Good wind-down weekend

I spent this entire weekend taking it easy.

Dev and I had dinner with two of our friends from the dog park, Matt and Tommy. They treated us to a great fish dinner with some delicious mashed potatoes and lots of really good white wine. We stayed late into the evening talking about cool trips they've taken and watching bad video content on YouTube.

Dev and I lolly-gagged on Saturday morning. Got up late. Wandered over to the dog park with the poochies. Strolled slowly. Enjoyed the sunny morning. Took a slow hot shower. Had a nice, big cup of hot coffee. Then I went out for a short climbing trip to Rocky Butte (close in Portland) with my buddies Tom and Nat and Tasha. We all had low key energy and climbed casual for a bit (except for Tasha who forgot her shoes and was a good sport about belaying us). And hung out for a bit. And then split about 3:30 pm for home. Satisfying without overdoing it.

Dev went to a baby shower for our friend Stacey. She seemed to have a good time but the details are hazy for me (since I wasn't there) -grin-

She got home and we headed out the door one more time. We needed to pay our farewells to Jason (my former co-worker) and his girlfriend Lucy - this will be their last weekend in Portland. We stopped at Nicholas' Restaurant and grabbed some mezza plates and pita bread on the way. Unemployment (temporary) agrees with Jason. He seemed really at ease in a way that I rarely saw while he was working at MacForce. And Lucy was a gracious host as usual, even with packing boxes and disarrayed furniture strewn about the place. Dev and I are gonna miss those guys. But between Scott and Ann, and Jason and Lucy, and Jess and Julie, we won't have any reason not to spend time in Seattle.

Dev and I kept it low key today too. We tromped out the door mid-morning to cheer a pair of friends who ran in the Portland Marathon today. And then we biked over to the grocery store for provisioning. We got to soak up some of the last sun of the season before Portland turns rainy for 6 months. We kinda bopped along on our bikes rather than riding arrow-straight with purpose-driven pedaling to our destination.

Dev had to work for a little while this afternoon and I spent a few hours on stripping paint off of cabinet doors (in between other chores like mowing the lawn). And now we are getting ready to have friends over for an informal dinner of mediteranean chicken and assorted other goodies.

When I type it all up, it sounds like a lot. But this weekend just flowed along without hurry or intensity. A nice end to the summer season.