I suck at this.

This summer has been supremely weird. I've been here and there and had amazing guests and acquired a new dog and my mom and her husband are still here.

Being myself is quite difficult with an audience. No, that's not quite right, being myself with no personal time to regroup is not easy for me. That is a more accurate description of the situation. I am not a person who does well with no alone time. This is not a new revelation. I've understood this about myself for a long time. This fact actually can be helpful when I try to organize my time and determine what is really going on with me when I am feeling out of sorts. And that's probably the best way to put it. Having my parents here makes me feel out of sorts.

They are great house guests, helpful and easy to get along with, however the adage about old fish and guests....yeah, try three months and six days (Who's counting?). We are all tired of it. So much so that they have gone camping for the week to give me a break. I would feel guilty, but I need it so badly I could not actually protest when they informed me of their plans. So, it's me and the dogs. (Insert contented sigh here.)

Oh, and since I may be closer to myself this week, I may have the energy to post. Possibly even pictures of all the work we've done on the house.

a happy accident of birth

This beautiful woman turned 60 years old yesterday. She would hate this picture but I know she doesn't read this blog...I'm not entirely sure she knows what a blog is, so I won't take it personally. It really was a happy accident of the cosmos that made her my mother...this consciousness, me, her daughter. How lucky I am. She is remodeling my kitchen, driving me bat-shit crazy, and asks me questions like "Do you need a jacket?" before I leave for work.

I love her and can't wait for her to move out; I don't find those feeling the least bit contradictory.

Happy Birthday Mom!
Thank you, a thousand times for everything you've done to shape me and my life.
How lucky I am.

Rowena's Crest

Learning stuff is cool.

Realizing you understand enough to apply it is even cooler.


Last weekend, as a mother's day present, my mom, step-dad Steve and I went on a geologic tour of the Gorge. I know, right, you're completely jealous. It was put on by a local organization that offers all sorts of sciencey classes to teachers. This one started off with a mini-lesson in geology from a professor from the local community college; she was amazing, enthusiastic and excited. Made me want to run right out and sign up for Geology 101. It was a fun day. The weather was perfect, the assembled group friendly and chatty, and I learned all sorts of information about the various stops we made. This is the view from our last stop, just west of the Dalles, in that area where the terrain is transitioning from lush to high desert. I'd never been here before and the hike looked like it might be worth a return trip...especially in the spring because the wildflowers here were impressive.


I took about six photos of this delicate white flower hoping that one would turn out. (Again, I need a real camera.)But, this morning as I sat down to look up the name of whatever this was I was surprised to find that my guess, that it was part of the onion family, was correct. It's called a Fool's Onion... it looks like one but, according to the book doesn't look or smell like one.

How did that happen? When did I learn that?

I need a real camera

I had a beautifully composed photo in mind.

The contrast between the blue of the tiny broken robin's egg and the rust colored ledge on my side porch should have looked good. Alas, the depth of field was impossible to work with and this photo plays with. I am quite enamored of the weird tree-like kale at the right of this picture.

Either way, spring, although it took it's sweet time, is here. Yesterday was glorious, sunny and 70. I bought all sorts of beautiful plants yesterday, strawberries and heirloom tomatoes with exotic sounding names "Koralik" and "Cherokee Purple", Lily of the Valley, succulents, raspberry canes, and a tomatillo plant. They are sitting in a anxiously waiting huddle on my front porch, giving my Sunday a purpose. There was a garden fair in downtown Camas yesterday, it felt quaint and I ran into two neighbors and one of my favorite counselors...if that doesn't make one feel like part of a community then I don't know what does.

a post that's not about internet dating

I really want to write a long post about internet dating. But, I'm trying to determine if that falls into the TMI and don't post too much on the internet rule I only follow some of the time.

I do realize that having a blog at all, makes that seem just a tad bit hypocritcal.

But, internet dating, I'm conflicted about it in general and annoyed/exasperated that I attempt it at all. I sort of a hard time talking about the idea of it at all or about(gasp) my string of unsuccessful attempts.

The whole thing is rather exhausting, or maybe it's just that having my mom and step dad in my space zaps the creative energy out of me. But am teetering on the edge of annoyed, making a concerted effort to be nice. Maybe being nice and being creative cannot co-exist in my puny brain....how's that for a cop out explanation.

numbers game

Myself
2 parents
4 dogs

800 square feet on the ground floor where we all co-exist
300 square feet in my bedroom upstairs (my bit'o privacy)
400 square feet in the unfinished basement(where my parents have set up a room)

11 days since they got here
2 number of trips it took them to find a house (yellow, cute and strangely, made of cinder block)
1 days for negotiation of a contract on said house
36 days until the closing date of May 31st

2 hours I've had alone in my house since they got here
0 number of trips I've had to take to the grocery store since they got here
2 number of times I've had to cook dinner since they got here
5 number of hairballs I can see from where I'm sitting

and yet, strangely, it has been easier than I would have guessed. I hope it lasts. Wish me luck!

Spring flowers!

It's spring break, and my sister comes today to visit. Yay world!