Not in Portland anymore

This April, I got on an airplane with a book and full intentions to read it – and (yes!) even to fall asleep mid-flight.  I was all by myself, heading to Los Angeles for a conference. 

I tried to spend most of my time outside of the convention center so that I could soak in the glorious weather before returning back to um… Portland, which is doing what Portland does in April.  Which is not transitioning to springtime yet.  And it’s already (did I mention this?) April.  Besides, I hadn’t been to LA since the early 1990s, way before I ventured into this urban design thing.  So, it was definitely worth a look-see.  And?  Thank goodness I left the convention center because that is one freakishly oppressive complex.  The building above is Frank Gehry’s (who else could that be?) Walt Disney Concert Hall.  I got to sneak in during a performance and the acoustics were actually pretty great.

My eyes are trained to take in all the flora everywhere, and this place is so different than my rainforest back home.  Look at the crazy pine street trees!  I love the palms and the agaves. 

    

    

I was also in town for CicLAvia, taken from Bogota’s Ciclovias, where miles of streets are closed off to automobile traffic to allow for bikes and pedestrians to take over the public realm.  Portland does a similar event throughout its neighborhoods, called Sunday Parkways, which we have participated as a family in some way or another.  Portland specifically uses its events to showcase their bike boulevards and to connect its parks, which feature roller skating to yoga to hula hoops to you-name-it, it’s Portland. 

But, back to LA.  This was an amazing event to see, because, first of all, it was held in the heart of downtown, so the experience was uniquely urban – cyclists storming the downtown by force, flanked with high-rise towers.  Secondly, LA can draw many thousands of people to its downtown, and this event seemed to do that.  It was intense.  I love how the people of the city really tested its streets with their bikes, including the trees, the poles, the rails, and anything they could lock their bikes up to when the need to eat or drink arose.  And it did, because it was warm.

     

    

   

The days were so sun-filled that I found myself exploring, and I wound up visiting several parks.  And – I’m not judging, but I do notice there are lots of signs telling me what not to do.  And all the parks are gated.  What is that all about?  Anyway, the multitude of signs were kind of funny to me, so I couldn’t help myself…

    

   

One of the most interesting tours I went on as part of the conference was a mobile workshop that discussed LA’s adaptive reuse policy, which set in motion a kind of downtown renaissance and preserved many old financial buildings that had sat vacant for 40 plus years.  Pretty great to be able to peek inside some of those units. 

These photos were taken from a speculative office building constructed but never occupied in the 1980s.  Recently it was adapted for owner-occupied condo housing.  It was an anomaly to the other pre-World War II adaptive reuse buildings, but interesting nonetheless.  And the views were spectacular.

Of course, no one brought a swim suit for the tour…

This is a glimpse of the convention center area, with the Ritz-Carlton in the background and the Harbor freeway.

If you squint, you can see the Hollywood sign…

LA has some super crazy tall buildings.  I think that one in the foreground was given additional height by the city for not demolishing the historic library to the left of it.  It’s 73 stories and the tallest on the west coast.

This entire trip was a nice autonomous getaway, a great break from the Portland weather, and a professionally stimulating opportunity.  I spoke at the conference on a panel, and I met several other professionals who share a similar job description – which hadn’t happened until this trip.  I’m so grateful and humbled by mi esposo, who supported and encouraged me to go.  And, he survived too!  He’s a rockstar.  And now I’m back in Portland – where despite the lack of sunshine, it’s good to be home.

finding JOY in the last month of pregnancy…

Here are some quick photos of my last few weeks with a baby belly! 

   
These were taken at the office by my co-worker.  This is my last week of work before a short(?) break and baby decides to come out, then my maternity leave begins…  I’m still enjoying the challenge and pace (slow-fast-slow) of work.  I continue to co-chair a working mom’s affinity group (CityMamas) that provides a good forum for all kinds of discussion regarding home/work balance, and these days I’m beginning to feel like a poster child. 

The funniest thing about being pregnant with my third is I’m often a “confessional” for both men and women on family… “My husband would never go for three.  I had to fight for two.”  “If only we had started sooner, we definitely would have had three.  I don’t want to be 40 and pregnant.”  “I’m going to miss the baby times, but my wife is insistent that we’re done.”  “It’s so expensive, I don’t know how we’d afford it.”  And then there’s a lot of proclamations that are just silly, like “You’re brave.”  “You’re going for it.”  “Three is the new one.”  PLUS, I still get all the questions: what are we going to do about house, daycare, car, etc. etc. 

This has been quite a different experience from either previous pregnancies.  Which is why, this year, I decided to focus my mind on JOY.  Lately, I’m taking it all in stride.  Someone recently said (after I mentioned a possible cross-country trip in my future), “but then you’d have to get a big old van!” to which I responded “I have a big old van!  I’m jumping in with both feet!” 

I am glad that nine months has given me some time to breathe into my new reality and get comfortable and even(!) excited about it.  Early on, I happened upon a website that has a hilarious perspective on having three kids.  It’s called, appropriately, “having three kids”.

And what of all those pesky questions?  My plan is to continue working part-time and start that adventure of three kids in daycare for two to three days a week before Dean heads to kindergarten.  At last, a plan!

The Subaru has sold, the house is slowly coming together for our new baby brother, and even the kids are getting into all the moments of pregnancy:  sympathy pains on the couch as my feet keep cramping, lots of baby belly hugs and kisses…  some of us are even dressing alike

Life is slowing down though; my sew, mama days are dwindling.  A small glimmer of hope exists that I can finish some kitchen curtains during my short break from work before the baby is born, but I’m certainly not counting on it.

Baby continues to move and kick in my body – my little starfish likes to jab several points at the same time.  He’s getting bigger and lower.  So stay tuned… it’s about to get more exciting in our little house!

a new goal in progress

I've alluded to this before:  my dedication to blogging is not as great as my dedication to list-making.

So, I went back through my past lists.  Oh, dear.  Progress is slow on all fronts.  But, wait!  Since my last post (well, the post before I was prickly), I added one more goal, and I am 25% from completing it!

My new goal is work-related: I am taking a series of project management courses, and by the end of May, I will be certified in project management!  What?!  It all started when a friend of mine was asking about my job, and what it trains people in project management.  Which is zilch.  So after thinking and talking it through, I decided to get some training on my own.  I researched Portland State University's extended studies program, found some Friday classes, made childcare arrangements, and negotiated my work and union to pay for my time and the class so that it covers daycare costs as well.  The decision to go for it, along with rearranging our Friday schedule took place within a couple of days at the beginning of the month - less than a week before the class series began.  Whew.  So, I've been busy.

These classes have me totally thinking of my dad and brother and brother-in-law, since I have this impression that project management is something that the military must train people in regularly (though I have no idea; am I right about this?).  The jargon is kind of male, such as "don't solve the problem, get the problem solved" and "manage expectations".  Part of me gets excited about this stuff, and the other part of me is trying not to roll my eyes.  Or maybe I have just been too heavily influenced by my book club's recent read: The Female Brain (Read this book!  The subject matter will have to be another post soon...)  But the class is not heavily attended by males - in fact, the ratio is 3:1, with more females.  Go girls! 

So that is my new goal in progress.  The good news is that I think it will give me some confidence and build my skills in the workplace, which is just the boost I need.  I've already taken the first couple of classes, which were on "Project Planning".  It sounds a little dry, but it's very hands-on, and it's helping me to organize my thoughts better.  Stay tuned...

prickly

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit prickly.  It was work related.  

I think I'm better now, or else it's just settling and I'm over it.

swift to love

"Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind."

 Henri Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss writer.

I am ashamed for not always taking the time to lift up, celebrate, and reach out to those around me - neighbors, coworkers, friends, and even my family.  Love comes from within ourselves, but if it remains there, it will dry up, unexposed and meaningless.

I am reflecting on love and life, but this time it's not guided by estate planning:   My dear friend's brother passed away this week at age 37.  Reaching out to him, I was so dumbstruck that I had trouble finding the words to express my sorrow.

I'm also struggling with these last few months at work, where (for a number of reasons, too many to discuss here) the environment has ranged anywhere from indifferent to toxic, and morale is the lowest I can remember.  Today, I was humbled by how little effort it took toward building trust, and frankly, it's embarrassing that so much time had passed.  I have not exactly radiated with kindness lately.  Death is a raw reminder to answer the call to love.  Oh be swift.