The Art of Packing

The final weeding

My grandfather always said that when traveling to take less clothes and more money.  I've always tried to emulate that as much as I can when I travel.  The problem is that I still have a tendency to over pack.  I'm much better than some people but I still have a long way to go.  I have found a technique that works for me when it comes to packing that gets me closer to my grandfather's wisdom.

When I pack I first pack everything that I might think that I would need, provided it fits in my suitcase.  I pretty much cram my suitcase completely full.  The next step is that I leave it for a few hours and come back to it to look again.  Generally on this second look I lose a few items that I was unsure about to begin with.  But after this round I still feel as if I have to much stuff so I leave it again.  This might happen a few times with things being taken out and then being re-added then taken out again. 

Finally the night before I leave or just before I am leaving I take (almost) everything out of my suitcase again and do a final check.  This final check allows me to make sure that I have what I want and to take out those few things that are unnecessary.  After this process I inevitably still have more than I need but I feel better about myself because I have reduced along the way.  Maybe someday I will be able to just pack without needed to do the weeding but I need more practice.  I guess that means more travel. Oh well...

Novelty of the Previously Ordinary

A Payphone at Little Whale Cove and it actually works

Yesterday while at the beach we stopped at Little Whale Cove.  It is a gated housing type development where my grandma has a lot. No house just a lot. But that gives her access to the amenities which includes the clubhouse.  Attached to the outer wall of that clubhouse was this very rare piece of machinary, the payphone.

It is amazing how as some technologies rise things that used to be commonplace become rare again.   I guess that is the cycle of the technological life.  First something is new, advanced, and rare.  Then it begins to gain in popularity it begins to sprout up more and more places until it is ubiquitous.  Eventually the technology develops and as the new items are on the rise the older ones become more obsolete.  Eventually the technology that was once everywhere is a rarity and becomes a novelty when found.  Kind of a typical life cycle for better or worse.

Off to Get Some Vitamin D

A typical day at the Oregon Coast

 

This morning I got a call from my mom asking if I wanted to go with my parents, grandma, and aunt to the beach.  The valley has been innundated with cold fog for the last few days and this morning on the news they were saying that the coast was going to be clear and warmer than the valley.  So I decided to go along with them to see the sun and get a little bit of vitamin D. 

 

Going to the Oregon coast is a unique experience.  I have lived here my entire life and it still makes me laugh.  We Oregonians love our coast and spending time there.  But the water is so cold and the wind is usually blowing and there is usually a chill in the air even in the summer.  So proper beach attire here is fully clothed, with coats, shoes, gloves, and hats.  During the summer we may replace the coat with a sweatshirt or a light jacket and forgo the shoes but it's pretty much the same.  And when people here go to the beach we don't sit and sun bathe.  If people are sitting on the beach its usually wrapped in blankets or towels.  When we go to the beach we walk.  People walk up the beach.  We drag sticks behind, we weird designes out of our footprints, we try walk as close to the water as we can without getting wet, we let our dogs and our children run free...  We walk.  I guess that is why when I go to tropical locations I have a hard time just sitting on the beach.  It is just not something that we do.

 

 

People enjoying the beach in proper Oregon beach attire

 

I am smiling in that coat.

 

 A family walking their two dogs and their kid. 
It looks as if they have leashes for their dogs and their daughter but the
little girl is "walking" one of the dogs but her dad is also holding onto the leash.

 

 

 

I often wonder what a person who lives in So Cal or Florida or any place where people just sit on the beach would think about us Oregonians and our beaches.  I love our beaches and they way we enjoy them.  I feel like it is uniquely Oregon.  There is a local TV station that has a commercial on right now that has their weather people speaking about how we don't fear the rain, we'll do anything in the rain because we know that if we had to wait for a sunny day we'd never do anything.  They say that there is a term for the people who live here and the term is unstoppable.  I like that.  I don't know that we are unstoppable but we are unique.  And we do know that if we waited for a sunny day nothing would every get done.  And if we waited to enjoy our beaches for a warm, calm day the majesty of our coast would go completely unappreciated. 

 

Anyway I went to the beach today with my parents, grandma and aunt and had a nice relaxing day.  We went to Little Whale Cove and wandered around there for a while.  Went and had lunch and then walked on the beach.  There was no grand plan for the day.  The plan was simply to get out of the dreary cold valley to the sunshine.  And there was sunshine and while the news was right that it was warmer there than in the valley it was still cold enough to warrent the entire winter garb. 

 

Enjoying the view at Little Whale Cove

 

 

The ocean was amazing.  The waves were very large and seemed to be rolling in forever.  I am not a surfer but it looked like the kind of waves that a surfer would love.  Dad and I talked to a surfer on the beach in the afternoon and he said that the waves further out were big and I believe him. The waves that I saw were huge, much larger than normally seen at the coast.  The water was really churning at the coastline but further out it looked calm and peaceful. 

 

The waves crashing on the rocks at Little Whale Cove. 

 

It was a nice day and even though it was cold, seeing the sun is nice. Especially after it's been hiding for a while.

 

 



N/A

Sydney agreed that I used my time wisely
as it provided her with a warm body to sleep on.

This week has seemed like an eternity.  And it isn't because I am going on vacation next week, others have said that this week was an eternity too.  Yesterday when I got home as I was unzipping my coat, I realized that I still had one more day of the work week and I was kind of crushed.  So when I got home today I was very happy and just felt the need to unwind.

Despite the fact that I know there are several more productive things tha I could have been doing with my evening I decided that I wanted to lie on the couch and watch TV.  So I did.  I layed on the couch and watched many episodes of Bones on Netflix. And it was perfect. 

I know that it was the least productive thing that I could have done and I might regret it later but right now I feel there was no better use of my time. In fact at one point I thought about going to bed but that just seemed like too much work so I decided to watch anotehr episode.  Don't judge me.

Sea Lion Day

Sea Lions just chillin' on a buoy (April 2011)

I am beginning to feel that I have set an unrealistic goal for myself, writing everyday in my blog.  Not that I have not been maintaining but I am on my 17th post and seem to be struggling.  The problem is that somedays there is just nothing that strikes me as picture worthy and some days there is just nothing that I feel the need to discuss and I find that on those days I have look through the photos that I have on my computer and everyone has a story but are they stories that people want to hear?  And there are so many of them.  I guess since I am mostly writing for myself I don't have to worry about that but I do.  So I end up with a random photo of Sea Lions hanging out on a buoy in the Pacific Ocean and musing about nothing. 

I do love this picture though.  For my friends 30th birthday (April 2011) I took her whale watching since she loves the ocean.  We went to Depot Bay and went out on a Zodiac out to find the whales, which we did. Along the way we passed this buoy with the Sea Lions hanging out on it.  I must say it is pretty impressive that they can get up on to it as the platform is at least a few feet out of the water.  I can't tell if the Sea Lions are slightly annoyed that we are disturbing their relaxing by driving by and giving us the stare down or if they are just relaxed and lazy that they are looking at us because we are simply there.  My guess is the later. 

To be honest that is how I kind of feel today.  I'm just sitting on the buoy, not really thinking anything, not feeling particularly emotional in any direction, just watching the boats go by waiting for tomorrow.

Widgets and Doohickies

A beautiful shot of the Oregon coast to help calm the nerves

Today I overheard a coworker discussing a student interaction that he had.  The student had failed to do something in time and so was in a situation that they didn't want to be in. After several emails with my coworker, where my coworker told him the policies and what steps the student would need to do to appeal the policy, the student said that my coworker only thought of the student as a widget and was done with the college.  For some reason this really irritated me. 

I understand frustration with a situation, I have been there many times.  I understand getting upset about a policy, again I've been there.  What irritates me is when people accuse others of basically being unfeeling and terrible.  There is no organization that does not have policies.  Policies are in place to protect those within the organization as well as those that utilize the organization.  Part of an employees job is to uphold those policies.  If they don't, they don't stay an employee very long.  There may be policies that don't make sense but usually the person getting yelled at has no power to change those policies. 

There are times when I have been dealing with a customer or a student and despite me explaining the policy and what I can and cannot do to help them, they insist that I ignore the policy and do something anyway because they are "a special case."  I always fight the urge to ask where the person works and whether they have policies.  If they blatantly went against those policies how to they think their employer would react and why should I get reprimanded or fired when they would be doing the same thing if the roles were reversed.  (I have never said that, but use my customer service skills as best I can to get them to go away as quickly as possible.)  :)  I get very irritated when someone questions my or others humanity simply because they are following the rules of their job.   Especially since most likely the person is mad at themselves but wants to make someone else to blame so they don't have to take responsibility. Taking responsibility stinks.

I feel that we are becoming more entitled as a society.  That there is a pervasiveness of the thought, "I am special and better than others, therefore rules, regulations, and policies do not apply the same way to me as they do everyone else."  And as a person who follows the rules and is not one who is very often the squeaky wheel I find it especially irritating. 

I am not sure that I explained things very coherently but I just needed to get that out there.  And it didn't even happen to me.  The picture is one I took several years ago at the coast. I figure I would post a tranquil scene that I could look at after getting all worked up and relax.   (I'm not actually all worked up.)

A Happy Sydney

That's a happy, comfy cat.

 

 

 

It is one of the best feeling in the world when someone is just so happy to see you.  I have a cat.  Her name is Sydney. You will probably hear more about her as the year goes on.  The last few days she has been staying at my parents house because they did an inspection at my apartment building.  One of the requirements for the inspection is that you "secure any pets."  So rather than trap Sydney in the bathroom all day I decided it would be better to have her be at my parents house.  I'll admit, I was lonely without her.  I live alone and she keeps me company.

 

Today was the inspection day and my dad brought Sydney home this evening because he had a meeting nearby.  There is nothing as good for the ego as some creature being beyond happy to see you.  Sydney has a pretty strong purr but it was much louder tonight. She inspected to make sure her food, water and perches were still all where they should be and then she proceeded to make sure that I was where I should be. It's nice to see when someone cares about you. Even if that someone is a cat.

 

Note: I am not implying that my cat is the only person that cares about me. Just making a general observation that knowing that you matter to someone is nice.  And maybe we should try and show others that they matter to us more often. 

Musings on a Monday

Two of the best things combined: Legos and Crayons

Some days you are just tired and it is hard to think.  Today was one of those days. Don't ask me why.  I didn't stay up much later than normal last night, I didn't do anything extremely strenuous yesterday, it was just one of those days.  My alarm goes off about a half an hour before I actually get up because I need the snooze time, it makes me feel like I'm cheating the system.  Today, however I slept through my snooze times and just woke up at my normal get up time. Thank goodness I did, otherwise I would have been late to work.

Maybe its because its been so cold, I just want to stay in bed where it is warm.  I was hoping that they would close campus for the evening because I wanted to come home and sleep rather than go to class.  I am taking a color design class just for fun and it is fun but less so when you are tired and it is late. Of course once I got there it was perfectly fine and was making good progress.  But because of the weather our teacher let us go early, only a half an hour but still. I was in such a groove I didn't want to go.  But it did give me the opportunity to do a few things I wouldn't have had the chance to if I had left class at regular time.

The picture is from an exhibit that they had at OMSI this passed spring that was art created by Legos. It was fantastic and amazing what people can do with Legos.  This was one of my favorite displays. I figured it was appropriate for to day because we are creating color wheels in my art class and the crayons have most of the colors represented.

Frozen Beauty

 

This afternoon I went to my parents house to make them dinner.  My parents live in the hills and I love down in the valley below.  It has been incredibly cold here lately but also very dry.  As I was driving up the hill to my parents I was amazed at the ice that was all over the trees.  It was stunning to look at.  The trees up the hill looked to be made of glass, their branches were completely covered in ice.  It was amazing. 

The last bit of my parents driveway is lined with arborvitea and as I rounded the corner I had to stop my car because the site was beautiful.  Each tree had several spiderwebs on them which are covered in frost. Spiderwebs are stunning on their own, such intricate, beautiful, and strong structures.  The ice just enhanced all of those features, allowing the craftsmanship to be admired more easily.   The only words to describe them is stunning.

 

 

The Final Product

Modeling the completed dress

I have been helping/teaching a girl from church to make a dress to fulfill a Personal Progess goal.  She asked me to help her a couple of months ago but because of my busy schedule and the holiday's it has taken a while but today we finished. I am very proud of her and her final product.  And she seems genuinely happy with it.

When she first asked me to help her I was both excited and apprehensive.  Excited because I love to sew. I make pretty elaborate costumes every Halloween and get great joy and fulfillment out of creating clothes and crafts.  I think that I have a talent when it comes to sewing and was eager to share that talent and possibly instill an interest in sewing in someone else. 

My apprehension stemed from the fact that I when I make clothing it is always for me. I know how to sew for myself and measure and fit to myself.  I know the standard that I like to meet and things that I will let slide.  So I was afraid that I would not be able to translate my knowledge to someone else.  Also, I am not confident in my teaching abilities.  I learned to sew by having my mom teach me and observing her but mostly by doing. I don't have any formal training. So I was very nervous about whether I would be able to articulate to another person how to do each step.

There were moments when my fears seemed to be confirmed. I would try to explain how to do a particular step and the words just wouldn't come.  Then I would take the fabric from her and proceed to show her what needed to be done while trying to explain, which made me feel bad like I was doing it for her, which I wasn't trying to do and I hope that she didn't feel that way. I realized that I am a visual and tactile learner and thus teacher. I have to see and do it to be able to explain how to do it. There were times when I would tell her to do something and realize after the fact that my explaination was incorrect or unclear and we would have to go back and fix it, which made me feel bad.   I know I confused her quite a bit.  I think that if I were doing it again I would have two machines and make a dress along with her.  So that I could show her how to do it while explaining and at the same time not feel as if I was taking the experience away from her.

Overall I think that it was a good experience for both her and I.  It was very gratifying to see her excited as the dress began to actually look like a dress. And feel the relief of having the dress fit when she first put it on.  And finally her excitement today as we did the final pressing and she talked about how she could wear it to a dance that she was hoping to go to tonight.  There are a few spots that lay a little funny and a few stitches that show that might not necessarily should but overall it is a very well made dress. Even if she never wears it besides for the picture I think that she should be very proud of her accomplishment.  I am very proud of her. And of myself, that I didn't let my apprehension stop me from helping her with this experience.

Psychology of the Shoe

This is just about a 1/3 of my shoe collection

This afternoon I was sitting in a meeting across from a coworker and I noticed that his shoes were falling apart. And I mean that quite literally. They were coming apart at the seams and were held together with duct tape.  After the meeting I made a comment about his shoes to this coworker and he said that he was trying to find the perfect shoe to replace them.  And by perfect shoe, he meant pretty much the exact same shoe.  He also mentioned that he had about 5 pairs of shoes at home in the same state for the same reason.   I respect the sentiment. When I find a great shoe and it falls apart I want the exact same shoe to replace it. However, I don't duct tape my old shoes until I find those new shoes.

It got me thinking about men and women.  Men make fun of women because they have huge shoe collections that seem to grow exponentially.  Women make fun of men because they will duct tape their shoes together rather than just go and buy a new pair.  This is just the sexes dealing with the same desire in different ways.  We are all searching for the perfect shoe. 

In the women's quest for the perfect shoe we have to get a huge variety of shoes to find that perfect shoe.  And in our quest we buy more and more.  And with women there are actually several perfect shoes we are seeking because we need them for different occasions and outfits.  (The same thing can be said about bags.)  For men they are also searching for the perfect shoes. Except rather than buy a bunch of shoes that meet part of the perfect shoe criteria trying to satisfy that need, like women do, they hold onto their previous perfect shoe until either they find the replacement or it is literally falling off of their foot. 

What the deeper meaning of this is, I have no idea.

Note:  I counted and I currently have 34 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of slippers, and three pairs of dance shoes in my place.  And 2 pairs of shoes and 1 pair of slippers that permanently reside in my office.  Don't judge me.  I did just get rid of a few pairs.

The Power of Snow

I did not make the pattern but I would do something like that.

What is it about snow that brings out the kid in us?  Is it that it automatically brings up memories of sledding, making snowmen, having snowball fights when we were that makes us revert to a childlike state? 

This morning I was working at a campus that happens to be on the top of a hill. (I work at a college.)  As I got closer to campus the rain changed to snow and the snow started to accumulate.  By the time I got to campus there was about an 1/8-1/4 inch of snow.  Nothing much but enough.  As I was walking to the office I noticed the pattern in the snow.  Someone took the time to create that pattern in the snow.  It took much longer than just walking down the sidewalk and thought about how to create the pattern. I saw at least three different areas where this pattern was on the sidewalk.  This may have started out as a brief whim but they just couldn't stop themselves from continuing. After they had finished and were in their class or office I just know that this person quite pleased with themselves. 

That is the power of snow; it can take a college educated adult and revert them into a silly kid.  And when we are removed from it we think, "It's just frozen precipitation. It messes up the commute and is just generally kind of a pain."  And yet inside our inner kid is secretly hoping for snow and staring intently into the sky for those little white flakes. Although some of our inner kids are closer to the surface than others.

 

 

 

 



Sometimes "Out of Order" is good enough.

Sometimes elaboration is needed to get a better understanding of a situation and then there are other times when it would be kinder not to elaborate.  Honestly, I am torn about which situation this is.  When I see a sign like this I can't help but play out the possible scenarios that led to its being added to the vending machine.  Did the person notice the black moldy lumps while it was despensing, when they pulled the cup out of the machine or on the way to their lips. 

It also makes me wonder just which part of the caffe latte actually contained the black moldy lumps.  According to the machine, 1-D-7 gives you a caffe latte which is whipped with lightener and sugar.  What exactly is lightener? I assume it is some sort of non-dairy creamer but why not say that?  Lightener sounds to me like something that you apply to shoes or laundry when they are stained not something that you put in your coffee.  And if it was indeed the lightener that was black and moldy, (I guess that would technically make it a darkener) how long had it been in that machine?  As I understand it those non-dairy creamers can last forever and don't even need refrigeration. 

At least the poor person who discovered this unfortunate additive to their caffe latte was conscientious enough to warn other unsuspecting victims of the dangers that lurk in this particular coffee dispenser.  Who says people don't care about others anymore?

Happy Birthday Dad

Dad and I at the Oregon State vs. Arizona State football game (Oct 2012)

Today is my dad's birthday.  I have a book called, The Secret Languages of Birthday's and it tells the traits of a person based on the day that they were born. It is really fun to read and seems to be pretty accurate for the people that I have read their birthdays.  (I realize that with any astrological writing we see what applies and ignore what doesn't but that's not the point.)  Each day has a title and then proceeds to tell traits, strengths, weaknesses of those born on that day.  January 8th is called The Day of the Big Bang, and that seems quite appropriate for my dad. 

The thing that I remember about my dad's birthday growing up was German Chocolate cake.  I don't honestly know if German Chocolate cake is his favorite cake or was at one time but every year for his birthday we would get German Chocolate cake.  My grandma still makes German Chocolate cake when we go to celebrate my dad's birthday.  That is one thing that I definitely got from my dad, was my love of chocolate.  Neither of my brothers are really chocolate fans. They like it well enough and will eat it but they do not crave and eat it the way that my dad and I do.  There are many other things that I have inherited from my dad besides the chocoholic gene and I am really grateful that he is my dad.  Unfortunately I didn't have any German Chocolate cake to eat today but I did have a piece of blueberry pie tonight in honor of dad's birthday.  Happy birthday Dad!

Redwood National Park - July 2012

Water Bottle Glasses

 

Sometimes when I am tired and no one is looking I do weird things.  Okay, sometimes I don't even have to be tired to do weird things. But I find that I tend to do weird things when I am alone; when I don't have to fear judgement from others. 

I realize that we all do things that might look weird to others and those around us may judge us, it's part of being human. I wish that I was less afraid of what others will think of me.  It is a hard thing to get passed, the fear of judgement.  But sometimes by doing weird things we can find and experience some truely beautiful things.  Some times we need to look at the world through rose colored glasses and sometimes we need to look at it through the opening of a waterbottle. 

Every Moment is a Teaching Moment in a Science Museum

There are websites dedicated to pictures of signs that have some serious grammar issues.  They are always very entertaining and also make you worry about the place that our world is going.  This picture at first glance be a prime candidate for one of those sites and yet context is everything.

I took this picture last April at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).  This sign is placed in the cafeteria on one of those busing tables with the trash and recycling recepticles.  I saw this sign and laughed at the ridiculousness of putting red in quotations.  It seemed like such a bonehead thing to do.  The trays are red, they are not sarcastically red or figuratively red, they are simply red. 

Then as I began to think about it I realized that this was not actually some bonehead mistake but a completely appropriate use of quotation marks.  What is color anyway?  Well it is light waves interacting with the light receptors in your eyes and your brain interpreting the signals from those light receptors.  Color is not a tangible thing. 

I have often how there is no way to describe a color to someone who hasn't seen the color.  Describing colors is always done in terms of color.  I've often wondered if we all see the same color that we all identify as red.  Perhaps what I see as red is someone elses blue.  But because we teach colors by pointing to them and saying "This is red."  there is no way to tell what the other person is seeing.  We may all be seeing different colors and and all calling it red.

So I guess technically there is no such thing as a red tray.  The tray is just a reflecting light that is interacting with our eyes and interpreted by our brains.  Well played, OMSI cafeteria staff, well played.

Up to Mirror Lake

 

 

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to do at least one hike a month.  I love hiking but I don't get to go as often as I like.  It is not that there aren't ample places to go hiking where I live, in fact quite the opposite.  There are many, many options in every possible direction.  Life just sort of gets in the way. So I am trying to make a concerted effort this year to go hiking more. 

Hiking tends to be a summer activity;  even spring and fall are reasonable times to go hiking. Winter is the hardest time with it being cold and dark and wet.  But since this was my New Year's resolution and not my Summer Solstice resolution I have to figure out what to do in the winter.  The solution was snowshoeing.  Hiking is walking.  Snowshoeing is walking in the snow. 

Today my friend Rosina and I went snowshoeing/hiking.  And since to go snowshoeing you need snow, we headed to the mountain.  Earlier this week I looked at several different trail options for us to chose from.  I haven't gone snowshoeing in a while and this was Rosina's first experience so I chose a hike that was listed as an easy family and dog-friendly 3 mile hike that had minimal elevation gain.  That hike was up to Mirror Lake.

First thing that we had to do was get to the trailhead.  In the summer there is a turn out on the road at the trailhead to Mirror Lake where you can park and just head up the trail. However, in the winter the roads on Mt. Hood are plowed and the snow is pushed to the shoulders making the turn out non-existant.  So to get to the trailhead in the winter, you park at the west Ski Bowl parking  lot approximately 3/4 up the road from the trailhead and walk on the snow bank four feet above the highway.  This is a bit harrowing as on one side you have a four foot drop and a busy highway on one side of you and a steep embankment that dropped about 20 feet to a river. 

Excited and blissfully unaware of what was to come.

 

Rosina feeling very Bavarian.

 

We made it to the trailhead, strapped on our snowshoes and headed up.  Now the thing about the snow shoes I have is that they are kind of old school and not fancy in any way.  They are plastic and   slightly resemble the old school tennis racket type snowshoes. But here's the thing, they worked. 

The trail to Mirror lake was well used.  We encountered a lot of people on the trail and the great thing about that was that the trail was well packed.  If you stepped off the three foot wide trail, however, you are likely to find yourself up to your knee and sometimes hip in snow.  Also I would hate to see what trails.com thinks that a moderate trail is or considers a trail with moderate elevation gain.  The Hike up to Mirror Lake, which is between 1-1 1/2 miles is all up.  Because the trail was so packed and there was really no need for the snowshoes we took them off and just started hiking.  Despite huffing and puffing and progressively removing layers as we slowly ascended we did eventually make it to Mirror Lake. 

 

We were very happy to see a sign indicating that
we were at the lake, we just had to
hug the tree that carried the message.

At the goal, Mirror Lake

We stayed at the lake for several minutes before heading back down, which involved a lot less huffing and puffing and more laughing and smiles. 

Look at this tree. You can't not take a picture sitting in it.

Have to stay hydrated.

It's just so hard to resist when there is a huge snow bank
and you are wearing waterproof clothes.

 

One good thing about trails that are hike in and back is that you get to experience the view of two different trails. The uphill trail you get to enjoy the view of the trail itself and the downhill you get to enjoy the view of the surrounding areas. And the surrounding areas of the Mirror Lake trail are beautiful covered in snow and I hope to see it not covered in snow this summer too. Next time I will be more prepared mentally for the "minimal elevation gain."

The Real Reason my Christmas Decorations are Still Up

Sydney in her favorite holiday spot.  Under the tree is the perfect place to hide,
stage ambush attacks and look adorable. 
How can I take down the tree with that face so clearly happy it's there?

There is always a bit of a let down when it comes time to take down all of the Christmas decorations.  For a month your house has been decorated and festive. Everything is shiny and glittery.  After you put the decorations away everything goes back to being mundane again.

I tend to put my Christmas decorations away a little after other people and it is only partially because of laziness.  I wait to put decorations away for when I am in the mood to solve puzzles.    Every time I put Christmas decorations away I have to deal with the frustration of trying to get the things that came out of one box to all fit back in that same box.  It in no use labeling boxes with which Christmas decorations are in them because when you pack everything away the next year the boxes inevitably won't contain the same things because they inexplicably won't fit in the box.  And the thing is some times there ends up being more room in the box so I can add more decorations and sometimes only three things will fit in the same box. My guess is that much like the dryer sock elves there are Christmas decoration box elves secretly changing the dimensions of the storage boxes from one year to the next.

A View from My Desk

 

Like most working people I spend my days at a computer in a cube in an office.  Because I spend most of my waking life at my desk I have tried to make it a comfortable place, decorated with things that make me happy.  I have been very deliberate in the things that I have on my desk and their locations.   Everything that I can see while I am sitting at my computer is there for a reason and helps me get through the day.

 

 

Orange Lei - Just one of the few Oregon State things in my cube. It hangs on the hook that I hang my coat on. Always there in case I need to add a little Oregon State spirit to any occasion or outfit.

Dilbert Cartoons - I had a 365 day Dilbert calendar one year and I have 4 cartoons that I find amusing and applicable to my workplace, job, and previous boss. (To be fair my boss was actually a great boss.)

The London Section - My favorite place on the planet is London.  It is the most amazing place I've every been to.  It is my second home. I still hold onto the dream of someday living there.  It is my happy place.  As my happy place I have some reminders of it prominently placed in my view so that I can retreat there if need be. 
      
Calendar - I always have a London calendar (the 2013 calendar has not arrived yet so its still sitting on December 2012). 

Tri-Picture Frame - This is a set of pictures that I got at Covent Garden the last time I was in London.  It has three pictures of London sights in black and white and red. Three of my favorite places/things are pictured.  The top is a picture of a Lion Statue at Trafalgar Square with Big Ben above it.  The middle is a double decker bus.  And the bottom is St. Paul's Cathedral.

London Underground Sign - One of my favorite things about London is the Tube.  So I have a Underground sign that I got from the London Transport Museum so it's official.  In fact my desktop picture is of the London Underground map.  It has been my work desktop for years.  Whenever someone sees it for the first time they always react the same way, "Woah! What is that."  It makes me happy to have those constant reminders of my favorite place.

 

Woodstock - Years ago when I worked at Novell, every Christmas we would have a cube decorating contest. Our cubes where huge and contained 4 people, one in each corner.  The first Christmas I was there we decided (okay it was mostly me, because I was the only girl) that we would do A Charlie Brown Christmas.  I made Snoopy's Dog House, the Christmas tree, Snoopy dressed as Santa with his chimney.  And on top of Snoopy's Dog House was Woodstock.  After Christmas everything was disassembled and recycled except Woodstock.  I was so proud of him and he was small enough that I kept him, and he's been at my desks ever since. 
Not pictured: Behind that Kleenez box is a stuffed Snoopy to go with Woodstock.  He is a recent addition to the shelf.

Keep Calm and Carry On - The last 6 months or so at work have been pretty stressful.  Lots of changes and adjustments to changes and reworking the changes to the changes.  One day several months ago I was having a particularly stressful day and was nearing a panic attack.  Suddenly the phrase, "Keep Calm and Carry On" popped into my head.  I repeated that phrase for the rest of the day.  I knew that I needed that phrase somewhere in my cubical.  That weekend I happened to be at a scrapbook store and found a sheet of stickers that had that very thing on it.  I bought it, took it home and framed it.  It now sits directly in my line of vision so that I have it as a constant reminder, "Keep Calm and Carry On." 

Yellow Squishy Star and Little Rubber Duck - The little star leaning against the frame is a stress squeeze thing.  I never use it as a stress squeezer but it is a star.  And as I love stars I have kept is as a fun little decoration.  Little Rubber Duck was a freeby from an inservice and who doesn't love rubber duckies?

Batman - My most recent addition to my shelf is the Vinyl Batman figurine.  I love Batman. He is my favorite superhero.  I love everything about Batman.  I am kind of secretly a little obsessed with Batman.  When a friend of mine showed these to me I knew I was destined to have one on my shelf cute. For my birthday present to myself I bought him.  I mean how could I resist.  For one thing it's adorable and for another its BATMAN! Now he watches over my cube and protects it from villainy.

What Kittens Are - A co-worker of mine several years ago gave me this adorable book.  It has pictures of kittens and each page tells what kittens are, ie soft, curious, playful, etc.  When I need my kitty fix it is there.

Shotglass - A previous boss went to Mexico and brought each of his employees back a shotglass.  I don't drink but I thought it was a good idea to put it on my shelf at work in case the job ever drives me to drink; I wouldn't have to search for a shotglass. 

Toothless - Perched atop the book is Toothless from the movie "How to Train Your Dragon."  This is most likely my favorite movie of all time.  I mean I saw it seven times while it was in theatres, yeah, don't judge me.   Toothless reminds me so much of my cat, Sydney. Their mannerisms are the same, their eyes are the same, and Sydney basically has no teeth.  Just thinking about that movie makes me happy so I needed Toothless.  He's on the book ready to swoop into flight.

The Mugs - Everyone needs a mug at their desk. In my case I have three.  I have gotten all three while I worked at PCC as gifts.  I keep all three because they are all slightly different sizes and depending on how much hot beverage I am craving determines the mug I use.

Measuring Cup Man - I was visiting my friend Rosina one day and I saw that she had this measuring cup that was a bendable man.  It made me giggle and I commented on it.  She promptly gave it to me and I promptly brought it to work.  I mean I wasn't going to us it for cooking, I have real measuring cups for that. I just find great pleasure in the little pink man with a measuring cup for a head.  Yup, I'm odd.

Mini Toothless & Hiccup - Like I said, I really, REALLY like HTTYD.

Jade Plant - Every cube needs some plant to liven things up and clean the office air.  I got my Jade from Rosina who was propagating Jades and needed homes for them.  I am happy to say that my Jade has done quite well and is very happy.  And it's nice to have a little green.  (I also have a Japanese Peace Lily on my shelf on the opposite wall for some more green.)

Skelanimals Cat - I love cats.  I will freely admit it.  And I will also admit I have a bit of a darkside.  And I think that this stuffed skeleton cat is adorable. It also has the added benefit of being a stuffed animal which are pretty hard to resist.  It's adorableness mixed with macabre; totally up my alley.

Dilbert Phone Customer Service Cartoon - The Dilbert Cartoon was something that someone left behind at my desk when I arrived at Novell.  It is a very funny take on phone customer service.  I hate the phone (mostly as a result of that Novell job.)  and this comic is hanging above my phone.  It makes me laugh.  It doesn't, however, make me hate the phone any less.

 

 

So every day for 9 hours those are the things that I look at.  Maybe some day I'll show you the other two and a half walls of my cube. But for right now that should be enough for you to analyze me and gauge my level of crazy.  

Bus Stop Entertainment

 

The creek with the grass and the tree.
When I arrive at the bus stop it's still dark and when
I get home it's dark again.  So the picture is dark.

The bus stop where I catch the bus to go to work is on a bridge over a creek.  Everyday when I get to the stop, provided I am not running to catch the bus, I look at the creek to see what the water level is.  It started in the spring when one morning I heard the ducks quacking in the creek. Everyday I'd look to see if the ducks were enjoying an early morning swim. One morning after a particularly wet day I was amazed at how much the creek had risen after only one day of rain.  The next day the level was back to normal.  Thus began my ritual inspection of the water level of Fanno Creek.

I'm constantly amazed at how sensitive the creek is to any kind of precipitation.  It seems that it only takes a little bit of rain to raise the level and a day of dry to drop it. Sometimes I wonder if I just happen to be seeing it as the rush of water is coming through, like opening the flood gates and ten minutes after I'm gone it goes back to normal.  I know this is ridiculous but I can't help wondering where that water goes. 

This winter after a few days of torrential rain the week of Thanksgiving the creek rose to the highest level that I had seen it.  After the water went down, the grass on the banks was laying in the direction of the flow of the river, it is easy to see how high the creek was at its highest point because of the grass.  There is also a patch of grass growing in the center of the creek that I use as another gauge to the water level. If I can see the grass in the center of the creek it's lower, if I can't it's up.

The last few days have been clear and cold.  Since there has been no precipitation the water level has dropped quite a bit.  I would guess it's almost back down to summer levels. The patch of grass is well above water. And this morning there was another surprise. Along the back was a tree, or at least a very large branch of a tree.  It makes me wonder how long it has been down there caught in the grass.  Did it get caught months ago and is just visible now or did it float down yesterday and get caught as it was going by? 

These are the questions that I ponder as I wait for the bus.

A Frosty New Year

 

Happy New Year! This morning when I woke up there was frost all over everything and it continued to be insanely cold all day. And I kept asking myself why the powers that were chose to change the year in the middle of winter. Now I am sure there is an actual academic answer to the question but I am not particularly interested in it at the moment. I can look it up if I get truly curious.

I know why Christmas is celebrated in the winter and it makes sense to me but why the new year? Isn't technically every day a new year? I figure that it must have something to do with the need to look forward to something, celebrate something in the dead of winter. It's dark, it's cold, it feels as if the spring will never come. Maybe to trick ourselves into not giving up hope they decided that if they changed the said it was the beginning of the new year people would feel the hope of the coming spring. It's a new year, things will get better.

It makes me think of that Christmas song, In the Bleak Midwinter. Simply because it's the middle of winter and bleak, let's celebrate something.  And perhaps the reason they put it so close to Christmas is that they wanted to extend the holiday to actually have a full twelve days, but as Bob and Doug pointed out the math would have to involve some mystery days.  Then again maybe it is just to fabricate a reason to keep stuffing ourselves.  Whatever the reason it is nice to be able to celebrate so much in the bleak midwinter.