Really, Since November?

Wow, I really stink at this. It's been a month since I posted anything here. Honestly, it definitely seemed like not so long. My apologies.

It is the day before the night before Christmas and my husband and I just watched the Blazers defeat the Nuggets (on TV of course). We are pulling all of our stuff together so that we can head over to my sister's house for Christmas Eve tomorrow. Sadly, we have to get a ride there.

What a crazy couple of weeks, huh? The "Arctic Blast" as it is so pathetically named has kept us confined to our apartment for about a week. We have had unexpected guests sleep at our place because of flight cancellations and had to get all of our Christmas shopping done in one, very snowy, very cold Saturday afternoon.

The highlight of the season has been having all of the northern Chasteen cousins and their kids together at our house for Christmas Ship Parade Night. We had tons of food and laughs and happy, hyper little kids running around.

Now, the big day nears and we are hoping the snow sticks around just long enough for a White Christmas.

Will I write more before the year end? One never knows.

News Today: USB, John King

SuperSpeed USB 3.0 finalized, released
Wow - blast from the past. I worked with the USB Implementers Forum when 2.0 was launched. Ah, Developers Conferences.... Cool News!

Great Skit From Last Night's Daily Show - Watch Out For John King!

Today's News: Meh, Daisies

Just a couple of worthwhile articles I stumbled across today.

Six Ways Pushing Daisies Made Your Inner Nerd Cry Tears of Geeky Joy
Love this sweet little show about raising the dead and making pies

Exciting New Word? Meh.
The Simpsons made this happen? Really?

News I Found Interesting Today

I do a lot of reading with my work. Newspapers, magazines, online news feeds, you name it. I thought I would start sharing with you the stories, articles or news clips that I found particularly interesting (or shocking, or depressing, or thought provoking - you get the idea).

'Second Life' Ends Couples First Marriage
A wife in London catches her husband cheating in Second Life and gets divorce. Both are now engaged to their cyber-partners. Will make you laugh at society or cry for its demise.

Obama To Deliver Weekly Address Via YouTube
Obama will continue to engage with the online community by taping his weekly address and posting it on his Change.gov site via YouTube. Radio broadcasts will continue as well.

Intel's Wireless Power Technology Demonstrated
Interesting article on new technology that may be the future of charging electronics wirelessly.

Can A Soccer Star Block Google Searches
Argentine movie stars and soccer stars are legally restraining Google and Yahoo! from displaying search results for their names. Is this the beginning of the end for googling your name or a bad attempt at suppressing free speech?

Gizmodo's 20 Essential iPhone Apps
Oh my goodness - I can't wait to try some of these out. I haven't been much into the apps up to now but some of these are must-haves

Not Much Going On

Not much is going on these past few weeks. Work has kept me as busy as I want to be. It's kind of a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of month, I guess. I did get to have my bestest friend Celeste over for dinner this week - always a good time.

The cat sleeps during the day and plays at night - sooo, that's fun.

Wish there was more to share but, I guess, no-drama is good drama.

Beautiful Day

Not a bad view from our balcony today. Not bad.

Canning Weekend

While my husband was out of town this weekend, I tested my skills at canning for the first time by myself. My sister and I helped my mom and aunt can green beans, corn and hamburger soup countless times as girls. However, I hadn't canned at all since I was probably in junior high school and could barely remember the important details. My mom loaned me a canning book, her pressure cooker and some odds and ends and I was on my way.

I ended up canning tomatoes, applesauce and apple pie filling because that's what I could get the best deals on at the Farmer's Market on Wednesday.

It was actually very easy. It took me about 6 hours on Friday to get 20lbs of tomatoes canned (24 pints). The 20lbs of apples I split in half and did applesauce first, then the pie filling. That took longer just cuz the peeling process was more labor intensive than skinning the tomatoes.


Anyway, I've got a bunch of canned goods sitting in my kitchen, the product of the hard work and nostalgic spirit I put out there this weekend. It was really fun and I will definitely do it again next year. It was pretty easy and saves a bit of money over the year on organic fruits and veggies. Since I had to buy jars, it wasn't as much of a cost savings as I hoped but it is still about $0.20 less a pint than organics you buy at the store. I think that's pretty cool.

Quick Update

Months ago, I talked about how I made a quilt while spending a week with my parents. I also talked about how I would get a picture of it posted. Well, a little late but here it is.

Fall Friendship Quilt

Thinks I learned about my cat this week

It has been one week since we brought little Remy home from the humane society. His cute little face and tiny meow has greeted us every morning. Though he is certainly a great addition to our little world, there has been some learning to do about our new roomies personality.

1. Clovis Don't Like To Be Touched. I hope someone out there besides my sister and I remember the happy little Disney film "The Apple Dumbling Gang." In the movie, three orphaned kids get thrown together with a long-lost uncle who marries the local fiery red-head in order to keep the kids and love ensues. Oh, and Tim Conway and Don Knotts are bumbling stagecoach robbers. But I digress. The youngest boy in the trio- Clovis- well, he doesn't like to be touched and often times kicks and bites when someone touches him.

Remy's middle name may soon be Clovis.

He is an attacker. An aggressor. But only about 15% of the time. We can't figure it out. He doesn't do it all the time or consistently but when he doesn't want you to pet him, he lets you know it. We suspect some sort of Jekyl & Hyde complex or Schizophrenia because his attacks are random and weird. I want to say his aggression is waning but I think I am being optimistic.


2. Hair, Hair Beautiful Hair. When they say short-haired cat, that doesn't mean the short hair won't spend most of its time on your couch, chair or floor. Our attempt at limiting the amount of cat hair in our house by avoiding a long-haired cat backfired with this white furball. Luckily, I picked up a FURminator today at the local pet store. It comes highly recommended and is supposedly going to help out with the hair. I'll keep you posted.

3. He hates easter eggs. He has a easter egg toy that he spends hours kicking around the house in what seems to be utter disdain. He's gonna get that egg one day, as soon as he can get it unstuck from under the dryer.

4. He loves his new dad!

Oktoberfest 2008 - In Case You Missed It

We broke in our new apartment by honoring, what I consider the next best holiday to try to steal from the europeans and claim as our nation's own, Oktoberfest (sorry St. Patricks Day). Here are a few highlights from our Oktoberfest celebration.

I will note (or shall I say concede) that the Flynns and Sir Moehl were by far the strongest celebraters at the party. I neglected to live up to my promise and did not wear my barmaid outfit. For this, I (as well as Ben) will no doubt be forced to pay restitution in some form.

I Met My Cat Speed Dating

Sometimes you have to put yourself out there - take a risk and let others examine and judge you - if you want to make friendships and foster relationships. This holds true for any creature you may potentially share a bathroom with – man, woman, cat, dog, ferret, lamb (I lived in the country, okay). We mere humans think that we hold all the cards when it comes to selecting a faithful best friend or a cuddly feline but let’s get real. That's what they want us to think. They hold all the cards when it comes to their adoption fate. And they know what they like and don't like.

This is the truest with cats, a beautiful and complex animal that is instinctively predisposed to consider itself superior to us all even if it is locked in a 1’x3’ wire cage next to other compatriots with names like Mo, Jimbo, Bart and Freeway. They still expect a potential servant to bow.

So when Ben and I walked into Kitty Speed Dating at the Oregon Humane Society on Tuesday, we walked up slowly and smiled kindly to all the cats as they were introduced to us by their "staff" and attempted to make a connection with one that may wish to choose us as their companion.

It took us forever.

Three hours and 25 intimate kitty sessions later, we finally came across the cat that was willing to take us on.

Meet Remy!

Back From Port Angeles

Sorry that it has taken me a while to get back on the blog. I made a surprise trip to Port Angeles to hang out with my mom and dad for a few days. Those few days turned into a week but it was fun. Pampering by the parents is always a welcome event. It ended up being a very Suzy-Homemaker kind of week. I made dozens of pints of raspberry jam (look out friends - you will be getting one on your doorstep soon) and made my first quilt all by myself. It was incredibly fun, surprisingly challenging and completely captivating for my obsessive compulsive, slightly anal-retentive mind. I'll snap a picture of it this week and post it as a way to selflessly promote my handiwork.

Playing Today Only: Dr. Horrible

I missed this earlier in the month when it debuted. Hulu is showing Dr. Horrible again TODAY ONLY! It's priceless. If you like NPH (that's Neil Patrick Harris for you older folks), Joss Whedon, or musicals - you have to catch this while you can.

Dr. Horrible by Joss Whedon

Coffee vs. Water Argument

While at Cafe Mingo for dinner on Thursday the question was posed whether coffee was the same as drinking water. That is to say, because coffee is nearly completely water, wouldn't it stand to reason that you could consider the two interchangeable?

My answer was a solid and confident NO. I don't know about you other excessive coffee drinkers out there (this is the NW people, I know that is just about all of you) but I usually need a glass of water around 10:30-11:00am after a morning of hearty java drinking. It has been my belief that the caffeine in the coffee dehydrates us at the same time as the water hydrates us, essentially negating each other and leaving us needing real water after several hours.

But was I right?

A little research led me to this. Health authorities at the American College of Sports Medicine and the Institute of Medicine have both come out with studies that in fact, the caffeine in coffee does not dehydrate us. The caffeine tells our kidneys to flush our body of excess water but it does so for only a brief amount of time, not enough, they say, to dehydrate us. We retain more water than we lose when drinking coffee or any caffeinated beverage for that matter.

Is this enough to convince me?

While I can concede that coffee does not directly dehydrate drinkers, I still believe that drinking only coffee leaves you feeling like your cells are somehow depleted. Maybe it is all in my head. Maybe I have been fed this myth so long that know my body believes it. I'm not sure. But I am a little less worried about those days that I come out of my shell around 3pm and realize I haven't had anything but six cups of coffee since waking up. Sounds like the experts say I will live.

Received This Today

Though, I will not be standing in line with the rest of the X-Philes tonight to be the first to view the sci-fi movie of the year, I am still celebrating its premiere today. I will be taking in the movie Sunday afternoon with the same two people (Celeste and Micah) I watched the very first movie with. My countdown continues but my enthusiasm is building.

Got this in the inbox this morning:

Gillian on Jay Leno Last Night

I love seeing my favorite FBI agents on TV again. Gilly was on Jay Leno last night and completely cracked me up. So Sassy is she.

Back To The Real World, Sort Of

Holy Cow! It feels like a lifetime since I have written anything here. July has been a crazy month of family visits, business growth and some much needed get-out-of-town, breath-in-some-fresh-air, put-your-feet-up vacation!

Have no fear (or be afraid, depending on what you feel about this blog), I took plenty of notes during my excursions through Oregon over the past couple of weeks and am eager to share with you what I can.

Then again, looking back seems like a silly thing to do - after all, this coming weekend is something worth looking forward to - Oregon Brewers Festival all weekend long, X-Files: I Want To Believe premiere, and the potential to meet up with some old friends that I haven't seen in a long while. I'm stoked.

See Ya - Vacation Here I Come

Heading out of town for two weeks of roadtrip and camping through Oregon. I am so looking forward to getting off the grid for a while. See ya all on the flip side!

Um, is my new header a bit much?

Just checking - X-philes unite!

June 13 | I was born

Friday, the 13th. A superstitious day. A dangerous day. And periodically, my birthday. Though I wasn't born on a Friday, I have had the pleasure of celebrating my entrance into this world on Friday the 13th several times (one of you calendar fanatics can do the math on how many times). I cross the threshold of my 30s today. I can no longer say I am teetering on its brink - I have officially dove into its deep waters and am actually okay with it. But I'll save a long soliloquy on my thoughts about my age, how much better/worse it is than my 20s, my hopes and dreams for the future and other such nonsense, for another darker day.

Because today, I'm feeling good and I have one person to thank for that - my niece, Lola. Her nearly 5-year-old squeaky voice welcomed me with morning with a phone call:

"Happy Birthday Coco! This is Lola."

She proceeded to ask me what I asked my friends to give me for my birthday and suggested I have a Blues Clues party before quickly changing her mind and deciding I should have a Princess Birthday party instead so that I could have princess plates, princess balloons, and pink and purple cupcakes. I had to agree with her, that would be a great party. We chattered on about playing outside, her new puppy, and her upcoming birthday party which she is VERY excited about.

Conversations like that I guess make you feel okay about time passing and things changing. New people like Lola get to come into your life that way.

What will you do with your extra .3 years?

The National Center for Health Statistics came out with tremendous news - we are all living longer. On average, the life expectancy of Americans increased to 78.1 years, that's a little under four months of extra time on this earth. Are we living that extra few months because we are spending its equivalent in the gym? Are American's sleeping more (highly doubt it)? The study attributes the longer life expectancy to a drop in deaths due to pneumonia, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver and suicides, among several others. But one has to wonder if American's are using that extra time to live a more fulfilling life?

So, here's my challenge to myself (and anyone else who wants to follow along). Consider what you want to fill your extra 4 months of life on this earth with. Here's some things I will consider doing with my extra few weeks on the planet.

• Live in a foreign country for 3 months
  I'm thinking Scotland or Germany. I'll have to do some research


• Visit South America
  This is a "battle my fears" goal. Snakes are scary as are rainforests but I know parts of the country are beautiful and I should see it before I go if I have the means. I mean, who doesn't want to see Machu Picchu?


• Spend More Time With Family
  We all know we put this off. Our parents, our grandparents are who we are - I should take every opportunity to share moments with them.


• Get To Really Know Your Home Town
  I have a thing about making an impact in the community you are in, no matter how big or small. Unfortunately, I put doing it on the back burner. I should work this in.
  

Euro 2008 Alive In Portland

Just wanted to take a moment to let everyone know that I consider myself a Czech Republic fan. I spent one past Euro series in Prague with my best friend Celeste and fell in love with the city, its people and its enthusiasm for football. Gosh I wish I could do that again! Watching past tournament matches in a Frankfurt skybar with Tom (and a magic drawer full of beer) and in the Old Town Square in Prague with thousands of crazy fans leaves a lasting impression.

BMW Torture

One can only shed a tear.....

Umpqua Dairy Summer Ice Cream Flavors!

I was so excited today to see a print ad for Umpqua Dairy's summer ice cream flavor Lemon Cream Pie. It was such a major favorite for me when I was a kid. Being a 25 year employee of Umpqua Dairy, my dad never left us wanting for gallons of ice cream at home. He would bring home new flavors for us to try and old favorites that he knew would always be a hit (kids can't get enough of cookies and cream and mint chocolate chip).

While winter meant we pigged out on peppermint ice cream, summer marshalled in the availability of Lemon Cream Pie, Mountain Berry Revel and Strawberry variations. I've tried to tone down my ice cream intake since then, but I'll admit I struggle on a regular basis to not buy a couple gallons everytime I hit the grocery store.

So, as soon as the weather starts to actually act like it's summer, I plan to treat myself to a bowl of my favorite summer ice cream and have a moment of nostalgia. Then I'll throw the rest of the gallon carton away. :-)

Grokkers and Ninkasi at the Green Dragon

We (Ben, Sean, Corrie) caught the Grokkers at the Green Dragon on Saturday night as part of a trifecta of activities at the brewpub - music, beer, movies. In addition to the great music from the indie blues/rock band, Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi Brewing also came up from Eugene to share some of the breweries latest creations with the crowd (Oatmeal Stout -Schwag Lager - Total Domination). The Penny Jam, a non-profit podcast that features local bands, also showed two movies filmed at the Green Dragon - "Brave New World" and "Moving Picture Girl." The whole thing was sponsored by Ninkasi and Pop Tomorrow.

So what did I think - great time! The beer was great (the husband enjoyed himself a couple of thick, chocolaty oatmeal stouts), the music was incredible for that venue (picked myself up a copy of The Grokkers' CD which I have blasting through the home office now) and the films were a great introduction for me to what the Penny Jam is doing.

I love when great ideas come together on a Saturday night.

Epilogue: Found ourselves at the Montage again for late night mac'n'cheese, fritters and gator bites after leaving the Green Dragon. In true Ben fashion, he managed to walk into La Merde (adjoining lounge) and recognize the bartender as an old friend from Eugene who he had not seen in years. "Remember when" conversations ensued long into the night.

Appreciation For Food Drive Participants

Just a quick thank you and congratulations to everyone who participated in the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive that took place on May 12. Everyone in Oregon and Clark county that left a bag of food for their letter carrier to pick up contributed to a 3% increase in food donations compared with last year's drive. That may not seem like a huge increase but in these tough economic times, more and more families are using the Food Bank on a semi-regular basis.

In total the carriers picked up 1.65 million pounds of food on that one day. My meager couple of cans of veggies surely wasn't anything crazy but when we all pitch in to do a little, we can make some big differences in our community.

So, the downside - the group had set a goal for collecting 2 million pounds of food on that day. A lofty goal for sure but one that I think many would like to see met. So how can we help?

The next Food Bank sponsored drive will be at the Blues Festival July 3-6 down at waterfront park. With a daily donation and 2 cans of food, you will get to attend one of the largest blues festivals in the country. Keep this in mind as you look for ways to help around PDX.

I Want To Believe - July 25, 2008

Horton Heard A What???

Spontaneous Friday Fun Took Place
When Ben and Me Came Face-To-Face
With Sydney, Ethan, and Trey (plus Two)
At the Mission Theatre to See Horton Hears a Who

Food and drink, elephant and kangaroo
We all had fun watching the animated zoo
Cheering on critters as they stole the scenes
Then philosophizing on what it all means.

It made me smile to hang with friends,
To laugh out loud, to wonder how it all ends
And watch the delight of kids, young and old
Appreciate a simple story magically told.

Memorial Day & The Montage

All that anticipation for a three day weekend - how quickly it went by. Memorial Day itself ended up being a casual work day for me. Caught up on some miscellaneous to-dos for clients and around the house, hit the gym then decided to go out for dinner.

We ended up at the Montage - a great restaurant I hadn't been to in a while and where my hubby had never been. I love when we go somewhere new for at least one of us.

I had jambalaya, Ben had chicken fried steak and it was 1/2 price bottles of wine night (woo hoo) so we shared a bottle of 2004 Italian Flaio Primitivo Salento. Yum yum. We ate so well, we didn't have anything left over to take home in a well-crafted giraffe or whale. Oh well, the atmosphere was just what we needed and our server (Megan) was great. The place always reminds me how much I appreciate Portland.

Oregon Winery Raptor Ridge Shines

I was excited to see as I read through the Oregonian's Spring Guide to Oregon Wineries yesterday that Raptor Ridge was highlighted as producing one of the paper's top 20 picks for summer wines. I had the priviledge of meeting and working with Raptor Ridge winemaker and Intel business planner, Scott Shull, when I worked at VTM and enjoyed picking his brain about some of Oregon's wine-growing nuances.

Raptor Ridge Winery is located on the northeast side of the Chehalem Mountains about 10 miles north of Newberg, Oregon (Go Bruins!). They grow much of their own grapes on the 27-acre property but also utilize grapes grown by other vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley.

The wine the Oregonian highlighted was their 2007 Pinot Gris, describing it as a "crisp, bracing, elegant wine that will refresh on the most torrid and torpid summer day." The winery develops its pinot gris in the Alsacian style. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to taste this wine yet but, obviously, plan to do so in the coming weeks.

Favorite News of The Day

What Cookie Monster Dreams About

"Police say a trailer loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos has overturned, spilling the cookies still in their plastic sleeves into the median and roadway."

Full AP Story

"Mahoney says no charges have been filed but both lanes of traffic remain closed while authorities remove the cookies."

What I Heard at 24Hour Fitness Today

I forgot my iPod today in my mad-dash to get to the gym before the day got crazy. This afforded me the opportunity to listen to the tunes being streamed over the 24Hour Fitness airwaves.

When I used to go workout late at night - anywhere from 10pm and 1am - the 24hour fitnesser running the show at that time would treat us to whatever the top 40 club mixes were at that moment. I caught a lot of Fergie, Usher, Maroon5, Gwen, that sort of thing. The 9am crowd must be a very different demographic cuz here's a sample of what I caught this morning.

Queen of Hearts (Juice Newton) followed by...
Karmachameleon (Culture Club) then...
She's A Beauty (Tubes) directly into...
Money for Nothing (Dire Straits)

Strangely, none of these really got me more amped to work out. Of course, I suppose Fergie didn't either.

Did I Know I Had This Blog?

Stumbled across this blog site oblivious to any memory that I ever once set it up. The creation date says May 2007. Well, that's exactly 1 year ago which is exactly around the time that I quit my corporate gig to freelance as a writer and set a new direction for my working life. So, I'm thinking I created this page in hopes of having a venue to write. But why did I create it, abandon it without a single post, and then delete it from my mind?

I haven't the faintest idea.

So, until the memory of setting this up comes back to me, let me just say:

Ta Daaaaaa!!!

Welcome to my blog. I hope you find it amusing. I will probably write mostly about my life in Portland, OR, life with my husband and now business partner, Ben, and my obsession with food.