It is finished

The painting is now complete. Two months, five days since we moved in.

I'm exhausted.

Glad it's Monday.

Hey, I'm a year older than this clown....

...where's my Lifetime Achievement Award.

"The Magic is in the Hole"

We decided to put the doughnuts where our mouths are by visiting Voodoo Doughnut tonight. Got there just after it opened at 10 pm. No lines while we picked out our friends although there was a lesbian couple waiting for a commitment ceremony.

"Is there a doughnut list?" I ask.

"Just an oral one," replied the guy behind the counter.

We look to the left to see a glass case with two revolving trays of doughnuts. Very impressive. The guy explained all of them. Kyle would have loved the chocolate peanut butter one. We decided to get 6... we each picked three:

Lisa:

Portland Creme (raised doughnut filled with creme and covered in chocolate with two eyes)
Glazed (traditional)
Buttermilk Log (Looks pretty simple -- the guy said it's their most popular one)

Ken:

Grape Ape (raised doughnut with vanilla frosting and grape powder)
Voodoo Doughnut (voodoo doll doughnut, filled with raspberry filling -- got to love the pretzel stake through the heart, frown and all)
Bloop Loop (blueberry filled, topped with vanilla glaze and froot loops)

He put them in a bright pink bakery box with their "the magic is in the hole" logo stamped on the top. $5.35 for 6; not too bad for local fun doughnuts that aren't the norm. By the time we left, there was a line of 6 couples waiting for doughnuts or wedding ceremonies, maybe both. We just got home and took them out of the box to take a picture for you all... the voodoo doughnut oozed some raspberry filling out of the crotch, pretty disturbing but hilarious. Can't wait to try them over the course of tonight and tomorrow morning.

An interesting twist...

Around the corner from my office is a little doughnut shop called Voodoo Doughtnut. It's located at 22 SW Third Avenue. Simple enough, until you read their entire name.

"VOODOO Doughtnut and Wedding Chapel: The Magic is in the Hole"

I thought it was a joke. But it's no joke at all.

Intentional commitment: $20
Legal commitment: $175 (Includes legal wedding with doughtnuts and coffee for 10)

Gay, Straight, whatever! Celebrate your nuptials with us.

They're open from 10pm to 10am. That's right, they CLOSE at 10am! At 10:30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they have Club Doughnut featuring live music (Tuesday) and "Anything But" (Wednesday).

This town is so full of quirks and I love it.

Goodbye IE....

...hello Firefox!!!!!

I'd like to proclaim that I am finally on the Firefox bandwagon after some ridiculous technical difficulties over at Susdpundit.

It feels good. Haven't decided if I'll change from Netscape on my home computer though.

Things that go bump in the night

I was exhausted yesterday and needed to decompress a little after work, making dinner* and giving our new dresser a second coat of tung oil. Around 10, Ken went to read in bed while I stayed up for a little TV and a glass of wine. Went upstairs around 11:45 -- brushed my teeth and got in bed just before midnight. Started to doze off when our doorbell rang at 12:08. What?! Ken was startled and sat straight up in bed in a daze. Did we hear that right?

It rings again about 30 seconds later.

OK, there's clearly someone there.

Doorbells ring, I understand that. Thing is, we don't know anyone very well in Portland -- it's not like Dave Herman or Rob Church will be standing at the door if we go downstairs. Second part, there are no lights on inside. Either we're not home or asleep. Either way, it's unlikely that ringing the doorbell is going to be unobtrusive. I convince Ken not to look downstairs. Instead we stand at our bedroom window above the porch and look outside to see who it is when they walk away. If it's someone we know, we'll rush down to see them.

Who is it? We hear nothing; they aren't moving. Pause. Then we hear someone walking around the porch downstairs. Sketchy. Are they going to break in since they think we're not home? We have our cell phones and if anything goes awry we can call the cops while Hughes fake meows and rubs up against the intruder in a pathetic attempt of defense. Then all of a sudden, a person walks down the stairs and away from the house while looking back. It's a man in his 40s who kind of looks like Gregg Allman but without the beard, no visible tatoos and light brown hair instead of blond. He doesn't look homeless, at least gathered by a somewhat presentable appearance and lack of shopping cart that tends to accompany some homeless people around here. Gregg Allman or not, we don't know him. We're not going after him. We do watch him though -- see him look around, cross the street to our neighbor's house and watch him ring the doorbell in the same manner he did ours. If our neighbors do answer and something goes awry, again we have our cell phones. They don't answer either. He turns around and continues up the street, not stopping at any other houses in view (and there are some). Bizarre. We get back in bed and talk about best and worst case scenarios.

Best case: he's in trouble and needs help or to use a phone. Maybe his car broke down. There is a busy street a couple of houses down. And based on where he was headed I would gather that he came from the other direction (which is that busy street). But, wouldn't you have a better chance of flagging down help there rather that knocking on random doors without any lights on? Besides, right at that 'major' street is a bar that is open until 3. I know they have a phone. OK, maybe his health or someone else's health is in trouble. Possible, but he wasn't moving quickly at all. If there was a medical rush, you'd never know it by his behavior.

Worst case: Maybe he's a meth addict or on some other drug. Meth is huge up here, so it wouldn't be that uncommon. You hear about it on the news all the time -- people breaking into houses to score money for drugs. Drugs or no drugs, worst case would be he could pull a gun or knife if we went to the door. Who knows? It's not worth it to answer the door that late. I learned that in Tucson -- all sorts of sketchy characters would knock on our door between 10-12. Every one asked for money or for us to drive them somewhere, the furthest being Three Points (about 30 minutes away). Freaked me out even more when I used to live alone. We learned to always say no. If you gave in to one demand, they'd come back with more and more.... and I don't mean "can I borrow a cup of sugar?"

Curious to talk to the other neighbors this weekend and to keep my ears open if anything was reported in the news or by police. Am I overreacting? I find this really bizarre. I don't see the good side as being the most logical here. Am I missing something? Also, I keep thinking about if he came 15 minutes earlier, I would have been downstairs by myself with the lights on. I would have really freaked out to hear the doorbell ring.


* Oh my goodness - Made the best chicken and dumplings I've ever had last night. Haven't had too many versions, but man were these good. Put a frozen chicken carcass (from dinner the night before) in the crockpot with some diluted turkey stock, onions, carrots, celery & garlic. Let it cook on low for 10 hrs while I was at work. Came home, strained the broth, picked the chicken and set it aside, then skimmed the fat off the top before Ken thickened it with a bit of flour before reheating it with some veggies (frozen assorted) and extra corn. Seasoned the biscuit dough with parsley and added a bit of cayenne to the broth. Brought broth to boil, dropped in spoonfuls of biscuit dough and reduced the heat to low. Covered and cooked on low for 10 minutes. Wow. Just a hint of cayenne and an awesome mouth-feel that left you satisfied by the end of the bowl. Thank you for the recipe, craigslist.

An icon has passed

"I am a whore and I am paid very well for high-rise buildings." -Phillip Johnson

An icon passed away last night. He was truly one the more remarkable architects of the past century. He was one my favorites....never ordinary, always innovative while respecting the past. He'll be missed.

Here's a picture of his famous "Glass House" in New Canaan, CT (1949).

A girl should wear makeup more

We've been in this house two months on the 25th. A constant project. The walls aren't even finished being painted let alone pictures being hung and personal touches done that make a place a home. However, we have been diligent about unpacking boxes. And each Thursday, we take another load out to be recycled.

And each week I get more and more frustrated.

Huh?

Well, that's because part of my espresso machine is still missing... the part that holds the coffee grounds, meaning it's not like I can work around it. Alas, no espresso. Who cares? Drink coffee. I agree -- and I have been. But there's just something about a latte on weekend mornings that makes everything just feel special. It's like a reward. Getting to drink one without changing out of pjs is one of my simple and guilty pleasures.

So where is this thing? We've been diligent about labeling and unpacking. Our motto has been "no peanut left behind", in honor of the big nut himself (zing - that was for you mom and dad). If there's a needle in that box, we'd have found it. So each box we get closer and closer to the end means my chances of finding that piece are smaller and smaller.

Which brings us to this weekend, when I got that dresser for free. On the top of it was some bright red nailpolish. "No problem," I thought and went for the nail polish remover. There are three toiletry boxes upstairs that haven't been upacked yet. We have our necessities, so there has been no rush. I open the first box in my quest for the remover -- nothing, just lotions and stuff. Second box, lo and behold -- sitting on top is that missing part to my espresso machine. I couldn't believe it. I check the label of the box to see "Lisa's makeup and toiletries". I look inside again. Here's what's in my "makeup" box: my espresso machine part, my beer coozie, a salt shaker and the battery-powered milk-frothy thing my brother gave me that sounds too much like a vibrator if you use it at work. Hmmm. Well it looks like I packed that box AND I haven't worn much makeup in 2 months. But at least I have my part back, which I promptly used this morning and sip the resulting latte as I type this before work.

Feels like a brand new start to this house.

Sidenote: I found the nailpolish remover in the third box -- it worked like a charm on removing the polish. Have to do it carefully though else you'll really hurt the finish and the wood. Not a problem as the whole thing needed some TLC anyway. Ken made two new track supports for the drawers this weekend and I restained the whole piece and drawers last night. Should be in its new home this weekend.

Craigslist Frenzy

Checked out craigslist this morning to see this posted just a few minutes earlier under free:

vintage desks, chairs, dresser, filing cabinet, kids rocking chair
Reply to: (deleted)
Date: 2005-01-23, 12:23PM PST


We've got several things out on the street free for you to take if you want. They're all good peices that need some TLC to be great. We don't have the time or the room for any more projects, so off they go to you. We have:

One vintage WWII era wooden desk
One writing desk with drop down front
One vintage dresser
One vintage boudoir chair
One child-size rocking chair (not shown)
Two office chairs (70's era)
One metal filing cabinet, two drawers.

They're all out on the street at (deleted) in Milwaukie. They are under plastic to protect them from the rain but help yourself. Please make sure what's left is covered before you leave.

Sorry, can't answer questions, but I'll post when gone.


The dresser is the 3rd from the left

I got in the car and booked it twenty minutes across town. Lo and behold it was still there (the writing desk and filing cabinet were already gone). I parked in the middle of the street and hopped out quickly. By the time I squirmed it into the car another couple came by wanting the same dresser (not two minutes later). Then within another minute, another couple. Aaaah. I hightailed it out of there and drove home with our new friend. I'm all excited yet still all worked up with adrenaline and nerves.

So great that we got the style of dresser we love for free. Can't wait to give it some TLC and new knobs. It will have a new home in our foyer -- we'll get to see it every day when we walk in the door.

Before and After

When we first bought our house, the front was overgrown with large bushes that hadn't been trimmed in years. We spent today doing a little trimming since everything's dormant right now and the weather was nice. Thought you'd like to see the change.

Here's the before (when we bought the house):



And after (today):


Can't wait to see everything this spring when the tree gets its leaves back and the bulbs I planted come up. Actually, check out the difference in sky and such between November and January. Wow. It's like it's winter here or something.

I get their drift, but....

I don't think that we have quite the global audience to which they're referring.

Just a hunch.

Twice in Two Days

Foosball and cheap beer was very fun. Ken and I aren't very good at foosball at all -- he's an illegal spinner and I am slow as molasses -- together we lost one and won one before playing another team that killed us 10-3, or something horrendous like that. However, we 'won' in that we're going out again tonight. Hooray! Lent would be so proud:

Hey all,

We're playing Texas hold em at my place tonite, 8pm. Plan is for $10 buy
ins. Sorry for the short notice, but the true addicts shouldn't mind. I
live at (deleted). (Directions deleted).

My number is (deleted) if you get lost.

I'll get some libations and snacks. Bring anything else you'd like. And
if anyone has chips, bring those too.

See you there,

(deleted)

Ken's been itching to play for months. Looking forward to it.

Get in my belly

Here's the real burger girl.

Krikees.

Foosball and $1 PBRs

We're going out tonight with some friends from work to a dive bar for some foosball and cheap beer. Can hardly wait. It will feel so good to get out of the house.

My brother will be happy to know that his beloved PBR is alive and well in Portland.

Sniff Sniff

Our quest for everybody moving to Portland has taken a sad turn. From Rob Church:

K & L

Alaska was spectacular as usual. I loved it even thought it was only 4 degrees when we arrived. The residency curriculum is great. I will get to do things there that wouldn't happen anywhere else, and the residents were great. An overwhelmingly nice group that is very active outside of medicine (a lot of hiking, kayaking, skiing, etc). Portland has sadly dropped to number two. I have to get to Radiology (soooo booring) but may start blogging again soon. I hope all is well with you guys.

R

For what it's worth, we think you made the right choice given your beloved is "in a family way". It will be so helpful to have both sets of grandparents (aka babysitters) closeby. Not that Ken and I wouldn't be awesome at it. Babies love whiskey and sugar after 10.

We'll miss you.

Note: Sorry to steal your thunder Rob if moving to Alaska was a secret.

The N.A.

I met Ken last night at the Greek Orthodox Church. Yep, we're greek. And Orthodox. Didn't you know? Actually, we dropped in to check out our neighborhood association's meeting. Apparently they're usually pretty uneventful, but last night had a pretty heated 'discussion' between a Kerns NA board member (also lawyer by day) and two visiting members of PDC (Portland Development Commission) who were presenting three proposals for development in the area. 3 proposals - 2 big box headed by giant firms, 1 local/small-business by a smaller local firm. Guess who the public's rooting for? Guess who PDC was accused of rooting for?

This is a pretty hot topic in our area right now. A pretty good coalition has formed between 10 SE neighborhood associations (our beloved Kerns included) and 100+ businesses -- all in favor of the local fry. But it turns out that the Kerns NA board member will be out of the country for the final hearings in late February. So guess who stepped up and volunteered to fill the vocal void going against the big box? None other than Senor Roko. Seriously.

Kyle and Brian would be so proud.

Let me clear my throat...

Well thanks to my sweet husband for giving me the 5-day head cold he had last week. Started on Saturday; today's tuesday. so I guess tomorrow will be the end of it.

Kristen and Rachel have been sending me job postings from all sorts of fun places... from the test kitchen at Williams Sonoma to the science editor for Cooks Illustrated magazine. Sigh. I started looking around at food science labs here in Portland... imagine my happiness to find a whole department located right downtown -- including labs studying beer and wine. But is that what I want? I could do that, but I'm most interested in the big picture and synthesizing what I know into an accessible format... hence all the manifestos. I started looking at job postings at OMSI, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, which is in downtown Portland. How happy to see the job I want but sad to know I don't have all the experience yet.

Science Director

JOB SUMMARY: The Science Director is responsible for research and development of science content for exhibits, including management of personnel, budgets and subcontracts.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Conceptualize and develop educational content for exhibits that maintain high standards of scientific accuracy and educational appropriateness.
Define and facilitate involvement of community advisors in the development process.
Develop content for proposals to funders, in conjunction with the Development Department.
Develop and maintain budget and timelines for research and development.
Recruit and manage additional content developers and specialists when necessary.
Facilitate involvement of other staff in the museum, in the development and evaluation of exhibits, as appropriate.
Ensure that the highest standards of scientific/educational integrity are maintained in all OMSI exhibits.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS:
Thorough knowledge of scientific principles in a variety of disciplines.
Demonstrated ability to communicate scientific information to a lay audience.
Demonstrated ability to translate scientific/educational concepts into three dimensional designs.
Working knowledge of standards and practices for interactive exhibits.
Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Strong team leadership skills.
Time management and project management skills.

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE:
Advanced degree in a science discipline or science education; Ph.D. preferred.
8-10 years of related experience, including personnel and budget management.
Science teaching experience.
Experience in creating interactive exhibits, or teaching aids, in 3-D.

Position Type: Full-Time
Pay: $41,904.00-$54,475.00 - per year, salaried

Brrrr

Finally. A winter that feels like winter. It's supposed to warm up to the fifties later this week, but at least for now there's a winter storm brewing outside. We have icicles on our windows and our driveway, walkway and stairs leading up to our house are solid sheets of ice.

Feels good to be inside.

OBO

We've all seen those little words in an ad... "or best offer". Usually what that means to me is:'here's our asking price, give us that amount or some reasonable amount less; we just want to get rid of it'.

We saw this old buffet/dresser posted on craigslist with a really reasonable asking price, followed by those little words after:


OK, that means that I need to jump on it fast before someone else gets there; usually first person to respond wins. I email my interest. She emails back this:

Hi, Thanks for your interest in our buffet. We have had several responses to our ad so we are contacting people who are interested in seeing the buffet. My # is (deleted). Call if you would like to schedule a time to come by between the hours of 12-5 pm. We are in the (deleted) area I and will give you the address if you call. The price is $(deleted) obo and we will be taking bids from the folks who are interested. We can help deliver this in the Portland metro area which means we have a trailer and one set of hands so we need you to provide the other set. This is a very heavy piece and not to be sexist but you will need a guy to help. Thanks -(deleted)

I was stuck at work and wrote this:

Hi (deleted),

Got stuck at work; I'm so sorry. Thanks for thinking of me though. The buffet is beautiful. I'm sure it will sell (or already sold) really quickly.
Cheers,
L

I get this back the next day:

Hi Lisa, If you want to see the buffet we will be here until 6:30 pm tonight.

So we went and saw it last night. Very cool, sturdy and old. Not in perfect shape, but a ton of charm. Turns out, they were taking bids and a phone number from everyone that came to see it. Each person wrote their bid on a little scrap piece of paper. Kind of like a silent auction without knowing the other bids. I've never seen this version of 'obo' before. I asked if she'd divulge some insider information and she mentioned that all bids were really close to the asking price. So we wrote down our bid (pretty much asking price) and handed it in. They asked if we needed help moving it, which we declined since ken explained we had a truck.

"That helps your offer a lot," she replied and told us she'd let us know on Saturday after everyone's seen it.

Bizarre. Is our best offer not the money but having the truck to haul it off?

Reading, Riting and Rithmatic

Kyle recently blogged about something both he and have in common. No, not the Minnesota Vikings, not the Utah Jazz,........slow reading and the lure of that magical box displaying moving pictures.

I've always considered myself a slow reader. It seemingly takes me forever to get through a book and it annoys the heck out of me. I always thought it's because I like to read books that offer a lot of visual content. I always wanted to perfectly visualize the situations the characters I was reading about were in. If any of you had been in our house in Tucson and noticed the collection of books on our bookshelf, you would have known that at one point in my life I was into reading Anne Rice books. Yep, I read all of the vampire novels she wrote. There was just something I found so appealing about the way she wrote. Very visual descriptions. It put in the room so well. The subject matter also appealed to me very much which was probably why I was able to get through the 10 or so books.

But I've found that it isn't the visualization that keeps my reading speeds low, it's my reading style. I, like most people I presume, read a word at a time and basically recite the word to myself in my head. This is the most inefficient way to read. Kind of like the hunt-and-peck method for typing. Slow as molasses.

So after reading Kyle's post, I decided to start exploring ways to improve my reading speed. I came upon this site which offered a test to determine what your current speed and comprehension rates are. I found that I read 200wpm with a comprehension rate of 82%. So I read slowly but absorb a good majority of it. Not too bad, but I want it to improve.

My hopes are that I will be able to improve my reading speed and, therefore, be more excited to pick up a book because it won't take me three months to get through it. And I think that might be true for others like me and Kyle. I hope speeding things up will decrease the effect that a shortened attention span would have on our reading. So, anyone have any resources or ideas for us to improve our reading?

What a difference a day makes

...because I tried some new things with my blots and got them to work. Finally. Just in time for our first lab meeting in a month. Phew. So doesn't look like I'll be fired just yet (not that I thought I would be, but you know).

In other news, today was the very first day that I woke up and got fully dressed -- all in the same room. We had our bed in one room, clothes in another before. Then they were in the same room but our socks and underwear were somewhere else. Everything was everywhere. Hooray for the little things. It felt so great not to search for everything.

Yesterday

I posted yesterday from work during my multiple hour-long incubations with antibodies. I posted three times. And out of my six blots how many worked? One. And only half right. So frustrating that I pretty much could have stayed home and gotten more work done in the lab. And that's ridiculous. This isn't working. My home life rocks. Ken and cat and house. It's awesome. Work is... work. I thought postdocs were supposed to be fun and easy...

"you know how to do things"
"postdocs are so productive"
"You're the expert now".

I have my degree. Truth is, I feel like I know less know than I did my first year in grad school. I learned a ton in my classes. What a great overview of the big picture. Now, you have to read a ton just to keep up. And even then you're still missing things. I really understand the "knowing more and more about less and less". I feel over my head... in the techniques and the literature behind it. Crappy feeling for studying this stuff for 5+ years. I cried on the bus on the way home.

But there was Ken, all wonderful and supportive as he always is. Not making me make a decision about what I'm going to do to fix things. Just listening. I love that. Instead, he took me out to dinner to Taqueria Nueve, another mexican place around the corner from our house. I was anxious about it since the other tex-mex place stunk a big one (can read about it in an earlier post. I have a couple things I look for in a good mexican restaurant -- at least the kind that I like.

1. No relying on rice and beans as the standard side dish fare.
2. Give me a cheese other than monterey jack. And I don't mean cheddar. Bring on the cotija. The asadero. The oaxacan. And show me that you know how and when to use each.
3. What is their appetizer range? Are we talking chips and salsa? Guacamole and quesadillas? Or is this place going off the beaten path with some sort of ceviche, a dish of raw seafood that has been 'cooked' in the acid of lime juice.
4. MUST, MUST, MUST have a good margarita. And I'm not talking about the tequila+sourmix crap. I hate paying 6 bucks for a well-drink margarita. Put some effort in. Show some respect.

The verdict of T.N.: awesome. And on my above criteria? Let's go to the videotape:

1. No rice and beans side dish fare. Fresh veggie garnishes a la Cafe Poca Cosa and oaxacan fare.
2. Cheese usage: A guacamole tostada topped with cotija. Nicely done. Sara Burke's family would be proud, as it was sara that first taught me to use cotija, a crumbly salty cheese on top of guac, enchiladas, etc. When used right, nothing beats it. I didn't see a shed of jack cheese anywhere on the menu.
3. Appetizers. A ceviche that changes daily. Yesterday it was a hawaiian ono (a wahoo, if I'm not mistaken) that was perfectly 'cooked' and seasoned. Mentioned the guac tostada above. Others too, but I got sucked into the ceviche and promptly forgot them. No chips and salsa on the menu, although they offer salsa if you request it (a spicy red and medium green, the latter was fantastic. The former hurt. Misch would have loved it).
4. They have multiple margaritas on their drink menu but they emphasize two:
The Nueve, which uses fresh lime juice and a squeeze of orange. Reposado tequila. This margarita was tart yet sweet, fresh tasting and reminiscent of Poca cosa (who makes the best margarita in tucson, in my humble opinion).
Their other margarita, the Tradicional, uses fresh lime juice and silver tequila. This is their tart one, reminiscent of Brian Hawkins'. I didn't try it as Brian's silver tequila-all lime combo is too much for me. As my dad would say, "it puts hair on your chest". However, I'm proud that they offer both of these choices as their "standard" margarita. Everyone has different tastes. Even in Nogales, Mexico you can find both types, as Sara and I discovered when we did our Mexican Margarita and Guacamole Tour two years ago.

Suffice it to say, well done Taqueria Nueve. I have no reservations about coming back nor bringing Tucsonans craving more mexican food. Your carnitas taco was great but was far surpassed by your fish taco... perfect. Warm fleshy fish with a crisp exterior. Served in a warm corn tortilla and topped with a great crema and crisp garnish. Dave Herman and Taryn would love it, as it is reminscent of the taco place by Sandy Beach. Best part, you can buy tacos a la carte with your choice of mexican beers, just like in mexico. sigh. And best best part, no mexican ass disease despues. I personally complemented both the owner and the kitchen staff on the great food.

And so here I am again, writing at work in between incubations. Trying everything again. Please please work.

Getting older sucks

Well, it's finally starting to settle in. I'm getting older. That's right folks, Ken Roko is getting older. You heard it here first.

I've been bothered with a pain in my knee since August. The injury happened just before I was to run an 8 miler with Hawkins and Dacks. Slight pain just behind my left knee, exterior side. I figured the RICE treatment would do the trick. Why not? It's worked on everything else before.

Well, I completely stopped any type of strenuous activity that would place the knee in pain afterward. No frisbee, no running, no nothing!!!! Needless to say, no nothing is no good for me. I need activity. I need sports. I need to feel the rush that I get when catching the disc on a long huck or defending a short down and out in flag football or just running around the neighborhood for a couple of miles. I'm an active person and without activity, I wither mightily.

So I bit the bullet and made an appointment with a doctor that specializes in sports injuries. In a nutshell, after a few tests, he deduces that I have tendonitis of my hamstring tendon at the insertion point of my knee. Seems to make sense. I do have pain when the knee is bent against resistance. There's not a lot of swelling but there is some stiffness after exercise.

OK, where do I go from here? Physical therapy!!!! Ultrasound and stretching. If it doesn't feel better in 5 weeks, I'm heading in for an MRI to really see what the problem is. Let's hope this is it. I'm planning on playing flag football this spring and hopefully run the Portland marathon this summer, that is if the knee is feeling better by the time I plan to do those things. No whammies, no whammies, no whammies, STOP!!!!

My advice, don't assume that as you get older your injuries will cure themselves like they did when you're younger. If you have the means, get it checked out pronto!!!!

Let's go Vikings.

The Dream Tree(m)

I was just upstairs getting a cup of coffee and looking through the food section of our local paper.... which got me thinking of my top three trees I'd like to grow.

1. Meyer lemon. Nothing sounds as fresh and fun as growing this tree in the house. Maybe that's because Rachel has always talked so fondly about them and how Chez Panisse has a meyer lemon this and a meyer lemon that. It just makes me drool everytime I hear about it. Meyer lemons are a lower acid and sweeter version of the ones you find in the grocery store. They are typically from California and produce fruit from now to late spring. Added bonus: finding meyer lemons in stores is hard unless you go to the fancy grocery stores where they're more expensive. Imagine the joy pulling one of these sweet fruits off your very own tree, for free.

2. Fig. I think its because I didn't get that one off of craigslist. I have never bought figs at a grocery store and haven't been really exposed to them much beyond fig newtons as a kid. I learned more about them from the restaurant... stuffing them with goat cheese and then wrapping them with prosciutto. Baked until warm and put over a salad... yum. Again, rachel talks about northern california's use of them when the season hits. I've been in Tucson. I have not experienced their season and think it would be really fun to have one of these trees. Something you just wouldn't expect to see. Now that's fun.

3. Bay Tree. I had one in Tucson. The thought of fresh bay leaves from tree to soup pot is divine. Alas, I am sad mine got infested with scale beyond help. I tried to save it. Really I did. I did the alcohol thing. Wiping it down with cotton balls by hand on weekend mornings as I drank my coffee. Seeing the bugs come back a few days later. I did the poison thing too, which is why I never gave Misch any leaves (poison tastes bad in soup, I would imagine). But the infestation was too much. It died this past summer. I feel guilty that it is dead. He was my friend.

The thought of these new friends entering my life brightens my day. I am excited to scout around for them at nurseries. I am excited to plant them in large pots and put them around the house... the dining room, the office. Take them on the back porch with me on spring days for some fresh air. Actually, just the presence of trees indoors makes it feel like springtime. Hmmm, now how to convince Ken...

Curious of other people's top three. They don't have to be food-producing -- I just can't get away from the love of plants that produce edible gems.

Date Night?

My parents always called saturday night "date night". This was us at 8 pm this past Saturday:



Try to contain your enthusiasm.

Truth be told, it was awesome. Ken finished the foyer (seen here) while I did our bedroom. We did the office on Sunday. So now we have three -- count them three -- more rooms finished. Ceilings and trim, too. It's finally starting to feel like a home. We moved into our bedroom on Sunday night.

However, all that painting and subsequent fumes didn't do much for our health. Ken got sick again with a nasty headcold (don't think he fully recovered from Friday, then he pushed himself all weekend). He called in sick today; I'm proud of him for doing so. He needed a rest. I'm feeling fine -- just a little dizzy on occasion.

So what's left? Well, the only rooms left to paint are the office closet, guest room and guest room closet. Not too shabby, eh? My goal is to have everything finished by the time we go to Utah next month. Truth be told, I think it will be finished this weekend or next. A lighting guy is coming by this afternoon to give us an estimate on what we should do for lighting in the kitchen and approximate cost (no whammies, no whammies). Right now there is a giant fluorescent light (think warehouse) that floods the kitchen with too much light when its on and not enough when its off. Rob, Jana and Lent can vouch for this.

Other than painting, we have some fun stuff -- hang pictures, put our books and office stuff away, plant some grass seed, prune some bushes. Nothing too big. Then its time to hunker in for the rest of the winter and finish up odds and ends since I'm going to be ready for some outdoor time come spring.

Oh, did I tell you that we found some kind of berry bush growing in our back yard? At least, we're assuming so... five leaves, thin almost-woody branches with mini-thorns/briars. Please be edible. Pretty pretty please.

Kristen would be so proud

Behold. Our awesome wreath. Made out of holly I stole from the empty lot next door. I'm so excited about it. I meant to post this before Christmas -- alas, better late than never. The back of the wreath uses a multi-colored holly leaf since you can see it from the foyer inside.

Mexico 2, Rokos 0

Well, Mexico sufficiently kicked our ass.

We both got sick, albeit with colds not the 'Mexican ass disease".

I was sick wednesday -- took a 'sick night' by sitting on the couch, eating soup and drinking tea. Felt better yesterday, but still at 50%. Ken on the other hand got it a day later and had his 'sick night' last night. We both went to sleep early and he feels about 50% today. I guess that means he'll be sleeping 14 hours tonight.

At least it didn't ruin our weekend.

Ahh, I guess that "I love work" phase was only temporary.

Ringing in the new year...

with a different cell phone number. My days of 520 are coming to a close. Going after work to pick out my new phone and plan with Verizon -- dad, you talked me into it. Ken's keeping his same phone and number.

Once I know the new number, I'll send out an email.

Rest assured

I haven't lost my touch. I slept 14 hours last night -- a thursday. 7pm-9am.

Not a record, but at least now I'm rested for the weekend.

Sir, I recommend that you remove your shoes....

How many of you out there have passed through the security checkpoints at the airport and have heard that request? All of you, I'm sure, that have travelled via airplane since Sept. 11, 2001.

I've heard it, then didn't hear it for a while, and now it's back. Heading to Tucson last Thursday, this conversation occurred in PDX:

"Sir, I recommend that you remove your shoes" (for those who don't know, I wear sneakers when I travel)

"OK, but why? They've never set the detectors off before."

"SIR...I recommend you remove your shoes, we're looking for more than metal"

(with a disgusted tone) "Fine"

Now, this may seem like I'm being my usual pain in the ass. This conversation, taken alone, certainly substatiates that assertion. I hate being inconvenienced when I travel and untying my sneakers, taking them off and lacing them back up on the other side is, to me, a bit of an inconvenience.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon in Tucson:

"Sir, it's voluntary (keyword), but I recommend you take your shoes off"

"I'd rather not"

"Sir, you understand that you will be taken aside for additional screening for not taking your shoes off?"

"Sure"

I pass on through and get taken aside. I'm asked to stand on a mat with a couple of footprints on it, spread my legs, extend my arms to the side, get swipped all over with the wand detector, get frisked and then the inspector asks this....

"Sir, please remove your shoes."

"You have to be kidding me?"

"No sir, please remove your shoes."

"What happened to removing my shoes being voluntary?"

"It was voluntary then, not now"

Am I missing something here. Exercising my right to not remove my shoes effectively stripped me of that right. Did that not happen here? Why didn't the first person just say that?

My advice: travel naked. If someone wants to sneak something on board while naked, more power to them.

For your viewing pleasure

I ate the bay-beh...


...in Mexico

Talk about...

strange bedfellows

Late everynight

I was going to title the post "honey, I'm late", but then I realized the panic that would ensue in my heads of my beloved, friends and parents. Relax. This post has nothing to do with babies. However, it does have to do with the awesomeness that was arriving home late yesterday to see Ken cooking dinner. Porkchops, homemade garlic mashed potatoes and a small salad (with a balsamic vinaigrette he made himself). Yum. I was impressed. I think I'm going to be late everynight.

Stateside

After 13.5 hours of travelling, we're back in Portland. Went to Mexico over New Year's for a little R&R... well I guess it was more of B&B (beach & beer). Apparently we forgot to mention it, as even Ken's mom didn't know we were gone.

Rented a 5 BR/5bath house just off the beach with some friends. Very fun although we're pretty tired now. I have sufficiently eaten my fill of shrimp and fish tacos. I learned that a $5 bag of cherrystone clams are awesome and can feed an army if you top them with bacon and cheese (thanks mom). I also realized that I really like bailey's and coffee on chilly nights but even decaf can keep you up. I also confirmed that I'm a retard as I left my cell phone in Dave's car. Thanks to Dave Herman for throwing it in the mail for me. Argh.

So now we're back. Back to work, our house in progress, our love-needing cat and everything else here in Portland.... which isn't much, but it sure feels good to be home.

P.S. Our first delivery of organic produce should be on our doorstep when we arrive at home this evening... I'm so excited and happy that I don't have to go to the grocery store tonight in order to make dinner.

P.P.S. Happy birthday to Rachel and Whitney!