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.

LTS

I wasn't prepared to deal with dog medical issues yet. After having an older dog who couldn't walk very far for his last few years, Ava seemed like she was invincible. She had boundless energy and pain never really seemed to register with her. She would get tired after long hikes but she was always up for another walk if the possibility came up. Well, yesterday, she apparently pushed herself too hard and her tail paid the price.

The term for the affliction facing Ava right now is Limber Tail Syndrome. It's kind of like a sprain. She can't raise her tail and it just sort of droops there, looking comically pathetic. I only say that because it's supposed to bounce back in a few days. Otherwise, I'd be mourning the loss of her wagging tail. It's also affected her lower back. She wanted to run on the beach still but when she was hauling a log out of the ocean, she came back to the beach, dropped, and sat down like her back legs weren't functioning appropriately.

Apparently, LTS is caused by either over-exertion, cold weather, or being too used to a kennel and not being as active. Ava experienced all three of those things. We went into Tillamook to get her some baby aspirin as an anti-inflammatory. It's good to know that it's a limited time thing because I don't want to deal with chronic dog issues already. I need another few good years of a healthy dog.

What else?

Yesterday, I beat Andrew by more than 2x his score in 10,000, earning myself the first drink off the game.  I collected at The Schooner which has a great porch with glass walls and blankets available to cover yourself while you dine which I did.

thanks anyway

For the holiday weekend, we rented a beach cabin at Oceanside. It's been years since we've stayed here (and it was the only affordable place that still had vacancies) so we booked a place here quick. I had a plan to start thawing out the tofurky roast yesterday before I hit the gym and it would be ready to pop in the oven when we were able to check in at 4pm. I even made the marinade ahead of time.

We got to Oceanside around 1pm and spent the next few hours walking on the beach. Ava was greeted by a larger cocker spaniel who was off-leash and Andrew quickly took Ava off leash to help deter a confrontation and it worked! Ava did not attack the dog. She's just done so bad lately that a lack of violence was a cause to celebrate!

Then we headed to the cabin. It's a bit further up the cliffside than I had thought but it's got an amazing few. The biggest problem is that it doesn't have an oven; it only has a microwave and a toaster. I would have settled for a toaster oven but nope. Just as an FYI, it's highly recommended that you don't cook a tofurky roast in the microwave. I thought that surely some punks somewhere had tried it and managed to get it to turn out to be a success but every page I found online said "don't" so I didn't.

We don't have a microwave so we didn't bring microwave food. Fortunately, the previous renters left two cans of vegan soup and we had bread and cheese for sandwiches so my Harvest dinner was microwaved soup and toasted cheese sandwiches. Still, I'm thankful. I'm thankful to be at the beach. I'm thankful for this break from work. I'm thankful for Andrew and Ava and Amaretto. It's a change of plans but I can roll with it. And hey, I get a vacation from cooking.

random wednesday holiday

 

I'm never one to complain about taking a day off work but this holiday caught me by surprise. I had forgotten that we get Veteran's Day off before this month approached. I was pleasantly surprised but that also meant I had to work on Sunday to ensure everything could get done and I also didn't make plans for the day. At the last minute, I switched Ava's blood donation appointment to today so I wouldn't have to take time off work to get her there. She's been kind of a pill lately. She's been growling at Andrew randomly and on Monday she ran out of the ballpark to attack a dog who was running alongside a cyclist on Center Ave. So I was really really pleased with her today. She did a great job giving blood and ended up getting a sock monkey who I've named Lana. When I headed to the gym, I told her it was time for the kennel so she went to grab her monkey to put into her kennel with her. It was adorable.

What else?

On Monday, aside from being pissed at Ava for attacking a dog (which unfortunately isn't a new thing), I also took half the day off work to wait for the new internet provider to install our new service. Comcast jacked up the rates and CenturyLink had a good sales pitch so I went with them. I am susceptible to salesmen and shouldn't be allowed to answer the door.

On Tuesday, I met a lady through work that works at a crisis line. The day before, I had a crisis meeting with a customer and can't imagine that being my entire job. I'm glad there are people out there who can handle it.

Today, I also made new pot cookies. The dosage was a lot lower this time and I plan on giving most of them away to people. I had one this morning and it lightened my spirits a bit but I was completely functional.

wahclella falls

This is one of the easiest hikes I've done in the gorge but I just stumbled upon it this morning and there's nothing wrong with easy and the last minute if this is the result. It's so easy in fact that it's a shame I haven't been here before. It's probably best that I came on a weekday in the fall tho because the parking lot was still full. When Ava and I started out, we ran into a dozen people taking photographs. I thought that it must be a migration or something that they were capturing on film but a guy told me it was a class.

I kept Ava on leash for a while just because of the number of cars but I was afraid she was going to yank me down a slippery stone path so I let her run free. It's what we came here for after all. I'll definitely go back when I need a quick forest and falls fix.

What else?
Yesterday, I just had the Prickly Pear Cider at NWIPA for my new thing. It was unnaturally pink but surprisingly not that sweet.

dubois to ontario

Today was a lot better. I started off the day with a latte in Dubois. It was the first latte that I've had in weeks and I was so grateful. After I got some breakfast, we left town and went to drive through the Tetons. I could see it was raining in the distance but that also made for a beautiful rainbow pictured below.

While going by the Tetons, I stopped a lot and let Ava run. I also pulled up next to some Bison and got some pictures. After the Tetons, we cruised through Idaho, backtracking somewhat to return the battery charger I bought on the way out at Idaho Falls. We hit the Craters of the Moon and ended up going through Boise during rush hour. Poor planning but I got to our hotel at Ontario just after 6.

Three years ago, Dean and I stopped at Craters of the Moon and ended up here at the Ontario Inn. I didn't realize it when I booked it but as soon as I saw the dog area in the back, I knew we were here before. The Inn's nice enough but I was hungry and unable to find any good veggie options as I walked around town. I walked the other way from the Inn and ended up at a place called Bargitas. I waited while they made my burrito while Ava was tied up outside barking. They're kind of a fast food place but serve margaritas. I wanted one so bad but couldn't drink while Ava barked. I cannot wait to get her home so I can get a little space.

familial familiarity

 

Facebook had provided me with an odd sense of familiarity with family. Even tho I'm so far away from everyone else in my family (especially my extended family), I feel like I know what's going on with most of them. For example, whenever I post anything, I can almost always count on one of my aunts liking it and possibly (positively) commenting on it. This gives the illusion that we're interacting but when I stop to think about it, I realize that she doesn't post anything really personal about her life and I don't get deep in mine. Hell, I don't get as deep as I could here but on Facebook, I keep it all friendly, mostly funny, sometimes opinionated, and rarely heartfelt. 

Therefore, it's nice to see the people that I see on FB in person instead of just their avatar reposting a cartoon or a meme or that they like X, Y, and/or Z. Today, I got to see three of my aunts on my mom's side, one of my cousins, and my second-cousin. I also got to go to my cousin's farm. This cousin isn't on Facebook and she's a cousin I feel kicks ass because she's a vet so I was really glad I got to see her, in person.

Also, I was glad that Ava got to meet everybody and she got to see the horses that were on my cousin's land. Big farm animals are very intriguing to her (you can hear her whining for them in the video and they came to the fence as a result).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 .

a true original

 

Today was exhausting but it was all worth it.

I took Ava to work with me so we could go straight to her blood donation after work. She did a great job this time and was completely relaxed as she donated. I was so proud of her. Then, I ran her home and had 10 minutes to sit down before I had to go to the gym. After my workout, I biked home again, showered, walked Ava, then biked downtown to meet Andrew for dinner before going to PHAME's first original performance.

The play was wonderful. It's my friend Jessica's last production with them and it was a triumphant note to end on. The performances were great, the story was fun and interesting, and the music was delightful. It's so exciting and it really really makes me miss direct work with customers. Before the play and during intermission, this girl kept referring to me as "button-down shirt" and grabbed my collar at one point to see what label was on my shirt. I probably should have informed her that it's not appropriate behavior but after working at GW, I'm used to people grabbing me and I just laughed it off.

As delightful as it all was tho, I am exhausted. I need some good down-time, some me-time. I think I may have to schedule that in tho if I want it to happen.

What else?

On Sunday, I was in the mood to clean so I did a deep-cleaning of the house, even wiping down the railing of the stairs for the first time. If I had been the one to decide, I wouldn't have painted the railing white.

On Monday, I met another PA from a different brokerage as we all got together to come up with housing solutions for our customers.

On Tuesday, I met a delightful huskie-mix at Mt Tabor dog park as Ava and I hung out there for a while during the afternoon. I also talked to our new 401K rep at work. It's weird to think about retirement but I hope my retirement consists of a lot of dog parks.

making circles

As I may have mentioned before, I don't like house parties. House parties where I know all of three people and the only dog is locked in the basement are even worse. However, I found myself enjoying this party.

Our friends Yvonne and Terri had a party tonight along with another couple to celebrate their anniversaries. I like Yvonne and Terri a lot so I was willing to go to the party. Their cake toppers pictured above are testaments to how simpatico we are. Initially, I was uncomfortably clinging to Andrew who also didn't know a lot of people there. Little by little, we integrated into the party and I ended up producing an ice-breaker and forming a little circle of people to talk to and smoke pot with. Andrew also found some others to talk to and we rejoined later with a larger pool of people to hang out with. I was pretty proud of myself for breaking out of my comfort zones although I think I may have spent too much time talking about Ava.

What else?

On Thursday, August 20th, I brought Ava  to work and I got food to go (for the first time) from Pho Gia and we ate outside which turns out to be an ideal environment for Ava.

On Friday, I got the cheese plate at NWIPA which hit the spot after a long work day and full gym workout.

derby day 2015

We went to the Portland Adult Soap Box Derby today. This is my second year attending it. Last year, we brought Ava which turned out to be too much for us and her. This year, we brought a flask which was a much better idea.

This year, we didn't move around either which made it much more relaxed. We just sat back and watched the cars go by. I filmed a lot of them in slo-mo on my iPhone which made it easier afterwards to really appreciate the cars. Most of them went by more than once so I was able to enjoy it outside of my iPhone as well. My favorites were the Spaceballs RV, Ecto 1, Steampunk R2D2, the Duff Balloon, and the Racing Snail, shown in the movie above. My new thing was getting Duffed by the Duff Balloon. In the video below, you'll notice that the balloon was spraying. With six of us sitting there on the sidelines watching, I was the one that got all of the spray. It was shocking but very enjoyable.

What else?

Since we weren't taking Ava to the derby, we took her to coffee, brunch, two parks, and a pet store first. At one of the parks (actually a school yard), we met Moby who is a St Berdoodle. I have never met a St Bernard/poodle mix but he was huge, adorable, and full of energy. He and Ava got along splendidly!

I also finished Armada, Ernest Cline's follow-up novel to Ready Player One. It wasn't a sequel but it was similar in theme and pop culture references. I would recommend it.

On Friday, my new thing was trying the Kale Salad at Fressen. It was okay.

self-care day

In my social work graduate program, they were big on coming up with a self-care plan. This was mine.

It was a stressful week (and it's not even over yet) and I needed a day to recollect myself so I took today. I leisurely got up and made myself breakfast, watched some Supernatural, and then took Ava to the river where we sat and listened to cover songs and beach music. I didn't swim but waded in the water quite a bit. On the way back, we definitely explored new-to-me land as we tried to bushwhack our way thru a shorter path and ended up getting caught in some blackberry bramble. I gotta give the dog credit. She's always down for an adventure.

The day did it's job and it gave me perspective. I like being able to do this and I want to continue to work at a social work place that understands the need for self-care days. I also don't want to work at a place that would require me to wear pants because this damn heat still hasn't let up.

my favorite misadventures

 

I do not like owning a car and I like it even less when my car breaks down. However, my car troubles have often resulted in some of my more unique adventures, leaving me stranded in a place I would most likely not be talking to people I wouldn't have a reason to talk to otherwise.

Today, Andrew came up with a plan to go find a new water hole in which to swim. I'm not big on swimming but I am always up for new things so we did a little bit of research and headed out to Rowland Lake. We had to stop by Target in Fairview on the way out to get some things and while we were leaving there, the power steering went out. Apparently the water pump seized up and shredded the serpentine belt. There was an auto repair shop near by so we coasted into there and found a mechanic to work on it.

We had all of our lazy swimming day supplies with us so we went to the Salish City Ponds so Ava could swim and we could relax. It wasn't a lake but it worked. I think that if we were parents to a human child, they wouldn't have had any idea that our plans had been derailed since we recovered so fast. And, yes, car repairs suck, but we set out for an adventure and we were having one. Andrew pointed out that I was very optimistic about this and I felt that too. Normally, I would be bemoaning it all but what could I do but make the best of it.

A few hours and $353 later, my car was fixed. It was a little late to keep going out to the lake but the Thousand Acre Dog Park was close by and we could swim in the Sandy River so that was our new plan. It worked out great. The water was chill and deep in some parts. If I gotta swim, I'm glad I got to do it with Ava. She's gotten so good at it. Just within the past few weeks, I've really seen that she's developed a liking for swimming.

We also got to see several other dogs. There was an adorable bull terrier who wanted Ava's frisbee and a pug named Biggie Smalls who walked up and sat in my lap. When we were leaving, we took the main path for a bit and then headed off to a smaller path that was more akin to bush-whacking. When we were close to the middle of it, we ran into Biggie and his canine brother, Bruiser the pit pull, and his human. She thought she was heading out but then turned around and walked with us. Biggie was lagging behind with me and, rather than try to stomp down the underbrush for him to step over, I just carried him.

So, it wasn't what we had planned and I was totally fine with that. We can try for Rowland another day but I wouldn't have traded this day for anything.

summer at the beach

I'm not a summer person. Last weekend, it was so hot that Andrew and I really wanted to escape to the beach to celebrate our Ava-versary but it was too short of notice so I booked a house for this weekend instead. It ended up being absolutely perfect.

On Friday, we made it through a three hour drive to arrive in Walport at a new-to-us beach house. Ava was delighted and ran herself silly. Dean liked the beach but Ava derives so much pleasure from running into the water and digging in the sand. It's really a delight to take her here. It's been years since I was here last. As much as I enjoyed it back then, I really like having Andrew here with me this time around.

 On Saturday, we walked across the Alsea Bay Bridge to the downtown part of Waldport. While on the bridge, looking out west, I spotted two sea lions swimming! The water was so clear that you could actually see how quickly they glide while swimming. We walked around quite a bit. Ava found a yellow lab to play with and they switched back and forth between wanting the lab's stick or Ava's ball. On the walk back, we took the east side of the bridge where we could see the bridge's shadow in the water. Within the shadow, there was almost a solid line of sea lions and then another 40 or so on a sand bar. I've never seen wild sea lions that close (even though I was on the bridge) or observed them without a telescope in their natural habitat. It was beautiful.

On Sunday, we headed back. One of the things I love about vacationing with Andrew is that he doesn't linger around in the morning. We get packed up quick so we can get on the road but first, we got brunch. As luck would have it, we ended up stopping randomly in Newport at the Nye Beach Cafe which was delicious.

Really when I want to head to the beach, I want to make it an extended weekend but I will still take this any day. I feel so content right now that I can even handle the hellish weather that is approaching this week.

hiking by landmarks

Yesterday, Andrew brought home bad Thai food. I'm always grateful when he brings home dinner and the place was my idea but that doesn't change the fact that it just wasn't good. It was so bad in fact that it came with fortune cookies. Regardless of how ridiculous the idea of fortune cookies with Thai is, I still ate mine and the fortune said to try something new tomorrow.

I thought it was funny because that's always my goal. However, I have been grasping at new straws lately. On Sunday, I went to see Train Wreck with Sophia, Tim, and Andrew and it was really funny but going to see a movie at the Eastport is hardly new for me. My new thing was trying the Chocolate Shake Porter at Horse Brass later on. Then, on Monday, my new thing was trying a new tincture. Yesterday, I tried the pretzel bagel from Trader Joe's. Do you see what I'm talking about? So, after I got the fortune, I made up my mind to have a real authentically new experience.

I have various hikes bookmarked in my Kindle and the Aldrich Butte-Cedar Falls hike is one I often skip past because it's in Washington and the authors of the hike guide say that the trail is hard to follow. But I felt like an adventure today so Ava and I headed out there after work. I've got to say that I have never consulted a trail guide as much as I have for this hike. The paths were not clearly marked and, even if they were, the guide states that the paths and waterfall have many names and the locals can't agree on them. The guide had me looking for paths signified by a rock outcropping, the remains of a WWII gun sight, a burnt snag, an old fire pit, two 5-rock cairns, a dried up lake, and an out-of-place cottonwood tree. And surprisingly, I found most of the markers! It was like a treasure map only written out.

The waterfall was a surprise. I didn't expect much at the end but it was beautiful, tranquil, and free of other people which was most likely due to the fact that the path is not a simple one to follow. My one big hiccup on this adventure was setting up my camera on a log in front of the waterfall and turning the timer on for a pic. As soon as I moved to get in front of the camera, I heard it fall. I turned around to see it submerged. The batteries had flown out of it so it must have had a significant impact before landing in the water. Que Sera Sera. I hope it starts back up again once it dries out.

Ava had a great time, which is no surprise but as of this evening, she is exhausted and so am I. But I feel satisfied with our adventure and I may go back. I have a better idea about how to get there so maybe I can take Andrew there sometime or, maybe I'll try a new path.