Tag Archives: weekend

weekend work

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Ready for work

I had to work today. On a Saturday. My sixth day of the week. Yes, like everyone else, I do certainly enjoy my weekends, but these days – more often than not when I must work on the weekends, I admit that it’s not to sit chained to my desk and my computer all day.

Usually, it’s because I’m working an event, as was the case today. This usually means that I get to be a part of some sort of fun/cool/interesting experience at the zoo. There’s only so much one can declare that grueling “work,” right? Today it was for Zoofari, a pretty sweet event for those qualify and register before it fills up, to go behind-the-scenes of five different areas of the zoo.

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strawberry jam

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It’s Oregon strawberry season!

While I could spend at least a paragraph – maybe even two – talking about how truly special Oregon strawberries are and why they are different (translated: better) than strawberries grown anywhere else, I figure – why waste my precious typing fingers when my friend Krista really said it best in one of her recent blog posts? Check it out here.

The season is so short that if you blink, you’ll miss it. And since more often than not, half the season consists of the crummiest of crummy (Wait, did I just make that up…crummiest of crummy? Why yes, I did!) weather, we usually miss the opportunity to go out and pick our own strawberries on Sauvie Island.

Not this year! Mother Nature served up a lovely u-pick opportunity just in time for Kruger Farm’s annual Father’s Day weekend “Berry Jam.” So, off we went for a couple of hours of working the fields with the sun beating down and Mount Hood watching over us as we labored.

It was ‘berry’ hard work, but hey, someone’s gotta do it.

cheers to good culture

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I very much appreciate that Jeff’s employer, Point B, puts great emphasis on cultivating a strong employee culture. Each year they go out of their way to host “culture events” not just for the associates, but also for their partners and sometimes, the whole family.

The past few years they’ve hosted a day of wine tasting and not surprisingly, Jeff and I are always happy to partake. The day includes visits to three wineries with private tastings, a private lunch hosted by one of the wineries and of course, some wine to take home. This year’s event was this past Saturday. We visited Soter Vineyards, Willakenzie Estate and ended at Solena Estate. All were fabulous, though Soter was my favorite; a gorgeous by-appointment-only glass tasting room on a hill overlooking the valley, that happens to double as the part of the owner’s second home. I was ready to move in.

The whole day is always a fun time…I’m already looking forward to next year.

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weekend (re)treat

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Last week we had a nice visit from Grandma Jeanette and Grandpa Gene from San Antonio. With one of our two largest fundraising events of the year on Friday night and a member magazine that was just going to press, the beginning of their visit was the height of what had been a slightly insane May at work. (And preceded by an insane summer.)

By Saturday morning I was breathing a million sighs of relief at the thought of having at least a few days of reprieve – made even better by the fact that they had kindly agreed to watch Ian and Elena Sunday evening to Monday while Jeff and I spent a night away in Cannon Beach.

We love Cannon Beach. It’s such a quaint and pretty little town, and the fact that it’s a mere 1.5 hours from Portland makes it that much better. Of course, as much as I love the whole Oregon coast for its sheer beauty, the one thing I’ve learned for sure that you can depend on is that you can never depend on the weather there. We’ve had days where it’s 90 in Portland and clear as a bell until the last two minutes of the drive into town and it instantly turns foggy and chilly. All you can do is accept that it’s part of the charm of living in the Pacific Northwest.

But when Jeff and I departed the house on our little beach adventure mid-Sunday afternoon, for once we had no weather expectations. It was just okay in Portland and in fact, we fully expected it to be overcast and chilly at the beach. Imagine our surprise when we rolled into town with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. Even the locals always seem pleasantly surprised when this happens!

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appreciation

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For some crazy reason, Mother Nature decided to bless us with not one, but two beautiful days this weekend where it actually pretended to be spring for real: sunshine, blue skies, flowers coming into full bloom. In fact, it was three days – including today – but given that I spent my day inside, I only really count Saturday and Sunday.

And just to show how deprived we are, it was the talk of our office this morning. And, I’d bet money on the fact that it was the talk of almost every other office in Portland this morning. Across town, conversations went something like this:

How was your weekend? It was wonderful! How could it not have been with that weather??

I know, I know. I spent all weekend outside doing XX…

Even better, if we were to be granted two days in a row of sunny, “warm” weather (low to mid-60s), I was delighted that it happened the weekend of Ian’s first t-ball game on Saturday morning and Easter on Sunday.

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