departure

Josh and I met our good friend, Ali, his mom and her boyfriend at Departure for a last-minute night cap on Friday after watching the Blazers game. I’ve been to The Nines hotel before but had not yet made my way up to the 15th floor. Stepping into the lounge literally feels like you are boarding a spaceship  (hence the name Departure). It is built with so many glass windows all around that you can easily make believe that you are flying above Portland’s cityscape.

I missed out on the summer rooftop deck weather, but I am sure I will be there again next year. I just hope that by that time the place doesn’t turn into a complete meet/meat market to where it is so crowded that you can’t move through the bar area or find seating.

The restaurant/lounge was designed by my favorite local architecture firm, Skylab Design Group. I really appreciate their sleek designs. Rather than working with an existing space within the old Meier and Frank building, they actually added on a completely new level to the top in order to create their giant space ship.

Skylab, run by award winning architect, Jeff Kovel, has brought Portland other hot design spots such as Doug Fir (another restaurant/lounge) and Sugar Laboratories (a salon and spa). See you aboard the ship soon! (all photos in this post were pulled from the Departures website).

internal clock: time change

I’ve never been a person who  relies on an alarm clock unless I have to wake up at an insanely early hour to catch a flight or something of the sort. The only other time I set my alarm is when I know I am not going to get a full 8 hours of sleep (my internal clock changes so completely when I don’t).

Our time changed over the weekend -  we set our clocks back by an hour. Yet, my body still wants to wake up at the same time every morning and because of this, I have found that I’ve gained an extra hour for myself. I am sure I will go back to how it was before eventually as the days continue to grow shorter, but I have to say that I am certainly enjoying the relaxed nature of my earlier mornings.  This experience got me to thinking that if we could all just plan a little time when it is quiet – no phones ringing…just you and your thoughts, it might do wonders for our psyche. 

Try it out! I dare you – wake up an hour earlier (on a night when you will get a full 8 hours), and see how it might alter your day.

halloween and football…whhhaaaa?

driving south on I-5 toward Eugene

Over the weekend, Josh and I drove out to the McKenzie Valley to visit his folks. Saturday was a big Oregon Ducks game. Football is Josh’s thing, not mine.

While waiting for the game to start on Halloween, Gary built us a lovely fire to enjoy outside.

Char and I sat in folding chairs by the fire drinking wine that we poured from the wine pedestal (all of the outdoor furniture is put away for the season).

We watched Gary rake up the fall leaves and chatted each other up about the meaning of life….we often pontificate this thought together.

When Josh woke up from his pre-football watching nap, he joined us too.

Good times were had…I caught the first part of the game, then Belle and I walked up to our beautiful apartment we get to stay in while visiting and proceeded to pontificate the meaning of life some more. I have not figured it all out yet, but when I do, I will let you know.

I hope you had a nice Halloween weekend!

pumpkin time!

We are now in the thick of fall, and when I say “thick,” I am referring to the inches of leaves accumulating in our yard. Josh and I spent yesterday afternoon walking around Hawthorne and came home with two pumpkins ready to be carved. He made a “Ralph” pumpkin (from the Simpsons) and I made a lopsided owl. It was a fun and relaxing way to spend our saturday night. I wonder though if a trick to carving pumpkins might be to clean them out one day then wait overnight for them to dry out a bit before starting the actual design. Something to try next year I suppose.

One other picture I wanted to share with you was this one I took when leaving the Portland Art Museum on Friday night:

Portland Art Museum

I love when they hang lanterns in the sculpture garden area.

experiencing montessori as an outsider

Beautiful Sun Montessori -- In Aruba

As many of you may recall, after visiting our dear friend Julie (a Montessori teacher) in the British Virgin Islands and having the opportunity to observe in her classroom, I came home with a new drive to become a Montessori teacher myself one day. I applied to Montessori Institute Northwest and was accepted for this fall’s program but ended up deferring enrollment until Fall of 2010. I did this because going back to school at this point in my life to pursue a completely different field is a huge investment and I wanted to take the time to do more research and observe more classrooms in Portland to be sure this was absolutely the right decision for me. At this time, I still have not made a definite decision, but still have plenty of time to decide.

I have had two observation days – one at Providence Montessori and one at Childpeace Montessori. The two schools though utilizing the same foundation definitely had a different feel depending on the teacher or the environment, but I found both experiences to be quite touching. I thought I would share with you some of my notes so you can see why I am so intrigued by the Montessori teaching philosophy.

So, here you have it – my notes from my observation days at both schools! I just jotted down things I found to be interesting or little details that struck me as being uniquely Montessori. I hope you will enjoy them. The overall element I took away with me is that the teachers (called Guides in the Montessori classroom) approach the children and give lessons to the children in a manner that is thoughtful, respectful, and calm. It is clear that the children respond to this by acting the same way in the classroom and most likely outside the classroom environment as well.

The experience is so different and so peaceful compared to walking into a regular pre-school/kindergarden environment. Keep in mind that the age levels are mixed in the Montessori classroom as opposed to separating students depending on age. The ages I observed are considered “Primary Ages” from 3-6 years old. This age is the crucial foundation point for the rest of a child’s life.

photo taken by Benjamin Brink for The Oregonian

Providence Montessori Observation Day:

• Upon my arrival, the lights are dim and calming music is playing (perhaps to keep the students from becoming stressed to enter the classroom environment).  I sit in the observation chair on one side of the room – to keep from disrupting the normal activities of the classroom, I have been asked to quietly observe and not engage any of the children. It seems the children are used to this…aside from a few curious kids who know not to talk to me but keep looking over, most go about their work and don’t pay any attention to me. I avoid eye contact to help abide by the rules.
• I notice that the children are finding activities for themselves without the instruction from the teacher. They pick up materials in which they have already been given a lesson on.
• The children are very careful and thoughtful about their particular activity
• I observe two children, ages 4-5, carrying lesson materials over to the same area. When one sits down, the other stops in his tracks, gently states the girl’s name and then says”I was going to sit there…” The girl smiles says “oh okay,” and then moves over to the next table. The whole thing just seemed so mature to me.
• When a child completes his/her activity, there is not always someone nearby to praise them — it is the child’s own satisfaction that they are learning something new.
• If the children want a snack, they ask the assistant teacher and then the child gets out their name card to use as a place setting at a child-sized kitchen table, then they pour or serve their own snack (again, ages 3-6). When they finish, they clean up their area themselves and put their name card away.
• Most all lessons in the Primary Age classroom are one-to-one with the teacher (Guide) and student. However, I notice that when the teacher begins a lesson, from time to time, other kids nearby may show an interest, stop what they are working on momentarily and quietly observe the lesson as well.
• I notice one of the older students in the classroom teaching a younger girl how to tie her shoes.
• The children all seem to be very kind and gentle with one another.
• There are many plants and living things in the classroom and the kids take pride in being able to take care of them.

Childpeace Montessori Observation Day:

(At Childpeace, I visited two separate classrooms)

• A little girl is chopping onions with a “real” knife (being very mindful and careful) – she is so completely focused on this activity.
• Another girl is grating potatoes with a grater. This must be a new activity because she really seems to be enjoying it.
• A boy is making applesauce from scratch — the teacher must be focused on cooking at this time.
• Another boy is laying on the floor laying out numbers in order that are printed on wooden boards (1000, 2000, 3000, etc.) When done, he carefully stacks the numbers and puts them away, then rolls up the mat he was using and puts it away.
• Everything in the classroom is child-height.
• The teacher is giving a lesson with the sandpaper letter boards. She traces an “h” with her fingers, then makes the “haaaah” sound, and then asks the child to tell her some words that start with the “haaaaah” sound. Horse, House…She does this three times, then asks the student to try it.
• All of the sudden, one child who was carrying a glass container drops it on the ground. The teacher calmly asks him not to touch any of the glass and to grab one of the dust pans (there is a bin with several dust pans and mini sweepers next to where I sit). He pulls one out and the teacher shows him how to clean the glass up carefully without touching any of it himself….now THAT is not something that would happen anywhere but here. Because, when do you teach a child about these things if you freak out and take charge of something that could be turned into a lesson. Nice job!

Second Classroom Visit at Childpeace:

• A child is quietly reading a book to himself.
• The teacher gives a sandpaper letter lesson to a child with “oy.” This child understands the sound, so the teacher takes it a step further and shows her how to write it in cursive on a small chalkboard as well. The child does this with the teacher observing, then once she leaves the child tries this with other sounds as well.
• After one girl finishes painting, she walks over to the sink, gets up on the stool, and washes her hands…no one asked her to…she just did it on her own (maybe 4 years old).
• The boy finished reading his book is asked if he is ready to start writing a story about Farm Animals. The Guide walks with him over to a shelf and pulls out a piece of paper with space at the top so he can illustrate a picture  of the animal he decides to write about.
• At this point, I stopped taking notes and  teared up as I watched a little girl, possibly the youngest in the classroom, try her hand at a block tower. It takes her 2-3 tries, but she finally succeeds at putting them in order from largest to smallest at the top and she is so pleased.

To learn more about the Montessori philosophy, I would highly recommend reading “The Absorbent Mind,” by Dr. Maria Montessori.

the comfort of pets

 

It is a bit strange that we (we who have domesticated pets) live with these animals that roam around our houses while we are away and follow our every move while we are home.

If I do so much as to get up to use the restroom, Belle gets up with such purpose and follows me as if she needs to use the restroom herself. It’s good to feel so loved. And, she looks up at me with the most desperate and sincere pug face I have ever seen, as if to say, “do you still love me as much as you did a minute ago? Okay good, just making sure.”

I realized today while hard at work in the office that my dog forces me to pull away from what I am doing and relax, even if only for a moment…as mentioned before, I have been very busy at work lately, so seeing a cute puppy face or hearing a snoring pug beneath my office chair is a nice way to come back into reality.

garden plant selections

Plant names: (top row/left to right) Phlox David, Tall Panicum Virgatum, Prarie Fire Panicum Varigatum, Moss Phlox (upper pic/purple groundcover), Lavendula x. Intermedia, Philadelphus Lewisii, (second row/left to right): Pennisetum (purple fountain grass), Blue Oat Grass, Blue Fescue, Cone Flower, (Bottom/left to right): Coreopsis Verticilatta, Hydrendea Quercifolia, Hypericum.

I’ve started pulling pictures of the various plant selections for the new front garden entry that were suggested to me by Landscape Architect, Victoria Partridge. Look how nice they all look next to one another! And the great thing is, they are all tolerant of the rain in the winter and the dry, hot summer days.

I’ve been busier than ever lately at work so I haven’t had the opportunities to post as often as I would like to. We saw Where the Wild Things Are last night…it was cute. I have to say that I had really angry dreams afterward though…I think it may have been from watching the movie. It was still good though.

I hope you are having a really terrific weekend!

in focus

“Everything we do, we do for love. The beauty of love is that in giving it away, you are left with more than you had before.”

- David Simon, M.D.

Yet another inspiring quote straight out of my Chopra Center calendar. I’ve been thinking about love lately and about how the more open I am to giving and receiving love in all areas of my life, the more in balance and content I am. I feel that most bad things stem from a place of fear – hate stems from fear, war stems from fear, anger stems from fear…Perhaps all we need to solve all of the problems of the world is a whole lot of love and a fearlessness to give that love away.

How can you alter the interactions and actions throughout your day?

Sidenote: I took the picture above while frolicking around a garden this past summer. Its my favorite self-portrait!

babies, puppies, and wild things!

I couldn’t help but post this one. Belle actually went over and sat and John’s lap and stayed there probably about 10 minutes. It was ridiculously cute. They are they same size – both 16 pounds.

Onto other things than babies and puppies, I am SO excited to see Where the Wild Things Are play at the IMAX theater this Friday!

home improvement and friends with babes

I can’t believe the weekend is over! I am getting the Sunday blues. But, I am tired so I am sure a good nights rest will do the trick.

We have had a lovely visit with our friend Victoria and her son John.

victoria and john

We also had the chance to put the storm windows up before it got too cold out!

I’m doing some garden prep work so that we will be ready to proceed on our new front yard plan in the upcoming spring!