It's Finally the Weekend!

I am so excited to be able to just sit down and do absolutely NOTHING. Although, I am going hiking and have to be out of the house so we can flea bomb it. Yes, the wonderfully adorable dog Pacey has somehow managed to get fleas. We haven't seen any in the house, but we want to make sure that their eggs don't hatch and then start the flea cycle with Pacey all over again. I feel bad for the dog. She's SO itchy and is on so many meds.

Soo...not too much new is going on. Last week I worked an event at Tyee Winery for Strengthening Rural Families. The setting was adorable, sorry I didn't take any pictures. We watched local bluegrass music, had food from Cloud 9 and bought a bottle of Pinot Noir.

Work has been a difficult adjustment. I'm having a hard time understanding exactly what I'm doing. I've set up a ton of meetings next week and had one on Thursday, talking to people makes me feel more productive. I am really realizing that what I want to be doing is working directly with kids, something I will most definitely return to after this year is over. Fun news though, I'm in the newspaper today! We had a gardening service day yesterday to mark 9/11. I mostly spread mulch around, but overall we harvested 300+ lbs of food for Stone Soup- a local soup kitchen.

Last week Amanda and Ryan came to visit. We spent two days in Portland and wandered the whole city! On Saturday night we went up near Alberta Street to the Kennedy School McMenamins.
McMenamins is a chain here in Oregon that sets up their microbrew operations in strange old buildings. Kennedy School is a former elementary school. We ate in what was probably the old cafeteria. I feel like we went to one other bar in there and then ended up spending some time in the former boiler room. There was a cigar room, theater, pool, and former classrooms were made into hotel rooms. Friday we went to Washington Park and then wandered the whole city. We ate at a Pearl Street art fest and then found our way to a fair of sorts underneath the Burnside Bridge. I got cranky more than a few times, mostly because I hate crowds and tend to complain if I'm with more than just myself for a few hours exploring a new place. I need to work on that.

Monday we went on an amazing hike north of Lincoln City. It was a little less than 5 miles round trip to Harts Cove. The Oregon coast is so dramatic and beautiful. It seems to always be perfect hiking weather, not to hot and the trees make a great cover from the sun. Here are some photos from the hike:





Keep your fingers crossed that we have at least a few more months of hiking & camping weather before the rain comes!!