just for one day

Today was my scheduled recovery day from my vacation. However, I scheduled it before I had the first two work days of the month off due to weather so I was thinking of going in. Then, I saw that Bowie passed on so I thought it'd be a better idea to get high and listen to Bowie's greatest hits all day long. It was the right thing to do.

What else?

My new thing was trying the polenta special at Sweet Hereafter. It would have been better without the bitter Tahini topping.

Oh, and I started to go back to the gym...again. I did my whole normal routine (albeit at a lower weight for pretty much every exercise) and it didn't hurt at all. I'm so excited to be at it again.

travel win

I do not personally advertise for companies. I don't buy clothes which sport a logo prominently. If I do, I make sure I can cut out the logo while retaining the integrity of clothes. And I don't use social media or blogging to talk about big companies....generally. Little ones, yes. I love promoting small businesses but the big ones can do it themselves.

That being said, I gotta give props to Alaska Air. On my way back from Omaha, they got me to my layover stop about a half an hour early and two complimentary Chardonnays later. Then, I saw that there was another flight going to Portland just an hour early of my scheduled flight and it was leaving in just 30 minutes. As luck would have it, the gates that each were departing from were right next to each other. With Chardonnay-fueled incentive, I decided 'WTF? I'll just ask if I can get on that one." They did some quick typing and got me on it and I had another complimentary Chardonnay to celebrate. Hell yeah, they're my airline of choice from now on.

family soup

I love Ava and I love having a dog in general but when the weather doesn't get above 18 degrees, it's nice to not have to go outside to walk a dog. I went for a quick walk this morning and swore that I wasn't going outside again for the day.

The weather was great for hanging out inside with the family, playing more games, and making soup. My mom had me make my West African peanut soup yesterday and today, she relied on me to make my vegetable soup too. I love being able to cook for the whole family and it was extra special this time because my brother, my mom, and I all chopped veggies together for the soup (while my dad entertained the baby and my sister-in-law took toddler duty). I love cooking with family and they loved the soup so it was a win-win!

amazing rockets

Being an uncle means I get to buy toys that make noise and fire objects. I bought my oldest nephew Ethan a foam rocket launcher. At first I didn't think he'd be able to play with it until the spring but he launched them around the house. It's a simple concept and it's safe and easy enough for him to operate. He kept saying, "These rockets are AMAZING!" I was pretty proud of myself for a while...until I heard him say, "Mom, these almonds are AMAZING!" :)

What else?

When I was home this summer, I brought home my board game Agricola. It's just big enough that I didn't want to carry it in my luggage and Andrew doesn't have any interest in playing it. The only people I'd play it with have a copy already so it can just stay here. We played two games throughout the day. My brother and sister-in-law really liked it and were excited to play again. My mom was unsure about it even though she won the first game. My dad picked it up pretty quickly when we played again in the evening and ended up winning. I love board game holidays.

xmas in january

A few months ago, I used my Alaska AirMiles to buy a free round trip ticket to Omaha. Unfortunately, it couldn't be during the holiday season but we've celebrated Christmas late before so I thought it would be okay. Unfortunately, the weather isn't cooperating so it won't be a full family holiday. My niece can't get away from college for another weekend and the road conditions wouldn't have permitted her or the rest of my sister's family to travel up here anyway. Still, I'm going to try to make the most of it.

I got up early to make my flight, thanks to Andrew taking me to the airport. Since I'm flying all Alaska, we're headed up to Seattle first and then to Omaha. Normally, I would take Frontier to Denver but this was free and a lot better. I've heard that half of the flights to Kearney from Denver get cancelled and I only took a long weekend so I don't have a day or two to lose. During my flight from Seattle to Omaha, I saw the back row in the plane was empty (two seats on each side) so I asked the stewardess if I could move and she allowed it. It made for a nice ride.

My brother picked me up in Omaha and drove me halfway to Gibbon where our parents met us to take over. I forgot that he has limited seating in his car now with two car seats but we managed anyway. When I got home, it was like we picked up right where we left off when I left in October. We watched Wheel of Fortune and an episode of Elementary, drank a bottle of wine, and played a few games of cribbage. My brother's coming back tomorrow with the kids so it will feel a little more festive but I'm cool with it just being a vacation instead of stressing over it being a holiday.

surprise snow

I love my job for many reasons but one additional perk is that we follow Portland Public School's closures so when they're closed for weather, we are too. Yesterday, I was completely taken by surprise to wake up to see that it had snowed and not just a light dusting either. It wasn't awful but it was enough to make some people worried. By the end of the night, we had freezing rain too which led to the schools being closed and my 4.5 day weekend!

It was really quite different from yesterday to today. People were out with their kids and sled and dogs yesterday. We met a new chocolate lab at the park yesterday named Freddy. Today tho, with the ice, it took Ava and me fifteen minutes to walk to the end of our street (4 lots) and back. Hardly anybody was out. Andrew worked from home and we managed to get out of the house only for meals. We did dinner at the Lodge which good for bar food. I'll definitely go back.

They've already announced that school openings will be postponed 2 hours which means I'm going in two hours late. I already have Thursday and Friday off for my vacation to Nebraska so, at this point, I'm actually worried that I need to get my work done. However, if they force me to take another paid day off at home, I guess I'll do it.

saturday night sundries

While we were walking on NYE, Andrew and I talked about how we should be more proactive about new experiences this next year so I led us out on a different bar crawl for us as I collected on two drinks owed to me. First, we went to Mad Sons. Mad Sons used to be Madisons but since it changed ownership (and theme), they just got rid of the "i" in the name and went with a colonial theme inside. They had a great drink which was a spin on Old Fashioned called the Northern Soul. If I wasn't determined to make it more of an adventure, I would've collected both drinks there.

Instead, we jumped back on the bus and headed downtown to the Rainbow Lounge. Ever since we went there on Christmas Day in 2012, I've been drawn to the place, especially around the holidays. I got a peppermint patty martini which was good but strong. Afterwards, we went to strip club burrito next to Mary's. It's not high quality food but it's tasty and the place has character, including sharing a bathroom with a naked lady joint.

We bussed back home and were in bed before 10 which is just about perfect for me. I like going out and I like experiencing downtown but I don't like wrecking myself up the the extent that it ruins my next day. I'd prefer to save that next day for a new adventure.

new years day 2016

It was chilly today but not rainy so we took Ava up to Tabor again and again we walked her around for a bit before going into the dog park. And again, she didn't get into a scuffle with another dog. I like this pattern! My new thing was talking to the owner of a rat terrier which Ava seemed interested in.