What I've been up to

Oh my gosh, it's been nearly a month since I've written! I've been busy settling in and enjoying Portland, but of course that means I've been putting off blogging for far too long.

Our drive up to Portland was exhausting but went really well, in that everything made it up in 1 piece and we didn't have any significant Penske-truck-pulling-a-trailer mishaps, but Dr. Hubby swears that he will never drive a moving truck again!


Our apartment is wonderful and nearly done- once I hang up our pictures and figure out where to store the colony of computer related cords living in the corner of our front room I'll post a bunch of pictures. :) I love it because we actually managed to avoid cramming every inch of it with furniture. Having a bit of space makes it feel very peaceful. That being said, we still feel like we have too much stuff and took another car load of things to goodwill once we got here. I also love our location- Munjoy Hill feels a lot like the Marigny in New Orleans and we are close to the water, a gorgeous park, tons of restaurants, a coffee shop, and a gourmet/healthy food market.

Portland is amazing. Living here right now really does feel like being on vacation. My "office" is a sunroom that had a great view of Casco Bay and I walk my dogs in the Eastern Promenade (a big park leading down to the bay) every day. I've taken them down to the beach a few times but they are horrified by the fact that the water moves! They really love being in the park though and when it's not crowded we take them off their leashes and let them run back and forth between us. Bernie, lazy creature that he is, kind of gamely trots along until he gets too tired, but Hereaux SPRINTS with this big doggie grin on his face. He is in doggie heaven here!

Eastern Promenade after a rain

The happiest I've ever seen my dogs

I've found a lot of things I love about Portland already- The weather, of course, is perfect. I've also joined a yoga studio that I really love, I run a weekly 5K race (and have plans to run many more races), I've gone to to Farmer's Market and tried every strange veggie I found (fiddleheads! kohlrabi! salad greens with edible flowers! garlic scapes!), I've done a First Friday Art Walk, I watched the 4th of July Fireworks over the Prom from my porch, I've eaten at a lot of great restaurants, and I've cooked some pretty good meals here as well. And of course, the only pictures I've taken have been of dogs and food. :)

Fiddleheads! (and grilled chicken)

Periwinkles- aka snails! I basically pulled these out of a tide pool and boiled them- they were tasted like clams!

Speaking of clams- this guy was the size of my palm. Divine paired with fresh bread from the Standard Baking Co.

I also really like how environmentally friendly Portland is. Gone are the days of having to drive to find a place to recycle (and only being able to recycle newspapers). We have free curbside recycling and we definitely generate more recycling than actual trash because they take everything. It's awesome. Less awesome is having to pay $1 per special trash bag to get rid of our trash, but in all honesty, I appreciate the incentive to not just throw away stuff. Because we are total cheapos, we've also started a compost bin (despite the fact that I have a black thumb and kill every plant I try to grow) and I have been saving a bag of veggie scraps in the freezer for stock. I actually made my first veggie stock on Monday and plan to make chicken stock from the bones of last night's roast chicken tomorrow.

Working at home is going pretty well- I've been able to meet or exceed all of my deadlines so far and I really enjoy wearing yoga pants all the time, eating omelets whenever I want to, and painting my nails unprofessional colors. :) It can feel a little isolating but I'm making a point to actually leave the house every day (and walking the dogs doesn't count) which helps me feel more connected to the outside world.

In the next few weeks I'm looking forward to camping in Acadia National Park (Dr. Hubby talked me into getting us new tent and me a sleeping bag), running more races, going to the Farmer's Market more regularly (I've missed the past 2 weeks), doing a walking tour of the Hidden Gardens of Munjoy Hill, and taking a trip back to New Orleans for work (I need my boudin fix!). I'll also be going to D.C. soon to visit friends, and will be celebrating my 30th birthday in NYC with my inlaws since my brother-in-law is turning 3o three days after I do!

There are a lot of things I want to do but don't have concrete plans for too- trail running, getting out on the water (be it in a kayak, paddle board or real boat, I'm not picky!), skiing and snowshoeing this winter, and making friends and workout buddies.

Overall, I miss my family and friends but am incredibly thrilled to finally living in Portland. I still walk around and think to myself- I can't believe I actually live here. :) So far, the adventure is going well!

It never ends

First, I would like to say that I did watch and enjoy the Saints game. Who Dat!!

But what I really want to blog about is that I'm having more pet issues. The first has been hopefully resolved, but all weekend long, Hereaux would sneak into the room where the catfood and litter is, and eat out of the litter box. I will be the definition of understatement and say only that this is an undesirable quality in a hairy dog. YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!
We are now making a point to shut the door to that room at all times and hopefully this will no longer be an issue. (The cats have another way in, through a door with a baby gate on it.)
Unfortunately, last night, Pancake had a seizure. It was really scary and he's at the vet right now. I talked to the vet and he said that the physical exam was fine and that they're running blood work. He suspects that the seizure is a result of the concussion and head trauma Pancake got when he was run over last fall- the blood work is to rule out any infections being the source of the seizure. I'll probably get to take him home tonight and if it's just a seizure center from the head trauma, all there is to do is watch him. If he has seizures more than once a month, then he will be put on anti-convulsion medication. Poor kitty!
Another really scary thing is that when he had the seizure Homer attacked him. He also attacks the dogs when they yelp (like if I accidentally step on their foot). It's not his best quality. I'm not sure why he feels the need to attack when things are out of the ordinary- I guess it's his reaction to being frightened, but I wish I could do something about it. Too bad there isn't a cat whisperer!

I Amuse Myself to No End

I've been engaged less than a week and I've already found the ugliest dress on the planet. This is seriously like the Chinese Crested Dog of wedding dresses.

Western Wear

Our trip to Oklahoma was very nice. I really enjoyed spending time with my dear boyfriend's family this weekend. It was a lot of fun!
We got to Tulsa around 11 pm on Friday. We got up bright and early on Saturday to go buy my dear boyfriend a cowboy hat. He's been wanting one and found out that there was a sale at a local store. I think he looks pretty sharp. :)
After that we had brunch with his family, then hung out until dinner which was at Elements Steakhouse in the River Spirit Casino. It was really good! I very rarely eat beef for a number of reasons (I don't consider it to be a very healthy meat, and there is so much amazing seafood available in New Orleans that I don't miss it when I am dining out), but I figured that since I was in Oklahoma, I should get the steak. It was medium rare, served with gorgonzola cream sauce, and very tasty. We ended the evening by gambling. I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually gambled,but we all got $15 free dollars to gamble with from the casino (a combination of $5 for signing up for a player's card and $10 certificates given to us by my dear boyfriend's aunt- I'm not sure about the deal behind that) and I ended up spending no money of my own, and winning $4. High Roller! :P
On Sunday we had brunch at the casino, which was also very good. I had chicken fried steak and a roll, both smothered in white gravy; along with some macaroni and baked beans. I also had several chocolaty things for dessert. So yes, I ate enough food to power me for a week over the course of 2 days. Despite this, I later had a bbq pork sandwhich at the Memphis airport during our layover. I am a machine. :P
My dear boyfriend ate his weight in donuts and fried balogna (okay, he only had one piece of balogna, but I'm not kidding about the donuts!) at the buffet and was full until breakfast on Monday.
Speaking of Monday morning, the cat decided that he was too bored for us to hit the snooze button (since we got home around 9:30 on Sunday night and went to bed not much later) and woke me up by biting my hand. He then jumped on my dear boyfriend. He was playing- but being pretty rough. When we shooed him off the bed, he sat down and started howling! Poor kitty was ready for someone to pay attention to him! I spent yesterday referring to him as Cat the Ripper.
As for this week, I am just getting back into the swing of not eating like it's my last meal, getting back in my runs (I didn't manage to work out at all, unsurprisingly), and getting things done at work. I'm hoping I'll have a very low key weekend because the last few weeks have been so busy- it's been a little overwhelming.
Tonight I am driving to pick up my schnauzers! I've missed my little furry boys. :)

We're Ready for Our Close Up, Mr. DeMille

Bernie and Hereaux got to ride in my new car for the first time today. Of course, they would have preferred their inaugural voyage to be to somewhere other than the Vet/Groomer, but they look awfully cute with their much needed haircuts. Bernie, for those of you who have yet to meet my little doggies, is the dark salt n' pepper doggie on the left, and Hereaux (pronounced "Hero") is the silver doggie on the right. They are both Miniature Schnauzers. I am loving their little checked scarves. Very dapper, boys. :)

The Four Schnauzers of the Apocalypse

I am dog sitting my parent's two miniature schnauzers this week while they are on vacation in Italy. My two miniature schnauzers are far from the best behaved doggies in the world, but my parent's dogs are far less disciplined. So far we've had 3 incidents of urination (Although one was from my dog Bernie, in reaction to another dog peeing in his house! The nerve!), but the dogs are far less barky than they are at my parent's house. Its amazing how effective telling them to stop barking actually is.
My parents, I might add, think I'm incredibly cruel for putting their little tinklers in dog cages when I leave the house. They really don't believe me when I tell them that crate training is a good thing!
My poor boyfriend, cat person extraordinaire, is tolerating our four legged house guests as well as possible. He gets bonus points for not staying somewhere else this week (which is actually his birthday week, to boot), since they have decided that they want to sleep with him on his side of the bed at night!