A Day with Mom

My Mom made the long trip from Ferndale, WA down to Portland, OR this weekend. She pulled into Stumptown, USA around 2:45pm on Friday and left around the same time the next day.

Along with her she brought her dog Bo, sometimes called Bo-Bo. Bo is a min-pin/pug cross. He is a small, excitable dog that bounces rather than walks.

My Mom, Bo, and I enjoyed chit-chatting until Dave came home from work on Friday. We then ventured into downtown Portland, which is something that Dave and I rarely do. We walked along the riverfront and ate a delicious meal at Macaroni Grill. For the first time, I ordered something I liked at Macaroni Grill. It was the Marsala Chicken Ravioli. It was mm-mm-good. Coming home after our meal was necessary, as we all ate so much, we were getting sleepy.

We started off the next day with tea and berry muffins. We talked over music as we enjoyed our breakfast, then went for a morning walk up Mt. Tabor. Bo came along and wheezed and gagged as he pulled excitedly on his leash, nearly choking himself at times. My Mom couldn't move fast enough to satisfy his enthusiasm so, Dave took charge and ran him up the many stairs that go to the top of Mt. Tabor.

At the top of Mt. Tabor you can see most of the city. The view includes Hawthorne, the Steel bridge, and the West hills. We sat on a bench and enjoyed looking over the city as we caught our breath before we heading back down the mountain.

At home, after the walk, Bo collapsed with exhaustion. He laid limply on my lap as I played with his ears making them stick straight up and then flipped them inside out. He was so tired that when we put him in his kennel he merely curled up and fell back to sleep. With Bo all tucked into bed, we decided to make our way down to Saturday Market.

Lively music and the smells of spices and fried foods greeted us as we walked into Saturday Market. Of course, we stopped for food first. Dave and Mom ate Philly-steak sandwiches. I choose a piece of pizza, that wasn't fully cooked (the crust was still doughy). I have bad luck with food at Saturday Market. But, Mom and Dave loved what they ordered!

There were some amazingly creative merchants at Saturday Market. One merchant made hooks, bracelets, and clocks from recycled silverware. And another merchant made antique handkerchiefs into cap sleeves for tank-tops. Mom bought organic toys for the pets. She found a dried sweet potato chew toy for Bo and bought a cat-nip body pillow for Yoda.

At home she gave the presents to the pets. Yoda sniffed and caressed his new body pillow. He curled his body around it and cuddled it. After about a half an hour with his cat-nip body pillow, Yoda started dry-heaving. We are pretty sure he over-dosed on the cat nip. We now regulate how much time he can spend with his new toy. Bo also enjoyed chewing on his dried sweet potatoes.

Happy Mother's Day Mom! Thanks for coming.