A Lolly For Me

I finally bit into my Sahagun lollipop today after lunch, and yummmm...

I've Got Numbers

My debut as an Italian teacher is only a few days away now, and I just checked the registration status online... My Monday class has 19 students signed up, my Wednesday class has 7. I need 10 to have a class, so I know I'll at least have one for sure. And yes, that makes me more nervous than I already was. Dammit.

The good news - the fever apparently took with it every ailment I had prior, so I'm back to my old self. Well, with one exception - now I seem to have insomnia, which is annoying. I'm perfectly willing to accept that it's due to anxiety over the teaching thing, but that knowledge doesn't seem to make it go away. Sleeping pills, however, do.

Pennsylvania Wrap-Up & Photos

Just before we left Pennsylvania, I finally downloaded the most recent newsletter from Powells. This is how it started:

This year we're changing the way resolutions are done. Instead of writing a list of our own personal faults that we intend to improve, we have decided to give everyone we know a list of their faults and things we wish they would resolve to improve. This can be quite helpful for the wayward souls who make resolutions about all the wrong things and don't even realize the true flaws they need to fix.

I love that.

The holidays always make me look forward to mid-January when I'm back to my old routine. That's not to say I don't like the holidays - I love them. And this year was especially noteworthy with the Pennsylvania set - it was our first opportunity to get a true family picture in something like six years. I'm so pleased with the picture, and what it represents.


A family Christmas portrait

And, while I'm at it, here are some more pictures from the PA holiday...


(L) The Star Barn along Hwy. 283 (and yes, this picture was taken from a moving car), which I adore. Someday I'm going to bring my tripod and spend a few hours taking pictures of it. (R) This was midday on Christmas, when we had to stop opening gifts long enough to get a snack - we needed strength to go on.


(L) Chris & his brother (and our niece in the foreground) playing with one of the kids' new toys, a track with racing cars. The races had long spaces in between because our niece's Polly Pocket doll had to undergo a wardrobe change each time. (R) Chris holding our nephew hostage during play.


(L) Chris reading to our nephew on Christmas day. (R) Our niece holding a musical snowman she'd nicknamed "Haydee," and which she'd also bedecked in Chris' mother's costume jewelry.


On our last day, we lunched with the kids one last time - at Red Robin, as our nephew speaks very highly of the hotdogs. Our niece likes the pizza (notice the slice it appears I'm wearing as a necklace), though she says it's "not as good as Uncle Chris makes." Good kid.

Yes, it was a good holiday out East. But lest you think it's all hearts and flowers, I'd like to leave you with a taste of this family's true nature. Just after we'd gotten a great portrait on Christmas, Chris' mother said, "Now let's do a fun one!" This was the result, and is - of course - everyone's favorite.

People Can't Resist My Meme

I had to use deductive reasoning to decide that this set of answers was supplied by my friend Heather. What she fails to mention is that her favorite TV show used to be "Felicity." If you knew her, you'd understand why that's completely hysterical. Since you probably don't, you'll just have to trust me.

Four jobs you've had in your life: candy slinger, barista, aerobic intructor, researcher
Four movies you could watch over and over: The Big Lebowski, Dirty Dancing (sad, but true), Almost Famous, and About a Boy.
Four places you've lived: I have only lived in two cities, Buffalo, NY and Portland, Oregon.
Four TV shows you love to watch: Globe Trekker, ER, Law & Order SVU, and (gulp) Dr. Phil.
Four places you've been on vacation: Hawaii, Spain, Florida, and South Carolina.
Four websites you visit daily: BBC News, Yahoo Mail, Zappos, and OHSU because I am such a good worker.
Four of your favorite foods: Fruit Salad, Green Salad, Chocolate, and currently Coconut Sorbet.
Four places you'd rather be: On the beach, at home in bed, on the French Riviera, in Africa.

What A Lovely Way To Burn

Or not.

The past couple of days dealing with this damnable fever have been so very, very unpleasant. I don't own a thermometer, but I'm quite certain I've had a low-grade fever since Sunday. I'm also pretty sure it broke last night, but I'm still exhausted. The nights are the worst, so I'm expecting that even though I feel a bit better today that tonight I'll lapse back into ick-ville. Nothing of this ick, however, has yet to compare with the summer after my freshman year in college when I got the measles. That was the only time in my life I've been delirious in the technical sense - sleepwalking because of a 104+ temperature. I've never been so sick... If I can keep recalling that awful week it might make this stupid fever seem a bit more tolerable.

Maybe.

I've Jinxed Myself

No sooner do I mention that I'm thankful for my health that I get walloped. I've been fighting off a variety of cold symptoms (not always successfully, I might add) since before we even left for Pennsylvania, and just after I dropped Chris off at the airport this afternoon for his week in Las Vegas I started feeling the worst case of fever chills... I spent a couple hours under two down and fleece blankets - and still shivering madly - until the Tylenol kicked in. Good lord, I hope this goes away soon. It's off to bed for me now, with crossed fingers for a good (and long) night's sleep.

New Year's Teabag Tag

How appropriate for this first day of a new year...

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!
Dr. Seuss

I Don't Need Anything That I Don't Have

I've got a zillion posts in "draft" form here, and hope to get to them in the next few days. For the year-end post, however, I'm taking a moment to think about the things I'm thankful for. I know, I know - Thanksgiving was last month, this is the time for resolutions, blah blah blah. But see, I absolutely suck at making and then keeping resolutions (which only serves to make me feel worse about myself, not better), and frankly I think it's a good thing to remind ourselves of the good things in our lives more often than just once a year. Sure, we could probably all stand to lose a few pounds and make a few more dollars a year - but all in all, most of us are pretty damned fortunate.

So - I'm thankful (first and foremost) for my wonderful husband, my family, my friends, my cats (AKA fur-children) and my health.

And as I reflect on the things that make me happy and give me solace, I also remember the people who are distinctly less fortunate than I am - the people who desperately need many of the things I take for granted everyday. And I suppose if I have any resolution at all this New Year's Eve, it is that I give more, do more, and speak up more. Anyone who thinks one person can't make a difference is a cynic as well as mistaken.

And now, to close out 2005 in the spirit of being happy with what we have, here is a song I adore by Glen Phillips:

"Don't Need Anything"

I've got gardens growing, got quiet days
Clothes on my back, food on my plate
Got friends to help me if I call for them
I don't need anything that I don't have

I've got eyes to see this beautiful land
And feet to take me where I want to stand
If there's work to be done, there's these two strong hands
I don't need anything that I don't have

Some years the rains don't come
And some years floods clear out the plains
If those waters washed this town away
I would still have enough if she was with me

I've a roof overhead, the stars if I choose
But I've got no itch to fly, got no need to move
Got almost nothing, but I understand
That I don't need anything that I don't have

Happy New Year, everyone.

The Contagious Meme Strikes Again

My friend Vikki says, "I had to do this to see if I could come up with 4 things for each." Clearly, she had some success. And while I have no idea what "chicken big mamou" is, it sounds... umm... interesting.

Four jobs you've had in your life: picking blueberrys (lasted 3 days), receptionist in dentist office, computer programmer, business systems analyst
Four movies you could watch over and over: Sound of Music, Out of Africa, Rear Window, Shawshank Redemption
Four places you've lived: Millville, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Collingswood, NJ; Portland, OR
Four TV shows you love to watch: West Wing; Two and a Half Men; Globe Trekker; Sex and the City (new to me, never had HBO)
Four places you've been on vacation: Eastern US; Quebec, Canada; Italy; London, England.
Four websites you visit daily: yahoo mail, weather... that's it daily and even that is a stretch.
Four of your favorite foods: anything shrimp, chicken big mamou, ice cream, anything cheese
Four places you'd rather be: Positano, Italy; Kaui, Hawaii; Oregon Coast; San Juan Islands

And, because Chris was asking the other night, here's the definition of "meme."

The Castrator

Charades is like a religion in Chris' family - they play it at every Christmas party they host. I've never taken part, as I'm not a game person and, frankly, they scare me. Today, however, I saw how they reel 'em in young.

Chris' brother's family was over this evening with the two kids, and they brought out a new game they'd gotten - Charades for Kids. Yes, they're indoctrinating the next generation, preparing them for the many Christmas parties ahead of them. (I still stayed out of it - I don't want to give them any false hope.)

The best moment came when our 4-year-old nephew was trying to guess what Grandpa Ed was doing, taking coins from his hand and putting them on a pillow. The adults were trying to help, saying, "Where do you put money?" Our nephew shouted, "THE CASTRATOR!" All the men in the room sat up everso slightly before realizing it was cash register that he meant. Good times, good times.

Holiday Bombardment

I suppose there's always something about the holidays that feels like a downpour. This year it's even more so - with the recent family reunification here in Pennsylvania, the kids are everyone's focus (as it should be). At ages 6 and 4, they're everywhere all at once (also as it should be).

Our niece (age 6) is completely focused on all things princess-y or girly, and our nephew (age 4) has a super-hero alter-ego called "Fighting Robot." When I asked him what he'd asked for from Santa, the only thing I could understand was, "a Fighting Robot costume." When I then asked what such a getup might look like, he responded (as if I was a complete dunce), "It looks like a Fighting Robot." Duh, Aunt Jessie.

Tonight we're going to see Chris' sister perform in a church service (she'll be singing and playing clarinet, I'm told), and then tomorrow is the big day. Christmas day out here is a nearly all-day affair - stockings first thing, then a break for breakfast and getting cleaned up, then we start in on the under-the-tree gifts (and there's sometimes a break in there for lunch). I don't know what the remainder of our stay holds, though I'm hoping that the annual pilgrimage to local discount clothing store Gabriel Brothers is in the cards - I look forward to that all year long. No kidding.

Okay - I'd best be getting back to the action here. Happy Holidays, all!

And So It Begins

Toto, we're not in Oregon anymore...

For the next five days or so we're in Central Pennsylvania with Chris' family... The posts here will be few and far between (the dial-up connection here is maddening, and there's no wireless connection to speak of). So, I hope everyone has a happy holiday (whatever it is you're celebrating!), and I'll be posting some of our Pennsylvania pictures later on.

Ciao, tutti!

This Meme is Contagious!

My friend Stephanie says, "Alright, I'll bite..."

Four jobs you've had in your life: worked the drive-up window at a fast food joint; processing periodicals in a library; executive assistant; and my current job - policy wonk.
Four movies you could watch over and over: LOTR trilogy, Sound of Music, Much Ado About Nothing, Monty Python - Holy Grail.
Four places you've lived: Meeker, CO; Denver, CO: McMinnville, OR; Las Vegas, NM
Four TV shows you love to watch: Daily Show, Storm Stories, South Park, Buffy (hey, it didn't say current shows! and we still watch Buffy - we have 6 seasons on DVD!)
Four places you've been on vacation: eastern coast of Australia; Sweden/Norway; Banff/Canmore, Canada; Lake Michigan.
Four websites you visit daily: Hotmail, salon, myfamily, ncsl.
Four of your favorite foods: creme brulee, butternut squash, apples w/ almond butter, field of greens salad at Bump and Grind - a local eatery.
Four places you'd rather be: at this very moment, home! where my parents are here for the holidays! Valley View Hot Springs/Orient Land Trust; coast of Spain, Lake Steam Baths.

My Father's Meme

For those of you who don't read the comments, I'm reprinting my father's response to yesterday's "meme of fours." My comments are in red.

Four jobs you've had in your life: Machinist, Photographer, Engineer, Cowboy (Horse Trainer), College Professor Apparently my dad can't count...
Four movies you could watch over and over: The Man from Snowy River; The African Queen; Time Bandits; The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Four places you've lived: Forest Hills, NY; Worcester, Mass; Newtown, Conn; Prairie City, Oregon; Corvallis, Oregon; Milwaukie, Oregon. Again, trouble with the counting thing...
Four TV shows you love to watch: The Daily Show; The Colbert Report; House; Numbers. He likes a show called "Numbers" and he's having trouble with them? Disturbing... Also, I'd completely forgotten about The Daily Show & Colbert Report. Good on you, dad.
Four places you've been on vacation: Israel; England; France; Mexico.
Four websites you visit daily: Andiamo; Google; Earthlink; US Bank. Aww, thanks for the plug, daddy-o...
Four of your favorite foods: Prime Rib; Lobster; Roast Suckling Pig; Leg of Lamb. And the reasons for my father's 1994 quintuple-bypass surgery suddenly become crystal clear...
Four places you'd rather be: Someplace warm where clothes are not required; On the GP Tour with a Race Team; Time to travel around the country in the RV; Nepal. I absolutely do not want to know why my father, at age 70, has decided he wants to be a nudist. There are things that should remain a mystery between parents and their children. Yipes.

A Meme of Fours

I saw this one on James Tata, and as I'm too busy at the moment to write up the reviews of the Dandy Warhols/Out Crowd show from last week or the U2 show from last night, this is all I'm capable of today. I'll get to the shows, I promise. Just probably not this week...

Four jobs you've had in your life: movie theater popcorn-hawker, quality control clerk, lobbyist, administrative/personal assistant
Four movies you could watch over and over: Mindwalk, Lord Of The Rings trilogy (does that count as three? if not...), Amelie, The Usual Suspects
Four places you've lived: Newtown, CT; Contoocook, NH; Nottingham, England; Bothell, WA
Four TV shows you love to watch: The West Wing, Waking the Dead (BBC America), Wire In The Blood (BBC America), Globe Trekker
Four places you've been on vacation: Scotland, Italy, Czech Republic, New Zealand
Four websites you visit daily: Bloglines, Gmail, BootsnAll, Yahoo Mail
Four of your favorite foods: gelato, sushi, pretty much anything Italian, the entire Thanksgiving meal
Four places you'd rather be: the easy answer is, "Anywhere in Italy" - but I'll try to play along better than that... Florence, Italy; my cousins' house outside Bordeaux, France; Tobermory, Scotland; Mont St. Michel, France (I've never been, but really want to see it)

Some "Damn Interesting" Tidbits

I've been saving these up for some time now - they're all from a site appropriately called "Damn Interesting." Everything I read there is (ahem) interesting, often informative and sometimes disgusting. I try to steer clear of the latter, if for no other reason than I don't particularly like feeling queasy. So - here are the selections for the day.

• In honor of the season - the Christmas Truce of 1914
• This lie detector story reminded me of a somewhat distubring book I read awhile ago called, The Truth Machine
• The only palindrome I've known is, "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama" - now I know some in Finnish as well.
• Finally, this is absolutely the car I want to be driving!

Stupid Snow

I grew up with snow, so I get to make wise cracks like, "I hate snow." And I do. Hate snow, that is.

I mean, it's all fine and dandy if you've got nowhere to go and nothing to do and the fridge is full and you don't lose power and there's plenty on television. If any one of those things doesn't hold, then snow is a damned pain in the ass. In my case today, the fact is we've got lots to do - and no way to get out and do it. Why? Because of this crap:


Out our front door - it may look like a light dusting, but there's ice from the earlier freezing rain underneath.


And this is out the other side of the house, overlooking the street (which cars are gingerly making their way up and down) and the mini-mart parking lot (which saw some idiot testing the iciness in his SUV with his friends standing around in the lot itself - all we could think was, "So, these guys are probably candidates for those Darwin Awards, right?")

The bottom line, the thing that is keeping me from getting any more frustrated about the weather, is the fact that I can't do anything about it. So, we're making Mexican hot chocolate and hunkering down to watch some of the 41 hours of recorded television we have on tap. It's not how we wanted to spend the day, but all in all - it doesn't completely suck. I guess.

Oh, and if all else fails, here's a cute little thing to pep you up if you're feeling low.

The First Day of the Weekend Before

Yesterday we managed to check a few things off our to-do list, and we treated ourselves while we were at it.

I've not set foot in a Toys R Us in years, and I don't plan to start now. Finnegan's was just as crazy yesterday afternoon as I imagine a TRU would be, but I'm happy to tolerate it. We love that toy store, and often find ourselves regressing and "oohing" and "aahing" over something we wish we could have. (For me, it's usually when I start to reminisce about all the Breyer horses I once had.) We finished the shopping for the PA niece & nephew there, and then went off to get some chocolates for Chris' assistant. We wanted to try something new, and were in the mood for a bit of a pick-me-up, so made our way to the oddly-located Sahagún Chocolates for a warm cup of chocolately goodness.

You may remember that I'd once waxed poetic about the hot chocolate at Mio Gelato (which I still adore). Well, after writing about that cocoa, I got a recommendation from the Food Dude to try Sahagún's version. We were happy to taste-test.

As the Food Dude told me, the cocoa at Sahagún "isn't as thick [as Mio Gelato's], but has a much more complex flavor." They rotate the chocolate they're using for their chocolate drinks, and yesterday it was an Ecuadorian. I have no idea how that might compare to others, but this was sublime. It's a dark, dark chocolate that - despite its liquidy consistency - almost makes you want to chew it. We just sipped it and smiled at each other.

A handy tip about the location - it's barely off Burnside on NW 16th, right around the corner from that Fantasy sex shop... And apparently no one wants their car to be seen in front of Fantasy, because the entire span of street parking was available when we drove up. We looked at each other, shrugged, and figured, "What the hell?" So, check that block in front of Fantasy if you're having trouble locating a parking spot. The chocolate is so good that you might feel it's a bit of a sin anyway, so it sort of fits.

Interestingly, while we were sitting there sipping, who should walk in but the owner of Mio Gelato - who ordered a hot chocolate and then watched the owner very closely as she made it. We were tempted to say something to him, quietly, about how much we like his hot chocolate as well, but decided against it. We figured he can't possibly be thinking Sahagún is anything close to a competitor, but rather just wanted to sample the local goodies. Still, it was a funny sighting.


The lovely hot chocolate at Sahagún. Another tidbit which we couldn't help but notice - the owner looks like a cross between the actress in "Amelie" and Juliette Binoche. She's adorable. And the chocolate shop itself has the vibe of the one in "Chocolat." So, do yourself a favor and transport yourself to France for a few minutes. You'll be glad you did.

Last night was an evening of complete indulgence, as it was the most recent installment of our "dinner club" with our friends Glen & Steph. We've been doing this with them for several years now - we'll take turns picking a restaurant every month or so and not telling the other couple where we're going, and whoever's choice it is picks up the tab. We've sampled quite a number of the local eateries over the years, and finally last night decided to brainstorm the list. It is as follows (in no particular order), and restaurants are in Portland unless otherwise noted:

The Bay House (Lincoln City)
Oba!
Cafe Azul
Mint
Il Piatto
Stanich's
Apizza Scholls
The Ark (Willapa Bay, WA)
The Berlin Inn
Tina's (Dundee)
Red Hills (Dundee)
Wildwood
Nick's Italian Cafe (McMinnville)
Assagio
Marrakesh
Be Won
Lucere
Miso Happy
The Bamboo Grove
Fong Chong
Piazza Italia
Riccardo's (Lake Oswego)
Cucina Cucina (Tigard)
Mother's

In looking over this list, it's sad to note that some of the places we visited no longer even exist. I was just yesterday remembering the sweet corn creme brulee I had at Lucere... *sigh*

All of that aside, it's an incredibly fun tradition we now have, and though the food is certainly a focus, it's more about making the time to spend a few hours with some dear friends who we don't see that often anymore. We keep thinking someday we'll write a book about the "dinner club," but since that's not likely to happen anytime soon, this post will have to suffice.


Dinner Club

Falling Behind

I was home sick yesterday, and am still digging out at work... I have a post in my head about the Dandys/Out Crowd show review from Tuesday night, but it's going to have to hang out in my head for awhile before I have time to think about writing it down... I finally gave up today on getting Christmas cards, so I've photocopied my annual newsletter onto green paper and that's just gonna hafta be festive enough for people... Man, I need a vacation...

Andina on the Radio

Our very own Peruvian restaurant Andina (and its resident mother-figure Doris) was featured on this past week's Splendid Table, which you can listen to from the website.