Betsey and I watched "The International" last night. The movie spawned a couple of interesting conversations.
The first was about something we had both heard on NPR a little while ago, which is actually primarily about the ascendance of female characters in pop-franchises.
First, a little beef about the piece. In it, the author gives a pretty good description of the "conservative fantasy of romance". By pretty good, I mean, it would be easy to take the given description and derive a liberal fantasy of romance. The author also throws out the phrase "liberal fantasy of perfect justice". I'm a little lost here because I can't really derive, from the descriptions given in the editorial, what makes a fantasy of perfect justice liberal or conservative. I can think of many things that could differentiate liberal and conservative justice, including sentencing, but it seems the author would like to associate vigilantism with liberal, which irks me, because vigilantism may in fact be a "dark side of [...] righteousness", but I think it can affect both sides equally.
What the editorial was good for was reopening my eyes to the concept of perfect justice as a theme in media, and vigilantism as a method of achieving it. "The International" subscribes to this method, and Betsey and I had the opportunity to discuss our thoughts on the matter. Thanks pause button!
At the end of the movie, I also started thinking about another topic of interest to me: The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies. Maybe having a daughter has brought this back to the forefront of my mind, but I couldn't stop considering it at a particular point in the movie. I'd have to watch the movie again to be sure, but I think "The International" fails the test.
So, after instantly streaming the movie via Netflix, I decided to rate it. The movie was entertaining, and I could probably watch it again sometime, but the ending was less than satisfying since they left it wide open for a potential sequel, and I had these nagging thoughts about glorifying vigilantism and the Bechdel Test going through my head. "The International" received my first lower than 3 star rating - 2 stars (I didn't like it). Is that fair? I don't know. It was entertaining, I'd watch it again, some of my favorite movies have some of the same flaws, but the ending was so dissatisfying that I'm going to let that rating stick.
2010-07-22
2010-07-08
Pam to the rescue
June 21st
I guess all the resting that Grace did on Sunday was bound to catch up with us, and it did Sunday night. It was a rough night and as a result, I ended up sleeping in and going to work late. Going in late equates to coming home late.
I've been really thankful that the daylight hours have been more plentiful, and this was the most daylight in 24 hours the year was going to see. Ideally, of course, I'd not work at all on such a glorious day. I'd probably travel to Seattle for the parade. Maybe next year. In any case, since I did have to work late, it was nice to not come home in the dark.
Upon arriving home, it was pretty apparent that Grace had an upset stomach.
June 22nd
An upset stomach rolled us into Tuesday much the same way that we came into Monday. I went to work late; I came home late. Coming home had one significant difference though, our family friend Pam had come down to watch Grace and give us a date and a good night sleep.
So we dated! We went down to the water front and checked out some restaurant menus before settling on our old friend Cloud 9. We split some quail kabobs, a spicy burger, and some stuffed mushrooms. It was delicious. Getting to spend time alone on a date with Betsey was fantastic. Pam had given us the rule that we couldn't talk about Grace, and while we skirted talking about her, we were largely successful in following the rule. Feeling reconnected, we paid for our bill and went out to walk the waterfront. The previously mentioned long nights of this time of year made for the perfect night.
After a little while, we found ourselves drifting over to our favorite gelato shop Francesco's. We took our gelato to go and continued our river front walk while racing to beat the heat's assault on our dessert.
As the sun started to set, we headed home. Pam welcomed us back and sent us right to bed. Sleep! We did. Alone. With the lights out. It was fantastic: almost as fantastic as Pam.
I guess all the resting that Grace did on Sunday was bound to catch up with us, and it did Sunday night. It was a rough night and as a result, I ended up sleeping in and going to work late. Going in late equates to coming home late.
I've been really thankful that the daylight hours have been more plentiful, and this was the most daylight in 24 hours the year was going to see. Ideally, of course, I'd not work at all on such a glorious day. I'd probably travel to Seattle for the parade. Maybe next year. In any case, since I did have to work late, it was nice to not come home in the dark.
Upon arriving home, it was pretty apparent that Grace had an upset stomach.
June 22nd
An upset stomach rolled us into Tuesday much the same way that we came into Monday. I went to work late; I came home late. Coming home had one significant difference though, our family friend Pam had come down to watch Grace and give us a date and a good night sleep.
So we dated! We went down to the water front and checked out some restaurant menus before settling on our old friend Cloud 9. We split some quail kabobs, a spicy burger, and some stuffed mushrooms. It was delicious. Getting to spend time alone on a date with Betsey was fantastic. Pam had given us the rule that we couldn't talk about Grace, and while we skirted talking about her, we were largely successful in following the rule. Feeling reconnected, we paid for our bill and went out to walk the waterfront. The previously mentioned long nights of this time of year made for the perfect night.
After a little while, we found ourselves drifting over to our favorite gelato shop Francesco's. We took our gelato to go and continued our river front walk while racing to beat the heat's assault on our dessert.
As the sun started to set, we headed home. Pam welcomed us back and sent us right to bed. Sleep! We did. Alone. With the lights out. It was fantastic: almost as fantastic as Pam.
A Great Dad's Weekend
June 19th
Saturday morning I woke up a little early. I had to get ready for the World Cup. Grace, Nick, and I were going to watch it at Corvallis Sports Park, or more specifically, the Upper Deck Pub located above and around the indoor soccer facilities there.
So I readied Grace and myself, and I called Nick. No answer. I waited. I called Nick. No answer. Well, I wasn't going to pack Grace to the pub without support. As a last ditch effort, I called Anne-Marie. Success. Yes Nick is there. Yes he'll get out of bed and be ready.
Grace and I snapped and buckled into the car and took off. Nick was on the way to the pub, so we managed to get there shortly after the starting whistle.
Watching the game with Nick was great. It was a game nobody really cared about, so the pub was basically empty, and it was quite easy to keep Grace happy. What was harder, was finding a way to hold Grace, when she was awake, where she couldn't see one of the many large and compelling TV screens, but we managed.
After the game, Grace and I dropped Nick at Anne-Marie's and went to get Betsey. The next stop for the day was the Corvallis Saturday Market. At the market we bought some kettle corn to eat for breakfast, listened to some blues, and bought strawberries for dinner's dessert. Grace kept it real by sleeping in the Baby Bjorn.
After getting home, we relaxed for the rest of the day. Grace, especially, took that task to hand.
June 20th
Father's Day... apparently. We didn't realize it until the Saturday, so it was not something we'd really prepared for. Separately, we'd made plans to meet with our friends Jeanette and Annmarie and their kiddos. It occurred to us that our Sunday morning brunch plans may have just become a little more crowded, given we were sans reservation. We pressed on undaunted. We did end up waiting in line for a very short period of time, but the kiddos seemed to handle it pretty well.
Brunch was at the Broken Yolk restaurant downtown. It's a kid friendly location with free wi-fi. The food was standard breakfast fare, but Betsey seemed to think the sausage links were above average. The restaurant makes their jams in-house, which I think is cool. I asked for a jam that didn't contain corn-syrup and they looked at me like I was crazy. Uncool!
During brunch, each of the three children managed to have some sort of melt-down. The staff had cleverly seated us at the back near the rear exit and restrooms, so it was easy for us to step outside with a screaming child, or make any necessary diaper changes. I found it a little odd that it is now perfectly acceptable for me to walk into the same single person restroom with my wife and child, but didn't let that stop me from helping with the diaper change.
At the end of brunch, I was especially touched when our friends covered the entire bill. They said it was a father's day gift to me. I gave big hugs all around and felt pretty special. Unexpected gifts make for great presents, but the greatest gift at that moment was having amazing friends. We're really looking forward to our next get-together.
The rest of the day was very relaxing. At night we finished off the Saturday Market strawberries in some delicious ice cream. A perfect end to a great Dad's Weekend.
Saturday morning I woke up a little early. I had to get ready for the World Cup. Grace, Nick, and I were going to watch it at Corvallis Sports Park, or more specifically, the Upper Deck Pub located above and around the indoor soccer facilities there.
So I readied Grace and myself, and I called Nick. No answer. I waited. I called Nick. No answer. Well, I wasn't going to pack Grace to the pub without support. As a last ditch effort, I called Anne-Marie. Success. Yes Nick is there. Yes he'll get out of bed and be ready.
Grace and I snapped and buckled into the car and took off. Nick was on the way to the pub, so we managed to get there shortly after the starting whistle.
Watching the game with Nick was great. It was a game nobody really cared about, so the pub was basically empty, and it was quite easy to keep Grace happy. What was harder, was finding a way to hold Grace, when she was awake, where she couldn't see one of the many large and compelling TV screens, but we managed.
After the game, Grace and I dropped Nick at Anne-Marie's and went to get Betsey. The next stop for the day was the Corvallis Saturday Market. At the market we bought some kettle corn to eat for breakfast, listened to some blues, and bought strawberries for dinner's dessert. Grace kept it real by sleeping in the Baby Bjorn.
After getting home, we relaxed for the rest of the day. Grace, especially, took that task to hand.
June 20th
Father's Day... apparently. We didn't realize it until the Saturday, so it was not something we'd really prepared for. Separately, we'd made plans to meet with our friends Jeanette and Annmarie and their kiddos. It occurred to us that our Sunday morning brunch plans may have just become a little more crowded, given we were sans reservation. We pressed on undaunted. We did end up waiting in line for a very short period of time, but the kiddos seemed to handle it pretty well.
Brunch was at the Broken Yolk restaurant downtown. It's a kid friendly location with free wi-fi. The food was standard breakfast fare, but Betsey seemed to think the sausage links were above average. The restaurant makes their jams in-house, which I think is cool. I asked for a jam that didn't contain corn-syrup and they looked at me like I was crazy. Uncool!
During brunch, each of the three children managed to have some sort of melt-down. The staff had cleverly seated us at the back near the rear exit and restrooms, so it was easy for us to step outside with a screaming child, or make any necessary diaper changes. I found it a little odd that it is now perfectly acceptable for me to walk into the same single person restroom with my wife and child, but didn't let that stop me from helping with the diaper change.
At the end of brunch, I was especially touched when our friends covered the entire bill. They said it was a father's day gift to me. I gave big hugs all around and felt pretty special. Unexpected gifts make for great presents, but the greatest gift at that moment was having amazing friends. We're really looking forward to our next get-together.
The rest of the day was very relaxing. At night we finished off the Saturday Market strawberries in some delicious ice cream. A perfect end to a great Dad's Weekend.
2010-07-05
Check your work
June 18th
Summer hadn't quite arrived yet, and mother nature decided to remind us of that fact. Having just had the AC installed at the house, I woke up surprised to find that I wanted the heat on. I went over to the thermostat and slid the mode select over to heat, the heater started clicking like normal, everything went blank on the display, and the heater shut down.
Uh...
So, I stayed home and called Rice Heating the second they turned their phones on. I know this because I dialed and got the answering service, and then I hung up and immediately redialed and got a drowsy employee.
I apologized for starting her day off this way, but explained what had happened. She said they'd have a technician out in an hour.
Fifty five minutes later, our technician arrived. Betsey knows the technician pretty well, because the way Rice Heating works is that they assign a technician to each house, and that person is the person you always see. We've had our heater serviced twice since we bought the house (normal maintenance) and he was in charge of the AC install. The technician did his job and found the problem very quickly. The AC installer had left a wire in the heater touching ground, which had shorted the system and blown a fuse. A simple fix, but I'm glad we found it now instead of that first cold day in Fall. The technician rolled his eyes and mentioned that he was going to have to start double checking the other guy's work from now on.
We stood around a couple minutes and chatted about babies, since the technician had just had one of his own. I really like the small town feel of dealing with companies in Corvallis. The folks at Rice, especially, have treated us well, and we feel like we have a good relationship with the company.
The heater incident made me late for work, but it was nice to get to blame something besides Grace for once.
Before I left, Grace treated me to some cuteness.
Summer hadn't quite arrived yet, and mother nature decided to remind us of that fact. Having just had the AC installed at the house, I woke up surprised to find that I wanted the heat on. I went over to the thermostat and slid the mode select over to heat, the heater started clicking like normal, everything went blank on the display, and the heater shut down.
Uh...
So, I stayed home and called Rice Heating the second they turned their phones on. I know this because I dialed and got the answering service, and then I hung up and immediately redialed and got a drowsy employee.
I apologized for starting her day off this way, but explained what had happened. She said they'd have a technician out in an hour.
Fifty five minutes later, our technician arrived. Betsey knows the technician pretty well, because the way Rice Heating works is that they assign a technician to each house, and that person is the person you always see. We've had our heater serviced twice since we bought the house (normal maintenance) and he was in charge of the AC install. The technician did his job and found the problem very quickly. The AC installer had left a wire in the heater touching ground, which had shorted the system and blown a fuse. A simple fix, but I'm glad we found it now instead of that first cold day in Fall. The technician rolled his eyes and mentioned that he was going to have to start double checking the other guy's work from now on.
We stood around a couple minutes and chatted about babies, since the technician had just had one of his own. I really like the small town feel of dealing with companies in Corvallis. The folks at Rice, especially, have treated us well, and we feel like we have a good relationship with the company.
The heater incident made me late for work, but it was nice to get to blame something besides Grace for once.
Before I left, Grace treated me to some cuteness.
Sailing away from sailing
June 17th
At 6 weeks, I attempted to go sailing again. I had a blast, but it was clear that it was too soon for me to be off having that much fun and leaving Betsey at home. It's not so much that Betsey begrudges me going out and having a good time, but sailing truly requires a lot of time. With a soccer game, I'm out of the house for maybe two and a half hours tops, if we have drinks. With sailing, I'm gone for about 4 hours of the day, and I'm nowhere near the house in case of emergency. It just doesn't feel right.
The skipper has been really understanding about this. He's lost a lot of crew to babies, and he fully expects that I'll just stop showing up. He has even found a replacement for me and has started training her. It's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy though. He's made it too easy for me to not sail. I feel no guilt now that I know I'm not letting the crew down. The only thing I feel is longing. I miss the crew, the boat, the water, and the competition.
I came home before going sailing to find some snoozing girls looking adorable.
We had a good day on the water.
At 6 weeks, I attempted to go sailing again. I had a blast, but it was clear that it was too soon for me to be off having that much fun and leaving Betsey at home. It's not so much that Betsey begrudges me going out and having a good time, but sailing truly requires a lot of time. With a soccer game, I'm out of the house for maybe two and a half hours tops, if we have drinks. With sailing, I'm gone for about 4 hours of the day, and I'm nowhere near the house in case of emergency. It just doesn't feel right.
The skipper has been really understanding about this. He's lost a lot of crew to babies, and he fully expects that I'll just stop showing up. He has even found a replacement for me and has started training her. It's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy though. He's made it too easy for me to not sail. I feel no guilt now that I know I'm not letting the crew down. The only thing I feel is longing. I miss the crew, the boat, the water, and the competition.
I came home before going sailing to find some snoozing girls looking adorable.
We had a good day on the water.
Double the fun
June 16th
It had been over 6 weeks since Grace was born, and the time for Betsey's checkup was at hand. Chrystal came over to watch the girl, since I had to go to work. According to the doctor, everything was fine, which is what we expected.
We received word that day that Betsey's folks were both feeling a bit under the weather. Having just been up there with Grace, they wanted us to know. It immediately explained Betsey's muscle aches which she'd been having for about a day. Grace and I seemed entirely unaffected. We sent word to the Dausman's that we may have infected their household. We felt like awful friends, but there was really no reason to think we'd be sick when we went to visit.
When I came home, Chrystal swung around again to just socialize instead of being used. It was nice to sit and catch up a bit. It was also nice that she didn't seem to mind the threat of getting sick, such is the power of the draw of spending time with her niece.
It had been over 6 weeks since Grace was born, and the time for Betsey's checkup was at hand. Chrystal came over to watch the girl, since I had to go to work. According to the doctor, everything was fine, which is what we expected.
We received word that day that Betsey's folks were both feeling a bit under the weather. Having just been up there with Grace, they wanted us to know. It immediately explained Betsey's muscle aches which she'd been having for about a day. Grace and I seemed entirely unaffected. We sent word to the Dausman's that we may have infected their household. We felt like awful friends, but there was really no reason to think we'd be sick when we went to visit.
When I came home, Chrystal swung around again to just socialize instead of being used. It was nice to sit and catch up a bit. It was also nice that she didn't seem to mind the threat of getting sick, such is the power of the draw of spending time with her niece.
2010-07-04
Work Work
June 14th & 15th
Honestly, Monday and Tuesday went by with basically nothing to report. I stayed home a bit in the mornings to help with Grace. I came home late. We went to bed with varying degrees of success with keeping our girl down for the night.
Here's some pictures of the girl from those days:
Honestly, Monday and Tuesday went by with basically nothing to report. I stayed home a bit in the mornings to help with Grace. I came home late. We went to bed with varying degrees of success with keeping our girl down for the night.
Here's some pictures of the girl from those days:
Plans? We can make 'em or leave 'em.
June 13th
After such a full day, we slept in. We had no plans, and we liked it that way. Eventually we packed up the car for the ride home. Being in Portland, there were a few people we had yet to see, most importantly the Dausmans.
The Dausmans had been due the week after us, but with Grace being a week early, and their daughter D being a week late, their little girl was just approaching a month old. We gave them a ring from the Mathew's driveway to see if they could entertain guests on our way out of town. They could, so we made plans, and we liked it that way too.
Little miss D and our miss Grace were basically blobs the entire time they were in the sight of each other. They were both remarkably cute and remarkably different at the same time. Miss D is from long stock, whereas our Grace is from short stock. Miss D clearly had inches on Grace despite Grace's one week, by conception, advantage. The Dausmans seemed to think Grace was pretty cute, but of course, they only have eyes for one little girl right now.
The drive home from the Dausman's was uneventful, and we got ready for the work week to begin.
After such a full day, we slept in. We had no plans, and we liked it that way. Eventually we packed up the car for the ride home. Being in Portland, there were a few people we had yet to see, most importantly the Dausmans.
The Dausmans had been due the week after us, but with Grace being a week early, and their daughter D being a week late, their little girl was just approaching a month old. We gave them a ring from the Mathew's driveway to see if they could entertain guests on our way out of town. They could, so we made plans, and we liked it that way too.
Little miss D and our miss Grace were basically blobs the entire time they were in the sight of each other. They were both remarkably cute and remarkably different at the same time. Miss D is from long stock, whereas our Grace is from short stock. Miss D clearly had inches on Grace despite Grace's one week, by conception, advantage. The Dausmans seemed to think Grace was pretty cute, but of course, they only have eyes for one little girl right now.
The drive home from the Dausman's was uneventful, and we got ready for the work week to begin.
US vs. England
June 11th
Friday was a standard day with me coming home a bit late. My parents came up to stay with us. They were going to Chrystal's graduation the next day. Chrystal came over to say hello and finalize plans, and then we all headed to bed. It was after mid-night, and we all had a lot to do the next day.
June 12th
First thing in the morning I woke up, woke my parents up, and the three of us got ready. I needed to run them to campus a couple hours before the graduation actually started. Mum and Dad had come up the previous night to avoid any traffic rush into Corvallis, and now we were attempting to avoid any traffic rush to campus. Additionally, Betsey and I needed to leave town fairly early to get to Portland. I dropped Mum and Dad off in the hall of flags in the MU, and headed back to the house.
While on campus, Betsey and Grace had been getting ready to depart, and I found them ready to go on my return. We packed up the car, and started the long drive north.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Portland, the day of the Rose Parade, and, more importantly, the World Cup game of the US vs. England. We stopped at OMSI to rendezvous with Jay. Jay hadn't met Grace yet. They seemed to get along from the first moment.
After some short oohs and ahhs, Jay and I departed to Ladd's Addition to meet up with his buddies, and Betsey drove Grace over to Grandma and Grandad's. Jay has some really great friends, and it was nice to meet some new quality people. We all had mimosas before walking to Director's Square.
The walk to Director's Square was great. With the Rose Festival going on, there was so much to see. Going over the bridge, we watched a dragon boat race. The carnival was in full swing on the river front, and the streets were full of people preparing to watch the parade.
When we arrived at Director's Square, it was packed, but we managed to squeeze into a pretty decent spot to watch the first half. Shortly before half time, Jay and I ran to Elephant's to grab a quick bite and some beer. We decided to eat and drink in the outdoor seating located directly behind the big screen TV that was displaying the game. As we ate and drank on the street, the first half ended and it was time for the unveiling of the Timbers's MLS logo.
The unveiling of the MLS logo was another draw to this event, and we had been quite excited about it. The night before, however, Jay had been at Joe's looking for some paraphernalia to wear to the game, when he spotted that the employees had already put out the new Timbers Jerseys. He snapped a picture on his cell phone before telling the employees they'd made a mistake. Needless to say, we'd all been pretty well informed about what the new logo was going to look all morning, and weren't to excited or surprised by the time the giant display was unveiled.
As a group, we decided to spend half-time at one of Jay's friend's work. Jive is a pretty sweet software company with offices in downtown Portland. Upon arriving, I could only stare with jealousy at the break room full of all you can eat goodies, free drinks, and free draught beer. My employer is great, but very conservative, and these kind of extravagances would never go over there. Once we'd all filled up on free food and poured ourselves some beer, we headed to the roof top to watch the parade.
As the end of half time approached, we realized that the company break room had a lot going for it:
1) Free Beer
2) Large HD TV
3) Free Snacks
4) Temperature Control
5) No Crowd
We stayed. The US beat England. It was great.
The walk back to Ladd's addition was pretty great. Everyone had enjoyed the free beer to the best of their abilities, and in fact, some had found coffee cups to put more in so that they could keep going on the way back. It seemed, almost everyone in the city was in a good mood, but then, nobody in the group was probably judging that particularly well.
Jay's parents met him in Ladd's to go for a hike, and Jay offered to drop me off at the Mathew's house. I gratefully accepted, and soon found myself lying on the front lawn with my beautiful wife and baby. A fantastic day.
With all my gallivanting complete, it was time for Betsey to have some fun. I drove her down to the Hilton in downtown for a Sushi Birthday party for her friend Jessica. We took Grace for the opportunity to meet more people, but only one additional person decided to show up on time. After waiting around for a little while, Grace and I took off.
Back at the Mathew's, another birthday party was getting started. This one was for our family friend Cathy. Mike, Cathy, David, Marg, Lucy, and Chris welcomed me (and Grace) to the party and we enjoyed good food and fun stories well into the night.
At some point around 11, Betsey called for a pick up. Once we were all home, we settled down for a nice night.
Friday was a standard day with me coming home a bit late. My parents came up to stay with us. They were going to Chrystal's graduation the next day. Chrystal came over to say hello and finalize plans, and then we all headed to bed. It was after mid-night, and we all had a lot to do the next day.
June 12th
First thing in the morning I woke up, woke my parents up, and the three of us got ready. I needed to run them to campus a couple hours before the graduation actually started. Mum and Dad had come up the previous night to avoid any traffic rush into Corvallis, and now we were attempting to avoid any traffic rush to campus. Additionally, Betsey and I needed to leave town fairly early to get to Portland. I dropped Mum and Dad off in the hall of flags in the MU, and headed back to the house.
While on campus, Betsey and Grace had been getting ready to depart, and I found them ready to go on my return. We packed up the car, and started the long drive north.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Portland, the day of the Rose Parade, and, more importantly, the World Cup game of the US vs. England. We stopped at OMSI to rendezvous with Jay. Jay hadn't met Grace yet. They seemed to get along from the first moment.
After some short oohs and ahhs, Jay and I departed to Ladd's Addition to meet up with his buddies, and Betsey drove Grace over to Grandma and Grandad's. Jay has some really great friends, and it was nice to meet some new quality people. We all had mimosas before walking to Director's Square.
The walk to Director's Square was great. With the Rose Festival going on, there was so much to see. Going over the bridge, we watched a dragon boat race. The carnival was in full swing on the river front, and the streets were full of people preparing to watch the parade.
When we arrived at Director's Square, it was packed, but we managed to squeeze into a pretty decent spot to watch the first half. Shortly before half time, Jay and I ran to Elephant's to grab a quick bite and some beer. We decided to eat and drink in the outdoor seating located directly behind the big screen TV that was displaying the game. As we ate and drank on the street, the first half ended and it was time for the unveiling of the Timbers's MLS logo.
The unveiling of the MLS logo was another draw to this event, and we had been quite excited about it. The night before, however, Jay had been at Joe's looking for some paraphernalia to wear to the game, when he spotted that the employees had already put out the new Timbers Jerseys. He snapped a picture on his cell phone before telling the employees they'd made a mistake. Needless to say, we'd all been pretty well informed about what the new logo was going to look all morning, and weren't to excited or surprised by the time the giant display was unveiled.
As a group, we decided to spend half-time at one of Jay's friend's work. Jive is a pretty sweet software company with offices in downtown Portland. Upon arriving, I could only stare with jealousy at the break room full of all you can eat goodies, free drinks, and free draught beer. My employer is great, but very conservative, and these kind of extravagances would never go over there. Once we'd all filled up on free food and poured ourselves some beer, we headed to the roof top to watch the parade.
As the end of half time approached, we realized that the company break room had a lot going for it:
1) Free Beer
2) Large HD TV
3) Free Snacks
4) Temperature Control
5) No Crowd
We stayed. The US beat England. It was great.
The walk back to Ladd's addition was pretty great. Everyone had enjoyed the free beer to the best of their abilities, and in fact, some had found coffee cups to put more in so that they could keep going on the way back. It seemed, almost everyone in the city was in a good mood, but then, nobody in the group was probably judging that particularly well.
Jay's parents met him in Ladd's to go for a hike, and Jay offered to drop me off at the Mathew's house. I gratefully accepted, and soon found myself lying on the front lawn with my beautiful wife and baby. A fantastic day.
With all my gallivanting complete, it was time for Betsey to have some fun. I drove her down to the Hilton in downtown for a Sushi Birthday party for her friend Jessica. We took Grace for the opportunity to meet more people, but only one additional person decided to show up on time. After waiting around for a little while, Grace and I took off.
Back at the Mathew's, another birthday party was getting started. This one was for our family friend Cathy. Mike, Cathy, David, Marg, Lucy, and Chris welcomed me (and Grace) to the party and we enjoyed good food and fun stories well into the night.
At some point around 11, Betsey called for a pick up. Once we were all home, we settled down for a nice night.
2010-07-03
Send me Links!
Why don't you send me links?
Grace and I stuck at home, watching 700 club. What do you think is going to happen to us?
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