Beaches, Birthdays and Big Bangs

Yesterday was a great day! I got up at 6am, got everything ready and packed up for any sort of possibility for I had no idea of what was in store for us, and departed around 8am for Newberg. At about 8:30 I realized I left a number of things behind, waiting in the living room to be taken. After a brief moment of concern, I decided none of that was needed too badly. The only thing we really had planned was which beach we were going to, and left everything else open on each end of the day. Once we got together, we decided we weren't even going to go to that beach, leaving the only plan left being that we were going to beat a pinata somewhere at some point.

Oh, the possibilities!

First thing's first - where are we going to eat? We decided to stop by Martha's Tacos in Lafayette, a restaurant that is owned by our good friend Carlos' family. Unfortunately he was unable to join us for the beach portion, but caught up with us once we were back in the area.

Upon the realization that I had never been to the Tillamook Cheese Factory - all hands insisted that I share in what they had all been privelaged to experience. The process was quite interesting, and there's a picture floating around somewhere with me as a farmer and Jules as a cow...

The squeaky cheese, although odd, was delicious as had been rumoured, and I highly recommend the Marionberry Pie Ice Cream. Not too sweet, not too healthy: that perfect balance. We decided which beach we were going to over our ice cream, and the two carloads were promptly separated and ended up in two different locations. After about a half an hour of partial conversations and messages in an area of poor reception, we were reunited at last on a beautiful beach just south of Tillamook:

After a few hours of soaking it all in (sun, wind, water, sand), and a close call of Basil jumping over a cliff for his ball, we tackled the next order of business of beating something senseless. This year: a paper mache chicken. And, as usual, the carcass being worn by Amy and me. (Can't find Amy's pic!) Despite the expression on my face (?!?) it was way more comfortable than the last one.

After that, we decide we'll figure out where we want to eat once we're back in the valley and, doing my duty in helping with the decision making process, I promptly fell asleep. Which is unusual in a car, for me. It was nice. I woke up in a Chinese restaurant's parking lot just in time for dinner, and found out Carlos was able to catch up with us there. We had a great time of eating, laughing, and making fun of each other's fortune cookies. I can't remember the exact wording of mine, but it went something like "you will take advantage of a new four-wheeled device in the near future ... __ ___". Yikes.

After that, the remainder of the group that could stick around headed for the Old Fashioned Festival in Newberg, for they have a pretty cool Fireworks show at the end. And they did! It was definitely one of the better ones I had seen. Instead of having a fourth of july fireworks show, the city saves it up for this night, instead.

Thanks, all, for another great partay!

Latest Acquisitions

Here are the latest additions to the apartment, thanks to a couple of preliminary birthday gifts:

I can now stay warm in a lit up living room, and can flip my grilled cheese with something besides a knife. A rather controversial item was added, as well:

I suppose I won't lose too much time having it if I only use it for movies. If I get cable or DVR, I'd be done for.

Stay tuned for further purchases. Another lamp? A couch? A desk? A futon, perhaps? Only Craig knows...

3-Way Collision

I had a strange enough dream that I actually still remember it the next day. Mostly. Usually it's my typical end of the world or the US being invaded by another country - hopefully not prophetic - with me hiding in culverts or swimming through black water to get to an orange shore. All the more puzzling: those dreams are recurring. But last night, I dreamt that I had to redo high school as a 26 year old. One of my college profs was the school bus driver, and I had a flashback in the dream of exploring the town and guessing which high school I thought I was going to go to and then finding out I was right. And then in my dream I found out I had sleep apnea. Yeah, a little odd. I think I'm still recovering from that mixture of work, high school, and college.

Really?! A student?!

Going to the movies the other night, I was lamenting the fact that I was going to the late show rather than the matinee. Yeah I know, who cares: 2 dollars. But hey, that's a whole load of laundry, right there.

I wasn't paying much attention, and was working my way to my seat, when I glanced at my ticket. I made it through two checkpoints with a student ticket. They never even asked, they just assumed?! Sweet, a birthday present a month in advance! I didn't think I looked that young.

Crickets in Springfield

So we had a surprise visit from the fire marshal the other day at work. We asked him for identification, and he jokingly said he didn't think he needed any since he was a terrorist. So my coworker replies (jokingly, mind you) with the suggestion that he pick up his anthrax in the back. All goes silent for about 5 seconds--you could hear the proverbial crickets--and he says "What?" in a low, dangerous tone. So, we say again, hesitantly, that if he was a terrorist (nervous half-laugh added at this point) that we had the anthrax he ordered in the back. Crickets again. And then he just moves on to the next subject as if nothing happened.

?!?!?!

I can't remember exactly what the second incident was, but that time it was crickets on our end because we didn't know how to react. We still don't know whether he was joking or not. If I remember the particulars later, I'll add them in. At least we passed the inspection... I guess that's the important thing. He wasn't anything like Fire Marshal Bill. Could it be that Jim Carey was not portraying the typical fire marshal?

Sleep Depravation, Adrenaline Crash, or Stage 2 Insanity?

Due to my sense of humor's specialization in self-deprecation, I just couldn't resist sharing: I ran into the same corner last night: twice. I went to go down the hall and just turned too sharp or overcorrected. I don't really know. Yikes. I'm going to go to bed early again tonight, just in case. Then if it keeps happening I can rule out one of the possibilities. Anyone selling padded walls on craigslist???

Accidental Self-Pun

It appears as if I'm losing my inner monologue.

This morning, as I was getting ready for work, I went to grab a banana and encountered a
problem:

"That's funny," I said to myself aloud, "I've never had a banana split before." By the time I finished packing my lunch I laughed out loud ... to myself ... at the joke I just played ... on myself. My hope is that I progress through this phase of insanity quickly and move on to that more blissful place where I no longer realize I'm crazy.