Tam’s Think Tank

seaside, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Coast Radio dot org picked one of my photos, yet again, as their photo of the day. How cool is that? I get so pumped when this happens. No money, no fame… just a very cool feeling that someone liked one of my shots. Most excellent!

Monday… Who would’ve thunk it, I’m glad it’s Monday. LOL OK, maybe I won’t go that far, but still. Our lives have been hectic, and busy. It’s great fun having this rental house as a project, but we are SO DONE with the whole painting thing. We spent yesterday over there working on it, again. This time Karen did some mowing and weed eating while I painted and Kev did some “man stuff” for us. Ha ha… that makes me laugh, “man stuff”. It’s stuff we could do, but hey, when you have a guy there with tools, he wants to do the man stuff. We were happy to have him do it. Thanks Kev! We still have a bit to do, but we feel like we’ve gotten over the hump of it now, which is great. Only a tad more painting (it’s so much when you paint the entire inside of a house and have to do multiple coats… but, I’m whining), some cove base to install, and a few other minor things. Not much really. We’re almost ready to rent it out. Anyone need a place to live?

Saturday we decided we needed to have some fun after we’d painted for 4 and a half hours Friday night and knew we were going back to the rental on Sunday, so first we headed to a rugby match (Our friend’s team was in the finals… they lost, but it was still so very cool they made it that far), then to a kayak demo day up at Vancouver Lake in Washington, followed by a drive over to Ridgefield Kayak to reserve a boat for next weekend’s kayak trip, then home to drop off the boy (Weston got to enjoy some rugby and some time in the car at the park - no dogs allowed, c’mon people, he has a harness and a leash… but anyway, and some bounding around the docks at Ridgefield Kayak and surrounding marina, on his lead of course) before heading downtown to meet Maggie at the Apple Store for some laptop buying support and a great dinner at Typhoon that was completely tasty… as always. It was a really nice day. Very nice.

Tonight… we get to play a bit more as we have tickets to see The Swell Season at the Keller Auditorium. I’m excited. For those of you who don’t know, or even for those who do, The Swell Season is Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the duo who wrote the music for and starred in the film Once. If you haven’t seen it, do. It’s a great little film and the music is outstanding.

Ah, it’s been a full few days and looking ahead it’s going to be another full week and weekend. It’s a good life. Tiring at times, but really damn good.

This Way, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

This week’s theme for the photo hunt is signs. I actually had several contenders for the week, but settled on this one. I was staying in Lincoln City, Oregon for the weekend and nearby the hotel was a path down to the beach. This sign, and several like it, were painted on this path. I was glad to know my hotel was up, the way of the arrow, in the “safety” zone.

If you’d like to join the fun and the photo hunt, click here for all of the how to info. Then grab that camera and start shooting!

An ad made by my very talented cousin, Dave, and his girlfriend, Eileen. Please check it out by going to Obama in 30 Seconds and then vote for them. He’s a fantastic individual and could use your support. Thanks!

Photo a Day From Planet Earth, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

I had another photo “published” recently and just found out about it. I’d submitted it, but didn’t actually know until today that they’d used it. Woo Hoo! This one was published in the “A Photo A Day From Planet Earth” blog. Pretty cool.

Cherry Blossoms, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

I just took this photo when I got home today. Not long after it rained mixed with snow. Now it’s clear again. Don’t you just love the spring in Oregon? Splendid.

PhotoHunt

Swimming, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

The theme for this week’s photo hunt is thirteen (13). I had a bit of a difficult time with it, but settled on counting things in pictures. I believe, if I’ve counted right, there are 13 fish visible in this photo. Though, since it’s Friday and I’m tired, it’s entirely possible I miscounted. Either way, here’s my entry for the week. I took this one at the aquarium in Atlanta. I thought it was kind of a cool shot.

If you’d like to join in all the photo hunt fun, click here.

I realized recently that I haven’t posted much to this blog of mine in the last few weeks. Sure, there’s been the occasional photo posting for the photo hunt, but otherwise I’ve been a tad lax. My apologies. I have no excuse other than to say… I’m tired. Not of blogging. Just tired. Too many trips to the rental house, too many engagements, too many “things to do”. So much so that I’ve now resorted to whining about how much there is to do. How annoying.

I think, in an earlier post, I made a pledge to post more. I’ve obviously not followed through or fulfilled that promise. I guess, not even trying to defend myself, I’ll just have to do my best until this whole rental thing is finished. We are almost done. Just a bit more painting to do this weekend on the inside (thanks so much to Mom and Don who helped us, above and beyond the call of duty, last weekend! Props to you!!), the washer and dryer to move in, some trim to put up, and then the outside to get painted (we’ve hired someone to do that… we’re not completely insane). Ah, I can smell the end of this part of the project. It’s near.

This probably sounds like I’m complaining. And though I might be just a bit tired… brought on by a lack of sleep, recent MRI (no worries… just ended up being disc issues and some kind of shrinking sheath or something… I’m supposed to see a specialist. Also… I was glad the circus that lives in my brain didn’t show itself during the scan), out of town conference, Jann Arden concert, and dinner at a friend’s place (thanks Maggie for the panini)… all of this since last weekend… I’m not complaining. Just really really tired (have I already said that?). I’m looking forward to Saturday night when the painting, hopefully, will be finished, the trim put up, and the appliances moved. We will sit back with a bottle of good wine, put in a movie, and revel in our weeks worth of accomplishments. It will be glorious. Splendid. Fine indeed.

Then, perhaps, I won’t suck so much in my ability to get to the laptop and type a few words, or post a few pictures, or whatever. Perhaps I won’t be so sad and pitiful. Yeah… perhaps…

Twisted, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

The theme for this week’s photo hunt is twist(ed). I was looking through some of my photos and came across this one conveniently titled, Twisted. I thought… why not. I took this one in Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon near the St. Johns Bridge. There are amazing pieces of driftwood on the shore along the Columbia River. Pretty cool looking.

If you’d like to join in all the photo hunt fun go here for all the details and then pick up that camera!

A Stack of Good Ones, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Our haul from Powell’s. Three of these are mine and one is Karen’s. Can ya’all guess which is which. I’ll give you a clue. Hers is on the bottom of the stack and is the most intellectual… LOL

Weston, Lounging At Home, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Weston didn’t get to go everywhere with us this last weekend, but he did get to go to Saturday Market with us. He loves it there. Loads of dogs to meet, so many people to pet him, and then he usually gets carried for awhile which he likes very much. We bought him a new bed at the market and he’s enjoyed it a lot today.

Columns, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Part of the sights at Saturday Market during a break from the heavy showers.

The Eye, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Kev, waiting for our table at Gravy.

Gravy, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Tasty food can be found here.

Blooming Magnolia, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Spring bloom of Magnolia in Oregon.

Borrowed Boats, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

This last weekend we were busy, again… loads of fun stuff going on. We’re tired, but pretty satisfied.

We started the weekend Saturday morning with a 4 hour long kayak trip. We’ve recently gotten involved with a group of women who go kayaking once a month. This month’s trip was out of the Scappoose Bay Marina near St. Helens, Oregon. It was a great paddle, though the boats were short and stubby and the paddles heavy (sorry Stan and Connie, who loaned them to us, but they were). We ventured out and across the Multnomah Channel and then down this little slough connected to that system that was beautiful and very peaceful. We saw several herons, some ducks, a few osprey, an otter den (no otter though), and a bald eagle. How great was that?

After kayaking we went with a friend to take her kayak back to Alder Creek, where she’d rented it, and then went to MacTarnahans Brew Pub for a small bite and a beer. We followed that up with a trip back to our house for a sit in the hot tub and then some late stir fry. It was a great day. Thanks Maggie for hanging with us and for being such great company.

Sunday we took the kayaks that we’d borrowed back to their rightful owners (thanks again Stan and Connie for the load), and then went to meet some friends at Gravy, a famous local breakfast joint located on Mississippi Street in the Humboldt neighborhood of Portland. One of our friends just got a great job in Lewiston, Idaho (right on Robin), and the breakfast was a sort of bon voyage for her. After a pretty darn good breakfast (we split a plate of biscuits and gravy cuz what else are you gonna have at a place called Gravy), and then headed over to Saturday Market to meet Maggie and show her around. The problem… it rained… hard. Not constantly, but in great pouring showers that seemed to come and go fairly often. That’s spring in Oregon. I actually love it. Like Maggie said, “it’s true what they say about this place, if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes”. We saw most of the market and then headed to the dryer warmer climes of Powell’s City of Books. It’s a veritable mecca for book lovers. The center of the reading universe. Such a great place. We can never visit without purchasing something and this time was no different. Luckily we made it out with only four books. That’s good. Really. It is.

After Powell’s we said our goodbyes to Maggie and made our way home to lounge on the sofa, watch movies (Sweeney Todd and Next), and veg out.

What a great weekend….

Coast Radio Daffodils, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

The Coast Radio website has picked my pic, again, to be their picture of the day. I’m pretty psyched. I know, no money, no fame… but hey, I don’t care. This is just cool to me. Makes me happy.