11-30-10

Are you kidding me?

Found all the gifts for the second wave that needs to get out the door. Got all the wrapping supplies together. Got Bruce nearby with the laptop to watch TV together.

A few gifts in, and the scotch tape is gone! Apparently only one roll of tape in the whole house, and it’s empty!

Some days are like that.

11-29-10

Not sure why it often feels like we crash land back into reality from a period of rest and relaxation.

Tried to focus on a few things tonight instead of looking at the whole list:
- e-bay auction work. Four more items to ship.
- Market research for the rentals. Watch the paper and craigslist weekly to check prices on rent in the Highlands.
- Paint my nails. A dark burgundy this time.

At least heading back to work after almost a week away was a smooth transition!

11-28-10

Breakfast at Starbucks!
Farewell to MarQueen Hotel.
Worship at welcoming, challenging, refreshing Mosaic Community Church where we were clearly the old ones…
Lunch at French café – crepes and Panini.
Help Bruce’s folks with some Christmas decorating.
Thanksgiving dinner take 2.
Drive home to face the return of routine tomorrow morning.
Help Anastasia process her $545.00 ebay winnings for selling her American Girl collection.

11-27-10

One of the cool things about MarQueen hotel, besides the full kitchen and great location is the bathrobes. Lounging takes on a whole new dimension with matching robes!

Some not so cool things about MarQueen are the $25/day valet parking, noisy old pipes, and sorry excuse for a continental breakfast.

We solved the transportation quandaries by buying an all day bus pass and bussing all over town.

Sourdough chowder bread bowls at Ivars on the waterfront.
Spending $25 at Macy’s to get $10 off downtown.
Quick peek at the gingerbread village at the Sheraton.
Hand picked a pound of chocolate at See’s.
Explore just about every nook & cranny of Pike Place Market.
Movie at funky little theater. And more episodes of Lost.

11-26-10

CAPITAL HILL
Ordered Dick’s Deluxe burgers for early lunch.
Rosetta coffee and a gourmet “pancake and bacon” cupcake.
Found fun store with “hipster” clothes and another fedora.
Drive by old apartment, looks great.

U DISTRICT
University bookstore shopping
Walk up and down the Ave, ducking into shops to stay warm.

QUEEN ANNE
Check into historic charming hotel – MarQueen.
Watch several episodes of Lost since we lost track of where we left off.
Checked out new Thai restaurant – thumbs up!
Chopstix piano bar. Dragon berry lemonade good, Flatliner bad.

11-25-10

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lunch at Jack in the Box – it’s tradition!
Drive to Olympia to Uncle Pat & Aunt Mo’s
Play with little cousin Brendin.
Hold itty bitty three week old baby RaeLynn.
Hang out with cousins Eva & James.
Eat turkey & the fixings.
Head north to Milton.

Gobble, gobble.

11-24-10

Fa la la la la…

Some think it is wrong to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but we don’t host Thanksgiving at our house, so we do it when we have the most time.

As per tradition – Xander set up the village, Anastasia set up the Willow Tree nativity, Bruce grumbled about all the decorations and my many boxes of Dec 26th shopping treasures, and I reminded everyone to be very, very careful (and proceeded to break an ornament).

This past year we traded our entertainment center for a big screen, so we had to find now homes for several pieces. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

11-23-10

Left the house for about 15 minutes today to walk the lake with Bruce. We did the shortest loop ever; baby it’s cold outside.

I worked a little, organized the kitchen a little, napped a little, worked on my to do list a little, and watched TV a little.

The rest of the family is already feeling cooped up. It will take me a little longer, I’m enjoying this home time!

11-22-10

While the kids are dancing in snow and hoping for no school tomorrow, I’m putzing in the kitchen and contemplating broccoli.

A local farm was selling their late crops before frost, so I got $10 worth of produce. Forgetting that we would be gone all Thanksgiving weekend and it won’t keep forever. So this week we are loading fresh veggies into our menu.

Tonight was broccoli for our loaded baked potatoes. On the left is the grocery store broccoli; on the right is the local farm broccoli. Sustainable local food clearly wins out!
“If I could uninvent anything, I would uninvent Hitler's mum, guns and broccoli.” - Dominic Monaghan

11-21-10

Been looking forward to dinner for a long time.

I call it breakfast for dinner. I also call it yum! And sugar overload… we had bacon, scrambled eggs, and a whole loaf of cinnamon French toast. With pumpkin butter. And powdered sugar. Yum!

Silly photo of the boys. Xander almost always stands to fill up his plate, it’s an odd habit. And Bruce was back and forth kitchen to table trying to keep all the food moving along.

The powdered sugar was the only white fluff I saw today, but I hear that the snow is very very close…

11-20-10

Gotta love Starbucks. So much so that we have been there every day…

To celebrate the launch of the holiday season with the arrival of holiday beverages in the iconic red cups, Starbucks invites customers to bring a friend Nov. 18-21 from 2-5 p.m. to receive a free beverage when purchasing a holiday beverage of equal or lesser value.

Thursday Bruce and I went right after I got off work for our mini date.
Friday night Xander and Bruce went when they ran out to get more dessert-making supplies as our Shoebox crowd grew.
This afternoon all four of us headed to our favorite store, where they know that I want soy but no whip.

Our holiday drinks of choice: Caramel Brulée Latte (Xander), Peppermint Mocha (Anastasia and Michele), and Eggnog Latte (Bruce, with caramel sauce added). The only thing better would be adding a Cranberry Bliss bar.

“The holidays are all about enjoying celebrated traditions with the ones we love, and Starbucks joins in the spirit of the season as a welcoming place to share these moments.” -Annie Young-Scrivner, global chief marketing officer, Starbucks Coffee Company

11-19-10

Somehow, in a very short time, we went from having 9 families coming to our Dinner & Shoebox Shop mission event to 13 families! Order more pizza, double and triple the recipes for Ministers Delight, put more soda in the fridge, set up more tables, and buy some chips.

I missed filling shoeboxes myself this year, deciding I had enough to juggle without trying to shop too. Anastasia and her friend Sarah filled two boxes for under $20 each, good shoppers!

Great cause, great fellowship, great to be at the weekend…

11-18-10

Espresso Oatmeal. No joke.

I met Pastor Mary for lunch today, at the new Le Caffe. I love their veggie sandwich with the flavored cream cheese, but today the Espresso Oatmeal caught my eye. Oatmeal made with two shots of espresso.

It was so cute when it arrived, tasted wonderful, and wasn't mushy. The conversation was great too. Love having friends that are so easy to talk to; our lunches always fly by.

10-17-10

Wednesday is my day to visit the produce stand and stock up on fruit. I wanted to stop at lunchtime, since I drive by on my way back from PeEll, but was too pressed for time. Noticed someone in a carrot costume in the pouring rain when I drove by. Still raining hard after work, but this time it was someone in a grape costume under and umbrella.

The past few weeks I haven’t bought as much, but today I made up for it. Anastasia requested satsumas. We can always use more bananas. I’ve been enjoying the brussel sprout clusters. I decided to try a pink pummelo, a huge grapefruit like citrus. I expressed sadness that the Pink Lady apples were already gone, and he found some in the back, so add those in too. So much good food, so little time…

11-16-10

Today was fun. Except for the early morning.

Drive to Vail after the storm, earthquake I didn’t feel, long meeting, get to Olympia almost right on time, lovely lunch with Mom at Panera, afternoon off to start organizing the pantry and make layered jars for Christmas, and shopping with the family for Anastasia’s first ATM purchase.

Yep, a good day.

11-15-10

Not desperate for a photo. Just not quite in the mood tonight.

So how full is your fridge?

Monday is grocery day, and today was an extra long list at Winco. We currently have all fruit in the fridge as we battle fruit flies. So this is a full fridge for us.

Peeking into other fridges (tenants, grama & grampas, etc), I know that we are unique to not have things stacked very high. But we have what we need until Monday rolls around again…

I have no idea why a taco seasoning packet is in there, but hey…

11-14-10

Mmmm, Burgerville!

I wanted to get back there before sweet potato fries are gone. Our only family meal in a restauran this week, yay! We missed seeing the 10 cheeseburgers for $10 deal until after we ordered, but I like their Yuklon/White Bean/Basil veggie burger anyhow.

Quiet day. A rare miracle of church ending early, a Sunday school room full of boys, experimenting with the new bread machine, getting a head start on Christmas, watching a Netflix movie, dealing with yet another tenant appliance complaint, and Sunday chores to prepare for another week. Yep, just a quiet day at home…

11-13-10

An 80th birthday party for my Auntie Gram took us north today. She requested that my cousins and I call her Auntie Gram years ago because she was our aunt but was ready to be a grandma. She ended up with oodles of grandkids, just a little later…

Anyway, we weren’t the only ones to make the trek. Mom and Jerry are visiting from California. And we got to see little Stacy again. And even the birthday girl and her sister are here from Arizona!

A twelve hour day doorstep to doorstep. Excruciatingly long, but fun to catch up with loved ones.

11-12-10

Look who’s old enough for an ATM card now.

Maybe she’ll start spending her own money. But not likely.

“Wish this would work at football games. Dad, can I have some money for tonight?”

Happy Friday! I took a half day vacation today, and ended up planting about 75 bulbs. Not many opportunities with daylight and no rain, so altered plans to be outside. Still have about 75 more to go…

11-11-10

I hate it when the family has a holiday that I don’t.
I love it when the auditors wave good-bye.
I hate it when it is an hourly battle to talk myself out of eating unplanned calories.
I love that tonight is a planned Starbucks night.
I hate it when you have to buy two items to get coupons savings.
I love that the family loved the black bean quesadillas for dinner, even after hearing they are vegetarian.
I hate how often video games are being played again now that its inside weather.
I love that I am feeling healthy again, and hope it continues.

11-10-10

I don’t care for the change from Thursday to Wednesday, but that doesn’t change the fact that Survivor is on tonight.

The few TV shows that I watch are for working on projects or painting my nails, not sitting idle.

Tonight, painting nails.

11-09-10

Haircut buddies. Every five weeks.

Xander’s looks about the same, mine looks pretty different. Time will tell whether I like it; not crazy about the wisps on the forehead. But in five weeks it will be something different again.

“You're only has good as your last haircut.” - Fran Lebowitz

11-08-10

Waiting, waiting, waiting…

Waiting for Bruce to get our Money files updated. Trips, robbery, changed bank accounts... lots of obstacles and distractions to a task he always drags his feet on.

The mess looks more promising, but with five months to catch up on, I'm gessing I won't be updating my spreadsheets anytime soon.

So I work on other stuff, like gathering shoeboxes and supplies and making grocery lists for Shoebox Ministries family mission event in two weeks.

11-07-10

Surprise!

Today centered around an afternoon surprise party for our friend Tym, turning 40 this week. Here he is walking into his house, surrounded by people. Xander is the second long haired teen on the stairwell…

We also installed Pastor Phil today, he is finally here full time from Canada. And I had a room full of tots in my Sunday School class; with the time change it is easier to get to church.

But it's sure dark at dinnertime!

11-06-10

Today was a much needed and much enjoyed lazy day. Our only outing was to Coldstone. The only structured thing we did was a fall photo shoot at the lake. In the wind. With lots of leaves. And smiles.

This is the only pose I've seen bigger than thumbnail; our photographer thought this shot captures us. I'm excited to see the rest...

11-05-10

Kobari Beef anyone?

Tonight was Family Dinner night at Panda Express with our church group, thanks to a MOPS fundraiser. I learned that Xander likes mushrooms, that the large mixed veggies side dish makes a non-greasy meal, and what plans are being mulled over for summer family camp.

It’s been a long week with lots of set-backs, errors, and willpower. Looking forward to a weekend and setting the restart button to try again.

11-04-10

A closer view of the new glasses.

I had extra time this morning. Only after I walked to the car did I realize that I forgot to put any make-up on! Oh well…

We also forgot to bring in the snail mail the whole time Bruce was in Reno. Boy have things changed since 15 years ago when I would run to the mailbox to see which of my 150 pen-pals had written. Now so little fun stuff comes in the mail...

11-03-10

The kids at the house when I get home from work on Wednesdays seem to be multiplying. Today was Anthony, Austin (L), and Rex (R). Must be church night!

Sun was shining, so a quick spin around the north end of the lake after the produce stand before church. Life is more fun with sun!

Avoided the cheesecake at work, candy bars Bruce bought for me at home, and the cute cupcakes at church. Life isn't as fun without sugar.

Just another day...

11-02-10

Look who's home!

And look who got new glasses!

Now look who's going to bed... the kid shave late start tomorrow, but my crazy work week continues on schedule.

11-01-10

An odd photo (you take what you can get with stealth timer mode!) for an odd day.

Four hours of driving in driving rain, to Aberdeen and back. At least the traffic was light, so not as much spray from the big trucks. Conference call to learn how we will rework the 2011 plan. Trying to do my closing tasks when I left some important paperwork in Longview. Wearing a coat because drinking ice water all day makes me so cold. Printing to the wrong network printer. Getting home to crabby kids who don’t like dinner.

Feels like a Monday through and through!

But it’s the 20 year reunion of first date with Bruce. The Keg. Plastic spider ring. The magic of University District at night and that guy with so much character… sending love long distance!