ok true believers – I’m switching over to a new named blog: TheNif.wordpress.com (The continuing adventures of Nif!)
enjoy….
ok, in the process of shopping for an entire bedroom solution (bed, storage, mattress, etc), I just ran across this:
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/06/11/a-brilliant-storage-idea-staircase-drawers/
It’s an amazing photo of drawers built into a set of stairs. Brilliant! Please please please let me remember stuff like this when we finally get a house again….
Especially in p-land where most of the affordable housing seems to be on the small side. 
We’ve had a busy weekend – Took L to Trgvvy’s war/SCA event on Sat (had a nice time – people were lovely, lots of kids stuff to do – not just color this page w/crayons!, LOTS of fighters thwacking each other to watch, other kids to fight nrfswords with, etc. Wish we’d camped out, maybe by next time.) And yes, we went in “garb” – I spent several hours at the local goodwill & cobbled something together for L&I, since we haven’t gotten my costume box out of storage yet. L had a blast, picnicing while watching the “knights” (who have combat archers & crossbowmen here… very weird. Ah, vive la difference.) We’ll be playing w/these folks again I hope, L had a great time.
Then the County Fair today – rides (including the excitement of riding a schoolbus shuttle from the max station, whoo-hoo!), red sno balls, clowns, cows, dirt monster babies, moon bounces… whew, it was way too much fun.
L also came home to almost a complete Room – “loft” bed from i-kea & some wooden shelves, bin shelves & his toys mostly unpacked (yay for daddy putting them all together yesterday!). We’re still waiting on retrieving the small dressers from storage, but he said that not only is it “His Room”, but that he liked it and it felt good. I still need to get some of his decor up on the walls, but right now the priority is curtains so he’ll sleep thru the night! ug <yawn>
Tomorrow we go to a stable for an intro visit (maybe riding lessons in the future?) and then I spend the rest of the day a) filling out job apps, b) trying out mattresses and c) picking the crop of blackberries waiting out in the woods. Sounds like a fun day in Hillsboro – if only we all get some sleep before then!
L in the tail of the Dragon Roller Coaster at the Fair!
After our trip to Ikea yesterday, I was feeling like we were living a
pretty european lifestyle – we’ve Downsized, we walk or ride bikes
often (and will more in the future as our purchases get smaller), we
recycle, conserve resources, etc. I’m even going to get some fabric rags to accompany my menstrual cup (and maybe get a new cup, since I’m Over 30… sigh)
Then I saw this quote from a “gap year” girl living in Germany:
“There is always difficulty of adapting to
society’s traditions and rules,” she wrote in an
e-mail about her trip so far. “Turning off the water in
between every step in the shower, never leaving things
plugged in, not using a dryer on clothes, walking
EVERYWHERE.”
Oh, boy, we’ve got a ways to go! It’s nice, however, to be living
somewhere that considers that lifestyle a worthy goal and doesn’t
disparage it…
Yay us!
Mama, c’n I talk to you? I’m dreaming.
Ok sweetie. What are you dreaming about?
I dunno.
Are there people in your dream?
Yeah.
Are they good guys?
No. Bad guys!
Bad guys? Are they chasing you?
No. Dey are tryin’ to get in da house.
Oh, are there goblins too? (referring to the recent spyderwik obsession)
Yeah! I fight them!
Oh, do you have a sword?
Yeah! And fire! From my hands! <looks at hands fuzzily>
true believers – the boxes are almost unloaded, I have jobs to apply for, a mattress to find/purchase (a virgin trip to Ikea is projected, whee!) and retrieving some shelves from our containers in storage.
Then an SCA event on Sat, the wash cnty fair on sun, a visit to a stable on mon (maybe horseback riding lessons for L?), S is happier (walking around singing and making homemade waffles again, yay!) Then on the 3rd L & I venture to our first festival together (faerieworlds) and then prepare for our first out of town guests – yay for Mike/Nic/Kev!
We got our first housewarming giftie, a tea towel from yorkshire! (thanks Zowie – you and your sweet mom!) No, this isn’t a plea for more gifts, we have no room as it is! But it was incredibly thoughtful and I wanted to mention it since I don’t have the webcam set up yet to call/says thanks…
stay tuned, I should have some time to breathe around next tues (thank the goddess I DIDN’T get any of those immediately-starting jobs, this would’ve been a nightmare!)
L was bored with the usual suspects (toys) yesterday, and was forbidden to jump on the couch or watch a movie (results of bad listening). He’s out on the balcony & sees some big kidz playing basketball etc.
Mama, I want to play wit dem! “Hello! Hello down dere!”
Sweetie, those are big kids, they might not want to play with you.
Yes they do! “Hey, whatcha doin down there?”
Ok, do you want to go ask them to play catch? And if they don’t want to play, Mama will play ball with you, ok?
Ok!
<tromp down the stairs>
<approaches big kids>
Excuse me?!?
<big kids stop what they’re doing and say “yes?” he ignores them, being distracted by a stick. I gently remind him that he asked for their attention…>
Will you play catch wit me?
At once, they say OK! And proceed to follow him to the other courtyard, where they circle around him and play catch with him for 5 whole minutes before he starts getting bossy and telling them who gets to catch and how to throw, etc.
L & neighborkids
He’s now stomping around the house, imitating Kungfupanda. He’s a cutie.
Fyi, he had a tantrum going into school today – but the great teachers quickly distracted him with some castle blocks and he jumped right in. He even told us when we picked him up that he’d had fun (on the way in, he informed me that “no one likes school… no one named L.”) I am suspecting that it was the absence of the perkier teacher (who was on vacation for 2 weeks but was there today). He really engaged with her. I think when he was telling us about “The Bad One” 2 weeks ago it wasn’t another kid but the nice/but quiet other teacher. Sigh. So now we need to find out if Ms. A is going to be teaching his class this fall! The good news is, he might be able to go 5 days/week (still just 3 hrs/day) if he likes it & the sked works out.
He’s still loving Pdx, he talks about “our new home” and is now Very Happy that his toys are here. The rotten news is that the Dino Bed won’t fit up the stairs, so we’ve put it on craigslist. Damn, I wanted to keep one familiar thing for him. Oh well!
ok, so I sent some of you the notice about Dr. Horrible (which now will cost a whole $6! if you missed it).
Here’s some other laughter:
aka “Why I’m voting Republican”. I laughed so hard I cried, thank you Ricomatic.
There’s also “The Guild”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grCTXGW3sxQ&feature=rec-fresh
Thanks to CJ on that one.
And then there’s the photos of the moose my mom sent me. They’re just wrong. I refuse to contribute to the spam, so if you want to see it, email me & let me know – I’ll forward it to you.
Enjoy! (Yes, we’re still busting our asses carrying insanely heavy things up 3 flights of stairs… ug.)
Finally, our boxes have arrived! They’ll be delivering the 2 immediate ones tomorrow, so we’ll be spending the weekend unpacking. whew.
I’ve applied for 2 jobs this week and we took L to the OMSI today, so we’ve been keeping quite busy. Next week we’ll likely take another road trip in the opposite direction – go see the snow on Mt Hood & check out the salmon run in the columbia gorge, the bonneville dam, etc.
I went to the CoC yesterday – and while I got a whole bunch of flyers, pamphlets & brochures on places to go/things to do, they didn’t have the demographic info I wanted. So I’ll have to make an appt w/their biz dev guy to dig into it further.
We’ve got a new hobby – Suburban Foraging! Yay! (Mostly berry picking right now) I’m still thinking wistfully of the food cart idea, and I was reminded that Ric mentioned a lady that had a “snoball” kind of stand in OH (?) who made her own fruit syrups from scratch, I bet that would be pretty popular ’round here in the summer time… and of course, soups when the weather gets nasty again. Ah, a grrl can dream, right? In the meantime, I’m still looking for real jobs, and investigating the retail space option.;-)
So I won’t be writing for a few days as I haul boxes up 3 flights of stairs – send nice massaging thoughts my way, eh?
On Friday, we went over the coastal range of mountains to Tillamook, then on up the coast. We found:
a campsite about a half-hour away in the mountains that we are looking forward to returning to
http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/TSF/tillamook_story.shtml
Tillamook State Forest Overlook
Elk Creek Camp L&N
The cheese factory at Tillamook was wonderful – the town was a bit stinky & the factory was a total tourist site, but I really respect that it’s a coop and the stuff they do for the town is wonderful. And the cheese is Great!
We stopped at many lovely beaches and overlook sites:
Nehalem Bay
But then we discovered my favorite place… indeed, a place I feel I’ve dreamt of before. In the Oswald West State Park is a campsite (temporarily closed), and a trail that goes through an Old Growth Forest:
S&L in tree
Smuggler’s Cove is the best beach EVER for us – sand, driftwood, surfers w/doggies, tidal pools to explore:
Don't touch!
Smuggler's Cove
The water’s freezing, but that didn’t stop L. And if we want to swim, we can go to the beach on the Columbia River in NoPo.
So if you make it out here for a visit, I would recommend planning on a day trip to the Coast. It is breathtakingly beautiful and makes my heart sing.
