Corners of the New House

Why I love Portland

Always on the alert

B went out to catch the trash guy yesterday to give him our extra garbage can and the conversation went something like this:

Guy: So, you guys had a pretty good year last year.

B (looking confused): Um, yeah.

Guy: But, you lost Suh so that will be tough.

B (finally catching on): Oh right, yeah, we did.

Guy: Well, I'm an Oklahoma fan...

B: (turns back, walks away)

Turns out, B went out into public wearing his Nebraska sweatshirt. Little does he know, that when one is in public wearing Nebraska apparel, one must always be ready to talk football. Always.

Garden Report

The garden has been a little neglected lately. "Oh, I'll get more dirt this weekend." or "I'll plant my starts next week." Linda finally stopped asking me at work when I was going to put my plants in.

Well, I finally got my act together. With Linda's help, I got some more mulch to top off my beds--we managed to complete this task while getting completely soaked and muddy from head to toe-- and I finally paid a visit to the plant store for my starts.

And, on Tuesday morning, I finally got them in the ground. Bed #1: strawberries, shallots, green onions, leaf lettuce, spinach, romaine lettuce and broccoli. Bed #2: snap peas, green beans, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, green bell peppers, poblano peppers, habanero peppers, jalapeno peppers and okra. My own little farmer's market.

The weather has been horrendous since then-- temps in the 50's and sporadic downpours-- so I'm not exactly sure if they are actually growing, but at least they are in the beds. Plus, the deer fence seems to be working. So if I could just put in an order for a week of sunshine and 80 degree temps, that would be great. Please and thank you.

May showers

I have been experiencing a lot of showers lately. But actually, for once, not of the wet, rainy kind. This past weekend, we had a double-your-trouble baby shower for Julia and I scooted up to Seattle for a uber classy bridal shower for Dacia.

And, the funniest thing happened. All of the photos from Julia's shower? Blurry. All of the photos from Dacia's shower? Well, I didn't take any. This is so unlike me.

Anyway, if I had the photo evidence, it would show just exactly what a gorgeous mother-to-be Julia is and exactly what a beautiful, blushing bride-to-be Dacia is. Two, exciting life changing events. Congrats to such lovely ladies!

A New Place for our Heads

So, B and I are moving. Nine miles east of our current apartment to a nice little duplex in Mountain Park. We've been slowly packing for about two weeks now and we should be ready to move all the furniture on Sunday.

We have had a love/hate relationship with our apartment since we've been here. Love for the first couple of years and hate for last few. Which makes this next part super easy to type...

Things I won't miss about apartment living:

1. Listening to the people above us solve their differences by what only can be described as a screaming contest.

2. Listening to the movie the people below us are watching.

3. Accidentally walking up on a guy who is peeing on the recycling dumpster.

4. This closet.

5. Jockeying for a parking spot if you get home anytime after 9pm.

6. The white walls, white cabinets, white baseboards, white doors and white blinds.

7. The guy that throws his cigarette butts on my front porch. It's the same guy that spits loogies on my front porch.

The one and only thing I will miss about my apartment:

This view.

We're looking forward to seeing you at our new place!

The Greatest of Them All

Let me tell you a little story about two people I know pretty well: my mom and dad.

At of the end of summer 1999, their oldest son was finishing up an internship in Baltimore. He needed to move back home so they decided to pack up their other two children and head east to help him out. They drove from Nebraska to Maryland and back, following behind their eldest as he towed a U-haul trailer. That was the first time.

Then, in the spring of 2004, they hitched up a trailer of their own, full of their daughter's stuff and drove it the other way. West on the Oregon trail. It took them three days and one blown-out trailer tire to get here and they promptly helped her unpack her stuff in her new duplex in Portland, turned around and drove back to Nebraska.

Finally, just last week, they arrived in Oregon one more time. Pulling another U-haul trailer of their youngest son's stuff. They helped him unload in Corvallis, drove back up to Portland for a visit to IKEA and then back to Corvallis with more stuff. Then, they took off back to Nebraska. That was the third time.

Three times, these two have gone to considerable lengths to make their kids' crazy ideas become realities. They really are the greatest of them all and we (by we, I mean Scott, Gayle and Craig) wouldn't be where we are without them.

Mom and Dad, I heart you. So much.