developing talents

1. i want to take more photos and learn more about what aesthetics appeal most to me. one day i will buy a bigger, better camera that will really help me take/make those photos.
i want to do this for me.

2. i want to write more and learn to let the words flow. journaling is going to be my first step to developing this talent.
i want to do this for me.

3. i want to get a guitar and learn to pluck out a tune. music is a passion of mine, i want to learn to create it so that i can enjoy it even more.
i want to do this for me.

i will do this. for me.

adventure with the goodrich kids

i've been wanting to take the kids on a million adventures since they've moved to portland, but needless to say things have been hectic! i've also realized some of those things may be better suited to kids a little older, but my list of ideas is still long; now to coordinate times to play!

this week i was able to give will and tara a couple of hours together while i had fun with the kids. we traded cars and headed our separate directions until i realized i didn't bring any money to feed the meter! will and tara saved the day and bought us a parking pass and we were off! we explored some of the fountains around the city and had fun cooling off on a hot day. ila is just as brave as can be while cora and jonas are just a little more cautious and reserved. one of the fountains we visited is nice and mellow and more appropriate for the younger kids, but it really would be more fun with toys. we had to take a potty break and since there were no public restrooms at that park we drove back to my house. on the way to our potty/snack break i made a comment that maybe i had some toys we could take with us, to which jonas asked if i had any water guns. i told him i don't and he was sure to let me know that aunt rossy does, so i improvised with a spray bottle. we also grabbed a cup so that the kids could splash each other (not so fun, i know...) on our way back out, and with the kids "ok," i decided that maybe we should try another fountain location which turned out to be not so well suited to younger kids. these fountains are like power rockets! jonas had tons of fun spraying unsuspecting fountain-goers from behind with the spray bottle while cora tossed a cup full of water on me - from behind! she got a kick out of that as you can probably guess. when the sun started to move just low enough that the buildings from downtown began to shade the fountains we took a short walk along the river where we saw a big boat that the kids were interested in. jonas informed me that "he never did get to go on a boat" so i think i know what one of our future adventures may have to include! i tried to take some photos of the kids, but i forgot my camera and only got a couple of pictures with my phone. note to self, don't try to get the kids to pose for a photo while facing the sun!

lesson learned

yesterday i took my walk before work and it was really nice to have it out of the way for the day. so nice in fact, i kinda wanted to take another long walk after work but settled on some social time at the park for me and murphy.
today i knew i had a long day at work and initially i had planned on getting up early and continuing with the habit of walking first thing, but decided i'd rather sleep a little longer, therefore forcing myself to do my walk after work. guess what didn't get done tonight? yes, my walk. guess what i have to do tomorrow (one of my "days off" from walking)? yes, my walk. guess what time i have to get up so that i get it done before work? 6:30. ew!
on the bright side, and actually maybe this is a contributing factor to me being lazy today, one of my friends who is a personal trainer at work told me that my training plan is more than ample and if i wanted i could even pare it down a little. i won't though. i worry that if i give myself some wiggle room i will take it and run. i need to crack down, hard! i'm a bit of an "all or nothing" kind of person.
all in all i feel like i've started out well. this week has been an adjustment, and it has been work but i can already tell that i am physically feeling better, not to mention emotionally and mentally.

my latest endeavor

i have committed to walking (not running) the Portland marathon! yes, all 26.2 miles of it. the marathon is on october 4 so i have some time to train, but this will be a HUGE undertaking and it will be tons of work. i'm so excited and i'm ready! though it will be difficult, i know i can do this. i'll need support and positive energy, the more the better! i'm putting together a training schedule and will be logging my progress. i'll keep you all updated with anything news-worthy.

if anyone is interested in joining me for the walk or run i would love to company. http://www.portlandmarathon.org/

wish me luck!!!

you tube

here are some of my favorite you tube videos; i've shared some of them before. they pretty much cover the spectrum and i can watch them over and over again! sorry about the links, i don't know how to load the videos directly to the blog.

what are some of your favorites?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb2KGNTdLSk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO10s_HK6d0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XERzNJWBSuQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZrrbgCdYc

hard to believe...

but it is true. murphy stepped in gum today. AGAIN!

unbelievable.

please dispose of your gum in the receptacle.

murphy stepped in gum today. since it was 80* out the gum was nice and soft and mushy it squished into the fur between and on the side of his pads as well as the pad itself. i noticed a twig was stuck to him as we were walking so i pulled it off. i did notice a little bit of green gum on the twig, but figured that was the extent of it. i was wrong. he just walked up to me for some attention and instead of his rank d0g breath he was nice and minty fresh. turns out he tried to lick his pad clean, good for his breath, bad for my house. i was able to get the gum off the slip cover, but his little foot is another story.





any ideas on how to get gum off a dogs foot?

flash backs

as i was walking murphy past the elementary school this morning i was witness to a father and daughters interactions that made me giggle.

the dad was standing outside the car and i can hear a little girl throwing a fit inside the car - whining, kicking the seat - the works. in a very calm voice dad keeps saying "get out of the car, or i'll drag you out. it will be embarrassing, but i'll do it. do the right thing Willa. don't make me drag you out of the car. you're already late."
from inside the car, in a screechy-whiny voice, Willa proclaims "this is about my hair!!!!"
dad simply replies "ok, i'm going to drag you out of the car then. this will be embarrassing but i have to do it."

i was giggling about it and then i remembered all the times the goodrich kids were late for school because our hair wasn't right, or our socks weren't right, shoes not tied right, etc. and i wanted to feel bad for doing that to mom, but watching that interaction was just funny. sorry mom.

another reason i love portland

while i was out walking murphy this morning i passed by one of the many community gardens in my neighborhood. i love these gardens - just the idea of them is cool to me and i wish i could afford to rent a space - providing i could even get far enough up on the list! i was admiring the rows and rows of daffodils and noticed a sign advertising bunches of fresh cut daffodils for $1 each! i happened to have a couple bucks in my pocket so i picked up 2 bunches of beautiful fresh daffodils, each a different variety. and to make it even better, the woman was donating the funds to her nieces "run for the arts."

gotta love it!

facial anyone?

i know i have a lot of catching up to do and maybe one of these days i'll get around to it, but in the mean time here's a little ditty for ya.

most of you know that Will has been working hard on applying to and interviewing with a fire department in my area; this has allowed me and Will to have some one on one adult sibling time, something we have never had before. it was such a pleasure to have him around! on his first whirlwind visit we squeezed in a turbo tour of portland and its suburbs, ate at a few delicious local joints, got Wills application & resume packets together and the next day with both of us exhausted, Will went in for his test while i worked then i took him to the train stop and had to send him back to his family. i pretty much cry any time family leaves and this was no exception, it was hard to send him home but i was hopeful that he would be back for an interview before too long.

lo and behold a month later i got to have a visit with my brother again when he came back for his test & interview. this visit, while busy, was much more relaxed and not nearly as exhausting (for me anyway - Will probably has a different feeling of fatigue after feeling so stressed and anxious!) Will and i went to visit one of the fire departments and talk with a former co-worker of his. i have to admit i was hoping for some hot fireman action but was seriously disappointed in the selection, but i did enjoy checking out the station and the rigs. anyone who knows me well knows that i can't help but touch things (everything) and luckily the guys were ok with me being a curious george. after we left the firehouse we checked out the test/interview site, did some grocery shopping & made a costco run and while we waited for our lunch to settle we went to the mall to do a little shoe shopping for Will. it was a fruitless search but we did get some super sweet ice skater watching in. we seriously sat and watched for at least 15 minutes or longer, it was great for some laughs (til we got busted laughing at someone).

the next day was Will's interview and boy was he nervous! there wasn't much i could say or do for him before hand, but i figured he would be pretty beat afterwards so i had him swing by my work a bit before closing so that i could give him a little eyebrow attention and a mini facial. i thought he would be resistant, but he was all for it and even commented that he gets why people want to do that all the time! the lighting wasn't great and all i had was my cell phone camera, but here he is before i finished removing his masque! we took a couple pictures and he really hammed it up for me.

i told Will that if he and his family move here i'll give him and Tara facials all the time. needless to say, i loved having time with Will and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that in the not too distant future i'll have more time with him and his family than i can stand! once i get them here i'll start working on the rest of you (again)! maybe i'll start bribing you all with facials...