campings.

A few weeks ago we went camping on the Clackamas River. It was a pretty rainy weekend but we managed to have some fun. We went on a nice hike, played a few games, sat by campfires, etc.


Last weekend we went camping in Quinalt, which is by the lake of the same name. Quinalt is located on the very southern edge of the Olympic National Forest. Despite being in a rainforest, our weather for the weekend was lovely. The last morning gave us a bit of rain but nothing too bad.


Both camping trips were a lot of fun. Tom and I were looking forward to camping more this summer than previous summers and so far we are succedding.

general update

Summer is almost half over. During the past week I've been on a wedding planning kick, working on many projects I am sure to find tedious and too time consuming once the wedding is much closer (i.e. checklists, schedules, photo lists).

Last weekend Tom and I held a lovely 4th of July BBQ, complete with banana splits featuring homemade red, white, and blue ice creams. We've spent the last week eating leftovers (banana splits and other BBQ foods).

The week before featured a trip to California, including a Wilco concert, swimming, and seeing Maureen & Chris.

Upcoming weeks will be busy, particularly on the weekends. Camping this weekend, wedding & camping next, then Seattle, then I head down to CA for my bridal shower, then Las Vegas. Oh my.

Garden-o-rama is enjoying the weather. Hot weather followed by cooler but somewhat sunny weather has given us lovely tomatoes, beautiful sage, large beans, and eager to please strawberries. And much more. I can't wait to the peppers & tomatoes to ripen. Oh my oh my will the salsa and tomato sauce will be flowing soon all over (and into my belly).

This update isn't deep or all that interesting but I thought I'd post something more lighthearted than the previous post.

parenthood

First, I am not a parent nor will I be. Second, I had a lovely childhood and appreciate my parents for how they raised me. Thirdly, I speak of generic folks I do not know.

As a teacher I deal with a lot of children. They are, for the most part, fine. Sometimes I find them annoying, sometimes they are surprisingly witty, and sometimes I feel neutral about them (which is odd if I am indeed interacting with them). I taught preschool for a fair chunk of time- meaning I know about 2, 3, and 4 year olds and their development stages quite well (have you ever been in charge of 6 3-year-olds at naptime? No? Well, I have). Sure, I do not have my own child but honestly no one thinks your child is a great as you do. Deal.

With that being said I will now say that I have a low tolerance for public displays of children. Okay, not so much with the children but with the parents. When you have a child you become a parent before all else. Sorry. It's a fact. If you didn't want that perhaps having a child wasn't a smart move. Of course you are a human, an individual, a person. I think it's great for you to continue your life as a person. But please remember that your child is not your pal. S/he's a CHILD. This person does not need to attend concerts for bands s/he does not know (especially if s/he is under the age of, oh, 8). Your child shouldn't be expected to last hours at a fancy restaurant so why bring them? Please just hire a babysitter.

Today I was at a store and was almost run down by a 9 year old boy in charge of the shopping cart. The mother simply smiled like, "oh, what can you do?" Well, lady, you can start by not allowing your child to be in charge of a cart if this is how he acts. I don't run people over and if I did I would be asked to leave the store. Being 9 years old is a reason but being a mother who just thinks it's okay is no excuse. It's annoying. Please act older than your child. I do not think such actions are cute or should be tolerated solely on account of the child being a child.

I really don't mind kids. It's a personal choice we must all make and that's fine. I do mind the entitlement that some parents feel simply for having reproduced. Yeah, just about anyone can reproduce and it's honestly not helping my situation any because you did it. I don't find your child to be the cutest thing ever, regardless of if s/he is laughing or crying.

Bottom line: please be responsible.

Boston

Here's a few pictures from our recent trip to Boston. I think I'll leave the captions up to your imagination.

did you know?!

Did you know that when you play the Mamma Mia soundtrack while playing the movie Fight Club that they sync up? You have to start at the right moment otherwise it's just annoying. I heard this from my friend's romantic partner. Something to try when bored.

on the road

I'm writing this blog from Jenna's apartment in Somerville, which makes me feel especially cool since I'm on a trip and blogging.

Anyway, Tom and I have been in Boston for a few days now. It's been a great trip thus far and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Any good stories? Sure, but I won't write them right now. I'll include pictures with stories. The weather has been cool, wet, sort of a little humid, sunny, etc. The people are nice and have slight accents, and the city has curvy streets with old buildings. All is well.

Sorties and stories have the same letters but are not close to the same word. Something to ponder.

summer

It's summer. Oh how I love being a teacher. Today I was counting down the minutes until school ended. Is that sad? Probably not. It's time for a break. Someday I will write a post reflecting on my first year as a licensed teacher. That someday is not today.

It's my first summer since 2002 that I have had no work and/or school. Lovely lovely. My plans for the summer include reading, writing, reading, gardening, biking, beach-going, hiking, reading, sleeping, etc. Clearly I'll be very busy.

Tomorrow I leave for Boston. Tom and I will be spending a lovely long weekend seeing the sights and visiting Jenna. I'm really looking forward to a change of scene. One thing I will miss immediately is the cats. Luckily they are in good hands and I know they will get plenty of quality attention. Still, they are my besties and I am quite fond of their furry faces.

For now, though, I must be heading to bed. We set the alarms for 450 am and that will come all too soon.

Hooray! Summer!

dragging

I don't have much time to blog as I have a job in an hour, but I will say that I am so ready for summer. How do people make it through an entire year of working? That's just ridiculous. I am burnt out and my job is relatively simple. The mere thought of having three months to do what I want (admittedly with fewer funds than I'd like) is what got me out of bed this morning.

The past week has been pretty fun. Tom and I saw the movie "Up," which both of us enjoyed. We also saw the Starlight Parade, went rollerskating, met up with some cohorters for Mai Tais, and figured out a system for helping our apartment cool down after hot days. I worked on a dress, had brunch, made some great curtains for the bedroom (the last one's were too dark- we would never wake up), and organized coupons (seriously).

Well, I suppose I should get ready for my day with some middle schoolers. I sincerely hope there is a picnic or field trip or assembly or even a fire drill that will lessen the amount of time we have to sit in an overheated room. :)

countdown, jenna, a box

Today Tom and I are home, not working, enjoying the lovely sounds of lawn equipment. In only 2 short weeks we will have no reason not to sit at home. Oh, summer, I adore you.

Actually, in 2 weeks we will be sitting on an airplane headed toward Boston. Boston! Vacation! Exciting times. We are visiting my friend Jenna who is saving the world through early childhood literacy work. She has generously agreed to host us for the long weekend Tom and I will be visiting and in return we are going to make Jenna do fun touristy Boston things (such as throw tea in the harbor). Also, we are going to play cribbage in a Boston park. So everyone wins in this situation.

A short time ago Jenna wrote a blog about me and that was very nice. I didn't want to be a copy-cat so I didn't write about her, but then I thought that was silly so I will write about her now. Also, hopefully the coffee sets in while I am writing or the whole blog will be wordy and confusing.

Jenna and I met during college; it was my second year and her first year at U of O (her third year of college though- she transferred from SOU). We lived down the hall from each other and quickly learned that we enjoyed playing games together and being weird around our RA. After the dorm year we ended up in apartments across the courtyard from each other. Sadly, we didn't hang out as much as we should have during that summer (I can't remember why; work? school? travels?). Anyway, Jenna used to make food for fruit flies and has supplied me the majority of my boxes for moving, something I always think of when I see a box from the fruit fly food days. Now Jenna works in Boston and I'm looking forward to seeing her new city and HER. Maybe I'll whip up a present for her. Oh, that'd be nice.

In other news, the cats have found a new favorite toy. It's a giant box that once held a few wonderful gifts (including alphabet cookie cutters; post about those to follow in a few days). Pellinore is particularly fond of this box. He's always hanging out in it, running around it, and once even jumped on it (because it's empty it fell, startling him and teaching him not to do that again). I'm not sure if my mom reads this but if she does she should happy to know the grandcats love the box.

Matrim

How cute is this cat? So cute. These pictures were taken on two different days, which means he was indeed that cute on two occasions, both in the same week. On 75% of mornings I wake up at am (much before I would like to wake up) to a cat scratching my head (as in petting, not viciously) because he wants to cuddle under the covers. The cat is Matrim (of course) and he's wonderful. When he gets under the covers with me he tends to stay there even after I get out of bed for the day. On days he stays I thoroughly enjoy putting the covers on him so he looks like a tucked-in adorable face.

Rose Festival

Last night Tom and I went to the Rose Festival. It was free entry night and the weather was beautiful so it was a double-bonus event. The place was fairly crowded but not so bad. Lines were a bit long, especially for tasty carnival treats (such as giant elephant ears and oversized servings of french fries), but waiting isn't so bad when there are tons of people to observe.


The only ride we went on was the ferris wheel. We sat on the same side of the bucket (designed to hold people on both sides) which resulted in a slight tip the entire time. Plus, on the top it was a bit windy and both these factors made me slightly nervous (and cold). Anyway, here's some blurry pictures from the ride. With the constant movement of our bucket it was really difficult to take some unblurry pictures.


At the end of the night was a fireworks show. Here's a picture from the esplanade:


It was my first time going to the Rose Festival and I'm glad we went. It was a fun time indeed (especially since we weren't dealing with crying, screaming, whining kids).

quilt!

I made a quilt!


It's not a true quilt as it has no lining inside, but it's quilt-ish. My nephew is going to receive this lovely quilt when I go down to California in June. I really like this quilt! I'll take some better pictures of it in action with Cev in a few weeks.

weekend times

In the interest of full disclosure, I am currently writing this blog while subbing. So, obviously I take my job very seriously and it keeps me busy at all times.

Over the past weekend Jean came to visit. We did a number of fun things, mainly involving food, drink, driving (but not after drinking), and a bit of shopping.

Here are a few pictures (backward chronologically due to blog formatting and laziness on my part).

On Saturday we went to Noble Rot for dinner. Noble Rot is a tasty spot with an emphasis on wine (hence the wine-related name). It moved to a new location a few months ago and now they have amazing views. We ate outside and this was the view:

Even though I've lived in Portland for about 4 years, I had never ventured up to Pittock Mansion. This weekend it all changed when Tom drove us up there. It was a beautiful day and the view was marvelous. There were two wedding groups taking pictures, which made me want my own wedding to hurry up. Anyway, I think Pittock Mansion is well worth the effort it takes to get up there (which, admittedly, is very little).


Here we are at the Pittock Mansion:


Due to the formality we require at all meals, we had dinner at home on Friday using our china. Mother gave us matching placemats and napkins, though we opted only for the napkins at this meal. I think they go well with the red placemats previously given to us by Jean. Anyway, our china is so beautiful and I love it. I think Tom likes it as well.

Tom made lasagna, complete with homemade cheese and fresh bread. For dessert we had homemade cheesecake and ice cream. Very tasty. I don't have any pictures of that so you'll have to believe me.

And since I'm at school, I don't have access to more pictures. I'll post some more pictures when I am at home. And when Jean sends some pictures from her camera. In general, we all had a great time with the visit. Hopefully Jean has recovered from her fairly comfortable bed arrangement.


And, just because it's tradition, here's a cute picture of Pellinore stuck behind some books:

noisy school

Sometimes I wish I was so wealthy I would never have to work again. I would have fun gardening, traveling, cooking, sewing, shopping for shoes and dresses, having dinner parties, improving the house Tom and I would own, etc.

Days when I have a noisy school to deal with reinforce this desire. Today I was at a noisy school with kids who have the odds stacked against them (poor families who don't seem to value education, societal expectations of failure, etc) and don't seem to understand someone wanting to help. It frustrates me to see such situations. Sometimes I think teaching would be incredibly frustrating and I don't know if I have any interest in actually devoting my life to such a field. But other times it's fun and I have a positive experience.

Whatever, it'll be a few years until there is a real need for teachers in this area so until then I'll keep subbing and possibly find a better job in the meantime.

sewing

For christmas I received a sewing machine. While I had no experience sewing with a machine (my sewing had been limited to hemming pants or sewing on a button with a needle and thread), I was eager to began my adventure into sewing land. Oh, it's a fun place. I've now made numerous ties (including the ties for the men in the wedding), a shirt, several nightgowns, a few stuffed animals, curtains, and the photographed bag. The bag was certainly the most challenging of projects as it required about 14 pieces to come together perfectly for a successful bag. I'm extremely proud of my first bag. It's a little rough at the handles and I didn't exactly follow the pattern (i.e. I skip what I don't understand and find my own way to accomplish the task), but it's great. I'm now sewing another bag as a birthday present. It's a different pattern and it's proving to be a fun challenge.

The thing I like about sewing is that I'm actually creating something I can use or give away. The process of sewing can leave me feeling impatient or frustrated but I'm pretty good at handling such feelings. I can't just quit, as I'd then have half-finished product, and I can't just ruin it, as I'd then have wasted money on fabric, so my option is to keep going.

In conclusion, sewing is a great hobby and I'm happy I have it as one of mine.

lovely

Oregon is very beautiful in the spring. I love the green meadows, blue skies, fantastic trees.

That being said, I sure wish it was sunny more often this year. It's raining like it's winter. I'm tired of wearing so many layers, having wet shoes, and not being able to take pleasant strolls around town.

Just look at the pictures taken in the past week of the rain. Please, if it must keep raining could we at least have some sunny days thrown in-between the rain?

switch

Today Tom and I switched our office and our bedroom. Now the smaller bedroom is our bedroom. The larger bedroom with lots of light is now our office/sewing room. It's nice to have more space to spread out sewing gear, display books, etc. It was a full-day process to switch the belongings, but it was worth it in the end (well, it has been nice for the past few hours).

In other news, we finished season 4 of Lost and are on our way in season 5. Oh my.

Also, there have been some intense downpours the past few days. Eventually I'll post some pictures of the rain we encountered on the drive up from Roseburg, where we went for the weekend. But for now you'll have to take my word for it.

summer!

Last year Tom and I went to the coast on one of our first dates. It was really sweet. We did crosswords, ate lunch in a lovely restaurant (I had a beer and fries and a veggie burger, as I recall), and walked along the beach to some caves. Oh, summer, I can't wait for your return.

sassy dress style

Natalie and I wore dresses a few days ago. Well, last week. And on different days. But anyway. So we wore dresses and above is the evidence. Natalie looks so dignified. I look like a weird-o. I spilled something on my dress and had to wash it off with water. Clearly I struggled with containing the water and it ended up on my dress.

Why did I post this? Well, mainly because I think it's fun. And we are pretty.

may day

Apparently I most enjoy blogging on the weekend. I thought about blogging a few times during the week but found myself either too tired or too distracted by other things.

Today is the 1st of May. I picked up my wedding dress; it's now hanging in the closest. Yesterday we had our engagement photo session. While it was strange at first to be posed and photographed in public, we quickly got into the mode of being wonderful engaged models. And wonderfully engaged models. Oh, the puns.

This week was a nice week. I had a job interview (I didn't get the job; it was a sub position for the rest of the year at a school 30 minutes away), coffee with Erika, many jobs (one per day!), and the aforementioned wedding-related activities.

I'll share a picture or two later. We'll just see when that happens.

whale watching

In 2007 I traveled to Iceland. During my time in the land of ice I went whale watching. I may have seen a whale, I definitely saw birds and puffins, and thoroughly enjoyed wearing serious jumpsuits (really, I did. It was cold and very windy on the boat). Here's a picture of some of the other whale watchers in their outfits.



Iceland was a great place to visit. People were friendly, places were beautiful, and the atmosphere was very pleasant. And now that their economy has collapsed it's much more affordable for visiting. They have some tasty coffee, amazing geothermal pools, weird "forests," and stunning natural sights. Plus puffins!

chickpeas

Chickpeas!!! I love chickpeas. They are absolutely my favorite food. How delicious are they? Oh, very very delicious. Seriously, I love eating them in various forms: whole, in hummus, in salads, on pasta, stir-fried with other vegetables, etc. I think I'll eat some now (and then I'll be forced to take a short break from blogging...).

tom

I love blogging. I love Tom significantly more though.

cute cat overload

Matrim is just about the most adorable thing in the world. Just look at this photographic evidence:

what I meant

These are the flowers I previously blogged about. I think these pictures better capture the color I was speaking of.

saturday

Living with Tom means I will always been supplied with fresh homemade cheese. Tom really enjoys making cheese, which works out well because I really enjoy eating cheese. Today Tom made some delicious cheese and pita bread. The cheese is a yogurt cheese with garlic chives from our garden. The pita bread is, well, pita bread. All in all not a bad snack for a Saturday afternoon.

cats with ties

These are cats wearing ties. The cats are adorable and, for the most part, don't mind wearing ties. Pellinore and Matrim are the best cats in the world and I just wanted to share a photo of them wearing ties.

katie

These two pictures of Katie. She's wonderful and funny and always somewhere far away in the world. Right now she's in Indonesia having fun and teaching and adventuring. Soon she'll be back in the states and I can't wait. Katie is insightful and hilarious. She always has something to say that makes me smile, think, or some other reaction (ha).

Katie, I hope you are having adventures galore and I am really looking forward to seeing your face once again in only a few months.

maureen

Here's Maureen. She has been my friend for over a decade and she's wonderful. These pictures are from our first trip to a bar together (I think our last, too; we tend to drink more coffee than anything else when we're together), her wedding, and us last Christmas with our menfolk. Maureen is a very beautiful human being and I often wish we lived closer to one another so our frequency of face-to-face interaction would greatly increase. I imagine we could have stellar game nights, dinner parties, casual meetings over coffee (of course), etc. But, alas, we live hundreds of miles apart and our friendship consists more of letters and phone calls than games and dinner parties. I will gladly take as much Maureen as I can get, though, because she never fails to make me feel good about myself through kind words, a funny story, or just simply by being my bff.

travel

This photo is from Paris. I took it after a climb to the top of Basilique du Sacré Cœur on a trip in 2003. In the distance you can see the Tour Eiffel.

Paris is one of my favorite cities and I hope to live there someday. I'd like to get a flat with Tom where we can spend lazy days drinking coffee, eating bread and cheese, reading the paper on our balcony overlooking some cute street or square. Or we could spend busy days biking around town, shopping for wine, stopping for art museums, listening to little kids (and adults) speak French in lively conversations taking place in everyday places. This move wouldn't be permanent, perhaps half a year, but it would be significant. I'd make a serious effort to engage with the French language, something I feel I could only really accomplished if living in a world surrounded by it. I'd also utilize France's location in Europe to visit various destinations over long weekends.

Hopefully Tom and I will get there for a visit on our extended honeymoon in a few years. Until then, I will enjoy my memories and photographs of my visit to Paris.

what?

I can't really talk about what just happened (though I obviously want everyone to know that I can't talk about something...), but I can say I saw a movie and it was not so great. If I hadn't signed a confidentiality agreement I would say more but I don't want to get sued or anything like that. The good news was that it was free.


In other news, here's a picture of the cats on their 7th birthday, which was April 12.


Aren't they cute? Yes, they are. Even when Pellinore does a flying lunge attack from a chair onto Matrim's back. Adorable.

garden

A garden! Not just a garden, though, it's the garden belonging to me and Tom. This year we planned it out a bit more (well, significantly more) than last year. While it might not look like much now, it will soon be a fantastic space full of tasty vegetables, strawberries, and herbs. One of my favorite activities is to gaze longingly at the garden through a window, while sitting on a chair outside, or while passing by on my way out. I wish we had more space for a larger garden. I also wish more people had gardens. They are more beautiful than lawns and infinitely more productive.

Our garden will consist of three types of tomatoes, strawberries, beets, four colors of beans, two types of peppers, sage (my favorite herb), basil, cilantro, lettuce, onions, and garlic. Our strawberry plants are almost producing berries (hooray!). Last year we didn't have to many strawberries but I think this year will be more abundant since they have an earlier start and are well established.

Also, we planted a few flower pots on the stairs. Aren't they pretty?