31.

outside, in a beautiful place, with a favorite person, on a day that turned spectacular. a hike, a picnic, a giant beer; a slab of cake at the top of the world. what else could I have wanted?

the list.

30 things to do while I'm 30.

1. bike to the island.
2. lookout.
3. finally start wearing my new glasses.
4. go by rail!
5. throw a surprise party.
6. hug.
7. renew my passport and
8. leave the country SERIOUSLY THIS TIME GUYS
9. pay a debt.
10. rehab.
11. worship at the church of elvis.
12. go to the desert.
13. make elaborate homemade ice cream.
14. get to 250 hours.
15. more boozetues!
16. float.
17. 50 books.
18. go chinese and japanese.
19. do the fruit loop.
20. go see the rollers.
21. watch a movie outside.
22. naked bike ride! *
23. head to the pool.
24. ride horses on the beach.
25. bridge pedal.
26. shanghai.
27. see the planets!
28. brave the nude beach.
29. plant a letterbox in forest park.
30. climb mt. st. helens.

29.

My birthday weekend was so wonderful, it almost defies description. I don't even know what to tell you about it, except to say that it was full of the things that make me happy. I actually don't much want to talk about it; it feels quietly sacred somehow. Suffice it to be said: I love twenty-nine so far.

I will tell you one of my weekend activities: I had a great jumping lesson with Cookie on Monday night. They've brought in a trainer originally from the UK to help the 4H kids with their jumping and dressage prior to their big show this summer, and have opened up those lessons to those of us who are interested. I haven't done much jumping in the last ten years, and Cookie has done hardly any, so I expected it to be sort of a disaster, especially given that her steering mechanism is not always so good. But she was a superstar. She jumped everything I pointed her towards, even if the approach was bad. And the physical memory of how to ride a jump remained in my body throughout all this time. What a gift. The last jump we cleared was probably over two feet, which doesn't sound like much until you're trying to get your horse over it. Cookie sort of sat back mid-stride as if she wasn't going to do it, and then surprised me by rounding up over it beautifully. Afterwards the trainer said, "Well, she surely is willing!" Sometimes she is so giving of herself that I feel wretched having ever been frustrated with her. That animal tries her heart out for me, and I am so grateful to her, and occasionally humbled.

Tomorrow I'm headed out to Olympic National Park with an old friend from high school, who came to town today so we could get our backpacking gear situated. We were going to enjoy a day doing PDX sight-seeing things, but he got up at 3:30 and promptly arrived at the WRONG AIRPORT for his flight; I haven't had more than 5-6 hours of sleep since last week. We stopped at Powell's for ten minutes, ate crepes and french fries at the food carts, and came back here to play on my old school Nintendo before I dragged him to the barn so I could feed. We shopped for our trip, and now we're fully stocked but were too tired to pack. When we got back here, we stuffed ourselves full of sushi and promptly went to bed. It's supposed to rain rather seriously throughout our 3-day trip. I'm pretty sure we're going to come back covered in moss.

shout out

today is Cristina's birthday !


Cristina shows up on this little blog a lot.


Of course, that's partially because she is my roommate.


Also, we work together.


But of course, I work with a lot of people, and plenty of people have roommates they never hang out with.


Cristina started working at the opera at the beginning of our 2008-2009 season.


A few weeks after that, I wrote in my journal, "I think Cristina and I are going to be fast friends."


Totally, totally right.


Let me tell you about her. She is awesome. She will drive you to the airport at 4 in the morning. She will make the coffee in the morning. She is up for a late night drive to the food carts. She even makes a good hangover buddy.


She's pretty. She lets me borrow her clothes sometimes. She listens to me even when I'm chatty. (Which is all the time).

We are celebrating her birthday in style today. I can't tell you the details because it's (sort of) a surprise.



love you, lady. I'm so glad to know you!

28 things to do before I turn 29

1. Eat a doner at Doner Kebab
2. Go kayaking around Ross Island
3. Brave the long route in Ape Cave
4. Swim across the Columbia River
5. Eat beef head tacos at the Rose Festival
6. Hike Beacon Rock
7. Go to Paris with a girlfriend
8. Get a motorcycle license
9. Read the Bible
10. Go to the nude beach (nude)
11. Compete in the Mississippi Pizza Adult Spelling Bee
12. Watch the Vaux's Swifts
13. Finish reading all the Pulitzer winning novels
14. Get a Garmin Forerunner
15. Play Brahms clarinet sonatas with Rob
16. Compete in a triathlon
17. Visit Mill Ends Park (the world's smallest park)
18. Eat an insect
19. Fall in love with someone or something that matters
20. Pay off one of my credit cards. For good. Seriously.
21. Go skiing
22. Climb a volcano
23. Finish War & Peace
24. Shave my head
25. Run in a scramble
26. Eat boiled peanuts at the beach in North Carolina
27. Catch fireflies in a jar
28. Read 100 books

as always, inspired by the beautiful andrea at hula seventy

up with joy

nearly every single thing over the last 24 hours has been like an early birthday present:

+ last night at the softball game -- a game in which we were totally massacred by the opposing team -- I stopped a fast ground ball to second with my left kneecap. the resulting, instantaneous bruise is dotted with the lines left by the laces of the ball. it's a fabulous bruise, a real badge of honor. I had my rally cap on (hat turned inside out) & my signature rainbow socks-turned-leg-warmers; earlier I had been trash talking the opposing team. the ball that nailed my knee rolled straight to our pitcher, who threw it to first to score the hitter out.
+ the one time I got up to bat I hit a lame pop fly right to the pitcher, who somehow missed catching it, but it had so much backspin that the chumps, who were already at least 20 points ahead, let it roll all the way back to the plate for a foul call. I walked huffily back to the plate (I had long since made it to first) and nailed one into the outfield, running easily back to first base.
+ the injury, in tandem with a couple snagged balls in the infield and an RBI, scored me the game ball for this week. the game ball is a tradition on the team: it starts at the opening of the season as an unassuming softball, modified slightly by the person each week who is, basically, voted MVP of the game. last year the end result involved a mexican wrestling mask, sparklers, and cartoon jesus band-aids. two years ago it included a barbie suitcase and theme music. this year it already has a talking napoleon dynamite figurine and a candy dispenser. the bar is set pretty high.
+ I was picked to be on Horse Master with Julie Goodnight, a TV show about horseback riding/training ! they're coming to shoot in Portland at the end of June. by some miraculous stroke of luck, they begin shooting the day I return from hawaii. I requested to work on that little problem we're having where Cookie doesn't turn well to the right.
+ last night lauren gave another friend (whose birthday was saturday) and me belated/early birthday presents & strawberry shortcake; today my boss brought me a carrot cake cupcake w/cream cheese frosting & coconut as an early birthday treat. seriously, this has been the rockingest birthday week. I feel so lucky!
+ today on my midday run a pair of guys I passed called out, 'hello beautiful!' and rather than assume they were kidding/meanly teasing and ignoring them (which is what I usually do), I assumed they were serious and yelled 'hey!' and waved. it was the kind of day where I could believe everyone meant the best.
+ DISNEYLAND YAAAAAY

and even the cons are tinged in things uplifting:
- tomorrow I have to crowbar myself out of bed at 3:30 to get to the airport, but this is only because my friends hannah & joe are also going to the airport and have sweetly agreed to take me so that I don't have to leave my car. my flight leaves for long beach at 7.
- it's supposed to be 86 degrees in portland while I'm gone -- my favorite kind of weather! and 66 in santa barbara. but DISNEYLAND and hanging with Cristina and the beach and barbecues and home cooking and my sister's little family and my toddler nephew and my friend josh and guitar hero and MICKEY MOUSE and seriously, you guys, this is the best week.

april 29

age 24: I ran the Fayetteville 10K race with a sign pinned to my back that read "Today is my birthday!" People who passed me wished me a good day or asked me how old I was. All my friends were out of town, at least for the morning; Katie came back later and took me to Sylvan Beach, the old amusement park in Canastota where you could ride dark house rides and play old midway games like Fascination. And we took a photobooth photo which still hangs on my office wall.

age 5: I received my first bike: pink frame, white tires, white streamers erupting from the handlebars. I called it Pink Lightning. In a photo taken that day I am beaming as I ride it through the hallway of our Baltimore rowhome. A year later I learned to ride without training wheels in the cul-de-sac of the trailer park where we briefly lived. (Yes, really). Who can forget that moment when the wobbles suddenly, like magic, turn to balance? A moment of triumph that we get just once in our lives, that we never unlearn.

age 25: on a trip to Buffalo to visit my old-fashioned pen-pal (who turned boyfriend that weekend); on my birthday we sat on the pier overlooking Lake Ontario and ate hot dogs and ice cream. Afterwards we hiked through the woods to eternal flame falls, though he kept the flame itself a surprise. I thought we were just on a nice hike. it was a sweet, simple day.

30 days until my birthday. I have my free ticket to Disneyland, and a plane ticket, and plans to see my sister, along with Cristina at her home in Santa Barbara. And MICKEY MOUSE, of course. I plan on eating popsicles for breakfast. And wearing a crown all day.