Martin Luther King Day

Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by volunteering in your community.

This holiday celebration is meant to mark the birthday of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King is famous for speaking out against violence and calming people in a time of riotous rebellion. He became the spokesperson for nonviolent activism during a time filled with anger, riots and violence and helped bring peace in an aggressive time.

The call for a federal holiday in King's honor began after his assassination in 1968. It was Ronald Regan who signed the law making the celebration a holiday in 1983. It was first observed on January 20, 1986.

If you believe in his philosophy and want to have an impact, in MLK’s honor, try volunteering in your community. Here are a few options to volunteer in Portland:

• On Monday, Jan. 16, volunteers will converge on Earl Boyles Elementary School, 10822 S.E. Bush St., to clean, weed and remove plants in the courtyard. For more information, call 503-200-3355.

• The Clark Center, 1437 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., is looking for volunteers to help make a meal for residents on Monday, from 4:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at its 90-bed transitional housing shelter for men. For details, call 503-200-3355.

• On Monday, Jan. 16, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., volunteers will plant 160 trees along the I-205 Multi-Use Path near the Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center, 9481 N.E. Sandy. Details: AndyM@FriendsofTrees.org or JennyB@FriendsofTrees.org.

• Volunteers will gather at 10 a.m. Friday at The ReBuilding Center of Our United Villages, 3625 N. Mississippi Ave. to kickoff the Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend of Service.

• Celebrate the birth, life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. with a reading from his works, jazz gospel music and more. 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15. Augustana Lutheran Church, 2710 N.E. 14th Ave.; free

Picture This

One of my best cyber gfriends, Jen On the Edge, posted a holiday challenge to take some photos of ourselves and post them on our blogs. Now, if you look around you'll see I have no problem with posting pictures of . . .pretty much anything from food, to clothing to even shoes and I never feel shy about being behind a camera. But...for some reason I hardly took any photos this holiday season with me in them.

However, my son's gfriend did a painting of me and my hubby (which I love) because it looks way better than I do. So I have no problem sharing it


But while I was browsing for a photo, I found this one that we took with some friends who were in town for the holidays and I love it because it's so many of my college buds that I always have to smile when I see it.

Run for FUN

Okay it might not sound like fun to you. But . . . I've been running to work this week and I'm really enjoying it. . .well, parts of it. The truth is it's very hard to get out of my warm cozy bed when I've been cuddled up to my hubby to brave the freezing cold breezes and the plummeting temperatures of Portland's wintery weather with nothing more than my running gear.

But, once I get going. . .

I'm in a different world. This must be what it means to "get in the zone". I can run and run and the world seems to become a better place... for a few minutes. Running clears my head and helps me get energized for work.

I'm sitting most of the day in a comfortable temperature controlled office environment so challenging myself to meet the environment head-on is invigorating.

Now, I've got to admit that I live on a mountain...a small one inside the city limits. But, when I run to work, I'm running downhill most of the way...they are a few inclines (and those are challenging) but most of the run is on a downward slope. So that's easier than what some people would have to face. Plus, it's only about 4 and 1/2 miles from my front door to my office. Another, not so bad fact.

I've only been running to work this week but I feel good about doing it. Not only is it healthier for me, I save money on gas, and I'm helping Protect the Planet by living Green.

And, if you're not ready to run, you might want to try biking to work, at least then you can coast on the downhill slopes :)

Shrimp Skewers

I was having a friend over for lunch and wanted to make something yummy but healthy at the same time. This is what I came up with:

Shrimp kabobs with soup and salad.

It was a healthy option.

How 'bout you, any ideas for healthy and yummy meals?

Word for Wednesday

Word for Wednesday
I was reading Scientific American the other day - yeah, I know, it sounds so surprising but I read that magazine. It makes science easy and that's the way I like it.

Anyway, like I said, I was reading and came across a word I was accustomed to but not familiar with. I've heard it all my life - but usually in another form. With this abbreviated version of what I was used to, I had to look up the meaning.

So, now it's time to show how smart you are - or aren't ;)

Guess what the word means in the comments section. No googling - that's cheating.

Word for Wednesday: Agonist

Do you know?

Now, after you've put your guess in the comments section - if you want to play, scroll down to find the answer...




Further.....





Further.....




Agonist:

1) A person engaged in a contest, conflict, struggle, etc., especially the protagonist in a literary work.
2. A person who is torn by inner conflict.
3. Physiology . a contracting muscle whose action is opposed by another muscle. Compare antagonist ( def. 3 ) .
4. Pharmacology . a chemical substance capable of activating a receptor to induce a full or partial pharmacological response. Compare antagonist.

ANTAGONIST is a blocking substance - sort of like in a book. The antagonist creates the conflict by blocking the action or reaction.

So, did you learn something? Or were you a brainiac and already knew all of this? :)

Shark Tank Candidate...

My husband is always inventing gadgets and gizmos galore. He should be a candidate for the Shark Tank.

So, I shouldn't have been surprised when we had to take down the Christmas lights and he said, "I've got an idea!" He didn't want to have to pull out the ladder and keep moving it over every time he needed to reach another light. So, he put together another new contraption to take the lights down from the ground. That made me feel a lot better than seeing him up on the tip-top of a tall ladder. And he had those lights down in the flash of an eyelash.

Here's how he did it.

He taped together a tree trimming tool with some conduit piping then he taped on a bracket and bent it so it could easily lift off the lights.


He didn't have to move the ladder, he just stepped over to get the next bit of lights down.

So, what do you think-is this a good Shark Tank idea?

Bag of Bones - the Book

I just finished Stephen King's 529 pages known as Bag of Bones. "A Haunted Love Story".

Of course SK is the King, at least in my mind, when it comes to horror, writing and leaving memories in my mind of the stories I've read.

My all time favorite book is Salem's Lot, which I read as a kid and it's the reason I became a fanpire.

But this book "Bag of Bones", started out slow, in my opinion. It could be that I was just too busy over the holidays to get sucked into the story but, like I said, it took me quite a while to get into it. But once I was hooked, I had to find out the story behind the story.

It was fun to get to know Mr. Noonan who was, like a lot of characters in SK's books, a writer. And I especially loved the refrigerator people. But the best part of all was the ending. It became a real page-turner that kept me up late into the night reading the fast-paced climax. And I loved how it didn't come out all wine and roses.

Now, I've just got to see the movie and compare the two.