mossy days

Hello everyone! I had a very nice long weekend with Monday off for Martin Luther King Day. The rain continues here with flooding and mudslides popping up across the state. I don't mind the rain but I do miss the sun. sigh

Friday night a group of us drove out to Hillsboro, a suburb on the far western side of Hillsboro, to see Dave play at an Irish pub. Molly drove me, Gina & John and Elaine rode out with Dave and Eric who was playing banjo for the night. Steve was also there to play mandolin and harmonica. The pub was called Crowley's of Cork and was in the middle of suburban sprawl. I could never live in Hillsboro. You can tell that 7 years ago it was mostly farmland and has since been paved over with strip malls. yuck! The beers were good, Smithwick's on tap, as was the food. I had an RLT, a blt made with rashers, a yummy Irish bacon. We listened to the music and played hangman (sesquipedalian, meaning polysyllabic or a long, ponderous word). Us Portlanders closed down the bar and were the last people to leave when they closed. We were in the car and leaving and at 9:48 PM (!!!). ahhhh suburbia! It seemed to take forever to get back home but the drive was amusing. Molly cracks me up.

We went back to Elaine & Gina's house to hang out. Molly, pregnant woman that she is, decided to head home for the night. Elaine, Gina, John & I played a round of Shanghai Rummy which was really fun.

Saturday morning I woke up and watched a movie, Hustle and Flow. I showered and ran some errands before heading up to Mt Tabor Park. I walked around both the lower and upper reservoirs and took lots of pictures. All this rain has led to most stationary things being covered in beautiful, plush moss. At one point I had to retreat to my car when it began hailing and pouring rain. I drove as far up as I could and then walked to the top to see the city after the passing rain. When I left Mt Tabor I went to Elaine's house to get my pictures off my camera. I went home then and talked with Camille before starting a movie. I watched The Constant Gardner which I really liked. Rachel Weisz' character was really great and it was very suspenseful. Late that night I went to the airport to pick up Mark, a man I've been seeing. He had changed his flight to come back early from New York. I drove him to his house in NW Portland.

The next day we went out to breakfast in The Pearl, a schmancy part of Portland that used to be an industrial area. I had hazelnut pancakes and coffee. The neighborhood has incredible amounts of construction going on. I drove home and talked with Camille for a while then read the Sunday paper. I read my book for a while and tried to nap but gave up since the neighbors were playing Eminem. In the evening I went to Elaine & Gina's house and we drove over to Erin and Terry's house for dinner and to watch 24. It's the only show I regularly watch as I don't like being tied to the tv. We enjoy watching it together though and call it our weekly heart attack. Erin made a great dinner of chicken enchiladas, spanish rice and a big caesar salad. We drank beers and had our collective heart attack.

Monday I slept in which was really wonderful as I haven't been sleeping well lately. I did my Pilates workout then showered and went to the coffee shop near my house. I got a yummy prosciutto croissant sandwich and a mocha and read my book. I stopped by Elaine's house for a bit but she was pretty swamped with work. I went back home and talked on the phone with Nandita in San Francisco for a while. It was really great to talk with her for so long. I then read my book for a long time before going over to Elaine and Gina's for dinner. We've moved our standing Tuesday night dinners to Monday night because of 24. We had fabulous burgers from the grill with all the toppings. After we ate we played cards. We actually had 2 games of Phase 10 going because there were so many people, 8 that is. Just before 8 o'clock we all piled into the living room and watched 24 again. Oh the suspense! We have a silence rule and people are shushed for daring to speak while a character is speaking! It's pretty funny actually. We all laugh at the hilarious faces made by Chloe, one of the characters on the show.

So that was my weekend. I'll be posting lots of pictures from Mt Tabor. I don't have my pictures from Dave's show on Friday with me so I will post those later in the week. Please let me know how you are and what you've been up to. I hope all is well!

xoxo,
carolyn