kitchen update . . .

so the kitchen is coming along nicely. here are some new pics of the work. the pass through has been completed and just needs trim and the drywall is up where the new cabinets will go. the contractor has run the wiring for the new lights and appliances. i can't believe how quickly so much has gotten done. the cabinets go in tomorrow and then it's gonna start looking real. they come to make the template for the counters on thursday am.



mac and i had a nice weekend. friday my office closed early for the easter holiday so i picked up my taxes and ran some errands. also got the good news that the girl who was interested in my car wanted to buy it. she'll be picking it up today. yay! that takes a weight off of me and puts some cash back in my bank account. phew! i ran by rei to use my dividend on travel stuff and then picked mac up at work for an ikea date. we got a few things for the house and then went home to make dinner. saturday i took her to work and then went home to get some work done on the office. i packed up my computer and spackled some holes in the wall so we can paint . . . or rather she can paint while i'm gone. saturday night we had a date to go see some roller derby. we ran into erock oslama and sat on the floor close to the action. was loads of fun but i'll definitely bring something to sit on next time! we went back to my place afterwards so she could see all the work that had been done and we took a soak in the hot tub. was nice to relax after a crazy week.

sunday am we had the opportunity to sleep in and then made breakfast at home before heading to my place to meet up with sarah to do more electrical work at my house. mac starting painting the trim in the bedroom and then we ran by the store to get munchies before hosting the girls for the last 3 episodes of the l word. last night was the season finale and we had a marathon viewing session. was fun. we finally fell into bed around 130a after cleaning up the kitchen and taking the dogs for a much-needed spin around the block.

woke up this morning rather anxious as the countdown is now down to a week to my departure. so much to do, so little time.

so today i'm thankful for . . . the good fortune i have with a great lover, good friends, and a bright future

weekend report . . .

was a quiet weekend overall but definitely productive. i made it through the first week at the new job and seem to be getting a handle on things so far. i know there's more to learn and i'm getting more thrown at me daily!

on friday after work, mac and i headed home to make dinner and watch a movie. i ended up falling asleep on the couch after a scrumptuous dinner of peanut chicken soup made by my lovely lady. mac had to work on saturday so i took some time to get some scheduling done for lacrosse. i think i'm almost done with the jv schedule and hope to get that out on wed. phew ... so ready for that to be done. we had plans for a date on saturday night and went to nostrana for dinner then over to crush for a cocktail. we had been debating a stop at gaycation over at holocene but the line was ridiculous so we skipped it in lieu of heading home to watch more of season 3 of weeds. i love that show and mac had never seen it so we got seasons 1 and 2 from netflix and got her all caught up. i think they must have changed writers this season because it's even funnier than before!

we had a lazy sunday morning and i decided i was going to try my hand at making gluten-free biscuits for breakfast. they turned out ok and i think i'll tweak the recipe next time to see if they'll rise more . . . although i think i might have had a hand in that since i opened the oven while they were baking. who knew you weren't supposed to do that? we were just getting motivated to leave the house when the hot water heater decided to start draining itself. after a visit from the plumber, the issue was resolved (just a valve needing to be replaced & not the whole water heater - phew!). we headed out to do some shopping at pier 1 and return some counter samples at home depot.

it was an l word night so we headed back to the house to get some food prepped before the girls came over. we watched 2 episodes and are finally caught back up. we decided that watching every week seemed like too much so we opted to host every other week and just watch 2 episodes back-to-back. seems to be working out and the crew is fun so we enjoy it.

now it's monday and i'm at the new job (blogging as i eat my lunch). am getting a new office mate today. she seems cool (as does everyone i work with so far) so we'll see how it all goes.

so today i'm grateful for . . . a nice quiet weekend that felt productive but still fun and a wonderful woman to share it with

life has been a bit out of hand lately . . .

so as i'm sure you've noticed, my daily postings about life and the happenings have come to a screeching halt. suffice it to say, life's been a bit crazy . . . in a good way though. i've been spending most of my free time with mac and have been having the time of my life.

we had a wonderful time in the willamette valley a few weekends ago visiting several wineries and having a romantic weekend away. the 2005 pinot noir release party at sokol blosser was outstanding. ended up buying a few bottles of 2005 estate cuvée pinot noir and yet another case of their 2006 rosé of pinot noir that is so highly drinkable. paid a visit to the torii mor winery and picked up a 2005 late harvest gewurtzraminer before stopping through at argyle to pick up their outstanding 2005 brut rosé to put up for a special occasion.

after all that fanciness, we decided that a down-home lunch was in order so we stopped in at huckabee's bbq right next door to argyle. they weren't quite open but i guess we looked cute enough that they let us in anyway. had a great tri-tip plate with some good collards and cornbread. we did a bit of shopping at the dapper frog and at dundee garden art (where i found really cool brass numbers for my house).

we kept on to mcminnville and checked into the hotel and had a lovely evening of strolling through town and lounging in each other's company. had a fantastic breakfast at the crescent cafe and did even more shopping at cowgirl mercantile (got the coolest shirts there!) before heading back to our *normal* lives. i honestly can't stress enough how good breakfast was ... no, really! i sat there over a plate of biscuits and pork gravy that had chunks (and i do mean chunks) of smoked ham hock and the hash browns were to die for. we'd started breakfast with mimosas made with argyle brut ... we were in wine country after all.

after a lovely dinner at home that night, we went back to the normalcy that is the work week. fortunately, it was a short week! we got the good news that mac had friday and saturday off so we planned a long weekend together. we'd invited some friends for thanksgiving dinner (yes, we made *all* the fixins) but they ended up getting hung up in seattle. despite that, we had a really nice quiet thanksgiving at my place. luckily we got the call early enough in the day that we could scale the menu & portions back enough to not have enough to feed an army!

friday was spent just hanging out and cruising the racks at the goodwill in beaverton. you'd be amazed at some of the shit you can find out there. i managed to walk out with 5 bags *stuffed* full of stuff and a crockpot! the find of the day was a leather trench coat for $40! it's beautiful and fits like a dream. that night we had leftovers and watched bring it on as mac had never seen it - and that's just not right in my book. saturday was a quiet day hanging around the house. suki had an eye appointment (they're still doing about the same as last year - best we can hope for at this point) and then we met mac's friends (who'd finally made it down from seattle) for dinner at green papaya for some thai food. they had the most beautiful 1yo little girl who was a blast to hang out with. we had plans to meet up with some friends for double down at holocene so we got there around 10p. we thought dj harmony was going to be on that night and were looking forward to it. turns out she couldn't make it and the dj they got to replace her wasn't what we were in the mood for so we headed home early.

sunday we met up with the seattle friends at their hotel (they were staying at the ace and it was very nice) for coffee and more hanging out with them and their cute baby girl. ended up hanging with them until 1ish and then dropped by powell's and buffalo exchange because we were in the 'hood. i met up with my friend cg for a wine tasting around 4 and then was off to the grocery store for supplies. made dinner and hit the hot tub to round out an amazing 4 day weekend together.

i have to say – it was probably one of the best of my life ... and the funny thing is that i said that the weekend before about our weekend away. bodes well as far as i can tell. ;-)

so today i'm thankful for . . . an amazing woman in my life and the great memories we're making together

i am the proud owner of a motorcycle license . . .

so this weekend was another crazy weekend. i spent the majority of it in a motorcycle safety class so i could get my endorsement on my license and be a *legal* motorcycle driver. turns out most people don't bother with getting their endorsements. i was the only person in my class of 12 that *hadn't* been riding illegally for quite some time. who knew?

spent fri night, saturday, and sunday in class and walked out with all the necessary credentials to go the dmv and get my license. was very cool. felt very comfortable by the end of the weekend and was able to go for my first ride on my precious new bike with mac on sunday afternoon. i can't even begin to describe how cool it is to ride a motorcycle . . . much less be able to share that experience with your lover while she's on her own bike. the first ride was cool. i felt like i'd been riding my bike for years. what an adrenaline rush to be on a bike.

went for a ride again after work yesterday. am trying to ride as much as possible before the bikes get put away for the winter and i have to spend a week in may remembering how to ride the damn thing! we're already planning some bike road trips ... bc here we come!

so today i'm thankful for . . . sharing experiences and creating new memories

tgif . . .

today i'm thankful that it's friday

has been a pretty emotionally-charged and stressful week both personally and professionally. took the opportunity to work from home today so i could be heads-down on my deliverable. have gotten lots done but still think i'll be working a bit on sunday to get it done before monday am. am gonna continue to pound away for a few more hours and then call it good for today ... my brain's about fried.

have a wine-tasting date with my friend c tonight. she's coming up to my 'hood and we're gonna try out every day wine. haven't been available on a sat night to meet her at vixens for a few weeks so we decided to try to sneak a friday night tasting in. am looking forward to it both for the company and for the fact that i'll be about 5 blocks from home. :-)

looking forward to another good weekend. the report will follow . . . .

continued minimal sleep . . .

so i had an amazing weekend . . . thursday after work a group of folks from work got together to celebrate a coworker's upcoming nuptuals. we had a great time at saucebox and then z and i hung out in the backyard for one more beer before he headed home. mac called later that evening and we had another great conversation. friday brought another after-work drinking engagement with the *ladies*. we are a crew of 8 that used to work together (some of us still do) and we try to get together regularly to catch back up. i managed to down 4 ginger martinis at silk before heading off to meet sweets, dk, and z for a design competition called cut & paste at the wonder ballroom. the design was amazing ... essentially, it was 15 minute rounds where the designers were working on machines that were being projected up on big screens so everyone in the venue could see their every move. was a very cool event. after some late night snacks at toro bravo, z & dk dropped me off around midnight.

saturday i had coffee plans with a friend (after 4 hrs of sleep) and then helped a friend move into her new place. after watching the dawgs win in overtime, i picked mac up at around 945p to go out. we met up with some friends of hers at a club then headed to holocene for double down. star was still there so i got to have one good last dance with her before she left. was fun. mac and i danced a bit and then sat and watched the crowd for a bit. had a nice time and headed home around 2a.

sunday i had coffee with star and got to say good-bye (she left on monday am). ended up helping my friend move more stuff and then spent a few hours in my studio drawing the plans for the revised outdoor cabinet. am starting to doubt that i'll be able to finish this thing before the rains come but i'm going to keep plugging away. problem is that i keep getting distracted from the task at hand.

so today i'm thankful for . . . new adventures and where they might take us