How was YOUR weekend?

"Ah," you say, "busy." In fact, where did the weekend go? We too were busy -- put in about 25 hours of hard work since Friday (what 'cha think about that? Huh? Huh?) I guess I'm just feeling pretty proud that we completed a task that we weren't sure we could do.
The patio pergola is done (aside from landscaping & a few more sand sweeps)! We couldn't have done it without the neighbor's tools... and advice... oh yeah, his pick-up truck... and he helped haul, sweep, etc...
I'm really looking forward to the landscaping part. Just have to prep the soil and transplant a few things (anybody need any sand?). I'll post an 'after' picture tomorrow!
-A

I-I-I-I-I'm not your:

Sing it!It's a stepping stone. After adding more concrete to the arbogola posts we had some leftovers; so I quickly dug out a spot in the garden, lined it with a grocery bag and an elephant ear leaf, and poured. This is what turned up!
Thanks for everyone's great garden tomato suggestions! I ended up making basil spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, chopped blanched tomatoes, and a tomato sandwich. Mmmmm... Now I have green tomatoes so I need to ask Mimi for her pickled green tomatoes recipe. Sound good?
-A

PSA for the Day

Oh, crap, I think we just joined the club. When do I get my magic wattle and swollen ankles? How long 'till all of Paul's hair is gray and he's lecturing me about reading in low light? Maybe the impressive caliber of the event and it's surroundings will counter-balance the former. Alright, let me back up.
Last night we went to a show at the Aladdin Theater with our friend Karl. We saw Mute Math w/Shiny Toy Guns & Jonesetta. For hardly recognizing any of the tunes, it was a great show! We were out 'till 11:00 -- on a Wednesday (hey, not bad!).
The questionable, age-altering, weak moment to which I'm referring above occurred before the show as we were walking to the theater. Karl pulled out a package of ear plugs and offered us each a pair. I accepted immediately, recalling how annoying my ringing ears were during the arbergola-building earlier this month. The 31-year old resisted a little and then agreed, shoving a pair in his pocket. Well, I have to tell you that those things saved my ears' lives. I took them out of my head a few times to hear the crowd and the sound level, each time confirming that they turn the volume up too high! Plus Paul & I agreed that the ear plugs helped hone in on the singer's voice and bass line (which wasn't always a good thing). And then later that night I didn't have to lie awake waiting for the "deafening" hum to subside. I guess the only thing I didn't like about the plugs was that if I felt the urge to 'woooo-ooooo!' or whatever, I wasn't comfortable b/c I could hear myself a little too well. Just applauding felt pretty dorky too - moreso than doing nothing at the end of each song? Not sure. Concert-going experts...?

What a couple of old bags, huh! Luckily I had my hair down so there was no risk of anybody seening the flesh-colored foam sticking out of my ear. Getting them in and out without gaining attention was a little more involved. Poor Paul couldn't hide them at all. No face to save.... maybe we'll thank ourselves (& Karl) later.

-A

^ A Run ^ A Salad ^ All Better ^

Really all it takes for me to feel 'back to normal' after a long bad cold, a super-busy week, or a vacation is a good run and a Sunday Salad. Sometimes it's just quick fix, but works nonetheless. Unfortunately the house wasn't as easy to mend. Our floors were messy with tromped in grit and dead grass blades from our trip prep. The car, cleaned inside & out the day before we departed to BC, was now a cacophony of potato chip crumbs, stray dried fruit & Canadian pennies, and sand/dirt from several beaches and campsites. The kitchen is still not quite truly clean, but at least we have food now. Usually we try to clean before we go on a trip. It's so nice to come home to a house that has that evening's dinner in the freezer, clean barefoot-walkable floors, and nice crisp sheets to climb into. I guess that was a good example of this trip's theme: disorganized and unprepared.

On Purpose
I realize that I excel to obsessive levels at planning, but get poor marks for finishing the job. So the object of this trip was to lay off the planning and get a little more "impulsive." Now, maybe I'm just a bit uptight about certain things, but our progressive discovery throughout the trip of all that we forgot was very alarming and discomforting to me. A little contextual info: we were camping and hoteling in the Canadian back country among "serious bears," frequently miles from 'civilization.' These were the big forgets.

• Flashlights
• Canadian Cash
• Our bank cards
• Trip itinerary/hotel names & locations

I guess that makes it an adventure, right? Of course everything turned out okay. Even the most redneck campsite host took US dollars, and our credit card was happily accepted everywhere else. :)

Dad Would be Proud
So I logged our trip so that we could see what we did. I'm already forgetting details! Can you read that below? If a photojournal is good enough for you, go to our Flickr page. They're in correct order from "day 1" at the ferry terminal to our last day in Victoria.
- A

We're Back

Hi Blog Bookmark Checkers,
We're back from our 7-day adventure to Vancouver Island. Tell you about it tomorrow -- need sleep now...


-A

Tomaterns and Pattoes

Oh boy, yesterday I inherited a nice little package from my sister. It's the Mother Load! Now stacked in my craft room are a bunch of sewing patterns that span 3 generations, once belonging to my grandma(s?), my mom, and ourselves, kid years. The oldest were for a dress and an apron dated 1951. The most recent are a bunch of girls ruffley flannel night gown patterns and a Jr. drop-waist dress pattern from 1984-ish. WOW, thanks Mimi! Which one should I try first?


Also on the horizon is figuring out what to do with all these tomatoes -- this is about half. Tomato soup? Canned maters? Salsa? Give them to the neighbors (who have been giving me their tomatoes -- I can't say no!)? Oh yeah, to complicate matters, I'm the only tomato eater in the house. And to confound, we're going on vacation tomorrow night...er, Saturday morning -- anyway, they'll rot by the time we get back. What to make!??

-A

LABOR Days

I've posted some lovely pictures of our arbor-building progress to the right @ Flickr. Paul & I spent almost the whole long weekend working on it. The thing is almost done! Just needs a patio, patio furniture, landscaping... nevermind. Anyway, we're really excited to have completed our first real construction project. We even used cement!

** Another Blogger Beef: When I upgraded to Blogger Beta, I also apparently forefeited the ability to (conveniently) Blog from my Flickr account or any third party, for that matter. Beta all the way!!! Wait, there's more: I can't post photos here and I can't comment on friends' pages that haven't been updated to Beta (don't do it!!). Ugh! In Blogger's defense, they're working on the problems.

-A

H2C, 4TR

So last weekend Paul & I completed the final Oregon citizen hazing ritual, the Hood to Coast relay. (Don't worry mom, I'm always an Iowan first.) Despite our unexpected adventures, we still finished, albeit not yet officially (a race official misplaced our timer form).
Allow me to break it down.
-- 12 people per team, divided into 2 stinky, crowded vans.
-- 197 mile of road are divided into 36, 3-7.4 mile long segments.
-- Each team member runs one of 12 legs, repeated 3 times total, relay style.
-- Teams start on top of Mt. Hood anytime between 7am and 7pm, and take between 16 and 35 hours to reach the beach in Seaside, OR. Our team was somewhere in the middle: 27 hours, I think.
Okay, first of all, if you've never done or seen the event, It's Crazy, in Paul's words. Imagine about 15,000 people in 2000 vans constantly picking up and dropping off runners, traversing across northwest Oregon -- through Portland too, mind you! Some of these teams have been doing the race for many years, and have vans designated for just that purpose (sort of like the Mardi Gras floats of the South). They strap on blow-up dolls and stero speakers blasting Elvis (for example), spray paint slogans and "road kill" tallies, and decorate with trinkets and party supplies. WE ended up in U-Haul cargo vans, to our shagrin and relief. Four days before the race our other van 'contract' left us high and dry. Despite our nifty, prominently placed "Dam Runners" (get it?) magnetic signs, we continually fielded the question,"Is it really only $19.95 per day?" We'd decided that U-Haul should have paid us to advertise for them!
Personally, Paul and I were satisfied with our performances. We love each other's B.O. so much that we chose to ride in the same van for the duration. To boot, I always handed off the sweaty bracelet (baton) to him. We both did about 15 miles each, over some pretty tough terrain (but I have to brag -- since I'm writing this -- my segments were the tougest rated and had most miles! Why am I excited about that?...). Still, Paul kicked some buttocks, ending up with the second-fastest times on the team (not to me...why does everyone think I'm faster than him?)! Sore, under-fed with tummyaches, tired, and likely smelly (however not stinkier than that one guy!), we had a good time.
Looking back, I'd say the secret to successfully completing all 3 legs is to get a little sleep, eat smart, and find things to distract yourself from that inevitable looming sense of dread. In our case, that distraction came in the form of a 'pop.'

"I heard it pop."

Then it started to roll, picking up speed, heading for a (possibly hard of hearing) Supermaster runner, the highway, and more runners. All we could see inside the van was our first legger Dave bouncing around in the back! As we continued to holler at the Supermaster to get out of the way, our amazing driver Matt jumped onto the step, reached in the window and swung the steering wheel to the right. This sent the van into a shallow, weedy ditch that happened to be a dumping ground for leftover asphault. Was it a crash? The van made a crashing noise as it trampled the blackberry bushes and weeds. That counts, right? There the van sat, and would for several (6?) hours, waiting for a tow truck that wouldn't come. Two of our teammates and driver kept it company too.
Meanwhile, Kimberly, myself, and Paul hitchhiked ahead to the starting points of our segment of the relay. All of our 'rides' were so accommodating, offering water and Gatorade, cheering us on during our runs, and referring us to another potential ride. So nice! In all, I hitched 4 times, which means Paul must have taken five. That was a fun adventure. :)
Then we had a beer and went home. I'd do it again. The end.

More shared photos, if you're interested.
Also our Flickr!

Mid-Thirties

This weekend Paul turned 31 (woooooh, or !%^#$@%!, take your pick babe)! Actually, he was wonderfully accepting of his new age (mid-thirties); and of course, accepting of all the great (ahem) gifts and checks that arrived in doggie theme cards.
On Sunday morning, Paul's mom and sister flew back to San Diego. To boot, Paul's aunt and uncle also stopped overnight on Friday from camper camping north of here. It's been nice being a little closer to the western faction of Paul's family. Well, this summer may go down as the "Summer of Visitors." If I count Paul's Dad & G'ma at Spring Break, we've had 7 different pairs of out-of-town visitors!
It was fun to show everybody around last weekend, casually, to some good spots. Many of the outings and at-home activities involved food, and on multiple occasions we ended up stuffed enough to put on our PJ's (Cha-cha-cha, Burgerville, Kennedy School, homemade birthday cake & ice cream, rhubarb pie, and pizza). We ate good!
So now its back to 'normal' again. I've already cluttered up the guest bedroom again, and we're having a little side salad with/for some meals this week. Guess we'll have something more to talk about after our H2C weekend.

-A

Blogger Beefs

In case you haven't noticed, I updated our Blog this week. This new Blog page, supported/organized by Blogger Beta is for once causing me to heed their usual "beta" tag. With promises of more features, new templates (which actually looked familiar), and better stuff, I dove in and updated my page Wednesday.
I should have known something was up when they posted bold notices that once I updated I couldn't go back to my old page. Still, I'm surprised that the Flickr link doesn't work and that I can't edit the HTML (in which I'm mostly improficient, so 'oh well'). On top of that, I haven't really explored the other new amazing features such as allowing other authors to post on my page or setting up a private friends/family Blog. Anyway, I'm not bitter - just impatient for the page to look right & my links to work. Here's the Blogger Beta tour if you're curious.
I attached some pretty flowers -- Bee Balm -- in an attempt to make this post less boring.
- A

Ahhh, Progress!

Saturday we did the Home Depot dance: got our heinies there after lunchtime, wandered around looking baffled for a while, bought some string, and then left. We were looking for specific sizes of wood with which to build our magnificent pergola. Not defeated, we went home and looked up a local lumber yard, went there, and had a wonderful experience. We found everything we needed plus the guy helped us figure out how to build a more economical structure and agreed to do two separate deliveries on our schedule. I'm working on a sketch of the future appearance of that little corner of the yard -- maybe I'll post it later. Okay, onward! So Saturday night we went to The Bite of Oregon with a friend Karl. We all got BBQ meat from the 'Central Oregon' area, @ Jackie's Ribs. Who knew Central Oregon was known for their barbecue? After that, Alpenrose ice cream (little known fact: they have a velodrome on their farm!). Then we joined the crowed around the Iron Chef Oregon tent to watch the final Iron Chef contest. The theme ingredient was.... Lamb Chops! Paul said, "That's too easy!" The commentator reported that the semi-final secret food was rhubarb. Not so easy... The guys had to make just one entre and a side in a 1/2-hour. They were chefs from the local restaurants Oba! and Carslyle. After that ended, all of us felt pretty bagged. Paul & I had done three substantial runs over Friday and Saturday. Bedtime!

On Sunday we did more stuff - can you believe it?! I felt so useful & productive. After breakfast we went outside and started whacking our deck apart - half of it anyway. The neighbors gave us some history on it - told us that the former owners had contracted someone to build it, so that meant it was built in the last 8 years. Sorry guys. The neighbors also told us that there was a basement window covered up by the deck siding. A secret window. The deck builders did good - it was tough to get apart! I'm still sore. After about 4 hours we had removed all the screws, piled the planks and the framing behind the shed, leveled the dirt, and put a new border up around the new edge. It's ready for the next step: posts. We hope the old oil tank buried in that area doesn't interfere with that part. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Oh yeah, there was still time that evening for some stitching, sipping, and gaming, viewable on Flickr.

-A

50 Things

Thats the number of items on my to-do list for the 3-1/2 days Paul has be gone. Clean stuff, sew, dig a new bed, install the entertainment center shelf, unscrew the deck floorboards, sew... you get the idea.
Here's one that I actually might finish today before my 3 pm deadline! It's a 'recycle' project - can't toss my precious scraps. My goal is to finish it without buying any more fabric to help it along. I think I'll probably just frame it or hang it on a dowell. It's only about 12"x12". Any thoughts on how to creatively stitch this baby?

More on Hubby Travel
Anyway, back when Paul used to take 2-month trips on Navy research vessels, I'd have plenty of time to get most of my items checked off the list (less the cleaning which I always saved for last). At that time, we were unwed and then newlyweds so his trips were pretty difficult. I had a really pathetic, self-mourning routine set up for his departure day. I will demonstrate. First, I'd take him to the airport - boo-hoo (1). Then I'd go home and spin my wheels trying to decide what to do first, messing up the whole apartment right off the bat with half-started projects (2). Usually at some point I'd go to the grocery store and buy a bunch of stuff that either Paul doesn't like or we just never ate - like ice cream and zucchini (not in the same dish!) (3). After that I'd go find a really sappy chick flick (again, something we don't usually get), a bottle of wine, and a few sushi rolls from Sho Ya in Gulfport (the only place in town @ the time?) (4). That evening I'd indulge in my wine, sushi, & movie, usually ending the night with a nice sob-fest that put me right to sleep (5). That was my routine. Pathetic as it was, I looked forward to it, and I'd still do it now!
-A

Rusty, dirty, chipped, salvaged. Junk?

It's art if you make it so!* The flower was priced at $180.

On Tuesday I went to a Garden Art Show at McMenamins (missing an apostophe?) Edgefield. It was a really cool place, and it was packed with garden art. Vendors who made their art from greater than 70% recycled materials were invited.
The place was crawling with women - in straw hats and Mom Jeans - and their poor husbands who were used as "reserved" signs that said, "My wife has dibs on this," while their wives waited in line to pay. Sadly, it looked a little cut throat at times.
Nonetheless I think I would go again.
-A

*The word 'art' expressed in this Blog is that used by the Garden Art Show producers and is not necessarily the same word used by the individual blogger herself.

What I DID do this week

I had a nice list of hopeful activities planned for past 2 weeks that included writing letters, scrapbooking some more, and finishing a few sewing projects. I didn't really get to those, but besides running, doing Boot Camp class, eating & sleeping I...

1. Made some bad bread.

2. Made some not-so bad bread. (One has way too much flour and sesame seeds, the other has way not enough flour, still too many bitter sesame seeds).

3. Made Popsicles.
1 box of strawberries
1/2 cup plain yogurt
scant 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 pinch salt
Blend.

At this point you could add rum & drink it (I think?), or put it in popsicle molds... or ice cube trays with grape-anchored toothpicks! They're goo-ood! Especially on those 100 degree days.

4. Altered an old hand-me-down cycling jersey into a shirt.
Now, supposedly it's 'vintage' eighties, according to this guy.

5. Played with our new Panasonic camera.
It's a cool camera because its megapixels can tolerate cropping, and it can zoom very well. Also it has manual capabilities. We're rewarded for re-learning how to operate aperture & shutter speed by being able to take bigger, better-quality pictures. That's our goal!

For illustrations, click our Flickr!

-A

My Worst Job Ever

The other day in Boot Camp I found out that one of the moms is a baker; she works from 5 am to 9 am. "Fun job," and "great hours," I thought. Then I remembered that I too had once worked in a bakery, specifically the Winn-Dixie bakery in Long Beach, MS (no experience needed!).
I was the Doughnut Lady. That was my real title. When people had a question about those pastries in particular, they were directed to the Doughnut Lady. By the end of my 3-month stint, I could recite doughnut taxonomy and calculate the value of any variety-dependent quantity in singles or in multiples of 6 & 12.
Anyway, I also realized that like the Boot Camp Baker mom, I too had great hours. I'd work most days from 5:00 to 11 am, and then go home and "look for a career" (beside the pool with a John Irving book). At this point in my life, I had just exited college 5 months earlier, and was lingering in that "you deserve a break" stage. Still, it wasn't all good. On Saturdays and Sundays I'd arrive at work at 4:00 am. While I sat outside in the dark eating my breakfast waiting for the doughnuts to thaw, I could hear the SeaBees counting off during their am PT at the Base in Gulfport. Besides me and those poor kids, old farts who apparently slept particularly poorly on the weekends, and drunks on their way home from the bars seemed to be the only ones awake and possibly hungry enough to eat a Winn-Dixie doughnut.
The bakery manager Joey was a 21-year old party boy who liked to brag about his recent lease of a brand new big red truck. It's bed seemed to be the big draw for him and his buddies who used it as comfortable seating while getting wasted on Miller Lite in the Winn Dixie parking lot on many-an-evening. Additionally, I noted that Joey must have failed every spelling test he ever took. I remember one weekend he took off work, & left us with a list of tasks. Among them, "make cinemon rolls" and"wipe down the frige?" Come ON!
Additionally, my fellow employees were quintessential contributors to my "Mississippi Immersion" project. As foreign (to me) as they were, they were so nice! Jan was from Minnesota, but besides her misplaced accent, she was a born Southerner. Her boyfriend was a 'classic' trucker dude (not like our modern cowboy - wireless internet - mountain biking friend Don, who also happens to drive a Rig. Hi Don.), who was suspected of seeing somebody on the side. Her updates were rousing and disturbing all at once. Then there was Miss LA. I can't remember her name right now, but Miss LA, who was always genuinely forgetting the dress code and how long to bake certain breads, had a favorite joke. It goes like this.

Hey y'all, we're going to LA this weekend to visit my cousins.

Really, LA?

Yeah, Lo-wa Ala-ba-ma! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

(For those who may not know Lower Alabama.)
I can't forget about Tameka, the Cake Lady, who would always tout to customers, "yes, our cakes are fresh," (out of the freezer, off a truck from Georgia where they were baked fresh last month). Tameka was sure good at making the customer happy. When she & Miss LA weren't at the Sicily's Pizza Buffet, she performed some awesome cake decorating, and I have great respect for her skill. Some of my least fun moments were spent trying to squeeze out "Happy Birthday ____________" onto a sheet cake while being observed by some executive assistant on her way to work during the wee early doughnut-making hours. My "Happy Birthdays" looked like I had Parkinson's Disease - I felt sorry for Elizabeth, Richard, and the small host of others who's hopes of seeing their name in sweet swooping cursive atop a "fresh" Winn-Dixie cake were dashed as the lid lifted. Anway, Tameka could sure decorate a cake! Her other talent was keeping us laughing with her color commentary of our conversations, and thinking up the new store greeting: "Welcome to Winn-Dick-me."
As fun as those 3 months were, I was happy to be starting my new career at the Stennis Space Center Wellness Center (39529 - amazed that we had our own zip code!). Despite being tipped off by my bakery manager that if I stuck around a couple more months, I could have his job, I took the SSCWC offer and began my 5-year tenure as a Fitness Technician. Yay!

One last note: working at the Winn-Dixie Bakery wasn't my worst job ever. It was actually quite relaxing and fun. My worst job ever was one I had waiting tables for Pagliai's Pizza in college in Kirksville, MO. There I'd received pennies, a stack of pepperoni, Kool cigarettes, and most often, simply nothing for a tip. Our patronage primarily consisted of 'the salt of the earth,' college students, and a few random, unsuspecting groups. The downtown business cronies (mayor etc.) came in every day at 2:00 for coffee and smokes. The wait staff was referred to as the "girls," and were required to keep their cups full until told otherwise, and were left no tips, less what I'd categorize as dirty old man chuckles and inappropriate comments & jokes. The manager, Tony was a grumpy a-hole who regulated his girlfriend's (an employee) food intake and daily activities. The other employees fit right in; stealing from the register, coming to work drunk and late, and frequently informing the customers that this time they were not right. I'm still yuckified by that unique stink that Pizza Schmizza, Pizzacatto has in common with Paglaia's (though lacking the stale cigarette component). Yuck! I need a shower. Sorry, but that's how this post is ending. Now smile!
-A

Yes, please add your first/worst jobs in your comments!

Garden Goods

From the Portland Nursery this AM:
A new garden trug, hanging basket hardware, new pot, plants to go in the basket, a cool "Black Magic" giant elephant ear, and green biodegradeable twine. An afternoon of fun!
-A

"The Burn" and the Bakery

Ever have one of those days when you thought you might - at any moment - puke, cry, fall asleep, or fall down? That was my today. All I can say is don't eat Thai food the night before an early morning run unless you carry a few kleenexes and you've planned to stop off for a comforting cup of joe directly afterwards. (Hunting for plant seeds helps the run go quicker.)


I guess it was one of those days when my mind and body were not interested in running, albeit through the beautiful bluffs of Forest Park. Or maybe I was just a little fatigued from our activites over the last 2 weeks. First my mom & step-dad visited, and Paul & I had fun trying to show them the many facets of Oregon (hey, maybe they'll decide to move?). Between many activities, we had lunch at the Pittock Manson, the beach, and @ Timberline on Mt. Hood. We also visited Hood River Valley's Fruit Loop. My favorite was a beautiful lavendar farm; a sea of purple with a Mt. in view to the north and the south. I think we would have done more gardening at home but it was too damn hot out that week! On Tuesday they flew back to Iowa and our friends Kelly & Chris came from MS. For not living here for the last 10-ish years, they sure know their way around! They introduced us to the Willamette Valley wineries, a few great restaurants, and how to properly spend a whole day downtown (stopping for coffee is integral). They took off toward Olympia this morning, right after we left for our run in Forest Park. We had a good time with all our visitors, despite the single bathroom and high temps @ times. Back to routine now, I guess.

Time to Bake Bread!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I'm done with school for the summer. Thursday afternoon I had a my last obligation, a presentation, and then after that I met a couple girlfriends at the Delta for drinks to unload. Sadly, two drinks were plllenty, but getting totally toasted wasn't the point, unlike the old days. That was a fun night.
So for the summer, I'm making a list of all the stuff I want to do, make, etc. (I know, very selfish). Baking bread is on the list; I'm still working on it though. I guess I won't have to worry about adding what I've already done in my first 72 hours of freedom, described below.

Friday I spent a good few hours doing some cleaning. Poor Paul has been doing more of his share for the last 20 weeks or so, and some chores were neglected by both of us to boot. So I dusted, cleaned the floors, wiped down the wall hangings and baseboards, and scrubbed the kitchen inside & out like Cinderella. It was... cleansing. I spent the rest of the day running around town looking for a few things to prepare for my mom's visit and a cute new shirt to wear out that night. Not too much luck, but that's alright. I've got all summer, after all.
Okay, so Friday night we went to the taping of this local radio show called Livewire. There are many ways to describe the show, but my favorite is, "the retro-hip kid sister of Saturday Night Live..." The show was great! It was an all-girl guest night (take THAT, Hallmark! Fathers day, schmathers day). Kristen Hersch from Throwing Muses played and did an interview, which was pretty cool. She's been in a band since she was 14; now she has 4 kids & still tours. Another band (girl-led), the High Violets played later and they sounded awesome too. We, the audience, also had a chance to write haiku to be read later in the show. The topic was: wood, wine, and warriors. Paul & I had a hunch that we were surrounded by clever geniuses, got intimidated, and drew a blank. Oh well. The clever geniuses came through; very funny audience haiku. Didn't matter though, because then the Haiku Inferno came out and did their thing. I think they're professional haiku poets. They let the audience holler out topic ideas, and then they recited some killers based on our ideas. I wish I could remember them.

Saturday: a fairly normal day. Paul & I went and ran on the Leif Erickson & Wildwood trails with some people from his work. Then groceries, lunch, laundry, and more chores. Finally I got a chance to relax, and then sew! Two weeks ago my neighbor had a yard sale, and I found some cool sewing patterns, but they weren't in my size -- 3 sizes too small. They were a bargain @ a quarter apiece, so I took my chances and bought a few. My favorite was a smock & mini-dress pattern (1971). I spent this evening re-creating the pattern in a larger size, and then sewed a mock-up out of some old curtains, It pretty much fit - I was impressed with myself! Now it's late and I'm tired, so off to bed I go.
Happy summer!

-A

Push on Till the Day

Ugh! Almost there...

I haven't even had time to photo Blog! What's the point anyway? Who wants to see pictures of books and papers, highlighters, peanut-butter spoons, & wadded up socks?
Anyway, this is the last week of classes. I did't procrastinate, but that really doesn't seem to be making an impact. My ass still hurts from sitting, and I still haven't been able to do many leisure time activities (Blogging counts).
I am really looking forward to the summer. My next study break is at 3:30. I'm gonna make a list of everything I want to do after next week. Yeah!

- A

My White Trash Yard

Besides school stuff & some BBC, this is what I've been doing.
It's, well... coming along.

Before











During



















...no after

-A

New Stuff

You know what everybody says about people who won't go along with their ideas -- "they don't like change. They're resistant to change." Well I think nobody really likes change, not just stubborn people, Republicans, third world leaders, and pets.

That's why I'm proud that I did three new things last week, which constitutes as plenty of movement in the direction opposite of change resistance, in my opinion.

1. Thursday night I tried knitting. Ugh. This morning I undid what little I had tried b/c I did it wrong. It still counts though! It's a great idle activity, I might add.

2. I did a half-marathon yesterday; my first (& last?). That was fun. Still awaiting an update on their web page: hippie chick half.

3. This one's kind of just a plug: Paul & I decided to try Flickr on our Blog. Alas, I don't have any new pictures to share yet. Check out our "testers" though.

Yippee!
-A

About the Cookies

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies is my favorite cookie recipe right now! They're chewy, have big chunks of chocolate and are very spicy & ginger-y. I like to use Baker's semi-sweet chocolate squares for the chocolate ingredient. Yesterday I used a flat bar Ghiradelli, so the chocolate chunks were a little smaller -- not my preference. Either way, they're pretty tasty stuff. I'll leave the nutritional profile up to your imagination, but keep in mind that they have ginger in them (good for tummy aches & may provide antioxidant benefits).
Oh yeah, I actually finished sewing something on Wednesday! Another yoga mat bag. I'm mostly satisfied with it, except I want to reverse the cargo pocket and make it a Lefty, and figure out a way to keep the bottom section from bunching when I'm carrying it.

Yu-um

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

4. Heat oven to 325°. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

-A

Tell me about the time you almost got arrested...

Hey, I almost forgot my wild Wednesday from 3 weeks ago. BBC was invited to play a little role on a P-land morning show, Good Day Oregon. So a bunch of crrrazy moms and us instructors went to the Oregon Zoo @ 5:30 am to be filmed working out during the live show. We did squats, triceps, biceps, lunges, and push-ups in front of the Polar Bears, otters, Sea Lions, and Starfish (and a bunch of old people watching TV - & hopefully some moms too). It was pretty fun, but lasted forever -- I had hurry to make it to class @ PSU. I hopped on the Max light rail at the Zoo station and rode downtown to class. On the way there, I realized I'd forgotten my wallet (Uh-oh, no public transportation pass, no cash, etc.). I made it to class on time after catching a bus for the rest of the trip.
After class, it was back to the zoo to pick up my car & go home. I was tired from all that smiling, working out, and bus catching. So, guess what? After I got back on the Max, the fare checker came on board to make sure everyone had a valid fare (they use the honor system, mostly). I, of course, knew I was screwed, but decided to pretend that I had just realized that I didn't have my fare/pass with me. "Oh! I guess I forgot my wallet - so I can't show you my pass," or something like that.
Well, I was surprised that little guy didn't lead me out of the train by my collar or my ear! Standing on the sidewalk between the busy eastbound & westbound tracks, I got the 3rd degree. He was an old pro. "What's your name? How do you spell that? What's your DOB? How old are you? How do you spell your name? What's your birthday again?" Man, I'm glad I didn't have to lie about that stuff!
Anyway, since I didn't have my wallet, I didn't have an ID either. Mr. Fare Checker, who is used to people lying to him, of course, says that he's gonna have to get a police officer down there to "verify my identification." And if the officer couldn't, then I might just have to go to jail. OhmyGod!
Yeah, well, I didn't even have to cry or anything. I was so pathetically honest that he had no choice but to believe me. I got a warning ticket. I guess instead of a fine, my payback was that I had to walk up the hill back to the Zoo -- took me an hour. I counted that as my run.


-A-

Double D in Portland

Last Friday, we had a couple of friends from Mississippi come up for a visit. It was great to see Dan and Dominic a little over a year after we moved up North. While they were in town we hit all the major Portland sights. The first two pics were taken at Multnomah Falls (and yes, it really is that green there). We hiked a loop that was about six miles. The only downer was that we hit by a few rain showers. But hey, without the rain it would not look the way it does.






On a day where Anne had to do her school thing, Dan, Dom and myself headed out to Cannon Beach. On the way back we stopped at Saddle Mtn. and hiked on up. Its about 3 miles to the top and I think we got an elevation gain of about 1800 feet. It was pretty amazing. The views were great and despite the occasional light rain, we got some great views. The trail was not for the faint of heart though. It was slick and pretty narrow and steep in parts. Just check out the sign. I guess we are all now experienced hikers.... I really do wonder though how they get all the railing and trail material up there. There is no way they hike it all in. I'd have to say a helecopter was involved.

After all those days of hiking we usually took part in another one of Portland's offerings, brew pubs. I think we got to 3 of them, Tugboat, Rock Bottom and McMenamin's Kennedy School. Now if I can only get them back up here for the Brewers Festival. I have heard rumors that another friend from the South, Jay will be heading up this way. That's a future entry though...
-P

Spring Break, Pt. 2

Wow, how behind we are...I guess Anne is pretty busy now that spring break is over, so I'll do a couple of postings. After Dad and Grandma left, we headed out to Sunriver for a weekend of skiing at MountBachelor. We got to hang out over the weekend with our neighbor Sarah and a few friends. We got a really nice rental house complete with a hot tub. On Friday night we got some snow which helped out the conditions on Saturday. Mt. Bachelor is much better than Mt. Hood as far as skiing goes. The snow is much drier and easier to ski on. Needless to say, Anne had a much more enjoyable time skiing than when we went to Mt. Hood. I managed not to poke any more ski poles in my face and even managed not to fall at all. No pictures for fear of breaking our camera, so you'll have to take our word that it was a great day. We finished the weekend off by going to Bend for dinner at a brew pub. Really good food and beer. What could be better?

We left Sunriver on Sunday and headed back to Portland. Sarah convinced us to make a stop at Smith Rock (a little north of Bend for a quick afternoon hike. We climbed to the top, enjoyed the amazing view of the Sisters (more of the Cascades) and headed down. I must say though that Anne gets pretty nervous any where near an edge as you can see in the picture... We even got to see a few people doing some climbing. It was a great trip. It's really amazing to see how diverse Oregon really is depending on which side of the Cascades you are on.

Spring Break Report

Ew! Sorry everybody's had an extreme close-up of my face for the last 15 days. I had #32 pulled, by the way. My mouth is finally back to normal, after getting my 'stitch abscess' taken care of on Wed. (3 words you never want to hear your doctor say: "Ooooo, that's interesting.") -- but that's another story.

So I spent the first part of my Spring Break week wallowing around being a baby when Paul was around, and digging in the dirt & shopping when he wasn't. That was pretty fun.

Then on Tuesday evening Paul's Dad John & Grandma Ellen came to visit. John was on his Spring Break too, yee-haw! They drove all the way up from Paradise, CA, which is near Chico. That night we took them to the Kennedy School, and we only had to wait 30 minutes for a table. Everybody enjoyed their meal; Paul's dad got ribs. He prefers the goop on the side. I remember at Paul's graduation dinner he had ribs, and maybe a couple other times too. MY new standard is Bread Pudding, which I ended up having in lieu of my noodle dish. (the little pieces of noodle & veggies kept floating into the 'danger zone,' and I wasn't allowed to fish them out with my tongue yet. It was rough eating.) Thankfully, John let me get dessert even though I hadn't finished my dinner. It was sooo good -thanks for dinner (dessert)!
On Wednesday, we got up, hung out, and then headed over to Ellen's friend Lila's house. They've been friends for about 60 years! They talked about their families, trips they'd taken together, and Lila played one of her two grand pianos for us. She can rock & roll! Ellen treated us to lunch, and then we visited a little longer before taking off toward home. There we had another great meal (if I don't say so). Having family visit was an excellent excuse to grill a huge salmon & make one of our favorite salads (thanks Jeanette). Stuffed again. The next morning everybody took off early: Paul to work @ 5:50 & our visitors to home @ 6:30. Early birds! We had a nice time visiting, even though it was a short one.

-Anne

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Or this one...


If you said "nothing," you're in trouble!
Nevermind, I guess it's a little hard to capture the full effect on camera. I got my one little wisdom tooth pulled yesterday morning. It went okay, but now I'm ready for some real food and some non-sitting activities.
Hurrah for ice cream!
-A

What we did LAST weekend - never gonna catch up!

On Saturday we jogged, went to the grocery store, and then... hmmmm.
Anyway, somewhere in there I studied, Paul cleaned the bathroom, and we watched the latest Harry Potter DVD. It was fun b/c it was one of the first times Paul was able to balke at the poor justice movies versions of great books do for the story.
Sunday was a beautiful day! It was a little breezy, warm, and sunny. In the morning I studied some more, and Paul tried to fix the baseboard in our living room. He'd have to tell you about how that went. After lunch he wanted to go to a local park to practice throwing his lacrosse ball and readjust the new laces on his stick. I went with him (to study) & took the camera. It was great to get outside & not get dripped/spit/misted on!
After taking this picture and some others, I decided that maybe it's time for a more powerful camera. We got our 1st digital six or seven years ago. The megapixies are holding me back (I like to crop)! Anyway, this one turned out okay w/o cropping. I think if you click on it, you can see a bigger image. I was on the wrong side in relationship to the sun, Paul is teeny, and those stupid posts were in the way (other than that, I like it!). But, he's on the R-H third and the lower 3rd line. I learned that the third lines are good positions for subjects at my Creating Keepsakes send-off mega-crop last weekend (that's scrapbooking, all you non-crafters). That's worth another whole post; but now my study break's up!



-Anne

What we did last weekend

Before this weekend's over:

We had a pretty normal weekend, but in case you're interested...

Paul made another batch of beer. In 2 weeks, we'll have 10 gallons to suck down: an amber and a pale ale. He's sparging the pale ale here.

I studied, mostly Epidemiology, but also did some QR (qualitative research): interview transcriptions. My left foot fell asleep after a while. See Why?
He's such a big fat baby.

This is finals week. Then comes spring break!

-Anne

Holy Crap!

I got a letter from the governor - NOT the Gov-uh-nay-tah! Haley Barbour never replied to me before, not to mention my local representative...

"Thank you for sharing your ideas and concerns. I believe citizen
input is vital to a strong and healthy society and I urge your
continued involvement.   Should your comments
require an additional response, appropriate staff will contact you.
I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Sincerely,
Theodore R. Kulongoski
Governor"

WOW!
This was sent in response to a letter that I sent to him about a serious subject and South Dakota. With the assistance of one of the tons of web pages out there, YOU TOO could write your governor (and maybe even get an auto-response), whichever side of the issue you happen to be on.
So go exercise - your rights!

- Anne

Hi Mom!

Wow, I was on TV last week! That was an odd, interesting, fun little event. Being someone who used to hate getting my picture taken when I was younger, I can't believe I went with the intent of doing that!
AM Northwest is a local morning show on the abc channel KATU2. That lady in black on the left was the interview person - she's about 6 feet tall! Then Erin, right next to me (not the Munchkin), the Baby Boot Camp Director, is about 5'(+1"?) tall! That was a fun interview to watch.
It was pretty fun, but we must have done about 30 lunges on the same cheek for the long segment (they don't want any 'down time'). OW!
If you come visit us, you too can see the exciting footage.

Okay, good study break!

-Anne

The dorks went over the moun-tain

To see if they could ski!

Mt. Hood is a popular destination, especially on federal 3-day weekends. We jumped into the Mt. Hood Meadows caravan & got to the top in less than 90 minutes. The parking lot was neary full at 8:30; the park opened at 9:00!
I was a little tentative at first, and then lost all confidence as we got off the Cascade lift, only to find ALL blue ("harder") courses. I fell down 4 times, & snapped my ski out of the binding once. Whew! We spent the afternoon skiing green ("easier"), which I enjoyed much more.

Paul experienced a little drama too - had a close call. He slippedand almost fell, jamming the butt of his pole into his eye instead. Luckily he was wearing his goggles, so it deflected onto his cheek. The rest of the day he looked like this:











...except he only had one rosy cheek, and a bloody letter "D" was imprinted smack dab in the middle of it! Lucky for him, it didn't affect his skiing. He didn't fall down once!

We took the "Fruit Loop" road home, driving through Hood River to catch the interstate. In June or July, there is a huge Fruit Loop drive promo - so many roadway miles of fruit farms & stands, arranged in a big loop. We couldn't tell what kind of fruit they were growing, b/c all the signs just said "Fruit," and their orchards were bare. What grows in an orchard? Apples, cherry, pears, ??? Maybe we'll get to find out this summer, potential visitors & sightseers.
In Hood River, I made a quick stop at *$$ (Starbucks, notated in the checkbook log - it just takes to long to write it out every time), and we were home by dinnertime.
That was our fun, bank-breaking weekend!

- A

Oh My.

The sun is out...


































Rahrrrrrr!



































Waaaaaaaaaah!


-A

We paid to do what?

Wow, it's been a while since I've put something on this thing. Just thought I'd drop a little something on something Anne and I are planning. While at work one day, I got a news letter type thing. Turns out that the Corps of Engineers has a Hood to Coast Relay team (called the Dam Runners, it's a work thing...) and they were looking for people to join up. Having heard of it before, I thought it would be a pretty cool experience. Long story short, Anne and I are going to take part. It's a 197 mile relay race from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to the Oregon Coast at Seaside. It's the largest relay race in North America with 1,000 teams (each with 12 runners). We'll each be running 3 legs, probably averaging about 6 or so miles each. Anne has a leg up on training seeing as how she is training up for a half-marathon in a couple of months. No worries though, I'll catch up soon enough... More to come on this one for sure.