One Two Three Walk with me

Finn is now doing a little walking on his own.

Meeting the Neighbors

When we left the house today to run some errands we passed these two looking get connected back with two of their friends that had already crossed the road. We didn't see too many deer in FSQ. Today we looked at a couple of rental houses in the South East Neighborhood of Hawthorne and the North East Neighborhood of Mississippi with Jesse and Carly. It was great to see what was out there and what things cost it was hard not being able to snatch up any of those places. There needs to be a job before we can get an idea of what we can pay for rent so today was more research then anything else. No word on any jobs today other then some one calling me to tell me I not qualified for a job they were going to submit me for. Thanks for that.

Mayger Generations

Today we went to Mayger beach to play in the water a little bit on what is supposed to be the last nice day for a bit. There is rain in the forecast for the next week so after Finn woke up from his nap we headed out. Mayger beach is a spot on the Columbia between Clatskanie and Rainer and has been hot spot for Rohl R&R for the last 50+ years. My dad grew up swimming there, my brother and I lived there for a couple of summers in my grandparents make shift shack attached to there travel trailer. There used to be a dock there that was a thriving bar/restaurant with the neighborhood post office when my dad was a kid, hollowed out and a storage place for gill nets when I was a kid, and is now gone. You can see some remains behind Finn and I in the picture. With or without the docks though the real fun is in playing in the mud, digging up clams, and watching ships heading up the river to Portland and Finn enjoyed all three of those events today.

Catching up

I am sorry for the gapes in posting here it is tough not having my computer up and running at all times. I have more messages in my Google reader then I know what to do with and my fantasy baseball team has gone the way of the Dodgers in this end of the season flurry. Kate and Finn are now here and doing well. Finn has slept in 4 different places in the last couple of weeks and he is adapting quite well. He sleeps through the night and seems happy and well adjusted. He takes a lot of step but doesn't walk and he makes a lot of noise but doesn't talk. He is thriving but in ways that aren't measured in the questions over coffee at the local cafe. Kate is doing well with the pregnancy and feeling kicks and movement in her ever growing belly. For the last couple of days we have had some visitors from Santa Barbara that are doing a fact finding vacation in the Northwest to see if this could be a place for them someday. I think it could but I also think they are miles away from a decision so I won't be making dinner plans with them anytime soon. Finn has had a couple chances to play with his cousins and he seems to love it. They are bigger then him and like to wrestle but he joins in and smacks the face of whoever is on the ground. Finn is a mercenary really with no strong allegiances to any one side. It has been beautiful here with warm sunny days and cool crisp fall nights. The rumbling of future rains are getting louder on the 5 o'clock news so I think we will be properly introduced to the typical Northwest weather soon enough.

As for the job searching it is moving along. I have resumes out to every corner of the greater Portland Metro area and have had a couple of interviews and thanks, but no thanks letters. I recently had a second interview with a company that would be great and it sounds like it is down to me and one other person. I have also hooked up with a recruiter that has helped me refine my resume and has recently forwarded on a great job opportunity with a small software company that sounds great. There are positive vibes a plenty but no offers yet, I have turned down 3 interviews because the money wasn't right as well. I am upbeat and positive and full of hope and promise. My Aunt Dee Dee called yesterday just because Kate and I were on her heart and prayed with me over the phone and it really helped fortify my faith. Well that is what is news worthy lately and I will get more updates up here soon, thanks for your thoughts and prayers for Kate and I, and thanks for keeping up with us.

She was delayed but she is coming

After a two and a half hour delay in Houston Kate and Finn are on their way here. As you can see they are above Colorado right now as I am writing this, but probably not as your reading. I am very very excited to have them back and couldn't sleep last night in anticipation. I headed to Portland a bit early this evening so I am sitting in a great coffee house on SE Stark and 79th in North East Portland. There are 10 other people on computers so the connection is not that great but the vibe can't be beat. Tomorrow Kate and I are going up to Seattle to see the king of all small businesses and that's kinda cool too. Just not as cool as my beautiful and my baby coming.

Friday Night Lights to Sunday night lows

This past Friday night I went to the local high school football game with my dad. It was really great being in the crowd watching the people who loved the game and the great majority who were just there because everyone else was. It was small town football at it's best and the home team dominated from opening kick off to the final ear drum shattering horn. I was told how great my dad was when he played ball for the Tigers and chastised for not having enough spirit by the biggest fan there Calvin. We walked over to the game, through the woods, down the hill and into the field that wasn't there when my dad played. His games were in the park in the middle of town. There are about as many people in the town of Clatskanie as went to my high school so things were on a much smaller scale but the same Friday night Football dynamics endure just as strong in the northwest as they do in Southern California. The little kids are playing in the grass behind the goal posts, the middle schoolers are watching the high schoolers and the high schoolers are fighting the mostly losing battle to be cool. The game was not good, but since the hated rivals Rainer blew out this team Clatskanie was obligated to do the same and they obliged.

Saturday morning I went to breakfast and then a short garage sale seesion with my lovely cousin Crystal and then parked my self in front of the TV for a long day of college football. Having a TV that gets those extra channels and being back in the Pacific time zone allowed me to watch the 9 AM ESPN game all the way through to the Hawaii game that ended around 11 PM. There was a lot of great football in there and one terrible car wreck of a game. My parents worked feverishly all day to get the house ready for Kate and Finn while I pinned for them in front of the TV with a bag of chips and a fantastic channel that should all the games in tiny little screens so you could flip around at will. We all have our own way of preparing!

I would like to say that I got more done on Sunday but really how could I with all those pro games on. I had to watch the Indy game so I could text Nathan, something I am afraid is going to be a tradition for me for years to come. Then the Raiders came on and it's been years since I have seen them play. The Raiders didn't disappoint either snatching defeat from the claws of victory in typical Raider fashion. I did get a bunch done to get Finn's room set up and all of Kate's clothes up in the closet so it wasn't all vegging. It has been a great weekend of football watching at almost every level but it really isn't the treat that it once was for me. I would have traded all those games, well maybe not the high school game, for a chance to be in the Aalsma's backyard with all of these beautiful people.

It's not allowed

Did you know that in Oregon your not allowed to pump your own gas. I guess you can also say you don't have to but I choose to see it as not being allowed to. It's literally against the law to pump your own gas. The same is true for New Jersey but no where else in the entire U.S. I have included a graphic for those of you who can't picture the rest of the U.S. without a little help. It is really hard to get used to pulling up to the filling station and waiting for someone to come up to me so I can tell them what I need and give them my card to pay for it. The pumps still have the card reader on each of them so I can easily get out and start the process for them but if I do I can be arrested! Well maybe not arrested but at least a stern talking to. When they are done and give my the receipt I feel like I should tip them but nobody does. I haven't tipped anyone yet and from what I have read it is not part of the deal, written or unwritten. I do slap them on the bottom and tell them good work though so they know how grateful I am.

Jobs and the longing

The job search is going, though I am not sure how it is going. I mean until you have a job it really isn't going that well is it? There seems to be some interest in my silly list of accomplishments but not enough for an interview or job offer. I have started to hear from companies in Portland instead of Indy, Waco, and Phoenix so that is plus. My spirits are still high because I know that this is a process that will take some time. I'm trying not to think about my wife at her appointment, 18 weeks along and all is well, wondering where and when we will find a Dr. here. Trying not to worry about where we will live and if Finn will be OK until we get insurance again. That stuff is out of my control for right now so it is relegated to back burner concerns. I miss my wife and boy terribly. It is first thing in the morning when I feel it most. That time in the morning where you first wake up but don't need to get up yet. When I would find Kate in the sea of covers and curl up to her and wait for Finn to wake up. If I was lucky I would be pulled into sleep with her hair in my face and my arm around her. That's the way it feels, like being pulled into, falling almost and I miss that. I wake up now and reach out to find her, for a second forgetting that she isn't there, and longing is heavy on my chest and I catch my breath.

Waiting for it while writing

I am in Santa Barbara for the weekend so I can attend my friends' wedding. Both the bride and the groom are my friends so I put the little mark at the end. That isn't right is it? Irregardless I did it and I used a word I have no idea what it's meaning is. My wife has never been less attracted to me then when reading this post. Anyway it is nice being here, I will always love Santa Barbara and the people. I am staying with Jesse and Carly in their great place and at dinner tonight I ran into a couple of old friends that themselves were just back in SB after a year in Taiwan. That is part of the beauty of this place much like Indy in that I often run into someone I know and haven't seen for years. Tomorrow is a busy day that includes a harbor cruise so I must get to sleep. I don't really have much to say lately but want to write so I do. I think that soon I will be able to get at something that I want to say just by taking the time to get back int he habit of writing. That may or may not be true but I think I'll just play it out to see. In the mean time enjoy Finn getting super pumped about getting a balloon.

Wapping it

I am getting to know some of the finer Wireless access points in the greater Clatskanie area. A town that boasts a population of 1850 has a good number of open networks to attach to. Today I am in Flotano's Pizza parlor checking email and sending out resumes en mass. Thank you Tonya and Carly for the encouragement today and great notes, I really appreciate your words and value them a lot because of who you both are. I thought I would put up a travel photo from the epic drive. Enjoy

From plans to reality

Writing this I am sitting in a coffee-tanning-ice cream place in Clatskanie, OR tweaking my resume and scouring the online job posting while trying not to think about how much I miss Kate, Finn, John, Tonya, Cosi, Carrie, ......... My brother Mark, and friend Jesse flew out to Indy to drive with me cross country to Oregon last week and we made the trip in 38 hours. We left Indy at 11 AM and made it to my parent's house at 10:30 PM the next day. It was an epic road trip that we dominated from start to finish. Three iPods full of music and a mix CD that encapsulated the mood of the trip perfectly, moving from excitement and hope to sadness searching and then back really helped the time go by. We had a rotation of 2-4 hours of driving with the other two taking the bulk of the midnight to sunrise driving time.

Now that Mark and Jesse are back home and I am left here to start the job search it's hard not to think back to what I have left behind. There are great pictures up on Flickr of Sunday night dinners and Labor Day beach outings that left tears on my keyboard. There was this line in a book I recently read where the woman was looking back at a time in her life where she was having some minor problems compared to the hell her life had become and she says "How were we supposed to know we were happy then?" There is a big part of me that fears we will do the same. This move to Portland seems like the right decision but I don't have any certainty to it, it very well could be the worse decision we have made and I would be lying if I said I didn't worry about that. Worry is no good here though, I am here, Kate and Finn are coming and so I look for a job. Then we look for a place to live. Then we look for all the other things we will need to make it in our new home.