Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Head South for Winter

Just as the seasonal clock struck Winter, it was time for me to head home. My flight was scheduled to leave the Portland Airport at 3 on Monday, and I wanted to get there by noon (in expectation of long lines), so I left home at 9 am. After a fretful goodbye to Luna (fretful on her part, but she was satiated with a bone), I packed up my car and left. About 20 miles north of Eugene, it started snowing quite a bit. Then the snow was sticking. Then there was ice, and I was beginning to just see snow. It was about this time that everyone started driving slowly, so I decided to pull over and put my chains on. After a few F bombs, I managed to get them on and only cut hand a little in the process.

After a 4.5 hour trip, an accidental detour through downtown Portland (where I almost got stuck in a snowdrift of three feet), I made it to the airport! The lines at the Southwest counter were painfully long, but my airline, American Airlines, had no lines. Since I had extra time (my flight had been delayed an hour), I stopped to eat half a sandwich. Then I geared up for what I expected to be an hour wait in the security check. But the long line I assumed was for security was actually a wraparound from United's cancellation line. There was no line for security.

The rest is your typical flight situation. Very few AA flights left Portland, and evidently 300 travelers were stranded (although I had heard at one point 3,000....). I am *so* glad I was not one of them. The picture below is of the horizon around sunset over the clouds. The big white dot is Polaris .

My first day in Texas was pretty good. I spent most of it at my sister's house playing with my niece, and then Mom and I went to Mijo's to eat dinner with my brother and his family. Then I passed out for 2 hours, and proceeded to watch TV like it ain't no thing. I finally stopped halfway through that awful movie "Here on Earth."

When I came into my room to read and sleep, I saw Lexie neatly tucked into my suitcase. That little beast has lost about 15 pounds and is as spry as ever. And still does terribly cute things evidently.

Tomorrow I make an apple and pecan pie, help get ready for Christmas and put up lights in the yard. They're blue, so maybe we can pretend we're Jewish and celebrating Hannukah. That way it'll be ok to leave them up for a few extra days.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

8 Things of Christmas? A nonblog.

I was tagged by my sister!
8 T.V. Shows I watch:

1. Dexter
2. Pushing Daisies
3. Gossip Girl (embarrassed to admit that..)
4. The Hills (also embarrassed)
5. Brothers and Sisters
6. True Blood
7. Reruns of Curb Your Enthusiasm
8. Anything on PBS

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Mijo’s (a-town)
2. Boo Boo’s (a-town)
3. Kincaids (Fort Worth)
4. Cuba Libre (Dallas)
5. Tillman’s Roadhouse (Oak Cliff, wha wha)
6. Café Soriah (Eugene)
7. Mac's Bar and Grille (a- town)
8. Salt Lick BBQ(outside of Austin)

8 Things that happened today:

1. I took Luna to work… in her Winter Sweater!
2. I slid through a stop sign/intersection…THAT was fun.
3. I paired lemonade with macaroni and cheese…my stomach hurts
4. I’m working from home…
5. I wore my new outfit (sequins and heels, can you believe it!?)
6. I discovered some new, great music
7. I went a whole day without obsessively checking my budget excel file…so far
8. I still did not find my AMEX

8 Things I look forward to:

1. Kendra’s party on Friday
2. Seeing my awesome, adorable and cuddly niece
3. Spending time with Mom, Sister and brother and their significant others
4. Hanging out with my amazing friends!
5. Ugly Pug, Shiner Bock, Gingerman, Caves, possibly the Shine.
6. Chateau Briand.
7. 25th birthday  ok. I’m not looking forward to the birthday, but I’m looking forward to the present I’m buying myself
8. Going to San Diego in the Spring

8 Things I wish for:

1. http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/7UL5LR426RD8
2. A safe travel home and return
3. Something really callous that I can’t actually say.
4. Free heating!
5. That Luna doesn’t die of anxiety while I’m out of town
6. A great first 100 days (and first 4 years!) for President Obama
7. Less VooDoo economics from our senate and house
8. Duh..no debt!

8 People I tag:
nah.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Blazers, Blizzard and a Beagle

Friday night I went to the Blazers game in my boss's AMAZING seats. I fell back in love with Rudy Fernandez all over again, and I'm now counting down the days until the Mavs come (he let me have those tickets!)
A few pictures...and a video (lots of "woo-ing")





On the drive home (it was late, the game went into double overtime), I drove through some serious snowfall, and I really hoped it was headed to Eugene for the weekend. After a weekend of lounging around reading, baking pumpkin muffins, mopping, and going to the library, I decided we would not be getting snow as promised. I had really been looking forward to going to Mt. Pisgah for a snowy hike.

However, when I woke up on Monday I received a call from my boss saying it was ok to come in a bit late because of the snow. I eagerly peeked out the window and saw nothing but white frozen-ness. I normally hate snow. It's cold, it's wet, it gets in the way of enjoying life in general. But I take great joy out of seeing my dog romp around in the snow. The drive to work was less than pleasant. I took my camera in hopes of capturing Oregon beauty in snow, but I was too busy fishtailing all over the place. Then I forgot to take my camera into my office for some pictures from the porch. Ah well, here is what I have:

the park on my block

luna in a sweater in the snow

my side yard


Monday, December 8, 2008

Silver Falls Autumn - take 2

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Hanson



Tonight I was on a downloading-music fest. It started as me downloading children's songs for my niece Callie (sorry Ruth!), and then I decided the (in)famous song "Mmm Bop!" would make a great addition to her fun time CD. Then I found myself downloading all of the songs from Hanson's debut CD.
I have actually owned this CD 3 or 4 times, and of all the CDs I've ever owned, it has probably gotten the most playtime in my player. I was OBSESSED with Hanson in jr high. Yes, I loved the middle kid for his cuteness (I think I even bought a couple of teeny bopper hot-guy picture magazines solely because he was in it), but I really really loved the music. And now, as I listen to the songs for the first time in over a year, and I miraculously remember all of the lyrics, I am in an amazingly awesome mood.
I am SO happy I finally downloaded these songs, and I'm not even 1 millionth as embarrassed about it as I perhaps should be. Hanson rox.


Tis the Season




With the ChrismaKwanzAkuh season upon us, it's easy to get stressed. Especially with untimely layoffs, tight budgets, and an onslaught of commercialism, we can end up feeling inadequate, depressed or pretty much like nothing can go right.




If anything this is the time to be creative and focus on what is really important. Family, friends and yourself. So, while it may seem a little early, my Holiday Blessing to you is to nurture love, happiness and peace in your life and the lives of those around you.