The Boy, looking at me unwinding after work: "A glass of Rose, a piece of chocolate—you're a foot rub away from heaven!"
Me: "You said it, get over here, take my shoes off!"
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I get in to the hotel in Portland at 9pm local time (11 central, started my day at 5am) after a 7 hour delay in Denver last night to….a freshly delivered room service steak dinner, cheese and crackers from the gourmet grocery, my favorite raspberry booze treat chilling on ice (in the trash can, how adorable), and a pressie from Powells Books. Which was, of course, a Charlie Harper book. Because my boyfriend is f'ing amazing.
Crap, I really have to keep giving out.
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I'm returning to the Deluxe Hotel in Portland, Oregon tonight for my friend Meg's wedding.
I stayed at the Deluxe my very last night in Portland, two years ago.
I had packed up the house, the truck had left, the apartment was empty
but it was too late and I was too tired to start the drive. So I
treated myself to one last night in my favorite place. They allow dogs
too so Miss Ruby was all cuddled up in the down comforter right away.
I sent out messages to my friends that I would be at the Driftwood
Lounge in the lobby for one last beverage. I expected maybe one or two
to come. They ALL came. It was a lovely night. Meg walked me up to my
room for one last Ruby kiss, then teared up when she said goodbye to
me—-she's a tough cookie, not a crier. I will always remember how
touched I was.I was excited to be moving on, but sad to have failed at yet another
business, another town. I was sad to leave the best, most "Kate"
apartment I'd ever had. I was happy to be returning to family, but
questioning whether I could really stand all the "Wisconsin" things
that I don't like about Wisconsin. I had hopes that I'd be able to
make my dream come true by compromising on the job (it was most
definitely not my dream job) and moving close to family who could
support me. I was planning on having a family someway, some
how—probably on my own. That would never be possible in pdx, so
there I was on my way back to moo town. But that was a stretch too,
the only thing I really knew was that there was no future for me in
Portland. And I wanted to be home.I had a ten day drive adventure ahead of me, then a whole new life
with a new job I had no idea how to do, a new town I didn't know. I
had no idea what was waiting for me at my destination.Turns out it was everything I could have ever wished for. And then some. I am a lucky, lucky girl.
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It's been a calendar year since I moved in, and this closet has been filled to the brim that entire time. Somehow I managed to get it empty and all the household debris put away in one day. The hottest, stickiest day of the year, of course. But it's done. Which means the close ready for The Boy's stuff. Am I ready? -
When you've waited 10 years for something, falling in love in 10 dates seems perfectly reasonable. I may regret this post in the future; if it all goes tits up. But for the moment, I'm going to enjoy the hell out of the ride. I deserve it. He deserves it.
It's the first kiss, the first road trip, the first time meeting family, the first first time…all those intoxicating moments. I'm going to soak it up. I have a feeling it's our last first time.
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He's so mushy! I'm so rusty!
Boy: "You're like unwrapping a present"
Me: "You're like an overdue library book" -
I dropped in at Dad's on the way back from a last-minute work appointment in Menasha earlier this week. My timing was excellent—they were going to have dinner at Cedar Lodge.
Cedar Lodge does what it does very well. Which is to say, it stuffs you to the gills with red meat and ridiculous extras while it wraps you in cedar-paneled Midwestern warmth. Ordering takes awhile.
Fruit or Fritter?
Lettuce Salad or Cottage Cheese?
Lettuce Salad—House, Ceasar or Bacon Spinach?
French Onion or cold Strawberry soup?
Potato, Rice or Vegetable?
Potato—Baked, Mashed, Hash Browns or American Fries?
Baked Potato—once or twice?
It was the longest conversation I've ever had that started with "I'll have the tuna".
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Gotta love the dog walker's status update. The subject line for photo 2 was "success". Good lord.
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It never occurred to me that I couldn't do or be anything I wanted because I was a girl. Because I'm unmotivated or incompetent, yes, but never because of my girl-ness. And that was in part because Ms. Ferraro was on the ticket when I was 12 years old.
I distinctly recall thinking "What is the big deal?" In one way, that is wonderfully typical for my generation–many of us don't see the big deal about sex, race, sexual orientation, etc. But let us not forget that it was so different not so long ago, and that for many of our peers around the world, the lack of that freedom is a very big deal.
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Customer complaint: "You either misrepresented the table or sent the wrong one–it's not white. It's off-white. You had better do something about it." It's hard to tell tone in an email, but that had an edge to it to me.
Then, when the business partner called, the edge was crystal clear—he didn't even let me reply to his question or get a word in edgewise. On and on about how the table wasn't white. And my favorite—"And besides, we don't want a used table in the break room for sanitary reasons". Sanitary reasons? Really?
It is a commercial grade table, for fifty bucks. You asked for a "really cheap, simple table–white would be fine". I sent you a cheap, simple, white table.
But no bother, I can fix it. I suggested ordering a brand new, custom made table in their choice of WHITE laminate. All agreed that was the best solution, good idea.
And then I overnighted them samples of EVERY SINGLE SHADE OF WHITE LAMINATE available. Tee hee.
