Coastal Memories

Not only is Memorial Day the official summer kickoff, it's also the first paid-vacation-holiday of the year... which means I generally try to get out and about. (See: checking out the Czech Republic, hiking the death march with Katie in Colorado Springs, visiting the Chinese cemetery in Baker City, camping at Acadia National Park in Maine, singing kareoke with sailors during Fleet Week in New York City, commandeering a beach house in Connecticut.) This weekend proved no different as a friend had a hook-up to a beach house at the coast here in Oregon.

Without a doubt, the long weekend proved to be one of the best of the year. It was colder than any of us would have preferred, but it didn't rain, most of us still managed to get into the crashing surf (even if forced because the losing volleyball team had consequences), and the sun managed to come out on Monday. Any trip where you come home with more color than you left must be deemed a success.

How many years of my life have I been the tallest person girl in my group of friends? Newsflash: I'm the shortie around here now. It's an alternate universe, I'll tell you what. These girls are my favorites:There aren't photos that capture what we spent the majority of our time doing, and that's eating. We brought groceries and foodstuffs for 25 15 and only ever had 10 people. Three full meals a day is 1.5 more than I normally eat, plus snacks, and two trips to Mo's and man oh man it's a miracle I didn't come home 10 lbs and/or two sizes larger than I left.
Perhaps my biggest accomplishment of the trip (besides being the first to bed every night... who am I anymore?) was that I got out running two times. Granted, I didn't go very far or very fast, but as someone who's never exercised on vacation, it was a crazy step in the right direction. I'm only sorry I missed the Insanity workout most of the other folks did... I'm running a dumb Half in less than two weeks, and surely you remember that miles are miles and they must be logged.
Though the pictures don't show it, we spent most of our time on the sand playing beach volleyball, inside the house playing games and laughing uproariously, or hip-shaking to the ghetto-thumper playlist we kept cycling through while playing, cleaning, preparing food, etc.

Getting back into the swing of things has been pretty gnarly, I won't lie -- who ever really loves going back to real life? I have a feeling this summer is going to be a good one...

5 Months and Hometown Glory

The radio silence hasn’t been intentional, not at all. Until last night I thought it rather accidental to be honest.

My grand epiphany came as most are wont to—one thought, then two, then many that appeared from nowhere while walking alone on brick paths reflecting the light of the streetlights, the cobblestones slick with the rain that continued to fall. Have I appropriately painted the picture of Adele’s “Hometown Glory*”? In this case, the description isn’t a cliché—it really happened wandering from work to my hotel; the distance between Seaport and the Back Bay just long enough to make sense of the jumble of thoughts in my mind.

You wouldn’t know because I didn’t announce it very loudly in advance, but I’ve spent the last week in Boston for work. [Enter mixed emotions I’ll try my darndest to explain.]

It’s been five months since I left and I’ve been quieter in the online world. My blog has lain mostly dormant and fewer Facebook photos, updates, comments, etc. have been posted as I’ve spent time bridging the gap between what I affectionately call my Old and New life. My Old life was comfortable and I was doing some incredible things in all areas of my life. I didn’t feel like my soul was in a rut; but the routine of my life most definitely was.

The transition to Portland has been thrilling. I’ve spent my fair share of time feeling anxiously queasy with nerves, attempting to navigate a new social, vocational, and spiritual scene—but I’m learning that those feelings are conquerable with the right attitude and willingness to fake it til you make it. I’ve proved yet again, that people are interested in you if you’re interested in them and that there are incredibly nice, good people everywhere trying to do the right thing. I’ve learned that the presence of hope is a powerful motivator and can be a sustaining force in the face of crippling nostalgia.

In my New life, I wake feeling like anything could happen.

Last night, with the rain and the quiet and the ability to hear my own brain making sense of my week in the City—the City that I still and will always love—I felt the closure I didn’t know I needed on a lengthy chapter of my life I thought I’d already closed. Call it luck or call it Providence, but I was able to spend meaningful time with everyone I wanted to in my brief time (and still manage to squeeze in that pesky thing called work). Relationships with the people I care so very much about were picked right back up and five months of time were erased as soon as hugs and easy-laughs were exchanged. Instead of feeling queasy social unease, I felt like a superstar. I won’t lie… it’s not a bad way to feel. But I’ve been gone five months, and I know how much my life has changed in the last five months and it felt weird that no one knew about it. It was almost too easy, slipping back into the habit and the routine of being here. Those five months could have never happened—but they have, and I like that they have.

I’ve never had doubts about my decision to leave Boston, not once. Outside of my own subjective view, it probably sounds cold—I had a gorgeous life there full of good people who loved and cared about me. (Still do, and are actively vocal about that fact—I’m a lucky girl.) Still, when I received two texts on the same day from two of my new Portland friends asking “When are you coming home?”, the gamut of emotions you guys—I’m incapable of expressing them. My trip to Boston was the round-trip ticket on my decision to leave. I didn’t know I needed to return to come full circle.

Subconsciously, I haven’t felt right talking much about my forward because I hadn’t fully said goodbye to my back. I hope I don’t ruffle any feathers when I say this and you might be shocked if you know how nostalgic of a person I am, but the last week has fully confirmed that there’s nothing left for me in Boston anymore. I will 1,000 percent cherish every memory I have in that place (and keep up the associated relationships that originated in the 617), but the era of my life located there has passed, and my heart no longer resides in Boston. My life is no longer in Boston.

Like I said, the presence of hope is a powerful motivator. And I’m ready to go home.

*Fourteen listens to write this posts.

thirty-four days

There are evenings every now and again when I feel like it's all coming together. That I'm not on an extended reprieve from the life I'd known for so long and that a future with new plans and people is starting to coalesce. Of course there are also evenings when I feel like I need to take a hard look at the expectations I have for my new circumstances and readjust my thinking to better reflect reality.

In not so many words, things have been good. When I take the pause to count the days I've actually lived in Oregon (34 to be exact) I'm floored by the progress I've made in terms of people I've met (and remembered), social events I've attended, invitations that have been extended, and opportunities I've had to serve. Thirty-four days is a blink of the eye, so taking the time to reflect has been nothing but a good thing.

My writing might not make much sense--no surprise there, it's hard to sift through and categorize it in my mind. Explaining it becomes less important when I tell you that I'm happy, right?

In sad news, in the last 34 days I lost my dream home in a bidding war, housed a raging flu and bronchial cough that'd hurt your lungs to hear, traveled to San Francisco (yay!) while under the weather, worked some stressful weeks, said some things I shouldn't have said, didn't say some things I should have said, and have yet to exercise one time. To be coming out happy on the far side of that should prove to you that things are better than I'm letting on.

I haven't spoken/text/chat/emailed much with my Boston life. It hasn't been a conscious effort to leave it alone, simply a survival technique to focus on the effort required to move ahead. Thirty-four days doesn't accurately reflect the number of days I feel removed from the people and that place. In some regard, there's a chasm in my brain that separates my lives--but that chasm will be so easy bridged as soon as I come face-to-face with someone whom I love or I step foot into that city I adore.

I feel empowered by hope. Thirty-four days here has given me a pretty good (realistic) look at what my life will be like here in Portland. No, it's not what I imagined it would be during my planning--but I've discovered in this not so short and also very long time, that my success here depends solely on me. It's a bit daunting, and on more than one occasion has felt exhaustingly overwhelming, but if there's one person in this world I trust, it's me. Sink or swim, it's in my hands. I'm grateful that my spiritual faith is not only a catalyst for action but also a comfort in those moments when I'm paralyzed by fear. I have both a hope and faith that things will all work out in the end.

"Work out" yet to be determined, but it's going to be great.

count on facebook...

...to sum it up better than i can:


But really. There are hundreds, or thousands, or hundreds of thousands of words that could, should, and really ought to be written about the bi-coastal, life-altering uprooting I just went through, but I'm both at a temporary loss to pen them and still trying to recover from the soul-numbing exhaustion required to manage that kind of herculean effort.

Let's just say it still doesn't feel real.

home is wherever you get mail

Holy crap. I just put down an offer on a house. This house. The ski chalet!
Time will tell.

home sweet to be

Coming Soon:

Today is all about the media blitz in sharing my news. I'll hit the five-year mark in Boston and that's when I'll pack it up (pack it in) and head for greener pastures. (ETA: December 25, 2011)

More to come about the move, the decision, and what it all stinking means.

Sidenote: I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Very little thoughts from PDX

Tonight ends another two-week stay here in Portland. This summer has whisked right by--maybe it wouldn't if I actually spent more than a few weeks in once place, do you think? I'm headed to San Francisco for the week for a work conference, so the delay on returning to my own bed continues. This trip, combined with a week in Cleveland for work and almost 3 weeks in the Holy Land in June means I've spent approximately 4.3 nights in my own bed this summer.

Hey look! I finally after six years of requests took a bike ride in Portland. I get so nervous you know, I've never had a bike of my own, so starting, stopping, weaving, traffic, people, cars, streets, etc. it all makes me a bit nervous. But Mom really wanted us to go, so I got brave and did the 12-mile loop into and around downtown Portland. It was a gorgeous day and ended up being a great ride. If I ever moved here, maybe I'd get brave and try to quit being such a drain on the earth. But we all know I'd make the ride once and that would be the end of that story.
While I miss my home and routine in Boston, I really do love traveling. When I'm away from home I really feel like anything could happen at any time. I'm logical enough to know that's still the case in Boston, but I enjoy this sense of suspended reality when I'm gone. I could move to Portland at any point (and keep my same job), but I just don't think I'm ready to give up the flexibility I have of being hubbed from two coasts. That being said, this trip has definitely given me a lot to think about.

So how's this for an update non-update? I'm healthy, wealthy (enough), and wise (enough). Perhaps that's update enough.

brain dump that starts with a miracle

Both my Mom and Alicia have instructed me to quit feeling the pressure of "a first blog back" and just start. (That's been one of the major road blocks I'll confess -- where to dive back in after so much time and so many crazy events?)

Tonight, I give you a secular miracle. Spiritual miracles over yonder.


An orange Starburst to me is worthless. So check out this miracle bag I drew yesterday. Target really is a holy house.

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Can you believe it's nearly November? I sure can't, but this Halloween-New Year's stretch is my favorite time of the year, so who am I to complain? We leave for Panama four weeks from today--marking the third time in three years I'll be in a foreign country for Thanksgiving. Nothing like saying thanks to those early pilgrims by evacuating the country that gave them freedom and cornbread.

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I have church at 11:00. There's something about the 11AM block that sucks the entire day away. Today, I left for church at 10:30 and didn't leave the building until 4:30. Sure extended meetings kept me at church longer than normal, but what happened to the in and out in just over 3 hours? 11AM church is a time vortex, I'm telling you what.

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I finally caught up on my last DVR'd episodes of the shows I've been missing since I went on the road the first week of September. Today, I enjoyed four episodes of The Vampire Diaries and didn't feel one bit of bad about it. Sure, the town of Mystic Falls might be a titch dangerous, but if the menfolk all looked like they do on that show, it might just be worth the risk.

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I did a three week tour out west for work and a bit of play. 10 days Utah, 7 days Portland, 4 days Detroit. It was exhausting and exhausting. While there, I spoke at a work conference on the parallels between catering cupcakes and managing successful web projects (the playback audio also confirms I speak with a lisp. >). High profile, high stress. Somehow I also thought it wise for cupcakes to accompany my presentation, so I found my self baking 180 cupcakes the same week I was freaking out about a host of other things that needed to be done allwithin24hours.

I learned some new stuffs this go round -- chocolate raspberry is the new black, bacon cooked in a microwave cooks flat and beautifully, and lemon cupcake with cream cheese frosting and coconut on top might still be my all time favorite.

Annnnnnnnnnnd now I want a cupcake.
The good news is this is the view I got to watch from my parents' kitchen while also baking, frosting, cleaning up, practicing my talk, or trying not to dry heave from nerves.
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This will be my eleventh winter with snow and I've still yet to figure out the whole winter shoe issue. Please someone, anyone, anyone, give me some pointers?

Also? It's good to be back. It was stressing me out missing so much of my personal history.

Day 11

Well this one is easy. How about a photo of me taken today? More photos of this wedding will for sure for sure be coming, because you're going to DIE when you see the bride's custom dress. And the fact that it was sunny, in Portland, in April. And because the reception was in a barn, the bridesmaids all found suitable green dresses, the dance party was off the hizzook and the first dance between the bride and groom would get a million hits on YouTube if posted in its entirety.

A photo of you taken recently
More to come. Because I have some things to wax on about.

Day 09

Limited time for an update tonight, I'm embroiled in three days of wedding festivities. Spent last night at the Oregon coast with the sunniest skies I've ever seen with some of the greatest girls you've ever met. This photo taken on the beach this morning after the bride's glasses washed away to sea after she was tackled into the water. Taken on my phone because that's the kind I am now.

A photo you took

Ayúdame!

I'm working on a new blog. Not a post, an actual new (supplemental) blog. More to come on that soon(ish), but I need your help in the meantime. Life and death here people, so I've created a new poll in the right real estate. Please respond. No one's feelings (read: mine) are going to be hurt, I'm just trying to figure out the taxonomy (tagging) system for my new stuff.

So. Help me. Quickly. And don't feel bad.

Also, happy Monday. Did you enjoy your weekend? Did it have crazy snow? Mine didn't, but you wouldn't have guessed with the number of times I left the house. Nothing like last year. Glad I got out of Boston before the BIG ONE hit! Travel safe everyone. XO.

Rating this month a 10

Last year, I claimed that December is my favorite month of the year. Well watch out 12, there's a new name on the ballot. October has been a whirlwind of visitors, Saturday get-aways, and leaf viewing. One of my major projects has been in QA and development, so I've been working a ton and spent a few quick days in meetings in Portland.

Here's a sample of my last week--pretty indicative of how all of October has been:
Sunday night: fly to Portland
M, Tu, Weds: project management meetings; after hours socializing, working from 8-1:30 most nights to get actual work done
Thurs: fly back to Boston--a man on the plane had a seizure onboard in the first hour so it was a pretty dramatic flight, get picked up by my mom at the airport (in Boston. it was trippy as it was a complete polar opposite of what happens when i usually fly.), drive to NYC to stay with my Dad in his hotel (there for business). That's right. Portland, Boston, NYC all in one day.
Fri: work from the hotel in the AM, Canal Street, the MoMa, Olive Garden in Times Square, West Side Story lottery (Dad won!), a piece of cheesecake with Whitney while the parents were at the show, and to sleep on the ground. (Night six not in my own bed.)
Sat: flea market in Chelsea, pizza on the Upper West Side, and a drive back to Boston in the back seat of a convertible Ford Mustang. Pouring rain, so the top was up. Dinner at "Jimbo's Roast Beef and Seafood," the hole-in-the-wall restaurant near my house that's a new favorite I take all of my visitors too. 100% success rate so far. Grocery shopping. Bed.
Sun: Sleep in. Oh so glorious. So so so glorious. Church with the parents. Tacos and mexican chuttney. Another "most gorgeous day of the year" so this time we get to ride with the top down. Looking at leaves and visiting Concord and the Old North Bridge. Took these photos:
I love having my parents in town. They do a good job of keeping themselves busy, but also including me! It was nice to know somethings never change--for instance.... we were nearly late for church as mom was trying to get the roll dough made. (On the plus side, I now know how to make the best rolls in the history of the world. Surely this is a marketable domestic skill!)

This weekend is the every-other-year Education Conference in Boston; and I have quite a few folks coming up from NYC to stay with me and attend. The go go go continues... Sorry I've been inconsistent, I hope you're all happy and well!

Live! From her Pajamas... it's Wednesday night!

• I have blogged 17 times since the beginning of the year. A new low.

• I just got off the phone with a pre-screener for a candy focus group. Don't you worry, of course I was qualified for the study. It was probably all of the "I never feel guilty for eating candy..." answers that sealed the deal. I'm part of the "Mounds" study later this month. Thank you free $100.
  
• Half of our office is traveling this week, so the other half of us decided to make it "Work from home Wednesday." It's 6:22pm and I'm still in my pajamas. Grand.
• Not only is it obnoxious to have adult acne, but having to pay for prescription drugs to treat adult acne is adding insult to injury. I thought we were getting free prescription drugs in January...
• Are you eating baked Cheetos yet? OH so good.
  
• I did my first outdoor run yesterday. I hate it. 25 days til the marathon, 26 days until I give up running.
• I really can't stop watching this video of an unexpected singer with an unexpected voice. I tear up nearly every time. It's so rare to see something so humanizing on TV--in an unexpected place, and starring everyone's favorite crankypants Simon Cowell!
• Today, I felt the need to do something completely drastic--in times past this meant putting a blue streak in my hair, moving to Boston, dying my hair red, etc. Today, it meant signing up for a Candy focus group. (Am I getting lame?)
• Some out-of-my-control things going on in my life right now. This song has become my anthem of late. It's worth a listen.
• Last week I left my keys in Portland, misplaced my wallet, and had my email hacked and all my work folks spammed. I had to rely on my roommate to let me into the house and I couldn't bide time away from the house because I had no where to spend money. It was kind of dramatic. Luckily, it's all been sorted out. This week is already a +5 over last week's drama rama.
• In my yearly pilgrammage to Mecca (aka Utah), my lovely sister Alaina does a photoshoot. Let's call this my 316-month-old shoot. (That's right calculator: (26 x 12) + 4. I don't do complex math on my own.) To promote her business, here's the link to my shoot. If you have photo needs in Utah, give her a buzz. She's amazing. She'll also be shooting the bestie's wedding in Boston in August, so if you're local and need something done, let her or I know! I inadvertantly rocked some major 80's fashion and hair, but it was all in good fun.
• We're all facebook friends, right? I mean I don't have to post all the photos from my Salt Lake/Portland Extravaganza, do I? Okay, just a few.
• MUST GO. VTee I've been trying to reach forever just called wanting to do dinner. Time to get OUT of jams...
  

The grand conclusion to "Why I love December"

HI FRIENDS!

Instead of doing the standard apologizing for taking so long between posts, I'm going to jump right in with my favorite memories from my twenty-seven days at home. I won't post a ton of photos because if we're real friends (and you're not just some random creeper), you've seen the majority of these photos on Facebook. That being said, in no particular order (except the order that these appear in my brain) here we goooooooo!

• Though snowed in the first 8 of 9 days, my mom had enough forethought to add grenadine to the emergency supply. Nothing like a Diet Cherry Coke in the ale glasses.
• We turned into a family of board game players. Well, if board games include Ticket to Ride and sometimes Harry Potter Clue.
• The homemade treats. Cookies, cupcakes, caramel corn, hot fudge sauce, rolls, guacamole.
• Once the roads cleared, my dad and I carpooled to and from downtown Portland each day. Kind of fun to compare work stories or situations and anything else striking one of our fancies.
• The parents and sisters 3 and 4 all got picture and unlimited texting. Most days at work I'd get an unexpected text from Mom saying she missed me or what the plan for the evening was.
  
• The teams I manage are all in Portland, so it was nice to be in the office with them for a few weeks and getting to know their personalities. I also got to show a bit more of mine. I'm honestly, oh so very amazed at both the quality of genius, industry-smart people employed at my agency. Not only are they intelligent, they're wicked funny and amazingly kind. I'm honest when I say I've never seen a company like this.
• My hand-crafted Christmas sweater was more greatly understood this year. Had a fun time posing for Olan Mills style holiday photos with some coworkers.
• Spent so long in Portland I slept multiple nights in three separate beds.
• Kendall and Josh got engaged! Click here to read the cutest engagement story you've ever heard.
• Ju Ju Julie came to visit. It was amazing. Par for the course, we took limited photos--which is good considering we spent most of the time in our pajamas. That gal picked up Ticket to Ride much too quickly. And we stayed up OH so late talking.
• On New Year's Eve, all four of us sisters were home doing our own thing. (Parents already sleeping.) Two minutes before midnight, we turned the TV on to watch the ball drop, did a quick NY hug and kiss and went back to what we were doing before. It was honestly one of my favorite New Year's yet.
• Mal and I started watching The City and I'm obsessed with analyzing Whitney's hair. Tried a middle part several days and a few of her other stylings.
• We got a sitter for the baby and went to see Twilight. Sat in the fourth row, and took a self portrait. I really didn't think we'd be able to get all six of us in it.
  
• Thought a lot about my goals for the New Year. I'm pleased to announce they've been integrated. To make a long story short, 2009 is going to be the best year ever.
• Frequented a few bars with coworkers on several evenings. Smoking was legal in bars until the 1st of the year. The one night I went out before the 1st, my coat had to sit in the garage for a week for the smell to fade. I was much happier to go out once January hit.
• Convinced Mallory and Kendall to join me on Twitter. Wahoo!
  
• The baby! Adrie is a few months over 2 now and really quite fun. She still doesn't love me too much, but she redeemed herself by wearing the horse I gave her for Christmas and kissing on command.
• Due to snow, our Christmas church was canceled. Of all the weeks..! We watched the 2-hour motion picture Nativity Story that came out last year (it has the main girl from Whalerider in it) and it was actually more than lovely. Highly recommended to anyone trying to get into the Christmas spirit. That movie surely did it for me.
• Though our numbers were small, we held a Christmas program/talent show. I'm the poorest singer of the 4 of us and was happy to accompany on the piano. I'm grateful I haven't completely forgotten how to play!
• I was able to have Albertson's donuts a few mornings!
• My dad's company has Blazers season tickets in the 14th row. My dad's boss's mom died (boo) so we got the seats for the Blazers/Celtics game (yay). The view was amazing (yay), but the Celtics lost (boo). STILL such a fun time. Even with the ribbing I had to take at work the next day.
  
• Probably my most favorite gift of the year was the glass heart necklace given to me by my parents. My dad gave it to my mom as the first major piece of jewelry after her wedding ring in the 80's; it was the first of many glass heart necklaces. My mom told me I'd get a comment on it every time I wore it -- sure enough, the 2nd person I saw at work the next day had something nice to say.
• My other favorite gift (sometimes having a list pays off) was my Mickey Mouse waffle iron. In addition to the griddle and food processer gifted to me, I'm ready to roll as far as breakfast is concerned. Sometimes I wonder when I'll run out of nostalgic gifts to request.
• According to the sweatshirt and pants I borrowed all holiday break, I was part of the rugby team that played in the high school nationals. Goooooooo me.
  
• I also got to wear a Valkyrie (that's right, the Tom Cruise eyepatch movie) shirt Mallory won. Everytime she or I would see the shirt, we'd yell out VALKYRIE. Sounds dumb, but after 3.5 weeks, it got kind of funny.
• One night, it was waaaaay too quiet in the room Kendall and I were sharing. I decided to serenade her with a little Lion King. (Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahm savaaaaaaaaagnya.) We slept with the bathroom fan on every night after that.
• Oddly enough, Adrie was watching the Lion King a few days later. We were playing Ticket to Ride and would all randomly pipe in song lyrics or movie quotes when they fit.
• We watched Ironman with the surround sound so loud that it knocked several shelves and various items off the wall unit. (That's right, we like things louuuuuud.)
• Mallory and I had an obsession with Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video and the Top 25 Mashup. Genius to both counts.
• SANTA BROUGHT THREE DVR'S TO THE WMS HOUSE. I can guarantee you're no more shocked than I am. The conversations and tutorials about said units are some of the funnier memories. ("Hey! What you record on YOUR dvr is your own business!")
• Our work holiday party was January 9th and the rest of the Boston office came out to celebrate. It was a 40's-theme and it started to feel a bit like prom. The questions about who was going to wear what, if we wanted to get ready at so-and-so's hotel room, etc. Everyone was my best friend after dinner once they realized I had drink tickets to spare...
  
• I've never been called "Boston" so much in my life. Especially when I was with my two gal pal coworkers (also from the Boston office). I thought those kind of nicknames only happened on TV shows.
  
• Oh! My other favorite gift--I tend to forget it was a Christmas gift because it was given in the snowed-in-bored-days before Christmas is a handwritten recipie book my mom put together of all our family favorites. I can't imagine the hours it put together -- and I'm determined to start using it this year!
• I changed my return ticket twice. Once was a 10 day extension, the next a 1 day.
• 27 days at home, 0 days of vacation time taken. That's what I'm talkin' bout.
  

I flew home on a 100% uneventful trip -- only worth mentioning because when are trips uneventful these days? I was picked up by Linda and wisked to an incredibly fun dinner party. It helped curb any feelings of remorse I felt in leaving the Pac-Nor homeland.

I've been on a lot--a lot--of trips in my 26 years. And had a lot of Christmases. Every year Mallory says it was the Best Christmas Ever. I'm here and on board to tell you (and agree with her) that this was in fact, the BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER. And one of the BEST. TRIPS. EVER. We had very few quarells, very few harsh words, and I left with very few regrets. My batteries were in sore need of charging--and now I'm ready to meet life face on again.

Welcome home Boston.

You can always go home

Dear Internet,

I'm not dead. Still in Portland, Day 21 of 26. Having your office headquartered in your family's town is about the best gift you can ever receive. In fact, count it my greatest gratitude gift of 2008.

I'm having an amazing time. Seriously, best trip home ever. Best Christmas ever. Best New Year's ever. Best job ever. Best coworkers ever. Best snow-in ever. Best sisters ever. Best never-ending supply of Diet Cherry Cokes ever. Best ______ ever.

21 days never went so fast.

I'll be back soon, I'm just busy playing Ticket to Ride, baking, furiously trying to get through book 5 of TW&TG, baking, eating, and one of these days I'll have to repack. I kind of forgot what my Boston apartment looks like.

Hope your days were as merry and bright!

Rationing

While we were out shoveling, the neighbors across the way came out and asked us if we needed anything at the store. Considering we're still housebound, we asked for the essentials:

• Sugar
• Diet Coke
• Skittles
• M&Ms
• Laundry Detergent

You know, just the essentials. We made sure to add that anything on the list could be forgotten except the Diet Coke. Gosh I love being home.

Snow place like home

Update: We had to shovel today. 6 inches snow, 1 inch ice, 8 more inches snow. (photos below)

Dear reader(s),

I'm not sure where your location is this time of the year, but let me tell you a little bit about mine. Snow. Portland, Oreg. rarely gets snow, but the heavens have decided to remain open for eight days and counting. The universe righted itself this year and let me fly home without major incident. I threaded the needle between Boston and Portland storms and arrived Tuesday evening.

Due to inclement conditions, I've left the house only twice in the last six days. The snow is really coming down! Yesterday, after eight inches of snow, it rained for awhile--creating ice an inch thick. Now it's snowing again with no dry day in the forecast until the 1st of the year.

I haven't grown bored or stir crazy... yet. This is when the true home-body in me is clearly evident. I'm happy being at home relaxing and wearing the same clothes. We're trying to ration the Diet Cokes with little success.

So far we're healthy, happy and enjoying the time to laze about and watch movies or play board games. Here we are, Saturday at 1pm, still in our pajamas and ratty hair playing Ticket to Ride. It's rather heavenly.

Now we need the heavens to close for just a few minutes to get our final guests in on Tuesday and Friday.

Knock on Wood

Alternate post title: Been There, Done That
Alternate to the alternate post title: Chat of the Year

Mallory: I love you,and I sort of wish you would break some bone just so you could come and live with me. xoxo.

A Night Not Wasted

Last night, I had one goal. Finish my book. Not a hard task considering my book is a very very very very fine book, but between work, family, sleep, and the Olympics coverage, I haven't found the 90 minutes needed to put the nail in the coffin and lay it to rest.

I decided to take a breather from the sucking-my-life-away Olympics (I just can't help how much I love them) and finish it once and for all.

The sisters had other plans.

We didn't go anywhere, we didn't do anything, we didn't even eat. In fact, we didn't even leave the house. Kendall and I sat and chatted about everything and nothing while we waited for Mallory to come home. After the grand arrival, we somehow migrated from the family room to the guest room. We talked, we giggled, we compared Wms vs Wood traits. We discovered that we each have oddities--the way I move my hands, the way Mal's nose moves when she speaks, and the fact that Kendall wants nothing more than to see our baby niece without any skin.

The night got later and later. Needless to say, my book didn't get finished. I'm not too broken up about it. And hey, if you don't have any sisters, go find some. Or borrow mine.

The Northwest, The Southwest, and South of the Border

My time off the grid was longer than anticipated. Am I the last one to post any kind of Christmas update? Yes. I've read the updates from coast to coast. I'm so far behind in the posting, most bloggers have posted their year in review, New Year's shenanegans, or pled for accountability on the goals they've set for 2008. I'm about three weeks behind. (Here's hoping I get those things blogged too.)

It's taken me so long to post on my Christmas vacation due to the sheer volume of photos taken--my hard drive (thanks Santa!) has Christmas photos from seven family member cameras. That's 1500 photos to sort through. It's overwhelming to look at them, let alone take the time and sort, choose, and upload to Blogger. (But really readers, has anyone figured out a faster easier way to post a ton of photos? Clue me in!)

If I were writing this post the day after (like I do with most recaps), I'd waste time giving you the nitty gritty details. Why do I do that? A good chunk of you don't even know me, let alone care who drove in whose car, or whose burrito didn't have onions. Oye. So. This blog will NOT be split into a Portland, Phoenix, Mexico section. I'm going to let you do critical analysis on your own.

And so it begins....



Rachel made a list of her favorite moments from the trip. To her list, I add some of my favorite memories: "Acting natural" in the lounging photos on the beach chairs; having the Mexican cooks come in to feed us every night--I'd about die to have some more of that bacon-wrapped shrimp; the fascination with the babies, watching the hundreds of photos every night on the TV (I've told many of you friends that we do this on vacation, here's the proof!); my continued streak of terrible posing; rehashing some of Pierre's choicer phrases.



I've blogged before about being a double cousin. Eight of us, two sets of parents, but all identical genes. Yeah, it still sounds funny to say it that way. The last time the 8 of our photo was taken was 2.5 years ago, here's the update.


The only reason this picture is so large is to show you how incredible the scenery/landscaping is and how well the shot is set up. My sister Alaina does an amazing job--check out her business blog.

Everyone and their sister did a jumping shot or two--check them out on this Mexican Christmas recap post.

More fun memories: the activities Gram planned so no one would get "bored"--a treasure hunt, felt ornament beading, and a late night (6pm) glow stick rave; running after cars and waving when people are leaving, seeing dolphins with Grandpa and Alaina (I'm not only good at whale watching), and watching all the Grandmas (3!) take care of everyone else.




During the sunlight hours, this is what we do in Mexico. Sometimes we'd go to town, but most of our waking hours were spent in this location drinking Vita (sugar-laden Mexican soda that creates the funkiest/most vivid dreams), and debating whether the longest part of the "day" was in the late afternoon waiting for the cooks to come or at night when it was cold and dark and we had to be inside.


After the babies and the 9-year-old owner of the Wii went to bed, the tennis tournaments began. Most of us are actual players, so it was fun to duke it out in the virtual world when we were mostly equals. Rachel and my Williams/Williams took down Babb/Babb, Nielsen/Nielsen and any other combination of Williams/Williams put together. But really, it was all in good fun--and a good way for the 3rd generation to bond.


There were several "not planned to be funny" activities that were perhaps the highlight of the trip, and they turned out a little different than planned--including the Diet Coke/Mentos rocket launch and fallout, the kids fort to trap the "bad mexicans" ("It almost trapped some good mexicans! so I know it's going to work!" --PR) and the great White Elephant Movie/Music/Book exchange. You can't imagine what kind of multimedia treats there were. The best gift was "The Italian Job"--until Rachel stole it and we discovered it's a NYC knock-off. I had to leave my 1994 Olympic highlight VHS at the house in Mexico because no one wanted to cart it back across the border.

I love vacation. I love my family. The two are always a genius combination. Coming back to reality is always a bummer--especially considering it's -5 in Boston and I was in my bathing suit less than a week ago. Sigh.

It's taken me 2.5 hours to write this blog and I'm ending it before something tragic happens.