Category: blahblah

Quick trip to Eugene

Ella and I took a quick trip down to Eugene to visit Uncle Joe and Aunt Zee (Lindsay), and also to give Michelle some uninterrupted work time at home. We rolled in to town around 2:30pm after a quick stop at the rest area right outside town for a potty break (Ella’s 95% done with potty training!). We stopped by the park to stretch the legs, then went to Skinner Butte to watch rock climbers. Ella was so enamored that we spent nearly an hour there with her climbing the smaller columns to the north end of the wall. She would climb up with some guidance on foot placement, then scold me for getting too close. Dad’s get to do stuff like that. Ella really wanted to actually try the main routes but I told her that she’d have to wait her turn. When there were actually unused ropes, I had a hard time talking her out of climbing. Instead, we went by the train yard to see Joe at Oakshire Brewery before heading home with him for dinner.

After dinner we played with duplos for a while then hung out, reminisced and complained about getting old over a few home brews and a bottle of Deschutes’s Abyss. Yum.
Breakfast in the park
The next day we grabbed bagels and went to Alton Baker park and wandered around for a while before we had to get Lindsay back to her doctoral program grind. Ella chased seagulls around the park, then chased cats when we got back to Joe & Lindsay’s until we had to get underway.

On our way out of town, we tried to catch up with Travis and learned that Beth and Mirabess were also in town. (All our friends are moving away from Portland) Ella and Mirabess played with soft dough and ate some pizza while us adults caught up. A nice surprise before the surprisingly quiet and uneventful trip back to Portland.

Almost back to work

Michelle and Madeline are back to work today after nearly 5 weeks off. We can’t believe that it’s actually been 5 weeks already. We haven’t established anything resembling a routine like we’d hoped. I suppose it would have been temporary anyway, but with the illnesses and such, we didn’t do a very good job of relaxing. We did however manage to paint two rooms, build most of a dresse, kill some rats and enjoy ourselves some. I’ll be going back after the first of the month so we’re trying to relish in the time with family while we can.

Michelle’s workplace is really cool about bringing the kids in, and at least with Madeline, the interruptions will be minimal. It was a little weird explaining to Ella why Madeline had to go to work. Luckily we have dance class today which is even more exciting than work.

Layla molting

Evidently something in the last few weeks with the snow, cold, wind, rain and darkness was enough to cause Layla to start molting. Hopefully she gets it over with soon and will start laying eggs again. None of he hens has laid an egg in nearly a month now.

Layla molting

Digital Switchover

My internal Luddite is hoping that with so many not ready for the digital TV switchover, people will actually start venturing out to pubs and such to socialize.

Frozen chicken

Even with the ceramic heat lamp, the coop dipped down to 33F overnight. Their water dish had frozen, so I swapped it out with a warm bottle this morning. They seem to be in high spirits, though I suspect it’s hard to seem lazy when you’re cold. I’m going to look for some bricks to heat in the oven and stick out there tonight, though they’ll lose their heat rather quickly. Maybe it’s time to upgrade the ceramic bulb or reinvestigate insulation options.

The cold

We lucked out with an early cold snap over the weekend, and because of the perils of ice on the road and unprepared drivers, that weekend was extended by a day. It wasn’t quite the snow day I had hoped for though, because the 30 mph winds meant that it was unpleasant to be out in, and freezing a two year old is still too young to have it build her character. So instead, we stayed in and enjoyed most of Sunday at home and most of Monday as well.

Yesterday we did set out to run a few errands and get the wheels changed. The estimated 5 hour wait at Les Schwab was enough that it meant we’ll be switching wheels another time. I was going to do it myself, but after hitting my head on the jack, realizing the wheels have a security lug nut and seeing how lame the jack is, I decided to spend my snow day doing something else.

The worst part of the weekend was when an envelope with checks blew away. We’ve searched the neighborhood, but ironically, the white envelope on white snow makes for a challenge. (Ironic because we never have snow) That and the huge gusts yesterday that ensured that the letter is long gone. Hopefully someone will find the addressed and stamped envelope and put it in the mail.

Zoo Lights

Last night Michelle, Ella, Grandpa, Aunt Hilary and I went out to see Zoo Lights. Although I’m sure it’s supposed to be more of a “kids thing,” us “adults” found ourselves enjoying it as well. The seasonally appropriate cold really helped the mood, as did the clear skies and 1-day shy full moon. I had fun taking photos without a flash (D90 rock!) and I think everyone just enjoyed gawking at the miles of lights. If you do consider going, try getting there right at 5, as the crowd seems to pick up from then.

Not many animals were out or visible at night with exception of the Siberian tigers (What? You call this cold?), and the elephants. We missed Samudra last time (the baby), but we were able to see him sleeping and “curled up” on the floor. “Curled up” is a bit of an exaggeration, as he’s apparently already 630 pounds.

Eugene

Michelle, Ella and I finally got our butts down to Eugene to visit Joe and Linds who moved there back in August. Ella was quite good in the car and was rewarded with a cat that was the same size as her to play with. She followed Quasi (the cat) around most of the weekend and even helped him eat his dinner (though at 26lbs, he didn’t need Ella’s help). Their place is great and they’ve clearly been busy with projects which I’ve been watching and hearing about, but the pictures didn’t provide a seamless view of the house. Room placement and stuff all makes sense now.

We all went to the Science Factory and I think we all enjoyed it equally. There was some frustration on the part of us adults because we’d be working on some puzzle and a 7 year old in footie pajamas would nudge in and take over. Sure, the place is “for kids,” but it was plenty of fun for us as well.

Lindsay joked that it was her first time being able to cook for us this year since we normally dined at our place because of the toddler. We ate very well, and I can’t wait to make the gnocchi dish we had with spinach and cheese. It was only the second gnocchi dish I’ve had, and I must admit I’m quite enamored.

Now it’s your turn Hughes.