Post Holiday Blues

The worst thing about having a 3-day weekend is the reality of Monday! It's not bad, though.

We had a great time this weekend...one of Glen's college buddies, Matt, stayed with us Thursday through Sunday, along with his girlfriend Laurel. It was our first time meeting Laurel, and she was/is such a sweetheart! They both live in the TriCities Washington area and were looking to "party it up" with the "city folk". Heh. I guess if that's what they think we are, I won't tell them any different! We took them on a tour of the Historic Columbia River Highway to see the many falls, including Multnomah Falls (where Glen and got engaged), then we spent the evening at Cascade Locks to drink, laze around, and watch the firework show. Pretty uneventful, but fun!

Then we went to Portland's Saturday Market on.....of all days...Saturday morning. :) I picked up a cheap knock-off pair of sunglasses for Mexico (32 days and counting!), they contemplated buying a bong (just kidding, but they do sell them there), and we had Dim Sum just down the street. Later that night we went to Rheinlander's for German food:





We stuffed ourselves! We stopped at Portland City Grill afterwards for cocktails and a beautiful panoramic view of Portland, then headed home. They left yesterday...I wish they lived closer!
There was no fun after that--laundry, yardwork, housecleaning--and when kids come, it's gonna get so much worse. Oy.

Smog, anyone?

What a way to start off the summer...enveloped in a cloud of smoke-laden haze from the fires in California. Global warming at its best.

It's been a good, uneventful week. Spoke to my mom ( who is more like a child than my parent), bought some new sheets at the new Home Goods store on airport way (like a Ross store, only a little less crowded and a little more upscale), and getting ready for weekend guests. We lead a VERY eventful life. :)

Mexico countdown

Whew, what a Monday! Work is busy (so many patients, no time to document!), the superdog needed a good walk, and my a$$ is so sore from weeding yesterday that it hurts to sit. But, one upside---it's finally looking like summer around here! We actually have a forecast full of sunshine and 90-degree days(woo hooo! no rain!). At least this time of the year, meteorologists have a faint idea of what the week will look like since there's NOTHING on radar.

All of this sunshine makes me think of Mexico! We are officially at 6 weeks and 4 days until we leave (for safety's sake, I won't pinpoint where exactly we're going) for the Caribbean side. 10 days, 9 nights of adulterated fun. :)

Anybody have a fave tropical drink I should try while I'm there?

Oh, the fun of home ownership

We love it. It's great. We no longer have a reason to bang the broomstick on the ceiling, climb up 2 flights of stairs to bring in groceries, and no one parking next to our cars (leaving multiple dings in the process). How did we survive in an apartment for so long?


Before home ownership, Glen: "I can't wait to have our own yard to mow, take care of plants, barbecue, do whatever we want."

After home ownership:

"Damn, I've got to mow the lawn again! That shit grows like crazy!"

Our backyard needed a little TLC today, so we spent about 2 hours weeding flower beds, pruning, and another 3 hours replacing our birdbath, planting new flowers, putting out barkdust. Here's what our superdog Tech did:

















Boy, has he got it made. Here is part of our backyard, for those of you who haven't seen it:





(That pile of potting soil is where the birdbath goes.)



Anyway, things went well. We can't complain (much). If only we could have bought the house in the middle of July to know that our neighbor to the back of us has a lawn so large that he only mows the 1/2 closest to his house...we get to enjoy the 6-foot tall "native grasses" that so conveniently leave their spawn to blow into the wind and establish their seeds in our flower beds...arghhhh. Did I mention the fact that our fence is slatted cedar, which allows growth in between slats? Seriously, it looks like we should be sprouting corn any day now...

(see to the far right)

This also displays one of the FEW disadvantages to owning a male dog....shrub burnout!

My First Blog

So I'm taking the plunge in starting my first blog! I've gotten to the point where I've silently told myself that I need to "reach out and touch someone" and allow my family and friends a bird's eye view into my life. Welcome! Hopefully it's worth your time. Ala cuisine! (Sorry, Iron Chef reference there. Get used to it!)