All aboard!

I'm interviewing with the state next Wednesday for a bilingual office position. Through an interesting series of events I'm employed but.... not entirely. I'm taking this as a sign from God that it's time to move out. If I keep waiting to feel like I'm capable of handling a change, I'm never going to do anything, and something needs to be done. I haven't told Becky yet, since she's working on Bryan's reception tomorrow, sooooo, um, please don't say anything to her! There seems to be a hefty dose of denial about me leaving, even though I've told her I'm planning on pursuing another job.

I've also been on a crazy cleaning binge, thanks to carpet beetles (!!!!) somehow having found their way to my yarn/knitting. And also thanks to How Clean Is Your House, a wonderful BBC show that inspired me to take a really good look at how I was living, and then clean some of it up. Apparently a small space crammed with lots of stuff plus woolly things/yarn stored out in the open combined with a poorly functioning (read: burning and sparking) vacuum cleaner leads to the appearance of carpet beetles. I've vacuumed all the carpet I can reach, moved furniture, cleaned up boxes, taken a box of sheets to St. Vincent de Paul, culled the books, completely wiped down a bookshelf.... dude, I am on a roll! Which is, of course, going to be sadly interrupted when I head to Sacramento this weekend, which means I will probably be completely out of the mood by the time I get home! But, I am planning on conscripting some friends (and a steam cleaner) at some point in the nearish future and doing some serious spring cleaning/re-arranging. It's just so weird, I almost feel like an adult!

A little excitement

We had some yesterday in the form of a forest fire that ripped through the area above my house. And I do mean ripped! It was something like 100 degrees with decent winds from the south, so perfect fire conditions. I always thought my parents were the ones in forest fire danger what with being in the middle of the forest and what not, but apparently I was wrong! I did find it kind of funny that the cops told me twice that my street had been evacuated when both times I had just gotten off the phone with my landlord.... who was up at the house. At least I now have a concrete idea of what needs to be grabbed if we have another fire. Something along the lines of: violin, computer, pictures, tax records. And possibly yarn if I have enough time. I would lose all my books though, which would suck. And my spinning wheel.

When I came home tonight I could still see spot fires on the hills and the command center was still set up in the empty parking lot on Lone Pine. And I can still smell the smoke. The burned area actually isn't all that different from the scrub oaks all over the hill. All in all, an interesting experience to have gone through and I'm very thankful that no one was injured and no one lost their home!

Perfect Summer Day

I wish I had my camera because today is seriously about perfect. It's 81 degrees and sure to get hotter, but for summer, that's not bad at all. The sky is beautifully blue, no forest fire smoke blowing into the valley and there are wisps of cloud hovering over the hills that ring the valley. It's the kind of day where one wants a burger from Jasper's, along with some sweet potato fries, so that was lunch. Although I really wish I could be outside enjoying the weather, even getting to drive in it is absolutely lovely!

Autumn in summer

I love the strange, unpredictable weather of Southern Oregon. Last week it was blisteringly hot, enough so that pretty much everyone was in a foul mood, and today it was cloudy and rainy, with temperatures reaching for the upper 70s. It was a great day for tea, cucumbers and New Moon during my lunch break and red Thai curry for dinner with a little Buffy and Twilight... and maybe some Ray Kowalski. Yesterday was a day for clips from LotR on YouTube, the last episode of North & South, and Penelope, not to mention a used bookstore in the evening. It's been kind of nice to have two days in a row to myself in the middle of the week. My biggest dilemma this week is between the Sock Summit and the Tioga rendezvous. I can't leave before three on Friday and I have to be home before Sunday morning, so either one is going to be a short visit, but I'm going to do one or the other, and I just can't decide!

Klamath Falls

I really like Klamath Falls. I went over last night to watch Aunt Leann in the community theater production of "Music Man" and it was so much fun!! The theater was packed and it was so lovely to feel a sense of community and support, rather than whatever it is we have here in Hometown. Aunt Leann played Eulalie and did a fabulous job, as did the rest of the cast and crew (Jeffy).

I spent the night not on the couch, a change from usual, and dreamed of zombies at Campmeeting and then Edward Cullen and LOTR (no, I really have no idea where any of that came from, minus the LOTR), then got up and had breakfast with Katie at a wonderful little place called Nibbley's Cafe (amazing food! Homemade bread! HUGE cinnamon rolls!). After that, we stopped at the mountain man store so I could check out the powder measures, but I think I'm going to keep looking for the one Dad and I think I got for Christmas, since they cost about $15, and then Katie took me on a lovely drive along the base of the foothills. I just love how open and wide the Klamath Valley feels, and even though it's so barren, there are all kinds of trees just lurking in unexpected places.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Aunt Leann, watching Jeff at football practice as the thunderstorm that eventually followed me home began to brew and break. Made for some interesting driving on the way home, not to mention the evening light show!

Klamath Falls just seems like a wonderful escape from the Rogue Valley, so close and yet far enough away that everything is different. Maybe I will move there someday, we'll have to see....

Summer in SoOre

Summer has long been, if not my least favorite season, then definitely the season that I have the most issues with. For one thing, I am currently trapped in my apartment with the windows closed and the AC on, when it has been my wont for the last month to sleep with the windows open while enjoying the night breezes. Unfortunately, this is a little difficult to do when it's only supposed to get down to 70 degrees tonight. However, as uncomfortable as this might be, it is also the cause of long drives out into the country (not so easy in the winter when some of the roads are quite snowed in) and up to the steeps of Mt. Ashland:
It is also the time of gardens and flowers and evening picnics. And the Fair. Which this year was greatly improved from years past. They actually had a flower competition! And although the tatting guys weren't represented (a great loss, I have to tell you. The gentleman and his son have been doing it for years and have produced some of the most amazing stuff I have seen in any handicraft.), there were actually a couple of rather nice pairs of socks entered. I went with my parents on a Wednesday evening, the lowest forecasted temperature for the rest of the week. We actually went to the pig auction, since my parents' neighbors' kids were showing/selling their pigs this year. My dad knew the Grand Champion's dad, too. The GC sold his pig for $10,200!! That's something like $40 a pound. The pigs that we watched being auctioned were between $3.50 and $7.50.

As we wandered through the stalls I couldn't help but think that we really missed the boat not getting me into 4H. I totally could have married my farmer!! I probably would have had to reconcile myself to a life of country music (gak!), but I might have gotten to have a horse of my very own, which would have made up for it.

Yellow Submarine

This is the song going through my head right now. It's very awkward because I'm on the phone with tech support for an email problem through our business software and I have the insane urge to start humming "Yellow Submarine." But the the guy I'm on hold with is not at all chatty. Like, minutes are going by without ..... jumping jackrabbits, I've been on the phone with this guy for 22 minutes and we've exchanged maybe 10 sentences!!! I could be watching CSI (again) or actually getting stuff done! Speaking of getting stuff done, I must go get my hair cut, get a pedicure, buy the chiffon wrap and find some underpinnings before Katie's wedding next week. Not to mention her socks. Of which, one is partially done. Whoops! Email problem solved, off to the next issue!