Category Archives: Portland

On Being Inspired and Feeling Vulnerable: The TEDx Portland Not-Quite-a-Recap, Recap

I’m traveling again this week, this time to Seattle (well, Bellevue) for just a couple of days for a work event. I’m coming off a busy weekend during which I photographed the TEDx event in Portland on Saturday, trimmed a massive hedge down the side of our house in 85 degree heat on Sunday, spent Monday editing photos from Saturday and then Tuesday getting work done for my real job before watching Thomas test for his Karate yellow belt. And now I’m here in Bellevue.

So that’s my roundabout way of explaining why I haven’t posted in a while. I keep waiting for life to slow down…

I’m working on a recap of some of my favorite talks from Saturday’s TEDx event but I figured it would be much more meaningful if I could actually link to replays, so it may have to wait for a few weeks until they’re posted online. Needless to say, I left feeling inspired and challenged. Nothing like a day of intelligent people talking about amazing projects to get the creative juices flowing.

I can share one presentation from the event right now. It was a replay from another TEdx event that they showed on the screen and, honestly, I felt like this talk was being delivered directly to me. Brene Brown, a researcher in Social Work, talked about the power of being vulnerable (something I struggle with as most of my close family members will attest) and how opening yourself up to vulnerability can open yourself up to so much more of your life. It was funny, poignant and very close to home.

Back soon with more photos and stories. Until then I’ll continue trying to keep my head above water.

T-Ball and Inner Peace

This is what I posted on Facebook over the weekend:

Batter grabs the ball while he’s running to base. Runner hit in the helmet by a flying ball. Thomas runs back to home to drop off his bat politely rather than just dropping it. None of the kids know where to run. First T-ball game is nothing if not entertaining. You never know what’s going to happen.

I wrote a post last year about how I never feel quite as close to being an American mother as I do when I watch Thomas play T-Ball. There’s something uniquely cultural about this sport that draws families together to cheer on their six year old’s as they blindly run from one base to another – or don’t run to base and have to be led there by hand, which happens about 50% of the time during the first game of the season.

This year Thomas is playing for the Giants. I’m a little disappointed that he’s not playing for a team with a more colorful uniform, but I like San Francisco so it’s not all bad.

On second thought, now that I’m looking at those purple uniforms in the background, maybe a whole season of black is not so bad. As you can see, I’m focusing on the important things.

By the way, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing cuter than a bunch of miniature t-ball players on a massive baseball diamond.

Thomas is number 10 this year and, according to him, the best player on the team (no self-esteem issues with my child).

The kid loves to run… after he works out where he’s supposed to be going. Good thing there’s no winners or losers in six-year-old baseball.

The only problem we have this year is that Samuel is suddenly old enough to feel left out. He’s already asked to play T-ball next year. In the meantime, we spend the game hanging out by the fence in his ninja mask and taking breaks every now and then to find a little inner peace. (I promise that I did not set this up).

It occurred to me that next year we’ll have to juggle swimming lessons AND two games of T-Ball each Saturday. I think I’ll be looking for a little inner peace of my own.

Did Someone Say it Was Good Friday Today?

May I Vent for a Moment?

Today is Good Friday which means I am at home balancing trying to getting a little work done with looking after a child (daycare is closed).

If I were in Australia, I would be enjoying the beginning of a four day weekend, perhaps heading out on a family camping trip like I did almost every Easter as a child and waiting excitedly for the Easter Bunny to drop by.

This is one of the downsides of leaving my home country and moving to one with painfully few public holidays (although the Stock Exchange is closed…).

Happy Good Friday to all who are celebrating. To make it feel at least a little like a holiday, I’ll share just a few pictures of a very damp Easter Egg hunt hosted by Kei’s employer last week.

Thomas chose not to have his photo taken with “the guy in a bunny suit”, as he loudly declared in front of a bunch of very small children who, until then, probably thought he was the real thing. Good thing he still believes in the tooth fairy though. She visited Thomas for the second time that very evening.

The “hunt” lasted about 30 seconds – along with the window for photos due to attempts to protect my camera in the downpour while trying to get a shot in every now and then.

For Thomas, the most important part of the hunt was calculating the combined number of eggs – complete with mathematical equation. The kid loves math which causes me to wonder if he inherited anything from me at all.

That’s it. I told you I didn’t take many photos.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Good Friday and a wonderful Easter. Have a fluorescent cupcake on me. Cheers!

Random Photo Monday

…Because I feel bad about spending last night watching Mad Men instead of taking a few minutes to edit some photos. (OK, I don’t feel that bad.)

…Because I haven’t had a chance to sit down and document a weekend that featured a visit from the Easter Bunny (just a guy in a bunny suit according to Thomas), buckets and buckets of rain and another lost tooth.

…Because I don’t feel especially inspired to take photos when I, a) can’t take my camera outside because it will get wet and b) have zero natural light to work with due to the dark clouds that refuse to go away.

…Because these are the photos that I happen to have sitting in my photo library.

Enjoy a few wonderfully random photos that have nothing to do with what we did this weekend.

Adventures in Hiking, Zumba and Color Blindness

After my incessant whining about snow last week, it seems the Portland weather gods decided to throw us a little love in the form of a couple of sunny weekend days. I could take a moment now to whine about crazy allergies, but I’ll spare you that trauma and, instead share a few favourite photos from a full weekend.

Saturday began with optometrist appointments for the boys. It seems that, although Thomas inherited very few physical traits from his mother, he was lucky enough to receive the X chromosome  from me that carries the deuteranope type of color blindness. Thankfully it will only affect him if he decides to become an electrician or wants to drive a car in Romania. Here’s what Thomas sees.

While Kei was at the optometrist with the boys, I was lucky enough to take a quick Zumba class with my friend LeeAnn. No photos to share from that experience (you’re welcome) but I did learn a few things about myself:

  • Even when a class is fun, 30 minutes will feel like three hours if you’re unfit.
  • I am much more coordinated in 4/4 time than in 3/4 time.
  • The attitude of the Zumba teacher is directly related to how much you will enjoy the class and want to go back for more. My only other Zumba experience involved a middle aged male instructor who counted our steps throughout the class and chose Hava Nagila for his soundtrack (not that I have anything against the song – just doesn’t belong in a Zumba class)
  • On the subject of music, every song has it’s place, and for this one it’s in a Zumba class when everyone’s shaking their booty. (And that’s the ONLY place it belongs in my opinion).

The sun came out on Saturday afternoon, so I sat on the front porch with this…

While the boys did lots of this…

Thomas also had an opportunity to try out the new bike he received for Christmas. One of the things I miss most about Australia is the great weather at Christmas that allows you to ride your new bike immediately. Thomas only had to wait three months…

Is it just me or does Samuel look like a teenager in this next photo? Moving on…

On Sunday morning, Kei and I were treated to a decadent (toy) brunch at the Thomas and Samuel cafe. Hmmm…wooden sushi…delicious!

Here they are deciding on the menu.

After brunch (and major cleanup) we decided to head out for a family hike through Forest Park, during which we saw:

  • About 1000 dogs – with Samuel telling me how much he hates dogs as each one passed by and not for the reasons you might think. He doesn’t like it when they lick him. Sometime being irresistible is a curse.
  • About 1000 joggers
  • A couple of hiking hipsters.
  • A couple of hiking hippies – complete with the lingering odor of an organic smoking substance that we then had to try and explain delicately to our six year old.
  • A man hiking while reading a book at the same time.

And so, during that 2 hour period, all Portland demographics were well and truly represented.

Oh, and I’m not sure what Thomas was doing here but I really like this photo for some reason.

Of course we stopped for a snack along the way before checking out a few birds at the Audubon society.

And then Samuel posed for me in his sunglasses that came courtesy of the optometrist the day before. LOVE this photo – such attitude.

The end.

Well, not really but that’s all the photos I was able to upload at 11pm last night due to the return of Man Men (welcome back – I missed you).

This week is Spring Break, which means very little for our family as we save up our vacation time for a trip to Australia that I’m just a teeny bit excited about. Still, it looks like we might finally have a chance to enjoy daylight saving hours and perhaps some sunshine.

Kidgistics and Bullet Points

I’ve been running around a lot this week moving kids from one place to another (i.e. kidgistics) while Kei works some extended hours. Between messed up work schedules, after hours photo sessions and public school late start days, it’s been a struggle to get into any sort of routine. So I thought I’d blog today in the same way that I’ve been approaching everything this week – in bullet points and random thoughts.

  • Thomas got a perfect score on his second-ever spelling test. So proud.
  • He’s also getting very serious about karate – I think it might have something to do with a current Ninjago obsession. Never underestimate the influence of cartoon Lego characters.
  • I started gathering activities and books for our marathon plane ride to Australia. I know our trip is still three months away but I need to something to keep my mind off Portland’s miserable beginning to Spring.
  • I also started ordering gifts for Samuel’s birthday in May. Again, I’m early but all I can say is 10 straight days of rain, people! It makes you do crazy things.
  • Speaking of crazy, we experienced a 30 minute hailstorm on Sunday.

  • I love the fact that, if I start reading a book to Samuel or Thomas while I’m waiting for them to start school, I will attract at least another 6 or 7 kids who just want to hear someone reading a book. I feel like the pied piper. (told you this was a random list)
  • My three year old corrected my pronunciation of “Banana” this morning. I need to get him to Australia – and quick!
  • Um SPIDERS!!!! (thankfully on the other side of the world but a little too close to my parent’s house to let me feel entirely excited about our trip).
  • The boys indulged me with a photo together on Sunday (this is a rare occurrence). It’s a little out of focus but I love it.

  • Of course I had to take this one first…

  • On the entertainment front
    • Walking Dead finale – lots of blood and gore, but AMAZING! Almost can’t wait until next season.
    • Good thing I have Mad Men starting this weekend to tide me over.
    • Saw Hugo on the weekend – very sweet film. Imagine it would have been amazing in 3D if only we had unlimited babysitter credits that allowed us to see movies in an actual theatre.
    • Speaking of theatres I have my tickets to see the Hunger Games on Friday – So excited!!

And with that brain dump out of the way, I leave you with one more photo from the sky somewhere over the middle of the country. It reminds me of what a blue sky looks like – although I could do without the snow.