Category Archives: Fun Things

Newport, Oregon…

This is the bed in the Jules Verne Room at the Silvia Beach Hotel.…

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This is one of the rooms I like to stay in when I go to Newport.  This is my place to escape from reality – literally as well as figuratively.  There is a large squid tentacle coming out of one wall though…

Trip the Rain Fantastic

It was wet in Newport when I was there last week.  That was just fine… I was there to relax, and read, and eat some fun foods.  I was able to sit and watch the rain and wind on the beach – the waves were big and loud.  It was relaxing.

A lot of planning and preparation went into this trip… and I think it paid off.  I am tired, and a bit drained from going, but that seems like a pretty good thing since it was my first trip alone.  I am going back next month.

So I can’t go to the grocery store, but I can drive out to the coast for a couple of nights.  Interesting.  I have always liked the Silvia Beach Hotel, since the first time Lori convinced me to go there a couple years back.  People pretty much leave you alone to read, or just look at the view – no TVs, radios, wi-fi, or any such.  I have been in all the little shops, and I liked the Pub and Bakery.

The idea of going there alone goes back more than a year.  My readers will know that last year was a bit unsettling at times… but I never lost the hope of going to Newport alone.

I paid attention to where things were, and how things felt.  I gradually built a plan.  I had enough time to slowly figure out what I would do, and where I would go.  There is the Pub, which is right down the street, and has foods, and ales I like.  There is a fantastic Wine store where the owner knows what I like.  And the hotel itself, it calm, quiet, and comfortable.  So I planned…

I think it paid off.  Though there were moments when I wanted to give up and run home, I had a very nice day Thursday – I read a book and a half.  The evenings were the hardest – as they are at home.  It was more work than I had hoped, but went better than I had expected.  That is very good.

I still have a lot to think about… but I am going to be ready to go again, and it should get easier each time.

This Blog Starts on Tuesday, Jan. 7th…

These are some short notes I wrote while in Newport, Oregon this week…

Here I am – 100 miles from home… by myself.  I have never gone on a trip by myself, to be by myself in my entire life.  Right now I am wondering about whether I have done the right thing!  My anxiety is way up, and I have a great desire to go home.

I do like it here – it is quiet, and there are nice places to eat and shop.  But mainly I am here because of the wonderful Ocean View reading room on the 3rd floor.  I am in the Jules Verne room of the hotel – there is a squid tentacle across the ceiling… it is a little intimidating!  I have some fresh 3-cheese sourdough bread, and wine, so I am not starving.

But the big thing is that I am here!

It is my hope for this to become a place for me to go and get away – what do I have to get away from?  A fair question.  It is not as if I have a complicated life that needs a lot of relaxation.  Actually… it is exactly like I have a complicated life, and need a lot of relaxation.  I need to get away. We have been coming here for a couple of years, so I already feel comfortable here, but this is a bit more of a test.

I have already had several episodes of wanting to run away.  It hurts.  I have put a lot of time and effort into being able to come here.  I can not give up so easily.

Day2

Well… I have actually been here less than a day.  But it is my full day here.  I had a nice breakfast, and then went out to get the things I forgot – toothpaste et.al.  I am back on the 3rd floor in the ocean view reading room.  Much of my day will be here – I do not feel like going out.

Last night was very difficult.  After dinner at Nana’s Pub, I came back to read.  As the evening went on, my anxieties grew.  I had to fight a huge desire to go home.  It took a long time to get to sleep… though I did sleep well once I fell off.

I have been preparing my thoughts for this rip for over a month.  I know this place well enough to have figured out exactly what I would do each day – almost each hour.  That keeps me going.  All I have to decide is what to eat.  And I studied the menu of the one place I am going, so I know what to expect.  This is a place for reading, and my Kindle is full.  And I have music and movies on my tablet.  So I planned carefully to the last detail.

I could not have even thought of doing this f I did not know, and like this place so much.  I have had this concept in the back of my thoughts for over a year.  I was very careful.

Yesterday when I arrived, I was ready for everything to go wrong.  I was worried, and upset.  But so far, everything has been just as planned – except locking my keys in the car.  But then, that is why I had a spare key in my pocket.  I was very careful in my planning.  I only forgot to bring my snacks… so I bought some here.  No problem.

Thanksours Day

January 18th is Thanksours Day!

It is a day for just the home family to have a nice fancy dinner together with no stress of having company.  It is the after-holiday calibration of the quiet new year.

The last few months have been full of fun and excitement, but have also been a bit tiring… so this is a day to stay home with family and pets, and really start looking forward to the new year ahead.

Have a nice big dinner, and just relax.

2014 – An Even Numbered Year

Even numbered years where the digits add up to 7 (or 5), are lucky!

I have never been one to celebrate New Years very much – it seems so arbitrary.  But it is a new beginning of sorts, so I will take it as a good thing.

Depression has been overwhelming me some the last few days, but at least it does not last weeks like it used to.  So another thing I will take as a good sign.  That big lighted “Portland” sign is a good sign too.

I am trying to be optimistic as I look forward.  There are good things coming up in the next few months.  I have some concerns about my ability to go some places.  It helps to be wearing the One Ring.  So I am still sort-of optimistic.

Today I am trying to just recover from yesterday’s depression.  I need to eat, and slowly think things thru.  I do not have to go out for a few days… though I might.  I have been trying to get myself to the Hobby store for a while now, and it would be nice to go out to dinner…

My biggest goal for the next couple of months is to finish my Space, and get more comfortable here.  And then to gradually start back to going some of my places – like the Hobby store.  Support Local Businesses!!!!

So Happy New Year to all, and I will keep writing for the masses! Smile

A Very Good Week… and a Trip!

Last week was a vacation week for Lori.  I decided to skip the Blogs, and just try to have a nice relaxing time.

It started out a bit shaky, and we ending up not going camping.  But we had a nice time at home, and on Friday went to our favorite place in Newport, Oregon for a couple of nights.  Those were my first nights away from home in 7 months!

We had a wonderful time!  Lot’s of great food at April’s – she is a genius in the kitchen!!  I even found a very nice sketch on multiple layers of glass.  Lori found 2 very nice little trunks for our dinning room too!

So I am starting out the week on an up note, and it feel very nice.

I have also developed a clearer plan for what I am going to do about my metal situation.  So all in all it was a great week!

I really needed a good week – we both did!  And there it was!!!

Happy Anniversary!

Lori and I have been married for 16 years today.  We were married in a wonderful outdoor ceremony in Ashland, Oregon – our favorite place to visit.

Thru all the good times, and bad, Lori has been with me to help me when I needed, and to comfort me when I was down.

I could not have made it this far without her Love and companionship.  Together we are making our own life here in Woodburn.

So happy Anniversary to my Loving wife… and many more!!

When Thinking is Too Much

I think too much.  Just like the Paul Simon song – “Maybe I Think Too Much”.  There are times when I can not control the direction my thoughts will take.

When I have things to get done, I have to build a careful plan.  I need to consider every aspect of what I need to do, and set priorities for each thing.  This helps me get thru tasks without having to rethink them too much.

So I have a sort of outline for the day – when to think about what.  I can put off thinking about something, if I schedule when to think about it, and I already know the basics.  It works pretty well for me usually.  (“when” means in what order, not what time).

If I do not plan, and control where my thoughts go, and when, then my brain runs rampant, and I can not control where it goes.  All other considerations get pushed aside.  I get stuck in a loop of over thinking.

So this plan works… some of the time.

The problem comes when something upsets the “plan”.  It can be any of a number of things (yes… zero is a number, but I mean a bigger number).  Once that happens, everything falls apart, and the planning has to start from scratch.  And that usually means planning on the fly, which is almost always doomed to failure.

Last second planning takes on a life of it’s own.  My mind becomes swamped with some new direction of thought.  And I can not control where it will go.  But for sure, the old plan is dead.

This is how things I really want to do, don’t get done.  Those things invariable fall to the end of whatever “list” I might have, and those things usually do not get done at all.  There will not be enough energy to fill in for that planning by late in the day.

Sometimes the upheaval is so strong that I end up getting nothing done, because the planning stage burns me out, and I shut down.  This happens a lot!!

This is where most of my least productive days come from.  One small event, and the whole thing – water, tub, and baby – all get thrown out, and I fail.

Sadly… this is one of the things I had been working on in session before it’s early demise.  I will slowly figure it out though – it actually is a lot better than it used to be.  Removing the grocery shopping has taken away a lot of my Stoppers.  That alone accounted for at least 2 lost days per week.

But I can not eliminate all the Stoppers, so I need to find a way to deal with them.  I will keep looking.