03-31-09

It's the end of another quarter. Here's a glimpse of what I've been reading and listening to these past three months.

Noteworthy mentions:
- We are headed to Portland tonight to see Wicked on the stage.
- Always hard to pick favorites, but really enjoyed Magic Hour and Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas.
- "Met" three authors this quarter - Karen Kingsbury, Robin Jones Gunn, and David Oliver Relin
- Three Cups of Tea, not in the photo because it is in Xander's desk at school, is very insightful.

"Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier." - Kathleen Norris

03-30-09

Today on our walk around the neighborhood, it took a long time to notice anything very interesting to photograph.

Then Bruce spied this tree in a yard with little birdhouses. And I liked the wreath hanging on their door too. And a few doors down there was a forlorn little ragamuffin scarecrow with pigtails. Just a little spark, and I saw much more.

This photo captured the chilliness of the day, but the promise of spring right around the corner. I hope!

"It's cold and it's raining, can we go home now?" - Bruce

03-29-09

Today I begin a walking tour of my neighborhood.

This was an on-line photography/scrapbooking course I took, where the teacher took her camera and meandered around her town in a half mile each direction from her house, taking photos of interesting things she saw. Her thought is that even in this fast paced, multi tasking, crazy making world she lives in, some of the most beautiful and simple things are just outside our front door. And we often don't take the time to see them.

I decided not to do this all in one day, but to break it up into several mini outings. With the weather improving, the light staying longer in the evening, wanting to move more, and embracing adventure, seems like a perfect project. It was a still a bit windy and cold today though!

I have noticed more larger circular windows in Longview than anywhere else, so I thought that was a noteworthy photo.

“Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world.”
George Bernard Shaw

03-28-09

Lot's of photos to choose from today, but Anastasia wanted to be on the blog today, so here she is.

This morning we went to Dream Dinners and assembled 72 servings of meals to enjoy over the next month or so. Meals we chose include peanut crusted fish filet with sweet & sour dipping sauce, island chicken with coconut rice, chicken with honey, garlic & orange, arroz con pollo, and garlic balsamic marinated steak.

This is the first time she has gone with me, and she enjoyed it a lot. And she was a great help. Here she is adding ginger puree to the Asian salmon with jasmine rice.

When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste. ~Laiko Bahrs

03-27-09

Tonight we made the trek "all the way to Kelso" so that Anastasia could spend her allowance on the Twilight movie. We had to get it at Target due to the exclusive extras.

So she and I watched the movie again tonight. That was not in my original plan, but hey, it is Friday night. Friday night of spring break, no less.

Now that I am almost done with book 3, it is fun to watch knowing more of the characters. Anastasia also put the movie on her ipod, so I see more Twilight in our future.

“Lisa, vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins, and eskimos”
Dan Castellaneta

03-26-09

Spring soccer started this week.

On Tuesday Xander waited until practice time to put on his shoes, and they didn't fit. So he wore his sisters shoes, with the pink swish, to practice. Talk about humiliation.

Dad took him shopping, and now he has super cool new shoes.

Xander seems to be blowing through his annual clothing budget faster than the rest of us, and often on unplanned items - throwing up on himself far from home, growing out of shoes... ah, the fun of boys!

“Practice puts brains in your muscles.”
Sam Snead

03-25-09

After a few days of eating and not exercising, I'm back in the saddle.

When I asked Bruce to bring the camera down to the basement, he thought maybe we should cover the lens in Vaseline first. He hates my exercise hairdo. In fact, he thinks it is hideous.

I told him maybe he should try the sports mode and he just laughed at me. He doesn't think I'm moving very fast. My routine is to walk 2 minutes then jog two minutes, for 20 minutes. It raises my heartbeat and puts me in a better frame of mind to face the day. But, yep, gotta admit, not the most photogenic part of my day!

"Are you sure you want to post that?!?" - Bruce

03-24-09

Tonight was the ultimate kid shuffle.

Xander to his first spring soccer practice, cut short to rush to Anastasia's band concert.

Two or more activates per night is becoming the norm for us.

"Anastasia reminds me of an American Girl doll with that bow in her hair" - Diana D

03-23-09

It's really hard for me to smile. I want to wallow in what a bad day my birthday has been almost start to finish. I keep forgetting to pack my cosmetics on overnights. And Subway doesn't open early in the morning anymore, did you know that. Traffic made me 30 minutes late for a meeting. I could go on and on.

But, I did get to go to the Bonsai Garden at Weyerhaeuser Corporate Headquarters one last time before it closes, and that makes me happy. That was when I discovered that my camera was really toast, so I just took mental photos of all my favorites. And the little Crayola reproduction exercise felt good after running around away from home for 13 1/2 hours.

“Bonsai is a traditional art that has continued for several hundred years and it should remain in our lives. I think young people, in their own modern way, are rediscovering Japan's bonsai culture of enjoying the microcosm.”- Kenji Kobayashi

03-22-09

Here's all I have for yesterday.

I did take photos, but I have a corrupted memory card or something.

We were in Seattle visiting with my mom and my step dad before they fly home today. The whole family was together and that doesn't happen very often, so I took lots of photos. Some for specific scrapbook projects I have in mind.

And they are all gone.

“My memory was never loaded with anything but blank cartridges.”
Mark Twain

03-21-09

Today was my day. Well, after the all niters got a nap.

We headed to Portland for an afternoon of Powell books (I now have 99 unread books, oy!), choosing new gourmet salad dressing at Whole Foods (my collection of sweet dressings really was getting low!), and dinner at Beaches (love the almond roca dessert). I knew that I couldn't justify spending money on books, so I sold 24 books for $53 and used that money to fuel my hobby of collecting books.

At Beaches the kids got to visit the treasure chest, take a kitchen tour, and build a sundae. They told our waitress (who attended the same school in Longview!) that we were celebrating my birthday, so she gave me a coconut shell full of saltwater candy. Happy early birthday to me!

"Beaches will blow our dining out budget for the month, we shouldn't go there!" - Bruce, the only non-Beaches fan in the house

03-20-09

Vote for Bruce!

He’s not really running for office, he’s just been making buttons for the past few days for the fun of it. He’s posing as a politician at the youth lock-in happening at church tonight.

So, a quiet start to the weekend for Xander and I. His great buddy Landon will be here soon, and I’ll settle in with a Netflix movie and a bottle of nail polish.

Good luck sweetie! Better you than me…

“If the gods had intended for people to vote, they would have given us candidates” - Howard Zinn

03-19-09

What's in a name?

Anastasia
Origin: Greek
Meaning: of the Resurrection; of springtime
Popular sibling names of Anastasia:
Abigail, Adeline, ALEXANDER, Alexi, August, Catherine, Cordelia, Emily, Esmerelda, Isabella, Jenifer, Joesiph, Katie, Kayla, Kirk, Lea, Liam, Maria, Nicholas, Nick, Olga, Oliver, Rebecca, Robert, Tatiana

Global Popularity of the Name Anastasia:
#1 in Russia (Moscow)
#1 in Russia (St. Petersburg)
#80 in Chile
#180 in Canada (British Columbia)
#313 in United States
#349 in Canada (Quebec)
#459 in Norway

Over 82% of people named Anastasia would advise Anastasia as baby name. Including our Anastasia. She says it doesn't get spelled wrong as often as it gets pronounced wrong.

03-18-09

This is the view of our church from the end of our block. My neighbors found it strange that I drove my car a little ways then stopped to take photos this morning.

I'm glad it's so close. Especially with all the time I've spent there in the past week:

WED: Simple Supper & Love Dare class
FRI: Connections Family Movie Night (Last Mimzy and pizza)
SUN AM: Worship & teach Sunday School
SUN PM: Christian Education Appreciation dinner
TUES: Associate Pastor Search Committee kick-off meeting
WED: Pizza, potluck side dishes, and talent show

“The church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully”
Russian Proverb

03-17-09

"Anastasia, want to be in my blog photo today since you are the only one in green?" - Me
"Hey, I'm in green! Look!" - Xander, pointing to the small lizard on his brown T-shirt
"Me too, I have green!" - Dad, pointing to the small logo on his shirt.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I thought maybe I had the wrong day today, not many in the office were dressed like the Irish!
Xander's school had to suck all the fun out of it by enforcing special consequences for pinching.
Did you play it up, just wear some minimum green to not get pinched, or completely forget?

Missing corned beef but not the calories...

03-16-09

Don't you hate it when the image you have in your head is shattered by what you see in the mirror?

I think I look sophisticated in slacks and a sweater. But today when I caught a glimpse of myself in the women's restroom mirror, I saw the sidekick from Scooby Doo. Y'know, Velma? I think it's the thick turtleneck and the curled under bob. But Velma has a hot mini skirt, and I can't even pull off that look.

Speaking of Scooby Doo, anyone want a dog? My SIL is trying to find a new home for an elderly dog that would be a great companion for someone without young kids in the house.

Velma: All you care about are swimsuit models.
Fred: Hey, I'm a man of substance. Dorky chicks like you turn me on, too."
- from the Scooby Doo movie

03-15-09

On the agenda for today:
- Coax Xander out of the house
- Usher at church
- Teach Sunday School
- Host a new family for lunch
- Take the pizza out of the oven.

D'oh!
Guess four out of five isn't too bad.

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
Harriet van Horne

03-14-09

Today the girls went to the pottery place. There was a very noisy boys birthday party there, but we tuned them out and created our own personal masterpieces.

Xander is finally feeling better today, but wasn't interested in joining us. Big shock.

“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.”
Danny Kaye

03-13-09

I got a lot out of my Love Dare reading for Day 6.

It talked about how life is a marathon, not a sprint. I often feel like I am sprinting from one project, task, activity, or crisis to another, instead of looking at the long haul and pacing myself.

It talked about adding space in your schedule for recharging, refocusing, and distressing so you won't be so grumpy with our spouse.

My word for the year, relinquish, fits here perfectly. To give up, to put aside, to let go, to surrender.

I want that, I really do. Now I have even more motivation. Then comes the hard part: how to put it into practice?

"Be a joy, not a jerk." - The Love Dare

03-12-09

When Mom decided to come visit, I had visions of evening walks and maybe some gardening together. But it has been so frigid that all I want to do is stay under an afghan.

Today it was finally nice enough to be outdoors. We strolled around the yard looking to see what work will be needed to get the garden going. And on the way home from the ballet shuffle we parked at the other end of the lake. I was hoping to take some photographs on the Japanese garden island, but it was already padlocked.

“These things I warmly wish for you
Someone to love, some work to do,
A bit o' sun, a bit o' cheer,
And a guardian angel always near”
Irish Blessings

03-11-09

The geek got new glasses! Tee-hee!

What's in his world today:
- Dealing with Xander coming home from school early with a 101 degree temp
- Another day with his MIL
- "Discussing" with Michele the difference between lasagna noodles and wide egg noodles

03-10-09

"Cheese!"

Mom didn't know she was going to be in the photo. She had to put on lipstick. Then Xander put on Chapstick. Then they started hamming it up.

On the agenda today? Wii Fit, inventorying the freezer, getting Anastasia to ballet and back, and some TV show called Chuck...

03-09-09

Grandma is getting exposed to several obscure board games on this visit. Today was Stratego. She and Anastasia played after school then Xander played a few rounds before bed.

Somehow humming Christmas carols helps with the strategy, it's beyond me.

"I won Stratego against Grandma. I had my flag out in the open and she could've gotten it, but she didn't. I got rid of all her guys." - Xander

03-08-09

Our Sunday started with a lodge full of ladies marveling at the snow and ended with a dessert run to DQ.

In between there was:
- A quick stop at the outlet mall for black jeans (for picky boy) and a black top (for an upcoming secret agent youth event).
- A manicure for Anastasia from Grandma.
- Endless discussion about whether to go to A&W or KFC for dinner. Never mind that they are in the same building.
- Anastasia practicing flute and showing off some dance moves for Grandma.

A nice quiet transition from retreat back to reality.

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
Aldous Huxley

03-07-09

Mom and I went on a little hike to see if we could see Mount Rainier, but it was too cloudy.

Before we could get back to our lodge, it started raining/hailing/snowing. We took refuge in the mess hall lobby and found it to be a nice quiet place to hang out, so we packed up our reading and journaling material and spent an hour of quiet time there.

It was good to reflect on what the speaker was emphasizing and take stock of our relationship with God.

“Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit.”
Norman Mailer

03-06-09

"That's me!"

I feel like I never win any raffles, but this weekend I won the very first door prize at the retreat.

It was full of Arbonne spa products. I can feel some tub time coming on....

retreat
Noun
1. a place to which one may retire
4. a period of seclusion, esp. for religious contemplation
5. the act of altering one's opinion about something

03-05-09

Here's Anastasia ...

... excited that ballet was cancelled tonight. Too many sick dancers.
... arguing with her brother over whose nails Grandma gets to cut first.
... waiting until Mom's "no TV for awhile" ban is lifted.
... obsessed with crocheting again. We're guessing for about a week this time.


“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.”
William Shakespeare

03-04-09

Here's Xander...

... in the hat Grandma made him.
... tipping his chair, which drives me crazy.
... with cherry Chapstick on his lips, perhaps a new nervous tick.
... working on a mondo homework math problem, figuring out how many seconds are in 99 years or some such thing.

“He's a good boy. I always told him, 'Don't let your hat get too big,' and it hasn't.”
Maurice Holmes

03-03-09

Mom arrived safe and sound today. Her plane was 30 minutes early even.

She'll get a chance to hang out with grandkids, tag along with our busy schedule, and go to a few fun events with me. Oh, and do wii fit with me, watch American Idol with Anastasia, and laugh at a new crocheted hat with Xander.

Tonight we did PIE night at Xander's school, an annual event to get parents involved in education. Games in the classrooms, raffles, and... a piece of pie.

“I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life.”
Barbara Bush

03-02-09

If you start seeing a blue backdrop in some of my photos, it's because Bruce painted our kitchen and nook last week, so I have another color in the house.

It's called Hydrangea. I'm not fond of that description, maybe I would call it Caribbean Teal.

When I was researching good kitchen colors, I learned that blue arouses feelings of freshness, coolness and relaxation.

It's a big change, and I still go "wow" every time I walk in there; I'm liking it a lot.

“Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a source of delight”
John Ruskin

03-01-09

While I was inside being a slug all day the kids were outside moving around.

I was upstairs reading my book and it sounded like the kids were tearing apart the house. I soon realized that they were really outside, right below my window.

So I slid out of my warm cocoon and went to grab the camera. They were playing Ghost in the Graveyard with friends; Anastasia was trying to tag the others with her eyes closed.

“You can't teach people to be lazy - either they have it, or they don't.” - Dagwood Bumstead