one new person

I don't think I've ever held such a young human before.

Today, I got to meet my new nephew little Caleb James on his first day home from the hospital. He was born on Sunday and he's just adorable. He doesn't do a lot but he is just two days old so I shouldn't expect much. He can just lie there and look cute.

back to the bridges

A while back, I took Dean to the bridges only to find out that one had burned down. I read recently that they were in the process of replacing it. I felt like taking a stroll down memory lane and introducing Ava to the bridges so I headed back there today. I saw that they have pretty much completed the new bridge. Ava (and I) clearly enjoyed the old bridge more tho and just the hike was nice. I used to do this hike so much with Dean. It felt good to come back here with another energetic dog who could just use the space to run.

born under a super harvest moon eclipse

Despite having dropped my camera in the water two months ago and not having it work, I brought it to Nebraska with the hopes of reviving it. Thankfully, the old rice trick worked again and cleared the water out of the lens so I was able to take pics of the lunar eclipse. I sat outside on my parents' back porch and watched it happen, photographing it every now and then just to see how much progression had actually taken place (and to get a good photograph).

It was the harvest moon, a super moon, and a lunar eclipse. It's pretty cool that all of that came together, especially because I became an uncle again today. My brother and sister-in-law welcomed little Caleb James into the world today. I'm glad I'll be able to see him so soon after arriving into the world!

What else?
Two new things today: walking over the viaduct in Gibbon today to go to their big park which Ava loved and cooking sweet potato chips with my mom and sister. I loved it all.

the most charming little pumpkin patch

 

My sister, niece, and nephew arrived last night. They had a long drive so my nephew Merrick was crying for a bit when they arrived. After he stopped, he went to hug each of us good night. My sister jokingly told him to hug Ava but when he approached her, she growled. I was initially upset at her but I read that a growling dog is a good thing because it's properly communicating.

However, this morning, my niece Marley who loves dogs was gently petting Ava and she snapped at Marley without any warning. Fortunately, she didn't bite her but it devastated me for a bit. Dean was so good with kids and I don't know really how to deal with a dog who would do that. I took her downstairs to my room and isolated us for a bit.

When we came out, my niece was okay and my sister very kindly brushed it off, casually warning her kids to avoid the dog. I spent the rest of the morning separating Ava and them. In the afternoon, we decided to go to the pumpkin patch outside of town and leave Ava with my dad to watch during his football game.

The break was nice. For a solid five days, Ava hasn't left my side. She's even been sleeping in the same room as me. She was in good hands with my dad and the pumpkin patch was a lot of fun. The kids loved it and I got to pet goats, rams, horses, baby bunnies, and a sweet dog who Marley really enjoyed seeing. I love how much she loves dogs and it pains me that my dog doesn't reciprocate that love but maybe she will with time. As Andrew said when I texted him about it, she has no idea what's been going on for the past five days and if her life and routine has permanently changed. Having a dog with negative behaviors with kids is just a new experience for me.

grandma stories

Every time I come back to Nebraska, my mom arranges for me to come up to see my grandma. Typically, we play cribbage and make small talk about the family. But recently, one of my cousins posted on Facebook that my grandma was the last living WWII nurse in the US. That served as a good opening to ask about get her to talk about her life. So here's what I learned:

My grandma was a teacher right after school. She worked at a number of different local schools, staying in boarding houses around. One day, my grandpa came over to return or borrow a horse and that's how they met. My grandma had one too many unruly children and decided that she could try nursing. She had $100 and that was enough to cover tuition, room, and board for a year. The school she went to was hands on training where she worked during the day and went to classes at night.

During WWII, she enlisted and was sent to Missouri and some other state-side hospitals before going over to the Philippines. She and a lot of other nurse arrived there but the fort/hospital wasn't expecting them so they put them up in an empty hall where all of the bathrooms were set up for guys. They were over there for some time. She stated that she spent some time in Manila. I believe that she was there when she heard about Hiroshima and the end of the war.

Afterwards, they went to Hawaii, shortly after Pearl Harbor I believe. They were going to get shipped back to the US but a group of the nurses including my grandma wanted to go to the beaches of Waikiki first so they went AWOL. They prepaid a taxi driver to come back and pick them up in time to get back but he didn't come back so they had to talk some sailors into getting them back. I don't think she faced any charges.

My mom stated that her hearing and her eyes are going but it's clear that her memory is still solid, making her an awesome source of information and stories. I'm glad that I could take the time to sit and take advantage of her experience.

What else?

My new thing for the day was meeting lots of new people at the retirement home since I brought Ava. She did a good job there and on the road. It was about two hours in the car again each way but she was just happy to be included.

needs more dog

 

After all of our driving yesterday and over the last three days, I can't believe that either Ava or I were willing to get back in the car for even a short drive but we did. My mom had an errand to run and I wanted Ava to get off-leash for a bit so we went to Meadowlark Dog Park. It wasn't here when I lived here years ago and hopefully it gets used because it's one of the only dog parks I've seen with playground equipment on it for the dogs...all two of them (counting Ava) that were here.

home stretch

 

Due to our setbacks yesterday, I had to switch routes and take the less scenic I80 into Nebraska just to shave off an hour or two of what was still an 11 hr ride. I was disappointed and could have kept with the original plan and stayed another night in a hotel but I didn't want to spend the money. Staying in Jackson was expensive and I still had to pay for the room I had reserved in Riverton. Plus, on the way through Wyoming today I got a ticket going through a town so I was all about pushing through to make it to my parents' place by the end of the day.

We stopped at this charming scenic view just north of Colorado on I-80 where Ava got to run free for a bit. My car started this morning and didn't give me any more issues throughout the day. Hopefully, it will be fine going back and we can run on a leisurely schedule because 11 hrs is a bit much.

I don't like driving through the country at night (I'm afraid of hitting deer) so I wasn't too happy that not only was it night when I got within 30 miles of my destination but it also started raining and my driver's side wiper needs to be replaced. >:( But we made it!

travels & tribulations

 

So, things haven't gone so smoothly today but I'm still glad I'm on vacation.

I woke up this morning after probably the worst night at a hotel I've ever had to a dead car. When I exited my car last night, the car started dinging before I locked the door like I hadn't turned off the lights or the key was still in the ignition. I gave it a once over and determined that nothing was amiss. Well, fortunately, my insurance comes with free roadside assistance so I used them to come jump-start my car.

It set Ava and I back a little bit as far as time goes but only 30 minutes so we were fine. We headed into Twin Falls, Idaho for gas and then stopped at this scenic view pictured on the top above quick to let her potty and to take some pictures. While I was holding the phone above the chainlink fence for a pic, I fumbled with it and it fell on the other side of the fence onto a small cliff. I wasn't quite sure how to handle it and thought initially about jumping over fence but could envision myself falling down the canyon and Ava being left alone. I thought about walking around the fence but that would involve walking back on the other side along a small cliff in parts. Then I tried pulling back the bottom of the fence to reach the phone. I ended up pushing the fence forward and reaching it that way.

I stopped again in Snake River Valley scenic overlook and let Ava run around off-leash. It's a beautiful view a lil off the highway with very little traffic. We took a little too much time to enjoy it though because when I got back to my car, the battery was again dead. This meant another hour wait but it was a great view, there was water at the rest stop, and plenty of shade. I was slightly perturbed by being behind my schedule but I came for the adventure and I wasn't going to sweat it.

I didn't want it to keep happening though, especially as I was now going to be going through national forests so I turned back and headed 30 miles the wrong way to Idaho Falls to get it checked out. The awesome folks at Quick Lane Tire and Auto Center figured out it was just a missing washer or something on the battery cable and fixed it free of charge which was awesome because I was in for more expenses.

This delay put me more than three hours behind and there was no way I was going to go through 2 or more national parks at night while already sleepy and roll into a Rodeway Inn in Riverton at 11pm. Instead, I went stopped at Jackson and paid a lot more for a room at the 49er Inn but it was their last room and it's dog-friendly. I purposely tried to not be in Jackson because of the cost and the tourists but this was the hand that I was dealt today. It's still all better than being at work. Adventures!

looking onward

 

I've done the drive back to Nebraska a handful of times. Normally when I do it, I'm taking vacation time so I do it in two days which means at least 12 hrs of driving in a day. However, since I have four weeks off and am only planning on being in Nebraska for two weeks, we have a little more time. I don't want to spend too much time on the road tho so we're doing in in three days, averaging 8 hrs per day. This means we get to make lots of stops along the way.

Today, we started our journey and had the destination of Mountain Home, Idaho as our goal. The picture above is a scenic view outside of Pendelton. Ava's doing good in the car but I want to make sure she has ample time outside of the car each day so I want to stop at every marked scenic view and as many parks as possible along the way. 

After this scenic view, we stopped at Farewell Bend State Park where she got to swim in a pond quick to chase ducks. It was pretty and she got some good off-leash time. We also made good time getting to Mountain Home. All of this was new to me, including eating at Frankie's Burgers which had a gardenburger option.

The only problem so far is that I forgot my pillow (which is actually one of Andrew's pillows). I woefully realized this as I stepped into our motel room and saw their lousy, square, flat excuses for pillows. So my new thing was also ordering a pillow thru Amazon to be delivered to my parents' house.

neighborly

I'm heading back to Nebraska for at least two weeks tomorrow. It's been busy at work getting everything done but I also feel a great sense of accomplishment in leaving my affairs in such good order and getting a lot of October's work done ahead of time. I would have left Friday night or Saturday morning but since Andrew was gone last weekend, I wanted us to have a weekend together before we left. Also, I wanted to go to my neighbor's neighborhood party.

There are very few A) parties that I want to go to, B) parties that I want to go to where I don't know that many people, and c) parties that I want to go to where I don't know that many people and I would postpone a trip to attend. However, I want to know my neighbors better and this is a great way to do it. It worked out like I thought it would. People came in, introduced themselves or reintroduced themselves, stated where they lived, and we talked about how great the neighborhood is. I may have overstepped some social graces and asked a neighbor about who owns the house vs who lives in it but I had a few too many glasses of wine and I had lost all of the fucks I had to give. It's okay. I'm sure worse was said.

So now I can head out tomorrow morning. I haven't packed Ava's stuff yet but I don't want to rile her up too early. I'm looking forward to this greatly but I will miss Andrew, Maria, and this charming neighborhood.

the harvest

 

Today, we harvested. Well, Andrew did. I helped tied up the trimmings tho so they could dry out. I imagine having our own weed harvest will lead to a lot of other new things as well.

What else?

On Thursday, I met Andrew on the benches outside of the Barley Mill on Hawthorne.

On Friday, I tried a grapefruit margarita at Ole Ole on our date night before we went to see Black Mass which was good but violent. Since we did a mob movie last night, this afternoon, after harvest, we went to Shaun the Sheep the Movie which was cute and the polar opposite of Black Mass.

feeling alright

 

Yesterday, I was definitely down. This morning, I had a latte and realized that was my mistake yesterday; I didn't get caffeinated. I'm feeling much better today. I also granted myself a break from Ava and went to Midpoint to get a diner breakfast. I had a delicious green sandwich (for the first time) because I also think that I needed more veggies yesterday. Now, I'm getting set for gaming! Coffee, veggies, and socialization, that's what I was missing!

my time alone

It's hard for me to imagine now a time where I used to want to live alone. Andrew is in Montana for the weekend so it's just Ava and me at home. When he is here, we spend quite a bit of time apart but then when we get back together, there's always somebody to tell about your day. Since he's been gone, I've had minimal human interaction and I feel like I've gone a bit feral. I'm looking forward to people coming over tomorrow to play games so I have a reason to shower and get cleaned up.

 I think I enjoyed the alone time initially. This morning was fine. I vegged out on the couch and watched Bob's Burgers with Ava. Doing breakfast alone was okay but doing dinner alone wasn't. I'm sure I could've called somebody but I was feeling lazy and unmotivated. It's been a hard week at work and I suppose the downtime was good for me. For my new thing, I took Ava to the new pedestrian bridge crossing and we walked across it back-and-forth. I don't think she liked it that much. She may be afraid of heights.

What else?

 Yesterday my new thing was getting dropped off at the max station on 60th and taking that to the Lloyd Center and walking to work from there. I would love to be able to do that more often but I usually need the car more than Andrew does.

progressing productivity

In interviews that I have had in the past few years, I have been asked how I organize. I've tried a few tools here and there like the Tasks in Outlook or various spreadsheets. Some stick and some don't. In getting ready to leave a week from tomorrow, I've found that I have a lot of balls in the air and needed to get them in a line by priority level and time due. I downloaded a to do list app called Do! and it seems to be just what I needed. I was able to start crossing things off and, with the help of my friend coffee, make some real progress. Yay for productivity!

too comfortable

I've stopped making excuses as to why Ava is at the office. It's Wednesday, that's why. And I am very fortunate that I have some awesome work-mates who not only tolerate her but also will seek her out and will also forgive her for any indiscretions. Today, she went into a co-worker's office while we were walking down the hall. She greets her all the time so I didn't think anything about it until I went in to check on her and saw she was alone in the office and had just eaten something. It turns out that she ate the remains of a bagel. I felt bad and apologized profusely but my co-worker just laughed it off because she's a dog-person too and an awesome person at that.

Still, as evidence above, that didn't stop Ava from begging. Andrew and I met for lunch at Pho Gia where I sat outside for the first time and had their spring rolls.

What else?

Andrew and I also tried La Bamba on Powell. I am so happy that I am adventurous because this is another place that I've dismissed but they have a vegetarian menu and it's not just meat dishes minus the meat. There are some flavorful dishes here and a well-stocked bar. I will definitely be back.

Yesterday my new thing was meeting two new dogs on our evening walk. Both were smaller than Ava and lil balls of energy. She does so well with little dogs!

labor day love

Three years ago on Labor Day, I got in the worst bike accident I've been in. I don't really remember Labor Day 2013 (that's why I started blogging again) but last year's was rough for reasons I won't go into here. However, I've come a long way in a year and this was the best Labor Day weekend I've had in a while.

On Friday, Andrew and I met with some friends to celebrate our friend Jason's birthday at Prettyman's General which was unique and fun. I like the fact that their "coffee tables" are really just blocks of wood which they can manipulate to figure all sorts of pertinent designs. Also, they have cocktails on tap and they were pretty tasty.

On Saturday, I saw Avengers 2 with Ashes. I thought it was fun but I was also on a THC lozenge. Afterwards, Andrew and I walked up to 82nd to try Stein Haus which had a nice selection of German beers on tap and a great back patio. We also tried Canton Grill in order to find a suitable Chinese restaurant near us. I think it will do.

On Sunday, I didn't do too much but we did walk to Division for pizza and ended up at Lauretta Jeans later for dessert. I tried this Jamesons and ice cream concoction which was way too strong.

On Monday, we walked to Toast where I tried this onion tart thing. We also biked up to Marine Drive. It was a beautiful day for a ride and it's been too long since we've gone for a notable bike ride. I really need to get Ava a cart so we can take day-long rides.

So it was nothing monumental but it was all pleasant. Next weekend, Andrew's going to be out of town and then we'll only have another weekend together until I leave for Nebraska for a month so I'm really happy that we could have a relaxed and loving weekend together (with no major bike accidents).

keeping calm

 

The reality that I'm going to be gone from work for 4 weeks in a little more than 2 weeks is setting in and it's starting to freak me out a bit.

Yesterday, I worked over nine hours, just trying to keep my wits about me. I brought Ava into work which really helped. I've gone from pretending she's a service dog in order to get her into places to actually using her at work to keep me calm. Plus it was nice not to have to leave work over lunch to go home and walk her.

Today, I asked Andrew to do Ava-duty so I could have another day to focus on work. Now, I feel better. I think I can do this. I may have to come in on a Saturday before I leave to get everything squared away but I believe that I'm going to be alright.

What else?

On Tuesday, my new thing was presenting an topic to our whole staff at work. I talk a LOT during meetings anyway but this was the first time that I had to inform everybody about a new procedure. I'm not looking to take on a lot more roles like this but sometimes, you just have to step up.

On Wednesday, I scored at least six points muggins on Andrew in cribbage. We agreed a while ago that this would constitute a drink which I will gladly collect this weekend!

Today, I went to Happy Sparrow pictured above and got a potato and cheese kolache which was really delicious. I also went to the office of a provider at work for a client's disciplinary meeting .