Fun: July As We Know It (Take 2)

Oh man, where does time go? And for the record, while July has been a ton of F-U-N, I'm balancing on edge of hibernation again as I head into STILL no job and no finances, but I'm trying my hardest to continue to remain positive and seek out additional jobs (both short and long term) and to again explore other options. I might touch on some of this later but first.....

HOUSEMATE L finally moved out. Luckily I'd prepaid part of rent for July by redoing the front yard in June (my landlords are awesome and any money I spend on the house/yard can be deducted from next month's rent) plus L was here half the month, so July was taken care of. L finally started talking to me after giving the silent treatment for two weeks, but barely and it was still the weirdest move-out I've ever seen. I came home to help her at 5:30pm when she's usually off work and the house was empty of her, lil dog, and her stuff, with a $50 cleaning deposit dropped on my purse that morning and the key under the front mat. Obviously to say she was as ready to be out of here as I was to have her out of here is probably a major understatement, but it still makes me sad that the last weeks were so...interesting.

I've had a couple of other VISITORS:

My gal Cait was in town for mainly work purposes but I was able to snag her for a night and show her around Portland. For all the odd years I've lived here off and on, this was the first time we'd ever been able to hang out in the city together, so I took her downtown to do some of the standard things:

We rode the MAX down which was a true PDX experience with some interesting individuals to chat with us and then we went to Bamboo Sushi on 23d, since C had asked for something local/sustainable but healthy. From there we poked around the stores on 23rd and went into Moonstruck Chocolates, walked down to Powell's, and then met up with regular D at a dive bar back toward NW once he was off work. He did us the honor of surprising us with bouquets that work was going to throw out ("don't get awkward guys, they were just going to throw them out...." :)) and took our picture outside Jeld-Wen:

I love this gal and wish she was around more often!

Second visitor was my MOM, as Dad had come up earlier in the week to pick Granny up and take her to spend a few days at their place. (While he was here we replaced all the florescent kitchen lights, and while I love my father, it again reminded me of where I get several of my traits in life from....) Mom brought Granny back up on Friday afternoon and then stayed until Monday morning. While she was here we had a great impromptu dinner at my aunt's, went Goodwill shopping for more dresses for me (a post in its own....) and she did some alterations, spent lots of time just chatting, did dinner & a movie (I made amazing shrimp fajitas and we saw The Heat...Mom laughed her socks off....hilarious!), and then on Sunday night Mom treated Tall D & I to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (DELISH!). Was a seriously great visit together and was so glad to have her here!

There have been a couple of outings meeting up with regular D for drinks and just chatting about life. The dude's hilarious and offers a very different perspective on things. There was a breakfast with C and his buddy Adam who is visiting in town and who needed help with outdoor pursuit ideas. But really I've spent several outings also with Tall D....we were going to spend an afternoon shooting so I could practice with the gun he left me in the winter but apparently there is a shortage of bullets (who knew?!!!!), so we went to play disc golf instead. 

We had an evening at the movies watching the Internship (hilarious) over beers, and then last Tuesday regular D, Tall D, PP, Wali-G and I floated the Clackamas River....which was lots of fun but a bit chillier than expected.....

....and somewhere in the process of being in an awkward floating/reclining position, I apparently messed up my back so was out of commission for 2-3 days. The massage therapist earlier this spring had warned me that my butt and leg muscles were uber tight and pulling on my back...and apparently this week they all kicked into overdrive so I spent two days walking around like a hunched old lady! :) Tall D is letting me borrow his foam roller, a long hot soak in the tub, lots of stretching, a couple of 800mg of Motrin, and a gentle hike & swim seem to have done the trick so I'm planning on heading out for an easy jog here in a bit. 

And yep, yesterday there was an easy hike with regular D and two of my friends that don't get out of the city enough (L & K). I offered a week ago to take them up to Twin Lakes and then convinced reg D to come along too (and C & Adam were supposed to come too but bailed). We did the loop backwards this time and ended at the Lower Lake where I was the only one who went for a swim, but man did the water feel great! We got stuck in big time traffic on the way back and then D and I grabbed some Mexican food downtown at one of my favorite joints. 

Add in another afternoon berry picking to right my head after not getting two other job leads, which followed with another Thursday afternoon/evening with Granny--we baked zuchinni nut muffins & marionberry pie, and then I fixed dinner and we sat out on the upper deck. Two days of grading also were had, an evening looking over additional jobs, more reading in Eat, Pray, Love and I started another hilarious book, and tomorrow my cousin will come over for coffee in the morning and then my gal R is taking me out for lunch in Multnomah Village. 

I have two other potential August housemates that I'm interviewing on Monday. Both are males who just need a space for a month and I'm potentially thinking about renting out both rooms if all parties are willing. We'll see what comes of the interviews and other details. (Housemate M intends to come back for a few days during the end of this month, so I'd planned on having his bed available...and Mom & Dad will probably want a place to crash at some point in the month....) But if I rent to both of them, then rent will be paid in full for August and at least one utility bill which cuts down on how much I'd have to acquire elsewhere.

Which brings me full circle back to....I'm still applying for jobs. I will be applying for temp jobs, part-time jobs, and humbling jobs here this week. I'm also reconsidering taking a couple of classes again. Ironically I discovered two weeks ago that in order to renew my teaching license I have to take two classes, which means that if I would have followed through with my idea to start the bio and chem sequence in spring that I was registered for a) I could already renew my license and b) I would have had extra money to cover expenses this summer. I just continue to hesitate...I hate the idea of shelling out more cash that might not be able to be paid back...that's why I transitioned to focus just on getting a job to pay off my debts...except no job is happening...which always leads me back to school...? Big question mark. 

...and for the first time in months, I'm also debating going back to church. I'm not ready to start talking to the Big Man just yet, but I think being surrounded in His family and feeling the energy in church might be very, very good for me....

...anyway this next week should hold more internalizing, more searching, more applying, maybe registering, hopefully new housemates secured, and hopefully a day hike (or two) or a backpack trip to be had, and cooking baking with Granny...all before we start the celebration for Granny's 102nd birthday with the annual tea party next weekend! (How are we already almost to August?!)

Hope y'all have been well!