Catch-up

Starting a new job has taken a toll on the frequency that we've been able to update this blog! Amazing how working all day 1) reduces the amount of time you have to write and 2) limits the number of blog-able experiences you have on any given day. That is, unless you plan on blogging about your job.

Let me say a few brief things about my job to quench the curiosity I know at least a few of you have expressed:

It's great. The people are supremely friendly. In fact, it's the friendliest new job I've ever had.  People stop by and ask how things are going, and go out of their way to swing by my cubicle just to say "hi"--let me add that I've known most of these folks for a week and a half.

One harmless little anecdote: the ratio of men to women in this workplace is way different than what I was accustomed to at Portland State. I'd say that it's the exact opposite, in fact. I've gone from an office that was predominantly women, to one that's probably 90-95% men. 

The other day one of my coworkers stopped by my desk and asked that I spread the word that they were having birthday cake in another part of the office. So, I walked around the cubicles, letting people know that there was birthday cake to be had. I've found that working with women, it's almost like pulling teeth to get them to come for cake. And when they do, they only want "just a small piece." In my current office, the word spread like wildfire. "CAKE?! WHAT KIND OF CAKE? IS IT CARROT CAKE? WHERE'S THE CAKE!?" Heads sprung up like whack-a-mole's from all the cubicles at the mention of it. When I walked down to get my piece, I found myself in line behind a whole mess of guys all waiting for their cake. AWESOME. This is my kind of workplace. 

Other interesting things--for the first time in 59 days, we had a big rainstorm move through Boise this weekend. It started on Friday night as some thunderstorms broke over the city. Big flashes of lightning and rolling rumbles of thunder. It started pouring during the night, and rained most of the day on Saturday. For those of you who find weather as interesting as I do, imagine this: Friday, there was a record high of 94 degrees; today, Sunday, it didn't even break 70. I think we got up to 67 or so. Throughout the week we'd planned a camping trip up to the McCall area for this weekend, but as Friday night rolled around, and we faced the reality of packing our gear and going grocery shopping, we decided to abandon those plans. When we awoke on Saturday morning to the sound of rain pouring down the steps in the courtyard behind our bedroom, we were so thankful that we'd elected to stay home.

Instead, we just enjoyed the city this weekend. It's amazing how quiet it is here in town on a Sunday. The downtown area is a ghost-town. The stores and boutiques are closed, and the restaurants are dead. We got coffee and walked around looking through the windows of places we'd like to return to eventually. The Co-op in town was also having a "Fall Harvest Festival" with farmer's market-style vendors all offering samples, a wine tasting, and a live band. We wandered through that for a while and tried some awesome pickles, salsa, mustard, and hot sauces.

Finally, this weekend we ate out at a great restaurant downtown. Any Boise-ites reading along, take note: A Taste of Memphis down on Idaho St (next door to Old Chicago, and just below the Rose Room), is a great barbecue joint with the world's friendliest owner and the BEST hush puppies EVER. They seem to be getting hit hard by the slow economy: the owner said she didn't know how much longer she'd be able to stay open. It's really sad--especially when the sub-par chain restaurant Old Chicago was jumping all night next door. Charlie has the Friday Night Special--homemade Gumbo with sausage and chicken--and hush puppies on the side, and I had the barbecued pork ribs with some stellar collard greens and potato salad for sides. I also ordered some sweet tea so sugary it made my teeth hurt. I have to say, though, as amazing as my ribs were, and as tasty as the greens were (with chunks of ham cooked throughout!), the hushpuppies really stole the show. I've never been a huge hushpuppy fan--normally they seem somewhat boring: deep fried cornbread? These were awesome--crispy, hot, bite-sized, and full of flavor and spices. WOW. Anyhow, if you're in the area, I highly recommend the restaurant and especially the hush puppies. The owner and her family are ridiculously nice as well. Unfortunately, though, if you're a vegetarian, the menu might be a little on the spare side--but, with barbecue and southern food, that's no real shocker, I suppose.

Not even a potato product of Idaho.

So I just looked at a bag of red potatoes I bought at the grocery store.

Guess where they're from.

Yeah, I would have guessed Idaho, too. Seems like a "DUH" sort of question.

They're from Tualatin, OR.

I've been quite surprised to find how many of our products and how much of our produce comes to Boise via Oregon. It seems like every time I take a moment to look, we're "importing" something into our kitchen from the motherland. Even, it turns out, potatoes.

Actually, I was doing a little website/company specific job-hunting the other day, and, knowing that it has a big presence in Idaho, wandered onto the Albertsons page. Well, guess where their corporate headquarters are: Portland.

Phllllllt.

This brings me to think about the conversations we've had about how Charlie and I are going to try to localize our purchasing power as much as possible. We don't have current plans to try for a 100-mile diet, and we don't do anywhere near the shopping we should at the farmer's market (and can't afford to shop as much as we'd like at the Co-op), but we've had some conversations about what we are going to try to consider "local." Let me emphasize, we're not "locavore" purists, but we appreciate the importance and power of that movement. So, we've decided to try and support products that come from a one-state radius: Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Montana, etc.

And probably from Mexico, too. Gotta have those avocados.

More importantly, we've decided to try to prioritize our spending when it comes to food--particularly meat. While neither of us is planning on becoming a vegetarian yet, we have decided to do our best to make ethical meat purchases. Rather than buy that cheap meat at the big box grocery store, we've decided to spend a little more on the small ranch raised, grass-fed products--or, if we can't justify the expense, we'll go without. Happy piggies taste better, and will make us feel better in the end. Not to mention we'll support small operations so as to avoid the ethical treatment issues, waste issues, and importing-across-large-distances issues.

So, anyhow. We're on the hunt for some good Idaho meat. Guess we'll have to visit the Co-op after all! Unless you know of a good meat producer in Tualatin?

Boise, Boise, Boise and thoughts on finally being off the road.

Our weekend trip to Boise wrapped up on Tuesday.

It was a whirlwind experience and a great time.


We spent a little time house-hunting, attended a lovely wedding (I'll let Charlie fill you in more on that later), and had the chance to get a feel for the downtown and north end.

First impressions? Friendly and dry.

Everyone we met in Boise was so nice and was eager to share suggestions and recommendations for future residents. Though it's hard to get a good impression of a place from a 24-hour stay, my first impression of the folks who live there is very positive.

The climate, however, is going to be dry-dry-dry. Though we heard this tends to be a "greener" time of year there, to our eyes (accustomed to the lush, verdant jungle that is western Oregon--"Please! STOP GROWING and give me a chance to catch up with you, LAWN!"), everything seemed brown and burnt-out already. I predict that, for me, this has the potential to be something that will take a while to get used to. As I told Charlie, I was virtually raised under a toadstool in the Seattle area, and my later move to Portland hasn't done much to dry me out. My gills still function just fine, thankyouverymuch! I've never much needed to use hand lotion or chapstick--I predict that soon may change. I also predict that when we move to Boise, you'll be able to often find me prone, under the sprinkler, trying just as hard as the grass to absorb a little "green."


But, that's just the landscape--and I can get used to that.

The food we had the opportunity to eat there was fantastic--we had lunch at a lovely Mediterranean restaurant in the downtown area. It was delicious. The downtown seems to be thriving and lively--lots of restaurants with outdoor seating, and lots of people out and about everywhere. Lots of bikers and joggers, and people enjoying themselves. And finally (perhaps most important!), plenty of coffee shops to keep Charlie and I awake and alive.

We looked at a house for rent. It was adorable and in a good neighborhood. We were ready to rent it, and even called the woman back to say so--in the end, though, it ended up not quite working out. They say things work out the way they do for a reason, and I think this may be an instance of that. Even after we'd called, the more we thought about it, the more reserations we started to have. What? You want to sell it after a year? What? You want to remodel the whole kitchen when we're "out of town for a weekend" (seriously: tile the floors, replace the cabinets, new counter, new dishwasher, etc. Unrealistic goal!)? So, we're back on the house hunt again, this time with a few more options in hand before we head on our next trip east.

Even though we didn't get it, we're still so, so excited to find something together:


Anyhow, overall it was a great trip, and we'll be back soon with more stories I'm sure.

I'll leave you with a great photo from Charlie's dad of the big wind turbines in the Gorge. Even more impressive than the shot, is the fact that he took it from the backseat while we were driving down I-84!


Windmills in the Gorge, photo by Dan Varland.