The Trip to Vampire/Werewolf Country

We made it safely back from Forks and LaPush!  Nobody was bitten!

Sunset at La Push.

Just to recap, we left Portland around noon on Friday.  Drove through Forks, since we were staying in La Push, and arrived at the beach around 5ish.  Checked into the hotel, ran around like lunatics on the beach, looked for somewhere to eat in La Push and ended up driving back to Forks for dinner.

Same view, in the morning.  Right off our balcony.

On Saturday we spent a couple of hours checking out all of the Twilight locations.  The rest of the day was spent shopping for Twilight crap.  Oh, jeez!  We’ve got t-shirts and coffee cups, and dog tags, and shorts, and pens, and shot glasses, and, and, and…  What can I say?  It was fun and we were supporting the local economy.

Here's a picture of the niece having a pretty awesome time!

Saturday night we had a wonderful bonfire on the beach.  The rain held off until we had burned both bundles of firewood and a stack of driftwood.  By then it was approaching midnight so we didn’t mind.

We collected too many pounds of beautiful rocks and spectacular chunks of wave sculpted wood.  The hotel was great; a two bedroom suite with a big deck and the only thing between us and the surf was driftwood.  There is some massive driftwood in Northern Washington! 

 Yeah, that's me standing on the root end of this log.  Amazing!  Here are some pix from the other end:

That's Zoe.  And here's one of me:

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.  We all had a fantastic time, everyone got along splendidly.  When we got home, all the pets were in fine fettle (ok, the cats were mad for a little while, but that’s to be expected.)

Here's a picture of my adorable gf, in her senior portrait pose...  :-)

She's pretty darned cute!

I would definitely recommend this trip to any Twilight fan.  We had a wonderful time!  We do have some suggestions for the Forks chamber of commerce, though.  They could be doing so much more!

And, last but not least, here's a picture of what it looks like to be riding on the back of your favorite mythical creature:

They go fast!

I'm still here!

Dear Blog Friends,

I’ve been neglecting you.  I’m sorry!  It’s not that I don’t think of you, I do, and frequently.  It’s just that for the past month or so everything that came out of these fingertips was so negative that I grew weary with myself.  I chose not to bore you with my whining.  And, what did that leave me with?  Right.  Not a lot.  I’m working on that.  Working on having a better attitude, on finding some good in what I do, on seeing that damned glass as half full (or completely full!), you know, trying to put a little positive energy into my life.  So, I’ll keep working on that, but in the meantime I do have something fun to report.

On Thursday night my daughter arrives in town.  Yay!  That’s always good.  On Friday at noon we are heading out for an adventure.  Yay!

Me, T, Zoe and Angela are going on a weekend trip to Forks, Washington.  It’s the home of the vampires from the Twilight books and movies.  Personally, I don’t give a hoot about the damn books or movies, but our girls are excited about it and it’s just fun to get away.  We are going to stop at all of the marked destinations and take plenty of photographs.  We will be staying in La Push, home of the werewolves, mostly because the hotels (both of them) in Forks didn’t look all that great.  Also, this way we get a beach weekend out of the trip too!  Bonus!

Of course, a beach weekend is wonderful but we are just the tiniest bit worried about more tsunami action and radioactive fallout.  But, hell, what’s the sense in worrying?  We’ll be breathing the fallout regardless and if there’s another tsunami, well, at least we’ll be in the front row.  All kidding aside, I think it’s safe.  (And, please don't think I am being insensitive about Japan.  I have been in touch with my Japanese friends and have sent the most needed thing - money.)

So, next week I may even be able to post some pictures of us having fun.  About time!

The Best Valentine's Day Ever

Several years ago, when my daughter and my best friend lived with me, we three single gals had a spontaneous and wonderful Valentine’s Day. 

Often, Valentine’s Day (or VD as we like to call it), can have a sour note for the singletons.  Nobody to shower all of that love and affection on, nobody to shower you back.  But, it doesn’t have to be that way!

Instead of pissing and moaning, we three decided ~ independently of each other ~ to spread a little VD love around our household.  When we were all three home from work and school, Lisa said, “I have a little something for you girls.”  At which point Zoe and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised, and said, “Hang on, me too!”

We all trotted upstairs and came down with our offerings.  It was better than the Gift of the Magi! 

Lisa bought each of us a heart-shaped pin; three of them, all matching.  Zoe bought each of us a small, heart-shaped box of chocolates.  I bought each of us a bouquet of flowers.  We arrived back in the living room and laughed and laughed.  Each of us had candy, flowers and jewelry! 

We may have been short of lovers that year, but we weren’t short of love.

Question for you bloggers

Does your partner/girlfriend/wife/significant other read your blog?  Does she (he) know about your blog?  How do you handle that?

I have two blogs.  This one, where I bitch talk about my gf and our relationship, our crazy families, my doubts and occasional delights.  The other blog is for my family and friends that I know in RL.  It's less gay and more topical to Portland.  Although, I have plenty of gay friends and readers on that blog as well.  It's not a gay vs not gay thing, ok!  It's really just a matter of spilling my guts to you all in a way that I can't to my family and friends.  They would probably all hate me or hate my gf.  Gah!  Complicated!

So, how do other people handle that?  Do you let your s.o. read your stuff and just shrug it off?  Of course, many of you never have a cross word to say about your lovers, and how great for you, so it wouldn't matter if she read your blog.  But, for those of you who are in a similar situation to mine, what do you do?

One funny thing is that I can hardly get T to read my family blog.  So, really, I shouldn't be worried!  Right?

Here's the link to my family blog.  Feel free to read and comment or ignore.  I don't know why I am stressing about this.  Do I feel ... deceitful?  Sneaky?  Less than open?  I guess I am.  Does it matter?  Am I overanalyzing?  Probably.  Sigh.  Anyway...

www.pdxreport.blogspot.com

Well, that explains a lot!

I did drink a lot of Ovaltine as a kid...

Sometimes I make myself laugh...

I was on the bus early this morning and somewhere along 5th Avenue downtown I looked up and saw Mt Hood perfectly silhouetted between two apartment towers.  The sun was coming up behind the mountain and the sky was just starting to glow pink.

I got out my phone to take a quick picture to share with you:

Yeah, that's right.  Pointed the damn thing the wrong way and took a picture of myself and another random bus rider on the Number 8!

Go ahead and laugh!  It's funny!  I was laughing; still am.


:-)

January

So, January, and those pesky resolutions.  Hmph.

We are still on track with our dietary changes and I'm still on track with my decluttering project, so that's good.  The 3 day weekend was a challenge in the snacking department, but overall we handled it pretty well.  The best news about all of this is:

We are not lushes!

Since we decided to give our livers a rest during January, we haven't had a drop of alcohol.  I was worried that it would be difficult, but thankfully, we are not yet addicted.  There have been a couple of times when we struggled, but we didn't cave in and I'm happy for both of us.

That being said, I'm looking forward to February!

Me just now and weekend!

I cut my hair short this week.  Whew!  What a relief!  That chin length bob was irritating me.  Here is a blurry cell phone pict...

It's out of my face, and I like that.

What else is going on?
Three day weekend!  Thank you, Dr King!  I know I should be doing something worthwhile and altruistic, but I am going to start on a new project.

I think that the two most popular resolutions that are made in January are:

1) Lose weight

2) Declutter

I’m going for both!

T and I have started a weight loss plan that seems to be having some positive effect already.  Yay for that!  Next up for me is the long process of decluttering my house and life.

Here’s the thing, I have a two story house with a basement and an attic.  I’m happy to say that the attic is completely empty.  It’s the basement that is an absolute embarrassment.  I’m not exaggerating when I say that!  I don’t let people down in my basement because it is a disaster of epic proportions.

When I moved in to my house, I had too much stuff but couldn’t make decisions about letting it go.  Add to that a moderate tendency to be a packrat, a strong attachment to things of sentimental value, and a desire to reuse and repurpose everything rather than throw it away and you have a recipe for junk.

I did pretty well last spring when I took a week off work to clear out some of the basement.  I took 3 or 4 loads of junk to the dump.  Yes I did!  And I was proud of myself, because it was hard, dirty, and at times wrenching work.  I had to throw away stuff from my daughter’s childhood and that made me sad.  But, I had two “water intrusions” as they say in the home repair business, and I had to clear out the stuff that was ruined.

The first water issue was when the water heater sprung a leak.  The second was a leak in the basement wall under a downspout.  The result of these two leaks was that I had to move crap from one side of the basement to another and then back again.  What had once been reasonably orderly was now complete chaos.

As I said, I cleared out a lot of it last spring, but there is still much work to be done.  Here’s my new plan: I’m going to empty one box per week (minimum, more is ok too) for the entire year.  Yes, I realize that might only add up to 52 boxes, but that should make a difference right?  I might put a widget in the sidebar here to keep track and increase my accountability.  Feel free to ask how that project is going… I’ll need prodded from time to time.

NFL Playoffs

SEAHAWKS v SAINTS!


Look for us near the end zone, cuz we are going to the game!!!


WOO HOO!!!!

Seasonal Affective Disorder

It’s not just the winter blues, it’s the winter blues on steroids.  It’s the winter blues that have been working out and pumping iron and are coming after you.  It’s the winter blues that take no prisoners.

Yes, I suffer from this disorder.  It’s prevalent in the Pacific Northwest and in other places that are either very cloudy or very far north.  Lots of research has been done in places like Norway.  Go figure.

One of the therapies for SAD is the use of light.  There are two main directions you can go with light therapy.  One is the full spectrum light box that you sit in front of for a period of time every morning.  Many people use this while having their morning coffee and reading the paper (or checking their Faceboob page).  The other method is the dawn simulator lamp.  I use both.

My wonderful, sympathetic, loving partner got me both types of lights for Christmas.  What perfect gifts!  We had two Christmas’ this year; the first with my daughter early in the month and then again with T’s family on the actual date.  T gave me the light box on the first occasion and the dawn simulator lamp on the second.

I used the light box for a couple of weeks and while I couldn’t feel a dramatic difference I think it might have helped.  The odds were not in favor of success, though.  My kid had made a short visit and while it is always fantastic to spend time with her, the saying goodbye part leaves me down in the dumps for awhile.  I’m still using the light every morning because… why not?  Anything that will help seems like a good idea.

The dawn simulator lamp is the most wonderful, brilliant, inspired creation in the history of lamps!  In the history of getting up early!  I LOVE IT.  For reals.  I have been using it for two weeks and can give it a solid recommendation.  It has already had a noticeable and positive effect on my mood.

Here’s how it works: you set the alarm for the time you want to get up – in my case 4:45 am.  A half hour before that time the lamp turns on and starts gradually getting brighter and brighter.  When it gets to the alarm time, it is at full brightness and it also makes sound.  Mine is set to chirping birds!  You can choose a buzzer or the radio as well, but the birds are charming.  I begin to wake up about 10 or 15 minutes into the cycle but don’t feel pressured to jump out of bed.  By the time the lamp is at full brightness I feel ready to get up, although sometimes I’ll lie there for a few minutes listening to the chirpy birds (who, by the way, get louder and louder).

The only downside to the miraculous lamp is if you have a bedmate who gets up after you and can’t sleep through it.  Fortunately for me, T sleeps through most things and even if the light bothered her she wouldn’t want me to stop using it.  When I get up, I prop up a couple of pillows to shield her face from the light.  The first couple of times I turned the lamp off when I got up, but that just made the darkness feel more oppressive. Now I leave it on while I take my shower and only turn it off after I am dressed and ready to go downstairs.

I have definitely noticed an improvement in my depression and I feel confident in saying that it is a direct result of the dawn simulator lamp.  I should have bought one years ago, but I have one now.  If you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, I highly recommend that you get one of these.  Best money spent on mental health ever!