Category Archives: Life beyond parenting

There are some things that have nothing to do with the kids, right

The Fresh Air Fund

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Living in Portland we have easy access to amazing parks and nature preservers but we are also minutes away from streams, rivers, and forests for the boys to explore and engage. Not all kids are lucky enough to have that space to interact with nature and find adventure at the edges of civilization. The Fresh Air Fund is a program set up to help get kids out of the city and into back yards for such simple pleasures as:

  • Laughing in the sunshine
  • Catching fireflies
  • Riding bicycles
  • Learning to swim
  • Running barefoot through the grass
  • Gazing at the stars on moonlit nights
  • Building sandcastles
  • Making new friends
  • Simple pleasures of life away from the inner-city
Right now they are looking for host families in the North East United States to host kids as well as people around the country to help support this great cause. If you or someone you know can help please go to the linked site and get plugged in.

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Clearing the clutter to unlock creativity

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Spring is gone and all the spring cleaning projects we meant to do are probably still not done. Those that were finished already need redoing, like my garage of perpetual chaos. No matter how often I organize, clean, and clear stuff it quickly reverts to the black hole it once was. Sometimes it feel futile to start again but I know that isn’t true. There are all the basic reasons for keeping it clean (saftey, ease in finding things, making space) as well as some we don’t think about too often. A clean and clutter filled space fosters creativity. When we have an organized work space we are better equipped to not only do our work but to innovate as well. The same is true for kids spaces where toys can and art supplies can overwhelm a small space like our house. Periodically going through and clearing the clutter helps us see what it is that we have and provides space for the kids to fill in the story with their imagination. Our family has a policy of a finite amount of toys that the boys have and when more toys are added then something needs to be done with others to make room. Some toys are sold at our garage sale, others donated to places like Goodwill, and special toys are set aside for those friends that they think would really love that toy. We are trying to get the boys to think about what it means to have enough, and what it means to share that special toy with that special person. We also want to make sure that the amount of toys the kids have doesn’t overwhelm their own imagination and by pruning the toy pile we make sure the props don’t overtake the story.

This summer, in partnership with Out Growing In, we are excited to offer some free tips on how you can clear the clutter in space. Through out the month of July there will be tips each day as well a free workshop on how to get started from Author Lorrie Marrero. There will also be a free workshop from the Car Seat Lady Dr. Alisa Baer with tips answers to all your car seat questions. Head over to the Clear the clutter site to get signed up for either or both of the workshops and learn how you can win prizes through out the month.  You can also connect on Facebook to get even more tips. Whether you are making room, selling stuff you no longer need, or just simplifying your space we can also do with some tips on clearing the clutter this summer. Get started today with by going to the links above and let’s turn our Spring cleaning intentions into Summer realities.

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Not quite Fever pitch but running a temperature

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For the past couple of weeks I have been fully swept up in a Portland Timbers wonder land. I’ve written a bit about it but being at the games, singing and clapping and chanting has been so much fun. This past weekend we said good bye to long time supporter and genuinely amazing lady who is chiefly responsible for the Timbers Army not being a hooligan mono-culture. It was an emotional scene with bag pipes playing Amazing Grace and her seat filled with roses. The game had an added depth to it and the Timbers held off the previously undefeated Salt Lake team.

There is a game today that I won’t be going to and it seems foreign to me even though I have only been going to games for the last month. It’s a play in game for the US Open Cup and with family in town and a busy month of May we decided to watch the game from home. Seems like a simple decision but waking up this morning I feel like I haven’t finished my homework and my paper is due. This is how much this soccer team has invaded my life. The other day I was telling Beautiful about what kind of tattoo I would get after years of saying there was no way I would ever get ink on me. A friend of mine has already started drawing up axes and rose designs.

Since I’m not going to the game today I brought my sister in law and nephew to Jeld-Wen field and watched the team practice for a while. I told them who every player was while they politely nodded and tried to get away. Right now the balance is tipped a little to far towards the Timbers but hopefully missing this game shows at least a desire to find the middle.

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Encouraging summer with some infused vodka

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It has rained a lot in the North West this year. Cold and wet starting early in the Fall and going strong into Spring and while the La Nina weather pattern has been on the milder side it has still felt like a long Winter. So after reading about the Lavender Lemonade recipes on Ramblings of a Gypsy Nomad I have decided to take her tasty looking beverages one step further and start a batch of Lavender infused Vodka.

So I gathered a Mason jar, some cheap vodka, and sprigs from Beautiful’s lavender plant in the front herb garden and got to work. Two sprigs from the lavender plant in the jar of vodka was all it took. Then into the dark top cupboard until Sunday when we will add it to some fresh lemonade. Sunday is meant to be sunny and warm and I’m hoping this tasty cocktail will complement the day nicely.

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A night at the prom

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Last weekend Beautiful and I left the kids with their grandparents and got all gussied up to raise money for Primo’s pre-school. There was a silent auction with six or seven tables of donated swag and a table of wine in a paper bags that you could gamble on. The theme of the night was “The Prom” and wanting to do it justice we headed all over town looking for just the right outfits. Goofy as the whole thing was we had a great time getting dressed up. Beautiful did her hair up big and my ruffled blue shirt and chuck taylor’s topped it all off. It was pretty great getting to interact with folks that we see for a couple minutes a week as we all drop off our kids. We got to talk about more than just our kids and their development, comparing terrible parenting stories and getting to know the person behind the parents. We got our pictures taken in classic awkward prom posses and even went out with some folks for a little after party festivities. We were up later than any of us had been in years and Beautiful and I were lucky enough to have no kids to wake up with the next day.

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Happy Portland Timbers day!

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From Brent Diskin

The wait for the first home game in the MLS era here in Portland is over and I get my first chance to sing along with the Army in the House of Pane. I’ve been a little single minded lately, consuming Podcasts, articles, videos, and twitter feeds and bringing every conversation back to it’s relation, however tenuous, to the Timbers. Beautiful has been patient, knowing how excited I am, but I can tell she has heard a few too many musings on the best combinations of mid-fielders.

Being a consumed fan seems a lot easier when you don’t have kids and a family. That is my working theory anyway. This weekend will be the most concentrated madness with two games in four days, both at home. I would like to head down to the Bitter End Pub by the stadium at noon for the eight o’clock game but the boys being so young can only be home alone for a couple of hours. Once Primo is six maybe I could be gone longer but at four it’s asking too much. So I need to manage expectations for both me and my family. Fully appreciating what a gift it is to get to go to all the home games this year and sing and yell with 20,000 of my closest friends. I’ve never had season tickets before, knowing that for 17-20 games I have plans set already and as excited as I am for that, I know that it means something different for my family. Those are 17-20 times when I am unavailable for what ever else we would have planned for that time.

So far my wife has been more than patient and supportive of all this Timbers excitement so I want to make sure I am meeting her halfway. She doesn’t need to hear about every Designated Player the team picks up and I don’t need to attend every Timbers Army event that’s offered. Balance is the keyword right now and I want to make sure I maintain that balance in all of the excitement. That is what I am mindful of going into this horribly unbalanced weekend. I want to be sure I’m not taking for granted what a great gift I have here. But balance will have to wait for the weeks to come because today is Portland Timbers day and the Chicago Fire are coming into town for the first home game of the MLS era in Portland. Let it rain, let it pour, let the Portland Timbers score!

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Grownups playing kids games, it’s all the rage

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Here in Portland like many other places there are rec. leagues for all manner of sports. Of course Softball, Basketball, and bowling are well represented but so too are Kick ball, Dodge ball, and my new pursuit Wiffle ball. My wonderful friend responsible for Pedalmation invited me to join his expansion Astros this year and I decided what the hell, I don’t mind looking like an idiot and I love beer so I’ll give it a shot.

Growing up in So-cal we had a great group of friends that spent all summer coming up with games and playing long past dark. Wiffle ball was always a favorite as we tried to make that little plastic ball dance and our friends look dumb. I wasn’t particularly good then and I haven’t gotten any better in the time off. Turns out not picking up a bat for 20 years doesn’t make you any more skilled at hitting a riser or screw ball.

Even though I’m terrible the game does have it’s advantages:

  1. We are sponsored by PBR so there are team cases of beer handed out at the games.
  2. There is very little difference between terrible players and all stars
  3. Taunting and heckling is a requirement, more than hitting the ball is
  4. The game is low impact in the extreme

When beer league softball is too strenuous, you might want to look into joining a wiffle ball league. For me it is as good a reason as any to get away for a couple of hours and sit around having a beer with friends.

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It’s Game Day in Portland

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Today is the day. The first home game for the MLS version of the Portland Timbers and Jesse and I have our tickets to go stand in the rain and sing along as the boys take on Chivas USA for the right to play in the US Open Cup. It’s not an MLS game and it doesn’t count in the standings but we don’t care. It’s a chance to get out there and support our club and this day can’t move fast enough. Following the RCTID (Rose City Till I Die) hashtag on twitter shows me that I am not the only one overcome with jittery excitement. Season tickets have been arriving yesterday and today and I have seen every picture folks have taken of their season ticket package. They are rarely any different visually but they are individually imbued with such importance and power that each needs to be gawked at and appreciated. Our tickets have arrived at Jesse’s house and I peppered his wife with questions about them when she came to pick up The Charge. She has not opened them, which is a good decision since that would be robbing Jesse of a wonderful right of passage, so she cant tell me who is on the cover or how many cards are in the packets. It’s hard for me to sit here at home knowing the tickets are waiting there, but they are Jesse’s to open.

So I wait. I clean the house and take care of the kids and will the minutes away. I fight urge to grab that early beer, and I smile over each new Timbers tweet. I have never been more excited to go stand in the rain and sing.

We are green and we are white, Portland Timbers are here tonight!!

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I have joined the army, the Timbers Army

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photo by lisajeannes

It’s still another month off, the first home game of the season, but I can’t help but get excited each time I pass one of the many billboards around the city. The litany of Paul Bunyans on white back grounds trumpeting Major League soccer in Portland. On the way downtown from the freeway there is girl with an ax over her shoulder, over on Burnside there is a dad and two daughters that is particularly striking due to the youngest girl in a tutu wielding a hatchet while dad holds a chain saw. The images are striking and the ad campaign is powerful. Everyday fans wearing their green scarfs or jerseys, with scowls or smiles, and the tools of the logging trade. We are the Timbers Army and we are ready for the MLS in the Rose City.

A friend and I went in on two season tickets, and by went in I mean he payed for both and my ticket is on layaway. We will go to most games together, but set aside a couple of games to have both tickets to do with what we like. Some one asked if I was excited to bring my son to a game and while I am I more looking forward to the games with my friend. Much like the basketball game I went to with my dad last month, going to a game with some just as geeked as I am about the sport, the team, and the atmosphere is bigger than the experience of sharing it with my young son. There may come a time when he picks up on the sport and gets just excited if not more, but until that time the draw so seeing a game with a knowledgable fan wins out.

So I look forward to Marh 19 and the start of the season against Colorado and wait patiently for that April 14th game at the updated PGE park against the Chicago Fire. The MLS is here in Portland and I am ready to join in the chorus of the Timbers Army. #RCTID

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Hunt for Houston Sweepstakes from Supercuts

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Last year I wrote about getting the kids ready for the Final Four by teaching them the fine art of filling out a bracket. Primo ended up winning with his picking the funniest name strategy. We will be getting our brakets in this year and I can’t wait to see what method the boys use this time. Losing to a four year old is not going to fly for me so I have been catching more games this year than last year and I think I’m prepared to go far. The Final Four this year is in Houston and Supercuts is running a Hunt for Houston Sweepstakes to give two people a spring break to remember.The package includes airfare, 4 nights’ hotel accommodations and $500 of spending money to help enjoy the on-court action. You can go to facebook.com/supercuts to find out more and learn how to enter to win. I have been to the Indy 500, Kentucky Derby, Playoff NBA Basketball, Playoff NFL Football, and some great playoff baseball games but I have never been to NCAA tournament games. I would love to be part of the madness so if you don’t want to win for your self enter for me.

Along with the chance to win the trip to Houston we are also giving away a Hunt for Houston pack to a lucky reader. This pack includes:

  • $20 Supercuts Gift Card
  • $20 Sports Authority Gift Card
  • Desk/Office Basketball Game Set – Hoop/Ball
  • Foam Finger

    • How can you win this pack you ask? There are two ways to enter:

    1. Leave a comment telling me the strategy you use to fill out you March Madness bracket. If you don’t fill one out go ahead and leave a comment anyway, make something up.
    2. Tweet the following “Enter the #HuntForHouston @Supercuts $20 Supercuts/$20 Sports Authority Gift Card Giveaway  from @portlanddad http://wp.me/pRGzp-oQ ” and leave a comment letting me know you tweeted.

    The Hunt For Houston Sweepstakes is open until March 12, 2011 so get your entry in soon. To win the prize pack here get your comment and tweets in by Wednesday March 9, 2011 and I will choose a comment at random at 12 PM Pacific on Wednesday March 9, 2011 and let the winner know.

    Disclosure: Supercuts provided me with a $25 Supercuts Gift Card and a Hunt for Houston pack to give away so I could finally get a haircut and look a little less homeless sheik.

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