The end is in sight

I'm in my room, and I am not sweating. And the fan is not even directly on me. Last night I slept much better, as the temperature dropped overnight lower than it had been earlier in the week. I woke up today without being covered in sweat, and felt more rested then I had in days. Today it only got up in the mid 90s I think, and that has made a huge difference. I think I will sleep very soundly tonight. And as the highs gradually make their way down to the low 90s and high 80s over the weekend, I plan to catch up on a lot of the sleep I didn't get earlier this week.

I don't have much about Portland to complain about

Because I really do love it here.

But I am as grumpy and irritable as a person can be right now. We are in the midst of a multiple day heat wave. It was 107 at 6 p.m. today. It's 10:15 now and it's still 93. Yes I know, I lived in the south most of my life so I should be used to those kinds of numbers, and yes I know we don't have the humidity here that the south has. But we also don't have air conditioning in our homes (most of anyways) and it's really starting to get to me. I need my sleep, people, and that is something that doesn't come easily when it's 90 in my apartment.

I've tried staying out the apartment as much as I can. Thankfully the hospital has air, so I'm comfortable at work. And my car has air. However it's hottest late in the afternoon here, so when I get off work at 4:30, it's definitely still the worst part of the day. Yesterday I left the apartment and went to a park for most of the evening, to watch Singin in the Rain (for the first time ever). The park was very very shaded, so it felt way better than the apartment. Tonight I went to the library for a while, and then to see the movie Away We Go (which, by the way, I loved and highly recommend) because those places have air conditioning. But I am so tired right now, and I just want to sleep, so I am at home. But it is still so freakin hot in here that I can't, which is why I am posting a blog complaining about it. I am sitting in my bedroom and sweat is running down my leg. Sitting. Typing doesn't usually cause me to sweat.

It's not just me. Everyone is grumpy. A patient, who I was simply trying to help, cussed me out today just because I had the audacity to call him. People are edgy (including myself) and walking around with miserable looks on their faces. Today was Tuesday and the movie I went to was full. Full as in no empty seats. Tuesday movies are never full. I heard people in line talking about what they might do if the movie was sold out, and they sounded so desperately sad about having no other options.

We have one more day of being above 100 and then a few days of high 90s before we finally get back into the 80's. Right now, a high of 96 sounds a heck of a lot better than 107.

I'll stop complaining for tonight. I'm ready to get back to the days of writing about the things I love here. I hope that happens soon.

The Parents Time in Portland

Ok, finally.

So Friday night the parents got here around 11 p.m., which was 2 a.m. to their tired, exhausted. So we pretty much came home and went to sleep. Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast at Little Red Bicycle Café, my favorite breakfast place. They loved it, which made me happy!




After breakfast we went to the Farmers Market. We went to the big one downtown instead of the neighborhood market so they could really get a feel for the market culture here. They were fascinated by it all, which I loved! The flowers last Saturday were simply amazing, but we didn’t buy any because I already had flowers at home from the drunk, naked neighbor (see the first picture up top-I wasn't able to get that one in the right order). So we loaded up on lots of goodie: goat cheese, Chubut cheese, 4 kinds of berries, two kinds of bread, three kinds of lettuces and spinach, tomatoes, huckleberry jelly, and I can’t even remember what else. Plus we tasted lots of other great things that we didn’t buy. After we took it all home, we made quick trips to Trader Joe’s (a first for them) and Fred Meyer.
Once we had all the groceries we would need for their stay, we loaded up the crock pot with ribs, bbq sauce, the huckleberry jelly and a bit of brown sugar. We rested briefly and then took off for the official Portland tour. I showed them every place I’ve lived and most of the places I spend my time in. Near the end of our tour we went to my favorite coffee shop, Barista, where we tried the vacuum pot coffee, something I had wanted to try for a while. It’s a 15 minute event and our barista was super informative and nice and educated us on the whole thing. Plus he gave us free beans to take home. You’ll probably, at some point, hear my parents talk about paying $10 for a cup (we turned it into 3 cups) of coffee, but they’ll also tell you it was worth it for that whole experience.








By this time it was getting to be late afternoon and I knew jet lag was kicking in. So we went home and enjoyed the evening relaxing and eating our incredible meal, which so much of was straight from the Farmer’s Market that morning.



Sunday morning we got up early, had breakfast at the great café three blocks away, and headed out to the Mt. Hood Colombia Gorge loop. We caught some nice views of Hood on the way there, but didn’t have time to actually wrap around it. However, our time along the gorge was incredible. We took the scenic highway, stopping at several overlooks first.









We then moved on along and stopped at several of the smaller falls, taking pictures all along the way.



















We eventually made it to Multnomah Falls, the biggest one here, and the 2nd largest in the U.S. It’s something like 620 feet and really beautiful. It’s also very crowded this time of the year as there is an exit off of I84 just for it. But all the people that went directly there missed out on some beautiful sights along the scenic highway.













After that we stopped at a state park and had our picnic lunch (consisting of yummyness from the market and Trader Joe’s). We then drove on to Cascade Locks, where we drove across the Bridge of the Gods into WA. Once on the other side of the bridge, we simply turned around and drove back into Oregon. Oh, the Bridge of the Gods is a toll bridge, $1.00 each way. So we paid $2 to say we went to WA. What we realized later was that we should have driven back to Portland on the WA side, but we didn’t. After observing that the only thing in Cascade Locks is an ice cream stand with people lined up down the street waiting for their cones, we hoped on 84 and came back to Portland.







We went to church Sunday evening where the parents got to meet most of my friends and see how I spend my Sunday evenings: in a lovely worship service alongside a great group of people, followed by dinner (at Hot Lips Pizza that night).

Monday morning my dad drove me to work and I think rejoiced in the fact that I couldn’t drag them around all over the place that day. From what I hear, they spent the day driving around to campsites so that they are well informed in a few years when they can bring the camper across the country and plant themselves here for a bit. They picked me up from work that afternoon and we stopped at Verizon to do some new phone purchasing. We then went up to Rocky Butte State Park so they could get some more amazing views of Hood and St. Helens as well. I don’t really have pictures of that because it was quite hazy and the mountains don’t really show up in those pictures. After that we went to eat at LePigeon which is quite the famous Portland restaurant. It’s French, obviously, and focused heavily on meat, and interesting kinds of meat, and interesting combinations of food altogether. It’s also small and has an open kitchen (but you can really only see that if you are sitting at the bar, which we were not). One of the chefs was the 2007 Food and Wine Magazine best new chef winner. I had the steak (with duck fat potatoes and bone marrow), my dad had the swordfish and my mom had the halibut. I think that’s right. They split theirs and shared the two kinds of fish. I, not being a seafood fan, did not taste theirs, nor did I offer a bite of mine! Oh, we had started the meal with plate of three different kinds of goat cheese. LePiegon is not a place you eat often, mostly because it’s not, um, cheap, but also because it’s just its own funky, unique adventure. I’m glad we went, it was really fantastic, but I doubt I’ll be going there again any time soon!



After dinner we went over to Powells (the book store, in case you have forgotten), where I think we could have left my dad for an entire day, as he only made it through a tiny portion of it before I could no longer hold my eyes open and decided we had to head home.

Tuesday I went to work and they had a relaxing day mostly around my great apartment. After work we fixed a dinner of spaghetti (my dad made the sauce and it had been simmering in the crock pot a good portion of the day, smelling incredible when you walk in the door) and salad, more of the oh so wonderful goat cheese and bread. While dinner settled, they packed up their stuff in preparation for the early morning flight. We then left to go have what was supposed to be the most amazing desserts they’d ever eaten, at my favorite dessert place, PIX. But when we arrived, we discovered that they were closed for their annual employee party. I was very not happy. They told me it was ok because they will come back again, but it was just not ok with me. We ended up going to Voodoo doughnuts, which is fine and great and it’s been featured on Food Network, but it just wasn’t what I had my heart set on. However we all enjoyed our doughnuts, followed by a few hours of sleep.
Wednesday morning we were up at 4:30 and out the door by 5 for their 7 a.m. flight. I was sad to see them go, but super excited that they had enjoyed their time here so much. I returned home to sleep for another hour before work while they took their first flight and then got bumped to first class for the last flight from Phoenix to Atlanta.
I don’t know if they’ve recovered from it all yet as they had a really busy rest of the week. My mom is now in Thomasville with Eugene, Mindy, Luke and Caroline for a few days before she starts back to school. My dad is at home resting. I talked to him earlier today and he said he was about to sit down and not move until tomorrow morning. I hope he did indeed get some rest.

I hope these pictures have enticed you to start looking for when you too can come visit!

Updates

Before I finally get around to pictures and stories of the parents weekend, let me tell you some other updates.

I found out last weekend that I get to stay in my current apartment! This is such good news! No more moving! And eventually all the rest of my belongings can make their way here. I don't actually take over the lease until something like Sept 1, but just knowing that I am not moving again is such a great relief! No on to the stress of all the take over the lease/buy furniture issues.

Last night I saw the movie 500 Days of Summer. Remember how I said I was only going to really review movies I felt strongly about? Well, that is now. I absolutely loved everything about it! You should definitely see it. At this point, it's my favorite movie I've seen this year.

Today I took Caitlin and Chris to the airport. They got bumped to first class. My parents got bumped to first class on the 2nd leg of their return trip on Wednesday. I have decided that I am a good luck charm and even though I myself never get bumped to first class, all those that I drop off at the airport will.

I went to a memorial service today for the father of a sweet lady from Hope. The service was at a BEAUTIFUL Episcopal church. It brought back such great memories of the summer in college when Katie and I went almost every weekend to her parents house on St. Simmons. Her family went to Christ Church on St. Simmons, which is a stunningly beautiful Episcopal church. I consider that my summer of being Episcopal because we went there every Sunday that we were on St. Simmons, which was really quite often. I do love being Presbyterian so much, but being in an Episcopal service makes me think about that summer and how great it was to be in the Sartin house so much, and to lay on the beach and watch for our cute tattoo boy who we saw every time we were there, and to go every Sunday to a service that was so different from what I was used to. I'm not sure that I could have appreciated then how different experiences like that were shaping me so much. That was the summer we went to Poland, and immediately after returning we headed to their house and spent several days laying on the beach, recovering from jet lag, mentally, physically and emotionally processing our first overseas mission trip (which led both of us to do more, and if you've known me for half a second you know that it lead to my passion for missions). Anyways, I'm rambling, and this is really more of a walk down memory lane for Katie and me, but I just wanted to say that being in an Episcopal service today brought back a lot of great memories.

After the memorial service I went to a baby shower for Jamie, my former roommate/landlord. A day with both a memorial service and a baby shower? That's the kind of day that leaves me deep in thought.

It's very hot here, and only getting hotter for a few days. We're supposed to hit 100 this week. That's really not fun in the apartment. Caroline said today that I can come sleep in their basement if I need to, and I just might have to do that! At least my office is air conditioned!

I'm headed out to a park. Lots of parks do free movies in the summer, and one is showing Dirty Dancing tonight. That's one of my all time favorites. I can quote pretty much the entire thing, which I promise not to do while watching it in the park.

I also promise to get stories and pictures from last weekend posted before work on Monday. Depending on how tired I am tonight I might get it done then, but if not, definitely tomorrow.

Check back tomorrow

I got my pictures organized, however I am waaaay too tired to write about the past few days. I'll try to do that tomorrow, so check back then.

Anothe preview for you

The parents are asleep, as I should be, in preparation for a very early morning flight back to Georgia. I'm sad to see them go. It's been a really wonderful few days. They have enjoyed Portland more than I could have even hoped for! Here are two more pictures to hold you over until I'm able to write a full recap and sort through the tons of pictures. The one of my dad and me is at Little Red Bike, and the one of my mom and me is at the Falls. I hope these are showing up. Something weird is going on with that 2nd one. If not, just hang on a bit longer. There will be more to come.



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A Preview

We've had a fantastic time so far. I think I've worn my parents out. They are probably glad I have to go to work tomorrow so they can rest! Here's a picture of the 3 of us from today, with the Colombia River behind us, as a little preview for you. Obviously this picture is more about the 3 of us than the scenery around us, but later this week I will post lots and lots of pictures of the beautiful scenery.

Nakedness is a theme in my life

I don't know why.

When I got up this morning, my roommate asked me if Molly, our neighbor, had woken me up last night. I said no, thinking she must have knocked on the door or something. Our door is downstairs, the rest of our apartment is upstairs. And outside our door is the foyer area of the house-the house was turned into multiple apartments. So really there's two doors to go through to get in, which means that sometimes we forget to actually lock the door to our specific apartment. I guess last night was one of those nights, because Molly was drunk and naked and wandering around our apartment at 4:30 in the morning, making enough racket to wake my roommate up who then led her back downstairs to her own apartment. I was, apparently, sleeping like a baby and never heard a thing. While it's a little scary that I could sleep through that, I'm also glad, because I've never seen Molly so I would have been freaking out if I had woken up, not knowing that she lived in the building. We'll be locking our door from now on.

I saw Harry Potter tonight, and while the 3 people I saw it with only seemed to think it was ok, I really liked it a lot. But it's been so long since I've read the books that it's hard for me to remember details, so that's probably why. And really, I just love those characters so much that seeing them onscreen just makes me happy.

It's late and I'm tired. Happy Friday to you! I'll post about the weekend with my parents later next week.

Hello

Not much to say lately. The weekend was nice-slightly less social than the weekend before, with lots of rest time, apartment cleaning time, preparation for parents coming time, mixed in with a bit of social-ness as well. The week so far is going well, nothing exciting, normal hum drum of life really. I have a committee meeting tonight which might be a sign than Hope is well on it's way to being an established Presbyterian church :) I'm seeing Harry Potter on Thursday, and I'm quite excited about that. And then my parents arrive on Friday evening and are here through next Wednesday morning. If you don't hear from me before then, you'll hear from me shortly after, I'm sure.

Food, Inc

If you eat food, see the movie Food, Inc.

A long recap of a long weekend

My holiday weekend began when I left work on Thursday. Portland has a monthly art event called First Thursday. Lots of galleries downtown are open late, some with artists hanging around, and some are showing student shows. The galleries are all spread out and quite different. Last month I went with a group and we saw student art that none of us really cared for. This month I went with two friends to two galleries that were not student work and really enjoyed the art I saw. Afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat and I went home and crashed early after a very long week.



Friday was Happy July 3rd day. I went with several friends to Sauvie Island, about a 30 minute drive, to pick berries. Sauvie is beautiful and it was nice to be in a country atmosphere for a while. We picked lots of raspberries and blueberries and I want to go back for more of both, plus blackberries a little later in the summer. We were there for close to 3 hours, and got soaking wet because the best berries were in the path of the massively large sprinkler system. It was worth it to get soaked. The berries are delicious! We had lunch back in Portland and then dispersed. I spent the rest of my afternoon getting the few remaining items I had left at Jamie’s out of her house and into my apartment. And also I put away the berries. Some are in the freezer for later use, while some are being consumed quickly.





Friday the 3rd evening I went to dinner with my friend Amy and then went to Caitlin’s to watch a movie-the sequel to Anne of Green Gables, even though I never saw the first one. Chris had made raspberry ice cream from the berries picked that morning and it was oh so good. I didn’t make it through even the first disc of the movie before I had to go home and sleep. All in all, a great day.

The 4th of July started with a trip to the market but not the same market I’ve been going to. My neighborhood has a market and I had been meaning to check it out, but just never had since I had gotten into the habit of going to the big one downtown. But now I live 8 blocks away from the neighborhood market and it’s just so nice to roll out of bed and wander down there. So I did. It’s a really nice, fun market. It’s smaller but that makes it a bit more manageable. They have all the fruit and vegetables I could need. They don’t have the same cheese selection, so every few weeks I’ll still be going to the big market for that. But I still got lots of good stuff. I got two kinds of lettuce for salads this week, tomatoes, some vegetables that I plan to roast (including beets which is new for me-I’ll give you my verdict later in the week), some apricots and some sweet honey flavored fresh yogurt cheese made from a mix of cow and sheep’s milk that is so incredible on toast with some of my fresh picked berries on top. Oh my word.



After the market I made my way over to Little Red Bike for a lunch of grilled hot dogs and free root beer floats. It felt very 4th of Julyish.

During the afternoon I made a blueberry pound cake and did some rearranging in the kitchen so that I finally have access to all my stoneware which for 4 months rode around in the trunk of my car. It’s the one part of all my kitchen stuff that is actually here in Portland, and I’m finally able to use it. Oh, and my Kitchen Aid mixer, which was also in my trunk for 4 months. Except that I got here without the flat beater which is the main attachment that I need.



Later in the afternoon I, along with the blueberry pound cake, went to a BBQ at the home of some Hopers. Most of Hope was there and it was lots of fun and I had all the rest of the official 4th of July food-a cheeseburger, chips and salsa, deviled eggs, potato salad, watermelon and multiple desserts. It was nice and relaxed and fun.

Originally I had thought about going to the big fireworks show downtown, but I wasn’t in the mood for a crowd, so after it got dark last night, I walked over to the Little’s house (they live 3 streets over) and sat in their yard watching the neighborhood fireworks. Ok, when I was growing up, we had sparklers and bottle rockets and noise makers that didn’t really spark much on the street. Here people buy BIG fireworks for the street. We saw quite the impressive show, all in the comfort of the front yard. It was a really nice ending to the 4th of July.

This morning I made myself some yummy blueberry pancakes, and then met Amanda at my favorite coffee shop, Barista. I’ve been having a pretty chill afternoon, doing some laundry and reading and contemplating a nap before church.

And that pretty much sums up my long holiday weekend. I’ve felt rather exhausted and a bit anxious, I think due to the past few weeks of changing jobs, learning the new job, moving and trying to get settled, all finally catching up with me. This week I should be back in a normal routine and I’m looking forward to that. My parents are coming in two weeks and I’m very much looking forward to that. I’m officially open for visitors now, so all the rest of you can plan your trips too! I hope you’ve all had a fun and safe 4th of July weekend!

Happy Holiday Weekend!

Yay for long weekends!! Lots of fun things coming up this holiday weekend, so check back near the end of the weekend for a recap. I hope whatever your plans are, you have tons of fun and relaxation!!