Back at it….

Sorry. I was (am) so busy. When I returned from Chicago, I had a grand plan to do a picture essay of all my fun.

But first, I had to work like a crazy person to make up all the stuff I missed while I was at my work conference.

Then, my parents came. Which was great! But that was busy-making, too.

And, now they are gone. Still wandering about in the NW/Upper Plains areas, as far as I know.

And then, there was some more work.

And I tried to get my pictures uploaded to Flickr for my photo essay, and although I have them off the camera (finally!) and then transferred them to my new thumb drive, the uploading to Flickr failed. Because something went wrong when I transferred to my thumb drive – many pictures refuse to acknowledge that they are, in fact, pictures at all. And some merged and became weird hybrid photos of Chicago and my co-worker Bianca. Which is weird.

And then, I was just out of the habit of posting every day. But now? I am back. Because I’m running a long query on Raiser’s Edge and I had some downtime.

So – what have I been up to? I’m not even sure if I remember.

Well, I went to Chicago. The conference was so good – very educational. Wednesday evening, I got to have dinner with a long-time friend that I’ve never actually met IRL before (well, I ate – he just laughed at me a lot).

Thursday I conferenced all day. Thursday evening, I went out to dinner with Claire, which was so much fun! After our tasty, tasty Indian food, we wandered about Chicago, I took some very fun photos with my new camera that I really don’t know how to use properly. We went to Millenium Park, saw many fun, old buildings, looked at the giant bean, the Gehry concert thingy, the face fountains (all of which have been photographed – I will share, I promise!), and many other things.

Friday I conferenced again all day. Then, my friends Steph & Joe drove down from Milwaukee and we went to a yummy vegan place and then to the Martini ranch to meet our other friend C – the same that I’d seen Wednesday evening. So, the martini ranch seemed delightful, but it turned out that management there might suck – something I didn’t realize until later. The martinis were quite tasty, though – but I broke my (by way of Dorothy Parker) cardinal rule about martinis:

I love to have a martini
Two at the very most
Three I’m under the table
Four I’m under the host

I had three. Which was about 1 too many. They were so good, but then I was maybe (as S put it) tipsy.

But I had a wonderful time, and can’t wait until S&J move to Portland and we can start our scheme to take over the world.

Saturday I got up and conferenced all morning and then met C & B and C’s son for lunch. We went to a Mongolian Grill type place which was good – and they were all about making sure that people with food allergies were accomodated.

After lunch, B had to get back home – but C, his son & I went to The Alley. There are some shoes there, I think. I didn’t really notice. I certainly didn’t buy any.

Then, off to the airport and the longest trip back to Portland EVER. All planes were delayed. I didn’t get home & in bed until after 1 – and since I’d been up since just about 5 (Pacific Time) Saturday morning, that was a long day.

Sunday I painted our bathroom and bought paint for the kitchen.

Monday & Tuesday I worked, I’m pretty sure.

Wednesday, my ‘rents arrived. They brought furniture gifties, so our house it beginning to look more full.

I worked Thursday & Friday – but the ‘rents went to Astoria on Friday. Saturday, I forced everyone to go to Tillamook for the Cheese and ice cream. Sunday, we took it easy. I went for a run. The architect did a bike ride. Dad did church. Then, we headed downtown to the Bones & Brew (bbq & beer) which seemed pretty lame, too loud, and not very crowded. The food was alright. We did go to Powell’s, too. I now have bookshelves, and found out that I could (theoretically) fit about 50 more paperbacks on my shelves, so I thought I should work on that!

Sunday evening my cousin came over for dinner. Funny thing about my cousin. We didn’t grow up in the same state. In fact, she lived all over, but mostly in Washington (north of Seattle) for a long time. Then, we both ended up in California – me in Southern, obvs, and she in the Bay area. We saw each other 2 0r 3 times in the 7 years we were in the same state.

Then, we both moved to Portland last year – she moved in October, we moved in August.

And now? We both bought houses and live within walking distance of each other – which is crazy! (Also, her house is awesome! Although my kitchen is much, much nicer.)

So – dinner was good. I hadn’t seen her since March, so it was nice to catch up.

Monday, the architect went to work, and I went, with my parents & my cousin D, to the Rose Gardens & the Japanese Garden. It was so beautiful.

Then, on Tuesday, the folks took off, I went back to work, and I don’t think I’ve seen the architect since.

I think we still live together, because there are little signs lying about – but I can’t guarantee it.

The best news of all, though, is that I bought a plane ticket to LA last night. WOO!

So – hopefully soon I can do pics. And I’ll try for shorter, more frequent posts.

Any questions?

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