Snow!!!

Wow! It almost feels like I'm living up in Welches again... This week, Portland has gotten more snow than it's had in the entire two and a half years I've lived here! Which means... early release (with pay) from work two days last week and work cancelled (with pay) ALL WEEK this week! I don't have to go back to work until January 5th, but I'll get my full paychecks the WHOLE TIME! Can you tell I'm excited about this? Here are some pics of the snow from the walk Abby and I took this morning... it's gorgeous!

The stairs leading up from my apartment this morning... and that's AFTER

I cleared them of snow last night before going to bed!

Powerline Park... our closest place to run and play. Last night, I dropped my cell phone somewhere in this winter wonderland. Two boys heard it ringing, answered it, and

followed Megan's directions to bring it to my apartment and return it!

Thank goodness for the generosity of strangers...

This is the view from my bedroom window...

The tree limbs are covered in ice... and some of them are having a hard time dealing with it.

Abby loves the snow! She runs around like a little kid. Unfortunately, she scraped her poor little paw on some ice shards... she's recovering nicely, though... lots of TLC! :)

An Unexpected Visitor...

Last night around midnight, I found my dog Abby standing at the sliding door that leads onto my back porch. Her ears were perked up, her head was cocked to the side, and she was whining quietly. I glanced out the window, but it was pretty dark out there. However, I could make out the shadow of a six-foot-tall shelving unit that's on the porch... and it was rocking back and forth. I ran to the window and flipped on the porch light to see the biggest raccoon I've ever seen in my life!

He was totally caught in the act... I have an airtight dog food storage container on the back porch, and the smart little bugger had figured out how to unscrew the lid. He had his rear end sticking straight up in the air as he balanced himself on the shelving unit and crawled into the storage container to chow down on Abby's food. When I turned on the light, he just stuck his head out for a moment and went right back to the feast!

I scared him off before going out and screwing the lid back on REALLY tight. Then I turned the light off and waited, with all the inside lights off so I could watch through the window. Sure enough... three or four minutes later he was back, and he tried to get that lid off for several minutes before giving up!

But before he left the porch, he sauntered over to the sliding door where Abby was watching. He put both front paws up on the door and stood to his full height, sniffing at the glass. Abby leaned in and began licking the glass... they were inches apart - just separated by the sliding door. Abby never barked once! I think deep-down inside, she just wanted to make a new friend. :)

What I miss most about living in the woods by Mt. Hood is all the wildlife I used to see every day. It's nice to know that there are some wild animals making it, even in the heart of Beaverton!

Perhaps I'll leave a treat out for our new friend every now and then...



UPDATE!! (12/6/08) - He came back again last night, and I was ready for him. I had the porch light on and a camera ready. He spent a loooong time trying to get the dog food container open, and he explored everything else on the porch just in case there was more food stashed somewhere out there. He also came right up to the sliding glass door to check me out. Here are the rest of the pics from this visit... enjoy!

Packing... and children... and selling out... and freedom

I've been packing my things all day. My new job at Nike has inspired me to make the big move across town to Beaverton. That's right... Beaverton. The "not-Portland" of Portland, Oregon. That little voice in my head (you know, the one that used to run my life before I got wise to it's presence) keeps whispering "You've done it Amy... you've sold your soul." After all, I'm working for a HUGE corporation and moving to Beaverton.

But here's the interesting thing: I'm really excited about the changes that are happening in my life right now.

Until this year, life always looked like a series of choices between two extremes: black or white, chocolate or vanilla, marriage or freedom, sell-out corporate job or lifetime of poverty.

Then I grew up... somehow, when I wasn't really paying attention, I grew up. And now I look at things a little differently.

You see, I used to think those choices defined who I was, so each choice was a really, really big deal.

But in the past year or so, I've found this "me" person inside... and she's there all the time... through all the choices... wherever I go. Defining her isn't so simple anymore. She exists all on her own, fully formed.

Some of the choices I make fit her like a well-worn sweater pulled out of the closet on cold winter mornings, while others are a bit scratchy and tight through the shoulders. But she's still there, intact, the whole time.

Now I have the freedom to "try on" lots of different choices and see how they feel. I don't have to worry about losing myself in the transitions... I couldn't do it if I tried... I'm in there, through thick and thin. And I don't feel any pressure to define myself "correctly." I realize now that was always for other people's benefit, anyway... and it doesn't seem too important these days.

So I spent the day packing... and the whole time I listened to the kids laughing and playing outside my apartment window. And it made me smile. Those kids, they're onto something...