My farewell tour

Sorry I’ve neglected the blog for a while. This last week was a whirlwind of social activity as I prepared to leave Portland for the new job in Seattle. Because I’m a sap, I’d agreed to work pretty much every day this week, including night shifts on Monday and Tuesday nights and an Illustrator class on Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday. It made for a very busy week at work.

In addition to all of that, we had quite the social calendar. This was somewhat ironic, given that one of my biggest grievances about our life here in Portland was our lack of friends. But apparently, we just needed to leave. Here’s the breakdown:

Tuesday: I had coffee in the afternoon with my friend Hat from school and got caught up with her doings.

Wednesday: The evening was spent finally doing something social with some of my friends from work. We went to a really cool place in SW Portland called the Goose Hollow Tavern. It has a great porch/outdoor area, so we had beer and food and lots of great conversation. The subtitle for the evening was “why didn’t we do this sooner?”

Thursday: That night was spent seeing Wall-E with my co-workers for a Graphics Department tradition of Movie Nights. (We did these every so often, in memory of a former co-worker who died of a heart attack last year.) It ended up being most of my favorite people in the department (and more importantly, my least favorite – the idiot boss wasn’t able to attend.) T joined us for the festivities and we had a good time. I wasn’t planning to run out and see this movie in the theatre, but I really enjoyed it.

Friday: We had a graphics department farewell lunch in my honor with everyone, including the head of our department. We had a really nice lunch with some lively conversation. The gang made me an awesome card, (complete with haiku’s about life at our job) a gift card for a bunch of different restaurants and some cash – all wrapped in Tour de France ‘wrapping paper’. I was very touched, but managed not to cry. After work, it was off to Pok Pok to meet T’s former co-worker/friend of ours, Luke. I love this restaurant so much, it’s a must visit when you’re in Portland. We sat outdoors, had delicious food (and cocktails) and talked for hours, it was a great way to end the week.

Saturday: We spent the morning out at Hagg Lake cheering on our friend Luke (yes, the same one as last night) who was doing the bike leg of a relay for a sprint triathlon. He was riding his sweet new Vanilla bike. (I’ll post pictures of it later – beautiful bike.) Luke’s a bike guy (if you didn’t guess from the fancy custom bike) and this was his first foray into triathlon. I gave him pointers last night and it was fun to cheer him on. My friend Erika was manning her booth at the event, so we got to chat with her for a bit. It was really hot, so I didn’t envy her for having to be out working in that weather.

Then it was time to head to work for my official last day. It was really hard to say good-bye to everyone, especially the small group of folks I work with on Saturdays. They were very sweet and brought in sparkling cider and baked goods. I spent most of my day socializing and wrapping up my last projects. It was hard to remember that I wouldn’t be coming back on Tuesday and that I had to clean out my desk and make sure I had everything. By the end of the evening, I was a bit of a mess emotionally – sad at saying good-bye, excited and nervous about my upcoming job, etc. So, T and I decided to take in a silly summer movie – Hancock. We invited my mom along and had a nice time. The movie was just okay, but I really like Will Smith and Jason Bateman and it was funny and entertaining, definitely a rental.

The big downside to my week of being a social butterfly is that I had absolutely no time to help with packing and sorting, so I felt really guilty on Sunday when it was time to hit the road and leave T behind. But it was time to start the next chapter of our lives: Seattle, Part Two.

The big 3-8

So it’s my birthday today, I’m now officially 38 years old. Birthdays are always weird, suddenly you’re a year older but you don’t really feel any different. When I was little I always expected to feel totally different – now I’m 8 and things are really going to change, but not so much. It’s a pretty low-key birthday, being a Thursday and all. Went to work where our department is reconfiguring the cubicles/desks to accommodate a new department moving into our area. Which basically means total pandemonium for a few hours and not a lot of productivity.

Today on my lunchtime run I was joined by special guest runner T. Running with T is a mixed blessing – it’s great to have the company and I like spending time with him, but he’s way faster than me (even injured) and is way too chipper, which is annoying. (I REALLY miss my old running partner who frequently reads this blog – you know who you are and you need to get back to running!) The Rose Festival is starting this weekend, so they had all of the carnival rides set up along the Waterfront and as we were running there were some neat boats coming into town on the river. (Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, I didn’t think to bring my camera…) Here they are approaching us as we’re on the Steel Bridge:

Then after we turned around and headed back, we basically kept pace with them:

And then further on heading into town there was one of those water-spraying boats (I don’t know what they’re officially called… ) I haven’t seen one since we left New York – I think they are so cool.

It was nice to have cool new stuff to look at while running on my usual route. T and I parted ways at the Hawthorne Bridge, because he’d parked on the east side of the river. As I was running back, one of the old ships shot off a cannon, which reverberated off of the buildings and sounded like an explosion happening downtown. It startled the crap out of me and a woman walking by says “It’s a cannon.” like that’s the most natural thing in the world. Gotta love Oregonians…

Tonight the birthday festivities continue with dinner with my parents and T at the Claim Jumper. I haven’t been there since I lived in Southern California eons ago, so that will be interesting. And thanks to everyone for the happy birthday wishes, always appreciated!

Doing my civic duty

Today I had to go in for Jury Duty. I was grumpy about it for no particular reason. I’m an hourly employee and my work will pay for any time that overlaps (which with my weird hours was going to be a potential hassle) and I just didn’t feel like going. I know, I’m a terrible citizen. And it’s funny because I generally think the judicial system and the legal process is very interesting. I did Mock Trial in high school (and won a prize for it, thank you very much!) and am passably versed in the whole thing.

But at 8:00 in the morning, I dragged my butt into the Multnomah County Courthouse to sit around with about a hundred of my fellow citizens ready to do my part for the judicial system. I must give Multnomah County props, because they have a pretty nice room for everyone to wait in and they do a good job of keeping everyone informed of the process. The judge oriented us to how juries are selected and was the first to tell us that it wasn’t personal if we didn’t get selected (he was the first of many people to tell us this, apparently more than a few people take not being selected as a personal affront – which I find hilarious given how most people feel about jury duty generally… )

I sat around for a few hours reading my book before getting called for a potential case. We had to answer a series of questions about ourselves that were written on a whiteboard and then the lawyers asked more specific follow-up questions. It was a very different process than the last time I’d been called back in the Bay Area, but that was for a murder trial that was anticipated to last at least three months and this was a one-day “harassment” and destruction of property case, so the stakes were a little lower. They only took six out of the fifteen of us and I wasn’t one of them. I was totally hurt, I mean why didn’t they want me? (kidding!)

The weirdest part was the fact that the defendant was in the room during the whole selection process and then again during our break while the lawyers and the judge were deliberating. I kept wondering what he thought of our responses to some of the questions and the type of conversation during the break. There’s such a wide range of people that are called for jury duty. I wonder if that’s a comfort or a concern when you’re on the other side.

After about fifteen minutes of being back in the waiting room, they announced that they had filled all of the juries that they were going to need for the day and we were free to go, which was pretty sweet. I had time to eat some lunch, go to the gym for some weight training and 30 minutes of elliptical (I was supposed to run, but just didn’t have the inclination – I’ll make up for it tomorrow.) And then it was off to work for a second late shift tonight to cover for someone on vacation.

Just another exciting day in my life…

It’s getting hot, hot, hot…

Today kicks off a mini heat-wave for Portland. Over the next few days, the temperatures are supposed to soar into the 90’s, which for weather-obsessed Oregonians is UNBELIEVABLY hot. For me, the only weird part about it is the abruptness of the shift – there really aren’t transitions here. One day it’s raining and 50 degrees and the next it’s 80 and sunny. (The bad news is that next week, we’ll very likely be back to rainy and cold again… )

I was excited to do my lunchtime run in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt for a change. I left a little later than usual, to let the lunch hour crowd thin out a little bit, but even still there were tons of people down by the river. It’s always a little aggravating to run on my route when it’s nice out. I’ve been running on this route in the crappiest weather imaginable, passing only a few other die-hard folks, only to have all sorts of fair-weather runners out blocking my path. I know I should be happy that people are out exercising, but sometimes I wish they could do it someplace else.

All that aside, it was nice to run my usual loop in the sunshine. There was a good wind along the river, so it wasn’t too terribly hot and despite my legs being fairly tired, it was still much better than Tuesday’s run. I managed to do my three miles at a 10:30 minute/mile pace, which I was pleased by. Last year, any amount of heat on the run just destroyed me, so this was a huge improvement.

I had a frustrating rest of the work day, so when T picked me up, I needed a break. It was still so nice outside, I proposed that we walk over to Hawthorne for a cheeseburger. We decided to bring the dogs along and eat outside, since they needed the exercise. We ended up at another McMenamins – the Baghdad Theater location, which had lots of outdoor seating set up. The boys liked laying on the sidewalk. Wally settled down pretty quickly and just laid there nicely, while Smokey Joe begged like a maniac and managed to eat a smashed tator tot off the floor. But the burgers were delicious and I indulged in a marionberry cobbler. T decided he wanted ice cream, so we walked over to Ben & Jerry’s. Someone had spilled a scoop of ice cream in the parking lot, that Smokey Joe managed to slurp down, so it was a really great day for him. Damn dog!

We had a nice leisurely stroll home, the dogs too tired to get into any mischief and both of us a little too full from our culinary indulgences. Now it’s serious couch potato time. Ahhhhhh…

T.G.I.F.

After a week of overcast weather, we finally had some sunshine today. I’d already arranged to have T. meet me after work for a little after work bike ride. (This way I didn’t have to ride the trainer and got to spend a little time with the boy.) We had a nice flat ride along the river, dodging the various idiotic pedestrians, runners, skateboarders and cyclists – making it feel more like I was training my reflexes as opposed to my legs. The weather was clear and it was a really pretty evening. T. had just gotten a new (better paying) temp assignment, which he was very happy about. I decided that the boy deserved a little celebration.

We decided to go to a neighborhood place we like called Aqui. It’s what I think of as “yuppie Mexican” and has yummy food and margaritas. Since it was nice out, we decided to walk there. To get from our apartment to the restaurant, we walk through a neighborhood called Ladd’s Addition – a really beautiful neighborhood with lot’s of old houses and trees.

There are a ton of roundabouts, so auto traffic is pretty minimal, but there are tons of cyclists and folks out enjoying their ‘hood. As we set out, I noticed this van parked on the street. For some reason, it amuses me to think of a van driving out to help you fix your bike:

As we strolled along, we were greeted by a very friendly cat:

T petted him for a moment and then we tried to set off. (Sorry for the unfocused image, I couldn’t resist how cute this picture is… )

Encouraged by my camera, T decided to play Pied Piper…

Then as we were leaving another greeter cat appeared:

Finally, we just had to keep walking or we’d never get to eat. In the center of the neighborhood is a giant roundabout called Ladd’s Circle:

Since the streets move off of this main circle at diagonals, I would literally get lost every time I came home for the first few weeks that we lived here. (Luckily, I figured it out eventually or that would have been very inconvenient… ) Soon we made it to Aqui and ordered some margaritas:

Yummy! I got my usual steak salad and T. got a ginormous burrito. I was planning to take a picture of the food/restaurant, but with the restaurant was a bit crowded and I felt self-conscious taking a picture of my fellow diners. As for the food, let’s just say I was much too busy eating it to think of photographing it. Suffice it to say there was much food, it was very yummy and was eaten very quickly. T had two margaritas to my one and we split an awesome dessert – a tres leches cake that was ridiculous.

Then it was time for the not-so-long walk home, both of us a little too full, so it was a very leisurely stroll. The friendly cat was still out in his yard, but he got a little less time from us on the way home. Then it was back at home for some laying on the couch and TiVo for me and computer time for T. All and all, it was a very lovely evening.

Friday night validation

Well, apparently blogging about my laziness is still not enough to overcome it, as I was unable to get my sorry ass out of bed this morning for my one hour trainer ride. (Trainer rides are the hardest to motivate of all.) The weather looked really crappy when I got up, so I was prepared for another rainy Oregon day. But then, around noon the skies cleared, the sun came out and suddenly the weather was spring-like. So, I crossed my fingers that it would hold until I got off of work, in the hopes that maybe I could actually ride my bike outside.

Miraculously, the weather was still pretty nice after work so I decided to coerce T into coming with me. I decided we should go up to Mt. Tabor for some hill repeats. It took some doing to convince him that it would be more fun than vegging on the couch, but finally he agreed and we set off. It was the first time I’d ridden my bike outside (in shorts, no less) since I got back from camp and it felt great to be back on my bike. My bike may not be as fancy as the Trek, but I’ve ridden so many miles on it and it fits me perfectly. So, in it’s own way it felt as good to ride as the fancy bike. Not to mention that all of that training at camp has definitely paid off as I was able to ride in a higher gear and was faster than usual. (T claims I kept riding away from him, but I remain skeptical… )

We did two repeats of the hill and at the top there were a number of couples and families sitting around watching the sunset, having a picnic, etc. For a moment, I was sad that it didn’t even occur to me to plan romantic sunset picnics with T anymore. But then I thought about the fact that T and I were riding our bikes together on a lovely Friday night and that was pretty awesome.

Then we got home and made dinner together – Big Salads with grilled chicken. (T makes AWESOME salads – he cuts up a bunch of different veggies that I’m far too lazy to do. I wo-manned the grill while he worked his magic.) All in all, it was a lovely end to a lovely evening. (Well, until T made me watch The Sarah Jane Adventures, which sucks so much ass.) Since he hadn’t watched it before, I’ll cut him some slack. This time…

A nice evening with the boys

Life has been pretty uneventful lately. The weather has been gray and drizzly pretty much non-stop this week, which gets a little wearing after a while and I start longing for some sunshine. Luckily, tri-camp is next week and I’m really looking forward to it. The problem with having a vacation to look forward to is that it’s really hard to focus on your normal routine.

As folks who read this blog already know, I’ve usually do my mid-week run workouts at lunch, because the training plan has been calling for 30 minute runs and this is the perfect amount of time to run on my one hour lunch break once you factor in the changing of clothing, a little walk to loosen up the legs, some stretching and a cool-down walk back to the office, not to mention the getting back into respectable work attire. Today however the training plan called for an hour run, so I had to do some creative adjustments (and find something else to do for my lunch hour… ) So, I decided that I would do my run after work – either running home or having T. meet up with me on my other favorite running path, the Springwater Corridor.

T. solved my lunch hour dilemma by offering to come meet me for lunch, which was really nice. We went to my favorite near work lunch place and then went to a local bike shop to browse. The bike shop made my day by having my favorite Gu flavor – mint chocolate (a limited edition flavor that they put out over the holidays.) I love this flavor and have been stealing some of the stash I bought for T. so I’m sure he’s relieved I found some more. I also got some toe covers for my shoes, as one of mine is pretty much toast and they really help keep my feet warm on in the cool spring weather. There were of course many other lovely things that I would have bought, but I managed to contain myself.

T. and I arrange to meet after work for a run – he has a five miler on his training plan. When it’s actually time for me to leave it’s miraculously not raining, which was a pleasant surprise to say the least. As I’m heading over to the running path, I run into a friend of T’s and mine who I haven’t seen in a while. He looks great and it was nice to chat with him. I hardly ever run into people I know here, partly because I know so few people here. I run a nice out and back on the Springwater Corridor and just as I reach the end T. catches up with me, Wally and Smokey Joe in tow.

After our run, I was starving and craving one of my favorite dinner choices – a soup and salad bar that we affectionately call Salad Place. We had a delightful dinner of giant salads, soup, muffins and what-not. The dogs each got a stolen piece of cheesy bread stick and a nice time was had by all. Now the pups are totally exhausted, T’s playing his game and I’m typing this while watching T.V. Not bad for a Thursday evening…

Broken promises

DISCLAIMER: I know I just said I wasn’t going to talk about training stuff, but I’m afraid I’m going to break that promise. I shall try to focus on non-training specifics to soften the blow, but you’re getting another run story.

Today, T. & I went for a run in Forest Park with the dogs. For those who are unfamiliar, (and don’t feel like clicking on the link) Forest Park is this crazy huge park in N.W. Portland that has tons of trails for running, mountain biking, hiking and what-not. Our run was on the Lief Erikson, a dirt fire road that winds through beautiful forests for nearly 12 miles, with markers placed every 1/4 mile, so you know exactly how far you’ve gone. It’s a great spot for T. & I to run together since we can just do an out and back run and each keep our own pace. T’s running with Wally, since he goes faster and tiring out Wally is always top priority and I have Smokey Joe who is getting to an age where he needs to take it easier and my run pace is a brisk walk for him.

The trouble is that Smokey Joe wants to be with T. & Wally and will pull like a madman to do so, even though he’s wearing a prong collar which will severely impact his breathing if he pulls too hard. He and I have reached an understanding when we run where if he starts pulling too hard, I’m going to jerk the collar and make him run beside me (read: way behind T. and Wally) but if he runs just at the end of his leash and behaves himself, he can run in front of me and be closer to T. and Wally. This works fine for a while, but he’ll make pathetic little whimpery-wheezy noises every so often. Meanwhile, Wally likes to jump into rain puddles and for some reason this also makes him super hyper and want to jump on T. As you can imagine, Portland has LOTS of rain puddles, so we are going to make quite a spectacle of ourselves running up the Lief Erikson, which is puddle central this time of year…

I have an hour and a half run on my schedule and T. is supposed to do an 8-miler. We decide to do the run out together and I’ll see where I am at the 45 minute point and then I’ll either turn around early or suck it up and do an 8-miler also. It’s raining slightly, but there are a surprising number of people out and about (compared to the last time we were up there which was in January and we got to experience rain, sleet, snow, sun and then back to heavy rain all in an hour’s time… ) Going out is all uphill, which gives me something to focus my “I hate running” sentiments on, plus you can pretend that the coming back downhill is going to be easier. Ha-ha!

Once you get past the 2 1/2 – 3 mile mark, the number of runners thins out considerably and we’re pretty much by ourselves. At the 3 1/2 mile mark, we let the dogs off-leash for a little bit, keeping a vigilant eye out for bikes and other runners so we aren’t disturbing anyone. Wally rampages around like a crazy thing and then just as we reach the turnaround point, he totally loses his mind and starts jumping on T, who after yelling at him to stop, throws his water bottle at Wally, which has the surprising (and hilarious) effect of instantly calming him down and making him sit. (Wally is special. Short bus special.) Wally is then relegated back to being on leash and T. and I discuss how it’s been a while since Wally has had one of these outbursts and what to do about it.

As we’re headed back T. & Wally pick up speed and start running ahead. Initially, we keep Smokey Joe off-leash, but as the gap widens he tries to make everyone stay together by trying to stay in middle of the gap between T. & I, so I re-leash him and make him stay behind with me. He is very unhappy about this at first, but eventually becomes more and more content to stick with me and by the time we get down to one mile remaining, he’s actually running slightly behind me, which is a first. I’m lagging pretty badly myself and pretty much get through the last two miles by fantasizing about the awesome French pastry place I’m going to make us stop at on the way home.

When we finally finish the run, all of us are covered in mud from the trail, the champion of course being Wally, who looks like he’s made out of mud. T. covers up the backseat with a dog blanket, but they pretty much cover the whole backseat area in mud and our car smells like wet muddy dog instantly. Yuck. I tell T. the French pastry plan, which he quickly agrees to and then wait in the car to keep the dogs from spreading the mud to the front seat while he goes in to get our food.

I then hurriedly shower and get ready for work (yes, I work on Saturdays) and arrive not too terribly late, armed with coffee and French pastry and the knowledge that I earned that coffee and pastry, damn it!

Life is good…

One of those days (the good kind!)

So, this morning I overslept and didn’t get out for my bike ride before work. I’m feeling grumpy because it’s beautiful and sunny outside (which we haven’t had in a while) and now I’m going to have to ride my bike on the trainer after work and so forth. As I’m leaving, I notice a voice mail on my cell phone (which is usually tucked into my bag until I get to work, so I’m lucky to even be seeing it) and it’s my boss asking me if I can cover a late shift for one of my co-workers who has called in sick, meaning I won’t have to go into work until 3:30 p.m. It takes maybe 30 seconds for me to call back and say “I guess I could do you this huge favor… ” And just like that, the grumpy day transforms itself.

I go with T. to recycle the cans we’ve been letting pile up in the backyard, which means while T. feeds yucky cans into the “Can-Do” machine with the neighborhood homeless, I get to go wander through Powells looking at sale books. We then go run a few more errands (birthday present for T’s mom, coffee, etc.) and head home. I’m looking forward to the second chance bike ride.

Since it’s nice out and I’m only supposed to ride for an hour, I decide to tackle the Mt. Tabor climb again. T. has a 30 minute ride on his schedule, so he decides to ride to Tabor with me, climb it once and head home, so we get ready, put the dogs in their crates and hit the road. The difference between today and Sunday’s ride is amazing, and I have to stop to take off my jacket before we even get to the park.

When we arrive at Mt. Tabor, T. bids me farewell and starts his climb (he’s WAY faster than I am) and I’m pleasantly surprised to find that on Wednesdays the road that I climb is closed to automotive traffic, which while it isn’t usually very busy it’s just nice to remove that concern entirely. I’m also quite surprised that I make it much closer to the top than usual before seeing T. heading back down. (Either he’s getting slower or I’m getting faster, either way it’s good news for me!)

Because today is so much prettier than Sunday, I decide to take a few pictures of the ride with my phone.

Here’s the entrance to the park and the beginning of the climb…

Here’s the evil, middle part of the climb. It’s steeper than it looks in the picture when you’re climbing up it on your bike. Trust me!

The bonus of climbing it on a clear, sunny day is that you get gorgeous views of Mt. Hood, that you HAVE to stop and photograph…

And then, after a little more climbing you reach the top…

The view of the city from one of the benches at the top: (the water is from the reservoir in Mt. Tabor Park)

I end up doing three repeats and riding about 20 minutes longer than intended, but I was so pleased by the fact that I may not be faster, but climbing is definitely not as hard for me as it was last year. (Last year at this time, I hadn’t made it up the hill once without having to stop for numerous rest breaks, so I’m very pleased by my progress… ) Since everything in the Pacific Northwest involves hills, this is a huge breakthrough!
And now I’m typing this while munching on a Quiznos chopped salad which I’ve been craving all week, so a very pleasant day thus far… Now, if Ed McMahon would just find my house with that giant check, it would be perfect!

I heart drawbridges

I don’t know why, but I do. Perhaps it’s because the other cities I’ve lived in only have giant bridges. Portland has tons of them – the one above is the Burnside Bridge, taken from my phone on my lunchtime run today. There’s just something about seeing the street up in the air, lampposts all askew that just tickles me.