Inigo Montoya: "You just woke up, let me explain. . .

No, there is too much, let me sum up."

Yeah, that's how its gonna be. We made it back to Portland with some wonderful highlights from the cross-country oddessy, most important, we saw a BEAR. A real, live, think it was a grizzly but it was SO COOL bear. And, we saw some really dumb guy actually get out of his car, with his two kids, as the bear was walking towards them. Unfortunately, we saw a lot of potential "When Man Gets Involved with Nature" type activities in the national parks, but fortunately, a lot of really cool wildlife too. (Did I mention we saw a BEAR - that is a life list moment for sure!!)

And, the parents have arrived!!! They are starting house hunting officially next week! Its been so great already having them here close by, and its so cool not to have to worry that we won't get all this visiting time squeezed into a week. The only bad thing is work right now which is absolutely, freaking the worst ever. Like 3 days in a row at the office til 1 am, and there's still no end in sight (or hope on the things due this week) kinda week. But hey, at least my parents are here!!

And, final big new thing is that a very cool and fun knit shop (The Naked Sheep Knit Shop) opened up right over on Killingsworth - just a few blocks away. Josh is not too excited, but I think its great, and they have a Thursday night open knit and its been really fun to meet some new Portlanders and fellow knitters.

Even with all the craz work, Josh and I got a chance to go down to Salem to have dinner with a coworker of mine and his wife - it was a ton of fun. Its really nice to actually get to know your co-workers, and we went to this really great restaurant, Morton's Bistro, where you get to pick your wine from the owner's stash with a flash light. It was super yummy, and we had a great time with Kurt and Talina (and heard all about Talina's super cool dream shop she hopes to open when they make the move up to PDX in a few years - I'd tell you, but its a trade secret.) One things for sure, Josh and I will definitely be visiting it!!

So now, its time to attack the castle, even though its guarded by 60 men . . .