Hey there

Sorry about the lack of a birthday post. I have been busy with a new class, and also trying to figure out what to do with our webpages since my hosting contract expires in a couple of days. I am going to transfer the domain to a better company and consolidate all our pages into one family blog. things will probably be offline for a few days and then you can go to http://floresfamily.org for new updates. I plan on starting to post more regularly now that we have a laptop and since I'll be in more of student mode shortly. I have a few things I have been meaning to post about but there are only a few people that still read this and i will save it for the new roll out in a week or two.

Summer music in Stumptown

I was looking to see what concerts are coming up this summer, and there is a great deal of music that I will probably miss, a fair amount in smaller venues that would be really fun. Here is a partial list: Glenn Phillips, The Streets, Slaid Cleaves, Raconturs, Chris Issak, Indiglo Girls, Band of Horses, Jose Gonzalez, Tom Brosseau, Calexico,Seu Jorge,Neko Case, Social D, Rev Horton Heat, Theviery Corp., Dave Alvin, American Idol live (just kidding), Matt Costa,and several others at places I have been meaning to check out. Time and money are at a premium right now, so I'll get to one or two at the most (probably the ones at the zoo). It is one of those situations where it is nice to know it is there, but it would be nicer to had a wad of bills and a babysitter.

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As part of my master's program I am required to attend 10 hours of individual counseling ... As part of the intro class I took I had to attend four sessions so I just kept going in anticipation of getting in. I did my last session a week or so ago and I don't think my experience was exactly typical in that I was required to be there, and that I have had relatively little trauma in my life compared to what my therapist was used to seeing. Overall it was a very helpful and positive experience, I just got tired of talking about myself after a while. The discussions would also slip back and forth from actual counseling to academic discussions of different theories and books, which was fine with me, and I found it helpful, but I think my therapist felt kind of uncomfortable with her inability to stay in role. She specializes in working with people who experienced abuse or trauma as a child, so my discussions of interview anxiety and transitional issues related to moving made for easy money. I'll be doing 20 more hours in group therapy next year as part of the program with people from my classes... we'll see how that goes when the time comes.

Gflo, M.S. (in 2008)

When we got back from our trip south I had a letter waiting welcoming me to the Portland State Community Counseling Master's program. I had my interview a week before we left, and I had to take a class and the GRE last term. All the hoops have been jumped and now I'll be a full time grad student in the Fall. I have an orientation in a couple of weeks, and I need to start hunting down a graduate assistantship for next year so I can stop my long commute and focus my energies at PSU. There are a lot of classes I am excited about, and I am plan on it being an exciting and fulfilling experience. I know where I want to head professionally and all that is really holding me back is two letters behind my name and the associated knowledge.

My Mom

Kathryn Flores

Kathryn "Kathy" Lee Flores died after a valiant battle with breast cancer on Monday morning, April 17, at Tri-City Hospital. Kathy was 56 years old and a resident of the North County for 50 years. Born March 12, 1950, in Oakland, she attended Oceanside schools kindergarten through twelfth-grade and completed her associate degree at Mira Costa College. She worked as a 411 operator for Pacific Bell for 31 years.

Kathy is survived by her husband of 34 years, Edward A. Flores. Her son Greg and his wife Christine live in Portland with Kathy's grandson, Colin Gregory and her daughter Amy lives in San Marcos. Kathy is also survived by her younger sister, Martha who lives in Bonsall and she leaves behind many loving friends as well.

Arrangements are being handled by the family and any donations can be directed to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, or the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

Kathy was a woman of great strength and character and will be remembered by her family and friends for her generosity and charmingly dry wit.

Big time brewin'

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine.

I finally got around to brewing with the borrowed equipment I got from the brew crew. This was my first all grain batch, and my first 10 gallon batch. My volume was a bit off, but my efficiency was higher than I expected, so I was able to top up to get closer to the 10G mark. I now have almost 10 gallons of California Common (i.e. Anchor Steam). I went with this beer after seeing six packs of Anchor for 10 bucks. Going all grain wasn't too much of a change from what I was doing before, but doing a double batch was a little unwieldy. I don't have anything to still with that is long enough for a converted keg. In a week or so I'll have a ton of beer if you want to come by for a pint.

Deputy Colin

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine.

Q: Did you know that in Oregon there is a law that says if you see an officer pulled over to the side of the road, if you are able to safely change lanes to move away from him, you are required to do so?

Neither did I. I got pulled over for passing a cop who had just finished giving someone else a ticket. He just gave me a fixit ticket for my out of state license and suggested that next time I see an officer on the side of the road I change lanes, or slow the hell down. I went and got my new Oregon license and went to the sheriffs office to take care ofi t. They told me they hadn't processed my three week old ticket and to come back next week. I came back the following Friday and was told by a very unhappy woman that I was at the wrong office on the wrong day and that I needed to report to the other office on Monday between 9:00am and noon... and that there was no way I would be able to resolve this that day. I went to the other office with my secret weapon named Colin and apologized for coming the wrong day, and the nice sheriff's office lady signed off on my ticket and made Colin a Jr. Deputy. The snarky woman was not impressed when I came back a couple minutes later with signed ticket and a shiny badge... Then we went to do some investigating.

American Dream realized

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine.

I wasn't planning on saying anything real cheesy about getting our house after years of saving, months of searching, and a week of fighting... but then the key they gave us looked like this. We got the keys today and tomorrow we are going to start moving our stuff, doing prep work to paint on Sunday, and freezing our butts off because the gas is turned off until Monday. It is still real weird because we went through so much hassle this week, and because we have not moved in yet. I am sure it will seek in shortly. We are both excited and exhausted and looking forward to the future.

hand cramps

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine.

We got up early today and went and signed this whole mess of papers and handed over the checks. It wasn't as bad as we expected, partly becasue we had read al ot of the stuff before hand. To follow up on our U.S. Bank woes... apparently they are acknowldgin gthat our loan officer screwed up, and the underwriter, processors, and funder have really been working hard to fix things. It doesn't change the fact that we were put through a lot of unnecesary stress, but it is nice to know that things came together becasue some people at the bank actually care about delivering on their promises. We really appreciate all the work that has happened on our behalf to get things done on time. We also owe thanks to our realtors for really getting throguh the the higher ups after Christine softened them up on Wednesday. If everything goes according to plan we'll be getting our keys tonight!

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Originally uploaded by gregandchristine.