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I am not even going to say what time I got out of bed yesterday. It was a work holiday for me, and I'd been so busy over the traditional weekend that I never stopped to plan out a productive Monday off.

Saturday night, Jesse and I ventured downtown. I'd been hanging out at home during the day and was craving a jaunt to Portland to participate in the nightlife. Well, to be there at night. We caught the end of happy hour at Oba! and snacked on green chile mac & cheese and spicy corn fritters. By the time we were finished, it was nearing the start time for a movie I'd been eyeing at the cozy, hip Living Room Theater. We grabbed some popcorn and a big bowl of olives and watched the Coen Brothers' "A Serious Man." I had only read a brief synopsis about the film on the theater website and we'd seen a somewhat cryptic preview months ago. Jesse and I both loved it. Just go check it out.

On Sunday I had some friends over to eat, drink, chat, and check out what Scentsy products are all about. After my apartment cleared out, I was feeling tremendously lonely all of the sudden, so Clara and I grabbed some pizza and watched the white knuckle season premiere of "24" - which was new for me.

Monday arrived too soon, and before I knew it, Jesse was out the door for the first of his two shifts. I got coffee brewing (on my own - this is rare) and set my mind to not turning on the television. I cooked up some steel cut oats for the first time ever and doctored them up with a bunch of tasty ingredients from the pantry. Maybe way too many tasty ingredients? I jumped in the shower and then dressed in the most comfortable (slovenly?) clothes I could find.

I got to work at my art table, in front of our big window overlooking the pretty, pale trees and a loudly churning creek, for the first time! Nose to the proverbial grindstone, I finally finished up the first of my Pay It Forward books. I won't be posting photographs of any of these books until they are all complete and distributed, but I took a few pictures of my messy workspace. It's a lot more satisfying to have a space covered in scraps of paper and shiny smears of PVA. I have the materials for my next book, and the slightest vague concepts for the other 4. Not to mention various other book and non-book ideas that I only HOPE will be realized.

Jesse brought home a delicious lunch and sweetly said I looked pretty in my slovenly, glue-stained clothes and no-makeup. Not that I believed him, pretty sure he was joking. He turned on the tv, I thought it acceptable to relax and watch Seinfeld for a while. After he left, I dug through Chloe's to-be-bedroom for my sewing machine. I'll be using it at my first sewing class on Saturday, and I wanted to make sure it actually worked. I have an old Singer 603E that I got for free from a very generous lady on Craigslist. I knew it was serviced just before going into storage from several years. Fortunately, it seems to function, but only time will tell.

A non-sequitur note: I need to devote a lot of thought and energy into getting restful sleep. It's been a difficulty for me for years, and I know it will be a blend of several techniques and natural elixirs that help me get there. Tips are welcome. My attempt tonight will be: (a) yoga, (b) hot shower, (c) hot sleepy tea, (d) clean sheets, (e) happy thoughts.

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I wish I could always be the woman I was yesterday.

After I got settled in at work, I headed for a 4-hour seminar the Forensics department was holding for high school and college students interested in job shadow and internship opportunities. I am going to serve as a kind of "administrator" for the program - receiving applications for the seminar submitted online and orchestrating enrollment. I sat in on this, the first of many periodic presentations, in order to provide some critical feedback on how to improve the seminar in the future. Not to mention that I love learning more about forensics and I dream of someday joining that department.

At the end of the 4-hour block, I met with a crime scene technician and a criminalist to complete evaluations on the students who attended. Back at my desk, I compiled the notes I'd been taking throughout the presentation and emailed them to the Sergeant of the department.

By then it was 2:30pm, so the rest of the day flew by. I finished up some errant projects that had been floating around on my desk and even managed to get plans for a January Scentsy party underway. It dawned on me late in the day that I had promised to make breakfast for the following day's executive staff meeting. I filtered through AllRecipes and decided on two dishes.

After a quick MAX ride home, I narrowly missed catching the bus that would take me closer to the grocery store where I needed to pick up some last minute ingredients. So instead, I started hiking down the long hill toward the store, my legs moving faster than I thought was possible. I was chilly due to being slightly underdressed, but I felt great! Alive!

I soon trudged further down the hill to home, my arms heavy with bags of groceries and lovely gifts I received at work. My two babies, Oliver and Aurora, greeted me at the door (scratch that; they were asleep on the couch, oblivious to my arrival) and I got to work. The first order of business was to clean up the kitchen so I could make it a mess again. I simultaneously did some laundry, texted my family to thank them for the fabulous package they sent, and set out all the ingredients I needed.

For a couple hours I worked on the two breakfast dishes I had chosen: cranberry pecan coffeecake and a vegetable cheese strata. I'd never made either of these items before, so I focused hard on avoiding any fatal errors born of carelessness. I completed the coffeecake prep and popped it in the oven. While that baked, I did all the prep and assembly for the strata, which I was going to cook in the morning. The coffeecake finally finished and I let it cool for a few minutes before nervously plopping it out upside-down onto a pretty plate. Glory be! This was a gorgeous masterpiece of deep scarlet berries made soft by the heat, crispy pecans, and a golden glaze of brown sugar.

The cell phone photo may not do it justice.

I poured the strata mixings into a prepared baking dish and it looked alright to me. I'd never even seen a strata before, so I didn't have much to go off of. I secured it in the fridge and did a little bit of re-cleaning in the kitchen.

...wrote a note to Husband and climbed into bed with The Shining - which has been scaring the bejesus out of me each night. A productive day, followed by a productive, yet relaxing evening at home. I'm happy. The spirit of the holidays has infused me and I'm able to see the good that saturates my lucky life. Here are some grainy highlights, in no particular order (actually, I guess it's alphabetical in terms of how I named the file):

"cats" - (striped Aurora and tuxedo Oliver - best friends forever)

"immersion" (new blender - best kitchen tool ever!)

"jesse" (husband. love of my life.)

secondarily "mexican food" (from Cha Cha Cha Taqueria)

"rainy" (Oregon - the land I love)