Perseid Meteor Shower

Does anyone know a good place to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower in or around the Portland area? I know that OMSI is having a big ol' star gazing party at Rooster Rock state park, but I was wanting to do something a little more private. The shower is happening after midnight on the night of Shawn's birthday and I thought it would be cool to take him to a nice romantic spot and watch the meteors.

Shawn loves to look up and watch the stars and he has always wanted to watch the meteor showers in the summer, but we could never really see them from our place. I was thinking that maybe I could find a place on the Washington State side of the gorge. Rooster Rock was such a good idea because there aren't a lot of trees and you can see so much of the sky. Leave up to OMSI to take a great idea and make it public so that everyone can enjoy the show. sheesh.

I was thinking that Beacon Rock would be a cool place, but there are lots of trees and also the 2nd largest rock in the world blocking the view. Even on top of the rock there are a lot of trees. What about Bonneville Damn? Anyone been there lately? Can you go hang out there after dark? I don't know anyone who travels out that way a lot.

Lunch Break

I'm on my lunch break at work. What's on the menu today? Left over pizza. It doesn't sound very exciting, but I am trying to save money by bringing my lunch everyday. So far, I calculate my savings at around 50 bucks. I am trying to look on the bright side of things because I was really not very excited about bringing left over pizza today. Especially since there is an increadible deli around the corner that makes wonderful sandwiches on amazing bread. Gene's Deli on Barbur Blvd in Portland - check it out.

Aquarium

I have some down time in between training courses right now and
I want to tell you more about our trip to the aquarium in Newport, OR. Yay! Shawn wanted to take Caleb and me to lunch at Mo's in Lincoln City, so that was our first destination. We made great time driving from Portland, but right around the off ramp to get into town, traffic came to a dead stop. It was SO frustrating to be able to see where you want to go, but not be able to get there. I came up with a new "car rule".

Car Rule #1

If you are sitting in traffic, you're not allowed to talk about it.

Once we got to the restaurant, we discovered it was packed. Once we sat down and got our food, we discovered why. That stuff is good! When they say that they have the best clam chowder, they really mean it! It was so good I wanted to eat there again on the way home (but we didn't). next time i go, i am ordering the biggest bowl of clam chowder you can get!

After we ate, we started driving toward Newport; keeping our eyes open for nice beachy spots along the way. Caleb had never seen the ocean before and we wanted to be sure that his first experience would involve lots of waves and sand. We passed by an awesome place; I think it was called Fogarty park. It was so pretty there was even a wedding going on near by! The waves were huge and they were crashing all over this big rock near the shore that people were climbing on. Caleb found a seashell and used it as a shovel to dig in the sand. He buried his feet and dumped sand on Shawn. We really enjoyed ourselves there, but the day was passing us by and we wanted to have lots of time at the aquarium, so we left.

Caleb was very unhappy to get back in the car, and very pleased to get out once we got to the aquarium. He loved it as soon as we got inside. They have life-size plastic fish hanging from the ceiling as if they are swimming over your head. He was pointing at them in amazement and was actually the one who brought them to my attention. He really took the whole place in.

The first real fish he saw were the lion fish. He called them "rarr fish". He also really liked the jelly fish, and he toyed around with saying the word jelly, but eventually decided that a fish is a fish and what kind didn't matter to him -- except the rarr fish, of course. He got to pet a baby sting ray and also a baby shark that he tried to pull out of the water by it's fin. We walked through 2 tunnels where fish are swimming around you all over, even underneath. You could see them from the glass floor, which all of the kids, including Caleb, found very cool. A 3rd tunnel was filled with all different kinds of sharks! Caleb really liked that as well because he has some shark toys and pajamas at home and he recognized the animal.

After the aquarium, we started heading home. We had driven for about an hour when Shawn suddenly realized that he didn't have his wallet! Not only that, but the last time he had seen it was about 4 hours earlier when he stopped to get directions to the aquarium! To top it off he had left it on a stairwell in an alley behind a building AND it had $350.00 CASH inside that we were supposed to use to pay back his dad. We called the Ripley's Believe it or Not and they said that someone had found it! The person found it in the back alley/stairwell/parking lot area and turned it in to the front desk at the wax works. The guy working the desk called the manager who told him to put it in the lost and found, but he said that there was cash in it, so they put it in their safe. By the time we got the wallet back, it was 5 hours after we lost it and all of the cash was still there!!! We had asked God for just one honest person to find it and instead he gave us 3 in a row! AMAZING!

Very Quickly

I don't have a lot of time, so please excuse any typos or run on sentences and the like. I wanted to write a quick blog and say that last weekend, Shawn and i took Caleb to the newport aquarium. It was so much fun! caleb saw the ocean for the first time and he absolutely loved watching the animals in the aquarium. he ran from tank to tank saying, "fish, fish fish" and he even got to pet a shark and a sting ray.

Today at work i got my business cards, name badge and photo ID badge
I'll post a picture of the photo because its funny.

Gotta go!

Taking Care of Business

So far, I have had a pretty productive day. I am still in training for my new job, and on my break I made a doctor appointment, and a dentist appointment for Caleb. He is NOT going to be very happy about the dentist appointment. It doesn't have anything to do with the actual dentist visit itself, but the time of the visit. We are going to miss the garbage truck (or garbage car, as he calls it)! Oh well, he will just have to wait until the next week to see the garbage car.

I am so happy to have a schedule with set days off. It was so easy to make those appointments because I knew that I would be available all day on every Monday. So far this company has really treated me right, and I haven't even done anything to desrve it yet!

Nerves

Hi Internet,
Today I started my last week of training for my new job. That means that next week I will start out on the sales floor. The training has been nice, but for some reason I still feel like I am going to be thrown out of a plane without a parachute. It's just scary to think that next week I will have to interact with customers who are going to assume that I know a lot more than what I really do. I wonder how many times I will have to say, "this is my first day / week / month", or "I'm still kinda new here".

I just hate not knowing stuff. I like to know all of the ends and outs of things so that I can answer any question that is thrown at me. Plus, there are always those 'one-uppers' that come into the store wanting to show off all of their techy lingo and ability to back you into a corner. Arg. Those people drive me crazy. They just want to try and stump you and make you feel dumb. It happened a lot at Gamestop, but I knew all of the product inside and out. It happened a little bit at WAMU, but I knew all of the federal banking laws that pertained to my job. This is a whole new industry, and things are going to be really difficult for me just starting out.

I'm pretty nervous about it, if you can't tell.

Weekend!

Hello, Internet!

i just finished up my first week at my awesome new job. They gave me a sweet new phone with a web browser and all sorts of other stuff. I thought Shawn's job was cooler because he got a laptop today, but the screen is busted and they didn't give him the password to log on, so I guess my job wins!

I'm Back, Baby!

No, I didn't get a computer, but I got something just as good. I got a smart phone! Not just any smart phone, but the new Nokia E71x.

Work has been alright. I miss Caleb a lot while I am there and I don't get to see him for very long after I get home. I am pretty excited to get into the store and start selling stuff.

I have to go to bed earlier these days, which includes right now. G'night!

Day 2

Hi Internet.
Sorry I didn't update last night after work. Once I got home, all I wanted to do was relax. I'm back in class today and have a little down time while people are finishing up some training.

I car pooled to work today - how environmentally friendly of me!

OOH! Also, today I get to go to the mall with my brother and pick out a sparkly anniversary gift for my sister in law! They are celebrating their first wedding anniversary this week. How EXCITING!

Almost Done

Almost done for the day. I just took the picture for my employee badge. YUCK. Oh well. I wonder if I lose more weight if they will let me retake it?

New Job

Hey, Internet.
I can't really talk right now. I am at orientation for my new job. I will try to do a mobile update later to let you all know about it. I have been in s super great mood lately with the new house and the new job. I was anxious last night, but now that I am here, I am pretty relaxed. I'm in training with another person who will be in the store that I am in, so it will be cool to already know someone when I get there. Well we are just about ready to move on to the next part of the course. I will check back in later.

Humming Bird Siting

A humming bird came into my yard today! He buzzed in, looked around, and when he didn't find a humming bird feeder he have me a sort of ''how dare you'' look and then he zipped away. Needless to say I went straight out and got a humming bird feeder. I hope he returns tomorrow.
Our house warming party was yesterday. We barbecued some chicken and had a bon fire. The kids roasted marshmellows and the adults sat under the shade of a near by maple tree. A squirrel scampered by to check is out and i opted out of making friends with him. My mom fed a squirrel who ended up being a mama squirrel. The babies are close to eating out of my mom's hands but they are really destroying her garden. I think I'll stick with the humming bird.
Right now i am lounging by the pool. The wading pool, that is. Caleb is soaking up the last of the warm setting sun and the dogs are stopping by every once in a while for a drink. Good grief. My son just lapped up water from the pool like a dog. Gross.