Back from Up North

We've been back for a while now. 2 weeks? 3? It's so hard for me to pick up the blogging ball again after I put it down. More than once, I've thought about officially quitting or deleting it all. Maybe I'm just meant to be a Constant Lurker, like Dorothy Parker's Constant Reader. It's hard for me to hone in on what to talk about. I need to remember that my favorite blogs often just focus on one small, good thing at at time. Like Alicia's pillowcases or porch blinds, or Emily's pretty bluebird teacup.

Oregon was...green. So very green. And the moisture, and change of scenery, were a really good change. And I finally got to see the very beautiful Multnomah Falls, seen above. However, it was not so much a true vacation, at least for me. My in-laws live and thrive in an atmosphere that feels very foreign to me -- one devoid of much emotion or opinion, or much joy, either, for that matter. It all felt so stiff and forced, and I felt often like such a stranger in their midst. They treated me like a very volatile stick of dynamite, even though I've never exploded or even sizzled much in their presence, ever.

Also. The cats. My mother-in-law loves her some cats. It used to be a bit of a joke, but she seemed a little more defensive about her crazy cat love, this time around. There are roughly about 10 cats living inside the house, and at least a dozen or so more on the property. And I, I am a little allergic to cats. Not instant-hives allergic, but mildly allergic, if put in a house with one or two long-hairs. But a house with 10? It was rough. At night, sleeping with my family in the cat-free guest room, I could here a very tiny but distinct wheeze coming from my lungs. And though I went up there with that cold or sinus infection, it quickly morphed into this terrible, rumbling, hacking cough. Consumption? No -- CATsumption. This week I got low on sleep and the catsumption made a reappearance. I wouldn't be surprised to find some fur balls on my pillow, really.

But the trip is over, and good God, June is off and running in full swing. I'm a bit in shock at that, staring at the calendar and watching the days fill up with places to go and people to see. One thing I could see about that rural life in Oregon, versus this busy one in exurban Temecula -- life is much slower and less frantic. It even felt that way in downtown Portland. I've been thinking a lot about how to slow things down, just a tad. I'd like to focus more on some smaller moments, and not the big, sweeping life-changing ones that have been the norm for the last year. More on that soon, I hope.

Anyway. This is why we went to Oregon -- so the kids could get to know their other set of grandparents better:
Which I think they really enjoyed doing. Even if it meant that for the course of the week, I felt like the cranky, hacking, touchy Bad Witch of the South.
(Above taken at the Enchanted Forest theme park in Salem, OR.)