Routine Wins

Hello, one and all. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and I'm looking forward to getting some normalcy back in my life. Two weekends ago I spent the weekend in Poulsbo with a good friend of mine (Jenni) and two of her girlfriends* for a "Ladies' Weekend." We rented this super cute house overlooking Hood Canal just a few minutes up the road from old town Poulsbo. We arrived Friday afternoon and had a lovely time cooking dinner, chatting, and being girls. Saturday we walked down to the private beach in the mist and rain, walked around the neighborhood, spent some time in old town Poulsbo, and ended the evening with a moderately drunken dance party. OK, more than moderate, but this is a family blog... Sunday was definitely recovery day, as the 4 of us took turns napping in the house's 2 beds. Mid-afternoon arrived, and I hopped the ferry back to Shoreline and came home to a relax husband and a messy house. Let's face it; it's not fun doing chores alone.

This past weekend we went to Portland to use a hotel reservation that we mistakenly booked over 9 months ago. As it was already paid for, there was nothing stopping us. We went to the Farmer's Market, which is huge and awesome, and ate Falafel and Papusas, and drank the Rogue Ambush IPA. It was great! We walked to the Rogue brewery and had a tasting flight of 4 4-oz. beers before walking down to Bridgeport Brewery, where we had their tasting flight of 8 4-oz beers. Wow, dinner time. We ate at a very small French Bistro, Le Bouchon. I don't think I have ever dined at a real French restaurant. We started with some Pate, and Clint and I each ordered a duck dish. Fabulous! I think duck is my new favorite red meat. :-) And what French dinner is complete without creme brule? Not ours! After dinner we walked to the Deschutes Brewery (yes, they have a Portland location) for one last tasting flight; 8 more 4-oz beers. Despite the free trolley that took us close to our hotel, it was still quite a stumble home. Noticing a pattern here?

Sunday was overcast and windy, but not too cold. We walked to Mother's for breakfast, our Portland must-do every time we go. Crab cake eggs Benedict for me; stuffed frittata for Clint, and a shared French Press of their Stumptown coffee of the week. Not as good as last trip's Panama Duncan Estates blend, but still an exceptional cup of Joe! We wandered around Powell's for a bit, shopped here and there, then met Chief & Rose for lunch. More food. It was great to spend time (albeit short) with them and laugh about this and that. Chief has some great stories that kept us laughing all throughout our chowder.

Chief's parting gift to me was a pair of short skis that he bought a few years ago. Now I didn't really know what to expect, but when he pulled out 3" skis from his trunk, I got it. Oh boy. I am going to break my butt the first time I try these! Wish me luck...

So now we're home. We've grocery shopped and made our weekly menu. This weekend we're here, and we're looking forward to cleaning the house (oh God, these floors...), taking care of some projects here and there, and just being home. It's amazing how drained I feel not having a sense of normalcy and routine in my life. I am lost without it.

*So it turns out, after a day together, that one of Jenni's girlfriends there knows my mom, dad, grandma, and brother! Talk about a small world! Alicia O'Dell went to EUUF a few weeks ago when dad was the lay-leader and met the family. She lives in Marysville and went to WWU (knows Misty), and is totally awesome. It's nice to make a new connection in the area!