Feeling Fantastic!

For those of you who may read my blog and are not facebook friends, this blog is about my not so typical Saturday night... the first Saturday night of my 5 weeks off from school for summer break. I will be adding a bit more info that I left out of the original post on FB and what not too. Enjoy it!

So far my summer break is off to an amazing start. Had a great time with the guys on Friday night gaming, and get to go game with my new group tonight, I'm so excited! But let's talk about last night....

Stef came to town and wanted to go dancing. Now, years ago this is something I did on an almost nightly basis, at least 4+ times per week. As I have gotten older I have also done much less of going out clubbing and dancing until the wee hours of the morning, however last night was an exception. I have to say that the new meds I am on are doing their job, I have my energy back. YAY!

First of all we went to dinner somewhere new to both of us, the Sapphire Hotel. I always like going somewhere new here in P-town you never know what you are going to get. This meal was INCREDIBLE! Oh, as a background the last several times Stef has been out here to go out we have been to restaurants where you get no utensils to eat, so this was a nice change... eating with forks! Anyway, we started off with drinks. I had a drink called "Going Up", pepper infused tequila, cilantro, and their house made sweet & sour. OMG... seriously like the most AMAZING drink I have had in a very long time. She had "Room Servie", their house specialty marionberry margarita.. a bit sweeter than mine but equally delish!

Then came our appetizers, bacon wrapped dates stuffed w/ blue Stilton, and salmon & corn cakes, both were spot on. She had the shrimp and risotto cakes and I had the hanger steak w/ sweet mashed potatoes and a pomegranate glaze. Seriously absolutely fabulous. We topped it off with dessert and 2 more drinks. Their cinnamon sugar bread pudding and some sort of mascarpone chocolate mouse cake.

Needless to say we were stuffed and I completely blew my anti-inflammatory diet. It was well worth it! I can't wait to go back again and try some of their other items at happy hour prices.

From dinner we headed out to the local lesbian bar for some tunes and dancing. Not much going on there, the music wasn't all that great especially when the DJ decided to have a mini Michael Jackson tribute and played 3 of his songs in a row. That is about the time I was ready to leave. We danced to a couple of songs, watch the girl who was wearing a tutu dance with her friend (I think it was her birthday), and then headed over to the Embers where we would be assured of great music, drag queens, and who knows what else.

After finally giving up looking for a parking place and paying the $6 fee to park in the lot across the street from the Embers, we headed in and the music was pumping, dance floor was crowded so we headed straight onto the floor. It wasn't long before I was approached by a very cute young woman who asked if Stef and I were a couple of course this took a few times because the music was so loud I couldn't hear her. I of course said no, then she proceeded to tell me I was pretty and wanted to know if she could dance with me. "Of course!" gosh, who wouldn't want to dance with someone who just told them they were pretty. hehe *blush* We danced a bit more and noticed this rather strange little man who kept moving around the floor trying to grind on random women, there was a rather intoxicated group of people where it looked like one of the guys and his girlfriend exchanged bottoms (she was wearing his shorts and he was wearing her skirt), can't forget about the girl who was wearing what appeared to be ONLY a track style jacket with no bottoms (NONE... like no underwear or anything... it was rather disturbing!), then there was the crazy shirtless jumping in the air falling on people around him guy, and of course there were drag queens.

Dancing for about an hour we decided to go watch some of the drag show. Ahhh you have to love these men who put on more makeup than a rodeo clown and can sometimes make fairly convincing women. The whole lip quiver, skimpy outfits.. it was very entertaining. We headed back to the dance floor after a brief stint watching the queens.

Out on the floor again was creepy dude #1 who was trying to grind against anything (male of female) that would let him. It was quite entertaining as I kept spinning Stef away from him and yet he still didn't get the hint. Then I began to elbow him every time he got close to me. There was a rather intoxicated girl that he started to grind with until her un-intoxicated friend stepped in and told him to back off, it was rather amusing. Finally he found another intoxicated girl who was apparently as horny as he was. He backed her up to the back of the dance floor where they began heavily making out. Oh, I almost forgot, the whole time on the dance floor creepy dude kept rearranging his unit and grabbing himself. ICK! So, their making out led to hand down each others pants... right on the dance floor! Seriously, these two were wasted, couldn't' stand up on their own, he now had his package out of his pants and was trying to get her pants low enough so that he could bang her... ON THE DANCE FLOOR!

This was all just too amusing not to watch and at one point there was a decent size crowd of us just kind of pretending to dance as we watched this happen. I actually said to Stef at one point, "This girl needs a good friend," I mean who would let their friend do this with a stranger??? Anyway, their mutual exploration of each other went on for some time until a random girl decided to pull drunk chick away from creepy dude which left him trying to stand up and put his willy back in his pants. At this point I flagged security and told him about the guy who was getting closer to both Stef and I with his Mr. Johnson still sticking out of his pants. It was at this point we decided to call it a night.

Not bad seeing as it was 2 am, I wasn't feeling tired at all, and had been dancing off all those extra calories from dinner. Dropped Stef off at her parents, and got home by 3. Ahhh what a night!

Stef also wrote up a little dity about our eventful evening and I wanted to add some of what she said. Apparently she thinks I am a boob smothering, boisterous, biznatch. Not really, those are my own words and I thought it summed up what she said here: "Of note on the drive to the restaurant and every drive after that is that Amy is a VERY vocal driver. There are play by plays, there is cussing. As much as Zachary talks I imagine this is the type of driver he will be. ;)"

She also added the following about the drag queens: "Afterwards we took a break and watched a Drag Queen show. There were 3 notable acts 1) the skinny one dancing to Disturbia whose dancing looked similar to an epileptic seizure 2) the SUPER creepy Cher-like one. He was in a full see through body suit except for a speedo. Not a pretty body mind you. He just looked stoned and super creepy, to the point that Amy was trying to bail on the show. I forced her to stay against her will! 3) the one that was actually pretty good. He had tall boot, flowing (combed) hair a cute hat, bustier plus bikini bottom. Such a good job I truly wondered where he put his penis. Very professional tuck! ;)

And her final words: "Another couple random situations of the night 1) there was this white chick dressed like Pocahontas/ Indian Princess. At one point she got into the cage and did some dancing and I was thinking how that's not very politically correct! 2) There was a guy in a kilt OR as Amy thinks the girlfriend/ boyfriend swapped shorts/ skirt - he was dancing bent over while she was 'riding him' and slapping his ass.


Oh I forgot to mention about creepy dude, as we were leaving I said to Stef, "He really was rockin' out with his cock out." (giggles) It was prefect! :)

Overall a lot of eyes popping out of sockets and laughter. I'll always feel comfortable at Embers because I can do whatever and not be the weirdest! ;)"

I must admit that yes, I too will always feel comfortable at Embers or ER because the people tend to have fun in those places and aren't so caught up in the "scene". Just good times!


A side note about school, just got my grades and I now have an A,B,C for the term. I am not thrilled with the B (in Speech) but will accept it, and am ecstatic about the C. Getting the C means that I didn't fail the final and that I actually understood the problems. I have to say I really was worried that I was going to fail the class or get a D and have to be on academic probation. Math is and always will be a struggle for me. Thankfully though I only have ONE term left to take of math. Hip-hip-hooray!

Peace, love, and chicken grease!

There's always next year...

This seems to be my motto lately. I am getting pretty good at missing events that I have been wanting to go to (being out of town, or having something else going on or being sick). Let me go back a couple of weeks to get ya'll caught up on what has been going on.

First off, I am almost finished with summer term. This coming week is finals and I will be so happy to see summer term end. That will mean that I only have ONE... O-N-E term of math to go. YIPEEEEE! I cannot tell you how much that means to me. In my women's studies class we are doing a group presentation for our final. My group has been studying Wicca. I have learned a lot this past weekend about witches, witchcraft, and this quite interesting religion.

Let's see next is the dreaded health chit chat. It's funny, it really is true that the older we get the more we talk about our health. Mine seems to be good news or at least I have gotten some answers. I started seeing a Natural-path. She has me on this really wonderful (read: I HATE) diet to figure out what foods I am allergic to. At this point I cannot eat any of the following: wheat, dairy, soy, refined sugars, fake sugars, tomatoes, potatoes (with the exception of sweets potatoes), nuts (except coconut), eggplant, and well... those seem to be the major restrictions. I will just say this, spelt bread isn't horrid, however gluten free cereal and almond milk is NOT the same as any "normal" cereal and cows milk. I have also been OFF of diet Pepsi for over 2 weeks! Who'd a thunk?! So far I have been having a bit of headaches come and go due to the lack of caffeine but not enough to cease functioning.

On the good side of the health issues, she (my new Doc) tested me further for thyroid issues and we have found out that I have a not quite uncommon autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. The kinda crazy thing is is that htere is no real cure for this yet, just experimental stuff. She has me on some remedies and I think they may be working. Yay!

Ok, now for the more fun stuff! I apologize that this blog is becoming so lengthy, this will teach me to not update it more frequently! This morning I woke up at 4 am to get to the MAX by 5:30 (riding my bike there), for the hour long ride to downtown Portland. Katie and I rode in the Portland Bridge Pedal. 3 different routes crossing either 11, 8, or 6 of the cities bridges. Due to my health issues, being sick so much I haven't been able to ride my bike much in preparation for the ride and only made it across 2 of the bridges. It was worth it, kicked my ass but fun.

Next year I shall complete the ride, which brings me to the title of my post... There's always next year!

Summer break wrap up...

With the end of spring term I decide that I wanted to take advantage of the week off before starting summer term. First up on the plate was heading to Eugene to visit a friend who I recently got in contact with via Facebook. Ahhh the wonders of the social networking sites. Somedays I love them and others I just think they are the biggest time sink and waste of time ever. However, in this case, FB was my best friend. I got to see Meg after not seeing her for over 6 years. What a fabulous time we had. I got to play with her ponies (ok so just petting them and taking their photos, and bringing them in for the night) it was great. Sometimes I do miss having a horse but then again not having them is a lot better to my non existent bank account.

We went and had some fabulous drinks, this pepper infused margarita was the BEST, at Lava Lounge. I had a fab burger w/ mushrooms and brie cheese. YUMMMMO! Spent a lot of time just relaxing, playing with the dogs, and catching up. At the end of the trip Meg decided to give me a brand new tent and air mattress.. this came in useful later in the week.

Tuesday was the Hillsboro Farmers market in downtown Hillsboro. I got to ride my bike down there and meet up with friends where we had some more yummy food, picked up some fresh rhubarb and strawberries, and some vegan chocolate truffles (they are incredible!). I decided to try making a strawberry rhubarb pie... it turned out very good, but the crisp I made was better. Overall not bad for my first attempt.

Wednesday my aunt and I took the dogs to Seaside. Her dog had never been to the beach before so this was a momentous occasion. What I thought was going to be a grey day turned out to be quite lovely over in Seaside. There was amazingly a lot of people there for the middle of the week. Tiger loved just laying in the surf (I will post a pic later).

By Thursday it was time to just relax, as Maggie and I had been on the go all week and were a bit tired. We were also gearing up to go camping. This is something that I haven't done since I was a child. More on the camping trip later as it is past my bedtime and school starts at 8 am with Math tomorrow... bleh!

Goodnight my friends!

It's here! It's finally here!

The "it" that I am referring to is actually a couple of things. First off, summer seems to be peaking around the corner with temps getting up into the 80's and 90' all over the state. The recent bout of nice weather has had me out enjoying my bike. Thanks to Crazy Kate who picked Betty (my bike) and I up and took us out for a nice ride.

The other "it" is the end of my second term of school. I can't believe that the Spring term has got only 1 week left until finals. The term has been pretty good, and I will def miss a couple of my Profs. I will once again be taking 15 credits during the summer term and of course there is a math class.... I swear that will be the bane of my existance! :P

Memorial Day weekend came and went. I got to spend it at the Oregon coast visiting my parents. It was a great time and gorgeous weather! We spent a night in Newport and the following morning was a minus tide which meant killer tide pools.


So not the most creative blog ever, but hey... at least I made an effort! haha :P

Enjoy the pics. :)

It's over for another year...

Ahhh April 16th has marked the end of tax season, now I can really focus on school and some sleep.. or can I? After last nights end of tax season party I was excited to sleep in today, but then I woke up with a nasty headache and all I have wanted to do is sleep all day! Ugh, I hate days like that. I haven't even opened a book, which I need to do! That's what this weekend will be for I suspect.

So let's see where was I when we last met? It was coming to the end of winter term at school. I did well in my classes getting to 2 As and 1 B. Not bad for not having been in school for long. I just found out last week that my grades earned me a spot on the Dean's list. Woo hoo! That was a bit exciting for me. This term in school I am taking Sociology, Personal Health, Math 65 (Algebra), and US History 203. I have 2 of the same instructors which makes it nice. So far I am enjoying all of the classes, yes even math. I have a "math friend", makes going to class a bit more fun.

I am quite excited as spring is def in the air. I am going to purchase a bike this weekend so that I will start getting out and enjoying the outdoors. I am quite excited. Honestly there really isn't much going on. Maggie has been on thyroid medication now and her energy levels have gone through the roof, just like she was a pup again. She drives me crazy some days with the dang red ball, but I love her she is a great companion.

There you have it a bit of an update which pretty much most of you who read this already know. I just felt the need to post! :)

Cheers!

Small update

My first term back to school is quickly drawing to an end. This is dead week and boy am I feeling dead! I have been trying to keep my bedtime to 10:00 pm as 6:30 am comes FAR too early. My life has pretty much been work, school, homework, sleep, rinse repeat. Weekends have left little time for playing my newly acquired Wii, but I do love it! I need to get the Wii fit since I can't really afford the whole gym thing. On that note I am planning on purchasing a really cool old fat person bike from REI. I am sooo excite about getting it, I think that may happen this weekend. Back to the school thing, so far I have confirmed that as long as I do well on my final project in writing and get at least an 85% on my math final I will have 2 A's, I am not sure about History, that is a solid B if not an A if I do well on the final. I am totally crossing my fingers.

Maggie has been doing well although me being a picker and mother hen, noticed something funky going on with her ears last week. She went to the vet, had her ears shaved, and has a fungus on her ear tips. Not sure what it is caused from, she is on meds now so hopefully it is gone in a week or 2. She also has been diagnosed with almost non existent thyroid. Just like her mom she gets to be on thyroid meds. Lucky us! lol Other than that she is still my happy go lucky, "let's play with the red ball" Maggie.

That's it for now, hope all is well with you in blogger land!

Cheers!

RIP Grandpa

About 30 minutes ago I got a phone call that my mom's dad passed away. Anyone who knows me, knows that the relationship I had with him wasn't the best especially the last several years. I haven't actually seen him since 2004. Maybe that is why I am so torn up. Death really is about closure. I know that in his last years he wasn't himself, suffering from dementia. He just wouldn't have known who I was. I feel so guilty that I didn't go see him. I was actually mad at him for the things he said to my mom and about her. I know that he didn't understand what he was saying, it was still just hurtful. I hope he knows that I did love him, I am sure he did.

He always told me to find a good cowboy to get married to. He was a cheap man, financially. I guess that is what happens when you live through a depression. He would always send me $2 bills when I was a little girl for my birthday and Christmas. The not he included in it would say "No booze, pot, or cigarettes". Which is a bit ironic as he both smoked cigarettes and drank.

He would come to my horse shows and watch me ride. I know he was proud of me. He built his own house, the one my mom and her sisters grew up in. He lived in it until he had to go into an assisted living home. He took me to my first horse race in Grants Pass. We ate cold pork and beans out of a can for dinner.

Grandpa Dave, you were loved and I hope you are at peace now.

Love,

me

Life is good

In short, yes, life is going well.

1) School- busy as usual. Only have 4 real weeks of class and then finals week. I only have one final test and that is in Math. I have a bunch of papers due in writing, but that is easy for me so I am not too concerned with those. Then I will have another 2 papers and a ton of reading to do for history. Guess I know what I will be spending a majority of my weekend doing!

2) I bought a used Wii. Yes I finally gave in to the urge. I am so excited to play. Although I bought i last Sunday I haven't had time to play.. school and work keep me pretty busy during the week. So, if anyone wants to have a Wii party come on over on a Saturday or Sunday. :)

3) Work- Yikes! We are in the full swing of things, let me tell you! Busy busy. It's hard for me to remember those days when I didn't work or have classes to attend. It's a good thing this is my 4th year doing the accountant gig. I work for such nice people it's great!


Those are pretty much the major things that have gone on sine my last post. Honestly I lead such an exciting life, please don't be too jealous. ha ha ha :P Maggie is adjusting to me not being at home as much. Poor girl, I think she has developed quite an anxiety disorder. What with my pit stops at home at lunch and in between work and school, she has no idea what's going on.

Next on my purchase list is a wicked cool bike from REI. I am so excited especially now that the weather is warming up and it is actually sunny. YAY!

Cheers everyone!

Broken record

I knew that going back to school was going to be a lot of hard work especially given that my first term back I am also working full time. Talk about sounding like a broken record... wake up, go to work, go home for a snack, go to school, home for dinner, bed. Rinse repeat. Sometimes I am lucky enough to talk with friends on the phone as opposed to only via chat and yet sometimes, VERY rarely I get to SEE them in person! To all of you who have been checking on me. I have had to enlist those of you who are on my chat list for help is making sure I am not online after 10 pm. It is so easy for me to want to stay up late but boy 6:30 am comes far too early!

Math has been successful so far. We just had a big test and I didn't study (bad me!) but still got an 86/100. I am pretty pleased with that. This past weekend I was holed up reading a book called "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl". For anyone interested in wanting to know more about slavery and what a person would go through to become free, READ THIS BOOK! I am really loving history. I have always liked my history classes and learning about history but I have also realized just how much grade school & high school history has been sugar coated. Sad really.

I can't believe that midterms are next well already. Yikes! Where did the time go???

In other news... oh wait, there really isn't anything else going on in my life. HAHAHA :P Magster is learning to deal with me being away from the house so much. I try to spend any spare time I have doing stuff with her. Heh, I am making it sound like she is a human or something. Oh, I do get to go to the coast this weekend. Although I am tempted to say I can't go because my History midterm is Tuesday and since I don't have any free time other than weekends to prepare for it, I am not sure I would have enough. Guess I will have to see what happens.

Good luck out there in blogger land.

Cheers! :)

Homework, school, and hiking

Well week #2 of school is down, going into week #3. I have successfully managed to make it to all of my classes and now work on time. It is quite the adjustment and I am feeling a bit like a broken record. Work, home (eat & change), school, homework, sleep, rinse repeat. I have also had my first math quiz and got an A. Yay me! hehe :) All is moving along quite nicely. I just didn't anticipate how much reading there would be, especially in my writing class.

Had a super weekend. The weather was absolutely gorgeous even if it was a tad on the cool side. I managed to get to the Hawthorn area for shopping and a bite to eat on Saturday. I have found this place that sells lotions and oils and stuff that you can get scented. They have a HUGE selection to choose from, I went with Thai Tea this time. Yummo!

Sunday was supposed to be my homework day although it was far to nice to stay in. K invited me and the Magster to go with her and 4 other friends on a hike. I was told it was just a short one, wouldn't take to long. I agreed since I really needed the exercise. Between the 6 humans and 4 dogs it was quite a fun time. We went to Sauvie Island where there is a rather easy hike, especially if you are in decent shape. It is 7 miles round trip and very pretty. Views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt, Hood was even visible. At the end of the trail, after 3.5 miles, was a cute little light house. We stopped and had some yummy cookies that K had made for us as we enjoyed the view. Overall it took about 2.5 - 3 hours. I am sure feeling it today! It was well worth it though. Thank you Miss K for sticking with my out of shape ass! :) I would post pics, but I was a complete idiot and didn't have a cf card in my came... I did have an extra battery though! Arg! :P

After going hiking yesterday I am even more determined to get into way better shape. I am def in need of good hiking shoes, backpack, first aid kit, water container, and a different jacket. I guess those are going on my list of items to by when I get a paycheck, well that and a bike. :)

That's about it for now...

-Cheers

It's a New year!

Greetings out there in blogger land. With 2009 having snuck up on me I figure I may as well try to let those of you who are actually interested in my life know what is going on. So many things have happened since we last met. Let’s begin…




Dec 8th I got to go see my very favorite group, Nine Inch Nails.. Can I just say how much I <3 Mr. Reznor.... Anyway, it was SOOO cool as he allowed real cameras and video cams in to the concert. I took my camera and got some pretty nice shots, but I wasn't too sharp as I had forgotten to take a second battery and the first one died before the end of the first set. Darn it all! However Mister Ed was able to get a lot of it on his video cam so I can relive the night over and over and over. Thanks Mister Ed for the concert! I had a fairly perfect weekend as we also went to Kell's... my very favorite restaurant in Ptown and the night before we went to Montage my second favorite place to go.



Oregon has seen one crazy winter. I am not the first to let you all know this. Many a friend had their holiday plans ruined or at the very least deterred due to the lovely copious amount of snowfall that we had. I for one was due to visit my parents in lovely Florence, OR the week of Christmas. My plans however were delayed by about a week when I was finally able to make it out of town. I know some of you tried driving in from The Dalles to Portland taking anywhere from 3-6 hours…. So happy that wasn’t me! Then again there was also those who drove from Portland to Salem in a whopping 3 hour trip (normally like 45 mins to an hour tops for those of you unaware). Yes, the snow played a bit of havoc on us here in the Pacific Northwest. From reports I read it was like the largest snowfall in 50+ years! Crazy! All I can say is that I am quite happy it s over, for now it seems. I could never put up with that amount of snow for the amount of time we had it, year round. YUCK! I much prefer that pretty white stuff to stay up on the mountains!

Moving on, I did make it to Florence. It was a great little trip. I lucked out and it didn’t really rain much at all. YAY! I made it back to Portland to pick up a friend then head to The Dalles for New Year’s Eve. WOW… all I can say is that I am sorry. Someone (that would be me) had a wee bit too much to drink and may have done some crazy stuff. Now here is the best part of me being under the influence of alcohol, I remember EVERYTHING! Unlike some people who tend to not remember what they did or said whilst intoxicated. You see this is why I am sorry. I remember EXACTLY the things I aid and did. Oh boy do I ever remember. Those of you who were there know who and why I am apologizing.  We will leave it at that! :P hehe

With 2009 underway I managed to appreciate every last second of free time that I had as now, well let’s just say there is no such thing as free time. Not only has school begun. YAY. Yes, I still hate math. History is always cool, and well writing is writing and I generally really like it. I have also started working as of this week. Back to the accountant’s for the duration of tax season. My day’s pretty much start at 7:30, work, lunch, work, dinner, school, homework, bed… rinse repeat. I am realizing just how much time I don’t have anymore. It has been nice though being so busy again.

There you have it, not really anything too exciting, just enough for me to bore you with! Hope everyone’s 2009 is off to a great start!

Cheers!

So much to do, get caught up on

Let the recap begin!

So, last I left all of my fearless readers (like all 4 of you) it was over a month ago and I had gone to the Fruit Loop in Hood River. A lot has happened since then. Hopefully I can recount all that has happened. Ok, so I may be being a tad sarcastic. One someone doesn't have a job, school, family, etc.. they aren't usually real busy. I have done well keeping myself from going nuts, especially with the holiday season approaching, rather in full swing.

I have had the pleasure of going clubbing for the first time in like 4 years. My friend came out all the way from The Dalles so we could go eat Ethiopian food and dance the night away. It's kind of funny as she and I both realized that both times she has come out to Ptown we end up eating in a restaurant that doesn't have utensils, where you use fingers for every course in the meal. It's kinda funny. We are planning on pizza next, just to keep the streak of utensil free meals alive! :) Then we hit Aura, a snotty, overpriced, pretentious bar/club. I guess if I were 23 again and well, blonde, 105 lbs, and the brains of a toothpick, then maybe I would have fit in a bit better. After 1 drink we then went over to The Embers... my favorite drag/gay club in Ptown. A much more relaxed, fun loving, easy going atmosphere. I actually got out on the dance floor after a couple of drinks even if it wasn't all that crowded. Good times!

Thanksgiving has come and gone. I was lucky enough to get to celebrate it twice, or at least have the meal two different times. hehe :) Seeing my mom and dad is always fun. I made the stuffing for feast #1 and there was plenty left over for the second meal on Sunday when I celebrated with my Aunt & Uncle and their family (again). I just LOOOOOOVE turkey and stuffing. The food this time of year is absolutely the best. Who doesn't love pumpkin, stuffing, cranberries... yummo! Making myself hungry now.

Let's see, oh right. I am now signed up for classes at PCC. I will be taking such exciting subjects such as Math, (ooohhhhhh), Writing (ahhhhhhhhh), and History (wooo hooo). I am nervous and excited and scared and ...... Yeah, I just hope that I can keep it together and get through the next couple of years. Wish me luck!

Here's happy thoughts going out to all of my friends for everything they are going through, whether it be health related, family, relationship, etc. I am always here for you all in whatever capacity that you need it to be. :)

(kisses) (Hugs) to everyone!

-Cheers!

Fall, Friends, and Fruit

The title pretty much sums up my weekend. The idea of going to Heirloom Apple Days, in Hood River on the Fruit Loop, began last year after I went for the first time. I decided then that it needed to be an annual tradition. Looking back I can't believe it has been a whole year! My how things have changed in that year.

I met up with the fabulous Mrs. Tweet. Awww how I miss my friends! Just so you all know! We had a lovely walk around the mall before she got her hair done, and she looks FAB!


My mom and aunt drove with me from Ptown through the extremely windy Gorge, where we met up with friends in HR for some breakfast at Bette's Place. Good food and worth the wait, although to be honest I have to give Y credit for calling ahead and getting a table for our large group.

From breakfast we set out on or trip around the loop. We got off to a rocky start, while I may have said one farm # to one group of cars, the rest of us went to another farm... oops! I am so sorry for that! That is ok though because once we met up at the Lavender farm M gave me a nice push and I went to the ground with a thud! Ok, so maybe he didn't push me, maybe I kinda just tripped over my own feet... hehe :)

Two farms down we had oh so many to go. Talk about a beautiful day.. or as the joke between my mom and aunt "it was gorgeous in the Gorge". Yeah it got old after the first 10 times. lol



And the food... oh there was FOOD! All I can say is it is a good thing I ate prior to heading out or I would have gorged on far too many sweets. We shared fried dough w/ fresh apple butter, pear dumplings w/ vanilla ice cream, jams, jellies, you name it. I had told my mom about Packer's, they have a HUGE selection of very large cookies. They were nearly the last stop on the list so after each stop she would ask, are we going to the cookie place now? It was with much happiness that we got to Packer's after 5 previous stops. We sampled cookies, cookies, and more cookies. They also have a great selection of pies, fruit, and Ryan's cider.

Our last stop had us at Cody Orchards. They had a great variety and prices on their pears and apples. I loaded up! My overall haul included cookies, wildflower honey, honey crisp/hanner's/jonagold apples, and a handful of pears. I am planning on trying a pear bread, maybe some pear & apple butter, and of course applesauce. Actually I have the first batch of applesauce done already, and is it TASTY! A little whip cream or ice cream with the hot applesauce is so yummy!

I want to thank my friends and fam for joining us. It was a thrill to see you all. Just wish more of you could have made it.


I also have to make mention of the lovely Yvonne for knitting Miss Maggie's sweater. It is soooo cute! Thank you Yvonne, you are quite talented! Go visit her here: http://lavendersheep.com




Peace out all! <3 Me! :)

Open letter to my friends

Well hello out there in blogger land. I figure if I have any readers left they may be interested in what I have been up to. Well here goes a quick run down. Moved back to Hillsboro towards the end of July/August. Not something that I wanted but as we all know it had to be done. I am missing my friends in TD terribly! I want you all to know how much I miss you and that I wish things were different, but they are not and I have to move on. If it seems I am distancing myself... I am. I have to do it for self preservation. I have come to realize this. If anyone would like to visit me in Hillsborito I welcome you! We can have fun in the big city of Ptown! I have come to the conclusion that going back to TD is just not an option for me at the moment. I hope you all can understand that, and I sure you can.

So, moving out and being alone has felt.. LONELY. I knew it would be and even with the help of the Magster it has still just felt lonely. I guess when you have lived with someone for so long it is just an adjustment. I have been hangin out with some new and not so new peeps in Ptown. It's been fun.

My Aunt scared us, literally died 4 times and wa brought back to life. The Dr's in the hospital are calling her a miracle. While she was in the hospital for nearly a week I had plenty of time to get used to the cafeteria food. Bleh! Actually it wasn't too bad. I even got to read a book, first one in AGES that I read. Kind of a funny story behind why I read it in the first place ask if you really want to know! hehe With that, I have gotten on a reading kick. I am currently reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, it is quite entertaining and has me questioning some of the food I will order in restaurants from now on! haha

I spent a few days at the beautiful coast and went salmons fishing. Of course I didn't catch anything, it was just fun being out on the water, getting fresh air, and getting out of dodge for a while.

Last weekend my other Aunt took me with her to a jewelery making class, beaded earrings. It was so much fun! Now, those who know me will also know that I RARELY wear any jewelery including earrings. The class was fun, I discovered a hidden talent perhaps. we'll see. So far I have made about 14 pair of varying shapes and sizes. I will be puting them up on etsy.com to sell.

Oh, last but not least... the job hunt.... It's been horrid! I have had 3 interviews out of the 100+ resumes I have sent out. 2 of the interviews called to tell me how much they really liked me and had a great interview, yet went with someone else. It's been insanely annoying to say the least! I have been trying to stay positive, it just gets to be daunting after a while.....

Magster is good, getting settled in. She is great company. Shout out to KT who's been keeping me sane! And to my Aunt C who has let me kind of tag along wherever she happens to be going. And last but not least hello out there to all my friends back "home" in TD love ya, miss ya, can't wait to see ya'll soon.

Love, Me :)

Silver lining...

Someone somewhere once said "There's a silver lining to every cloud". I sure wish that my cloud would just go away.... Having said that I am honestly not trying to feel too sorry for myself. Just a wee bit though. I just found out today that the job I had been an applicant for, just hired another candidate. Gee there's a shock. The thing that sucks about this is that I actually REALLY wanted that job. It was full filling all of the aspects in a career that I wanted. It allowed me to use my degree in video production. It was close to where I live. There was room for advancement. Just so happens that it wasn't in the cards for me today.

Moving on, I shall keep at it. Cruising CL and the help wanted, going to temp agencies, bugging my friends and former colleagues, in general searching for the elusive job that will turn into the career that I have been so desperately seeking.

In other news, it's raining today, it was raining yesterday too. The cooler weather makes me happy even if all else is going to shiznit around me.

-Peace

Recent activities

I am slowly getting settled in here in Hillsboro. I had a job interview on Monday. I am a wee bit superstitious in that I don't want to talk too much about it. Suffice it to say that posting it on my blog is a bit contrary to not telling the whole world, but hush! Let me have my little neuroses. hehe

There really hasn't been too much in my personal life going on although it seems the people around me have all sorts of crap going on. I just want all my friends in TD to know that even though I may not be there physically I am just a phone call or gchat away. Maggie has been my little shadow, going from room to room with me. She does venture outside every now and then but she prefers the ac in the house as opposed to the high 90 degree weather outside.

My cousins from NYC are coming up on Friday so I am excited to see them. We are going to bbq, should be fun. I am going to attempt making a cauliflower coleslaw dish that I had in TD one night at the Petite Provence. I am also making miniature orange cheesecakes. They are in the oven right now as my test batch. Too bad no one is here to share them with!

I had some other friends from Eugene, who recently moved back up from San Diego, stop by for a visit. We went out for dinner and caught up on old times. It is funny what 5 years will do. In that time both of my girls got marries and now one of them has a baby. It's just crazy!

Today I went with K out for Indian. It was ok, not horrible not like the super best. It was fun having someone to go do something with and get me out of the house. Thanks for lunch K! This weekend is the airshow in Hillsboro so all the planes are starting to come in. I am expecting to hear the jets practicing tomorrow. It's fun to see all the cool planes. Bryan's is right down the street from the airport so I have a short walk or max ride to go see them.

That's about it for now, like I said, nothing too exciting going on. Hope ya'll are enjoying what is left of summer.

Ciao!

Where do I go from here?

Apparently my previous post was quite the talk about town. No really, it was. Or at least that is what I am told. I was able to provide my friends and people I don't really even know with some entertainment. Happy to be of service to you all. :)

The only problem that I face now is how to keep you all reading! My life really isn't THAT exciting, or maybe it is and I just haven't been blogging about the right stuff! Like the time I went to the strip bar and the really hot chick with the dragon tattoo that ran the entire length of her body... wait no, I can't tell that story. Ok, I guess I will have to settle back into my not so cool life and blog about the really mundane issues that arise in my day to day life. That's ok, I don't mind mundane as long as it isn't asking me to be a third to it's open relationship I am cool with just about anything.

Not much has really happened since my last post and I fear that nothing that exciting will happen for a while. You never know though, I am moving to Portland next week. I will keep ya'll posted though. In the mean time, if ya happen to be in Seattle I know of a place you should check out. :)

-Cheers!

On to the back-up, back-up plan....

I don't' even know where to begin. As if things could get any stranger or more difficult for me at this point. There I was Saturday, day after the 4th and an awesome night of BBQ and fireworks. Getting my bags packed, throwing all of my clothes into suitcases, making sure I didn't leave any "interview worthy" items behind. All my shoes packed, make-up, hair products... and finally me into the car. I was bummed that my dvds didn't make it, but I figured I would pick them up on the second trip since I had to go back to TD for some Dr. appointments in a week.

Got in my car and headed out... not before forgetting the directions and having to turn around a few miles down the road to go back to the house for them. Saying goodbye to Magster one more time.. I love that little dog, who btw is getting a bath today! hehe

Anyway, on the road, stopping in Kelso to pump my own gas and stop for some Mc D's then on the road once again. The weather was nasty, rainy and bleh! There was a ton of traffic but then, in the distance, I saw it.... SEATTLE! My heart just pitter patted at the site of a real city, the space needle and yes TARGET! Can I tell you how excited I get at the thought of being able to go to Target on a regular basis?!

I kept driving, another 20 miles to Everett where my friend lives. I made it without incident to their apartment. I was expecting a 3 bedroom... turned out to be 2 bedrooms with a large walk in closet. Hardly a 3rd room for me to live in. I was also expecting a bed... oh yeah I would be sharing theirs.... (WTF?!) Yes, sharing a bed with my friend and his gf because they all sleep different hours. Excuse me, I didn't know this bed had a spinning door on it. Sorry but I don't "share" my bed with 3 other people and who knows depending on the night and if any "playmates" each of my friends had over there could be more in bed. Uhhh, excuse me?! Did I hear you correctly? Playmate? Sharing a bed? I dont' think so!

COme to find out, my friend and his gf have an "open" polyamorous relationship. For them they are both bi which means that at any given time they may each be with another female or male or both. How on earth I was expected to fit into this I have NO IDEA!!!! I mean I am an open gal and all and to each their own. Just maybe don't expect that I am cool being your playmate. I have clearly figured out that I am very monogamous. None of this being with multiple partners kinda deal for me.

That isn't even where the night got weird... They decided they wanted to take me and another of their friends to a "club". The Wet Spot, or something like that. Unbeknownst to be this wasn't a dance club, social club, cigar club, no no no... it was a straight up sex club. You pay a membership to get in, then a cover to be a part of the night. I guess it is all legal because you sign all these waivers. However as a guest I didn't sign. So I really was taken aback.

Stepping in the door way I thought it was an odd place, low key music but it was early after all, 9 pm... people would be there and better music the later it got. Then I walked around the corner of the side wall they had blacking the doorway from the rest of the club.... and wow, just WOW!

In the middle of this large room were several BDSM implements. People tied, being whipped, paddled, suspended, watching, having sex, you name it. I was in a real life porn. At first I just felt like I had stepped out of my own skin. Was this really happening? How did I get here? With everything going on in my life my mind wasn't quite functioning at normal capacity. I just found a nice chair in the corner, listened to music and tried to zone out. Being exposed to that environment is something I think I could have lived without for the rest of my life. Not that there is anything wrong with it for some people, just not for ME!

Several hours later and we got back to the apartment. Me, I tried falling asleep in a chair in the living room, since they didn't even have a sofa. I took a few sleeping pills to help me get through the night. Passed out finally on the shared bed, fully clothed. Woke up around 11 am Sunday, showered, packed my bag, threw my stuff in my car and hit the road back to TD. Not without stopping at Northgate Mall first! *sigh Ahhh, a real mall, complete with Barnes and Noble (2 stories of paper goodness), Target, and a CPK (that's California Pizza Kitchen). I had my all time fave salad BBQ Chicken Chop salad... YUMMO! Then I was on my merry way, not looking back.

If I had known more people in Seattle then I am sure I would have stayed. But the situation that I was walking into, was anything but stable, relaxing, comforting, welcoming. I am now onto the secondary back up plan which is hitting Portland. Good 'ol PDX. I love it there, I should have just played it safe the first time around and gone there. I have plenty of my awesome friends there as well as an abundance of jobs.

There is the update for my latest trauma. Stay tuned! :D

Well maybe not

I have been informed that in order to be back from hiatus that I actually need to blog. I see that i have been neglecting my blogging duties. I guess people DO read my blog after all!! So, now that the dust is finally starting to settle and I am crawling out of my cave so to speak and joining the living once again.

For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about... it goes a little something like this: for my birthday this year I was dumped. There it is for all the world to see. Things haven't been so peachy here in the magic kingdom for quite some time, but I had hopes they would work out. M just happened to be the one who had the balls to say it first. It took me a while to compose myself and figure out what my new "plan" was going to be but for now I think I finally have one.

It goes a little something like this: Seattle looks mighty fine. I've always wanted to live there, I love the weather... bring on the rain baby! Shopping, entertainment, friends, diversity, restaurants that are open past 9:00 pm on Friday and Saturday night (other than Taco Hell), Pike's Market, an airport, clubs, more than 1 movie theater, and of course there are downsides like traffic, a ton of people, I-5, sales tax, higher cost of living, etc. I am hoping that it will be the right move. I am excited, nervous, anxious, scared, happy, sad... all rolled into one.

My life is going to completely change and that is a scary thing. Change is good and we never know what we are going to get with that change. I look forward to meeting new friends although very sad to be losing the very good friends I have met in TD. I will miss them all very much. It may have taken some time to find them, but they have all made an impact in my life. Thank you friends (you know who you are)! M, I wish you the best of luck and hope you find what you are looking for.

- Peace and love :)

Then again, maybe I am back!

Back from hiatus

Yes, I took a bit of a break.a break from EVERYTHING. A lot has changed and will be changing in the upcoming month or two. While I am not going to delve into all of that now, I just had to share a kick ass link that keeps making me laugh (which I really need right now).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9dpTTpjymE

Enjoy it!

I will get a real update soon. I am just starting small. :)

-Peace!