Our "Big Adventure"

Amelia and I decided to make the most of her last day on vacation by going on what she calls a "big adventure". This entails taking the light rail downtown and exploring around. So, despite the rain, drizzle, and darkness, we set out with Zebra, Little Bear, Raggedy Ann, and some spare undies of course. Unlike me, I brought my camera with working batteries and snagged some shots.

Waiting for the train

Riding sideways on the train (can turn it upright in iPhoto, but not here)

Crossing the Steel Bridge over the Willamette River

We arrive at the train station

An obligatory shot in front of the sea lion fountain

Amelia smiling in the Central Library

A nice view out the window in the kids' section of the library

Amelia singing a Christmas carol to me

Reflection of ourselves and the train passing by

Finally, at the right angle. Just before we headed home we got this shot of her in this nice little Mimi-sized nook.

Note: Any hints on getting the pictures to stand upright would be helpful. Thanks.

Roasted

How am I supposed to keep readers if I only do quarterly posts? Ah well.

Anyways, I got a wad of cash for Christmas--thanks Mom and Dad. I'm going to spend it on a brand new coffee roaster. I usually spend these cash gifts on clothes, which was again my first thought, but I wanted to think outside of the box a bit and get something fun instead. So, I think I've found the model that fits into my price range/needs and lo and behold, I can buy it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Somehow, it takes the romance out of buying a coffee roaster when you have to walk into a Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick it up. But hey, I won't have to pay for shipping it online.

So it's the Hearthenware I-Roast 2.

It's got a bunch of nifty settings and ways to control the roasting and I'm super psyched! I can't wait to be able to nuance my roasts instead of the limits that I had trying to roast with a popper. Don't get me wrong, the popcorn popper is an excellent roaster. I'm just excited about the prospect of a new toy.

In other news--

I'm on vacation . . . again!

I'm contemplating violin lessons after a 10 year break.

We were all sick for Christmas, including Amelia with Pink Eye.

Ariana got me a baking stone, cedar incense, and some really fancy socks for Christmas.

I've also caught almost 8 mice in the last month and did a major clean up behind our fridge and under our sink to rid ourselves of the rodents. I still gasp and jump every time I see one run across the kitchen.

Oh, and I borrowed a set of Johnny Cash CDs from the great Olympia Shacks and man, what a genius that Johnny Cash was. I wish I could sing that low.

Well, I'll try to be a bit more consistent here. Take care everyone and thanks for reading.

Our Weekly Bread

Because we (Little A and me) eat a lot of bread around here, we thought it would be good to make some at home instead of always buying it.  So, I came upon a simple, foolproof recipe for Spelt Bread that turns out every time.  It's slightly sweet, very hearty, and it does not have any wheat.  Here's the recipe from The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book (I know, not the first place you'd run to for a bread recipe, but hey it's great stuff):

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 1/4 cups warm filtered water

2 tbsp organic coconut oil, warmed to a liquid consistency

3 tbsp raw honey or brown rice syrup ( I usually do a combo of honey and agave nectar.)

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups spelt flour (final amount varies on humidity)

Mix 1/4 cup warm water with yeast and let sit 

In large bowl, mix 1 cup warm water, liquified coconut, oil, honey, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of flour.  When yeast is bubbly, add it to the mixing bowl.  Beat generously for 60 seconds to develop the gluten.  Add another cup of flour gradually while stirring to make a soft dough.  

Of a floured board, knead the dough for 10 minutes while gradually adding more flour to form the dough into a round loaf.  Add enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the board,  but not so much that it falls apart.  Form into rectangular shape, place it into a greased bread pan, and set it in  a warm place to rise for an hour.  When the dough has risen slightly, bake at 350 degrees for half an hour.  

This makes one small loaf, so I double the recipe and get two loaves out of it.  Enjoy!

Hot Chicks!

After several months of procrastination I finally completed our chicken coop.  We also got chickens.  Actually, the day I finished the coop, we picked up our hens 15 minutes after I nailed the last board.  This was surprisingly fun.  For a guy that has not even built a box and can barely pound a nail without bending it, this presented quite the challenge.  There's something rather gratifying about making something with your hands.  

We got two chickens, which type I cannot remember.  We decided on Spanish names:  Susana and Carmen.  I still haven't picked them up.  They like A much better as she gives them sweet treats of corn cobs and compost scraps.  They've given us four eggs in total, which were promptly eaten for breakfast on a Saturday morning.  They're taking a break, though, and have lost a considerable amount of plumage.  Hopefully they will lay again soon.  

So here it is:

And I forgot to mention that nothing of this coop is new, except the chicken wire.  All of the wood, the aluminum roofing, the screen door, and the window were obtained second hand through friends or at the wonderful Rebuilding Center.  So, even though it doesn't look like much, I'm darn proud.  And it's still standing.  Ha!

Happy Birthday

My first and only child is celebrating her 3^rd birthday today.  What a wonderful person she has become.  I have the rare privilege of being a papa that has so much time off due to the nature of my job that I can spend a lot of time with her.  I remember when she was born, I was off for the summer and had two months to be with her and Ariana as we adjusted to our new lives as a family together.  I relish the time I have to spend with this little person.  She has quite a way with people and we never go unnoticed while out in public.  She is the first to initiate a conversation with anyone she sees, asking, “What’s your name?” which is usually followed by “What are you doing?” 

Among Amelia’s favorite things are: Mama, going out to a restaurant, strawberries, salmon, bread, watermelon, popsicles, the library, books, Kipper, Pingu, mud, dirt, digging, preschool, visiting Grandma and Grampy, the carousel, going downtown, OMSI, and drinking tea.  I cherish the times that we have to take walks together, not walking more than 3 feet before we have to stop and look at something that she sees.  I even cherish the times that I have to get up with her so often at night just to hold her when she cries.  I appreciate that I can still put my cheek on hers and she doesn’t push me away.

I just don’t understand how Ariana and I got so blessed as to have this amazing person in our lives.  She is so loving and kind, so self-assured and outgoing.  She is such a good kid.  She rarely ever makes a scene in public.  Being out with her is pure delight.  She is constantly amazed by the world and is working so hard to understand it:  “Why, Papa, why?”  I appreciate how she causes me to bend down and notice the world from a different perspective. 

So raise your glasses to Mimi.  Happy Birthday!

Sweet Relief and Now Suspense

The agency that I work for finally got some concrete information on their budget for this upcoming year and everyone's job has been saved, including mine!  Apparently, some money "showed up" and we have what we need to get through the year without laying off even the least senior member of our staff.  All of us couldn't tell whether to be joyful or totally ticked.  "You mean to tell me I went through the stress of applying for 4 jobs and interviewing for one just to find out that everything's fine?"  Obviously, we're all relieved and happy to be doing what we are, even if caseloads are still going to be adversely affected and service to kids and families will look totally different.  I am just happy to be able to bring home some bacon.  So, I've got another year guaranteed.  Hallelujah!

In other news, I interviewed last week for the job with Sterling Medical in Sicily.  If I haven't explained already, it is a job working for the Department of Defense, but this company is a recruiter of medical personnel and Early Intervention Specialists to work for the DoD.  I had an interview scheduled for 6 am and woke up at 5 to be ready, only to find out that it was pushed back to 7 am.  I drove out to a nice view and did my interview which turned out to be much less than I anticipated.  It was only 20 minutes of questions like, "So Italian drivers are known for being rather reckless and this job requires a lot of driving.  Would you be okay driving through Sicily to get from place to place?"  My favorite question was, "Your caseload would not be nearly as heavy as what you are handling now (30 kids).  Would you be okay with this?"  I honestly expected more grilling questions that would make me sweat.  There were a few difficult ones, but nothing that bad.  I spent 10 minutes asking them questions and then they had to cut me short to do another interview after me.  

It was hard to tell how it went.  It felt solid, but not stellar.  We will see.  Now I wait.  They said last week on Wednesday that it would be roughly 3 weeks until they would have a decision.  It's very difficult not to be Google Imaging Sicily and reading up on possible towns to live in.  I don't want to count those chickens yet.  But, again, all you praying types, please lift one up for us.  This has been the most stressful time on record for us.  Having a job is a huge piece of that puzzle, but there are others that still remain.  Will I get this job?   Will we make an international move or not?  How will we get rid of our house that we need to get rid of regardless of moving to Sicily or not?  As the dust settles, I'll give updates here.  

Night Out

Last weekend I went to see Joshua Bell play Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.  It was really amazing.  We were given the tickets as a prize from an auction at A's preschool.  I have listened to Heifetz play this concerto for years on a CD that I have, but have never seen it live.  It was breathtaking to watch the music come through him.  His cadenzas were virtuosic and beautiful.  It's strange how much music moves me.  I'm sure this has something to do with having played the violin for so long and growing up with a father who is a music teacher.  

When he finished, he did the funny ritual of receiving applause, going backstage, and coming out again several times until finally, he played an encore.  Yet he didn't play some other great classical work, he played Yankee Doodle.  It started out sounding much like an alternate cadenza to the concerto, but then all of a sudden, you could hear the melody.  He then did multiple variations on the melody with clever use of double stops and even one using solely harmonics (a technique of touching the string very lightly).  It was great as it really showcased the violin's and music's whimsical potential.  Most would expect that classical music and the violin is monotone in it's solemnity, but he truly demonstrated how funny it can really be.  The whole crowd was cracking up.  

The night was made better by happy hour at Park Kitchen and a walk through the Park Blocks with Ariana.  Sweet relief from life's stress.  Now it's time to dust off my fiddle.  

Semi Update

So I finally spoke with the HR lady at the recruiting company I'm applying to and she said that she now forwards my application onto the Early Intervention clinic in Sicily and they will contact me to set up a phone interview after which point I will either be hired or not.  Hopefully this will happen rather quickly.  It also turns out that only one other person, so far, is competing with me for this position.  So, chances are good.  

On another note, the tone seems to be changing at my work regarding layoffs.  It now sounds as if I might not get laid off as the least senior staff member was merely asked to be bumped to another department.  So, perhaps I will have a job.  It is interesting, though, that this comes up as this entire threat of losing my job has put me into a tail spin of sorts and led me on a new path toward this Dept. of Defense position.  I was talking with a colleague today about the necessity of changing course during different moments in life.  It was as I was talking with him that I began to wonder if God brought this whole threat of layoff just so that I would look into another opportunity for something really amazing for my family.  I would not have considered   this at all had this not come up.  I had dreams of retiring at this place.  It has been my feeling that God wants to do something to bless Ariana and I really want to do something that will do that as well.  And this may just be it.  Also, I have been really concerned that if I were to be laid off, what would I do for 4 months while waiting to start work as this position starts in October?  Perhaps, if I did keep my job, it would carry me through those 4 months and I would be able to sustain our family until we leave.  It's all just my human conjecture of God's workings.  We'll see.  Thanks for all the prayers!

The Golden Ticket

So after my last post, it probably comes as no surprise that life seems to be a constant stress at the moment:  impending job loss, moldy cupboards/wall/insulation from holy pipe, increasing debts.  I could really use some good news about now and it seems that I might get it.  After one tough night of tears, A and I decided to pray about our situation.  The next day at work, I read in our E-newsletter about opportunities working for the US Department of Defense as an educator.  I thought it was a huge long shot, but wanted to cast my nets wide.  I first applied for a coordinator-type position that felt a bit beyond me.  Then I applied for a job at my current work in another department.  Then I heard about this certain recruiter.  I inquired and sent them  my resume.  They were interested so they sent me a Technical Interview (TI), a long list of questions to answer, and I spent almost a whole day doing it.  I submitted that this week and got a call back today saying that my TI looked "really good" and that they would like to find out where my location preference is.  The choices are Seoul, Korea, Landstuhl, Germany, or Sigonella, Italy (Sicily).  She also mentioned that I should be getting an informational packet via UPS.  Also in an e-mail she said that the TI looked really good and she would like to speak to me about where I would like to proceed from here.  All that sounds really positive to me, so it's really hard not to jump ahead of myself and think that there's a good chance I got the position.  But, I do not want to count chickens.  

Not only is this Sicily, but the job itself sounds wonderful.  It's all Early Intervention, which means service to children birth to 3 and their families.  From the questions on the TI, it sounds like they hold the same philosophy as my current agency:  trans-disciplinary model of service, role-release, etc.  I would love the opportunity to hone my skills with Early Intervention and work more with families.  

On so many levels, it feels like the golden ticket to our problems.  I am not able to disclose any of the benefits, but we would most certainly be taken care of, thus financial stress would be so much less, Ariana would be happier in the sunny climate of her youth, we would be eating food we love, in a place that is just beautiful, I would be working in a position that I really like.  It's really hard not to feel that God has put this in place for us.  It is a lesson in patience and trust for which I am thankful.  

So, as Ariana said, for all you praying types, please pray for that which God wants for us.  

What a Week

I'm exhausted after this week.  As most of you already know, I'm going to be laid off.  It's not a matter of if, but when.  We're just waiting to get the budget report for the state and that will tell them how many they need to RIF (Reduction in Force).  I'm guessing I'll be done sometime in June.  I'm devastated as this has literally been the best job I've ever had with the best people I've ever worked with.  People are crying and hugging at work, joking about being cut.  It's a weird atmosphere.  

Then on top of all that, our drain pipe in our kitchen has been leaking with some huge holes in it.  See the picture above.  That was the pipe that took all our water out of our sink.  So, it infested our cupboards, drywall, and insulation with mold and so we tore everything out.  After it dried out and we threw our cupboards away, we were faced with the task of finding something else to hold up our heavy butcher block counter and sink.  This week was really tough with my inevitable layoff as a backdrop to all this mess.  We spent a long evening at IKEA and both came back completely wiped out.  Nothing like going to IKEA to make huge decisions with money you don't have.  The next evening was spent at Home Depot making more huge decisions and eating ready-made salads from Trader Joe's.  Then it was time to get to work.  So, I took a personal day from work and attached some wooden table legs to our counter and finally got all the plumbing, electric, etc. finished with the help of my father-in-law and Chris.  Ariana's making a curtain to go around the bottom and then it should finally be done.

I'll be taking another day off on Monday, just to get oriented with my job applications.  I'm keeping my options as open as possible.  I talked with a colleague about starting up some "playgroups" this summer that will be like a mini version of our groups that we run at my work.  It could potentially gross a good amount of income for us.  It is quite stressful, though, to think of having to collect unemployment and not being able to have insurance for a while.  I fear the uncertainty for my family and am being forced to trust God in a way that is more challenging than ever.  I am thankful that this trying circumstance brings about the fruit of trust.  It's a daily choice that, sadly, I'm not willing to make at times.  But I know from God's perspective that this is not a mistake.  It's simply another mile marker on the path he intended for us.  

So, humor has been a valuable distractor from all the chaos and I have had some friends send me some funny material.  This one had both A and I laughing pretty hard.  Despite all the doom and gloom, I am pretty excited about what may be around the next corner.  We'll just have to wait and see.  I'll keep you all posted.

Vacation Recap

That was a great vacation!  My weekend with A was wonderful and in our usual fashion, we did not take any pictures.  But anyway, we checked into our hotel on Friday evening and rushed on over to happy hour at Ten 01.  We felt like we were back in LA again.  Sleek, modern interior, fancy dinnerware, and really great food.  We started off with some oysters in a cucumber-yuzu mignonette.  My first oyster ever and it did not disappoint.  Then we had some clams and mussels in an herbed butter sauce.  Very good!  I also got a small hamburger that was excellent.  A surprise hit for both of us was the chicken liver mousse with fig jam.  Wow, it was creamy and delicious, full of flavor.  We also enjoyed some fries doused in truffle oil and served with aioli.  The last piece was the charcuterie plate.  Excellent as well.  A finished her meal with some Fernet Branca.  We followed dinner with some window shopping and retired for the evening.  We spent the next day strolling through the farmer's market in the park blocks downtown while drinking coffee and eating biscuit sandwiches from Pine State Biscuits.  We also went to The Living Room Theaters to take in a terrific movie, The Secret of the Grain. It was a great film about a Tunisian immigrant family living in France.  There was quite a bit of focus on food and people dining together.  It was really wonderful, all 2 1/2 hours of it.  We had a simple dinner at the Everett Street Bistro and later had drinks together at our hotel.  We slept in late on Sunday, went for a late pastry and coffee at Ken's Artisan Bakery and then went to pick up little A.  We felt like we were dating again.  

Once we got home, I began my work on the chicken coop in earnest.  I have to say that this has been one of the most enjoyable projects I've ever worked on.  I've never built anything before, so this was quite a task.  Frankly, I was quite intimidated, but I managed to put out a pretty decent structure.  It's still a work in progress, but is getting there.  I've got a few more boards to nail for siding, put a roof on it, and then cover the whole thing in chicken wire.  I'd like to stain it, too.  Pretty soon we'll have chickens and fresh eggs.  I'll post pictures once it's done.  

I've since returned to work to discover that the already grim budget for the upcoming years is even more so.  They're talking 5%-30% reductions in our budget.  This translates into very possible layoffs.  I'm also one of the more recently hired, so I'm feeling rather nervous.  I just keep praying and hoping as I could not imagine leaving such an amazing job.  

That's all.

Vacation

So it's that time of the month again . . . VACATION!  Yeah, my year round schedule seems to have me going no more than 5 weeks without some sort of break.  Don't hate me.  With the intensity of the families with whom I work and the nature of my job, it often feels like I need all of the vacations I can get.  

So I've got two weeks.  So far it looks like we'll be having two dinners over at friends' houses.  I'll be constructing a chicken coop ( this is the one I'm hoping to build) and hopefully buying

 six grown chickens to put in it.  Omelets here we come.  Then next week

end, Amelia will be going to my parents' house in Silverton for some Gramma and Grampy time while A and I get some alone time at the Governor Hotel in downtown Portland.  I'm hoping to hit a few food spots with A while we're out that I've been meaning

 to check out for a while:  Evoe, happy hour at 

Ten 01, and definitely enjoy some fine drinking chocolate at Cacao.  We'll see what our budget allows.  I also hope to have the rest of our house painted by the end of the two weeks as the Portland Development Commission is painting our whole house for free since we have lead paint.  As soon as we get some sun it should be all done.  That should be enough to keep me happy this break.

I'm hoping to make things a bit more visual on this blog, but with little tech knowledge, I can't seem to get pictures to format right on this blog.  I'll keep trying.

Happy Weekend

Here's something to make you laugh:

Chocolate NewsWednesdays 10:30pm / 9:30c

Uncensored - Toots to Poots

Joke of the Day
Stand-Up Comedy

Free Online Games
More Funny Videos

Happy Hour

Our family enjoys eating out quite a bit, but with very little in our budget to spend out, we usually end up at happy hours.  It's our way of getting into a swanky place without spending much money.  Our favorite in LA was Ciudad and Cafe Santorini in Pasadena.  Thus far, our favorite in Portland has been clarklewis.  It's one of those places that makes you feel great, just by eating there.  You walk in and the warmth and smell of the wood-fired oven are immediately apparent.  The first thing you see is this huge open kitchen full of good-looking people cooking on huge butcher block tables.  The back windows look across the Willamette River to the lights of downtown.  It's all so aesthetic and pleasing.  The happy hour menu is a series of plates from $1 to $6 and the drinks are $3.50 for beer and $4 for house wine.  The plates range from olives and honeyed almonds with fleur de sel to more substantial items.  It's really great food, especially for the price.  Mmm.

Blasted Economy!

Oh man!  A and I just got back from our consultation for our taxes this year and boy are we bummed.  In years past, we raked it in when it came time for taxes, but this year we're getting considerably less when we thought we'd be getting quite a bit more than we did.  We had lofty plans of paying off our credit cards that we use to supplement my income to pay our bills every month.  We thought we would even have enough to have a mini vacation.  Man were we naive.  All this when I got the e-mail about overdraft protection on my bank account and A's massage studio has been shut down since before Christmas due to flooding, so no income there.  It took us a long time to just get off the couch and get going after that.  

But, what we realized is that this week we need to really focus on our blessings.  One of my students just lost his home and his family of 6 ended up crammed into a trailer.  I have friends that are still paying off consumer debt after doing so for years.  I know people that have lived on credit cards for almost everything.  We really don't have much to complain about.  I mean, look at the lilies of the field, right?  It's just been hard when there's no real end in sight.  Although, I think that God is just calling us to really not fret and worry, but to trust.  He has always provided for me when it comes to finances and I do believe he will continue to do so.  I just feel blessed that we've got food, water, a roof, and clothes.  That is exceedingly more than so many people in the world even have.  

New Digs

Hey All.  Wordpress didn't work out so I switched to Blogger.  I'm up late sick with time to kill.  Just checked out some new music upon the recommendation of this guy.  Great stuff in the electro-pop department like Hot Chip and Whitest Boy Alive plus some more ambient stuff by  Victor Bermon and Junior Boys.  More sonic sustenance.  Tasty.  And I just recently discovered Raphael Saadiq.  Hoo!  I cannot stop playing this one.  Soul/R & B with an old school sound.  Infectious!