Category Archives: Thoughts

Pretty Things

Today was a whirlwind. I drove to Seattle and back for a meeting and returned just in time to put Thomas to bed. 7 hours of driving. I am officially ready for the weekend.

To celebrate the sunshine that was streaming through my car windows today (and making my drive a little more pleasant) I thought I’d add some colour to the blog. These images are from a recent visit to Portland Nursery – a place I walk into with big dreams for the garden and then leave empty-handed because I am so intimidated by the abundance of choices. Next time we’ll take the van and I WILL buy my eucalyptus tree for the backyard.

In the meantime I’ll just enjoy the pretty things through my camera lens and just wait for them to magically appear in my garden.

Good News Friday

I am generally a fan of Fridays. I mean, what’s not to like?

But today is a GREAT Friday filled with lots of fabulous news for the Ishidas. Here’s a sampling:

  • Tax return has been submitted and refund is on its way and I DID NOT HAVE TO DO IT! I would give up food before giving up the luxury of having an accountant take care of my taxes.
  • Work review time means my job is officially shifting to something filled with creativity and new things to learn.
  • We have a massive pile of mulch in our front yard. OK, Kei is not as excited about this as I am because it was supposed to be delivered to our back yard, but it does mean that project “Ishida outdoor sanctuary” is in full swing.
  • I am heading out on a girls weekend away.
  • Repeat. I am heading out on a girls weekend away.
  • Daylight saving starts this weekend (which means one less hour for the girls weekend. Hmmmm…)
  • Potluck on Sunday with friends we haven’t seen in months. A sure sign that everyone is emerging from winter hibernation.
  • I bought tickets for Thomas and me to see a Children’s Theatre production of “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus”.
  • I am way more excited about the pigeon than an adult should be.
  • The sun is finally shining after days of rain.
  • Girls weekend.

Weekend starts in 30 minutes. Bring it on!

Giddy

Today’s I Heart Faces challenge is “Outtakes”. Pity I didn’t see it before I posted my project 365 post late last week because I’m pretty sure this would have qualified.

So I went back into the archives and discovered that I have many outtakes to choose from. That’s what comes from having two silly boys who love to make faces for the camera (or even not for the camera – who needs a reason?).


We had a great weekend, although it was busy which seems to be our normal state these days. Samuel and Thomas played well together and I can really see a bond forming between them. I love that they can now “talk” to each other and play games to make the other one laugh. Samuel has become Thomas’ little shadow and follows him around endlessly yelling “Toma!” (his way of saying Thomas) and then copies everything he does. The downside to this is that we have had to talk to Thomas about the fact that Samuel likes to do everything he does, but with less balance and control. It can be a recipe for disaster, especially given one of Thomas’ favourite activities is to walk along the top of retaining walls while we are out in the neighborhood.

I just love coming off a weekend when everyone was in a relatively good mood. In fact I don’t think we implemented even one time out the whole weekend. That must be a new record.

Oh, and my bathroom is getting painted today. Almost makes up for the fact that I was scrubbing down bathroom walls at 9pm last night. The end result will be worth it.

Looking forward to a week ahead that promises much productivity, a new episode of Lost, more early spring days and a few days closer to my girls weekend and an Aussie vacation. I think I may be sleep deprived – I feel almost giddy at the prospects.

Happy Monday!

We’ve Entered The Silly Season

Spring continues to bloom in Portland. Now that I pick Thomas up from school every day, I see many more of the back streets of the city, rather than just experiencing the freeway. This is especially true on nights like tonight when I am forced to take the back streets to avoid wet weather traffic – it took me two hours to get home!

Where was I? Oh yes, enjoying the spring flowers that are blooming in the back streets of Portland. I had never noticed how many cherry blossoms lined the streets until I was forced to look at them over and over again during my marathon drive home. Happy place. Happy place. Spring Flowers…

With spring also comes the fast growth of my oldest child. He has entered the silly season when a simple photo request comes with a funny face and and even funnier (nonsensical) story. I was thinking the other day about how I have so many more P365 photos of Samuel than I do of Thomas. This impromptu photo session reminded me of why that is the case.

Walking through the halls of Thomas’ school today and I spotted this rather tidy display of gumboots – evidence of rainy days and, thanks to a school veggie growing program, time spent digging and planting.

Waving Goodbye to Rain…Soon.

Samuel has always been very good at his greetings – waving and saying “hi” and “bye” to anyone that crosses his path. Lately the greetings have gone in another direction. He likes to sit on his little bike and push himself around the house singing “GOODBYEEEE! GOOOOOODBYE!” at the top of his tuneless voice while he waves and pushes himself into the next room. The blame lies with a revival of Yo Gabba Gabba in our house.

I asked Samuel to look up at me and he immediately gave me this cheesy grin which made me think 1. The kid knows how to perform in front of a camera and 2. He no longer looks like my baby – he is a little boy. Makes me sad and happy at the same time.

I had to run an errand in St Johns the other day and took the opportunity to walk quickly down to the bridge and take a few pics. I have driven past this bridge many times and taken photos out of the car window as we drive by at 50 miles an hour. Such a beautiful landmark that I’m sure has been photographed many times – but not by me. It was nice to be able to take my time and compose my shot without having to stop my children from running into traffic.

I picked Thomas up from school today and noticed that one of his teachers had already decorated the classroom door with a few Sakura (cherry blossoms). I also noticed that our sunny days have ceased for the time being and the rain is back. This decor reminds me that the sunshine WILL come back soon, although it didn’t quell Thomas’ requests on the way home that we move to a different country where it doesn’t rain.

It’s a Monday Mosaic Flashback

I was cleaning out some files on my hard drive and came across these little treasures that I scanned a while ago. The scanner was not very good, but the images are clear enough that you can admire the fabulous Carol Brady hairdo on my Mum and porn star mustache on my Dad. I’m also pretty sure this is the last photo of my Dad with brown hair. I sent him grey shortly after.

It’s also strange how items like the wicker chair and brown floral tablecloth, and even the antiquated bouncer chair are burned so clearly in my memory. Crazy to think that these photos are nearly 35 (gasp!) years old.

Random Things I Love Right Now

It’s random Friday so I thought I’d share just a few of the things that I am enjoying on this sunny Portland day.

1. Painting

Excited that the inside of my house is finally being painted – almost two years after we finished our renovation. We bit the bullet and hired someone to do it for us. Of course I am in charge of choosing the paint colours which we all know is the hardest part. Deep red for the dining room and upstairs feature wall, neutral taupe for other walls and the hallway downstairs. I am stuck on the bathroom though. Right now it’s this hideous shade of lavendar with a yelow ceiling so anything will be an improvement. I am considering deep brown alongside the white wainscoating, trim and ceiling. Suggestions welcome.

2. I’m on a Horse

I don’t often watch the advertisements on TV (thanks TIVO) but this one grabbed my attention while I was watching Lost with the girls on Tuesday night. Of course the irony is that when I think of Old Spice, I am always reminded of the time when my grandmother sent me to the grocery store to pick some up for my grandfather’s birthday. I was about 16 years old and and my grandfather must have been in his 70s. A far cry from the man in this commercial.

4. Speaking of Lost…

It is officially my favourite television show – and made even better this year with our weekly girl get togethers. So much fun to be able to discuss events as they are happening – and with wine and chocolate.

3. Still the man

LOVE Robbie Wiliams. He’s celebrating his 20th year in music this year which makes me feel incredibly old. My teenage crush has grown into an adult one.

5. Spring

It feels like it is here already. 50 degree temperatures in Portland and we’re already seeing a few flowers blooming.

6. Online grocery shopping

Placed my order last night and will pick it up tomorrow morning. LOVE that!

7. Upcoming Adventures

This winter has been tough. It has felt long, dark and busy so I am looking forward to few fun advantures in the next couple of months. A girls weekend, a weekend at the coast and a trip to Australia are all on the horizon and they could not come soon enough.

8. The weekend

Just a few hours away. It will be a busy one, but hopefully productive with a little fun thrown into the mix. Hope yours is a good one.

We Don’t Really Celebrate Valentine’s Day…

Kei and I decided long ago that we wouldn’t buy into the commercialism of the holiday and so I can’t remember the last time we bought each other a Valentine’s gift.

As it happened this year, though, Valentine’s was thrust upon us – and we were willing participants for the most part.

Part 1: Valentine distribution at daycare and pre-school – a new tradition for an Aussie-raised schoolgirl. It was chaotic, it was stressful, it was last-minute. It is something that I had better suck up and accept because it’s not going away anytime school, although I am looking forward to the day when the boys will be able to write their own Valentine messages for their 25 classmates.

Part 2: A night out with my husband thanks to a little extra babysitting on Friday night courtesy of daycare. Now this one I was completely on board with. We went out for dinner and had one of the best meals I have had for a long time. It’s one of those meals that stay with you for days afterward – and not in a bad way. Follow that up with a chance to finally see Avatar in 3D, and it was the perfect evening.

Part 3: Hitting me over the head with it. We stopped to grab a hot chocolate for Thomas yesterday and it seemed the universe was speaking to me, so of course I took a photo.

I suppose there’s really no escaping it. Happy Valentine’s day.

Whirlwind

I am very proud of being an Aussie – one of only 20 million people in the world. But there is a downside. So few Australians (and so few living in the United States) means that there are only a couple of Consulates/Embassies to help with passports while you are living overseas. This isn’t usually a major hassle as most passport renewals are done by mail these days and visas are all electronic. The issue arises when you are arranging a first passport – in this case for Samuel – and you apparently need to attend in person to hand over the documents.

Problem. The closest consulate to Portland is in San Francisco. 1 hour 40 minutes flying time, 1 hour each way to the city. If you do the math, that adds up to around 6 hours of travel for a 10 minute meeting. Yes. 10 minutes.

I wasin a cab at 5am on about 4 hours of sleep because I was stressed wondering about the one thing I was likely to forget. Would the photos be the right size? Do I have all the documentation? Is everything signed and dated in Australian date format (harder to do than it sounds)?

Turns out I forgot my phone. Not the worst thing I could have forgotten in the grand scheme of things, but annoying just the same.

The good news is that all papers are submitted and I should have the passport (and Thomas’ renewed passport) next week. Which means we’re all set for a trip to Australia in the not too distant future.

I’ll need a holiday after this.

This photo (taken on my last trip to SF) pretty much sums up what I will see of the city today before I board my flight home.

Love Letters From My Child and Other P365 Adventures

Sometimes I really wish I was in Australia for the beginning of project 365. I really miss the natural light in this dark, dreary Portland winter. I leave for work in the dark and I get home in the dark, so I consider myself lucky if I am able to catch a worthwhile picture or two in between. Good thing I have a persistant attitude and plenty of stubbornness on my side.

Thomas brings home a ton of papers each week. Some of them are just tracings of letters (English and Japanese) while others are works of art worth keeping in the special portfolio that we bought for the purpose.

And then there are the few pieces of work that deserve pride of place on my cube wall at work. This one is officially the first love letter from my four year old, complete with hand-drawn love heart. Of course when I asked him to read it to me, he explained that he was most proud of the penguin sticker in the middle.

On Sunday we searched for things to do outside the house during the seemingly endless downpour. Sadly, hanging out at the mall was the only thing we could come up with that was free and, at the same time, allowed us to run a few errands. This little guy is one of the resident dogs that sit in the counter at the place where I get my shoes repaired. He was cute and the kids loved him. I am still resisting adding a furry addition to our family though. Stay strong Nicole.

Kei I bought a light reflector with part of the gift certificate we received from his sister for Christmas (thanks Mary). I won’t go into detail about how much effort it took me to get Thomas to stand next to the reflector so I could take a test shot. Let’s just say that four year olds are not the most cooperative of photo subjects – I think I may have even bribed him – and I didn’t even try it with Samuel. It was good test nonetheless, but I think I’ll save future use for objects other people’s children.

Tonight at bath time. I was home by myself and grateful that the boys were enjoying each other’s company. In fact they were having so much fun that I eventually had to drag them out of the bath. I won’t even begin to explain the trauma I went through to get their pajamas on.

Oh, and on the winter darkness depression thing, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve booked a trip home to Australia – and one with a wedding no less. Can’t wait for the photo opps!