feelin better

Because both of my parents and I were so miserable about being apart for the holidaytimes, Mom and Dad bought me a ticket home! So I'm spending the end of December with them (with a few hugs and love for my girlfriends first). I feel so much better. Now my tree (photo) doesn't seem so pathetic. At least my mailbox has been getting some love. The glass globe is a Steelers Christmas ornament that I won in a raffle at the bar where I watch all the games.

It's a good place, full of die hard Steelers fans. Lots of screaming, cheering, and beer at 10AM. The early games are one of the semi-crappy things about living on the west coast. It is simultaneously a good excuse to drink beer in the morning. What can I say? Sometimes I like to shed my homebody-ness that I've adopted since college and be social.

Tonight, however, I am listening to WDVE online. Go Steelers!

Home (alone) for the Holidays

Hey. Sorry. I've been bad about keeping this up. Here's a pretty picture to make up for it. I went snowboarding at Mt. Hood on Thursday with my football-friend Greg. (We go to a Steelers bar together on Sundays to cheer on our home team.) Anyway Mt. Hood is big and beautiful. This photo is from not too far below the summit. (At the top of Cascade lift if anyone knows MHM.) The two huge snowy mountains you see in the distance are Mt. Jefferson and peeking out behind and to the left Mt. Washington. I love that you can see the clouds DOWN BELOW everyone skiing! This was around 11:30am. My muscles are still crying, it's been a while since they were used for snowboarding. Those aren't everyday moves, y'know.
My apartment is great, I love my landlord (except I don't love that his pipes wake me up in the morning when he uses anything water-related). No luck with the Planned Parenthood job, though I am still volunteering 1-2x per week. I'm applying here and there, but I (stupidly) have been slacking.
Speaking of applying: my OHSU application is in and I expect (hopefully) to hear from them about interviews sometime around X-mas. Rumor has it they try to get everything in the mail by then so they don't have to deal with it afterward. Send the admissions people lots of positive vibes for accepting me!!
December 2nd marked my 6th birth was a doula! I'm learning so much and feeling really wonderful about the support I am providing to women. I'm staying in Portland for the holidays and, since most of the doulas in my group are of the Christmas-celebrating variety, I offered to be on-call on the 25th. I hope I can be a doula for a Christmas baby! That would make up for not being with my family.
Cheers.