Tap tap tap... is this thing on?

Wellllllll, lookie here. I still have a blog! Hey, it hasn't been a full year since I've posted, so don't give me too much grief. It seems like a lot should have happened since I last posted. Let's do a really high-level recap and see whether or not that's true.

1. I've turned into a total nerd by participating with Marc in Star Wars costuming. Check out the Cloud City Garrison. Or, if you and I are friends on Facebook (which we probably are because I'm not funny enough to attract total strangers like Allie at Hyperbole and a Half or Matthew at The Oatmeal), you've already seen plenty of this there and aren't impressed with this update so far.
2. I visited my brother and sister-in-law and their kids in Alabama last November. Awesome fun time. The only bad parts were that Marc didn't go with me and the effers at National Rental Car stole my practically new cell phone when I accidentally left it in the car upon returning it, even though I realized and was back to claim it within 12 minutes--literally. The manager strung me along for an hour "looking for it" and lying to me about whether he'd actually spoken to his employees before I gave up and had to go to catch my flight. Never, ever will I give them a penny of my money again. On a complete tangent from that--have any of you ever boycotted a business based on how their employees drive company vehicles around town? Because I do. Let me know if I'm alone in this.
3. Expanding on #1, Marc and I were in a Star Wars-themed short movie this winter. It was an interesting experience. The main star in the film was an actor from Heroes. You can check it out here.
4. In April I flew out to Mississauga, Ontario (a 'burb of Toronto) to help with a big software rollout for the Sage office there. They were ultimately prepared, and I didn't have much of a purpose there other than moral support, but it was cool to visit a new city and meet coworkers.
5. In June Marc and I spent a week on Vancouver Island--a couple days in Victoria with Rick and Hayley and then a few days up in Tofino with Paul and Lisa. Awesome hosts, awesome time. Very chill. And I learned how to surf (in very frigid water, I must add).
6. Summer never happened here in Portland (other than a week or so of insanely hot weather), so camping season kinda sucked. We went a couple times, and we did go river rafting again, so that was good, but that was also about it. That's especially sucky since I took every Monday in July and August off to make for some good camping weekends. Oh well.
7. A few weeks ago we decided that house loan rates are so stupid low right now that we'd be stupid to not try to sell our house and move into something bigger for a couple dollars more per month. Unfortunately we've done things a little backward by finding the house we want to buy and making a (contingent) offer on it before we've sold our own house. Also unfortunate is our complete dislike of cleaning the house every other day for showings. Cross your fingers that someone will buy ours soon so we can finalize the deal on the one we want to buy.
8. Somewhere along the way we sold our third car since it spent way more time in the garage than it ever spent being driven, and the Civic lease ran up, so we bought a diesel Jetta. Love that car. Really love the mileage. Really really love the shade of blue that it's painted.
9. Last but not least (for now anyway, until I facepalm myself later for forgetting something significant), we've made some progress lately with letting Manga out of the bedroom to mingle around the house and with the other cats. She's less growly and exploring more each day. There are a few bad days, like when there's a battle royale like the one that broke out today (though I missed it while I was at work). I'm just looking forward to a night in a bed that's not half taken up by a cat.
10. There is one other thing, but it needs to wait another day or two. Oooohhh the suspense. (No, I'm not pregnant. Seriously, I'm not. Just to prove it, I'm drinking a vodka cranberry right this minute.)

Until we meet again... and I promise it won't be 11 months from now.

PNWX 10 Year Anniversary Run

It was a great day to be up at Hood on Saturday. PNWX had its first trail run about this time 10 years ago on Barlow Road, so that's where we went again. Good times. And though it was a little chilly, the sun was out, and the trees were changing color.

Steak-umm revisited

Evidently the current economic state of America is perfect breeding ground for products like Steam-umm. I swear, I thought I had blogged about them and their ridiculous slogan about sticking steak in your mouth. Now I can't find that. I've search for "steak-umm," "steak-umms," "steak," and "mouth" and can't find it. Bah. Anyway. Folks, that wonderful goodness is back. Did you know that Steak-umm is "America's favorite sliced steak"?

Really? You didn't know?

I'd like to argue that. Though I have not tasted Steak-umm before, I can pretty much guarantee that some flank steak grilled and sliced up by our friends Chris and Slimey is far superior to anything bought in a box with Steak-umm printed on it. So maybe they mean that Steak-umm is America's favorite mass-produced, sold in a box at the grocery store sliced steak. I think Steam-umm is America's only mass-produced, sold in a box at the grocery store sliced steak. And in that case, is it really fair to say it's America's favorite? Can we have a favorite when there are no competitors? Or are there competitors that I just don't know about? I'm fine with keeping it that way, really.

Slow - Cat Crossing

There's a house in our neighborhood that I drive by every day to and from work. A couple weeks ago they started putting ones of those "Slow down for kids" signs at the end of their driveway. Like this one. It annoyed me. If you know me, you know I'm not much of a kid person. I like other people's kids--especially when they're cute and sweet--but in general kids aren't really my thing. This house happens to be on a short road where you can't build up much speed. It's also right by a park where there are always cars parked and people milling around. This isn't a high-speed possible part of the neighborhood, so that sign was annoying. Of course I'm going slow. Of course I'm watching for kids. They're everywhere, Captain Obvious.

A few days later, my entire attitude toward that sign changed. Why? Because they modified it by writing "Cat X-ing" on it in black marker. Slow down for kids? Duh. I don't need a sign. Slow down for cats? Sure! Why didn't they just say so from the beginning?

Rafting

Rafting was a success! The weather at our campsite was not great... a bit misty the first night, and pretty cold the whole time. Down in Maupin for the rafting, it was sunny and beautiful. A little cool in the morning, but the afternoon was warm. I highly recommend Imperial River Company--the guide was tons of fun, and the rafting was even more entertaining. I took advantage of all the special activities on the boat (swimming through one of the rapids, balancing/standing on the front of the raft, riding the bull). Until the end of the day when some jerky kids on another raft attacked us with high-powered water guns that hit me right in the ear, everything was great. When it was over, Marc joked that he wanted to come back again next weekend. I think we'll compromise and make this an annual event.

Getting fitted in our life jackets:


Out, damn'd spot!


Marc enjoying the lack of clouds and cold weather:


Swimming (that water was COLD):


Riding the bull:

Checking something off the to-do list

For over a decade I've wanted to go river rafting. Tomorrow I'll be able to check it off my life's to-do list. We're leaving home in just over an hour for camping tonight, and I still have laundry in the machine, I haven't finished packing, and I need to take a shower. Bah.

Assuming Marc found the underwater housing for the camera, I'll have pics to post on Sunday.

One of the great mysteries of the world

Here's one for someone to explain: Why are cell phone stores busy no matter when you go into them? Seriously. It's a random Monday. I'm in a state with one of the highest unemployment rates. People shouldn't be out in masses buying new phones. But they are. We got sick of waiting and left before we could be helped. I was also starving after a 45-minute run, so food soon took a higher spot on the priority scale than getting a new phone.

Crashing a BBQ

Marc and I went over to Steve and Andrea's last night. Their neighborhood was having a BBQ; we crashed it. But we brought baked beans, which people liked, so we were okay. (Later on when Marc brought out the portable fire pit, they liked us even more.) The fire department came over with one of their brand new engines and let the kids climb around it. The firefighters were cool and it was neat seeing the engine up close. After the party split up, we went inside and did some karaoke for a bit. Good times.

Today we tried to go to Stanich's for a burger with Slimey. We have a thing going for hamburgers lately. I think we have an unofficial goal to try two new burger places a month. A couple weekends ago we had burgers at Annie's (not bad, but too much celery salt!) and Skyline (not new to me and Marc, but it was for Slimey). So Stanich's is closed on Sundays, which sucks because we drove all the way over to that side of town for their burger. We walked down the block to Alameda Brewhouse instead, where Marc and I got a decent burger and Slimey got a meatball sandwich. We'll have to make another visit over there (on a Saturday next time) so we can try Stanich's.

I've been keeping up with running. I got as high as 7th place after my run this morning, but the last time I looked, I'd been knocked back down to 9th. Gotta stay in the top 10...

Excuses, excuses

I keep not blogging because I keep thinking about all the things I need to write about, and it feels overwhelming. Enough of that. I'll start with today, and as I think about other things that have happened that are blog-worthy, you'll all get to enjoy a bit of a history-of-Mindie lesson.

The big news lately is that I started running--and in a much bigger way than I ever have before. I was spurred on by a challenge at work. There's only a handful of competitors (so far, anyway). The competition is to see who can run the most in August and September. I started the last week of July to warm up, since I haven't been running in months, and I got up early before work every day to run a mile or two. I took a break over the weekend and missed the first day of the competition while we were up in Washington for the big annual PNWX party. I got back into it Sunday, and I've been up early before work every day so far this week. Today was a double-run day--a little over a mile this morning and another three+ this afternoon. I'm going to try that for awhile. Right now I'm in 10th place out of just 19 people. I'd like to stay in the top 10. I have no chance of winning since there's more than one person averaging over 7 miles a day. I can't do that much. Yet.

The big excitement about this new running habit is that it was a reason to get a new iPod. I needed one that does the Nike+ deal, so I got a Nano. It's purple and really pretty. :) It seems a bit ridiculous that I have four iPods now, but they each have their place--except for the old classic one. It's just a brick. Anyone want to buy it?

Hair cut

I got most of my hair chopped off yesterday afternoon. It's pretty short now. This might mean that I'll spend the next few years growing it out again, but for the summer at least, I'm going to try out the short thing.