Fall in is the Air

Can you believe it? The leaves have turned and are now falling on the ground, the air has cooled and houses are adorned in Halloween decor. Autumn really is here. I do love this time of year. It means the start of quality time...special time. And for my family even more special now that we have a child. A couple of weekends ago we took a trip on the Mt. Hood Historic Railroad up to a pumpkin patch where Brooke got to pick out her own pumpkin. This weekend the three of us were outside raking leaves...yep, even Brooke! She had her own little broom but was an even bigger fan of the full-sized rake! Her costume is here -- I can't say that I found the same creative inspiration as last year but this year is different because in a weird way, she has a say. I wanted her to be something that she kind of understood. So we'll see. It might only stay on for 30 seconds, but that is okay. My husband made homemade cider, complete with cinnamon sticks. Football is in full swing (have I mentioned Oregon is ranked #5 in the nation?!) and of course fall TV is back on! It's all fantastic. It's a snowball effect after Halloween hits with Thanksgiving right around the corner, followed by putting up Christmas lights, getting the tree, doing the shopping, throwing and hosting the parties and then of course the big day. This is what I mean by quality time. It's a special time of year. I relish in it...and I realize how blessed we are and how much I love those around me. I hope you feel it too.

A "Bodacious" Kind of Ride

I'm annoyed... Yes, annoyed, frustrated, confused, aggravated. I've been watching a bull ride of sorts, and I don't like the beatin' my buddy is taking. Tell me this... How can a person get up before daylight every single day, be at the office before anyone else, focus all day on achieving results for the organization - except when interrupted with petty complaints, questions or poor-quality work - take the constructive criticism that is given, and most of all care more than almost anyone else in the building, and yet despite all of this be under scrutiny from the boss, HR, counterparts and direct reports. You always hear about workplace culture and it's hard to understand until you're someplace that has an entirely different culture than where you were before. But even from an outsider looking in I can say that I get it now. We all have areas where we can learn and better ourselves in both a personal and professional aspect; however, there are also somethings that are beyond our control to change. We are who we are. And at the end of the day, or week, sometimes you have to step back and say, is this ride worth it, or am I going to get too beat up, banged up, fed up in the process? Am I going to strap myself on and see if I make the full 8 seconds, or is it time for me to pull my hand out of the bull rope, jump off while I still can and see who I draw next time? I don't know the answer...it's a personal decision. And in this case, I'm not the rider...just the pal behind the buckin' shoot.

State of the State's Justice System

It's been a few days since I last wrote -- hard to say why, but suffice to say things have been a little hectic. I am part of the 2008 class of Leadership Portland, which is made up of a fantastic group of leaders from the Portland area. Last Thursday was our first program day in which we learned all about Law/Justice in the city. My day started off with a visit to the 911 call center which was fascinating. There weren't enough operators for us all to pair up but we did get to hear a few recorded calls, including one from a man who thought his wife was having a miscarriage. When asked how far along she was, he replied, "She's not pregnant." Much to his surprise, in the next three minutes a full-term baby emerged! Okay, I still don't get how 1. a woman can hide a pregnancy and 2. how there are people on this earth who swear they didn't actually KNOW they were pregnant. I've been pregnant...there was no hiding or denying it! Anyway, I digress. Later than day our class heard from Rosie Sizer, chief of police, Bernie Guisto, Multnomah County sheriff, Max Williams, state director of prisons, Judge McShane, DA Michael Schrunk and U.S. Attorney for Oregon Karin Immergut, Federal Public Defender Steve Wax and Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court of Oregon Ancer Haggerty. I found myself glued to what these people had to say about the state of our city and state's justice system. And while each of them clearly has their own views and agendas, it was really a day free of political persuasions and antagonism toward each other. It was enlightening and made me think about real issues that impact our community...and will likely change the way I vote this Nov. I don't think it's right that our prison system has become the most common place to get mental evaluations and help and I also don't like the cost associated with housing inmates who have committed a first-time Measure 11 offense -- there's got to be a better way. I am from Lakeview which now houses one of the state's newest prisons -- yet it's already near capacity. What's going to stop the trend? There are people out there who need help, rehabilitation, medical assistance and a regimented program to follow upon release from jail or prison. Otherwise, they will end right back up where they started...committing a crime in our neighborhoods, and that is not an option I want to accept.

Ride Cowgirl Ride

This past weekend my daughter and I went down to my parents place...a 14,000 cattle ranch (yeah, there's plenty of room for her to roam) in southern Oregon. And boy, what a wild weekend it was! She found her black hat (she's a bad cowgirl, after all) and was off and running. She got to ride a four wheeler, drive a pickup, ride a bull (okay it was a calf, but really when you think about the size comparison it was like a bull!), eat a steak and baked potato (including the skin!), pet a horse, play with dogs and refuse to touch an adorable kitten -- she also went for a huge hike for those little legs. We walked on a log and discovered a rock slide. The great outdoors really is like one huge playground for kids. My sister and I used to be able to entertain ourselves in a barn, in the fort (which was just two huge rocks in a certain formation), fishing or swimming in the creek. It's important to me that my daughter now has the opportunity to get to know this lifestyle, even if it's only on occasion. It's in her blood...and she looked awfully cute in that black hat...watch out cowboys!

5 Friends to be Happy About Right Now

At different stages of my life I have been surrounded by my good friends, and then at other times, we are all living in separate parts of the world. I was one of those people who LOVED high school...I was active in sports, student council, social events, etc... I had a large and fun group of friends -- I've known my oldest and dearest friend Danette since sixth grade. But then when I went to college I suddenly found myself in a different situation. I did meet new friends, but it was never the same. They were not GREAT friends. My junior year in college I spent a year oversees in Melbourne, Australia. This is where, as I've told many people, I truly found a missing part of myself. I had a life changing experience and met some great friends along the way, including my friend Allana. "F you, caterpillar man!" But the time came when I had to return to the good ol' USA, I soon graduated from college, took my first job, moved to Portland and found another great friend in Julie...a colleague, but mostly a friend. She and her husband ultimately introduced me to my future husband and life was good. But then life changed. Me and my husband found ourselves on our way to the Midwest...St. Louis. At this point Danette lived in Amarillo, Texas, Allana was a flight attendant for the King of Bahrain -- yeah, I could do a whole post on her and her crazy jobs at another time -- and Julie was in Portland. And I was off to a city where I knew absolutely nobody. Little did I know that would be the place where I would ultimately find the largest concentration of really great friends, and suddenly it was my husband who found himself missing his buddies. I forged great friendships with a number of girls from my work, J-Lay, Cheri, Lauren, Katie...it was wonderful. Things happen and circumstances change...Cheri and I disbanded our relationship and Lauren picked up and followed a boy to Chicago but we are still close. And then, what happened? Yep, you guessed it...things changed. All of a sudden Pat and I were on our way BACK to Oregon and I was yet again leaving my good friends, J-Lay and Katie, behind. What is the deal? The good news was that I was reunited with Julie in Portland. Danette had since relocated to Cape Cod, Mass., Allana was back in Australia and the Midwestern girls still bouncing around St. Louis. But as fate would have it, Julie scored a kick ass job at UofO and she and her family are now in Eugene. I love all of these girls and I love that regardless of distance I know our friendship will never change or go away. Despite being a world away, Allana dropped everything and caught a flight to be in my wedding four years ago...that's friendship. In my most recent issue of Redbook there is a section about 5 Friends to be Happy about Right Now. I could perfectly slot my best friends into these spaces. I'm so thankful to call them my friends even though I don't get to see them on an everyday basis. And after all, things will continue to change and no doubt I will someday find us together in the same city, and meeting new acquaintances along the way.

5 Friends to be Happy About Right Now

Your Number One Fan (she thinks you're hilarious) - Dan
The tell-it-like-it-is Friend - Allana
The Shoulder to Cry On - Julie
Your Complete Opposite - J-Lay
The Fashion Plate - Katie

Love you guys.

School Pictures

Today is picture day at my daughter's school. Oh, the chaos! It started last week with me trying to find her something to wear for the pictures. Who would have thought that would be so hard? I just wanted a nice sweater...is that so much to ask? Maybe I'm pickier than I thought. True, I wanted something that expressed her personality (fun, smart, hip and strong), ideally something that wasn't predominantly pink and certainly nothing with bows, ruffles or lace. Aacck! Speaking of which, isn't it hilarious to see what kids wear on school picture day (especially at this age?). You get a true idea of the parents' (or at least mom's) style based on what they want to see their kid wearing in an 8x10 frame in the living room for the next year. I started out at Target...they had a couple of nice things but one was pink and one was light tan which I figured would wash her out. Then I moved on to Babies R Us this past weekend...that is where I buy the majority of her clothes. I love the Koala Kids brand...it's funky meets trendy. There was a nice sweater there but it wasn't even close to her size. After exhausting the selection I headed to the mall. I went into Gymboree but immediately started sweating due to the claustrophobia coming over me as I struggled to navigate between the racks of clothes and hyperactive parents who are willing to drop $30+ on everyday clothes for their one-year olds. And I'm sorry to all of you dads out there, but nothing is more stressful than a dad in a kids clothing store who is actually taking the shopping seriously. I mean get out and go sit on the bench in the hall with the rest of the dads! Needless to say I struck out big time at Gymboree and by this time was starting to panic. I knew I was on borrowed time with my husband who was at home with Miss B, and had already called me twice to talk about....?? Moving on. I hit Macy's...surely a large department store would have something I liked. Nope. Nada. Zip. I was about to leave the mall when I remembered Baby Gap...and I had a gift card. Bonus. I speed walked down the mall corridor to Baby Gap, ducked inside and was immediately surrounded by cute clothes! Now the problem wasn't finding something, it was narrowing it down! But I managed and walked out with the perfect sweater and long-sleeved tee to go with the jeans I'd picked up at Target a few days ago.

Fast forward to this morning. Wait, I should back up to last night. Anyone who has seen my daughter knows that she is not lacking in the hair department. In fact she has the most awesome, curly strawberry blond hair. And with all that hair, it's a crapshoot as to what it is going to look like in the mornings. My husband took special care to comb it just perfect last night after bath time, giving her the best shot at waking up without a major case of bed head today. And it worked. She was looking good! We got dressed and were out the door by 7:45 in order to get to school by the appointed picture taking time of 8 a.m. I swear she could sense my stress as she wasn't her normal, jovial, dancing self in the car but instead she seemed a bit distressed...a little worried. A little like, "Mom, what is in store for me?" She has learned the word smile and when you say, "B, smile!" she puts her fingers up to her cheeks and it's so friggin' cute! I kept practicing that with her in the car on our drive. We made it just in time (my husband thought there was no way we'd be there by 8:00 earlier this morning when I was struggling to pull myself out of bed at 6:30), and her class was gearing up for the big moment. I did all I could...she looked adorable...no runny nose, no tired eyes. It's up to her now! Come on girl...show those pretty new teeth and perfect dimples! Love you!