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.