It's All Coming Together - Fri., June 15, 2018

On Wednesday, the plan was to take Mom to DMV to get her I.D. card, change her address, transfer the title of her car to my sister, and apply for a disabled parking permit. That plan changed because I wanted to make sure my sister could be with us, and that we had all the correct paperwork before we went to the DMV office. 

Therefore, it was a take-it-easy kind of day. My brother, Frank, and his wife Gina, took Mom and I to lunch at McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant at Bridgeport Plaza. (My sister was working so she couldn't make it.) I had a Northwest Salmon Saute with mushrooms, asparagus, hazelnuts, and a lemon cream sauce, served with sticky rice, and steamed green beans. Mom had my other favorite: Pan Sauteed Idaho Trout (almond crusted) served with seasonal orzo pasta. It was delightful. We were celebrating my brother's birthday. They gave him a personal lava cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. We all got a bite of it. It was warm and delicious! Thanks for lunch, Frank!

The parking at McCormick & Schmick's at lunchtime was full. People were circling the parking lot like sharks trying to snag a spot where someone might be leaving. I dropped everyone off at the door of the restaurant and drove to the big parking lot at the back of the mall. I mean, I don't mind walking after all. It was 1/4 mile to the restaurant from where I parked. That's okay because we got exercise after we ate when we walked back to the parking garage.

Bridgeport Village is a beautiful shopping mall, but they designed it as if it were in sunny southern California. All of the shops are outside and parking is not convenient if it's pouring rain. There are some pretty sculptures there, though. The name of the young lady in the sculpture below must be Hope because the title of the piece is "Spring Eternal."

"Spring Eternal" by Jerry Joslin
at Bridgeport Village, Tigard, Oregon

After lunch, I stayed to visit with Mom at Marquis. We wanted to play Rummikub, but didn't want to set up the card table in her room. However, every room we went to at Marquis that had a table on which we could play Rummikub was taken by employees having staff meetings. Finally, we found a small round table in one of the bistros in the rehab center.
Eight rounds of Rummikub later, Mom had won five games to my three. She was on a roll. 

I decided to stay for dinner at Marquis. I ate a girlled cheese sandwich, tomato soup, pea salad, and banana split dessert (vanilla pudding, bananas, vanilla wafers, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce drizzled on top). Mom had chicken teriyaki (which she took back to her room), pea salad, a couple of bites of cornbread, and banana split dessert which also went back to her room.

After dinner, I headed to my sister's house. On the way there, I stopped at Mom's house to drop off one more item for the estate sale that she didn't want: a rolling stand with a lamp and magnifying glass at the end of a long arm. She used to use it to see her knitting stitches, but she doesn't knit anymore.

It was so weird to see everything set up for the estate sale. There is so much in her house. The sale process is quite a production!

I'm enjoying being at Jan's house. Jan has been using her George Foreman Grill to make grilled chicken thighs, grilled salmon, and grilled veggies for dinner. Mmm! I make a green salad to go with it. Every night, we have strawberry shortcake for dessert. We stop at a fruit stand on the way home and buy a "tray" of fresh Hood strawberries. We've never found any other strawberries that even come close. They are so sweet, juicy, and flavorful. 

Jan has a double-wide manufactured home (vintage 1972) which is very comfortable. I am so thankful to have a place to stay.

Kitchen

Half of her living room

Living room has a wood stove

The other half of Jan's living room

Jan's place is perfect for inviting her friends over to play pinochle or to host Bible studies. The best thing is, she loves her place. 

Oh, and she has a cat named Jake. I am getting my kitty fix. Jake is such a sweetie. He loves to come in and get his back, neck, and face rubbed. 

Jan's cat, Jake

Jake

Jake focused on something outside.

He's much bigger than this picture makes him look!

On Thursday, Jan and I picked up Mom from Marquis and headed to the DMV to take care of all the business we had there. With trepidation, we took #119 which spewed forth from the maws of the number machine. How long would we have to wait? That's always the question at a government agency, isn't it?

Forms were on the counter for Application for an I.D. Card, so we grabbed that, and a clipboard. Mom filled out the application. Just as she finished signing her name, our number was called. 

Lucky for us, the man who helped us was very experienced, and we were pretty organized. He started with the I.D. card, then changed her address. The paperwork for the Disabled Parking Permit had been filled out by Mom's doctor in January, so she got the permit immediately. 

We asked him about transferring the car title to my sister and he said we could do it right then. He gave us the form. My sister filled it out, and both she and Mom signed it. 

They then called Mom to get her photo taken for the I.D. card. She was thrilled with her photo, because it was almost exactly the same as her photo that was on her driver's license. I don't know how long ago she had the driver's license photo taken. We left the DMV with a temporary I.D. card for Mom, her disabled permit, and a temporary title for my sister. It took about 1/2 hour tops.

Right across the street from the DMV is the Cat Adoption Team (CAT). We all love to go in and look at the kittens and cats, even though we're not looking for one to adopt. It was closed until noon. 

So, we decided to eat lunch at Rose's Deli. Strike two, Rose's Deli closed it's Sherwood location. Then we thought we'd see a movie, but Jan and Mom weren't thrilled with the choices.

Jan suggested we go to lunch at Trees Restaurant. She said 1/2 soup and 1/2 sandwich was $7.50. (It was actually $6.50.) Good suggestion, Jan! It's a lovely restaurant with a view of lots of, you guessed it, trees!

Trees dining room, start of lunchtime.

Jan at lunch

Me at Trees Restaurant

Mom at Trees

The trees outside Trees Restaurant

The sandwich and homemade Cream of Mushroom soup were excellent. We ordered beignets to share for dessert. They were not what we expected. Soft, puffy, doughnut-like pastry dusted with powdered sugar was what we expected. What we were served was more like sweet hush puppies. Dark chocolate ganache and a lemony sauce came with them...not to mention a MOUNTAIN of powdered sugar. A photo would have told the story much better than words describe it. I don't think I've ever eaten a crusty beignet before. We didn't care for them.

With full tummies, we visited Cat Adoption Team, a no-kill shelter. We couldn't take the kittens out of their cages, so I played with them and petted them through the bars. Adorable. I absolutely love kittens! Then we went upstairs to visit the older cats. There were a lot of empty cages, so a bunch of cats must have been adopted recently. 

Then we took Mom shopping at New Seasons Market. With Mom's new Parking Permit, my sister pulled into a handicapped spot. But it wasn't just any handicapped spot. This one was marked for disabled van with wheelchair only. So my sister moved over one space to a regular handicapped spot. Jan and Mom went in the store. I stayed in the car. 

Two slots over in the handicapped spots, a huge black pick-up truck pulled in. It was tricked out. I watched as the whole driver side of the truck lifted upward revealing a man in a wheelchair. The whole platform where the driver was sitting in his wheelchair came out and lowered to the ground. Holy smokes, Batman, that was some truck!

Also, while I was waiting, the police patrolled every handicapped spot. It's a good thing my sister moved over one spot. The police were eyeballing each vehicle for the disabled parking permit.

We returned to Mom's apartment and played Rummikub until dinnertime. Jan and I headed back to her place. We stopped for fresh strawberries on the way.

When we finished dinner, we watched a movie on Lifetime TV called, "Two Weeks Notice" with Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. I had never seen it at the movies. It came out in 2002. We enjoyed it.

Today (Friday), my sister had to work all day. I picked up Mom at 1:00 p.m. and we headed to the King City Clubhouse to see the movie "Only the Brave" about the Granite Mountain firefighters in Arizona who bravely battled wildfires. That is such a tragic story. The movie is very well done. The movie and snacks were free!

I dropped Mom back at her apartment and headed back to my sister's place. It seems every day has been somewhat busy and things are coming together. We'll be interested to see how the estate sale goes this weekend. 

All for now.