suck it tri-met.

I got a parking ticket today at the transit center for parking with my “right side wheels over the line”.  It was crap.  See the images below and the letter I sent with the check.  I hate tri-met even more than I used to.  And police.  Even if I have to pay the $24.00, having the opportunity to write the letter was well worth it.

May 14, 2009

To Whom it may Concern:

The proof that this is an unjustified violation can be found in the attached photographs. Upon parking my vehicle on the morning of 5/14, the vehicle in the parking stall to the left of my car was very close to the line. To avoid striking the vehicle, I parked a safe distance away, leaving my car very near, yet INSIDE the boundary of my parking spot. As the attached photographs show, My vehicle was inside of the designated parking area and no part of the right side wheels were over the space line, as indicated in the officer’s notes.

The fact that the vehicle to the right of my vehicle was able to park, as pictured, in its own stall indicates that the position of my vehicle did not impede the parking of any other cars.

Finally, it is my understanding that Tri-Met’s Sunset Transit Center (where the violation was issued) is within the boundary of Washington County rather than Multnomah County as the violation indicates.

Thank you for understanding. After excusing this violation, please contact me if you would like me to pay for the re-training of this officer… I’d happily write a check for this.

Kevin Lee

nothing much

well, mamasan looks cute. i don’t know about my smile.

aww.

I found this silly thought from some Scottish Bicyclist the other day and it felt very fitting given my recent year-long battle with the FOOT …

“You can go a long way with bad legs and a good head …”

let’s just hope the head part of the game holds out i am going in today to sign paperwork with HR for my new job … exciting, nervous, expecting are all words to describe my current feelings … more to follow!

safe travels

just thought i would post a few pictures from the weekend, mainly of pre-sean-departes-to-japan from early monday morning. you will have fun brother! i am jealous … i think i might have to study abroad for grad school. hmm. it’s all online, so why not we MISS you sean!

now let’s see if this new PC of ours can actually do a better job with uploading photos vs. the mac or if indeed the problem remains mine and wordpress.

packing up

what a riot we all ar

now let’s try a flash

cute

how do you REALLY feel sean

family dark.

family light.

all of us!

animal house … *

baby sam the 1000 lb 6 month elephant is kind of shy. what a sweet lil guy.

the zoo animals tend to make me sad. but they are cute.

two cool girls

this is how we walk bella!

* not really, but we just said good bye to our two of our three visitors this week .. miss betsy and esther who came up to portland for a visit! it was so much fun, but man a 2 year old can sure keep you on your toes! abby, how ever do you do it? kudos to you! as much as i loved spending time with the little firecracker and my cousin esther, the visit helped kevin and i put into perspective our future goals. we definitely want kids … but not quite yet i realized i am probably too selfish to even think about it at this point .. with the possibility of starting a new job soon, going back to school in the fall … parenthood, the joy that it is, definitely requires the kiddies as #1. in the meantime though, i will just enjoy other peoples kids and get more and more excited to be an auntie myself and one day a momma! by the way, i need to just mention here that betsy is probably one of THE smartest 2.5 year olds ever … the things she comprehends, can question and notice amaze me! children are so perceptive .. but this one has laser-eyes on tuesday, my brother sean and i packed betsy up for a morning at the zoo .. we met her grandpa, john there and had a blast. i am so glad that the rain held off yesterday (as it is back with a vengence again today) sean is the budding photographer with his fancy new camera, so i will have to steal a few of his pictures to post later. i attempted to get a couple. my favorite is when betsy grabbed sean’s hand (what a good sport brother!)

bella is passed out right now after her exciting week … she hasn’t ever spent time with little children, let alone one that was begging for her attention. she did really well. although at every opportunity she would try to run from betsy, if she did get “cornered” she would graciously take the attention, finally learning that kids are the tastiest of people to kiss 

ps i can’t post half of the pictures i want to because wordpress flips them over onto their side, even after i have fixed them!! grr. i WILL figure this out.

green acres

it’s monday again! i can’t believe how fast the weeks go by … i feel like once i am working again, and back in school – i will blink and be 50. let’s hope that it doesn’t go by THAT fast, there are one or two things I would like to accomplish before then. kevin, bella and i had a fun weekend visiting with our family and friends down in Corvallis/Kings Valley. if the right employment opportunities existed down there for us, i would definitely be petitioning to move. but, portland is a good home and not TOO far away from KV. on friday we celebrated mamasan’s (my grandma) 87th birthday! in honor of our yearly visits to izzy’s whenever mamasan came to visit growing up, we celebrated buffet style. it was fun. izzy’s really has decent food for an AMAZING price. all you can eat. mmm. gluttony. i’ve posted some pictures, they mostly consist of the little bain girls and mamasan. who wants to take pictures of average aged people eh?

i think amy is kissing sierra, but she might be hungry too.

aw hi bella you are cute …

oh … okay. this is bella not thinking i’m very cute :)

those irish girls love their cake!

sometimes you need a candle-blower-outter helper.

mamasan, the birthday girl!

saturday we got to hang out with the lee’s for some tasty grub. family + food = perfection. momma-to-be megan continues to grow every time we see her, but i promise it’s all in the belly today i went to target and got sucked into the baby clothes section. i had to hold back as we don’t have any money to spare currently (had to save it for groceries … food/eating won today, but i can’t be so certain next time) sierra (growing baby girl) is going to be SO SPOILED .. but not rotten, just sweet. that’s all. bella is running in her sleep and it’s hilarious but i don’t have much more in way of exciting thoughts to share, so before i divulge into bella-inspired stories, i will post some fun photos of our weekend!

i think amy is kissing sierra, but she might be hungry too.

VOTE FOR BELLA

Vote for Bella!

march maddness

so much has happened this past week i am not sure WHERE to begin! on Friday my parents and i were driving up to the portland area – i was supposed to get dropped off and meet with a gal for a potential job situation out in wilsonville. unfortunately, it seems she had stepped out for an ‘emergency’ and was no longer there. worried i would be stranded before my parents had a chance to make it back (not being able to drive sucks) i quickly attempted to call mom/dad. needless to say, they didn’t get too far. when i walked out of the facility i saw my dad chatting? with a bus driver, for a moment i thought he was asking the easiest public transit route .. when i saw my mom sheepishly circling the parking lot in the car, i knew that was not the case. turns out my parents and their car had been hit by the bus! thankfully it was a minor, yet deep scratch and after some argumentative discourse, the bus driver’s supervisor showed up and gracefully attempted to resolve the situation. other than the damage to the car and poor bella’s psyche (the big baby has again been traumatized by a motor vehicle) everyone was okay.

the day couldn’t have started off any weirder. the good news is that later that evening i found out that i will be going back to school in the fall! who would ever have thought that phrase could elicit such joy, ask me again in seven months how i really feel! i got the great-news-envelope from OHSU on friday stating that i was officially admitted into the Masters of Public Health program!! Aside from figuring out the financing options i have had fun dreaming about all the possibilities that the future will bring.

we (kevin, bella, mom, dad) then headed up north for a fun weekend in seattle! the gang so kindly drove me up there so i could go to a friends baby shower. we ended up exploring the city and having a great time (aside from the cold we all now share .. thanks mom!)

this had become more of an informational blog than any .. speaking of news, as of monday i have been allowed clearance to begin weaning myself from boot to REAL shoe! it is so amazing how the little things, so often taken for granted can bring such joy and change to ones life! it has not been the easiest course but i am enjoying my slow release of new-found freedom.

now, if anyone has any ideas for a part-time job for me .. that would be appreciated. once i get full reign of shoe wearing i am anxious to get back to work. i guess i will join the almost 10% of Oregonians unemployed and  looking for a job.

mailing in the “yes i accept deposit” to OHSU

wait, we need some pictures of seattle!

cool old archway

daffodils and dad’s reflection

some gorgeous girls

eh?

this about sums up our relationship i think ...

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

i stumbled across these words this morning in an email from work and the administrative team. i really enjoyed the perspective that mr emerson has given with a few words … at the end of the day do i want to feel “happy” or useful, compassionate, and honorable. to live my life in a way that has made the difference of living and living well sounds a whole lot more fulfilling than to have just been happy. i have always struggled with the concept of happiness, as to what it means and how it is portrayed and interpreted in life. many, many, MANY things can be perceived as making us happy – but what are they more than things? of course to be happy is not a bad thing, but it is an emotion potentially as strong as hate used in  haphazard ways within our society. the quick fix = happiness, the materialistic desire = happiness, the inebriated experience = happiness for so many that i believe we forget the joy that really is at the root of a TRULY fulfilling physical and emotional experience … my apologies if my thoughts have gone astray here .. i just wanted to share this quote that provokes so much reflection in my own self.

now admittedly, i was going to fill this post with fun-filled antidotes from our recent weekend trip to canada. in retrospect, it was a busy yet enjoyable weekend. i had a fantastic afternoon seeing two great friends from nursing school who are both doing extraordinary things with their lives, and i am so proud to call them my friends and to see how our individual passions continue to develop with time. we stayed at nate’s posh new home in vancouver, as welcomed houseguests.  without stealing words from kevin’s mouth, it appeared he too had a great time, not only getting away from the 8-5 aspect of routine but also in the two nights of mini-reunion that ensued. of course, i truly realized how i never could have kept up with the bunch, now and back during college. i loved my library cubicle TOO much.

to sum up the weekend, as we were leaving canada, returning to the american border, the guard at the crossing had few words to ask or say. rather, he took one long look at kevin’s passport and with a snorted-laugh proceeded to tell/ask kevin that, “it doesn’t expire until 2013!? you need to contact the passport office and get this changed.” worried, we exchanged a look and stared wide-eyed at the guard until he continued, “you’re a FEMALE here, not only that but an ASIAN one.” with that, he handed us our passports and continued laughing as we drove hesitantly away. kevin’s picture was taken at the age of 16. he does have long-ish hair and girlie features but, come on …

this about sums up our relationship i think … :)

ocean air.

since i have a few hours of nothing-ness today, i tried to upload some pictures from our spur of the moment beach trip this past monday … unfortunately it seems the battery has died on the camera and alas, i don’t know where the charger is! dang re-chargeable batteries, sure they contribute to the overall greenness of the earth but come on, it takes supreme organization to actually leave the device in a “find-able” location. anyways. it was a wonderful jaunt to cannon beach inspired by the visit of my lovely BFF AK .. and while we didn’t actually go over together we both enjoyed the salted air! i LOVE the Oregon Coast, most likely one of the best places in the world. where else can you see the jagged coastline cascading with ocean, trees, and sand.

i promise one of these days i will come up with something more compelling to talk about. life is just at an interesting curve at the moment. i can’t wait to see what is coming next, because at this point (having been stranded to the couch in my apartment for many many weeks) anything is welcome! i never thought i could crave the working world SO much. granted, i am a bit hesitant to resume my nursing career because after a week long vacation i feel brain dead and a disaster, let alone 3 months! the lesson of patience has been of great relevance these months. the greek background (and yes, i will blame my neurosis on this flamboyant culture) tend to make me a slightly anxious person. i never was a procrastinator, i like to have my paper’s completed a few weeks in advance and not knowing exactly the next steps i will take in life is driving me crazy! kevin likes to remind me of the important “patience is a virtue” and while not always successful, i am trying to heed that overused quote. actually just writing/thinking about this now is making me restless. i will go back to thinking about the ocean. restless, but steady.

on another note .. kevin and i are going to canada tonight for a whirlwind trip to visit with old friends. it’s been awhile since we have been to the great white north and i am looking forward to catching up with friends and maybe a mountee or two.

here are three pictures from my cell phone and the ocean. actually one is of bella because i am so obsessed with her and she is adorable.

nothing but blue skies …

currently: sunshine!!!!!!!!!!!!

so, bella and i ran away to kings valley for a few days this week, not from kevin of course, we would definitely prefer it if he was with us this week .. but we had to get out of the apartment for a little break. so far the experience has been just perfect! the sun has been so shiny i keep having to hobble outside to get a bit of vitamin d here and there. i think it might even get up to 60 degrees today, i cannot express enough how excited this weather makes me! i am very hopeful for spring, even if it is still February and frosty in the mornings .. anything above 40 degrees can make me smile these days. my parents have a lovely fragrant plant outside their door which has started to bloom and smells fantastic every time i make it outside …

oh yes, and because i cannot for the life of me write a post without a picture (no matter how relevant or not) here is the photo of the day. it has nothing to do with sunshine or spring, but perhaps it will bring a laugh to those who see it, and laughter is a beautiful thing!

KL. Please don’t blame me for this. Blame your family for one, taking the photo and two, saving it and making it accessible to me.

just a cute little boy in a creepy cabbage patch swimsuite