New job craziness-

SO the new job is great!  It is keeping me really busy already though.  And while there are some great things to working at home, there are also some bad things, like feeling like I need to work during all my waking hours.  I will definitely need to work on that one!

There are also a couple of other things that being so busy with the job hinders:

1) Running - I finally went running today for the first time in like 2 weeks or so!  I have to say that I was sort of happy that the dog was so tired.  Made me feel better!  I can't believe I am doing a half marathon in less than a month.

2) Garden - I am so behind with the garden! But on the bright side, my starts are doing great!

Baby tomatoes!

3) The housekeeping- I have yet to train the hubby to really help with the house work...lol.  We had been working hard at cleaning up the garage and doing dump and thrift store runs, but then I was gone the last couple weeks for the new job...so it seems we have taken a step back.  Oh well, there is always this weekend!

But even with all these things, I am really loving the new job.  I love being in the know, working with local elected officials, and helping save the environment at the same time.  :)

Ash

Day One - New Job-

Today I started the new job.  It is going well.  Lots to do, but that is always the way it is in the world of non-profits!  I am excited to get on the road and start meeting people in my other counties.  My hope is to be in Portland for training one more day, then in Bend, Oregon the rest of the week and into the weekend for more training then the Rebooting Democracy conference by another group I am involved in. :)

It was definitely an interesting day. I tend to notice the little funny things more when I am alone. Here are some observations from today:

1) I take parking in Eugene for granted.  Everyone in Eugene hates the parking situation, but I don't know why they get so upset.  For example, in order to park close to my work today in PDX, I had to give my keys to the attendant so that he could move my car at some point. For a 'small town' girl, this was new to me, lol.

2) I love seeing how areas of town are mixed.  Today I noticed that just across the street from our nice office building with art galleries and restaurants on the ground level there is a place that advertises "Exotic Dancing" until 4am. (I think I really am starting to sound sheltered! haha)

3) The little bar I went to tonight to have food and get a drink was hilarious.  When I asked for a vegetarian option, I sorta got a funny look.  I asked about the 'baked mac and cheese' and the server said that was vegi, so I ordered it.  When it came it was literally kraft mac and cheese baked into a fried crust thing (like the outer part of fried mozzarella sticks).  Hmm...well at least I got to try a new food! hehe

4) To make the experience even better, there were these awesome women, probably in their mid 60's and older, learning line dancing to new pop music like Kid Cuddi.  They would start the song and do the first 16 beats or so and then pause the song to learn the next dance moves.  It was seriously great! Go ladies!

5) Finally, I am not sure if I am comforted or saddened by the fact that Portland, a much larger city and metro area than Eugene and its metro area, has tv news that it is at least as bad, if not worse, than Eugene's.  They actually showed a clip of a baby on youtube that would scream and cry when Miley Cyrus was on tv, and would laugh and dance when Jon Bon Jovi was on....wow.