Claudine, Oui c'est Francais

Eve of the Tour

So I was so excited that the long awaited Tour de France starts tomorrow morning at 4:30am PST, even though my beloved Lance Armstrong retired after last years record breaking 7th win.

Last night I was reading my Velo News Tour de France special issue studying up on for the big 3 weeks and John says to me "Oh no, it's now time for Tour Claudine" I do realize that at times i become a little obsessed with things (Martha, Kenny, Scrapbooking, Lance Armstrong, Neil Diamond, cookbooks, plates, cake stands and oh boy I could go on and on) But really it is only 3 weeks out of the year, and so what if I get up at 4:30am everyday on vacation.

So when I get up this morning he comes to tell me that he saw on the news that my two favorite riders will not be riding in the tour now. I thought he was just kidding and giving me a bad time, like he likes to do. So I run and get my laptop and look up cylclingnews.com and I find that it is true. I am just sick and sad. Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich have been right there competing with Lance the last 4 years and Jan even won the Tour the year before Lance arrived and Lance calls them friends.  From what I have read it looks like they have associated with a doctor that has been know to be part of a Spanish doping ring. It is still so new I can't find a whole lot about it. Now don't get me wrong about my next statement, I love the French, all things French and I quite frankly would much rather live in France then in this country that is rapidly going down the toilet. BUT I think this is the French doping agencies way of getting rid of the top contenders so the race can get back to the French people and racers. They continue to go after Lance Armstrong and he is retired. I sure hope they have some hard physical evidence that Ullrich and Basso are involved, or else they just threw there entire season away.

(Basso, Lance & Ullrich)

Will I still get up at 4:30am to watch, yes I will. But I am not sure who I will be backing. It will not be Floyd Landis and his super creepy little mustache. Don't you think that somebody that works for him would tell him it was creepy!

I created life, and then I ate it

It has finally happened..... then herb garden is in full bloom and delicouse!!! In the past I have purchased the plants already grown. This year, I purchased the Martha Stewart seeds, of course and look at how they are turning out.

Scarlet Sage and Arugula..... I love Arugula

Dill and Thyme

and my finest moment and oh boy if you could only smell them...

Two diffrent basils, they taste sooooo good!

I think Martha would be proud, after all she taught me that you always use fresh ingredients for the best results......

Seattle part 2

Besides the amazing moment of time that I had at the Kenny Chesney concert, the rest of the weekend was a ton of fun as well. Mom and I left Portland after stopping at Starbuck's (of course) and headed to Seattle. Upon arriving we went to the University Village shopping area by UofW and ran into their large sidewalk sale. Lucky for us Pottery Barn had a bunch of beachey things on sale that we picked up for the beach house.  We had lunch at the Pasta & Co and then onto the hotel. We stayed at the Hyatt in Bellvue which was very nice and it was nice not being in downtown Seattle.

Anyways.... the concert was great. Dirks Bentley was awesome, I wish I would have seen him when I had free tickets a few months ago in Portland. Big of Big & Rich, was I think stoned or wasted. Rich was really good though. Gretchen Wilson was awesome, she was with Kenny last year and she has such a great voice. And then there was Kenny..... as I may have mentioned before :) he was just great. He started to sing "When the sun goes down" and then Uncle Kracker came out and did the song with him. It was really neat. At the end Dirks Bentley, Rich and Uncle Kracker came out. It was such a great night....

I can't stop thinking about meeting Kenny, and really how could I. For that 60 seconds it seemed that I was the only one in the room. It is really neat that somebody as big as that can take that time out of their day and make his fans feel that way.

Sunday morning we stopped at Ikea on the way home and bought some storage pieces and some more  little things for the beach. Mom had never been their before, she was amazed. We came home to 101 degree heat, one of the trees behind her house fell and landed on the power line, started a fire and then broke the line. We had a lot of fun and it will be a weekend I will remember forever!

60 seconds of a lifetime!

I am a little sad today that now it is over. My 60 seconds of time that I shared one on one with Mr. Kenny Chesney. this is how it went down: upon arrival at Qwest Field we had to walk what seemed like 5 times around the entire outside of the Stadium to find the "Correct" Will Call booth, to pick up my instructions for the Meet & Greet. It said "Meet at the Southwest corner of the field level concourse by the Silver Seahawk sculptor, you won't miss it, at 7:30pm" When we arrived it was about 5:30 and the first act Blane Larsen had already come. Last year when I went we had "Sand Pit" tickets which was between the stages and you were so close you could touch Kenny as he went by. So when I got my 15th Row Field tickets I was a little disappointed. Well, the stage was a T shape and the Pitt wasn't really there, BUT since we were in the center section in front of the T, row 14 was really the FIRST row. So we were in the SECOND row from the stage, and I would say that was even better than last year.

Back to the Meet and Greet; I talked to about 6 security guards before somebody could tell me where I was suppose to go. I finally found "the giant Seahawk" and met the Cruzan national rep and he gave me the run down. Kenny was not going to sign anything or take any personal pictures, you will be in pairs of 2 when you meet him, he then gave me a laminated badge that Kenny had just signed and told me that he would take the picture and that I could come back after the concert and pick up the picture. There was about 15 or so people in the group and I was the only one by myself. As I stood and waited, I saw Kenny walk into the room with a few other guys, then I started to get nervous, what was I going to say?

The first time I talked to Martha Stewart on the phone I was ok until the end of the phone call when I screamed "I love you Martha" So I thought I should try to keep my cool with Kenny face to face. We were finally ushered in, and as I went into the door, there he was standing in front of a large Cruzan Rum backdrop and taking pictures. I was so nervous, and sooooo excited at the same time. I was the 3rd person in our group, with 2 girls in front of me. The Cruzan guy told the first two girls to go and they walked up and talked to him and took a picture. I wasn't sure if he was going to make me go with somebody else or by myself, sooooo then he said "Go ahead" I walked to Kenny and he put his hand out and asked my name and I said "Hi, I'm Claudine" and Kenny said "Hi Claudine, how are you" and then I said " I'm great and it is such a pleasure to meet you and I am a huge fan of your music" He then PUT HIS ARM AROUND ME, RUBBED MY BACK AND SAID, "oh thank you sweetie that means a lot" We took the picture, he shook my hand again and then put his other hand over mine and I said "thank you so much" and then I left. I think when I left the room, I just might have been floating at least 5 inches off the ground and could have screamed at the top of my lungs. It was by far the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and I don't think I could ever forget it. I know at this point my husband and everybody is making fun of me, but I really don't care!

After the concert, we went back to get the picture. They had them waiting with the Cruzan rep and they were all in fancy bamboo picture frames with a plaque that says "Kenny Chesney" on it. I am one very very very lucky girl and I owe a huge thank you to my friends at Cruzan Rum. I really didn't think that anything could top last years concert, but I hate to tell you Andrea and you may want to kill me, this sure the hell did......

 

Oh and there is so much more about the whole weekend in general.....

10 hours and counting

the day has  now arrived!!! At approximately 7pm PST I will have my long awaited (but I am sure very brief) moment with (Andrea look away) Kenny Chesney!!!!

Heading out this morning with Mom to Seattle for some shopping and maybe I haven't mentioned, KENNY! With Kenny will be Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich and Dirks Bentley. It should be a great show. It is suppose to be in the high 90's in Portland but cooler in Seattle thank goodness!

The news of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman has been all over the news today. Apparently Kenny will be there along with his ex Renee. At this time (Saturday 7:30am PST) it is now 12:30am in Australia the day of the wedding. Unless Kenny has a Delorian that can go back in time I don't think he is going to make it tonight. (Lucky for me)

For the love of Starbucks~

We have a new member to the family addiction of Starbucks....

Don't worry, we aren't letting her drink coffee, just water. But for some reason any time she saw my cup of water, well lets say it just wasn't mine for very long.

Dealey Plaza

I am have now been to Dallas and Dealey Plaza two times now, and it still is such a moving and surreal place to be. This photo was taken atop the triple overpass looking back into the plaza. The Texas School Book building is obscured by the large tree on the left. By enlarging the photo you can see the large white X  on the ground where the fatal shot that killed John F Kennedy. Some people like to run put and lay on it and have there picture taken, it makes me sick quite frankly. Also mind you it is a fairly busy street as well.

This was taken on the grassy knoll behind the fence where MOST people believe the fatal shot came from. Don't get me started on that. That is a whole another blog in and of itself. I just liked the picture :)

Click to enlarge and read the writing on the back of the fence I mentioned before.

And last but not least was a drive by the boarding house that Lee Harvey Oswald lived in at 1026 N Beckley Ave, and the funny thing was that it had a For Rent sign on it. I was surprised of the condition of the house, I would have thought it would be a bigger deal. But it's not really in the best part of town though either.

a view from below

This is what you see when you are in the bathroom

And this is what it looks like from the outside

Welcome little one

My sister had her baby on Thursday June 8th in Dallas, Texas. After a interesting trip down. (remember the teenagers, well lucky for me the closest ones were 4 rows up. But after get my connection in Denver I had a window seat next to a giant body builder who's arms took up half of my space as well. Luckily it was only a little under 2 hours. I always have that kind of luck when it comes to flying. Find me the weirdest person there and that is my seatmate.

It is a far cry for Portland weather here, it is a balmy 100 degrees and that is at about 11am. Today I woke up with a bad headache and sick to my stomach and it was the day to bring Jen and Payton home from the hospital. I was fine until about 3pm when I had a sip of watered down "Starbucks" Iced Vanilla Latte, about 5 minutes later I was not doing so good and ran to the rest room, lets just say I didn't make it in time and it was a little like a scene from the Exorcist. But then I felt better :)

My niece Madeline is a absolute doll and is walking and sort of talking. Since she keeps playing with my necklace when I hold her I am almost there with teaching her the word "Diamond" I don't think dad likes my influence on that matter too much. A girl has to learn these things very early, Grandma would be proud.

Madeline wearing her new little brothers hat

Leaving on a jet plane

and I don't know when I'll be back again. Well maybe I actually do. Sitting at the Portland Airport at the damn near crack of dawn and thank goodness they now have wi-fi. The only crisis thus far this morning is the fact that there is a Coffee People instead of a Starbucks in the terminal I am in. People say it is just coffee, but it's not. They asked my name for when the drink was ready and I stood there for a few minutes wondering if Tineea was suppose to be Claudine. I miss my Starbucks.

I am heading to Dallas to see my brand new nephew Payton who was born yesterday afternoon. For a whole week I will be so far away from my job and I couldn't be more happy about that. As I sit here there is a large group of teenagers with a very loud teacher with them yelling at them to make sure they get all their belongings and how made they will be if they lost their class ring. As I sneer at them I think, "I bet they will be on my flight" sure enough they are. And what are the odds that I will be placed smack dab in the middle of them? Pretty good, I'm sure.

For now I will sit here and drink my sub par vanilla latte and ready the new people magazine with the pictures of Brad & Angelina......