weekend log

Friday I gave Cory a ride home and went for a run. Erik & I picked up Josh & Tiffany, and we ate dinner at Por Que No on N Mississippi before going to the Architecture in Helsinki show at the Wonder Ballroom. I ran into the superheroishly named A. Storm, my replacement at my previous job. He was light and humorous, everything one could hope for in running into someone from previous employment that didn't end well. The show was great, and with Tiffany's enthusiastic encouragement, we danced the whole time. The opener was even enjoyable-- an 80s throwback trio of two interpretive dancers and a singer who are probably way too young to remember much of that decade.

Saturday we rose from the bed like zombies to the klaxon alarm at 4:45am. We left the house just barely before 5:30am, at which time Julie had convinced us to be in Tigard for the Festival of Balloons for the first launch. The balloons didn't go up as scheduled due to weather (even the slightest breeze can push them off course) but they were all set up and inflated in order to dry out from the previous day. It was like a visceral dream from childhood to wander among them, watching the bright colors unfold and grow, shapes the wrong size in the early morning.

As we stood around between the floating behemoths an announcement was made that one of the balloons would be giving tethered rides. We happened to be standing next to it, and so we signed up-- the first ones in line.

My next morning task was to replace my lost drivers license at the DMV express in Lloyd Center. It went pretty well, although my photo reflects my comatose state unlike my previous photo, which showed my joy at moving to Oregon.

I gardened for a while, and then met up with John for two short waterfall hikes in the Columbia Gorge. The first one, Wahclella, I had done before and the second, Elowah, got too rainy, windy and muddy so we didn't get too close to the falls.

Julie came over and we went for a pedicure business meeting. Yes, that was my idea. Afterwards we walked around Hawthorne a bit and got tea & books at Powells. Later, we got takeout from Saigon Kitchen and I sure as hell can't remember where the rest of the evening went.

Sunday morning my usual running crew met earlier than usual due to special request by the two sadist earlybirds among us. We ran 14 miles-- my first long run in a month since I'd been gone the past three weekends in a row. I met Ted and two of his coworker friends for "breakfast" at Paradox; they had gone out on the BarFly bus the night before and were fun of good stories from it. Julie came over and we worked in the garden and went to the thriftstore, where I picked up more glass for my vertical garden sculpture. Erik and I went over to his parents' house for dinner, and then I went out with Shetha to take photos of public fountains downtown. The Salmon Street Springs was top on her list, and we were excited to see that it was on as we drove up. After parking and walking over, it had turned off, but we still managed to see a few interesting things.

Just writing this has exhausted me all over again. Yesterday was the first "brick" of the season with the Luna Chix-- a bike and immediate run workout. I got home late and spent some time watering garden beds and picking raspberries. Hoping to find peace.