Praise and Thanksgiving

Good news regarding Jim's Dad's surgery this morning in KC MO. Surgery went safely and by all reports successfully.

We are also grateful for our wonderful KC MO relatives and the loving care they are giving our Dad/Dad-in-law.

A Lesson in Gratitude

So, yesterday I was walking from work to the bus station in the rain, feeling sorry for myself. Just grumpy, feeling ignored at work, and generally stressed out from an unfamiliar work environment.

I ran across a guy about my age, with a twisted body, walking with a cane, carrying probably his worldly possessions in a huge backpack. He actually smiled, joked with me and made me feel comfortable chatting with him.

Then I remembered earlier in the day, the wonderful upbeat attitude of a person I ran across who was fighting a terrible battle with cancer.

OK, God I get the message. No more whining! Oh, and God, please bless both of them with peace and joy and love.

Habu Sake gets rowdy at the Portland Dragon Boat Race

This year's Portland Race was Saturday and Sunday at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on the Willamette River. Habu shared our time at this beautiful venue with about 66 other teams and the Portland Marathoners. Here's the link to the race website - they even carried the races live!

http://www.portlanddragonboats.com/frameset.php

Habu had a great time at this race which was the culmination of hard training all spring and summer. Bested our team record for the 500 yard race and came in third in a "consolation" division. Almost beat the Navy team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me doing a team sport?
Me doing anything athletic?

Great team bonding time and also great quality time with hubby. Jim was there cheering, giving tips to improve my performance, purchasing a team shirt for me and making a list of sports equipment I should have. He had so much fun he wants to give it a try in the spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

About the rowdiness mentioned in this post title? Well, let's just say that the team wasn't named after a type of alcoholic beverage for nothing! From SakeUSA.com:

Habu Sake
Habu sake, despite its name, is actually not a type of sake. Instead, it is what is known as an awamori. Though both alcoholic drinks come from rice, awamori is created through distillation, rather than brewing. This type of drink is unique to its place of origin: Okinawa, Japan.

Even among the different types of awamori, habu sake is a very special drink. It is made using the venom of the highly poisonous habu snake. The snake is said to have strong medicinal properties. For instance, some believe that it is good for back problems, arthritis, and removing toxins from the body.

The alcohol within habu sake neutralizes the poison of the snake. In addition to this, many different herbs are added to increase health benefits. While individuals generally purchase a bottle with just the mixture, more expensive bottles will also include the snake.

The Pirates of Pissants invade the Celebrating Life Dragon Boat Festival

The 7th annual benefit for Team Survivor Northwest was held Saturday at Stan Sayres Memorial Park which is also the location of the annual Seafair hydroplane races. The mission of Team Survivor is "to get cancer survivors up, out and about, and embracing the active Northwest lifestyle".

Two of my regular teammates and I signed up to paddle with a survivor boat looking for a few more women paddlers. The name of the team was Pirates of Pissants (apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan or whoever).

The day consisted of almost 30 heats. All sorts of categories including novice and rec. One of the favorite heats was called the "specimen cup" which consisted of boats sponsored and crewed by local hospitals and clinics.

Most photographs courtesy of Luise's wonderful son who paid a surprise visit from LA to watch her race. He not only took pictures with my camera, he also drove us, hauled our gear, and lent me his jacket. He was also at the dock with high fives at the end of every race. Does Luise know how to raise great kids or what?


My teammates and carpool buddies trying to stay warm and dry in our tent.

Getting ready for our next race with the marshall/cheerleader/comedienne.

Pirates at the dock. Tiller in the back, caller/drummer in the front. Our drummer is a survivor from Southern CA and she got her picture in today's paper.

Towards the finish line.

Our sign draped with our silver medals!

On Coach Bill's boat with our medals.

One special footnote to this whole experience was that Mom, a five year cancer survivor, got to enjoy the day. Thanks Dad for making it easy for her to attend!