deeply sleepy & tentatively tan

I've been getting behind on a few things.

Like blogging. And washing my car.

(fear not, I did eventually wash the back window)

On the upside, I did finally get around to my laundry.

And I started Tina Fey's book and have decided I want to be friends with her.

But in lieu of living it up on here, I've been going, going, going all week! 

Finding that we had ourselves a little mid-week weekend, Jodi and I decided to follow the lead of a couple other friends and take ourselves on a mini-break to Kahneeta!

It's this funky lodge out on the other side of Mount Hood where all of your mental images of Oregon are dashed.

That lush greenery? Desert.

The mountains? Desert (but with spectacular views of those glorious Cascades in the distance!)

The general chilliness of Portland? HIGH NINETIES AND PURE BLUE SKIES!

So we laid by the pool for a couple days and ate more cheese than is reasonable.

Then it was back to work for a couple days followed by Jodi's husband Scott trying to discover the meaning of life via their chicken, Pam.

"Where does the egg actually come from?"

I can't say for sure, but I think if he has to ask, he'll never know.

Saturday night after work we helped our lovely Miss Wendy celebrate her birthday (which should really be a national holiday by now). We met her out at Wranglers, a fantastic country bar (we're talking actual country bar here, not country themed but a bar in the country where I felt out of place for not wearing my boots - but quickly felt back in place when I realized you can still have a damn good heel-stompin' time listening to the band play every country hit known to man) and had ourselves a rip-roarin' night. Only way to honor this amazing lady who we love so much. 

Oh, and then I spent all of today running around a softball field with The Beast (my camera) dodging drag queens and boys in superhero capes as they duked it out for the title at the first (and soon to be annual) Portland Bat N Rouge tournament for CAP (Cascade Aids Project)! Shamoo's brother in law Andrew is their event planner and hired me to photograph the event and you know what? I could get used to this whole "getting-paid-to-do-what-you-love" thing. 

And the best part is there are few better subjects to shoot than a bunch of guys dressed up like Marilyn Monroe who know how to work the camera. 

Just sayin'.

All this to say I am fairly exhausted.

Which should have been evident when I got home, ate dinner and then promptly fell asleep for two hours on my couch, not even waking up to multiple text messages and phone calls - I was out like a light.

I am not designed for hot weather and a week of being out in the sun for more than 5 minutes at a time has zapped me of energy.

And I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm actually looking forward to getting back to the gym tomorrow night so I can get back into the swing of things.

Believe it or not, a regime of physical exertion and water intake really does boost energy. 

I know, I can't believe it either.

Though after making dinner with Shamoo when I get off work it's gonna take every ounce of will power to make that happen.

Weekly Gratitude coming up soon (again, hopefully tomorrow if I can keep my act together!)