Yesterday was quite a lovely birthday indeed. We hiked in a place I'd never been, called Sauvie Island. I love how Portland is this big city with big city things and then you can go just a few minutes outside of downtown and suddenly you're deep in the woods. It's one of my many favorite things about living here. The hike is along the Columbia ( Read more... )

It's been busy times lately, so of course a righteous bout of insomnia hit me on the night before my work week began. I was kind of dreading this whole day, knowing I'd be exhausted, but it hasn't been too bad, actually. It's possible I'm a little flakier than usual, but luckily there hasn't been a whole lot going on. No real opportunities for me ( Read more... )

I usually never go this long between updates!  Apologies -- I just purchased Civ V after not playing for years, and suddenly all my free time disappeared.  Funny how that happens.  (It's a great game, by the way...but it's looooong and if you're like me, it will rob you of sleep and productivity, so don't say I didn't warn you ( Read more... )

Max had to be a grownup and go to work today, so he dropped me off at the SLC airport about five hours before my flight.  No biggie, I enjoy airports, because I like watching the planes and scoping out the shops and whatnot.  I walked around the entire Terminal 2 before I let myself sit down -- I figured with this much time to kill, I had no excuse ( Read more... )

I went to Chipotle tonight to grab dinner on my way home, wearing my Virginia Tech sweatshirt.  When I got to the register to pay, the guy in front of me waved me off and said he'd buy my dinner.  "Because you're a Hokie.  Merry Christmas!"  Turns out his son was class of '07 :)  That made my day.  I called my parents to tell them about it, and it ( Read more... )

Yesterday was a day of hosting visitors.  I spent the first half of the day tagging along with Shanon and family as we all took our friend Sharon around to see the sights of PDX.  First stop Voodoo, then a quick stop at Multnomah Falls, and a visit to Ikea, which I think is Shanon's favorite place to take visitors in the city.  We all kind of fell ( Read more... )

Finally made it home just before 7. It was a long day, but a good one. We detoured to the Painted Hills in central Oregon and had a lovely hike there. We also drove through a cattle drive on Route 26 between Ontario and John Day. That was a first for me -- I thought it was awesome and kept taking pictures. The cowboys driving the herd looked ( Read more... )

My friend Kelly emailed me yesterday to inform me that she is considering a move to Portland.  I told her no teasing -- either she's coming or she's not, and if she's going to dangle that carrot in front of me, she'd best prepare to follow through.  She gets here in ten days, and will be staying in my new place while she finds a job!  Shanon and ( Read more... )

I'm almost done with all my WW training, and it looks like I'll be taking on some meetings of my own pretty soon.  It'll be nice to get more into that and start seeing the income from it.  Funds are about to get tight for a bit.

Our latest update on the house situation is that the construction will be complete on Monday (of course, we've heard this ( Read more... )