News from the midwest

I got an email from Valerie in Fairfield, IA this week. Sophie and all the feline friends say hi! In case you're not familiar with Midwest geography Iowa is in the heartland and Fairfield is in the southeast corner of the state. Val is a major organizer of local animal rescue efforts so she keeps pretty busy with that but when not in rescue mode she stays active in the local entrepreneurial business community. I am encouraging Val to create a blog here and as soon as she gets it online I'll post a link - welcome Val!

The picture was taken last fall near Lincoln City. Anyone planning to make it to Lincoln City for the Kite Festival this year? I'll be there - wouldn't miss it!

http://www.oregoncoast.org/kite-festival/kites-summer05.html

Two days in a row of sunshine!

Two days in a row of sunshine ... good golly miss Molly! I'm loving it and since I had both days off it was perfect timing. Did I mention that I'm changing jobs in a week? I'll still be with Goodwill but I'm moving from my supervisor position at the Hillsboro store to the headquarters downtown. Don't know how long I'll be there though, I will end up back at one of the outlying locations soon because the new job is basically a field position. I'll be working with job seekers helping them conduct a successful job search. That is the Goodwill mission - changing people's lives by helping them find a job or move to a better job. I'll be working at the core of what Goodwill is all about.

In other news ... Buddy Guy is coming to Portland this weekend. He's the blues master! I won't be able to make it to the show because I'm working my last weekend as a supervisor but discovering that tidbit of information was a wake-up call. One of my favorite activities is enjoying live music. Portland has tons of live music but of course in the winter it's all indoors. The bars are way too smoky here for me so I've not been able to enjoy much live music lately but once the rainy season ends (and yes, it will end soon) the outdoors concerts will begin! I'm really looking forward to that and of course the beer-fest is coming in July. The last time I went I tried potato beer and rhubarb beer - both were terrible but it makes for a fun festival when I can try out some new beers. There are many local and regional brewers so the variety of beer around Portland is a beer drinker's delight. (that would be me)