~~ "She has so many aliases, you'd think she was a spy!" ~~

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Yesterday and today


Yesterday we had a leisurely morning in the hotel, then finally dragged ourselves out into the world…straight to The Old Spaghetti Factory, home of pasta with mizithra cheese and browned butter. Oh, they have other dishes, too, but they’re just not worth mentioning.

After that we went to the Pittock Mansion, which we tried to see in late November last year, but they’d closed that day to decorate for the holidays, despite no mention of this closure (on a Saturday, no less) on their website. The place is tremendously wonderful, and I would’ve loved to stay longer and wander the extensive grounds, but (a) it had become hot and muggy outside and I was wearing riding pants that don’t breath, and (b) we had somewhere else to be.

That was visiting Ernie & Pauline, some motorcycle friends. We four went out to dinner at the Stone Cliff Inn, where I had the most amazing salad with assorted baby greens, medium rare steak, locally made bleu cheese, and a vinaigrette good enough to make one moan aloud. We also celebrated Pauline’s first time on a bike after her hip surgery a few weeks ago.

Unfortunately, I’d been fighting off a low-grade headache for most of the afternoon, so we said our farewells and headed back to the hotel for an early night.

I still had a headache this morning (it went away and came back), so I fought it off with Ibuprofen and Drenamin and PG Tipps. I was so successful that I went off to the hotel gym. Half an hour on the elliptical flew by since I was listening to last year’s RWA Nationals session with Nora Roberts, and she’s really funny. On the downside, I saw three spiders in the tiny gym room, and it was stuffy and humid and smelled a wee bit funny. But hey, I worked out, and it chased away my headache for good.

The ride to Lincoln City was gorgeous as usual, and it was fantastic to hang out with everyone at the regular Sunday lunch. Got some good advice from Kris and Dean, and was reminded that I often don’t celebrate the successes nearly enough (not something they said; something I figured out on my own. I love these cosmic two-by-fours!)—I mean, I got a request for a full manuscript, and why did I not jump up and down and eat a nice little square of Green & Blacks? Damned if I know. Anyway. Had some nice little epiphanies on the way home, too (long bike rides are good for that sort of thing).

Back in town, we saw Iron Man because it’s fabulous and Ken absolutely had to see it, and then, because it was just across the street, ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory again. You get one guess what I ate. Only one. Use it wisely.

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Currently Reading: Circle of the Moon, Barbara Hambly
Lately Listened To: various Styx
Recently Watched: There’s no DVR here. How can I watch live TV? I don’t know when anything is on!

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