On Monday morning I drove to Portland and spent the afternoon and evening hanging out with my friend Holly (who was there from Alaska for a teaching conference).
It was a brief, but fun, trip. We spent an hour or so walking around along the river, then went to Powell's Books (the infamous and illustrious used & new bookstore that takes up a whole city block), got pizza, then went to the Salt and Straw for ice cream. We ordered a flight of olive oil, roasted strawberry & white chocolate, sea salt caramel, and woodblock chocolate ice creams. I actually wasn't all that impressed - it was definitely popular, but the ice cream wasn't that great. We couldn't figure out what the taste difference was, but I think it's more ice and less cream, or something like that. But still - where else can you order a "flight" of ice creams? They definitely are globbing onto the popularity of microbreweries with that move. Although, I don't think anybody else was ordering flights while we were there.
I spent the night in Portland, then got up at 5am to hit the road and made it home by quarter to 11 - one hour before I had to be at hq to catch a ride to some training that I'd agreed to do on my day off in exchange for several hours of comp time. It was a good training, but when I got home I decided that my busy weekend meant that I needed to take a night off from derby and mow my lawn and try to tidy up my house a bit instead.
Yesterday, I randomly decided that I needed to start getting up earlier and having more productive mornings. So I woke up at 5:30 and started off my day with a reading from my new devotional book (Jesus Calling - it was on sale at Powell's and Holly recommended it), followed by the usual workday prep, and because I didn't want to seem too settled I made a feminine pad from the fabric I'd purchased (on my way to Portland the day before - I washed it that morning and dried it before I got around to the making part). The simple pattern involves sewing both parts together, cutting a slit in each to flip them right-side-out, and then iron and sew them together. Super easy. I whipped it up real quick - just in time to wear it to work.
I think it turned out pretty well. Definitely comfy - and nicer than either of my last ones (the super thick ones that Tiffany had made me or the super small ones that didn't stay put that I had made last winter). Although I think when I make the next ones I'd like to modify the pattern to make the wings narrower. Also, I think I will try to make some thinner ones that don't have the separate middle section for ultra-lite days. We'll see.
Back at home today (I'm working the evening shift) I'm still trying to get into the groove of my earlier wake-up time. I got up at 5:30 and started off with a devotional reading again, then baked another chocolate buttermilk coconut pound cake - for the craft bazaar and baked goods sale at the Methodist Church today. I'll be heading over there this morning (after a brief trip to the water department to apologize for turning in my water bill a couple days late on account of all my travels). I spent some time in the garden this morning, watering my thirsty plants (I'm glad they haven't given up on me yet) and decided that it was time to do something about my ever-expanding tomato vines. Certainly it does me no good to have them spilling over onto my precious little carrot sprouts. I got out the trimmer and started lopping off any section that didn't have tomatoes growing on it already and was overly out of place. I did this with the roma, then went down to the cherry and discovered my first three ripe tomatoes!!! I ate one of them instantly - it split when I picked it, so it was definitely peak. But I managed to think a moment to take a picture before eating the other two:
These promptly popped into my mouth as soon as I was done taking the photo. :) My garden definitely has suffered from my busyness of late. My new goal this week is to get back into the earlier (although short-lived) habit of weeding a little bit every morning. I can barely differentiate my green bean plants from the dock weeds growing up around them. It's definitely time to harvest the seeds from the arugula and cilantro (and possibly the parsley) and cut any possible losses and just dig up those plants.
Anyway - it's time to get going - lots to take care of this morning! I was initially planning on staying for the luncheon at church, but I'm thinking now that I will just go and drop things off, then come back to the house and work on tidying up more. There are dishes to put away, counters to wipe down, a kitchen floor in desperate need of a good sweeping. Not to mention that I have to get ready for work, and possibly throw in stuff for derby, too, so that I can pop in and skate the 100 laps on my "lunch" break this evening.
This coming weekend, my plan is to stay home and get the house and garden under control, to relax, to treat myself a little bit, and to make sure I really do have all my ducks in a row before the next week begins. Hopefully this last weekend was my last bit of craziness for the rest of the summer.
Until next time!
