Worst.Blogger.Evar

Boy, I totally suck at keeping this updated.  I keep waiting until I have more pictures to post, but I realized that at the current rate, I wouldn't post for the next month or so, which is unacceptable.

Things are going well.  I have a job starting in the next couple of days in Benefits Administration for a manufacturing company that makes cutting blades for chainsaws.  I'll have to check and see if Worker's Comp is included in the job description because that is liable to keep me busy all by itself :)  This is a temp to permanent position, but the company was really enthusiastic about me coming on board and really really really wants it to work out, so they may buy out my contract earlier than the 6 months allotted if they decide I am a good fit.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is a good company to work for.  If it works out, and they provide good benefits, I'll switch J and I over to their policy - J's insurance is very expensive, and not all that great.  In the meantime, I am technically employed with a temp agency, which means I submit time cards and get paid on a weekly basis, which is pretty cool.  Oh, and this position pays more than what I was making in OC, which is even better :)

The weather has been nice and cool up here, in the 60s and 70s.  It gets up to the 80s for a couple of days, then goes back to cool and rainy.  We have learned that it pays to go out when it is rainy, because EVERYONE comes out of their houses on sunny days!  I know, we're not normal.

Actually, we do have pictures from this weekend, they just need to be uploaded from the camera.  I can tell you we went to OMSI on Saturday for the Body Worlds 3 show, and toured the submarine used in Hunt for Red October!  We then tried to go to the International Rose Test Gardens without success (because of the aforementioned sunshine and the obscene number of people out and about).  We did manage to find an excellent sushi place in Lake Oswego which will be our new go-to place for good fish.  On Sunday (a rainy day), we made it over to see the roses and to the Japanese Garden across the street.  It got quite damp, which reminds me that I need to keep an umbrella in the car at all times :)  We were done by 2pm, so we looked at some of the million dollar homes in the West Hills for a bit, then decided to go wine tasting.  So we headed over to Helvetia, in Hillsboro.  We finally found some good Pinot Noir!  We were able to fire up the big wine fridge for the new case of wine we purchased.  We ended the day at Sandoval's Mexican Restaurant (about a block or so from our house), and I had some really good chicken mole.  It was a very good weekend that seemed long for once.

We'll get those pictures updated so you can see the gardens, and some other things we snapped along the way :)

In terms of knitting, I once again cast aside what I was working on to start my Rockin' Sock Club sock for June. The yarn is gorgeous and the pattern is really easy. I'm still working on my mom's jacket. I had hoped to get it finished by her birthday (July 1st), but I don't think that will happen. I'll keep trying :) At the very least, I want to get it to her by the beginning of August, so she can wear it on vacation.

I spy a Harlot....a Yarn Harlot

I happened across the webpage of Powell's last week and what did I see? The Yarn Harlot was coming to do a reading there on Friday! I just had to go, to see what the fuss was all about.

So I made a trip all by myself into downtown. I got to the area of the bookstore at around 5, and wandered the area on foot. Lots of cool stores to check out, and of course I had to do some shopping at Powell's as well :) I had to move my car (I'd parked in one of the 90 minute spaces), and managed to score a parking place beneath Powell's by some stroke of luck. Then I went to dinner at P.F. Chang's, mainly because it was close, and I could sit outside and people-watch. By the time I was ready to head back over to Powell's, it was 6:45 and I thought, "Excellent - plenty of time to find a seat!"

I was so, so wrong. I found a seat on the floor. I don't know how early people got there, but I will have to plan accordingly for next time.

I did meet this really nice woman and we chatted pretty much the whole time. Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to ask her name - duh! So, if you are reading this blog entry, drop me a line!

I didn't have a decent camera with me, so I took a couple of pics with my cell phone (sorry for the crappy quality):

There had to have been at least 450 people there. I tried explaining this phenomenon to my husband and his friend, but as non-knitters they just didn't get it. Kinda went along with Steph's presentation for the evening :) It was all definitely worth the trip.

Some pictures

This is where we live. Quite cute, in a rowhouse kind of way. Our neighbors are friendly, and there aren't a lot of screaming children around. Yay!

And this is the view outside our back door. And yes, that is a house out in the green belt right behind our place. It's all good.

Here's a similar view. Did I mention this was taken at 9 o'clock at night? The days are super long right now - sunrise is at 5:30, but it is light long before then. This is still freaking me out a little.

My favorite room of the house right now. It was even bigger than what I was expecting. And there's even a pantry!

I think I forgot to tell you that we went wine tasting out at Willamette Valley Winery over the holiday weekend. Poor J was totally exhausted - he didn't figure this out until he was nodding off behind the wheel on the way there. We still had a great time - you really can't go wrong with juicy lamb burgers and wine. Yum. I was less than impressed with their wines. They were good, but what they called Syrah was really more like Zinfandel. I'm so used to the inky, punch-you-in-the-face CA syrahs that I was a little disappointed. But you can't beat that view. Lordy, it was beautiful out there.

In other news, I'm almost done with the first Grasshopper sock. I decided to do the knee-high version. After some mild mental retardation, I think I have the pattern down pretty well, and the second sock should go much faster.

Lastly, we'll end with a picture of a fat, happy, stoned kitty: