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August 27, 2008

Sometimes I Have a Life

Some good stuff.

I forgot to mention but SALLY was here the other weekend and we went over this:

(that's not us being catapulted, but that IS Husum Falls and it was amazing) We also went through a couple bottles of wine and had good times being raucous on the front lawn.

What else.

LIZ is engaged! And moved to Denver! So now I have another reason to like CO. And she asked me to be the Maid of Honor, which I am delighted to be, as this means I get to plan a fabulous bachelorette party and help make everything go swimmingly and be there for my best girl. Also, Liz and I will get to get together and pore over colors and flowers and other delights this December in Florida. Awesome.

And did you see these? My yin-yang beans?

I had 5 seeds to try that I got at a seed swap and they flourished and have been popping out the bean pods right and left. I have, however, yet to taste them.

August 26, 2008

Stuff

You know, I only moved out here with one box of shoes. I'm not sure how they've multiplied into three. Ditto, um, everything else I seem to own.

August 25, 2008

Moving

I'm moving this week. Both of my housemates in my current house are leaving town, so it's time to part ways and for me to move a bit further up the valley. It should be pretty awesome, actually, because I'll be living where I garden. Though I'll no longer be able to walk to work. We'll see about biking - there's a beastly hill, and y'all know how I feel about beastly hills.

Either way, I'll be moving again in January, into a 6-month house sitting gig.

After that? Who the hell knows?

I love what I do but sometimes (often) it is too much. There is more to do than I can reasonably (or unreasonably) handle. My predecessor burned out in 11 months; I'm coming up on that milestone real fast and hoping I can keep it together through next year. Again, I love what I do and I love the people I work with. I just don't like that sinking feeling I get every morning when I wake up and think about how much work is waiting for me at the office. Every day. Forever. With no end or reprieve in sight. And none of it with the time or resources to do it truly to the best of my ability. Everything seat-of-the-pants, reinvent-the-wheel. And then the guilt for leaving at, you know, a reasonable hour like 5 or 6. And for knowing that compared to somebody forced to slaughter chickens for 16 hours a day in near-slavery conditions, my job is positively cushy.

I don't know. I don't even want to take a vacation because then all I've got is an even larger pile of work to be done.

On the bright side, my new place has a cat. And wood floors in my bedroom. And a KitchenAid I can borrow. And did I mention I love the people I work with? And my new housemates are great? And that I got to work in my garden for 6 hours on Saturday (with the sunburn to prove it)?

August 22, 2008

Born Yesterday

It was a typical Eugene winter, chilly, dark and wet. I drove him around all night, bar to bar, watched him get drunk with all his friends. We didn't run into her, thankfully.

Next morning we were both haggard. He made some coffee in a dish towel, no filters in the house, and sat down to write in his journal.

I found this CD by the stereo and put it on.

The Destroyer Sessions - Ryan Adams, with Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings
(recorded shortly before Heartbreaker)

It was the end of a long slow slide into disaster, a messed up ride, the final "I don't want to talk to you ever again" that slammed around and around in my head until I had to say it.

I'd thought I was past that, better than that, immune to heartbroken boys in need of something nobody can give. Nope. It feels like a long time ago now, and it doesn't really hurt anymore, but that album is always gonna be that time, I think.

August 12, 2008

A Typical Day

Wake up between 6 and 7 AM
Get ready for work
Load coolers full of veg from house into car
Drive to work
Check email, eat breakfast, read news
Call Meals on Wheels person to give the produce rundown, talk shop
Walk up to car, drive produce to Meals on Wheels / restaurant / market / etc
Drop coolers at house, rinse out, lay out to dry
Return to work
Make a few calls
Run planning meeting for fall fundraising dinner
Line out tasks for volunteer team for fall fundraising dinner
Answer some emails
Chat on phone with chef about delivery logistics for donated food for farmers' market
Answer random consumer calls
Hassle printing press about late printing of local buying guide
Powwow with market manager on items for vendor newsletter
Guide afternoon volunteer in food assessment-related research, answer lots of questions
Review agenda notes from steering committee meeting from last week, send task-related reminders to members
Squeeze in a few more emails
Go home

August 8, 2008

Sunset Boulevard

I can't say that I like much of Pacific!, but there's this Lord Skywave mix of Sunset Boulevard that is so worth your time. Sounds like summer. The real thing, too - warm sticky nights and bright colors and glorious free time.

You can find it on hypem, or on a summertime mix if you've got one coming from me.

Man, do I miss warm sticky nights. We got a great lightning show last night, one of the few times all summer, and it was warm and humid out with that pre-storm scent of rain heavy in the air. It made me so homesick.