My brother has some exciting news but I don't want to spoil it by posting it on my blog. Will let him get the word out. I'm looking forward to his news happening as it doesn't seem real yet.

Well, 2 weeks have gone by since my last post. Been able to play badminton 2x each week. Also been able to do more walking and played ping pong.

Was able to celebrate a friend's wedding reception at their house last weekend. They were married a year ago in Vietnam after only spending time with each other about 5 weeks. He's Vietnamese (30 years old) and lives here and she (19 years old) was living in Vietnam until this past June. She's a family friend. They are both on the shy side so it was fun to play games on them!

Didn't do much this weekend but got lots of sleep! Got my criminal record check done yesterday as I will need it for some volunteering I'm hoping to do.

Made it to Nanaimo on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. But missed out my aunt and uncle's dinner Sunday and Ray's parents' dinner Monday. Wasn't feeling well.

Saw the movie Flightplan last night. I thought it was pretty good. I like Jodie Foster movies.

Got a lot of errands done today. Played badminton for the first time in quite a few weeks. Will probably really feel it tomorrow.

Better take off the contacts and try to get to sleep early so my muscles have some time to recover.

We checked out Friday afternoon and then headed to the Outlet mall again :) I didn't have a chance to go to the Reebok store the other time so about 4:00 we got there. Ray waited in the car and I told him I'd be a few minutes. About an hour later I had bought 3 tank tops - purple, light fushia, and white. Also a pair of shorts. Great deals as they were all on sale for $14.99 already and then were further reduced by 40%!!!

Went to Safeway to get a few things and then hit the road out of Lincoln City about 5:40 pm. Wasn't foggy on the drive back to the I5 like it was on the way in so made better time going home. There was a lot of traffic heading to the coast. Made one gas/bathroom stop on the way home. There were only 2 cars at the border and by the time we pulled up that car was gone so just drove right in. Got home at midnight.

Was going to watch my Y&R but saw the hub-bub in New York. I guess it was only a matter of time before they got a threat on their subway system. Too bad, must be really scary to be there now.

We went to the Christmas Cottage store. Or I should say that I was in the store and Ray was in the car taking a nap. We went to the Outlet mall again. I had a $15 discount coupon from the Gap Outlet that I picked up on Sunday. Spent time online completing their survey to get it. Survey was hard to complete as I just quickly walked in and out to take a look on Sunday. Anyways with the discount I only paid $25 for 2 pairs of jeans, lilac jogging pants and a tank top. Ahhh, nice not to have any sales or State taxes here !!!! :)

Went for dinner at Lee's Chinese restaurant again in Lincoln City. The lady who served us once before remembered that I wanted hot water and we wanted bowls and chopsticks instead of plates. Ray asked if she plays badminton and found out that the other guy there plays. This time we had the Tofu and greens soup again minus the mushrooms so lots of tofu and vegies. Had bean sprout egg foo young and Veggie Chow foon. Mmmm, mmm, mmm the food at this restaurant is so good. And no MSG too!

Well, am packed now since we'll be leaving tomorrow. Has been a great relaxing vacation. Today was foggy but the week has been good with a few days of nice sunny weather mixed in with spots of showers and sprinkles.

Ray's sitting behind me in the lobby on his laptop in front of the big fireplace. Chatted with Peter at the front desk, he had an MRI on his foot last week. When Ray checked the price of MRI's in Newport it's $1500 - EGAD! The private ones at home are only $475 and that's Canadian! He'll probably end up waiting until he can get in with MSP paying. His knee has been okay after playing ping pong.

Will post some photos of the trip when we get home. Need to go through them and decide which ones to post. Think I'll sign off now to get ready to go to bed since it's 1:30. G'night.

Been watching Y&R as I've been taping it here. On Wednesday we went to Florence. On the way stopped at McD's and tried there fruit and walnut salad. Pretty good - apples, red grapes, candied walnuts and yogurt. The green apple slices were tart but the red was good.

Saw Hecate Lighthouse in the distance. The Sea Lions Cave elevator was closed but got some good pics of the caves from a viewpoint further north. Went to the Oregon Dunes Park in Florence and paid $5 to go in and see the grassy low dunes and the beach. Beautiful beach with no one around as far as the eye could see. Saw a few ATV tracks but up to Sept. 30 that area is off limits to them. We wore our hiking boots to walk up the hills. Actually not too bad in the sand. We saw the huge dune on the way out of the Park. Will have to go back in the summer to ride the dune buggies.

Ate dinner at Newport's Chalet. Good veggie burger. Ray had steak.

Watched Jaws 2 and 3 on tv.

On Tuesday we stopped and looked at different ocean viewpoints. Started at the Depoe Bay Sea Wall, then the Rocky Creek viewpoint. Saw lots of whale blowholes in the distance!!! Went a short distance to Rodea Point off of Otter Crest Loop. This time we were lucky and were able to see 2 whales at times just 10 to 20 feet off the shore. We watched them for about an hour. It was so exciting! Just saw the water shooting up from their blowholes and then the curve of their backs and a few times their tails! One of them came up more frequently and had a smaller tail so was probably younger. Ray had them timed so he knew when to expect them to take a photo. Too bad they didn't come up out of the water more. Since there wasn't a fin and their backs were jagged they were gray whales.

After tearing me away we went to Cape Foulweather, and then Devil's Punchbowl. Saw lots of surfers in the shallow waves of the beautiful long beach.

We ate at Lee's Chinese restaurant again in Lincoln City. Great food. They have really good tofu and veggie soup. The woman there has only been here for 5 months from China as her hubby's family owns the restaurant.

Played ping pong again.

On Monday we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. Saw turtles, octopus, otters, seals, lots of fish and a tunnel of sharks! Went to the Yaquinna Bay lighthouse but it was closed so just looked around at the view. Ate at China Star Buffet for dinner. I was starving. Had good desert there - creme puff, vanilla roll, chocolate cake and YUMMMMY chocolate ice cream. I was so full, my pants were so tight.

Played ping pong at the resort and then went on the bike and treadmill to work off the desert! The resort also has an air-hockey table, a few arcade games, pool table, swimming pool, hot tub and big screen tv. There's free internet here in the lobby.

Our suite is great. The best ever. Great view looking out at the beach and ocean. The bedroom has a sliding glass door onto the balcony overlooking the ocean and beach. The living room has a door to it as well. Cool to fall asleep to the lull of the roaring surf pounding on Gleneden Beach. We have all the amenities of home with a full kitchen, in-suite washer and dryer, bbq on the patio, vacuum cleaner etc. Too bad we don't have a king-sized bed at home. Can stretch out as much as I want when my back is sore.

On Sunday we spent the day in Lincoln City. Went to the Chinook Winds Resort and Casino but didn't play anything at the casino. Went there for the Teddy Bear Convention. Apparently it's been there every year for the past 14 years or so. What an interesting place to be. So many bears but not the commercial Andrew Brownsword Bears or Gund Bears I was expecting. These were collectible bears with prices starting over $100. There were so many variety of bears with so many different costumes. The reason why they're so expensive was that they're made of mohair - sheared hair from a goat or sheep.

Went to the Tanger Outlet Mall and then to Lee' Chinese Restaurant.

Ray and I left for the Oregon Coast Saturday night about 6pm. After 2 bathroom breaks we got to Portland at 11pm. Ate at Denny's - I was disappointed that they didn't have the free b'day meal there :( I was looking forward to it as I think that's what we have at home. Have never gone to Denny's on my b'day so was looking forward to getting a free meal. Oh well. Left Denny's about midnight, went through Salem to the coast and arrived at our destination in Gleneden Beach (just south of Lincoln City) about 2:30 am. Not bad timing.

Had lunch on Thursday with a dozen of my co-workers. Thanks! Was nice to have everyone at the same table. I have made a lot of good friendships with my co-workers so consider them my friends not just co-workers. I really enjoy working with the people I do and feel fortunate that they are my "family" away from home.

On Friday had lunch with a friend and her 3 month old daughter. She has her father's eyes and mother's complexion.