...

so, i've been husband-less for a week now. he's off on vacation, rock climbing. he started at lake tahoe (lover's leap), and now he's in yosemite. next friday he'll drive to las vegas, where i'll meet him for a weekend, and he'll drive home a week later, to arrive in time for us to leave for new zealand. i better be earning major points as "best wifey ever" because it really sucks being alone. if he were gone for work, that would be a totally different story. but he's not. he's on vacation. and i'm here, working hard. yay.

golfing

...and then there was us.

reminds me of the tune from sesame street: "which one of these is not like the other... which one of these just doesn't belong..."

golfing

there were babies,
babies,
and more babies!

golfing

after dinner, we gathered at our friends' house for some ice cream cake. it was sooooooooo good! (i love cake!)

golfing

this past saturday, j & i met some friends at a driving range for a lesson on golfing. it was my first time ever, and i was pretty bad. i had no idea golfing could make one so sore. it was fun, though. afterwards, we met up with the rest of the families for dinner at the spaghetti factory. two of our friends have birthdays in september, so it was a big birthday party. there were 18 of us, including many kids, and here's the mess we left after dinner!

movin' up...

saturday night, we did some serious carb loading at our local pasta joint. sunday morning we got up early for the "pints to pasta" 10k. our friend w joined us. we took off from the adidas campus in north portland at 8am, and reached the spaghetti factory in southwest by an hour. the party was in full swing - free beer & pasta for everyone, thanks to widmer & the spaghetti factory. what could be better than drinking a beer on an empty stomach at 9am? absolutely nothing. the weather was perfect. started out crisp, & then gradually warmed up. perfect temperature for running. i was really worried about being able to run a 10 k, as i've only been doing slow 3 mile runs 3 times a week. with the swimming i've been doing, the jogs have felt a little tedious & long. pathetic, eh? i thought the swimming would help my stamina, but it seemed like it was hurting it. when it came time for the fun run, though, it was super easy (except for some blisters). anyway, i'm moving up a bit. i just purchased two 15 lb hand weights. i had been using 3, 5, & 10 pounders , & had moved the 3 to 5, and 5 to 10, so i needed to move the 10's up to something. i tried them out yesterday, and i'm pretty sore today. my swim was really slow, too. oh well.

labor day weekend

cake glorious cake! this strawberry cake, which my mom makes, is absolutely fabulous! it's super moist, with chunks of strawberry in it. i was looking forward to it the whole WEEKEND.

labor day weekend

CAKE TIME!!!

labor day weekend

on monday, my dad's actual birthday, my mom cooked dinner for all of us. the restaurant wasn't open on mondays...

labor day weekend

for some reason, j got the urge to break out our kitten leash & take the kids out into the yard. both our kittens are between 15-20 lbs, and the leash we have barely fits them. neither one was used to the harness, so when they got outside, they just sort of plopped down in the grass & didn't explore at all. wow. our lawn is really dead. i've been trying not to water too frequently in the interest of conservation.

labor day weekend

on sunday night, j's parents joined my family at hunter's ridge restaurant in sherwood to help celebrate my dad's birthday. good food, & good wine.

labor day weekend

last weekend, my brother flew up from san francisco for a couple days to help celebrate my dad's 65th birthday. we all visited the japanese gardens & the rose garden. in one section of the rose garden are the award winning rose bushes for each year, with years going back to at least the 1930's (can't remember how far). here's a picture of me with the one from my birth year - "electron."

up too late...

ok... i've been surfing the web, trying to get tired enough to go to bed. i've been up since 5:45am, and i have no idea why i'm not tired enough. all i know is that i knew i'd have to get up early this morning, so i went to bed early last night, and then never really slept well, and woke up strangely completely awake & alert. anyway, i've been looking at a variety of things... i've mainly been reading posts on frommer's website, trying to prepare for our upcoming trip to new zealand. i took a break from that, and checked out mtv's website to watch a video of britney spears' performance. with all the trash talk about her & her bad behavior, i was interested to see what sort of a show she'd put on. well... it was REALLY bad. i'm not a fan of her anyway, but i try to be open minded. she had a sort of anna nicole smith air about her - very detached from reality & uncommitted. justin timberlake, on the other hand, seemed completely together. why is it that female superstars tend to go off the deep end more frequently than males? perhaps it's simply shoes. justin looked awfully comfortable in his white sneakers. britney, and all female superstars, have to torture themselves in uncomfortable high heels. that must be the problem. ???? (kids, it's getting late. i'm not thinking too clearly.) next, i searched online for "what goes up, must come down." it's a lyric from a song i heard about a month ago on the radio, and i missed the name of the artist. i never know who's singing what... i always tune that part of the broadcast out. normally, i could care less, because i only listen to music when i'm running, or when npr is tedious. the only reason i was interested in it was because a sample of the beginning of the solo violin part to the brahms violin concerto is repeated throughout the song without end. anyway, i found out it was "karma," by alicia keys. makes me dizzy to listen to it, not to mention teased, because the violinist never gets to play the whole first phrase. both times i've heard the song, it's been close to impossible for me to concentrate on the actual singing due to the brahms lick. who knew brahms went so well with r&b?! i'd love to hear a shostakovich lick in a heavy metal song - seems much more appropriate... reminds me of hearing "long long ago" from the suzuki book 2 (yes, the one with the variation) all hip-hopped up on the gorillaz first album. every time my students play it, i want to start rockin' out... jurassic 5 quoted another suzuki song too, "etude" from suzuki book 1, i think. were these artists all suzuki kids at some point? hmm. i think it's time to go to sleep...

???!???

for the second week in a row, the university of michigan wolverines were absolutely trampled. last week they were just barely beaten by appalachian state. today, they were killed by oregon - 39 to 7. what the hell? lloyd carr, what do you think you're doing? whip 'em into shape!!! it's turning out to be a sad, sad season.

chehalem dreaming...

had a kick-ass bottle of wine tonight. chehalem winery's 3 vineyard pinot noir from 2005. absolutely fabulous. great price for an oregon pinot. it has a screw cap, too, so it's a perfect choice for a picnic, or hiking to the top of misery ridge by yourself while the hubby is off rock climbing at smith rock...
anyhoo, the hubby was a dear and picked up some rib steaks (they're on sale this week at new seasons!) and veggies for the grill and a surprise dessert (bear claw) - all that while i was teaching away. let the kids out for a stroll on the lawn. we just finished watching a movie - mrs. palfrey at the claremont - sad, but touching & beautiful. a great night!

michael buble concert

on monday, j left for a business trip for the week. i had two complimentary tickets to the michael buble show that evening (thanks to j.c. - she introduced me to one of the band's trombonists during my last trip to nyc, and he offered to get me tickets when buble came to portland), so i took one of j's friends with me for a little "date." i expected to be bored...expected to hate the show, but i loved it! buble is a great singer, and does a lot of frank sinatra type songs. he's very good with the shtick in between songs. all in all, it was really entertaining. it's rare that i can actually sit back and just enjoy a musical performance these days. very refreshing.

lincoln city

the morning we left the coast, it was a little foggy & misty. we had to leave early to meet up with j's parents at a wine tasting brunch sunday morning at a winery in salem. it was a beautiful ending to a great weekend. later that evening, after doing the normal weekend tasks like laundry & grocery shopping, we went to see "knocked up" at the mission theater. very funny movie! pretty unrealistic, but amusing nonetheless.

lincoln city

as i said before, we did little besides eat & watch the ocean. we got really lucky with weather. it was sunny & warm - i managed to get a little too much sun! i just can't express how nice it was to see the ocean again. it had been so long since i had last been there. there's something magical & refreshing about the coast...

lincoln city

at the d sands motel, you get a cookie at check-in. we got lucky and each got two! i saved mine until sunset after dinner (j was making fun of me...), and am enjoying the last bit in this picture. j is obviously just jealous.

lincoln city

a self portrait...

trip to the beach

last friday, j & i went to the beach. i had been dying for a little vacation, and was bummed because early in the week, all the hotels appeared to be booked, at least according to expedia & travelocity. one of my parents suggested i try calling hotels on thursday, thinking that most places have 48 hour cancellations. i tried it, and managed to find a place in lincoln city! yay! oh joy! little l gets a vacation after all! we stayed there for two nights, and did little besides eat, drink, & watch the ocean.

little l.

last friday, i had cawfee with my friend c & her little sleeping newborn baby l. l is such a cutie, and i hear she's a fantastic sleeper! i hadn't seen c since before l's birth, so it was fun to catch up.

kittens.

my friend d is playing foster mommy to another couple of young tiny sick kittens. i was stopping by her place to pick up our cooler, which had been there since p's deportation extravaganza over a month ago, and i got to have some prime cuddle time with them. SO CUTE!!!