#215 - bicycle!

i just got my bike out for the first time in probably close to a year. both tires were really flat so i had to put air in them and be sure i was good to go. i was worried i would forget how to bike and i was definitely a little afraid of biking in traffic. of course i still remember HOW to ride but it was a little awkward.

the day that i took my first ride of 2010 was so gorgeous, almost knocking on summer's door. summers in oregon are so amazing and i am really excited for it to come. i thought for sure the sun and warmth would last.. unfortunately today it got really COLD! i had heard rumors about snow in the next couple days and did not believe it because i swear it was in the upper 60's the other day. so imagine my surprise when i looked out the window today and saw snow falling down! granted, it is probably in the low 40s right now but hey it's MARCH for crying out loud! the cherry blossoms are in bloom and flowers are popping out everywhere so dammit, snow, stay away! i am ready to go out in t-shirts and maybe a light sweatshirt. no more winter clothes...grrr... i do enjoy the winter and this one was quite short with not enough rain (yes, i said it!) or snow. the sun is such a tease! i was dreaming of summer days and nights, staying out till nine and it still being light out. oh yeah! picnics, hikes, bikes, parties, swimming, the coast, etc. summer is going to rock!

so my bike is out and ready to ride. i will ride in the cold but not rain or snow. i am so fair weather. but i have a bus pass so its all good and i don't care what you bike people think.. its for fun and not my main mode of transport. maybe someday that will change but for now it's just fun to ride. i can get some exercise while also getting fresh air and going from point A to B faster, not having to wait for the bus. OOH CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER!! i should change the title to "summer"

#182 - pseudo summer

right now, portland is gorgeous! the sun is shining and it is warm. it's getting a little too warm for me but i know it will go away soon. we are being teased by the weather gods, as usual. i am totally okay with that. i don't even want summer yet. it's still april. i want a few months of nice cool sunny weather, in the 50-60's preferably. i am not ready to break out the tank tops and sunscreen. i got cheated out of a normal winter of endless days of rain. we had all kinds of weird stuff like snow, hail and sun. i don't want to be cheated out of a rainy, cool spring with little breaks of sunny days.

all that being said, i've enjoyed the last couple days of nice weather. i took time off for my sanity. i did nothing. i laid in a hammock. i went on a hike. i sat in the sun. i slept in. these are all things that needed to be done, i was going nuts-o. i have a hard time just relaxing. there always has to be something being done, even if it is as simple as changing my fb status. usually i am doing two things at once (like writing a blog and resume at the same time). i feel like i am using my time better but i know that is not true. doing laundry AND dishes AND listening to music AND preparing lunch. there just does not seem to be enough time to do everything i need/want to. where does all that time go? i have been keeping a time log and i notice much of my time goes to waiting or riding the bus, at least 2 hours a day. it seems like a waste but i use it to read a lot. when i do too much it makes me less present.

thinking about summer, i can tell this will be an awesome one! while i do not look forward to certain things, i know they will turn out ok. i already have two little trips planned and i want to do more. if and when i survive the next 50-odd days i will be free!! i will no longer have school, classes, homework, clinicals, etc. of course there will be the job search, interviews, possibly moving houses, and then work. but with 12-hour shifts at the hospital and only needing to work 3 days a week...that just sounds so sweet! i'm thinking of day trips out to the coast, weekend trips, rivers, lakes, fun, food, friends and being outside. all of what i moved to oregon for. one of the reasons i want a rainy spring is so that i stay on track and not get caught up in the nice weather too much, it makes me want to only do fun things and forget all my responsibilities.

#139 - ahhh, fall

tomorrow is the first official day of "autumn" but today certainly feels like it. it is crisp, overcast and wonderful. fall is my favorite season for many reasons, and october is my favorite month. we're almost there. why? the trees are all starting to change colors at the very tips of the leaves. orange tipped trees are beautiful. i love putting on layers of clothes and walking down the street with my face cold but body warm. i love the rain! my bike is now in it's "resting place" aka storage. i am a fair-weather biker. i admit it. having a bus pass and no fender for my bike really make it easy not to bike in the cold and rain. i am a wimp!

what a strange year it has been. just last week it was 90 degrees and now it's nipply out. i've been waiting patiently for fall to arrive and now it has. i start school tomorrow bright and early, with clinicals at the hospital as well. it is going to be one heck of a busy term and i am not sure i am prepared mentally. i am having major anxiety! on top of that i am looking for a new place to rent. i am currently living with 3 guys who i never really see or hang out with. so i have nothing really going for me here, and while it was nice to be across the street from a mcmenamins pub/theater i am over it. i want to be closer to work, school and friends. so i am moving. i'm gonna live with 2 gals from work who are awesome! i can't wait. first we have to find the perfect place though, and that's hard considering we are all poor/working/students.

on another note, RENT is done on broadway but doing a final tour with some of the original cast. i have been a fan of RENT since i first saw it. it's one of those shows that i really get and that i can relate to. other ones that i love i don't necessarily connect to but just like the music, like phantom of the opera and les miz. they are all essentially about love but RENT is set more in this age and place. also, the music is rockin and i love it! it is not coming until june but i just bought my tickets!!! i got orchestra seats for a thursday night but i'm thinking i'll probably try to rush for another night. they are only performing for a week so we'll see if i can.

i have to go to kickball soon. it's cold out and i'll have to dress warmly. last week we lost to the worst team, 10-2. we were short many people and our pitcher severely sprained his ankle. we had 2 guys who never played before and i was 0-3, something that's never happened. i'm not sure where my mojo went. hopefully it'll be back this week! go CHEATERS!

#127 - night shift

i worked my first night shift. usually i work the day shift (6:30am-3pm) but there weren't enough open shifts this week so i picked up two night shifts (10:30pm-7am). i thought it would be really hard and i was pretty nervous but it ended up fine. i was a little tired at one point around 2-4am but it passed and i got a second wind. the residents mostly sleep and you answer a few call lights but mostly it's chill. i was thinking it might be good to work night shifts because when i become a RN most likely the shifts that i'll be able to get will be those unwanted ones.

it is still amazingly hot in portland, i'm pretty sure it hit 100F today. it's so yucky! i was worried that when i came home i wouldn't be able to sleep because of the heat and light but i got almost 8 hours. it's weird to wake up at 2:45 in the afternoon. i am not sure what kind of schedule i can get on when school starts but i am really wanting to work the night shift. it'll give me time to study when it's quiet and it's nice to be in quiet sometimes. also there are no administrators around so that's a big incentive. i need to figure out how to work nights and still be able to function during the day.

i am a big sweat bug right now. gonna shower, eat some leftover thai food then head to work. this day has been kind of weird, kind of zombie-like. i guess it's just another day. i finished the first season of dexter. there is another one but i think i'm gonna put it on hold for a little while. i started watching the 2nd season of "little mosque on the prairie". this show is funny, it's about a mosque in canada. it's an islamic comedy i guess, i saw the first season on dvd and just found the second on surfthechannel.com, check it out.

school starts in a little over a month. i am actually pretty excited to get started and going again. when i'm not in school or working full time i am kind of in limbo. it seems like i waste a lot of time (watching tv perhaps) and have no purpose. some people find ways to make themselves productive but not me. i'll have class on mondays and fridays and some clinicals thrown in there somewhere. they never tell us ahead of time when our clinicals will be and our class schedule usually changes without them telling us till THAT DAY. i just have to get through it. june 12 is the day, 10 months until i become something else.

#110 - time to bike

the weather is finally turning nice. this for me means time to bike! i will admit, i am not one who likes to ride in the rain, or cold. it's misery. i haven't ridden since the end of summer last year. i blamed it on a bum bike. my wheel was bent when i was going downhill at top speed and ran over a big stick in the road. i tried to see if i could ride it, but it was no good. so basically, i kept it in the garage until last week. i took it to the bike shop and asked if they could fix it. they couldn't. i had to buy a new wheel which set me back a few, even if it was a used one. but now it's fixed and i am happy. it's nice out and i can bike!

i usually go everywhere on the bus or MAX train, which works. it's slow and you have to be used to waiting, a lot. i decided for the month of june i wouldn't get a bus pass so that i will force myself to ride my bike everywhere. it's not that i don't like biking but sometimes i can be lazy. it's nice to sit on the bus/MAX and read or sleep or listen to music. i've only got two more days of going to school, one of which i will get a ride. the other is for my final which i can take at the testing center, about a 5 mile ride away. i usually get a ride to work but i will probably start biking there. it's about 3 miles, which is a pretty quick ride.

generally portland is a great place to ride bikes. everyone bikes here. i don't particularly like biking through the city, but it's not too bad. i try to stick to the wide streets that are less busy. there is a great bike trail that i love to ride that goes right along the willamette river. the section i've done quite a bit is probably 6 miles long and i double back. it's a part of a larger 40-mile loop that also goes east out to gresham, north through troutdale, west along the columbia river to north portland, then south through forest park. my goal is to do that loop this summer sometime. there is also a shorter loop that is probably 20 miles that goes along the 205 instead of out to gresham. 40 miles sounds like a lot but if i've got water and music and it's a nice day, i just keep going. i may hurt in the butt the next day but it's fun and quite worth it.

#106 - misery

i am miserable right now. it is supposed to hit 97 degrees today! right now it's 4pm and my computer says it's 93. YUCK!! i cannot handle weather like this. you walk outside and feel like you are a pile of wet clothes in a dryer on high heat. no one should have to live like this.

luckily for me and others around me, my room is on the north side of the house and doesn't get absurdly hot. i never appreciated the placement of a room so much. 1st floor and north, without much direct sunlight. i used to think it wasn't ideal because it's sometimes kind of dark but it's all good now. i've lived in the top floor on the east side of the house, i was miserable there during hot days. i lived in a basement too and that was so nice. it makes a huge difference.

i worked today in the air condition which was nice considering the heat outside. i really don't like the air at my work because it's pretty much stifling and i feel like the old people don't get enough fresh air. today i opened the windows up in the morning because it wasn't too gross yet. no one said they enjoyed it but i like to think that i would want fresh air every now and then. i love to open the window for a minute or two, even on the coldest days, just to get fresh air. i also like to sleep with the windows open. during the winter i think this makes me have sore throats and coughs but i still gotta do it.

so maybe this is the unofficial, official start of the summer. it's gonna be a doozy. i am not quite sure how i will handle the heat in mexico and guatemala, especially since i won't be drinking tap water. bottled water or beer, baby. no ice chips either. i've got plans for the summer:

• may 21 - underdog playoffs
• memorial day weekend - herron island with a bunch of friends and a keg
• may 31 - end of season dodgeball tournament and party (to which i might be wearing a fancy dress...)
• june 5 - kickball starts, and continues every week till october!
• june 7 - BBQ/camping out in the boonies
• june 14 - first kickball double header
• june 17-27 - watching 3 crazy dogs at the beach
• july 1-25 - central america!
• some point this summer - move into nw
• july 28-aug 29 - school, one class...boo
• august 14 - birthday!
• also in august - football season starts!!
• sept 13 - parents coming up for OSU vs UH football game

#95 - spring, then summer

it's the middle of april (yes, i did my taxes) and so it's spring. it's been spring for a month now, but what does that really mean? to me, lots of things - flowers for one! they are everywhere! one of my favorite trees is the cherry blossom, or sakura. portland is a great place to grow them i guess because they are everywhere. i love it. while i may not be a girly girl, i love my share of pretty flowers. one of my big projects in the past years was to take photos of flowers and make them into cards. i give a whole set to my mom and grandma for mother's day. last year i gave one to each of the moms in my nursing class (i didn't do anything for the dads, oops). i could sell them but that would be just too much work.

another thing is erratic, spontaneous, unpredictable and crazy weather. as of this moment, the temperature is 38F. i had to wear a sweatshirt and a coat out tonight. it rained this morning and throughout the day. yesterday was in the 50s. this past weekend got up into the high 70s and was just gorgeous. i sat out on the porch studying, in shorts and t-shirt. it was on the verge of hot. couple weeks ago it snowed/hailed a little. and of course rain here and there and everywhere. it is bizarre but at the same time i love it. it's telling me enjoy this weather now cause once summer hits it's gonna be hot for awhile. i'm not a hot weather person (thus the move to oregon). it doesn't help that i'll be traveling to mexico and guatemala during the summer. i start sweating thinking about it! april showers bring may flowers. but what do may flowers bring?
pilgrims! hahaha my attempt at humor. sad really. there are actually a few things i enjoy about summer: bbq & cocktails/beer, beer festivals, wearing chacos, going to the river (which is strangely still ice cold), abundance of tomatoes & basil, berry picking, no school (sort of), vacation, usually a trip to hawaii, obon, my birthday (duh), kickball and relaxing. while i'm thinking about all the wonderful things i'll be doing this summer, i will enjoy SPRING now and all it has to offer.

#58 - rain and cold

i don't know why but i love the rain and cold. yes, i grew up in hawaii where the weather is quite predictably warm. it's been in the 30's here in oregon for a week or so, and i love it! unfortunately it hasn't snowed yet but i am waiting patiently. i missed the "white christmas" because i was in aforementioned warm climate. i love being able to bundle up and wear my big puffy jacket or peacoat. it's so nice to wear sweaters and sweats too. i LOVE seeing my breath outside when i breathe. last year about this time in late january it snowed and it was great!! i got to make a snowman and snowdog, snowboard in the street (sort of), watch maui run around and enjoy the snow with pogo, walk to work a mile in the snow (enjoying the crunch and quiet of the snow), sit inside in front of a fire in between playing in the snow, and just enjoy something kind of new. i look forward to the changing seasons and love the rain and cold while it lasts!

i do also love being able to go home to hawaii though and feel at home even though i'm only visiting. it will always be my home no matter where i go. hopefully i'll always be able to boogie board in the blue waters at waimanalo beach park where the sand is the finest you'll ever find. or trying to surf the small waves at white plains on my big ass board. there are many reasons why i don't live there but it's a great place. if i could somehow create real seasons there...i'd move in a heartbeat.

so now as i type and can't feel my hands or feet, i think about going out somewhere (like the gym) and just get lazy cause it's so nice to be in sweats and not do anything when it's cold. i am so comfortable! in hot weather i am always miserable unless i'm at the beach. most people think hawaii=beach but really not many people go to the beach everyday. hawaii is like any other place where when you live there you don't quite appreciate everything around you. maybe that is why i love oregon weather, it's not very extreme. you don't get to a point where you can't appreciate things because it changes pretty often. just about the time when you are hoping for warmer weather, you get it.