the weekend

I have seen rumblings about folks partaking in the May blogging challenge, where you write every single day. I love this idea and would have given it an honest go but I am traveling to Rome (!) in less than two weeks and would have failed. See how I gave up before I even started? I’ll spill more on my plans abroad soon.

This weekend was a warm one here in Portland – thank the great heavens. I went golfing on Saturday, which was followed by a giant bacon cheeseburger. That evening the boy and I went to El Matador for dinner and margaritas. The food there is great but it was so spicy! The “it’s so hot my hair is sweating” kind of spicy. Ah well. Keep drinking.

On Sunday, we walked over to Ace Hardware near his place to look at grills. My way of shopping would be to look at a couple more places, do some price comparisons and some research online. His way of shopping is to take 5 minutes to look them over and then he’s ready to buy. No messing around. Look, like, buy, done. Of course, he wasn’t about to pay the $25 delivery charge (I can’t fully blame him, being mere blocks away) so *we* wheeled it all the way home. By we, I mean him. I mostly cringed and exclaimed “oh my gosh!” as we rattled along the bumpy sidewalks.

 

To end the weekend on a high note we went to Multnomah Village for some window shopping and to visit John’s market, which sells beer from all over the world. I know nothing about beer but the boy was in beer heaven. Ever been? That place is extreme!

The Misadventures of Oaks Park

This weekend was one for the books; it was all sorts of adventurous with the boy. Sadly, I was so immersed into the weekend that I didn’t take any photos. This makes me sad, and mad, smad really. I need to change this bad habit of mine. How can I call myself a blogger if I don’t snap 100 photos at every chance I get?

Rogue Brewery (not sure of its official name) was our first pit stop and a first for me. I had a cheeseburger and hard cider and now I am in love with this place. So good! Then we decided that Oaks Park sounded like a really great idea because neither of us had been in years and years, and I found a great coupon online, so off we went. It was normally $15.00 for a deluxe ticket – which includes unlimited rides and a roller skating session (more on that coming) – and my coupon got us all that for $10. The boy was thrilled we saved so much money. I’m proud to be frugal.

We decided to tackle The Octopus for our first ride; it’s one where you spin round’ and round’. Actually, aren’t they all like that?  There was this cute couple, about our age, in the little pod next to us. They looked like they were also in the beginnings of their relationship, all giddy and what not. Until the ride started and dude started vomiting everywhere. I mean, thank gosh he kept it contained because he was so close to me and I can’t even finish that thought. It’s burned into my brain forever. They had to stop the ride and dude was so embarrassed and gross and little kids everywhere were traumatized. I was too, though it was one of those moments where you feel so bad for someone and you wish you could take it all away.

So that’s how Oaks Park started. We rode a whole two more rides before we decided to hit the roller rink. As expected, the place hasn’t changed since 1960, which is sort of charming in an odd way. They haven’t updated the skates in just as long. And did you know that I am horribly uncoordinated with skates? The boy whizzed around while I teetered alongside the 4-year-olds, trying hard not to topple over. At one point, they came over the loud speaker asking everyone to clear the rink and I was the last one off, hobbling and praying that I’d make it off alive. It was that dramatic.

It was fun being back at Oaks Park but that place really needs an overhaul. Better rides, some updates to, err, everything. All said, I think we got our $10 worth and some funny memories to boot.

the little things

This has been a dark week, a darker one than I can recall in recent months. From Monday's senseless tragedy at the Boston Marathon to the recurring news around people leaving suspicious packages in random places, it makes you really lose faith in humanity. It also makes me feel like this world is getting worse and worse and I fear what my future kids will see and endure 25 years from now.

You can often hear me touting the phrase “it’s the little things in life” because it’s so true. In the midst of all this darkness, people really do care about one another. There's the handful that wreck havoc and we won't be able to stop it. But mostly, I think the majority really do care about one another. One day not long ago I was given a heavy dose of this reminder and it was such a beautiful thing.

A Starbucks employee gave me a free blueberry scone because they ordered too many and they decided to give me one because “you seem really nice.”

The boy brought me a bunch of flowers, just because.

Someone went out of their way to thank me for a job well done on a project at work.

So, yes, nothing monumental in size or monetary value but it put a smile on my face. A lovely reminder to find happiness in little gestures - and to always pay it forward.