monique

Little Trip to Eugene

John and I went to Eugene this morning but first we stopped
at Safeway in Junction City so I could go grocery shopping.
We also went to Costco to fill the van up with gas. For
some reason it's 99 cents a gallon there but 10 cents
more a gallon at the Costco in Albany.

We got into Eugene about a half hour before we were due to
pick up Gavin so we stopped at Barnes and Noble where I
found a quilt magazine I wanted. I also saw a book I want
to read-- The Age of Homespun : Objects and Stories
in the Creation of an American Myth by Laurel Thatcher
Ulrich. I wrote down the name of it so I wouldn't forget.
When I got home I went to the library web site and put a
hold on it. I was glad to see they already have it but it's
checked out so I'll have to be patient and wait. I've run
out of books to read again and although John and I will
probably go to Corvallis at the end of next week there
are no books waiting for me on hold. I hope there will be
some in the next few days or we'll skip the trip.

We were still a few minutes early to pick up Gavin but we
found a parking space right in front of Jessica's dorm. I
guess the campus is less busy on Sundays. It became too
warm in the car and I had to open the window; the sun
shining on my face felt wonderful.

I spent the afternoon finishing up some housework, looking
at my new quilt magazine, and working on the eagle block but
I found that I hadn't reversed the pattern for the second
wing so I'll have to cut it out again. I also spent some
time on the Internet. I didn't have to wait to get it
either. Gavin was tired and fell asleep and John slept as
he's working a 12 hour graveyard shift tonight.

Hugh is complaining about having a bad sore throat . If he
still has it tomorrow morning I'll bring him to the doctor
though he doesn't seem to have a fever. Because of his heart
condition I take more precautions with him than I would the
other boys and so does the doctor. The threat is that if
it's strep throat he could develop rheumatic fever which is
a serious condition for anyone but more so with someone who
has a heart problem.

We had what would have been known as a typical Oregon
springtime dinner tonight. Fried smelt and homemade
macaroni and cheese. (When I called them smelts--with an
*s* John corrected me. "It's the same word--smelt--whether
there's one or a thousand but you'll never see just one
smelt." Quite right too.)

I haven't seen smelt in the stores for years. When we I was
little they would give smelt away to use as garden
fertilizer. Smelt at the grocery store cost something like
nine cents a pound. Now it's about the same price as
hamburger. I also read recently that it's now believed that
the state's name came from a Native American word for
smelt! The sauce for the macaroni and cheese was made of
good Tillamook cheddar so that's why I'd call this an
*Oregon* dinner! It's also relatively cheap and quite
filling!