Heading to the Weekend

Well another week of work has come and gone. Which is fine by me. The weekends get to be an issue too though. Without much to do I tend to get lazy and bored. I love getting together with people and hanging out anytime, but I'd rather do things with Tim. And he's not here. I keep thinking about all the stuff we can do on a regular basis. Happy hour downtown. Saturday markets. Trips to the coast, Mt. Hood, Multnomah Falls. The list goes on and on. I don't want to do any of it without him. I need to just curl into a ball and sleep until he gets out here - which I hope is soon.

I've lost motivation for the day. Brain shut off about an hour ago, so I feel pretty useless right now. I need to get out of here, head home and recharge. I think this calls for a "real" meal tonight. I want to actually cook. Usually I'm a huge fan of home-cooked meals, but lately the effort just doesn't seem worth it. Especially without anyone to share it with. Sure, I could invite people over - but I have no furniture. After dinner, what will we do? So that's out of the question until the couch gets here. Another thing that I hope arrives soon. I'm ridiculously excited about the furniture! I've never really owned anything before and now I own a car, and a bed, and some dressers, AND a couch, chair, ottoman and 3 tables! It's crazy! It's like this small step towards adulthood.

Here's to many more steps to come! Which reminds me, I should find a liquor store soon...

Panic

Living along in a new city is starting to take its toll on me. I miss people so much. I miss having a normal routine. I miss having things to do at night when I get home that don't include "homework" or nothing. It's been 4 weeks/5 weeks and I thought/hoped things would get better and this feeling would wear off. I expected it when the moving truck got here. Then again when Tim visited and we bought furniture. But each time it wears off and I'm back to where I started, or worse.

Any one out there know of any thing to make this better? I don't even know if there's any one that actually reads this blog. Maybe I'm just writing to myself.

A Place to Sit

This past weekend was one of the best I've had since I got here. And that's because Tim was here. After some annoying and frustrating plane issues, I picked him up at the airport around 2pm and we headed to Beaverton so I could take my MPJE for Oregon. After that it was time for errands and the like since we had a car and I had a strong man to carry things. Dinner was at Ken's Artisan Pizza on SE 28th. We got the one with pancetta and it was delicious. Only problem - we were so hungry that it didn't last long. So a quick walk later and 15 minutes in line lead to a Voodoo Dozen! After catching the MAX back home we collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Saturday morning was furniture shopping. We'd checked some of it out the night before at Ashley Home Furniture and made some initial decisions. So now we've got a couch, chair, ottoman, and set of 3 tables on the way in 2-6 weeks. We got the chair and ottoman in sage green (they're mine) and the sofa in a deep brown (more Tim's). So comfy! I can't wait for them to get here. The rest of Saturday we explored the markets and the waterfront. Hit up the Brewfest for a bit. And had dinner at a sushi-go-around where we randomly ran into Sara! What are the chances???

Sunday was all about getting the apartment in shape, running to Target and Winco for organizers and groceries. I made turkey burgers and sweet potato fries for dinner and we watched most of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (but don't spoil the ending because we didn't finish it!).

Then came the worst part of the weekend - getting on the train and taking Tim to the airport. Extremely hard moment(s). Thankfully I've only got a few more weeks to wait until he's here.

Monday was tough and just writing this is even difficult, but I'm making it one day at a time.

Coasting

I know it's been a few days since I posted, but I've been busy with residency work swinging into gear and studying for my Oregon MPJE (not looking forward to that). Days are pretty routine: wake up, shower, breakfast, catch the train, get to work, work, work, work, leave, catch the train home, dinner, errands, studying. Mundane I know - I need to work on spicing it up a little.

This past weekend was extremely fun though. I went with some residents from Vancouver and from OHSU to Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. It was a pretty nice day out on the beach (at least when the sun was out). The views are gorgeous. We spent the day relaxing, drinking a few beers, and just having a good time exploring. Dinner was pretty good too - the clam chowder at Mo's is definitely worth checking out. At the end of the day I was exhausted though. We didn't really do that much either... I did manage to get sunburnt though - only on my shins - thanks to my inability to apply sunscreen properly.

I'm still working on getting the apartment squared away as far as unpacking goes. Need to take a trip to get some organization items to finish that up though. Maybe once I get my zipcard so I actually have a vehicle I can use that will get done.

On other notes I get paid on Friday which is super exciting. Also I'm looking into orthodontists in the area to finally fix this messed up mouth of mine (keep your comments to yourself). I also could use a massage, a pedicure, etc. Maybe in the next weeks here.

On a super exciting note: Tim is coming to visit next weekend! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. This is seriously the longest we've ever been apart and it's only been 3 weeks now. I miss him terribly though so I'm so glad he can come out and visit, even if only for a weekend. Then after that it'll only be ~4 weeks until he moves out here for good!

Well - back to the grind of reading RCTs, if only researchers knew how to do these right...

Touring Portland

My first real weekend in Portland went from potential depressing loneliness to a grand tour of the best spots on a Saturday:

1) Met up with Sara at the Farmer's Market @ PSU - Think Madison Farmer's Market but bigger with live music, wine tasting, and crepes!

2) After a good cup of coffee and a few rounds of the Farmer's Market we headed to the waterfront for the Portland Saturday Market. I expected things to be cool, but this was amazing. The whole thing reminds me of an enormous arts festival, except this happens every weekend! Lots of browsing later (oh how I wish I had more money!) and we were on our way to...

3) The Rose Gardens. Gorgeous flowers galore. There are hundreds of different types of roses and I think Sara and I may have stopped and smelled almost every one of them. We took tons of pictures too! Check 'em out!

4) After the rose garden we walked down a cute little path to NW 23rd and did some window shopping at the cute stores down there. We also had lunch at Rose's which is a quaint little soup/salad/sandwich diner that had fabulous looking desserts. We didn't have room for those, but maybe next time.

5) Next we met up with Sara's friends who were in town and went over to the JVC house. While in the neighborhood we checked out a store that has adorable bags called Queen Bee I definitely have a bag or two in mind that I'd like.

6) The highlight of the evening was definitely checking out the Kennedy School. I think it's brilliant to turn and old elementary school into a hotel/bar/restaurant/meeting space/theatre. So cool. A must return to spot!

Another great part of the day was just hanging out with fun people, seeing new places, and learning more about public transit. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Today was a dull day spent in the apartment. Not much to do/no motivation. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Echo

After almost a full week without furniture or any of my other belongings I'm starting to get a bit edgy. My moving guru keeps assuring me that I'll know tomorrow; only in this case tomorrow is the answer every day I ask. I'm sick of sleeping on the air mattress and wearing the same clothes every day. I want more than one chair. I want to eat food that wasn't prepared in a microwave and served on a paper plate. Is that really so much to ask?

I start my residency tomorrow. I'm sure it'll mostly be a paperwork day, but it is the beginning. I'm super scared about making sure I get up and get in on time, especially with this commute. I've got the alarm set for 0530. I've got to lay out my clothes yet, and pack the necessary paperwork, etc. I haven't worn work clothes in over a month - this is going to be weird.

On the bright side I did get notice yesterday that I passed the NAPLEX. So now I've just got to wait for the Wisconsin DRL to mail out my license.

Well, back to being bored for me. Anyone wanna come visit?