Early on Thursday, May 20th we'll be flying from PDX straight to Amsterdam for a long layover so we're hoping to get out of the airport to breathe some of that Dutch air in. We then board our flight to Barcelona, then on to Casablanca and FINALLY arrive in Fez. We'll spend 10 days there with Patrick's friend and his wife. After our adventures about Morocco, we'll be heading back to Barcelona for 5 full days. We'll be back in PDX on Saturday, June 5th. CAN.NOT.EXPLAIN.HOW.STOKED.I.AM Somebody pinch me.
There was a point Tuesday evening where I was in my car with three girlfriends, had a Miller Lite tallboy in my hand (keys out of the ignition of course), was in the Skateworld parking lot, and everything just felt right.
Nazy had recently contacted me wanting to know if I'd be interested in going skating. I only wish there would have been a way to interrupt via email - Ummmm Yessssss!
So here we were, Nazy, my friend, Sarah, from work and her girlfriend, Marina. All awesome ladies. Well, obviously. Despite being the instigator of the trip, Nazy was just plain awful. She never left the edge or someone's side, and I swear I could see sheer panic in her eyes as she came across the 6-foot openings where you can leave the rink.
I received a little Christmas present from United a couple weeks ago. Yup, apparently I was just irresponsible enough with my credit card friend to have earned 25,000 miles. This equates to a free domestic/Canadian flight. I racked my brain for fun ideas, but all the places I thought of stateside were so cheap - NYC, DC, Chicago, Boston, etc. Where else is supposed to be amazing, but I wouldn't really ever make it happen? MONTREAL! It's supposed to be beautiful and very European.... whatever that means. However, if Google image search isn't full of bologna, it does look spectacular. Because of NYC in Feb and Morocco/Spain in May, I've booked the ticket a bit out until Labor Day weekend. WooHoo!
FINALLY... I actually made it up to Seattle to visit Dad and Bonnie. Patrick came up with me to meet the other set of folks. I think... I hope... introductions went well. We spent our time roaming about downtown, walking through the Public Market on Pike (beautiful produce and enticing smells everywhere), had a great lunch at Nana's Soup Kitchen, and got to see the Morgans. I forgot how much I loved Seattle, and kept saying how much I wanted to move there. Hmmmm...
Two weeks ago, we went to see the Portland Cello Project's Christmas special at the Aladdin Theater. Such a great show. The group is composed of about 7 cellists. They do a lot of classical stuff along with some awesome covers. They do one that makes me even like Brittany Spear's "Toxic." I know, I can't hardly believe it either. They played about half the time with just them, but the other half was spent with 3 other local bands, where they play the backup. The last band was the Portland Ukulele Project. haha. Hilarious. At one point, the whole theater was singing along to a cover of Toto's "Africa" and Outkast's "Hey Yeah" to John Lennon's "So This is Christmas." Fabulous.
In other news, I FINALLY got my first CASA case. Now, I'm sworn to secrecy, confidentiality with all related info, but I'm very excited to be a reliable and supportive person in the child's life, something which they have very little experience with. I had my first opportunity to hang out with the kiddo this week and had a great time. Initially, there's a lot of work required - investigating the background of the case, contacting DHS, working with lawyers, teachers, family members, etc. But, so far, loving it.
AHHHH!! Today we booked tickets to New York City! We'll be going a Wednesday - Sunday in February! We've even got the accommodations all booked across from Central Park. Sooooo excited! I'm definitely looking forward to being a complete tourist, checking out the Met, Times Square, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, MOMA, etc, etc. Yipeeeee!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Here's a funny, if not odd, story that came to mind yesterday:
This Spring, I became an avid watcher of a show on the History Channel about a group of 4 varying types of explorers that ventured through Africa, following the path of Dr. Livingstone and the subsequent search party after Livingstone's disappearance. One of the personalities caught my attention, as I appreciated his approach and contributions to the group dynamic. Well, I went online to see who this person was. I saw that he was in fact the author of a book I'd seen quite a few times in Korea, as David kept it in his bathroom for necessary reading. I think I'm even the one that sent it to him on behalf of his sister. ANYWAY, finally decided to give it a go, and immediately wasn't able to put it down, finishing it in a matter of a couple days. Being a member of the generation of social networking, I went online to see if this author had a Facebook page so I could become a "fan" and be updated if he published anything else. It wasn't set up as a fan page, but rather a personal page, so what the hell, I friend requested him. Once accepted, I wrote a little comment stating how much I enjoyed the show and even more so his book and the DVD that came with it. Holy shit, the guy wrote back, and said (I'm sure half-heartedly) that he'd like to know my thoughts. That is exactly what I did, wrote a private message with my opinions and questions with regards to the work. From there, we went on to exchange quite a few messages. I was absolutely blown away, as I mostly just thought it was hilarious. Don't get me wrong, I totally imagined some nerd-alert assistant or creepy fake who actually ran the page as the true author of the messages, but what the hell. It was giving me a huge smile and laugh each time. The reason I think of this now, is that I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to see a Happy Thanksgiving comment on my page from him. Hilarious.
A year ago today I was spending the day teaching at Sindo, spent the evening alone, eating spaghetti and watching the news coverage of the Mumbai attacks. Let's say, this year is looking a little better. Soon enough I'll be off to Grandma's for dinner, where I hope to see my new niece, Kayden, and drink a little too much vino. Kels isn't here, as she's moved to San Francisco, so that's lame. Holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, remind me of the one ritual, besides the expected, that Sarah and always shared. Each of these mornings, we'd call each other to see what we were wearing. We did this from very little girls to laughing about it as we carried on the tradition at 23. Miss her lots today.
Hope everyone out there has a fabulous holiday surrounded by those they care for the most.
1. Right now I'm eating cold pizza covered in black olives.
2. All the Cowboys fans had left work before I arrived.
3. This morning, Patrick and I researched some itineraries for our Morocco trip! One of his best friends works for the State Dept or some part of the government, and has been sent to Morocco for about a year to learn Arabic. How could we not take advantage of the opportunity to travel to NW Africa with a former Marine who speaks the language? We'll be there for 10 days, including 2 weekends. The first weekend we're going to head to the Atlas mountains for a 2 or 3 days hiking/camping trip. The week will be spent exploring Fes, and possibly traveling a little south to visit their wine country for a night. The next weekend we will be heading out into the Sahara to stay with a Berber tribe and then heading north to Tangier rinse the sand off in the Mediterranean! Unbelievable! Adding more to the excitement is the fact that we'll be flying round trip from Barcelona, and catching a connecting flight to Fes. Therefore, we're extending the trip 4 more days to check out Spain! AHHH!! We should be purchasing tickets soon, once we've got an itinerary locked down and confirmed with his friend's schedule.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Well hello there Late Twenties, you sneaky SOB. Yup, I'm 27. Yeah, my mouth hung open with a nice head shake for awhile, too. This is the first year that I didn't go all out with birthday festivities. I ALWAYS plan it out 6 months in advance and don't hold back on any detail. This year I had a nice little dinner out with my core, my favorites, the people that mean most to me - Kelsey, Tyler, Patrick, Jessica C, and Brittany. We decided to go to Marrakesh, a Moroccan restaurant, as Patrick and I have begun planning a trip there in the Spring to visit a friend of his working for the state department. Very exciting.
Thursday night was CASA graduation! I'm sure I mentioned it before, but CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. When a child or set of siblings are removed from a home due to abuse or neglect, a CASA gets assigned to the case (although there are never enough CASAs to go around) to fight for the child's best interests. I will have access to all the same materials and documents that the lawyers and social workers (DHS) has. I submit court reports to the judge, speak at the hearings and can even subpoena and cross exam witnesses. I will make sure their parents are abiding by the rulings of the judges, which usually consists of completing domestic violence as well as alcohol and substance abuse classes. Additionally, I will make sure the kids are doing well in foster care, transitioning well during visitations with parents, speak with teachers physicians and therapists, make sure they're not being overly medicated, and involved in all the activities possible. I should get my first case within the next 2 weeks.
So Patrick and I had another busy weekend planned. This time, he was finally going to make the trek all the way out to North Plains to check out the Myers compound, meet my fat pups and the mom before heading out to wine country and Eugene. I hear the rattling of the bridge as he pulls up, the dogs go wild chasing him down, and all I can do is yell, "Don't get out of the car!" as he pulls up looking slightly bewildered. Realizing he's in a suit and that the dogs insist on proper introductions, including sniffing all the best areas and jumping all over you with inevitable muddy paws, I yank the dogs inside and jump in the Jeep.
"So.... this is wear I live." Might as well have asked to stamp his passport. "Well, your neighbors are having a little shindig."
Sure enough, down the street, just on the other side of the abandoned General Store and leaning barns, is the neighbors house, front yard full of cars and a large group of adults all standing in a big circle. Yup, they're guzzling beers, Milwaukee's Best, I'm sure, and ... brace yourself ... tossing around an old tire. Yup. This is not a lie or exaggeration.
Like I said, you know you might live in North Plains when ...
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