Time to build an ark

There was an article in our local paper on Monday that I'll summarize to save you the reading:
- 1.48 inches of rain Sunday, which is more than the usual monthly total
- That rain brought us to 3.09 inches for the month (and it was only June 7)
- 3.09 inches was the 4th rainiest June in history
- By June 7 we had a new record for May+June rain (May was 3rd wettest in history)
- April had 25 days of rain, for a total of 52/67 days with rain since April 1

Today is Thursday. We've added 3 more days of rain since Monday, and it's now the 3rd wettest in history. (EDIT: 2 hours after I posted this we cracked into the top two) We also just set a record today for the latest date in the year to have not had a day 80 degrees or hotter.

Now all this weather is a bummer, don't get me wrong. However, I'm a native. My brain and body are wired for grey skies and drizzle (a term that I've learned is new to many who aren't from here - that and "spendy"). I don't mind a long stretch of rain because it makes things green and makes the world smell wonderfully. Sure, I'm ready for sun now, but we had a very mild winter, so I'm okay paying my dues.

On the flip side, B is a native of South Florida. The land of sunshine, beaches, and flip flops and shorts at Christmas. He distinctly remembers the ONE time they had a "frost warning" because the entire area panicked. He moved to Portland before we met, but I know he'd be long gone if it weren't for me. The grey is really hard on him. The endless days of no sun and copious amounts of rain are soul-crushing for him. The witty, sarcastic, silly man I love disappears when the rain stretches more than a few days. We were able to get away to Vegas and get some sun in May, which was great, but it has rained almost every day since we've been back. I've promised that we won't be here forever (more than 5 more years), but since my family is here and I really like my job, we're stuck here for now.


Lest this post be too depressing, check out the 7 day forecast. My soul is singing.

Divergent paths

B is 33 and I'm 28 (29 in 3 weeks), so the reality of life is our friends are having kids. Just this week, we went to happy hour with some old neighbors of ours who just got married last July. They have become close friends of ours, and we love spending time with them. As we sat down, they announced that they had just found out that day they were expecting.

We did the obligatory "congratulations! How exciting!" and we are genuinely happy for them, since this was a very wanted baby. When we got home though, we walked in the door, looked at each other, and promptly said "shit, more friends we've lost." Although we have 8 months before we "lose" them, we're already grieving the loss of a friendship. A beach trip planned for next month is already heading towards cancellation since the mom-to-be is worried she might be sick.

To add to it, my best friend told us 2 weeks ago that she's 14 weeks pregnant with #2. We've worked REALLY hard to stay friends with she and her husband, and it's worked decently since they are parents who make the child fit their schedule. Never have we heard "we can't meet at that time, it's her nap time" or "can we go to a place like Red Robin since it's really loud and kid-friendly?" It has meant that we can't have grown-up outings to most happy hours, we can't go wine tasting, and they are out for beach getaways (since a toddler ruins some of the fun), but we do our best to make it work. It helps that they have taught their little girl to be well-behaved and they do not tolerate throwing food on the floor, shrieking, and any other horrifying behavior that most parents seem to be okay with.

We don't have any plans to have kids in the near future, maybe ever. That makes it basically impossible to have friends with kids. Sorry, we don't care about how often your kid poops, the stupid videos you post of your kid staring at a dot on the carpet for 30 minutes (true story!), or discussing the pros and cons of cloth diapering. While a new parent finds those topics fascinating, I don't. I'm not anti-baby, but it sucks to lose your friends to parenthood. It sucks even more when you know you're likely never going to re-join them as friends since kids aren't a plan.

Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy for my friends that really want children. It's just hard to watch a friendship dissolve because the parental social life falls to the wayside. That in itself makes me feel for the parents that don't realize getting away from the baby is healthy, normal, and beneficial to all involved. I know babies mean changes, but I firmly believe they DON'T mean "only one of 2 restaurants of the parent's choice (because they are loud and the kid can scream there), driving 45 minutes to go to said restaurants, and only being able to go to dinner at 4pm because 'earlier the baby is sleeping and later he needs to eat his dinner so we have to be home.'" Yes, the latter actually happened to us. I'm willing to call around and find a happy hour that allows kids, and I'm willing to be flexible on time (5, 6, 7, okay!), but I'm not willing to be ridiculous.

For now, we hold on tight to the ever-dwindling friends of ours that are kid-free. The reality is that that group is likely to shrink to zero in the next few years. How can we find couples like us? We jokingly say we're going to be peer-pressured into having a baby just so we can have friends!

Size issues

Somehow I've started getting a subscription to Glamour magazine. I think it might have been something to use up expiring airline miles, but I'm not sure. It's not really my style, but since it's free, I flip through it when it comes.

The June issue had an article about bathing suits. The article proudly bragged about using a "plus sized" model. She's a size 12, and this was the picture they used.


I was reading it during dinner, so I quickly showed it to B and asked for his honest opinion if I was bigger or smaller than this woman. In complete honesty, there was nothing tricky behind my question. To me, this woman looks much smaller than a size 12, and I think I look a lot like her (except with bigger boobs!). If anything, I think I'm a bit bigger than her, especially in the hip region which seems to be preparing for childbirth although there is no baby in sight.

When I asked B about the size comparison, I was expecting him to agree with me that there was NO WAY that model is a size 12. I'm usually a size 8, and I felt pretty sure I was about the same size as this woman. I showed him the photo, and he quickly and honestly said "you're totally smaller than her." He said it so nonchalantly that I knew that was the complete truth. There wasn't a hint of "say smaller to make your wife feel skinny" at all.

I'll have to grab a recent photo of me when I get to my laptop, but I find this phenomenon so interesting. Do all women think they are much bigger than they really are, or is it just me? While I don't think I'm obese or anything, I could stand to lose 10lbs or so. It just seems so bizarre that my own personal vision of myself is at least 2 sizes bigger than I really am. Why is this? Am I alone in this? Why do I have such a distorted view of what I look like? While I ponder these things, I'll be sitting here, smiling, thinking about my husband inadvertently making me feel thin (even if it might be closer to reality than my view).

Vegas vacation

Our second year of marriage wasn't always an easy one. We faced some unexpected challenges and things weren't always rosy. Determined to start off year 3 on a better note, B entirely planned an anniversary vacation on his own (the first time he'd done such a thing). To celebrate our second anniversary we spent 3 nights and 4 days at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Somehow we scored a GREAT deal in the mail ($299 for 3 nights, plus 2 tickets to Le Reve), and we had a fantastic time.

We started off the trip with me scoring us an upgrade to first class. Although the flight isn't long, the snacks and free alcohol were nice :)

The room was beautiful:



We wandered around in the sun, and enjoyed bare legs and arms for the first time all year, since Portland hasn't yet gotten warm. We posed in goofy ways using the hotel props.



We made wishes in the hotel fountains:



We took cheesy photos in the casino:


We spent the second night getting all fancy, going to the Wynn buffet, and seeing Le Reve. The show was fantastic, and it was fun to dress up and look like grown-ups for a night.




While Vegas is a ton of fun, we both agree that it can get overwhelming. B had smartly arranged for a rental car for a day so we could go check out the Red Rock area. It was beautiful, although a bit chilly compared to the Strip. Of course, being the fatty food lovers that we are, the day trip began with lunch at In-and-Out. We don't have those here in Oregon, so it was something we had looked forward to. It was pretty good, although Burgerville gives it a run for its money - especially in terms of the novelty food since In and Out only has burgers and fries.




We're total cheapskates, so we each had only budgeted $80 for gambling (money we'd made by selling a camera we rarely used on Craiglist before we left). We tend to like the penny machines and bet the lower end of the bets (9 cents-25 cents depending on the machine). We found this fun fishing game that we played several times over the trip. B accidentally hit the max bet button on one spin, which was $3. Luck was on his side, because that was the winning spin where he got to "go fishing." At this point we were both about even in our winnings, but he had the chance to actually win some real money. He ended up catching fish worth $118, which was pretty exciting on an accidental spin! All in all, that put us up about $60 for the trip right before we were leaving. Despite not losing any money, we earned enough points for a free buffet each (worth $38) right before left. Winning on the slots and a free buffet was a nice way to end the trip.
Us at the buffet:

Winner, winner, chicken dinner:


We had a fantastic trip and really needed that time to reconnect as a couple. Our daily lives can be very busy and stressful, and we both enjoy time away from life to just enjoy each other. I'm confident that year 3 is going to be much better, and this was a perfect start to it.

Stretching the truth

Admittedly I'm someone who stretches the truth for emphasis, even when I don't need to. My commute home might have been an hour and five minutes, but I might say an hour and twelve minutes, as if the real number wasn't already super long. Or I might say I emailed someone 4 times with the same request, when it was really only 3 (still excessive). I have no idea why I do it, but I do know I never do it in a time where the exaggeration is harmful.

Yesterday I was caught in a truth stretch before I even knew it.

We are selling our house. Yes, we've only owned it since September, but with my new job I have to commute an hour. B is also thinking of going back to school, so having less debt would be great. We've also realized we really would rather use our money to travel.

I went to the paint store to get some touch-up paint for our walls. I was chatting with the guy and told him I needed the paint since we were selling. He asked why we were selling such a new house, and I told him we decided we wanted to travel the world. While not a true lie, he clearly took it as "sell everything and backpack across Europe for a year." He asked where all we were going to travel, and rather than correct him, I said "oh, parts of Europe, maybe Taiwan and Singapore, definitely S. America." Sure, we'd love to see those places, but the likelihood of making it to all of them in the near future is slim to none. I have no idea why I was stretching the truth with the paint guy, but it was harmless, and fun to dream about where we would go if we had no debt, no kitties to worry about, and money wasn't an object. Does it really matter if the paint guy thinks I'm actually going to live a free-wheeling life? :)

Watching what you say

The blog world is such an interesting place. A blog sort of feels like a diary. It's easy to forget that the world is reading. It's especially easy to forget that people might be reading that you have NO IDEA are reading. It feels like you're spilling out thoughts to strangers in the blog world, but then you hear from someone who knows you in real life that they were upset about something you said. WHAT? How did you find my blog?

I know that most bloggers struggle with anon/known and how much to say if they blog as themselves. After finding out I'd upset many people, I've done some editing. Here is a public apology to my old co-workers. I don't feel badly about expressing my sadness that they weren't there when I needed them. We were very close, and I felt completely abandonded when I needed some support. I DO feel badly that I said some things on my blog out of anger that I didn't entirely mean. Thankfully at least one co-worker had the balls to call me out, allowed me to apologize, and we moved on.

The parts I haven't edited include the behavior of my nephew and some of the struggles with my in-laws. I stated nothing that wasn't the truth, and I'm okay with people knowing I think my nephew is a spoiled brat. I'm not the only one that thinks that, and I feel badly that this poor child is going to have to enter the world thinking that it revolves around him. Telling your child "no" actually helps them. Really, it does.

We'll see how often I can blog, but I certainly have lots to catch up on. Thanks for hanging in there while I took a break and cleaned house a little bit!

A perfect start to 2010

I can't believe I left that depressing post at the top for so long! The holidays passed pleasantly uneventful. Pre-holidays I had agreed to go to one of the 3 holidays with my in-laws (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years). My husband picked Thanksgiving, since my parents were going and my SIL's in-laws were also going. My nephew (SIL's son) was a crazy, spoiled brat as usual, and my MIL was as polite as she knows how to be, so it was fine. Of course, come Christmas I was going to look like a big a-hole if I didn't go. B didn't pressure me to go, just asked nicely if I would come.

2010 we were determined to start in a better way. 2009 was a bumpy year for us with 3 new jobs between us, a new house, in-law (and parent) issues, sickness, surgery, and general stress. For 2010 we decided to head out for a much-needed 3 day getaway to our favorite bed and breakfast 4 hours away.

Let me count the ways I love Cricketwood Bed and Breakfast:
1. Fresh baked chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies (as many as you want) each night at 7, accompanied by your beverage of choice, delivered to your room.
2. An entire PACKED menu for breakfast each day, and you can pick whatever you want. Baked apple pancakes, custom omelets, chocolate chip bread pudding with rum sauce, french toast, fresh fruit, eggs any style, homemade toast with 5 jelly choices, any breakfast meat imaginable, breakfast casserole.........and on and on.
3. Breakfast is at the time of your choice.
4. Hot tub outside, under the stars (it's in the country).
5. Jetted bathtub in the room.
6. Gas fireplace in the living room, perfect for snuggling up to.
7. Snacks available 24/7 (beer, wine, water, soda, popcorn, biscotti, chips and salsa, nuts, granola bars, mini candy bars, coffee, ice cream).
8. Beverage of your choice delivered to your room before breakfast (coffee, tea, chai, water, milk, oj, etc).
9. Massage tables and video in your room (yet we've never tried it!).
10. Huge TV with satellite cable.
11. An entire closet of DVDs - current ones!
12. A disc golf course on the property.
13. The most lovely couple that runs it.
14. HUGE rooms! Our favorite room has a king-sized bed, two double beds, a full recliner sofa, a dining table, and still has tons of room.
15. The owners put together a very through binder, with maps and reviews, of the best local restaurants.

I could go on forever. We LOVE it there! At $130 a night, it's pretty reasonable considering all that you get. This trip we decided to give snowshoeing a try at Mt. Bachelor (about 25 miles from the B&B). We ended up getting there 15 minutes before the free forestry snowshoeing tour (score!) so we got to try it for free and learn facts about the mountain. The weather was beautiful! Sun trying to peak through, not too cold, but 5 new inches of snow in the last day. We had such a great time, and it was a fantastic way to start 2010!