So recently, I have been joking that I am soooooooo old. It may have to do with just turning 26 or dating someone younger than me by 18 months, but whatever the reason the phrase has been said frequently from my mouth. And last night, I felt old as I was the youngest person at a concert where the mean age was probably 55. Even though I was considered younger in comparison to the crowd, I felt older knowing that I was listening to music that people my parent’s age listen to.

Since I can remember, my parents have listen and loved Chicago…not the musical, the band. And somewhere along the way, I became a fan myself. Chicago came to the Lane County Fair this weekend, and I took the opportunity to go see them. Adam, being the good sport that he is, came along with me. The night was perfect for an outdoor concert, and Chicago played for two hours straight….pretty good for a bunch of old guys who have released 32 albums throughout the years. They played many of their popular songs, including my favorite, You’re the Inspiration. I was thoroughly impressed by their performance and their three brass players are hard to top. It was an enjoyable evening!

So I may feel old, but loving every minute of it.

I have always enjoyed going to dog parks. Between getting to play with other dogs and meeting really nice people, I find going to the dog park a great experience. People at dog parks are always so friendly and love to talk about their dog. Today was the first day I was not fond of the dog park.

This weekend, I am dog sitting a dog, whom I will call J. And I have a run in with a dog, whom I will call B. So here is what happened:
I was walking around the dog park with J, who is staying close to me as she seems to be a bit afraid. As we are walking, B comes over, who is twice the size of J, and starts doing the dog butt sniffing ritual. J is not amused by this and begins to growl. Normally this is a sign for B to move away. However, he does not. J starts to get more aggressive and starts to snap. So at this point, I grab her collar to stop her from hurting B. B continues to bother J, so I put my body in between the two to prevent contact. After about a minute of this, I hear some people talking about ten feet away telling B’s owner, “You need to step in and help. She is doing everything that she can.” At this point, the man finally steps in and pulls B away, as B was not listening to his name being called. At this point, I realize that I need to take J home. As I put down my backpack to get out her leash, B’s owner came over to talk to me. Here’s how the conversation went:

B’s owner (with attitude): I just want you to know that my dog is bleeding because of your dog. (B was bleeding a little bit from his mouth, but I never did see the B and J make contact)
Me (genuinely): I am sorry. I am dog sitting and the owner did not warn me that she could show signs of aggression.
B’s owner (with even more attitude): She should really not be in here if she is aggressive. Anyone who brings their dog to a dog park knows this and you should too.
Me (assertively, but calmly): I understand that. And as you can see I am getting her leash out right now to take her out of the park.
B’s owner (very meanly): You shouldn’t have brought her here to begin with.

At this point, I begin to tear up. I did not say anything in return, as I was so awestruck that he was so rude, and I did not want to start bantering back and forth. So I put on my sunglasses and headed out of the dog park with J on her leash and Ginger waddling behind. As we walk towards the exit gate, B continues to follow us on our way out, while B’s owner is in the back part of the dog park not even paying attention his dog. It made me mad that this guy was so concerned about us leaving and he did not notice his dog was going after J again. Grrrr…..

Adam and I just returned from a wonderful weekend at the beach. It was the perfect mixture of relaxation and being busy. We lucked out on the weather so sunny skies and warm temperatures made our weekend even better.

Friday afternoon, we packed up the car and headed to the coast. We stayed at a beach house just north of Waldport. After arriving, we threw down our items and went to dinner. We headed down to Newport’s historic bay front in our quest for clam chowder. We ate at the Whale’s Tale, which I would recommend for any chowder lover! We walked around the ‘fishy’ smelling bay front and watched the sea lions in the harbor. We returned home to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

Saturday we started our day with a long walk on the beach. Then we headed to the Rouge Brewery. Rouge is Adam’s favorite brand of beer so it was a mandatory stop on our trip. And I must say, I have turned into a fan myself. We took a tour of the brewery and had dinner at the restaurant at the brewery. We headed home just in time to open a bottle of wine to watch my first sunset ever!

Sunday we got up a bit earlier than our lazy morning Saturday. Our plan for the day was to head to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. However, we added a twist to our trip. We continued Adam’s sister-in-law’s plan of visiting the brewery, then going to the aquarium. So we had lunch at the brewery (which included a few beers), then walked over the aquarium, as it was a three minute walk between the two locations. The aquarium was awesome (even without the effect of the beer), as the last time I was at the aquarium was to see Keiko. Probably the highlight of the aquarium was the feeding of the sea lions and the seals. They will do anything for food…kind of sounds like Ginger. After we finished our aquarium visit we headed home and made homemade pizza and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Monday was our last day at the coast. We decided to do a little more sightseeing, so we decided to head north up highway 101. Our first stop was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Unfortunately, the morning fog blocked our view from the lighthouse and from the cliffs. However, we still climbed to the top of the lighthouse. Then we headed down to the tide pools below to see some star fish, anemones, hermit crabs, and a seal pup that had found its way on the beach. I really enjoy the lighthouse, and I hope to go back in nicer weather to do some hiking around the park. From there, we headed up to Otter Rock to the Flying Dutchman Winery, which was more of a tasting room than a winery. I was pretty curious to see what a winery would look like at the beach, but as it turns out, the wine is just made there and the grapes are from elsewhere. Still, I purchased a bottle of wine to add to my collection of last week’s wine tasting adventure. Continuing up north, we stopped to eat at Kyllo’s in Lincoln City which is one of my favorite restaurants on the coast. After lunch, we decided to try our luck at black jack at Chinook Winds. Well, we both didn’t last very long at the tables, but it was my first time gambling so I didn’t expect much. Adam and I both had to wear bracelets on our wrist that said ‘legal age’ as the mean age of the gamblers there was about 72. You know you are at a casino for old people when there are signs in the bathroom stalls that tell you to not flush your personal hygiene undergarments (aka Depends) down the toilet. Too funny. With our gambling money gone, we headed back to Eugene. It was a wonderful vacation and it won’t be the last to the coast.

PS-I’m in love

I had a little mini-vacation this past Monday and Tuesday. Although it was a quick vacation, it was filled with good friends, family, food and wine.

On Monday, Adam and I headed up to Portland after I got off work. His brother and sister in law were flying in at midnight, and we offered to pick them up from the Portland Airport. This left us with half a day in Portland. After some shopping and a much needed nap, we headed out to dinner at Oba, a wonderful restaurant in the Pearl District. We met up with my friend Sarah and her husband Andy for a delicious dinner. After dinner, we walked along the river on a nice cool Portland evening. After the airport pick up, we drove back to Salem.

The next morning we woke up, then had a nice breakfast outside. The activity for the day was wine tasting, something that both Adam and I have not done before. All six of us piled into my Highlander (as it has a third row seat), and headed on our way. Our first stop was Van Duzer Vineyards in Dallas. The vineyard itself was gorgeous, however, I was not a huge fan of the wine. The wine had a very ‘oaky’ taste, which I learned that I do not like. Then we headed to Amity Vineyards. We tasted a wide variety of wine in an old converted barn. Even though this was the least fanciest tasting room, the wines here were my favorite. One unique thing about Amity Vineyards is their selection of organic wines which were tasty. I ended up picking up a bottle of a 2006 Madrona Marechal Foch. I had never tried a Marechal Foch wine before, but fell in love with this bottle. So I added a little variety to my wine selection.

After two wineries, I was feeling very ‘happy’ so I was glad that we were off to lunch. We had lunch at the most delicious restaurant, that I would highly recommend you try, especially if you are out wine tasting. We ate at The Fresh Palate Cafe and had the most yummy food to soak up our wine. In addition to the restaurant there is a gallery there too. With our tummies full, we were off to Anne Amie Vineyards. Here is where the biggest surprise came of all…I found a white wine I really liked! I am strictly a red wine drinker, but I wanted to branch out, so I tasted a variety of wines. I ended up purchasing a 2007 Cuvée A Müller Thurgau. The location of the winery was spectacular. From there our plan was to head to Sokol Blosser but due to time, we were not able to go. This will be one on my list for next time. I thoroughly enjoyed the three wineries that we went to and I plan on wine tasting more in the future.

After all the driving, we headed back into Salem for dinner and rousing game of Pictionary Telephone. The game is a mixture of Pictionary and the old fashion telephone game. This is a game I am excited to try with my friends. I had not laughed so hard playing a game in a long time. After that we headed back to Eugene and it was back to work for me on Wednesday, and on Thursday for my last day of summer school.

However, on Friday we leave for three nights at the beach! Woot for vacations!

So here’s my new plan when solicitors come to my door…”Sorry, my mom and dad aren’t home right now?” So far this has worked twice. However, only time will tell how long I am able to pull this off!

Today marked half way through my summer school session. People think I’m crazy for teaching summer school, but it is really an easy way to make money during the summer, and I would go stir crazy if I wasn’t working. I work half days, Monday through Thursday for five weeks. So it’s twenty days of work, plus a few days for prep. I am teaching a similar class to the class I have during the school year, so the transition is easy for me. In my summer school class, I do have some students from my school year class as well as some other students from other schools. It’s nice to have some familiar faces, but the unfamiliar students provide a challenge, well at least for a few days until the behaviors settle. Overall, things are going extremely well and summer school is proving to be an easy summer job.

Part of my summer has been taking short trips, mainly on the weekend. This past weekend I was in Portland spending time with my family and friends. Friday night we had a wonderful dinner at Oswego Lake House with my family, my grandma and my aunt. We ate outside on a nice summer evening, sitting next to Lake Oswego. Saturday night we attended a wedding of one of my sorority sisters. It was amazing to see some of my sisters, as I had not seen some of them in years. Sunday was a baby shower for one of my high school friends. She was the first one in our group of high school friends to get married and now she is the first one to have a baby. Talk about growing up! With 20+ women at our house for the baby shower, I was a little overwhelmed with all estrogen flowing, but I have since recovered. Though the weekend was busy, I had time to spend time with family and catch up with old friends. Sometimes I get so busy down in Eugene that I forget to take time for people who don’t live in the same city as I do.

Many thanks to those who called, emailed, texted or messaged me on my birthday. I feel so thankful to have so many friends and family members who support me in all that I do. I am truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Today I turn 26. My body decided to wake me up at 6:00am sharp, probably in anticipation of the first day of summer school. With my extra morning time, I decided to start off my birthday with an early morning walk, which Ginger was more than happy to accompany me. While she sniffed every bush in hopes to find some leftover food forgotten by walkers, I thought about the past year of my life. The 25th year of my life was the most significant year of my life. I feel that I have grown and changed more in this year, then any other year. Here are the experiences that have shaped my life this year. I don’t want to categorize them in positive and negative because no matter the experience, it is what I learned from it that counts.

• Starting my 2nd year of teaching
• Ending my first long term relationship
• Buying a house
• Learning to deal with personal issues at work
• Living a more active lifestyle
• Making healthier eating choices
• Entering the world of dating
• Training for a half marathon
• Playing the best soccer of my life
• Losing 20 lbs
• Feeling more competent, confident and skilled at work
• Injuring my foot and ankle
• Learning to deal with an injury
• A decrease in my soccer skills (post injury)
• Entering a new relationship

This year, I feel that I have grown more confident in my self, emotionally stronger, physically healthier, more willing to try new things, financially conscious, and have figured out who I really am as a person. Through this year’s, ups and downs I have learned more about myself than I ever imagined. With this year of growth, I can’t wait to see what next year will bring. ☺

For those of you who don’t know, I keep one secret from my students…I don’t like to read. Okay, well I don’t mind reading but it is extremely hard to find a book that I will actually start and finish. The books I do read involve education or behavior management, two things I am highly interested in. However, finding a novel that keeps me engaged throughout the entire book is hard. I have started and stopped so many books half way through because I became uninterested. For instance, I got through the first two Harry Potter books, and then I got bored. I’m not sure if it is my ADD or my poor reading comprehension, but finding a book I like is no easy task.

So I was completely amazed when I finished a book in two days. The book came from a list of recommendations for summer reading from coworkers. And I am absolutely in love with this book. The book is called The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. If you are a dog lover, this book is for you. The entire book is told from the perspective of the family dog through the good times and the bad. This book had me laughing out loud and crying. If you are looking for a great book to read, I highly suggest you read this book.

Tonight, I played in my first softball game ever. Heidi needed a substitute for her Friday night team, so I was asked to play. Even though I gave her a strong warning I had never played baseball/softball before, she still wanted to me play. So I did.

I learned that softball is fun. Sure, I was put in right field…but I’m okay with my level of suckage. (Although I did get a little ADD out in right field and was much more interested at the people walking by.) I never did get a ball in the outfield, which was no skin off my back…less opportunity for me to screw up. When it came to batting, I was more concerned about not hitting myself with the bat than anything else. Oh yeah….and avoiding injuries too!

The first time I got up to bat, I hit a pop fly and got an out. The next three hits got me on base. And I made two runs…one was a walk, but the other I got to run in. I was actually impressed I hit the ball all four times I was at bat, considering I have no idea what a ‘good ball’ looks like (”That’s what she said!”:) ). It’s amazing how softball can be so slow, then when you get up to bat, your adrenaline kicks in. I thank the adrenaline for the hits tonight. So in the end, I batted a .750…which is a great record. Maybe I should quit while I’m ahead!

Okay maybe not…this was too much not to play again!