Back from Portland where Schroeder and I went out to visit young JenO and her awesome new house, meet her boy, Anil, and eat a lot of great food. Although we were there a couple weeks past peak fall colors, the scenery was gorgeous – orange leaves and evergreens were everywhere. In addition to helping JenO with some things about the house (read 4 trips to Home Depot in 4 days) we also took an overnight trip out to the coast, where I had my first yurting experience. For $30/night we were afforded a heated tent which slept six surrounded by beautiful forest and a half mile from Beverly Beach, just North of Newport. Upon arrival we went out to the beach to wander the coast, run from the waves, and then engage in a viscous game of rock hockey, which the men narrowly won by injuring and then overpowering their competitors. It was then that I captured pictures of Jen and Anil at sunset, which we all agreed would work well as a background for a feminine hygiene tv spot. After watching Anil and Matt do oyster shooters with dinner and then enjoying some quiet time at a lovely local drinking establishment, we were treated to a storm of hurricane quality on and off for the next 12 hours which made for some exciting moments while we tried to sleep in our canvas house. The trip back was equally interesting; after stopping to sample some wines from an area vineyard we were joined by a wedding party dressed in full-on clown attire: squeaky noses, big shoes and all. The rest of the weekend was more normal by comparison but still a lot of fun, hanging with Jen’s roomies and friends and my transplanted friends Jim and Mel, and Mel and Maggie.
Archive for November, 2002
Portland, OR
Wednesday, November 20th, 2002
Luckily a sideways Z makes a dandy N
Sunday, November 3rd, 2002Last night we all celebrated Halloween for the third and final night (god willing, I can’t take anymore) and this time I was part of the alphabet – the letter J specifically. Eric from work and his friend Ed organized 26 of us (give or take an N) letters, came up with costumes and then we gathered at the head of State St. After spelling a few things on the capitol steps, we went down State, spelling out requests and adding other dressed up people to our displays when necessary. It got pretty obscene at times, but seemed to be quite the crowd pleaser.
Whose idea was it to put M&Ms in the gumball machine anyway?
Friday, November 1st, 2002Starting today, I’m off the M&Ms, as suddenly have found self size of house. (bridget jones-ism) That and I’ve returned to exercise after my month-long illness and 2-month-long vacation from the gym. Would you believe those gum-ball machines hold 7-8 bags of M&Ms? At work we know this because we refill it often.
November 2002 update
Friday, November 1st, 2002I just read last month’s news and I was talking about 90° weather and wakeboarding. Since then the leaves have changed and are falling off, it’s snowed a couple times, and my focus has changed from water to home improvement.
The most recent of which is an attempt to switch my bedroom with my den, adding hardwood floors to the will-be den. It’s a great room, but unfortunately has three exposed walls and is over the garage and I’m sick of sleeping under 5 blankets and seeing my breath in the morning when I wake up. So we’ll see where this gets me.
As for the job scene, I was quite content for the first two-thirds of the month, then quite discontent after a meeting which can only be described as unprofessional and embarrassing on behalf of my department. The politics here are laughable at times, but sometimes it’s hard to remember to laugh at them when the end result makes you look like an idiot. Currently I’m wondering if I should just quietly go with the flow and grow complacent, compromising my values and quality of work so as not to rock the boat, and excel as a good little “menial” (a term used by a client, just today) state worker. Not bloody likely. =] Should be interesting to see how this all pans out.
Socially, October was pretty slow which was a welcome change of pace (and convenient, because I was sick for more than half of it). Except for the last week which made up for the previous three between Stacy’s 30th Monday-night birthday celebration, a fun wedding and Halloween. That following Sunday was not so good for me. Apparently 31 isn’t the year that I learn not to go to successive parties and bars after an open bar wedding; was kinda hoping it was. ={
November looks promising – my mom’s whole family (she’s 1 of 8 kids) is celebrating my grandpa’s 80th birthday on Sunday, I start a course on video editing the following week and the week after that I’m headed to Portland to see JenO! The week after that my best friend from 1st grade into highschool is getting married and then we’re into Thanksgiving and the holiday season already. Yikes.
