Car Insurance, Clinton and Cannucks...

Hi everyone!

Things have been relatively uneventful for the last few days. But, I do have a few interesting things to report.

First of all, I changed my auto insurance. Yep, the self-appointed Progressive Auto Insurance Company lover has finally given in and switched to GEICO. You know, for years those folks had been sending me little invitations to check them out and see if they could save me some money. But I never did because I was so happy with the service I had received from Progressive when that tree branch fell on my car. They were wonderful and very prompt. But, not having a job yet and not knowing when I will find one (which is really starting to get to me, by the way) convinced me to check them out. What I found was disconcerting. Progressive wanted $540.00 for 6 months of coverage. GEICO wanted $292.00 for the exact same coverage. Pretty significant difference. So, I changed over. I will be filling out the paperwork as soon as I get done with the blog today.

I have been reading Hillary Clinton's autobiography. It is very interesting. It seems to be a little sanitized for human comsumption. It seems she hardly has a very bad word to say about anyone. And when she does it is said carefully enough that she could probably stand up to a libel/slander suit in court. Sad that she has to protect herself that way. I don't blame her though. If half the things that she has been saying about the way her husband's political allies ganged up against them both are true, then I would have been scared and cautious, too. Turns out the whole Whitewater scandal thing was crap. It was a real estate venture that they lost money on. A bad investment, plain and simple. The problem was the guy that they went into business with, McDougal. Turns out he was a manic depressive. Note to self: never go into business with a manic depressive with delusions of grandeur. It was just sad. I wish I followed politics more closely. I just rememeber knowing that there were rumblings about wrongdoing. I never really looked into it. I know now what a mistake it is just to take the media's opinion as gospel.

I also have learned about her more as a person. I just figured she was born rich. Turns out she wasn't. She was middle-class, middle-western and pretty much average. Her father started his own business, and they did well enough that she could go to an Ivy League school eventually, but she had to work her way through school just like everyone else. I thought that was pretty neat. There were also pictures of Bill Clinton when they first started going out in college. She described him as being hard to miss on campus, because he looked like a Viking. And she was right. He had this huge reddish brown head of hair and a big beard. And he did look like some sort of pirate or Viking. Kind of weird to see the man I think of only with short gray hair and a mostly somber appearance looking like a giant hippie freak with a big grin on his face while smashing around a volleyball. But in a good way.

And, last but certainly not least, WE ARE GOING TO CANADA!!! YYYAAAAA!!!!
Franz was able to get some time off, so we are going to go see Montreal and Quebec City from July 27th to August 4th. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I am going to have a stamp in my passport!! I have already started listening to my French tapes. I can't wait!! Franz says we are going to ride on a hydrofoil while we are there. I have never been on one. I will tell you guys all about it when I do. He also checked and there are over 20 Internet cafes in Montreal. So I will be able to blog from there!! Woo hoo!!

Well, that's about all for now. Buddy is doing great and Franz is wonderful as always. I hope that everyone out there is enjoying their summer!

Love to all,

Sherry

Fatigue and vague discontent....

So, it's almost 1 am right now. The condo is cool enough to go to sleep. I ate a little something to keep the nightmares away, but not too much- which would defeat the purpose. I don't know why my brain is saying, "I'm tired, but I don't want to (am afraid to?) go to bed."

Maybe it is something to do with the nightmare that had me waking up at 3 am, well, yesterday morning, now. I don't remember it at all, which is strange for me. But I had sweat completely through the sheets I was sleeping on and my heart and breathing were both racing. I have a feeling that I have Buddy to thank for waking me up, because he was there with his head on the matress breathing on me. Otherwise, who knows how long it could have lasted.

Also, there is this dull feeling of vague discontent that seemed to settle over the condo, as well as me and Franz, today. I am not sure what that is about either. Nothing in particular, just a random feeling that has lodged itself in my psyche for a few hours too long now.

I saw a hawk's feather lying on the ground in the park where I walk Buddy yesterday. Later on, a homeless man picked it up and shook it. I wonder if a hawk's feather is a portent of good or bad luck? Or something else all together? Wouldn't it be great if the Native Americans were right and you really could get all your daily answers about life, the future and other universal mysteries from signs and portents? A broken branch on a sturdy tree could warn you of impending danger. A white rabbit in a field at a certain hour of the morning could mean your wife was pregnant. A sparrow could tell you when someone close to you would die.

I bet they were right. I bet there is a hawk looking down on me who knows why I can't go to bed and why I feel slightly sad. I sure wish he could just tell me what he knows.

But I guess I have long forgotten how to listen.


Love to all,

Sherry

Back to the suburbs... Part Deux

Well, I went out to Banks again today. Turns out I forgot a lot of stuff at my old house the last time I left. The most important bit was a Master combo lock I have had since either junior high or high school. I've had the combo memorized for 17 years now... that's more than half my life. I memorized that combination before I had memorized my own social security number, if you can believe that. It kind of blows your mind.

Franz has started a blog. The blog fever is catching!!

Franz and I went to go see "Fahrenheit 9/11" yesterday. WARNING: The following comments on this movie may be long and disheartening. If you don't want to hear it, stop reading here...

O.k.- for those of you who are still with me, let me open with this thought. I knew that the Bush family was bad when one of George Bush, Sr.'s last official acts as outgoing President was to sign into law a bill that made it so people under the age of twenty (freakin') four could not declare themselves independent of their parent's income for college financial aid purposes, unless they went before a judge and had themselves declared emancipated or got married. If they got married, though, their spouses income would be considered in the financial aid formula. So, I knew he was a bastard. I knew the war the first time around was about oil. I knew that Saddam Hussein was simply a junkyard dog that the CIA had helped to gain power in the Middle East in the 1970's so they could help keep other oil producing nations in line by providing protection *from* him and his Tikrit junkyard dog ways. It's like having a Doberman on a leash... he's on the leash, but people still cut you a wide berth and are thankful when they don't get bitten.

But, I guess it is true that the sins of the father are visited upon the son. For this new George Bush is an even bigger bastard than his father was. And he is so much more blatant about it, he doesn't even try to hide how big of a bastard he truly is. The alacrity with which the younger Bush has manipulated the media, the American people and the world is not only shameful, it is incredibly frightening.

Many of you may not know that I actually studied Islam at one time. I even considered converting because at the heart of it, it is truly a beautiful religion. Of course, like every other major religion in the world, it has been bastardized and twisted to fit human greed and social agendas, but at its most basic, it is a beautiful and incredibly simple way to live. You pray five times per day, you make a pilgrimage to Meccha once in your lifetime, you believe in the Oneness of God (who they call Allah), you give a certain percentage ( 1/40th) of your net worth to the needy each year, and you purify yourself through fasting. So, simple, right? Prayer, belief/faith, charity, travel and health... what more could you want?

And Islamic literature is beautiful, too. They speak very often in metaphors and using language which is so heartrendingly simple and beautiful, it can sometimes appear complicated and artistic. They have a phrase I ran across many times in my readings to describe the feeling of disappointment, disenchantment or disillusionment- especially when it comes to love or the loss of it. The phrase is, "And the world darkened before my eyes." Beautiful, right? And a pretty accurate description of how the world changes when you see something you love for what it truly is. The whole world seems to darken before your eyes, and suddenly things seem so much more sinister than you ever imagined they could be.

Islam is not the problem. Some of the people who have changed it and taken it to extremes are a small part of the problem. But an even bigger problem than them is us. The U.S.A.- and our unwillingness to see what is right before our eyes. The corruption, the greed, the immeasurable amount of unfeeling, uncaring ease with which our leaders are sending our poorest off to the slaughter, and along with them, the poor in other nations as well. Michael Moore's film, unfortunately does that. The world darkens before your eyes as you watch this film. And once you see how deep the conspiracy goes, how truly powerful the people and families involved are, and how easy it was for them to dupe us all... how could the world ever be filled with light again?

This film was painful for me to watch. I cried at the beginning, I felt physically ill somewhere in the middle, and I was unbelievably angry and at the same time almost catatonically numb at the end. What can we possibly do in the face of all of this evil? What difference do our votes make if the ones in power can arrange to have them not counted? If/when I vote in the next election, will it ever even be heard? Or will 16,000 more voters (most likely of a different skin color than mine) be thrown off a crucial role at the exact right time, again? Because that's what they did, you guys. The Bush people made it so 16,000 predominantly black people in Florida could not vote. They had them listed as convicted fleons and thrown off the voter rolls at such a late date that they would not have time to re-register and clear their names. They even have a name for it... disenfranchisement. Bush won Florida by 537 votes. Now you tell me if you think those 16,000 votes might have made a difference.

George W. Bush stole the presidential election, has sent hundreds of our citizens off to die in another country for no good reason, has killed thousands of poor people in other countries, has limited our civil rights with the Patriot Act, has jeopardized our foreign relations with the rest of the world, has single handedly turned a budget surplus into another huge deficit (a la Reaganomics), and has likely turned back the social growth of this country 50 years or so. I used to think that things like spying on citizens happened only in places like Russia. Now I know it happens here.

There is NOTHING patriotic about the Patriot Act.

So, what are the alternatives? John Kerry? How do we know he isn't in bed with big business and big oil, as well? Just like the Bushes? Will our votes even be counted? Are they even listening to us in Washington? If I don't have a million dollars to invest in your campaign, how can I be heard by you, Mr. Candidate?

I said to Franz on the drive home, "It seems to me that the only options are to stay and fight for a better country, or to leave America and start over somewhere else. My gut tells me to stay and fight. But in the face of so much evil, what can one person do? Which would you choose? Stay and fight or leave?"

He replied, "Well, I would leave." Then he paused. And then he said, "But not if you won't come with me."

America has darkened before my eyes. I used to think of this place, this country, as home. The only home I would ever know. Now I think maybe it is time to re-define "home". Maybe home should not be tied to beliefs and ideology... like freedom, democracy, truth, and justice. Maybe home should be tied to the place where the people you love are... no matter where in the world that place is.

I haven't deicded yet, though. Which would you do, Sherry's weblog readers? Stay and fight for a better America? Or leave, if you could? Maybe we should do this the "American way". Maybe we should take a vote. I promise to count them all.

Please, see the movie. Think about it. And let me know. Click on "comments" below this post and let me hear from you all.

Love (and peace) to all,

Sherry

Back to the suburbs...

Well, I ventured out of P-Town today. I had a few errands to run back in Hillsboro and Forest Grove. And I got to have some fun while I was at it! (How ya doin', DVRC crew?)
:)

First up was to take Buddy to his favorite groomers in Hillsboro... the Tanasbourne Petco. Yep, even my dog frequents chain stores. He loves those people, though. And I got started talking to one of the girls and she was telling me that her sister works for CFS as a social worker, and she thinks that they might be hiring. So, another lead on the job front. Yaaaa!

Then I went to the day spa that Bob and Dianne got me a gift certificate for- thanks guys if you are reading! The place looks fantastic, and they have some pretty good deals. This is what you can get for a $50.00 certificate: A haircut, a manicure, a pedicure and an eyebrow waxing. I think that sounds like a fantastic deal!!

Then I got to visit with my old co-workers at DVRC over lunch. It was just like I had never left. I sat around in the conference room with them and we laughed and laughed and laughed over every little thing. It was a total blast. If you guys are reading, I missed you and I am looking forward to scheduling some volunteer time. You can't find/pay for/beg or borrow the kind of comraderie and fun these women have every day. I don't care if they can't afford to hire me, it's worth it to me to work/volunteer with people I like. Plus, for those of you keeping track, they still have not filled the shelter position I was thinking about applying for last month. So, another lead on the job front! Woo hoo!!

Then I went out to Pacific U to return my gown (of cap and gown fame). Strange, isn't it? They want you to give back the gown, but not the cap. What are you supposed to do with either of them? I mean, it's not like this is common street wear. But wouldn't it be hilarious if it was? Day in and day out, getting that ridiculous tassle stuck in the corner of your mouth. There would be a whole market for plastic tassle protectors. I can see the ad now. "Ladies, are you tired of having to replace your cap tassel when you get lipstick on it? Then get your handy-dandy, crystal-clear, plastic Tassel-Guard(c) today! Only $19.99 while supplies last!"

Maybe I should be a graduate next Halloween... that's the only time I can think of that I will be wearing a cap again in the near future. I gave back the gown, though. What could I be that would be scary with just a cap? I got it! Maybe I could be a murdered graduate... just wear the cap and some tattered black rags with fake blood and post mortem bruising. Oh, wow.. I just had a great idea, I could use the yellow honors cord as a ligature... maybe make it into a noose, or something. Yeah, I know I am kinda sick mentally, but it is still a good idea. And you just know the tassel would get fake blood on it. YUCK!! O.K.- enough of that!

Then I picked up Buddy from the groomers and he actually remembered to sit on command!! The groomer people were so impressed. I was pretty proud. I am also learning my way around Portland and the surrounding area enough to avoid traffic jams. There was an accident on Hwy 26, so I re-routed myself around it and got home about the same time I would have if I had been able to drive straight through on 26. I was pretty proud of myself then, too.

So, there isn't much more to talk about for today. I had a great time with my old friends from work, made it home in one piece and the temperature is still nice enough to have all the windows open. It doesn't get much better than that!

Love to all!

Sherry

Speaking of great views: This is the view from the new condo I am living in. Isn't it amazing?! I love this place!! 

This is a near-by beach to the house Franz rented for us... isn't the view amazing?! I am SOOO lucky to live in Oregon. 

This is my boyfriend Franz, sound asleep with Buddy playing guard dog. Franz had shorter hair back then. This picture was taken at a beach house he rented for us and Buddy to stay at for a few days last year. As you can see, Buddy has fallen in love with Franz. Funny thing is, so have I. :) 

This is me at graduation. I do a fake smile so well! I wish I would have had more time to concentrate, but it was just this guy saying "Smile!" at the end of the ramp. This was the end result. Now you know why I didn't order any of these as prints. :)~ 

This is Buddy in the middle of a "chew bone frenzy". He bites on the chew bone for a while, and then just to make sure it knows who is boss, he rolls around on it for good measure. It is a blast to watch. :) 

This is Buddy on the day I first adopted him... he was still a puppy. A 65 pound puppy, but a puppy nonetheless. Note the natural smile... it doesn't get any better than this dog. :) 

YYYAAAAA!!!! It worked!!

Woo hoo! I thought the posting the picture thing didn't work for me, but it did! Fantastic!! I will be posting some more photos in the future, so you guys can see all the people I talk about.

Yaaaaa Meeeeee!

Love to all,

Sherry

For those of you who may have been wondering... this is my dog Buddy! :) 

Still not a whole lot to say...

I have not been feeling very well the last few days. Will someone PLEASE explain to me the evolutionary advantage that PMS (that's right, I said it! I'm not afraid to talk about it!) gives the human race. Or at least my half of the human race? How did we get to a point where cramps are helpful in the "circle of life"? And what good does bloating do? Hundreds of years ago, did bloated cavewomen somehow look bigger to dinosaurs and other predators so they would leave them alone? Is this IN ANY WAY helpful??

I say not.

I say it sucks and something should be done about it. I think we should get someone in genetic engineering working on this RIGHT NOW. Damn male-dominated research funding, damn it straight to hell.

Bastards.

Do you think moodiness could be a helpful evolution in female humanity?

Probably not, huh?

Love to all,

Sherry

P.S.- Thanks to Franz for feeding me (well, not literally, EWWWW! - but cooking lunch and dinner for me) when I am too tired to eat. And letting me sleep almost the whole entire day. And for loving me even when I am grumpy. He's heard this whole PMS evolution theory thing before... and he still loves me anyway. :)

Qwest Sucks!!

I am just going to allow myself a moment to rant. The telephone company (land line) that I was going to sign up with when I moved to the condo is called Qwest. They have spent millions of dollars trying to advertise about how great their customer service is. In fact, their motto is... "What's going on here? It's our Qwest spirit of service in action." I started to sign up with them back in April, but after reviewing their calling plans I decided just to stick with having a cell phone only.

I cancelled the order before I had even really placed it.

For the last two and half months, they have been sending me bills, past due notices and threats of collection agency intervention. For $25.98 of unpaid charges... which I never used. I have never actually had phone service with these people! Each time I got a notice, I called them and re-explained the whole story over again. A conservative estimate is that I have spent over an hour of time on the phone with these bastards. And, they just sent me a "final notice" today. AGAIN!! After assuring me the last time that I called that it was all taken care of, and they were sorry for any inconvenience, blah, blah, blah.

So, in two words, Qwest sucks. And I hate them.

On a lighter note, however, I joined the Multnomah County Library today. I signed up for holds on about twenty books. Mom, just so you know, "The Da Vinci Code" was one of them. So I will finally get to read it! Woo hoo!! I got a few interesting things. Franz is talking about visiting Canada in August, so I got some audio tapes on how to speak French. I got two travelling books about Montreal and Quebec. I got Hillary Clinton's autobiography. I know some people hate her, but I like her and that's all I have to say about it. I also got a book by (supposed) former Navy SEAL Richard Marcinko. I say "supposed" because now there is some controvesy about if he ever actually was a SEAL or if he was a- I forget the title, but it is basically a SEAL assistant- or something like that. Anyway, it is pure escapist, testosterone-laden, military acronym laced rot and I love reading it. In other words, it is total crap that no one in Arts and Literature grounded Portland has probably read. I love being different.

Besides, it makes me laugh. :)

I hope that everyone is having a great day!

Sherry

P.S.- Oh yeah... I forgot to tell everyone, you can make comments on my blogs. Just click on the little comment area at the end of each day's blog and write to me to tell me what you think. Good, bad or indifferent. Well, if you truly were indifferent, I guess you wouldn't take the time to write me a comment about it... but you get the idea! Love to all! S

Back Crackers, Mother's and Reality Wedding Shows....

Yesterday was my first trip to a chiropractor in six years. I woke up VERY early yesterday with my neck still hurting from the day before, and a headache the size of a small state. So, I emailed Franz, who had recommended that I see his chiropractor, for the guy's name and phone number. Franz even called and set up the appointment for me!

The office was beautful. I don't know who picked out the art on the walls, but it was fabulous. Franz said that the doctor was the chiropractor for the Sydney Olympics team. And it totally showed in how professional both he and his staff were. First they took me in to the room early. Then they put towels followed by these large hot bags of water (or water bottles?) on my back for ten minutes. It sort of forces you to calm down when you are laying there with three large bags on your back. Then a girl came in to give me a deep tissue massage, which was wonderful... if a litle painful. She hit every sore spot I had and said, "Oh, there's another area on tightness..." It was getting a little redundant by the end of the massage.

Then the doctor came in. He is a tall, very thin man who has a friendly face. Franz describes him as a Mister Rodgers sort of guy. And he is totally right. He is also a great deal stronger than he looks. He was very good about telling me everything he was going to do before he did it. And, man, did he pop my back!! It sounded like the Fourth of July in that room!! He is one of those chiropractors that pops everything hands on, instead of using one of those medieval torture tables. I was really nervous about him popping my neck, because I know how bad that can be if it gets done wrong. (see above reference to torture tables) But he did a fantastic job, and at the end of it I had more range of motion in my neck than I have had in a very long time. All in all, I left there feeling very refreshed and happy.

Franz and I went out to dinner last night to a restaurant called Mother's. We have been there several times before and it was just wonderful... as always. Franz had a dish called the "$15,000.00 Dungeoness Crab Cakes". When we asked the waiter about it, he said that she told everyone her tuition to culinary school was $30,000.00, and that she had gotten two really good recipes out of it. So, if you boil it down, those crab cakes were worth 15 grand. Wow... you would think that you would learn more than that for 30 grand, huh? :)

Then we came home and Franz let me indulge in watching some girly shows on TV. The "Oh!" channel has a reality wedding show that follows brides and grooms from a few weeks before their wedding to the day of. It was pretty interesting. One couple was born and raised in Hawaii. And their family was a mix of people from many other countries. So there were lots of customs and traditions I had never heard of. It was interesting to watch. The other couple was American, but they went to the Bahamas to get married. The groom had been married before and had two young girls from that marriage. The sweet thing was at the end of the ceremony, the bride and groom, now husband and wife, presented both the girls with rings as a symbol of their unity as a new family. I thought that was a nice touch to include the children in the festivities and make them feel like they were really bonding into a new family.

Then we watched stand up comedians until we were both too tired to do anything but go to bed. Well, and walk Buddy one last time. I was joking with Franz last night that my life was as follows... sleep, walk Buddy, eat breakfast, walk Buddy, eat lunch, walk Buddy, go to the bathroom, walk Buddy, take a nap, walk Buddy, eat dinner, walk Buddy, etc. The days and nights have all sort of melded together to take on a blur of dog walks and nothingness.

Good thing I am keeping this blog, otherwise I would look back on this time and remember only the blur. Hope everyone is happy and healthy.

Love to all,

Sherry

Not a lot to say...

Well, as you may be able to tell from the length between posts, I don't have a lot to say right now. Not a whole lot is going on. I am still keeeping up with the procrastinating on the unpacking- it's hard, but some how I always manage to find a way to while away another day just watching TV, working out, playing with Buddy, or hanging out with Franz instead of unpacking and getting my life situated. Not everyone can procrastinate as hard as I can. It took alot of years to get this good at it. :)

I worked out again today. It was a little easier than the first time. We will see how sore I am tomorrow. The diet is still not where it should be at. I am newly obsessed with Thai food... and I am not sure about how many calories are in it. It tastes good to me, so there are probably a ton.

Buddy has gotten over his tummy ache. Thank God. I was really afraid we were going to have to try a new brand of food again.

That is about all from here. I hope that everyone out there is happy and healthy... I love you all!

Sherry

It feels like I've been in a train wreck...

... but not quite that bad.

This pretty much sums up the soreness after my first workout since last September. I have pretty much spent the last two days curled up all fetal-like in bed whenever I can. Saying "ouch" every once in a while. Buddy's getting pretty sick of me.

My trainer chose to focus mostly on my upper body on Thursday. God knows why. Maybe he just wanted to make sure I would still be able to walk out of the gym. I told Franz yesterday that it would be better if I were the Venus de Milo... that way everyone would understand why my arms don't work.

Today was the Rose Parade... Grand Floral Rose Parade... whatever it is called. It was pretty cool because it went by about two blocks from my condo. I could hear the bands as they went by. I didn't even have to go downstairs. Way cool.

Walking Buddy on the other hand... not so much. With so many people thronging around downtown, he was in heaven with all the new smells, and food dropped on the ground. Which meant he was temporarily deaf to commands like, "No" "Leave that alone" "Don't eat that" "Sit" "Stay". None of it.

But, seriously, it wasn't that bad. He pulled me around a little bit, but most of the time he was fantastic. Especially when a little girl about 6 inches taller than Buddy came running up to him. She had temporary deafness, too. Her Mom was yelling, "No" "You ask first" "Be careful". She was hearing none of it.

Thankfully, Buddy was a champ. (Yaaaa!!) He let her pet him, hug him and the worst he did was slurp her arm. That was enough to send her back to her Mom saying, "That doggie licked me!" Her Mom and I both were thinking the same thing... "You are lucky that's all he did, honey."

And reason #101 to be proud of myself today... I fixed my old vacuum cleaner all by myself. I didn't have to take it to the repair place. All I really needed was a coat hanger and a pair of pliers. I just finished vacuuming the whole condo. YYYYAAAAAA MMEEEE!!!

That's all for today!

Love to all,

Sherry

Cable TV...

I think I am going to get rid of my cable TV. It is just not a good thing and it no longer fits in with the way I want my life to be. You know, healthy and non-sedentary.

I had things I was going to get done on Wednesday. I was going to take the leftover paint out to the disposal site on the Industrial side of town. I was going to vacuum. I was going to do laundry. I was considering Windexing the windows in the condo... no small task. Thanks to VH1's Top 100 Countdown of the Best Kept Hollywood Secrets, and my complete lack of get-up-and-go, all I got done was one load of laundry. And it's still in the dryer waiting to be folded. Some people would say that means that I didn't really get a whole load of laundry done. The stricter side of my personality would agree with them.

Anyway, after taking a nap, I took Buddy out for the umpteenth time and then decided to go out for a walk myself. I ended up having dinner at Pastini. Thanks in equal parts to Franz and the show "Sex in the City", I have recently discovered the joys of drinks called Cosmopolitans. Most people here just call them "Cosmo's"... not to be confused with cosmos. I am sure a theoretical physicist could argue that you could actually find an entire cosmos inside a Cosmopolitan, but I am not a theoretical physicist, and I wouldn't get involved in such a ridiculous conversation anyway. Angels on the head of a pin and so forth... blah, blah, blah. Still doesn't change the fact that another Bush is in the White House and I don't have a job.

Anyway, I had two nice Cosmo's, some pasta and bruschetta. Then I walked home. On the way, I stopped and joined the Hollywood Video next to my house, and popped into Safeway to get a low-fat snack. I picked up a few movies, one of which I actually watched, VH1 be damned. It was called "Monster". It is about Aileen Wuornos... the story of her life told from her point of view. The only things I can say about it are that Charlize Theron is a masterful actress, and it was an incredibly sad and depressing movie. That and I would like to see a study where they compare the sentences of male serial killers convicted of killing three females, versus the sentences of female serial killers convicted of killing three males. I bet the results would be fascinating.

Anyway, I haven't quite decided when I am going to get the cable disconnected, but I think it will be in the next few months if I don't develop some sort of callous that stops me from flipping the damn thing on whenever I am bored or feeling lazy. Probably definitely when I get my job... who wants to pay for t.v. that you never have time to watch. Think of all the stuff I could get done if I didn't watch so much t.v.

It's good to dream sometimes.

Love to all,

Sherry

Jumping Through Hoops... The rest of the story...

I think the exact words I used with Franz when I asked him to take me out to dinner were, "Can we go someplace quiet... you know, civilized... with wine?"

So Franz, who will be forever after be known as the King of Understatement, took me to El Gaucho... easily one of the nicest, most expensive restaurants in Portland. Possibly the best, period. I was amazed. This is the kind of restaurant that people who have lived here all their lives probably haven't gone to... or only went to on the most special occasion possible. Like when they were going to ask someone to marry them, or something like that. Or when they were had access to a fat expense account. Anyway, when they handed me the menu, Franz stopped me from looking at it and said, "O.K.- there are two rules for tonight... Number one- order anything you want. Number two- don't look at the prices."

With regards to the second rule... please allow me to take this moment to say "Yikes!"

At any rate, the place is lovely. There was a three piece ensemble playing the entire time we were there... two guitarists and a violinist. Franz swears they played a classically styled version on "Enter Sandman" by Metallica as we were leaving. I wouldn't doubt it because they played the theme from The Godfather while we were there, too. So, El Gaucho is a place that has the chops to pull off live musicians, but at the same time still has a sense of humor about itself. Which of course you can afford to have when you are charging $55.00 for a filet mignon and a baked potato. Either that, or the management doesn't listen to what the musicians play. Either way, funny and funky at the same time. Which is always a good combination in my book. :)

The interior is sort of darkened and sedate. My favorite part was the light fixture over our table... it was cobalt blue. The service was wonderful and flexible. And, of course, the food was spectacular... in that off-the-charts-fantastically-good kind of way.

In short, to sum up what happened after my last post, a good time was had by all. And a good, but rough, day got infinitely better. And, it is all thanks to Franz. That boy just has a way of picking you up after a hard day and making you feel alive and young again all at the same time. I get that feeling from him just by the way he hugs me... it's like coming home. And now you know one of the millions of reasons I fell head over heels for him... not because he takes me to expensive restaurants, even though that is nice. It's because he knows how to love me back... I say I had a tough day and he opens up and shows me something brand new to take my mind off it. He is beautiful and bountiful... and not afraid to let me see everything inside him. And I can't express the gratitude I have in my heart for that... for everything that he is.

And while we are on the subject of why I love Franz... I have some other things to say about that. [Just in case you are reading this, Franz... Hi Baby!! Hope you don't embarrass easily. :) ] You know what Franz, as a person, reminds me of? There was this movie I saw once that was set in New York City. This man and woman were walking through the city streets very late at night... as I recall he was trying to convince her to take a chance on love and open up to him. I am pretty sure it was Robert DeNiro and Michelle Phfifer (how the hell do you spell her last name?) Anyway, they were walking and they stopped behind this big cargo van/truck thing. He leaned in to kiss her and the roll up door of the truck was released by the hands of this huge Teamster looking guy behind them. And behind that truck door there was just an absolute riot of colorful flowers... just an overwhelming amount of beauty inside this big cargo-looking truck driven by this big, mean-looking guy. The way the scene changed... it was breathtaking. And I never forgot it.

It is the same thing when you look into Franz's eyes... when you really see him. Anyone with an ounce of "observative-ness" could see it if only they would look. There is just an amazing amount of beauty and generosity and kindness and honesty there. Anyone who really sees him just could not help but love him. I will never understand why some other woman didn't see him before I did. But I am glad that no one else did. I can't imagine having missed out on him.

That's all I have to say about this... sorry for being so mushy. I just felt like sharing. Hope everyone is doing well out there!

Sherry

Jumping through hoops...

Today has been a pretty trying day out here in PDX land.

Hoop # 1:
I went to my first appointment with a trainer at 24 Hour Fitness today. They were supposed to look back into my file and renew the three training sessions that I didn't use last year when I quit going. But, when they looked back, not only did they say I wasn't entitled to 6 sessions- only 5, but they said that the girl who used to be my trainer had said that I used up all my sessions with her. Not true... I went three times and quit because I couldn't keep up with work and school and working out all at the same time. It was just impossible. So, she (what's the polite way of saying "screwed me over" on the last three sessions?) fudged the records and I had to spend $312.00 to pay for 6 more sessions. Normally, I wouldn't have bothered... but I have no idea how to use the machines or what is considered to be a healthy diet these days. Low carbs, no carbs, high protein... all pizza and milkshakes? They do all that stuff for you... meal planning, education about how to use the machines, ways to avoid injury, etc. And the last thing I want is to injure myself and not be able to continue. I want to lose this weight and I want it gone now! I hope that they will be able to get those three sessions back... that would be so helpful. We shall see.

Hoop # 2:
I went to the vet to get them to sign the Bill of Health Certification for Buddy so he can go to doggie daycare. Now, it's important to this story to remember that I was just there last week and asked the doctor then if he was up to date on all his vaccinations. She said "yes" and to just bring in the form for them to sign. Something told me to bring Buddy too, just in case. Well, when I get there they say, "Oh no, we can't sign this because he isn't up to date on his distemper-blah-blah-blah and he needs his Bordatella." I was anticipating the Bordatella concern and had another vet fax the records of that vaccination to them that morning. So I told them that he had gotten the Bordatella on 12-16-03 and that if he needed the other that I would like them to give it to him and sign the form. So the girl says, "Well, they are very busy today... could you leave him for four hours and come back?" Okay... not part of my plan for today, but okay. Something in my brain started whispering that I should find out about the money part of things. So, I ask if there will be a fee for kenneling him and will there be any other costs involved, etc? So she says, "Well, the shot is $28.00 and the exam is $25.00, and if you pick him up by two p.m. then there won't be a kenneling fee..." And I'm like, "Wait, wait, wait... what exam? He doesn't need an exam, he was just here last week." She says, "Oh, they always examine them when they get their shots." So, now I am frustrated. I said, "I wish that the doctor would have told me when I asked her last week if he was up to date on everything that he needed to have that shot done... I would have had it done then and avoided the extra exam fee." So the girl says, "I'll see what I can do." They take Buddy in the back and I get lost for a few hours.

Hoop # 3:
I get a call from Franz's sister saying that she talked to her supervisor and let her know that I had sent my application out over cyberspace. Teresa's supervisor said that she plans to talk to the internet guy, have him wade through said cyberspace until he finds my application, and then it will be sent to her supervisor. If I meet that person's approval, then Teresa's supervisor will get to see it. If all goes well, they might be able to call be in for an interview in about a week or two. After that, there is a longer process that has to happen... all in all, it may be a month, maybe more, before I will know what is happening and if I got the job. (sigh)

Hoop # 4:
I get a phone call from the vet at 1pm. "There is another test that we have to do in order to sign this certification." "Fine," I say, "go ahead and do it." (big sigh) I am thinking to myself "What do you want to bet that this other test costs about exactly the same as the exam that they are supposedly not going to charge me for?" (big sigh)

Hoop # 5:
I come back at 2pm. Sure enough, they can't find his file. When they do find it, there is a charge for both the shot and the other test... and the exam fee!! So, I talk to them again and explain the situation again. And the whole time I am thinking to myself, "You know, if this keeps up, the savings that I had... the ones that I thought I might be able to make it for three months if I was careful... are going to be gone in less than two. And it might take as long as a month, maybe more, to see if I have gotten this job." Anyway, eventually, they took off the exam charge and I got out of there with my dog for the rock bottom low price of *only* $47.00! (giant sigh)

Hoop # 6:
I take Buddy over to the daycare place. We arrive ten minutes early. And are kept waiting outside of a locked door on the sidewalk for that ten minutes. And I am thinking to myself that sometimes dog trainers really want to train humans too. "Fill out these papers, wait here, sit, stay!"
So, we finally get in to see her and she takes Buddy back to see if he is social enough to hang with the other urban doggies and not lose his cool. "In the mean time, though, Sherry I would like it if you would fill out these other papers, and when you are finished, please have a seat in the waiting area and wait for me to come back and give you a progress report." SO, I get done filling out, and am sitting and staying like a good dog owner until she comes back. Luckily, Buddy is ubercool and a super social dog. Then, she drops the bomb on me... "We are not open on Mondays, and we encourage folks not to leave their dogs here more than three times per week."

At this point in my head I am screaming, "Are you &@$!ing KIDDING ME???!!! What kind of a &*^%ing daycare only is available three days per week??!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Now what am I going to do with the Mouthy Man on Mondays and one other day per week? Now, in my mind, I am going on a murderous rampage throughout the city... killing the people who thought up the 40 hour workweek, laying waste to people who hit dogs with cars or otherwise hurt them and make it so you have to keep them locked up all day when you aren't there. Picture me as Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) about to stomp on the miniature snowmen. I am Godzilla on a bad day. I am seething. I am raging. I am a thunderstorm on a Florida afternoon... the kind that just might be packing a tornado.

But on the outside I am smiling and saying something like "I guess I will need to make other arrangements... no problem... blah blah blah... nicety nicety nicety... and Buh-Bye!"

(huge heaving sigh)

I get home and Buddy promptly plops down on the carpet for a nap. I call Franz and he agrees to take me out for a nice dinner. I don't have to work out again until tomorrow. And Buddy is beautiful when he is sleeping. I have jumped through all the hoops I need to for one day... and I made it without killing anyone or going bankrupt.

All in all, it's shaping up to be a good day.

Love to all,

Sherry

Ruffles have ridges...

It is very early in the morning. I have been up since a little before 5 a.m. I took Buddy out for a walk and then didn't feel like going back to bed. I have already put a load of laundry in the dryer and run a load of dishes. I filled and printed out the application for Buddy to go to doggie daycare, as well as his Bill of Health. I feel uber-efficient right now. And yet, still sleepy. :)

The sun is coming up on another grey day here in PDX. I have to go to Buddy's vet and get them to give him his Bordatella vaccination and pick up some Advantage to make sure he doesn't get fleas whenever he starts going to doggie daycare. I am actually kind of excited about this... he will go and have fun, and I will get a break from His Dogginess for a while, but still get to have him back at the end of the day. Speaking of the little doggie devil, he is asleep on the floor beside me right now. And he is dreaming... his little feet are twitching and he is growling softly every few minutes. He must be having a fantastic time in doggie dream land right now.

For anyone out there who is interested, Buffy Season Six is out on DVD. I can't wait until I get my job... that's the first thing I am going to snap up. :)

Well, that's about all for now. I hope everyone is happy and healthy out there!

More later,

Sherry

The days are just packed....

Another interesting day here in PDX. I am watching a man who is washing the windows on my balcony right now. It is sort of a surreal experience to be separated from a stranger four floors up by only a piece of glass. Right now he is yelling in a foreign language to someone who is hanging from a rope only one floor below me. Again, surreal.

Well, he just climbed over the balcony and let himself down to the third floor. Neat, huh? I love living in Portland.

So, what else is going on? Buddy was looking a little peaked, so I cut up some carrots for him and put them in his food bowl. He loved them... as long as I was hand feeding them to him. The ones that went into his food bowl remain untouched. (sigh) He is so spoiled rotten. Franz suggested putting them on a people food plate and presenting them to him that way. He said he would eat all of them then. The sad part is, he is probably dead on right. Buddy is equally fascinated with the window washers. He walked out onto the balcony to watch them earlier and some children yelled up from the street, "I like your dog!!" He gets so much attention living here, it is wonderful.

I just submitted my resume' and online application to the hospital that Franz's sister works for. She gave me a heads up about a job opening they will have soon. It should be good if I get it. I am looking forward to it.

Franz and I went out with friends last night and did a wine tasting at a place called "Noble Rot" just off 28th. I discovered I am not a big fan of Turley region wines. No matter how "huge" and "hard to get" they are. One of the people I was sitting with tried a wine from a different region and said, "This is the most inconsequential wine I have ever had" - or something to that effect. I know the word "inconsequential" was used. I wanted to say something bourgeois like, "Aren't they all?" just to be a smartass. At any rate, I almost asked to try it, because I wanted to know exactly what an inconsequential wine tastes like. I refrained and simply nodded my head in agreement over his plight. Poor guy... he paid $5.00 for 2 ounces of an inconsequential wine. Sometimes I think I need a reality check in this new world I live in. Strangely enough, though, I still liked the couple we had drinks with. They are both totally into food and wine, and I feel I could learn a great deal from them.

Franz, as usual, continues to be an amazing boyfriend. He always comes up with interesting things for us to do and see together. Tonight we will be going to this old Portland theater called "The Bagdad Theater". We are going to see an independent film called "What the Bleep Do We Know?" It is apparently about the combined understanding all the sciences have about the nature of our universe. It should be pretty interesting. I wonder if Stephen Hawking will be in it? That would be cool if he was.

That is about all from here for now. Hope all is well with everyone out there who is reading this. More later!

Sherry

Hi Everyone!

Wow! 7 people read my blog yesterday! This is so cool, I just don't know what to say. So, hi everybody. Thanks for coming and I promise to keep writing. :)

Well, yesterday was VEEERRRRYYY LOOONNGGG. I was unpacking (again) and it took forever. I'm not kidding- it took 4 hours to finish one box!! When I looked up and saw what time it was I almost started to cry! The box I unpacked was full of papers to be filed, though. So it was basically pulling out a paper or an envelope, taking it out and reading it, figuring out where it needed to go, making a folder if there wasn't one (with my nifty labelmaker no less!), and putting it in the right file. So, long and boring time, but I got a lot done. More than it looks like I got done.

Anyway, after that and moving some things around, disassembling some boxes, vacuuming the condo and setting up the old desk again I was pretty tired. So, even though I said I didn't want to see Franz at the condo until after this was all over (because he is a HUGE distraction- in a good way, though- hi baby!!)I called him and he agreed to come over. Which was good, since I didn't want to cook and he took me to this amazing Thai restaurant called "Lemongrass". It was nothing short of fantastic. I had a simple dish that you can get at any Thai restaurant called "Pad Thai Gai"... which is basically chicken with thai noodles. But at this restaurant it tasted fresher and more vibrant that I have ever had it before. I ate almost the whole dish, except for a few bean sprouts, which were fabulous. Anyways, if you are ever in Portland and hungry for some Thai food, Lemongrass is the place to go. You kinda have to know where it is though, because it is in what looks like just a normal house in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It has flowers all around the outside with vines creeping over huge arbors. If you didn't know it was a restaurnt you would just think it was an old Victorian style house. But, WOW, it is sooo worth it!

Then we came home and watched a movie called "Black Cat White Cat". It is a foreign film with subtitles. I am not sure what country it was supposed to be set in... somewhere on the Danube. It is sort of a comedy, sort of surreal and pretty funny. You will either be shaking your head or laughing pretty much the whole second half of the movie. If you like just watching movies that are totally unreal, you will love this movie... it's a lot of fun. Zany is a good word for it... and not one you hear often.

Also, we saw the movie called "Super Size Me" the other day. This was the perfect movie to see on the first day of my diet. It is about a man who wanted to find out what would happen if he ate a diet of only McDonald's food for one month solid. It was truly terrible. This poor guy, after only a few weeks of eating this junk, became so sick that his doctors were talking about hospitalizing him. He gained something like 20 pounds in one month, his liver started to fail, he became terribly depressed and completely addicted to, believe it or not, the food. It was shocking and very revealing at the same time. Everyone, and I mean everyone, should go see this movie. It is unbelievable. And sort of a nice commentary on American culture and where we are going wrong right now.

Well, today will be spent unpacking... again. (sigh) I am NEVER moving again. And I still need to finish my resume'. Can't I hire someone to do that for me? I hate writing resume's because my potential boss is going to skim it for maybe 15 seconds and then say, "So tell me about your previous work experience." Then I will sit there and regurgitate everything it says on the piece of paper for a few minutes. What is the point?? AARRGGHHH!!! I am going to sit here and agonize over something that it is likely will never be fully read. Pain in the butt, is what it is.

That's all I've got so far today. Hope everyone is doing well and is happy!!

Oh yeah, and thanks for reading my blog!

Sherry

Day Three

Let's see, what's been going on today? Maybe I should begin with yesterday. Well, the lady who wanted to adopt Buddy took one look at him and said, "Wow! He's really big!" To which I thought, "Yeah, that's what 80 pounds means... big dog." But, I was secretly relieved. I didn't want to give him away anyways. I would miss him too much.

Franz kissed me and said he would love me with or without Buddy. Yaaa!! And "Whew!"

Franz's friends, Jason and April (thanks guys!!), were kind enough to let us use a lovely desk they no longer wanted to have.... at least for a while. So now I am typing to you all from a nice glass computer desk that refelects the color of the sky outside my window up at me as I look at my monitor. Pretty awesome and strangely calming. Especially since today is a clear sky day here in Portland. Sunny and 70 degrees, with a lovely breeze blowing through the condo as I speak.... it doesn't get much better than that.

I am working on my third load of laundry today. I reassembled the computer to put into and onto the new desk. I scrubbed the toilet with a new disposable flusher brush. It was pretty cool... and safe for septic systems. And nicer than having a scrungy old brush lying around. I am a consumer whore.

So, with the rest of my day I will be:
- Eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. With some apple juice.
- Working on my resume'- blech!
- Submitting my resume' to Providence Healthcare- slightly better than blech, because it might lead to a job.
- Trying to continue unpacking.
- Maybe going to go get a plastic floor pad for under the office chair. (mmm... Office Depot!! Did I mention I am a consumer whore?)
- Eating some leftover spaghetti.
- Maybe hanging up some other pictures, etc.
- And, oh yeah, walking Buddy. Multiple times. :)

Life is good.


More later,

Sherry

Day Two

Wow... these titles are sure original, huh? Well, today has been mostly about thinking about whether or not I should give Buddy up for adoption. I have put Franz through hell over this decision. It seems like it is a cyclical thing... things will go great for a while and then Buddy will do something bad- like peeing on the curtains- and I start thinking about all the reasons why I should give him away. Then he looks at me with those big, beautiful brown eyes and I rub his soft fur and I start feeling like I can't live without him. Like I would die of lonliness and missing him. There is always alot of crying and stress and worrying. It is pretty terrible. And I am always left just as conflicted as before. The problem with making the decision to keep him is that I can always change my mind later. The problem with giving him away is that I can't change my mind later. I think Franz may just strangle me if I change my mind about this once more. (sigh) The joys of having love in your life.

Well, I am going to go get a shower and get ready for my day. I know, it's almost one in the afternoon and I am just now talking about starting my day. Amazing, huh? I am not sure I want a job if life can be this peaceful. :)

More later, faithful readers,

S