Portland Parents

Cafe Mama has a great list of ideas for dining establishments who want to cater to kids and their moms. And she has a set of reviews of some of the best choices in Portland.

When I was a kid, my folks took me to the Olde Spaghetti Factory for treats, and it was very special to me. We went at least once a year. So now that I have kids, I’m wanting to take them out to dinner. I’ve found the Olde Spaghetti Factory down on the river, with the purple roof, but I didn’t have any other good ideas. Sure there was Peanut Butter and Ellie’s — but that was obvious.

Cafe Mama has put up a list of kid friendly restaurant that are accomodating to kids and their mothers. And they have some great ideas for other things to do as well.

One place she doesn’t mention is the Russell Street Barbecue, which has always been delicous and gracious. They don’t seem to mind little ones running about, and they’re friendly and happy. Usually. At the moment, they’re suffering with rebuilding after an electrical fire in their building.

Hurricane Katrina’s hit us hard. And it makes us wonder.

If you’ve been living under a rock, you may not have heard about the Hurricane that pretty much wiped out New Orleans. You’ve not heard about the deaths, the injured, the totally wiped out people. Hurray for you, now get out there and read a little.

We’re getting 1000 people. Welcome, and relax a little. Portland’s lush and beautiful. Have a great stay.

Suppose a natural (or unnatural ) disaster struck Portland and the surrounding areas. In 1996, Portland had a flood that caused the mayor to put up flood walls along the waterfront. It’s happened in 1948 as well as 1964. What would happen if we had a major flood in Portland?

Well, the obvious response is that the number of hills in Portland would keep the situation from mirroring New Orleans. People would get to high ground a lot faster. So imagine Eugene. You remember Eugene, don’t you? Given twenty feet of water, the Willamette river could overcome most of downtown, and a good portion of the University of Oregon campus.

Or, perhaps you’ve had enough of flood; how about a fire? Imagine a huge fire sweeping through Old Town/Chinatown, all the way up to Powell’s, probably stopping at I-405 and moving ssouth down 12th avenue.

These imaginary disasters really aren’t big enough to encompass the destruction that has been visited upon New Orleans. But they’re a starting place.

What kind of responses might we see in Oregon to the same situations we see in New Orleans? How would you react? Would you help people or help yourself?

School Starts!

Big Sale at Recycled Gardens!

Saturday, September 24th, 10:00-5:00, Recycled Gardens will be lowering prices to only $3.00 per gallon to encourage planting at what is truly the best time of year for gardening. This price is for everything except specially tagged mature trees and shrubs (which always work out to cost less than the per gallon price). And, because we’re seriously overstocked, there will be a large Bargain Bin stuffed with plants everybody should own, as well as several unidentified ones to add a little mystery.

Speaking of stuffed… because Fall is our favorite time of year, we’ll also be celebrating with an Oktoberfest party featuring Turtle Island Food’s vegan sausages, sauerkraut, Widmer Brothers ales and all the other traditional trimmings and games–test your stamina at the Stein Holding Contest for a chance to win $50.00! Plus, we’ll have some of the fantastic recycled garden art of several Cracked Pots’ artists for sale too so you can decorate your garden and keep it looking good all year.

So grab your checkbook (NO plastic please) and come on out to join in the FUN at Recycled Gardens, 6995 NW Cornelius Pass Road in Hillsboro.

Due to the need to upgrade the catalog, all libraries will be closed

Saturday, September 24th, 10:00-5:00, Recycled Gardens will be lowering prices to ONLY $3.00 per gallon to encourage planting at what is truly THE BEST time of year for gardening. This price is for everything except specially tagged mature trees and shrubs (which always work out to cost LESS than the per gallon price). And, because we’re seriously overstocked, there will be a large Bargain Bin stuffed with plants everybody should own, as well as several unidentified ones to add a little mystery.

Speaking of stuffed… because Fall is our favorite time of year, we’ll also be celebrating with an Oktoberfest party featuring Turtle Island Food’s vegan sausages, sauerkraut, Widmer Brothers ales and all the other traditional trimmings and games–test your stamina at the Stein Holding Contest for a chance to win $50.00! Plus, we’ll have some of the fantastic recycled garden art of several Cracked Pots’ artists for sale too so you can decorate your garden and keep it looking good all year.

So grab your checkbook (NO plastic please) and come on out to join in the FUN at Recycled Gardens!

If you’re reading this, you’re likely to be a parent. You may have a kid in a public school. Here’s some small help on generating donations for your school.

Escrip.com is a service where you can register your grocery favored customer cards (Your Safeway “Club” Card) and a portion of your purchases will be donated to the groups of your choice. I used it to donate to our kid’s school; Alameda Elementary.

Of course, you have to sign up for an account; but it takes a matter of minutes. It’s kind of confusing that when you set it up, you can’t log back into the account until you get your authentication email (which could be days later). But once you activate your account, you can go in and update your preferences all you like.

You have the option to register your other cards too- they say that people who register their debit and credit cards can donate up to 50% more. I’d only do it if I were comfortable giving someone else that information. I’d rather go shopping at their ‘escrip mall’ where they use the affiliate programs of online retailers to donate the monies.

You won’t find Seventeen in Albertson’s this month.

Albertson’s has opted to pull the october edition of Seventeen from the shelves due to a scandalous “Vagina 101″ article.

Apparently someone at Albertson’s (In 11 states, not just Oregon) finds “Your vulva has a lot of parts — here’s what they do” to be a little risque. I have to admit, as a dad who talks to his daughter, I like this idea- it has full color pictures and a little map and diagram. We’re not talking pornography, this is a clinical discussion of how the vulva works.

Most fathers aren’t likely to talk to their daughters about vaginas, and mothers may not be much better. This article beats hunkering down in the bathroom with a flashlight, a hand mirror and a speculum.

Kudos to Seventeen, then, and Boos to Albertson’s.