Loser

Mama said I'd lose my head

If it wasn't fastened on.

Today I guess it wasn't

'Cause while playing with my cousin

It fell off and rolled away

And now its gone.

And I can't look for it

'Cause my eyes are in it,

And I can't call to it

'Cause my mouth is on it

(Couldn't hear me anyway

'Cause my ears are on it),

Can't even think about it

'Cause my brain is in it.

So I guess I'll sit down

On this rock

And rest for just a minute…

~Shel Silverstein

I recited this poem for an audience in 4th grade. Who knew the foreshadowing this poem held for me 20 years later. In the last 2 weeks I've managed to leave my camera at the Fourth of July Fireworks at Tigard HS (never to be seen again) and my hiking shoes at the trail head for Saddle Mountain (luckily found awaiting me hours later when we returned for them...thanks Craig!!). What is happening to me? All of my friends tell me you start to lose your mind and forget things once you have kids. I think it's only coincidental that it happens then and really I think it's just about getting old. I've never been one to forget things...my red/type A/anal retentive (whatever you choose to call it) personality won't allow for it. So, either I'm loosening up in my 30s, or I'm losing my mind. Either way, it's resulting in losing stuff, which I'm not happy about. Am I going to turn into my mother and attach anything of value to my person or their designated location with an old brown piece of yarn? So help me...

P.S. Due to the loss of the camera, a post on the trek will be forthcoming...sorry for the delay. Stay tuned!

Calling All Stalkers

FYI: If you are a stalker on this blog and you happen to run into me at Joann Fabrics in Tigard on a Saturday afternoon, don’t be afraid to say hi!! As awkward as you think the conversation might be, I’d love to meet you!*

*unless you are a creepy person who’s not a friend of a friend of a friend and you are planning to lure me to your unmarked van with candy and then kill me. I would not love to meet you.

The Game

As has been previously mentioned (I seem to be saying that a lot lately) I have a LOVE of other people's photos. So, when I saw this game on Sara's blog, I had to play along. Here is my resulting mosaic.


Want to play? Here's how:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

photo credits: 1. Renee, 2. Pad Thai - Closeup Pad Thai, 3. Hey, Hot Shot! Entries: Remi Thornton, 4. Pink for the Cure, 5. Pace Family, 6. cocacola, 7. Belize 020, 8. Chocolate Cake Balls, 9. MOMMY & BABY / MAMÃE E BEBÊ, 10. fisher price lil people, 11. Genuine Smile, 12. A Star and an Elephant

Gimpy McGimperson

It was the last two minutes of our indoor soccer game on Tuesday night. I went hard for a ball in the corner, determined to score at least one goal in our currently 0-5 game. Just one goal!! Well, apparently I was a little too determined, because I rolled over my ankle, heard a little snap, crackle, and pop, and I was down for the count. I've sprained many an ankle before, but never had the pain been this bad. I can usually "walk it off" or at least "walk off the field" but not this time. I had to literally be carried off the field. The injury necessitated a trip to the ER later that night and since then I've been sitting on my toosh trying to rest it. Here is what I've learned in my days of invalidacy (is that a word??):

1. It takes an act of God to get me to slow down. I've been ridiculously exhausted over the last week and half and there was no end in sight. I think this sprain was God's way of telling me that I need to take a break and have a rest.

2. I have amazing friends! Everyone was so helpful from getting me ice, to getting me home, to getting me food, to giving me a blessing, to taking me to the ER, to checking up on me. I am so blessed to have such good people in my life.




3. I sort of love going to the ER. This is probably because I've never had a horrible or traumatic experience there (well, I take that back, a few were bad). But, mostly they've been for sprained ankles...and those trips are fun. Your friends are there, you get to play with the hospital equipment (last time this involved me being inverted in my hospital bed by Scott and Joe when the doctor finally came in), and just hanging out.

4. I have discovered the best kept secret hospital in the Portland area. I'm not going to tell you what it is or else it won't be a secret anymore, but we were in and out of the ER in less than an hour (including check-in, x-rays, doctor's chat, splinting, crutches, and a conversation with the nurse about indoor soccer). And everyone there was SUPER friendly and fun. They made for a great ER experience!

5. I hate crutches. I used them for about 5 minutes to get into the house after the hospital and they've since been ditched. I'd rather hobble around like a gimp. The doctor says it's good for healing :) I might be singing a different tune when I go back to work tomorrow and I'll bring them just in case. But I won't be happy about it.

6. As much as I thought I'd love to have a few days at home with nothing to do but watch TV and check email...I'm bored out of my mind. My toosh hurts and I wish I could get off this couch and do something. I'm definitely well rested, but also a little stir crazy. It's funny how when I have full use of all my limbs I don't want to go to the gym...but now all I can think about is going for a run.

7. (this one I already knew) I hate the fact that I don't bruise. When I get hurt badly, I want something to show for it. But no, I get a perfectly flesh colored ankle that's a little swollen. Why can't I get all black and blue and that sick yellow color (like this). I need war wounds...I've got nothing to show for it!!

Larry vs. Me

(check below for all of the posts that I started weeks ago and am only now getting to finish. Thank goodness for an injury and a few days off, huh??)

I Love Visitors - Emily Edition

I think I've mentioned it before, but I've had more visitors in the year I've lived in Portland than I did in the entire 4 years I was in LA. Maybe even more than LA plus the 3 years I was in DC! I'm telling you...Portland is the new vacation destination! Come and check it out for yourself!! In light of this, I'm instituting "I Love Visitors" as a new spot on the blog. (watch, this will jinx me and I won't get any more).


Little Miss Emily came for a visit to Portland a few weeks ago! It was SO great to see her!! She did a pretty good job of outlining the trip on her blog. I went down to Eugene to pick her up and spent a lovely evening with her aunt and uncle who were very fun and hospitable. We had a great dinner, slept in, looked at her uncle's new koi pond, and then had a nice drive up to Portland. We spent our time shopping, eating, touring historical sites, watching great movies, and hiking in the rain. We even did a bunch of things I've never done before like happy hour at Jake's Famous Crawfish, The Chinese Gardens, and a great hike in Northwest. These things will definitely be added to the Portland visitors' itinerary. It was such a fun trip, and mostly just great to hang out with Em. Thanks for coming Emily!! I hope you come back soon!

A Year in the Life

This week I hit my one-year anniversary in the Great Northwest, Portland Oregon. As with most anniversaries, I have this "Didn't I just move here?" and "Man, I feel like I've been here for WAY over a year" combination of feelings. Since A Year in the Life of Miss Renee has been adequately documented on this hear blog, I won't do the full recap. But, I just have to say that it's been an amazing year. I've been completely happy with my move and have loved being here from the moment my big toe entered this fine state. I have made some incredible friends, have had a lot of fun exploring the city, and have been really happy. It has been a great place for me to be and I've learned a lot since moving here. It will be fun to see what the next year has in store for me :)

Arachnophobia

I'd like to preface this post by saying that I'm not typically afraid of spiders, bugs or snakes. I don't particularly love them in my house, but they do not generally evoke any fear or anxiety. In fact, I once had a little bee friend when I was in school at CSU. He would come and hang out with me on the quad when I would study/nap between classes (and let's be honest, there was definitely more napping than studying). But me and the bee - no fear, just friends.

I was taking a sleepy shower this morning (my term for trying to get a few extra minutes of shut-eye by taking a shower with my eyes closed) when, through a tiny open slit, I saw this:

Yes, this GIGANTIC spider was perched on the wall just above the shower head. This not so little guy tore me from my sleepy state and had me at full attention for the rest of my shower. He was HUGE and brought flashbacks of that scene in Arachnophobia where the spider lands on the showering girl's face and she dies (she died, right? It's been a while.). At any rate, standing naked and wet in an enclosed space with a possibly deadly spider left me feeling a little vulnerable. But, I was only on step one of my 5 step showering process (you can ask me later) and all 5 steps were necessary on this particular day. I spent the entire shower in a state of near panic and even bruised my heels when spidey momentarily lost his grip on the increasingly misty wall and almost plummeted into the bathtub with me. Luckily he caught himself, but it didn't stop him from trudging on in his pursuit of the ceiling. When it came time to rinse out my conditioner, I positioned the shower head nearly horizontal to the ground and had to back bend into the stream of water so I could keep one eye on him at all times. I didn't need him slipping down (or intentionally jumping) onto my face and killing me with his poison bite.

After the traumatic showering I was trying to figure out how to dispose of spidey so I didn't find him waiting for me in my bed when I came home tonight. Luckily, as I was devising my plan, I heard a big thud and realized he'd fallen from the ceiling and was awaiting his death-by-drowning on the bottom of the tub. With a quick flick of the nozzle, I was able to whisk him away in a perfectly safe (for me) and humane (I'm assuming) death down the bathtub drain. Phew! I'm so glad that's over. Now I can return to my 20 minutes of snoozing-while-pretending-to-get-clean in the mornings.