It’s been a long time coming, this update. The fall took us by storm, with shifts in career, family and long term planning.
I’ve been working freelance since early last year and have slowly tapered off the amount of project work I’ve been taking on in MarCom as I make the shift into a new career, in a completely new and different industry (more on that later!). I have been working on several small projects (both paying and not!) and they’ve been great -as well as time consuming. My blog suffers as my projects grow!
This month I helped a longtime friend launch his site as he sets himself up as an independent stylist out of West Hollywood and Northern California. It’s been a fun ride getting him to blog and tweet -create an online gallery of his work, and I cannot wait to see where this takes him. He is truly talented.
On the more fun side of things, my own kid has launched a site, blog, Twitter and Facebook fan page. Almost two years ago he came home excited from school wanting to create a line of toys and collectibles so we did a couple tests of his designs with clay and they were great, we bought a domain name for him, and there it sat collecting dust. With Spring Break on the horizon, more free time from Mom, and extra cash for supplies, he’s now gearing up to buy new materials and sketch out more designs for his toys- with lines in clay, stuffies and shirts. He enlisted his big brother as his CFO- so it has been quite comical (and probably good for his math studies) to learn how to budget for supplies, and price out his works, so that he can break even. Naturally, no one has a paycheck from this venture, just some extra cash for bubble gum! They’re not complaining, though.
Lastly, on everyones mind in our family, is whether we’ll stay in Portland, move home or venture somewhere else all together. What can we say? We definitely do not see ourselves here for the next 30 years. We miss home but are in constant conflict with home value, work and lack of decent education in the public school system (well, that’s a problem everywhere), as well as the cosmic-speed rate of growing up the kids seem to go through back home as opposed to a more laid back Oregon. We definitely have considered warmer climes, and have narrowed it down to a few places, but no major moves in the coming year or two… unless the right opportunity knocks!
As quick as summer came upon us, it’s gone. Portland summers are not to be taken for granted. They’re quick, intense, gone. The residual heat, grey skies and occasional down pour are the reminder that Hood is slowly restocking its winter pleasure, and the leaves are rapidly changing on every street.
This week marked FDOS! First Day of School madness definitely hit our family; a small fortune –enough to feed a family through winter– spent on glue, crayons, pencils, sharpeners and hand sanitizer. With the kids heading back, I’ve got my own nose buried in project work. A few projects of late have me considering warmer climates on permanent basis. –More on that later!
What a nutty week. We’ve had a completely sick house the last nine days. Beginning with my husband Jay, who ended up going to the hospital for a few days, and trailing down to the little ones having random spiking fevers, the occasional up-chuck, comprised with the still-want-to-go-out-and-play-cuz-its-summer argument. Everyone has been hit by this nasty summer flu going around (save for me, knock on wood). We weren’t however going to let it deter us from Dew Tour 2009.
Portland doesn’t get much action in the sports department -but thankfully, we get action sports. Unless you’re a big time college sports fan you’re left with one triple A baseball team and one soccer team (the Timbers, we absolutely love, MLS or not!), possibly a bankrupt semi-pro (or are they pro?) LaCrosse team…and alas, our only pro sports team, the Trailblazers (again, the whole family loves basketball, Go Blazers!).
So, Portland gets the Dew Tour - its not X-games but it is fun and scaled down to a level where we can bring our three kids and get around easily. Both Jay and I grew up on skateboarding and bmx- we loved it as kids; we love it now. Our own kids are taking to it -albeit slowly- they are more “doers” rather than spectators. They’re not up on all the action sports athletes names, though they do know some. This is the second time we’ve been able to catch up with the Dew Tour on its Portland stop, and this year we were able to grab some behind-the-scenes passes thanks to a friend of Jays.
For me, this year was different than prior Dew Tours, as my client (Nemo Design) has been working on a huge campaign for Fuel TV and DewUnderground. For the last couple of weeks, they’ve been running a guerilla-style campaign complete with VooDew drops at local skate parks (yes, VooDoo Doughnuts spiked with Mtn. Dew), and a Dew filled VW aquarium car parked at prime foot-traffic intersections throughout Portland. It’s been really exciting watching the campaign go down the last few weeks, the amazing creativity of the staff at Nemo and helping plug the campaign through the company’s corporate Twitter account.
Unfortunately, the family missed Friday and Saturday Dew Tour events, which I was looking most forward to. We did manage to catch the BMX finals Sunday, even meeting some of its star athletes. How? Luck, I think. Our first stop before the Dew Tour, was to North Portland to meet up with fellow propeller-head Simon, a longtime Bimmer enthusiast and community board friend of Jays. This was the first time Jay and Simon were able to meet in person, so the frenetic pace of the day (getting passed the initial awkward nice to meet you in person after knowing you online for years) was both fun and exciting – as we tried to keep up as Simon navigated us through the bowels of the Rose Quarter flashing his VIP credentials here and there to get all of us through lines and behind-the-scenes.
Once in, we had about five solid minutes of great BMX warm up before our middle child decided he was way too under the weather to be there. Earlier in the morning, he informed us “My head hurts when I do this (image- him squeezing his head between two hands)” - My experienced parental auto-response? STOP SQUEEZING IT! Determined feverless -and known to be habitually finicky about family outings- we decided to throw him into the car and head out to Dew Tour anyway. Now, five minutes in and not wanting to leave we tried to wait it out, gave him a snowcone and prayed he’d be just fine. An hour later proved otherwise – our son was hot, irritable and still wanting to go home.
So, sickie-go-lightly, my other [youngest] son and I head home, leaving behind my oldest, husband and new friend Simon to work their magic in the VIP areas. As you can see – they did something right, as my husband and oldest son were able to meet a few of their action sports idols.
Hubby and oldest, with Dave Mirra
Oldest with Bay Area native, Ryan Nyquist
Oldest son, with Nike 6.0 sponsored BMX winner Garrett Reynolds
Once home, sure enough the fever kicks in, sore throat, the works -middle son is miserable. Life is just unfair when you’re a kid. A few hours later, my oldest son and hubby returned with pics galore of their afternoon amongst the stars of the action sports world. I was amazed Jay managed to suck it up for the kids as he was still feeling sick (and this was his first venture out in nearly 8 days or so) thus our oldest had a great time, only now, he wasn’t feeling too hot either.
By the end of the evening, two out of three kids were sick but happy -passed out in bed with this nasty summer flu. We’re hoping the circle of germs stops here, as we prepare for another crazy week, with more family coming in from out of town to visit.
The run was good. I managed a respectable hour and twenty 10k. Most of the first half was spent leaping over rocks, stumps and wondering if I would have a coronary from the hill. It was all worth it after the first three miles, the last three and change were amazing.
It was great having my sister along for the ride, though we did get separated through the run. I am super proud of her for going out and doing this, with barely any time to prepare. Hopefully this has created a drive to run more for her.
After the run, we enjoyed all the great swag and the wonderfully overcast and cool Portland morning. Greeted at the finish line by my husband, kids and dog Miles- we strolled about and finally made our way back to the car to head home.
Pam (l), and I post race
The hubby treated us stinky, smelly girls to a nice (and much needed) breakfast back in Beaverton. There are a few more pics, if you follow the Twitter link at right.
So excited! Sunday marks the first [official] run for me, since last year’s HTC. I’ll be hitting the trail run (Go Girl Run) in Portland, a 10k. I’m especially excited, because my sister has opted to run with me! We had a great short run around the lake yesterday -just two miles, and she is ready for more. Check out the Go Girl Run here. I’ll be posting pics when the race is over!
…the day I said I would run a marathon. Particularly THIS marathon. I’ve run distance, love to bike and swim (yes, I’m aware of triathlons, maybe someday), but my fascination with them as of late, not sure. Last year I wanted to run either in the Portland or SF marathon –considering that’s my home city, but with Jay just barely recovering from chemo and radiation, the timing was not right for either, nor was I in any shape to do so.
Ah, it’s coming back to me. After a couple glasses of wine, I remember distinctly heading up to the computer and entering my name and credit card data into the lottery for the October SF Nike Women’s Marathon. Was it the promise of a certain little blue box at the end of the race? No. Maybe it was the underlying cause the race serves. Naturally, the race is a supporter of the LLS, and proceeds are donated to it. Many of my friends are taking part with a Team in Training, and participating in a triathlon or marathon. Cancer has had its effects on them, too. Having such a rough year as my husband Jay suffered through his cancer and treatment, then loosing his father just this past March, seeing friends and family suffer through cancer… if the least I can do is run around San Francisco and raise funds, so be it. God knows we’ve spent countless hours praying, hoping and trying to pass along a few laughs to those battling cancer.
Stay tuned as I gear up my LLS donation page, lace up my trainers, look for inspiration and grunt out some colorful words as I “train” for this impending feat. To keep myself motivated -and honest- I’ll most likely post my training progress. Hope you’re ready for some laughs- I’ve already managed to f*k up my knee and herniate a disc in my back within the last year… I’m bound to end up falling on my a** at some point. I’m sure we’ll be watching this movie over and over for laughs and motivation, too. In all seriousness, I did manage to grab a copy of this last year- and it was the best read I’ve had in a while- even if you’re not in to running at all.
Ugh. Dentist. Normally I don’t mind going. But this trip brought on bad news…cavity! (Seriously?! after the thrice daily assault on my teeth and gums?). Add to that the very patronizing gaze of my dentist, as he hands me earphones, gets down on my level, and says “…before the hygenist comes in, I want you to watch this video on periodontal disease.” Once more adding a loaded pause to his exit, a hesitation I translated as “WTF?! You’re an adult, shame on you!”
Watching that video gave me the feeling of what my parents may have experienced watching bomb/war propaganda reels as school children.
Needless to say that “scared me straight” –contemplating new ways I could later assault my teeth and gums again at home –improve my technique. You know, ’cause according to the video –should plaque accumulate, my teeth will not only rot, but chunks [of plaque? the video wasn't too clear] will find their way into my bloodstream through my gums and block blood flow to my brain, and I will have a stroke.
