So this last weekend was a great time spent with family. My mom, brother and sister-in-law drove up from Glide Saturday morning to run around and go to a bridal show and the Jack Johnson concert. The weekend was hectic but very fun. The initial plan was to tackle the Bridal Show with the ladies on Saturday and the concert Sunday. Everyone arrived at the house around 2:30 PM and we decided to hold off on the Bridal Show until Sunday to let everyone get settled at the apartment. Saturday night was spent going to the pool hall with Nathan, Krystal, Jimmy and Dru. It was nice to just hang out at the bar and visit with everyone. My mom decided to stay home, claiming she doesn’t go out at night anymore. Yea…she’s a wuss sometimes when it comes to having a good time.

After getting to sleep in a bit on Sunday, we started to get ready to head to the Bridal Show. Alisa happened to have the day off as well so we took her along. The Bridal Show was so overwhelming with all of the booths and venders. For some reason I hadn’t thought about all the tiny decisions I still have to make for the wedding. We all got some great ideas and my mom and I finally got to get together to share our ideas for my wedding. It was a great family day.

We got home from the show just in time to grab a sweater and head out the door for Jack Johnson. The concert was in Washington so we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us. My brother Jimmy was so excited that he was practically vibrating in the back seat the entire way there. He had apparently been dreaming about the concert and waking up talking about Jack Johnson for the last three days. The concert was great and he really sounded amazing in concert. The weather couldn’t have been any better as the rain waited until after the concert. I’ll be posting some pictures of the weekend on here later.

Nathan and I managed to get Labor Day off this year so decided to make use of our three day weekend by heading down to Glide to visit my parents. Since we were on our way down, I called Dawn to see if she wanted to ride along and visit as well. Luckily, the timing worked out well for her to come down too.

Generally speaking, Nathan and I dread the drive down to Glide on Friday after work. Last Friday was no different. With the two cats in the car things can get a little obnoxious since they cry until we let them out of the carriers, which isn’t until we’re on the freeway. We were happy that Dawn was there with us and realized pretty quickly that this trip will be more fun than usual. We stopped off to get some coffee before heading out of town and witnessed a bag lady argument taking place across the street. They were standing on either end of a large driveway hollering at each other and gesturing all over the place. They were both in full-on sweaters and warm clothing (keep in mind it was like 80 degrees outside). Dawn couldn’t resist narrating the argument in a very animated fashion. This was going to be a really fun trip.

We finally made it to Glide around 11PM and the kitties were super excited to get out of the car. I took the liberties of taking down all of the ingredients needed to make Monster Cookies as I was super hopeful that my mom would be willing to make some with me. Saturday morning, that’s exactly what we did. I must say….Monster Cookies are my favorite. Here’s what they look like:

Sunday we all (my parents, Nathan, and I) drove over to Coquille to visit my grandmother and see Nathan’s grandparents at the same time. It was a lot of driving but was a pretty decent trip. My grandma had a really busy and stressful day so she wasn’t as on top of her game as usual. Her Parkinson’s is really taking a toll on her so she seems to have a bit more bad days than good days. While we were there, grandma offered to let me look through her books and see which ones I might like. My grandma always had such wonderful books. I was excited to get an old copy of Canterbury Tales, as well as Aesop’s Fables, Candide and a couple others. The books are going to be a very welcomed addition to our library.

Anywho….that was pretty much our weekend. It was a little more full of driving than I would have liked but oh well.

 So I was recently called into a meeting with my manager and his manager to discuss my future with Yahoo! Needless to say I was a bit concerned that I would be asked to hand in my badge. What else are you supposed to think when the higher ups ask to speak with you?

Once I got in the room I was told that I will be moving over to the Yahoo! Small Business department to help them create and build out an Executive Services department of their own. At first I was really upset about leaving my team and going to another department, even if it is just on the other side of the building (which Small Business is). William from my team will also be joining me to help make the department. Together we’re going to be handling corporate and high-level escalations coming in from Small Business customers. The excitement set in when I realized that we’ll get a chance to help create policy in the new department and shape it ourselves.

So far I’m a week into the new job and it’s a bit of an adjustment. Their policies and tools are very different from what I’m used to. Luckily they sat me with a great team over here and they’ve been helping me a lot. I also have Nathan to help me when I’m stuck. Since he’s already been in the Small Business department for 2 years, he’s pretty familiar with policy and also a great tech resource.Anywho….all doubts aside, I think I’m going to like my new job. And I think that Will is the perfect coworker to help me make this new job the awesomeness.

Oregon Country Fair

hmmm… this draft says i’m supposed to start with a link to the country fair site. there it is, blue and shiny, daring you to click it. i doubt you’ll be disappointed, much like the fair itself, that link is loaded with surprises and secrets. what an experience. definitely worth repeating, though my hopes are that next years fair won’t be quite as hot. that’s two fairs in a row with odd weather, first one a mud puddle, second a mud puddle also, but from hippie sweat instead of rain.

the fair itself is a weekend long event set in some beautiful country, near a creek, under the trees, so the shade provides a blessed shelter from the sun, unlike some other fairs. the crowd is colorful and cheery, though littered with gawkers like myself, and not as wild as it once was, or so i’m told. to tell the truth, it’s wild enough for me.

words can’t really describe it, so i’ll put the words to good use and encourage you to go. it’s worth it. to finish off this word sandwich, here comes a link at the bottom to some photos of the event.

Oregon Country Fair Photos