Dawn Redwood

This is Mark admiring a dawn redwood in the Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park, Portland. (He came up to see me and Portland for the weekend.) When I first saw them a few weeks ago, I was alarmed. Redwoods are supposed to be green! Are these sick? No. They get to turn colors in the fall with the other trees. It is truely a beautiful sight.

I'm leaving Portland today to head down the coast, which, miraculously, has a forecast of partly sunny for the next few days!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Friday the 13th is one of my favorite dates. (Much preferrable to Monday the 13th, which is almost always difficult.) And today has been an exceptionally good Friday the 13th.

Today is the first day of my new unemployed state. I'm not sure I fully realize yet what this means, but so far I'm excited. I spent the past four years working for Committee for Green Foothills. It is an exceptional organization, made exceptional by exceptional people. I am lucky and grateful to have contributed. I will definitely miss the people that I've worked closely with over the last several years, but I am comforted by knowing that they will always be a part of my life and a part of who I've become. They have all contributed to the vast amounts of growth and learning during my tenure at CGF. I came to CGF fresh out of college and am leaving with the confidence of a woman who knows her strengths.

I began and finished packing today too! In four days, I fly to Missouri for two months. I've packed all of my colorful skirts and tank tops in preparation for gloriously hot, humid Missouri summer weather. I've packed everything up from Nanette's to deposit at Mark's, and thankfully there's not too much stuff.

Then, I went shopping and bought TWO new pairs of shoes - some New Balance and a cute pair of black Dansko sandles. This is big news for me. Such successful shopping moods only happen about every three years.

And lastly, but not leastly, I've eaten only favorite foods today, including: fruit/yogurt/granola parfait, a mocha from Sam's, leftover thai food, miso soup, a big salad, beer and chocolate cake with white icing.

I'll top it all off with a soak in the hot tub.

Life is good.

Here's "The Plan"

After four years of being rooted on the Peninsula, I've decided it's
time to shake things up a bit.

1. Welcome to the 90s! - Get rid of land line and get a cell phone

2. Move out of Menlo Park apartment April 9th and crash at Nanette's for
a month

3. Quit my job at Committee for Green Foothills. My last day is May 13.
-- If you know anyone who's looking for a great non-proft job, have
them check out http://www.greenfoothills.org/about/jobs.html

4. Party in SF. Details TBD.

5. Take a break. Go to Missouri for June and July. Visit friends and
family. Help Dad build up his inventory of yarns for OzarkHandspun.com.
Re-evaluate what I want to do when I grow up.

6. Come back to the Bay Area in late July, continue break and visiting
with friends. Take a road trip to Wyoming in early August.

7. Go to Burning Man.

8. Move officially to SF. Begin looking for work.

Whew. I think that's it.

Bath

Bath was my favorite part of my recent trip to the UK. It was definitely picturesque.

Happy New Year

I just spent a couple of weeks in Merry Old England. Here's the photos- taken with my new digital camera!