The Thrill of Victory

Last year on the 4th of July weekend being inspired by the competitive spirit of Wimbledon and the World Cup decided to have a badminton tournament inspired by two of the USA's least popular sports, tennis and soccer. My partner and I were runners-up last year but thanks to a stacked team and a no-show by the defending champs (Jeff and Jamie), my partner Shaun and I won the tournament (though, if you ask my room mate Carolyn she would say her team was robbed).

Here are some photos and a video from the event. It is only half way through that we realize we are being filmed. The amazingly patriotic victory cake was made by Carolyn. Warning the video below contains some graphic, fake kissing.

I added this one mainly for the people in the background trying to steal the show.

Summer Vacation

I recently went on vacation and hit 6 states and 2 countries in 9 days, not too shabby. I started out in Myrtle beach for two days and enjoyed a bit of a beach vacation. Then it was off to Utah where I had dinner with my brother, his fiance and son. Then to Idaho via Wyoming for a few days to see my grandparents and gather the troops who would be making the epic journey to Glacier National Park. We spent 4 days in Glacier, one on the Canadian side. It is truly an awe inspiring and beautiful place.

I've had numerous people ask me about the trip and while it was a little too rainy, windy and cool for my taste; any trip where no one shouts an expletive at someone during the trip is deemed a success in my mind.

Here we all are in the car ready to go:)

Mike and me on our brother-sister bonding hike. James is taking the picture

Me and a bear. This (me getting out of the car) made Chenoa very angry.

Cuddly bears from Dad and Chris. They bought bears for our nieces and nephew and I may have said something about how I never received cuddly animals as mementoes from trips, and voila we magically received bears.

Looking out on a glacial lake whose name I can't remember.

Some helpful literature that enabled me to identify animal scat we came across on the trail.

On the Trail of the Cedars.

Avalanche Lake I think?

On the trail to Avalanche Lake.

Seattle to Portland

Remember when I said I as going to be a better blogger...neither do I.

Here's a bit of a travelogue of my trip to Seattle and Portland. It was a nice break from the warmth and sunshine of Atlanta. That may sound weird but it was nice be in a place where everything was lush and green not because of torrential rain, 100% humidity and 90 degree weather; but due to a crisp, lighter rain and weather that generally still requires you wear a jacket even on a summer's night.

I flew into Seattle and met up with my friend Amy, who you might recognize from some of my other travels. I love that she is still willing to entertain my travel whims. We stayed at a place in a central location. It was a little dingy but for $55 dollars a night I thought it was a steal. Plus it had a DVD player, which enabled the initiation of my latest addiction, watching Veronica Mars.

In Seattle we bought a City Pass. If you are into the touristy stuff I definitely recommend it. 59$ for a pass to see all the major sights. It got us into the Seattle Aquarium, Seattle Zoo, Experience Music Project, Space Needle and we took a ferry around the harbor. Another highlight was visiting the world headquarters of REI, I am proud to say I didn't buy anything, though was sorely tempted.

After two days in Seattle we headed for Portland. It was a beautiful drive. We stopped as a little mom and pop place for breakfast. We both ordered from section of the menu labeled lite breakfast choices. You know things like pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits... I imagine the reason it was peddled as lite was because it came with an orange slice and parsley as a garnish.

We tried to see Mt St. Helens on the way down but cloud cover and closed roads foiled our attempt so it was on to Portland.

Near Mt. St. Helens, you can see where the lava flowed through the valley.

Before we met up with our friend and tour guide Brian, who we know from Michigan, we stopped at a cemetery and Washington park. Upon arrival I was struck by the number of homeless people I saw in Portland-- I am told that Portland does actually have one of the highest numbers of homeless people in the US-- however I quickly realized that many of the people I pegged as homeless were indeed not, but instead just northwest hipsters. Most homeless people don't usually drive around in Outbacks or on $1000 bikes.

The night we arrived we went golfing at a temporary miniature golf fixture. I say fixture because the golf course was made by artists and despite their not being engineers worked quite well, if not a little dangerous. Sadly I didn't take any pictures.

Sunday was mother's day and we spent it with Brian's sister and family. We also took the chance to take a hike in a place where they filmed scenes from Twilight. I'm a bit embarrassed about this but in the spirit of full disclosure we reenacted one of the scenes as they had the screenplay info right there for us.

The three of us hiking around Twilight filming area.

Monday was another nature and hiking day. We hiked Multnomah Falls and Punchbowl Falls. Both were amazing hikes with great views of the water falls. We also took a tram ride, went to Powell's Book store (the biggest bookstore in the US), and Voodoo Doughnuts. Then it was off to the airport for me as I had redeye to Atlanta.

Multnomah Falls

Array of Voodoo Doughnuts

Overall I really enjoyed the northwest but fear the cloudiness might be too much. However, as I stepped out of the Hartfield Jackson Airport on to the MARTA platform after my redeye to 85 degrees and 95% humidity weather, I almost longed to be back under the cool, dreary, gray blanket of the northwest sky.

Other Pictures:

Pike's Place Market

Seattle Zoo

From the top of the Space Needle

At the Experience Music Project they had a special exhibit on the early 90s music scene and grunge (i.e. Nirvana). I took a picture of this as it incorporates two things that consume my life, music and breastfeeding.

Old Industrial complex that has been turned into a park.

Amy overcoming one of her greatest fears to pet an icky sea creature at the Aquarium.

We went to a cemetery (I love them) in both Seattle and Portland. I think this picture is from the Seattle Cemetery.

Famous park view looking over Seattle.

Me eating a Voodoo doughnut.

Did you know you can't pump your own gas in Oregon? It's against the law. Here's a picture of someone pumping our gas.

I'm Annoying!

I've always been somewhat easily annoyed by others (though in my defense I have relaxed a lot these last few years). Today I learned how annoying I am. I've always had a hunch that I am annoying but now there is a scale to measure it by. It is brought to you by none other than my favorite news source, NPR.

While the screen shot below says I scored a 2.8 I actually got a 2.99 on my first try, which is .10 more annoying than the average person. Unfortunately I don't know if that is significant difference from the mean but I always knew I was above average. According to this scale my even saying that makes me more annoying. This scales is fun so here's the link. Enjoy and let me know if you beat my score, whatever that means:)

Slogging no more...maybe

Last weekend I went on vacation to Seattle with my friend Amy and then we met up with our friend Brian in Portland. The subject of blogging came up more than once and they are such good bloggers that it has inspired me to be a better blogger myself. We'll see how long this resolution lasts. I justspent so much time revamping my blog and trying to get my header just right--it is not cooperating-- that I already feel the slogging coming on. Nonetheless I at least have some pictures from my latest adventure to post... which I am sure I will get up shortly:)

Amy, Brian and I at Multinomah Falls.

Another Year, Another Garden

It's that time of year again and what better day to blog about my garden than on Easter Sunday; as Easter always reminds me of spring and new life. Even though I moved and no longer actually live where I gardened last year, the home owner has allowed fellow gardener, Kirsten, and I to till the land once more. Since it's close to work and where Kirsten lives it works out well. I can't remember everything we planted but here are a few I do:

Mr. Stripey Tomatoes

Black Cherry Tomatoes

Roma tomatoes

Two kinds of Lettuce: Purple and Green

Jalepeanos

Peppers

Beans

Spaghetti Squash

Egg Plant

Don't Be fooled into thinking the mint in the middle is due our gardening efforts. It's invasive, annoying, impossible to get rid of and not part of our garden.

Kirsten: fellow gardener, coworker, office mate and friend.

Your's truly tenderly tilling God's green, umm..... brown earth.

Wee Goaty

I like goats. I think my adoration for them stems from a culmination of reasons including: my friend Emily's love for goats rubbed off on me; I thoroughly enjoyed an outing to Grumpy's Goat Shack in Victor Idaho where I had a delicious hot dog awhile back; they make the cutest noises; I love goat cheese; my general championing for under-appreciated things. Any way, this last weekend I took part in a service project at Camp Twin Lakes in Winder Georgia-it is a summer camp for children with special needs. I laid sod all day Saturday but I took a journey to a small, wonderful corner of the camp where I met my new best friend. I named him Wee Goaty, because he is so cute and small. He even seemed to have a slight cold and we bonded over the fact that we were both congested. However, mine is a chronic disease, I hope that Wee Goaty just has a cold because I would never wish on him the debilitating condition from which I suffer from daily and that brings upon me ridicule and despair from unfeeling people.

However, this is not just a post to introduce you to my friend but he needs my help. He is stuck in pen with a huge rooster, and when I say huge I am not exaggerating. Plus the rooster seems like a bully. He bullies Wee Goaty, the bunnies in the pen and the other chickens. I am trying to get Wee Goaty a companion/lifepartner. He needs a fellow goat to help him work out his differences with the rooster. I am having a friend talk to the camp about it and hopefully they agree. I'll try and keep you all updated about very important cause.