoying the view of Bar Harbor, Maine.


Boats in Bar Harbor.


Stephanie excited about finding Portland Head Lighthouse.


Stephanie climbing a rock.


Stephanie on guard duty.


Samantha (Stephanie's cousin).

Do you ever have those days that are so full of good times that you almost can't believe it? Our weekend was like that. Totally crammed with fun. Here are a few pictures...

Stephanie loves her some elephant ears...



Stephanie loves her some candy apples...



One of my all-time favorite Steph pictures...



Mike and Becky looking for the perfect pumpkin...



Mt. Hood from a hillside near Forest Road 48...

It's official!

I'm a CPA! Washington State License #25327.

The saga that started six years ago is finally complete. Based on my rough calculation, I've spent approximately $387,000 on exam fees, review courses, and study guides.

Please don't ask me for tax advice. If you talk to my wife, she will attest (how's that for a CPA word?) to the fact that I nearly have a brain hernia when I prepare our own tax return. And that is with the help of software.

Let's keep my lack of tax knowledge between us. Anyone who sees my fancy CPA license on the wall won't know any better.