I’m sitting here looking back on it all and I’m overwhelmed with a feeling of love, laughter, and community.  We have a big life there.  So many people who love us and who we love.  Amazing.

We arrived Thursday at about 10:00 PM after a direct flight from Chicago Midway.  Kevin, my brother, picked us up and hauled us back to what used to be our house and is now Vicki and Kevin’s house.  We slept on the hide-a-bed after staying up way too late talking to Kev.  I love my brother.  He’s an awesome man!

Next morning we jumped into our Toyota pickup truck (the one we left in Oregon so my brother could use it if he had to do stuff for any of our rentals) and drove in to Gravy for a fantastic breakfast with Kev.   I love that place.  So good.  After we  all drove down to Mom and Don’s place in Salem.  Kev stayed over there as well, which was great, so we had a really nice time just hanging out at the farm with everyone.  Mom and Don’s place is fantastic.  A true Better Homes and Gardens kind of place.  Gorgeous plantings, landscaping, etc.  It was so nice getting the Mom hugs and just hanging out with her and Don.  I love my Momma.  She so rocks it out!

Saturday, after hanging out more at Mom and Don’s we jumped back in the trusty Toyota and headed back to Portland.  We hit Saturday Market for some wedding gift shopping and some lunch.  After we drove on out to Stacia and Eric’s place to drop our stuff and load Stan’s party playlist on his retirement present… new iPod and docking station.  Then it was off to the fairgrounds to hook up my laptop to the sound system and make sure all was well.  Then… party party party.  We were there from 5:00 to after 11:00.  I got to see so many great friends and people I hadn’t seen in a long long time.  People who I hadn’t seen since I abruptly left when I got sick last year.  It was wonderful getting to catch up, hug some people, and hang out with some fantastic peeps.  Plus, getting to be there to help send Stan into retirement… so wonderful.  I love that man…. he’s  a true sweetie.  A fantastic friend.  He’s family…. many of those people are like family to me.  So much love in that room.  For Stan and for each other.  It was lovely.  When we got back to Stacia and Eric’s that night we had a chance to hang and visit with Stacia a little bit… and then again in the morning for a brief time.  Not long enough… but it was great just getting the time we did.  I love you girl… my sister from another mother!

Sunday we got up and drove back over to our Oregon house to drop off the truck and get a ride from Vicki (thanks girl!) into Maggie’s for the wedding.  Wedding prep ensued.  It was a lovely lovely ceremony.  I love weddings…. after all, they are all about love.  What’s better?  I was so honored to be a part of it.  I love Kate and Terri and am so happy they took this step.  Plus, it was wonderful wonderful to hang out with the POD.  Ladies, you are a classy group of babes and we are so lucky to be a part of this little family we’ve made.  Love love love to all of you.  It was so nice sitting around the chiminea Sunday night chatting it up.

Sunday we got up and hung out with Maggie a bit.  She’d had to take Bernadette (so great to see you again B) to the airport early early that morning and then had come home before work.  So glad she did so we had some time to chat.  You’re house, and you yourself, are fantastic.  We love you!  Later Sandy and Angela came over, picked us up, took us to the airport, and then enjoyed some breakfast with us at a restaurant at the airport.  So so great to get to spend this time with them.  We were rushing so much that getting these little snippets of time with individual people was like getting little gifts each day.  Sandy… you are a gift to us.  We adore you.

It was wonderful… our time back home.  Lovely.  Fast.  Furious.  A whirlwind.  We saw so many people, ran around so much, stayed at a different house every night, but so so good.  So so wonderful.  Our life there is so big.  Our relationships so important to us.  We love each of you.  Know this.

Yes, it was also good to get back home.  Which is nice.  It was great seeing the pups again, great to see Mary and Sebastian this morning.  Great to see Lisa Lynn who was so fantastic to stay with and care for our babies while we were gone.  Girl… you rock and we love you.  Thank you so much!  And… we felt like we were coming home as we traveled back here.  Because, this is home now.  We are making new friends, loving being near Sebastian and his parents, and finding things to love here in Illinois.  We are starting to make a life here… what we hope, and what we can dream… is that our life here starts to resemble, even in a little way, what our life in Oregon has been and still is.  If we can do that, build even a part of that here, we will have done something amazing.  Because people… you are an amazing glorious group… a huge web of love we feel all the way over here in the Midwest.  Much love to you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you….

After that however we called a couple of friends and got the name of a Thai place we’d been told about but had never been to. We are always looking for a new Thai place as it’s our favorite kind of food.  And, thanks to our friends, we were able to get the info we couldn’t either of us remember.  E-San.   Yum.  The reviews were correct… the place is good.  Yum yum.  We will be back.

Following the great late lunch/early dinner we walked around a bit in the Pearl… stopping at North Face and REI looking for winter jackets.  Yeah, we know it’s Spring soon turning to Summer, but then it will be Autumn turning to Winter and we will be then living in the Midwest where it is C-O-L-D.  We want to be prepared.  I guess we should start looking for down jackets for the pups as well… ya think?  Hmmm….

Finally, after some shopping (we didn’t buy anything yet), we ended up at Crush where a few of our friends were meeting (we found this out when we called around asking about the Thai place… nice little coincidence, we call and they happen to be meeting and we get invited… yay us!).  We had some tasty and refreshing beverages with them and some, as always, great conversation.

It was a very nice Fun Friday Adventure.  I love these little afternoons sneaking away.  Time for us to just do what we feel like doing, be together, and… well… have some fun.

The Pros… Some great speakers that I actually enjoyed… Terry Bradshaw, Colin Powell, Bill Cosby, Rudy Giuliani (he was a tad boring, but it was cool to see him speak) and yes… Laura Bush. Also attended with some great friends… Kate, Sandy, Maggie… loved hanging with you guys for a day. Spending time with you always makes whatever I’m doing better. A decent chicken sandwich with some pretty tasty french fries… yum. Also a Haagen Dazs ice cream bar and like three bottles of water (not to mention a cup of very mediocre but necessary coffee). In short, or long, the food was OK.

The Cons… Parking was a bummer and I ended up being late (which I usually never am) after having to park at the Loyd Center (paid $8 to do that) and then rode the MAX to the gig. I walked to my car after it was over instead of riding the MAX… WAY too crowded for this girl. Also… some of the speakers, not mentioned above, were a tad preachy (literally and figuratively)… NOT my cup o’ tea. Kate and I left during the first of these extended sales pitches and got ourselves some early lunch. The lunch was much better than that particular talk. Another couple after lunch went on way too long and were again sales pitches wrapped up in a preachy type of presentation. It might just be me, but I can’t take that.

All in all it was cool seeing some pretty great people talk, and it was probably worth it. Though I can’t see myself doing this ever again even though I’m kinda glad I went this time. Was I motivated? Probably not any more than I already am…. so, in name the thing failed, but ultimately it was a pretty good day… so, there’s definitely that.

After the ticket we moved to another parking spot downtown ( and were able to pay… Yay… No ticket!) and then moseyed around near the Fox Tower 10 scouting restaurants for our POD movie outing tomorrow (going to see Black Swan then having lunch and then seeing The King’s Speech). During our meanderings we walked up to a bench (see below) and both started to jump off it, then, at the same time, decided to gingerly climb down. A sign of age? Yes. And funny as hell.

We ended up going into Pastini for lunch… Yum! Our adventure definitely continued there as Karen found a chicken bone in her pasta. We’ve been there many many times and nothing like this has ever happened before so we aren’t anti Pastini now or anything. Besides, they handled it really well and gave us her meal for free. Giving us back half the money from the parking ticket we’d gotten earlier. Circular baby! At least, that’s how we looked at it. Thanks Karen for putting your life in danger to get us the discount. Good thing you are such a slow eater honey!

Now we are headed to meet our friends Sandy and Vicki at Shigezo. Dessert for us, sushi for them. Let the adventure continue!

Today our story finds our intrepid adventurers braving the beauty of Portland’s mass transit system, ultimately getting on the new green line that runs out to Clackamas Towne Center. Why? Definitely not because we love Clackamas Towne Center. We aren’t really mall types. No. We do this because we wanted to ride on the new line. For the fun of it. That’s it. Fun. This wouldn’t be fun for everyone, but it is for us.

We started by parking in NW, getting coffee, jumping on the Portland Streetcar, getting of that and walking to Pioneer Courthouse Square, and then getting on the green line North. And here we are. Riding MAX out to Clackamas.

Who knows where the next adventure will take us. At this point we don’t even know, but rest assured it will take us somewhere we haven’t been. Just for the adventure and the fun of it.

We got home a bit ago.  I walked 30 minutes on the treadmill and Mom and Karen both worked out in our mini gym in the shop.  Now they are in making dinner.  We are going vegetarian tonight.  Veggie noodles with spaghetti sauce, salad with tomatoes, walnuts, and a bleu cheese we bought at the market, plus green beans (also from the market), and broccoli.  Sounds really tasty to me, and is smelling great.

Tomorrow is the appointment with my oncologist.  We will, I know, get some answers about the time frame and what’s up with the consolidation rounds.  I’m actually happy to go meet with him.  Get those questions answered.

Get Your Carving On

Originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl

I took this photo walking into a New Seasons. Great pumpkin display going on. We didn’t buy one, but man… wouldn’t that huge one in the center make an awesome jack-o-lantern?

Walking Mississippi

Originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl

So a couple of weeks ago we had the enormous pleasure of hanging out with and then having dinner with Grandpa, my Aunt Syd, Mom, Don, and Kev. It was a really nice evening. A very nice time. I love my family. Seriously, are there any better people out there? I know some of you might be saying yes, there are… as in your families, friends, or whatever, but still… I love these people. They are awesome. I always have a good time, without exception, when I’m with them, which I’m not often enough. And again I will say lucky. I am so lucky to be a part of this brood. Lucky.

Fork, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Another fork sighting. This time in a parking lot near the Loyd Center. What’s with the forks? Is someone trying to tell me something? Fork Off Tam! Fork off!! This one also taken with the phone camera. I had to. It’s kinda creepy this thing with me and forks.

Catch The Wind, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Lovin’ the windmills on top of this building downtown.