For some reason this didn't post yesterday when I wrote it.

I still have a bit of a sore throat, but it's tolerable now. I'm basically fine as long as I'm not lying down, which sucks for sleep, but I've got nowhere to be for a couple of days, so whatever.

The weekend in Sequim was pretty great. Jen and I had fun but no real success in the pair events, then today we were playing with teammates that I didn't really know at all. Jen described them as good for their level, but still kind of just learning. I mean, we're all still learning, but these guys are a few years behind us. So I was expecting to have a kind of random day. We lost our first match by 5 due to a costly defensive miscommunication, but we won all the rest of our matches handily and won the whole event. So yay! I feel like I'm playing some of the best bridge of my life lately, which is a really satisfying feeling. I'm also very proud of the fact that many of my opponents this weekend complimented us on what peasant opponents we were. That means a lot to me, and speaks to the personal progress I've made. I pride myself on being nice in general, but at the bridge table, I am a COMPETITOR. It's only recently that I've gotten good at being both at the same time. It's only recently that I can have a bad day at the table and still have a good time. But I do love winning, and today's victory was very nice.

After the game last night, my friend Chris said to me, "so when and where are we going for our run tomorrow?" We ran together when he visited me in Portland a month ago, but I have barely run at all since then. I'm trying to rest my feet and banish the plantar fasciitis I've been having since March. But Chris didn't ask IF we were running, and I did just get new running shoes, so I agreed to meet up at 7 for what I just assumed would be a 3-mile run. Because when people just randomly run, it's always 3 miles, isn't it? Well, when we hadn't turned around after 20 minutes, I asked how far they planned to go (Cristal was with us too). Five miles, apparently. Well, fuck. I was neither physically not mentally prepared for that, but I got through it! Super proud of that...it does feel like I've cleared a major hurdle to get back to running, and a long run at that. It feels legit. So yay. And now that I won the event, maybe I'll just run five miles before every bridge game...Haha no. I don't have that kind of time or energy.

Emily texted me to say that she's got the best picture of me ever among her wedding photos, and she emailed it to me, but it's too big for my phone to handle so I have to wait until we get home to see it. I mean I know what I look like so it's silly that I'm anxious about this, but she really hyped up this photo. The email she sent it in has "best photo ever!!!" for the subject line, so you know, I'm curious. Stupid five hour drive.

Now I really will be home all month. I'm not interested in adding any real travel to my schedule, but would love visitors. I have guest rooms and long weekends, so if you've been considering a visit to Portland, hit me up. And I can be convinced to take day trips to the gorge or beach or mountains...god I fucking love that all three are easy options from where I live, not to mention downtown Portland which definitely holds its own.

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One thing I love about Portland is the weather. It cracks me up when people in the southeast are all "how can you stand all that rain?" First of all, it's not as rainy as people think, and second of all, how can YOU stand all that heat and humidity? Seriously, yuck. I mean, I grew up in it so I was used to it, but when I moved away I realized how much nicer outside can feel. Outside is awesome! Here, anyway.

That said, the last few days have been brutally hot. In the 90's...no humidity, thankfully, but 95 degrees is still uncomfortable enough. Our house has A/C, but it's not particularly effective. The upstairs is always at least 20 degrees warmer than the downstairs (true all year round), and our bedroom has these 15' high ceilings and big windows and one teeny tiny A/C vent that just doesn't get the job done. Heat makes me lethargic, but it was too uncomfortable to sleep until I pulled an ice pack out of the fridge this afternoon. I put it on my stomach and enjoyed one of the longest naps of my life. Which is why I'm awake now at 1am, but I don't mind terribly because it's comfortable in here now with the sun down and the windows open and our fan going full blast. I went out to run some errands when I woke up from my nap (at 9pm, heh), and went to Target to get another fan. No dice. Apparently I'm not the only uncomfortably hot person in Beaverton. Air conditioning isn't standard at all here, because like I mentioned before, the weather is generally pretty fucking beautiful and it's just not a necessity. But on days like this, it's nice to have. I shudder to think how awful it would be here without ours going, even though it does underperform.

I had an awesome dream last night where I was skydiving, but the only part I dreamed about was the freefall part. I was just flipping and twisting and doing all sorts of air-acrobatics, and it felt amazing. I love dreams where you can feel the sensations you're dreaming about. I also love that I got to dream about the awesome part of skydiving without the scary parts of actually jumping, figuring out how to land, and all that nerve-wracking stuff. I was just flipping at high speed, and it was awesome.

I've always been someone who enjoys motion, particularly the kinds of movement that tend to make others sick. I love being dizzy (exception: drunk dizzy is scary as fuck and I do not like it), roller coasters, free falls, spinning and jumping and bouncing and taking that bump on Earlysville Road at 80mph...I hope I never grow out of this.