Instant Portland Happiness

Take about 583,000 people and subject them to rainy, gray weather for months on end.  Then, out of nowhere, pump the temperature into the 80s and send sunny skies.  The result:  instant happiness.

Reading Mockingjay at Kenton Park


Families were out with their BBQ

People were out playing basketball.

There was general lounging.

It was a fabulous day.

NWCTC's Much Ado About Nothing

And so the Shakespeare repeats begin.  This is the first time since we began reading all the plays that we've seen the same play twice.  We saw Much Ado about Nothing last summer, on the hottest day of the year. So we didn't have to read for this one, we'd already completed that task.  As evidenced by the poster, this play was set in a 60s-style beach blanket style setting which worked incredibly well with the plot.  There was a great scene showing off the surfing skills of the rivals and the two songs in the play became sing-alongs around the campfire. The costumes were great too.

It's here!

Matt is officially a Licensed Professional Counselor!

Ikea gift card spent!

I finally got out to Ikea to spend my Christmas Gift Card. It went a long way.

I got some drawer dividers, a napkin holder, some other drawer dividers, new dishes for the cats, a rack to hang things on, a new soap dispenser, a new bowl for the cats, a picture frame, two new lights for my desk, some fancy bed sheets and an Ikea bag to carry it all.

Thanks Linda!

New Games!

Our friend Joshin gave us a gift certificate to Bridgetown Games and here is what we spent it on:
 

Save Doctor Lucky is a game where you follow Doctor Lucky around the Titanic trying to save him before it goes down.  It's family friendly and about 30 minutes long.

10 Days in the USA we bought because the box said it takes 5 minutes to explain.  This is true, and despite the game's simplicity, it is still quite fun to play and involves shifting strategies.  You've got 10 days to craft a trip in the USA.  Collect the right combination of tiles to win.  For those of you who want to work on your world geography, there is also 10 days in:  Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. In fact, I've just discovered that if you have four different versions of the game you can play 20 Days Around the World.  Sounds fun.

The Hunger Games Jabber Jay Game (or, as I like to call it: "The Hunger Games Game") was a cheap movie tie-in I could not resist.  It has a two-player version and an up-to-12 player version.  I've heard the "more than seven" version is very fun, but I'm guessing I won't be playing that version any time soon.

Thanks Joshin for increasing our game shelf.

Shamrock Run. Or: Holy cow!

Matt ran the Shamrock Run today and I'm just going to spoil the surprise to tell you that he did quite well.

Matt's been running with the Getting Edge-y Running Club at our gym, Edge Performance Fitness. He runs every Sunday morning. The Shamrock Run is a 15k run which is 9.32 miles. This is farther than he usually runs.

Saying hello to Jean, his future teammate in the Spartan Race

The starting line. Runs start early, but thankfully there was no rain. Or snow. We've been having a lot of snow flurries.

Taking off the layers in preparation for the race.

Ready to run.

Finding his pace group.

The Shamrock Run had a rolling start. The announcers would say, "Begin running," and people would begin running. Then they would say, "And now please stop. Please stop. Please stop."

And people would stop running.

And wait to go. They can do this rolling start because the runners all have chips on their shoes. Their time begins when they cross over those three blue mats.

The announcers would talk while they were waiting to let the runners go.

The announcers looking for the traffic light to change. Because Naito Parkway usually hosts cars, the announcers just used the traffic lights to put gaps in the runners.

After seeing Matt off, I found some shelter (it was still pretty cold, even if it wasn't raining) and sat down to read for a while. That's 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I knew I had at least an hour.

When the announcers let me know that the first runner was headed toward the finish line, I found a space along the rail and watched the first runners come in. It's amazing to see how fast they run.

I didn't have to wait long at all for Matt to appear. It took him only 1:10:41 to run the entire 9.32 miles. That's a pace of 7:35. Holy cow! He was really flying. Other stats: He finished 622 overall, he was 104/551 in his division and he finished 509/3042 of the men. Well done!

Matt is excited about his finish.

The prostrate guy in the background is clipping off an electronic shoe tag.

On the way to find food, he takes a picture of a family.

The chowder was great, but it was served in very tiny Dixie cups.

We found more food at the Park Bistro. And hot tea. I was freezing. Matt was hungry and worn out until later that day. It was a fun race for both of us.

Surprise potatoes

Digging for this year's crop of potatoes over at Stephanie's house, we found that we were not very thorough last fall when harvesting. They held up well over the winter and were good eating.