titansphere.com

Did I mention we had an awesome trip? Wow. Fantastic. One of the best overall Montana trips I’ve ever had. We always had something to do, someone to see, and somewhere to go, and good things happened to us the entire time. Good things like:

• Craig’s camera was sitting at our table when we returned to the wedding reception praying it wasn’t long gone.
• We sat and watched a fantastic thunder/lightning storm race across the Montana sky one night for at least 45 minutes.
• We got 2 of 3 items (a disc golf disc and a baseball bat) out of the tree we got them stuck in in Pioneer Park in Billings.
• We ran into the friend we forgot to get ahold of before we left.
• We saw Old Faithful erupt at sunset.
• We set off about $350 worth of fireworks after an awesome Rumble in the Vally 100th Anniversary display without incident.
• We saw the moon rise over Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone Park.
• George’s surgery went well, and he has recovered quicker and better than anyone expected.
• We got the last campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs.
• We saw either 2 wolves, 2 coyotes, or one of each.
• I saw a bighorn sheep ram in the Columbia Gorge.
• Yellowstone National Park was absolutely beautiful – lush and green and full of wildflowers – because it has been so rainy this year.
• We pulled into Jiffy Lube just before 4 other cars, so we were done in 25 minutes instead of 45.

There’s so much more…but I’ll leave it for another post.

Today This weekend has been fabulous. Yesterday Handsome and I went to Vancouver to fix ChickenSox’s Xbox 360 and followed it up with a visit to our new glass-blowing friend’s house in Portland. We saw his cute 15 week-old pit bull terrier puppy, Willow, and chatted for awhile before coming home to see Terminator, which was awesome. (Lots of explosions and action.) Today I did a bunch of cleaning and yardwork in the sunshine – it was loverly, and George joined me and happily barked and everything and nothing in the neighborhood – followed by a trip to Goodwill to deliver some unwanteds and then food at the Mongolian grill and then, of course, UFC PPV! A bunch of friends wound up over here, and it was lots of fun to chat and root and cheer with them on a variety of topics. So far, what a wonderful 4-day Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Birthday, Handsome! He is 28 today.

This last weekend was nonstop…Saturday Handsome and I worked a tiny bit in the garden and then went food shopping. When we got home we did a bunch of house preparation (read cleaning) for Handsome’s birthday party that night.

The party started around 5pm when the first attendees arrived. We made a big pot of homemade chili while things were kicking off – it was delicious. I can’t wait until the scallion and peppers are fresh grown from our garden! All told, 8 people and 1 dog (plus the roommates and our dog) came and enjoyed the fun, of which there was a lot. We also had brownies with candles in them and sung “Happy Birthday” and also crumb cake. Both were devoured eagerly.

Yesterday, then, ChickenSox and I worked in the garden for 4-5 hours. We planted the rest of the lettuce (in a shadier area) and started to hand till the garden area. We quickly realized we weren’t denting the clay much, so we rented a mid-size tiller from Home Depot. Even it had a hard time cutting through the compacted clay! I ran the tiller while ChickenSox removed rocks from the tilled earth. I went over the area multiple times. We found a tree buried near one edge of the garden. We also found a sprinkler head that wasn’t attached to the system. And a Spiderman cup. And rope. Luckily, however, we had no incidents. It was a lot of work, though, to wrangle the tiller, and my shoulders and arms are quite sore today.

Today: Handsome’s birthday. We are going to spend the day together doing whatever it is we feel like. Yay!

The Guy on the Couch is officially alive. He was officially missing (missing persons report and everything!), and presumed dead, for most of last week. But not by us; we’ve known his exact wheareabouts for almost an entire month.

Mr. Guy on the Couch does contractual work for the government doing a variety of environmental studies. Once he lived in coastal Oregon studying coastal birds’ use of old growth forest. Then he did land surveying in Canada (for the US government). Most recently he was in Wyoming, trapping, measuring, and banding eagles. In March he starts work studying sage grouse in northwest Nevada. All of this work happens in VERY remote areas with no services and no connection to the outside world. He lives in a tent most of the time and “roughs it” to the max.

Somehow, rumor got around – to his mom of all people – that he was missing, and it was reported to the police. Shortly thereafter he was presumed dead from the elements. I think the catalyst was a missed phone call earlier in the week.

Anyway, have no fear. The Guy on the Couch lives!

I’ve gotten nothing done this weekend.

Friday we had an impromptu party…people just kept showing up! One of our friends from Milwaukee (Oregon) came down, followed by his brother, and then a friend from college, and our old roommate, and finally one of my Handsome’s friends from college. All of them randomly called bored and decided to join the fun. At the peak of the night there were 9 people + 1 dog.

Saturday I was just lazy. (It was great.) I didn’t even get out of my pajamas! I played video games, watched some Prison Break Season 3, and caught up on my reading – Money Magazine and 3 issues of Bottom Line. Four friends showed up throughout the day (each at a different time…this sounds like a logic puzzle, doesn’t it?) again, and I think I managed a load of towels through the laundry.

Today of course football. No guests, but we went to recycle cans – in Oregon you get your $0.05 deposit back if you hand-recycle them – and lucky us, 5 girls were there recycling literally a truckload of recyclables for charity AND one out of four of the machines was broken. The girls monopolized two more, and that left one for everybody else. Oh, that and the machines required assistance 3 times while we were there. So what should’ve taken 20 minutes took almost an hour and 20 minutes. *sigh* So now, finally, I’m watching the Sunday Night Football game and starting on the website I’m trying to finish tonight so that I can go to Mexico next weekend sans guilt.

Lately I’ve had a few very good, very honest talks lately. I love these talks. The ones where there are no stupid questions. Where voices stay calm, free of anger, resentment, and misunderstanding. Where complex thought and emotion meld into sincere conversation.

Despite the car accident, we went camping this weekend as planned before the Prius got a bad nose job. I’m glad we did; it cheered me up considerably once everyone stopped commiserating with me over the loss.

In all, 10 friends and 3 dogs camped on our friends’ family’s land. A little creek runs by a slew of campsites, so each tent has it’s own privacy but there’s also a big common area with a fire pit, tables, a volleyball net, horseshoes, a bbq, and an outhouse – yay for not shitting in the woods! The weather cooperated a bit and we were able to get our legs in the water, but we weren’t too excited about the prospect of freezing all night so we didn’t actually get wet wet.

The food was excellent – we had, in no particular order, blueberry pancakes, homemade chili, bacon & eggs ‘n potatoes ‘n onions hash,  roasted oranges, bratwurst, summer squash, corn on the cob, french toast, hummus, and s’mores (of course). The company was just as good – it was a very mellow experience but just what the doctor ordered. We have been so busy lately with the house remodeling that NOT doing was nice. Mostly we hung out by the fire, played horseshoes, threw stuff for the dogs to fetch, waded in the creek, and cooked…cooking takes a long time by open flame!

So, the wedding. Was. Fabulous. The vows they said were great, the ceremony (which Jen compiled/wrote) was awesome, and the reception was a blast. The food was wonderful, everyone looked great, and there was a karaoke band. And an open bar. More fun facts:

• The bridesmaids/groomsmen walked down the aisle at the end of the ceremony straight to the bar for their first drink.
• I karaoked “Take it Easy” by the Eagles.
• The cake topper was an action figure of Jonathan Papelbon (from the Red Sox) and a red-headed Phoenix girl action figure.
• Two little boys (6ish?) karaoked “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Mary had a Little Lamb.” A crowd gathered at the stage to sing and dance and cheer them on. Othewise they ran around without shirts on.  I don’t know why.
• All the bridesmaids wore stompers. They kept me warm all night. (see pics)
• One of the bridesmaids quickly ironed her dress in nothing but her stompers.
• It took 2-3 people to help Jen use the bathroom once in her dress.

We are at T minus zero days until Jen’s wedding. I’m sitting here in downtown Portland with absolutely beautiful hair by Nicole at Fada Salon. Pictures of the wedding to follow in the aftermath. Its just after 8am. At 10:30 my face is getting done and pictures to follow. Then wedding at 5pm. And then the real fun starts – the reception.

Actually, from the rehearsal dinner, the wedding sounds like its going to be very fun too. Not stuffy and boring and formal. I’m excited – I’m walking in to the ba Ba BAH! song from Kill Bill. How cool, right?!

More after the event…I have to go be pretty!

Ooog. Bachelorette party + St. Patrick’s Day = Too much alcohol.

Saturday was my friend’s (Jen) bachelorette party. We dressed up in ridiculous costumes…i.e. I wore bright orange fishnet stockings, a bright blue short skirt with a slit all the way up, a shorter orange-flowered sarong underneath, orange arm socks, a pale orange tanktop made out of that towel material, an orange lace-up vest, and a bright blue shawl with very colorful patterns on it. Tara wore a dragon costume (with a tail), two others had wigs and devil horns (one purple with white, one red with red), Suz wore a lobster hat, Ellen was all furry, and Jen’s sister wore a really revealing Alice in Wonderland costume. We got stared at. A LOT. But it was so fun…we went out drinking for several hours and then came home to a house party and potluck cooked by the boys. Also very fun and delicious. Waaaay delicious.

Monday, of course, was St. Patty’s Day. Everyone’s Irish on St. Patty’s Day, so we had Irish Car Bombs and Jameson Whiskey shots and plenty of them. The Irish aren’t light drinkers, you know. We also watched Boondock Saints and then Gangs of New York. But I drank far too much and slept far too little for work on Tuesday. I was pretty miserable until lunch. I’ve learned my lesson for now…