02-28-14

We go through phases where our favorite family meals change - soft tacos, chili, soups.  Right now stir fry with peanut sauce is something that everyone can get excited about; Xander even raves about the brussel sprouts.  Too bad neither kid was home for dinner tonight, but Bruce and I enjoyed the feast.  Then a coffee date to celebrate being done with jury duty...

02-27-14

I was thinking that maybe our days of making cheesy videos for church were over.  Not so.  In fact, we seem to be recycling and rerecording video scripts.  Not my favorite thing…

This is the only photo I have where my glasses don't have glare, and Bruce is kind of entertaining... this is when Xander realized the camera wasn't on the right setting.

02-26-14

When I got home, Bruce wanted to know if I noticed the scum removed from the shower curtain.  I asked him if he noticed the crocus in bloom in the front yard.  There is still talk of snow in our extended forecast, and I had to scrape ice this morning, but it is feeling like spring is coming – flowers poking out, more daylight, even some sun peeking through.

02-25-14

Jury duty!  Not only did I have to report today, but I got picked to be on a jury too.  Guess I'll get to see the process end to end now...  the jury button is so that everybody at the courthouse knows not to talk to me, like a leper.  I like solitude, but don't like being crammed in the little jury room for breaks.

02-24-14

Xander and I like to compete to see who can get more steps, thanks to the Fitbit dashboard.  I am like the tortoise, slow and steady, with a consistent 10,000-11,000 steps per day.  Xander, however, is all over the board.  He can be a slug with less than 5,000 steps one day and get 22,000 steps the next.  His weekly count is currently over 100,000, way to go!

02-23-14

Anastasia had a modelling adventure today.  Helping out a friend with some bohemian looks and getting some photos in the process.  She looks cute in her fancy hair and make-up.

02-22-14

Today was a Xander kind of day.  In the morning Bruce and he went down to Portland to buy his scooter.  He got to ride it around the block before it got put away until he gets his license.  In the afternoon we watched him compete in a tennis tournament.  It continues tomorrow, but he is doing very well.

02-21-14

Bruce and I weren't able to do an outdoor outing on Thursday, so Friday we ran out between rain showers to play Frisbee golf on the new course at Tam O’Shanter Park in Kelso.  The course was very soggy; most of the tee areas were under water.

People were saying TGIF today, but I found myself wondering what day it even was.  Going back to work next week is going to be a rude awakening!

02-20-14

Funny stormy day.  I got off track a bit, since I couldn't do the outdoor activities I had hoped to.

First, I decided out of the blue that I wanted to order business cards for our landlording stuff.  We can pass them out to the neighbors, to other landlords we meet, etc.

Second, I decided to jump in and organize (clear out the clutter) in my scrapbook room.  I just hate that I have to make such a big mess in the process.  Still have lots of stuff to sort through and decide whether to keep, sell, or donate/trash, but feel like I have some breathing room.

02-19-14

 

Midweek – quiet day.  Funny how the first hour of my day can often set the tone for the entire day.  My theme today was procrastination and under-activity.  Good thing it’s a vacation day!

I did tromp around Cash & Carry with Bruce shopping for coffee house supplies.

02-18-14

Time is accelerating, I'm sure of it.  There is no way the last four days have been normal 24 hour days.  I blink and the day is done.  

Today I did carve out some time (around errands, chores, and misc to do's) to pull out my scrapbook supplies and have some quiet creative time...

02-17-14

Another laid back day, but accomplished a bit more.  We had a family outing to a covered playground to play Foursquare, and the guys played a little basketball on the slippery pavement.  Our northwest weather is back, it seems.

02-16-14

Holy mole, the living room has been rearranged again.  For maximum gaming pleasure tonight.

Our lazy day today just wooshed by.  Doing some serious research on our summer trip.  Not sure where else the day went...

02-15-14

Bruce and I went to Portland today to do some running around. 

Vespa store to scout out scooters.

Lunch at Dick’s kitchen, our great omnivore compromise.

Costco for a new microwave.

Home Depot to cut clothes rods for the closets.  Never truly done with the rentals, it seems.

Ikea zoo to get some missing parts (that were missing due to out of stock).

The weather was soggy, the people were dense, Bruce just mowed through the crowds asking me why I wasn’t keeping up – I’d get more steps that way.

02-14-14

Happy Valentine’s Day!

We sacrificed the holiday to get new tenants moved in.  We still got the spend the evening together, just rushing around to get it cleaned up, walking room to room with tenants, and meet in a colorful neighbor.  We did finally get to relax and start watching the new season of House of Cards though, bliss.

Hoping that some day we will have a unit ready for move in a day or so early, but we may never get there… this was our tightest so far.

02-13-14

We were heading to bed and Bruce mentioned that I hadn’t posted my blog.  Not only had I not posted it, but I had not taken any photos.  Oops!  Life overfloweth and things start falling on the floor.

Good night!

02-12-14

Some people enjoy hosting at their house and are good at it.  We don’t and aren’t.  Tonight started a new stage of hosting a small group at our house.  Our group got so big that it needed to split, which is a good problem to have.  And here we are.  Clean house, empty hooks to hang coats, chairs, drinks, snack, check.

02-11-14

Day five of the Engine 2 Diet 28 Day Challenge.  Feeling strong.  I make my small group suffer with healthy snacks after Bible Study often, but definitely the next few weeks.  Smelling and looking good.  Empted to taste a corner, but know I’d eat way more than a corner.

02-10-14

Here’s the AFTER photo of the album labeling project I started 1/22.  The albums are now labeled and in chronological order.  Happy with the results.

02-09-14

Noticing a theme lately?

We didn't' get dumped on last night, but schools have already announced closures for tomorrow, so we aren't out of the woods yet.

Bruce and I went in search of mini snowmen at the lake today.  The one I saw yesterday was no more, but found two more on a bench.  I like this shot best.

02-08-14

Woke up to more snow this morning, and it is now snowing again.  We have 6-7 inches.

This is the same sledding "hill" as yesterday, from a different angle.  If you look closely in the bottom right corner, there is a runaway sled on the lake surface.

Winter wonderland.

02-07-14

Our lake was crowded today, but as a sledding hill rather than its normal recreational activities.  Funny to watch people sledding toward the lake, but it's frozen over in most spots; Bruce threw a snowball onto the lake to watch it explode.

Perfect day to work at home.  Not so perfect day to continue a stream of applicants touring the rental.  It's been surprising how little the snow has slowed down home hunters, even when they are coming from other cities.

02-06-14

Frozen but not burst pipes.

School dismissed at noon.

I-5 closed in both directions; co-workers not able to get home.

Bruce picking me up at work.

Applicants driving hours to see our rental.

Several inches in a few hours.

Pizza and a movie rental.

SNOW DAY!

02-05-14

Phase 1 of labeling my scrapbooks.  I'm happy with the look, but it's hard to fit all the data on the label.  Got one row done this far, two more rows to look through to capture the content, and affixing will be time consuming.

02-04-14

Tonight starts another round of Relay for Life monthly meetings.  Weyerhaeuser was the top team last year, is the top team this year so far, go Weyerhaeuser!  And I was proud of the Relay committee for not having cake or any sweets at the meeting like they normally do.  Step one to fighting cancer is taking care of our bodies.  Maybe we can all be fit enough to tap dance in sleeveless dresses in our sunset years... fun entertainment to marvel over.

02-03-14

Xander and I enjoyed star fruit in our fruit bowls this morning.  Thanks to Bruce grabbing some exotic fruit when he was at Albertsons last week.  Bruce seems to be wanting to spend Wednesday’s in Seattle – he’s plotting to pull the kids from school to go celebrate with the Seahawks.

I had to research how to prepare the star fruit (Carambola).  They have a tart, sour undertone, tasting like a mix of apple, pear, grape, and citrus. The star fruit boasts a low sugar content.  Fun to try new things.

02-02-14

For a few weeks now, everything has been Go Hawks.  A football fan I am not, but it is fun to have something for people to rally around.  Fireworks in the neighborhood and all.  I like the 12th Man analogy, the I’m In slogan, and the deliberate focus on the team.  Shhh, but I do like Peyton Manning better than Richard Sherman.  Interesting that Russel Wilson, another Christian player, attended Manning’s summer camp when he was in the 10th grade.  And media shy Marshawn Lynch was entertaining with his interview about Skittles for NFL  Japan.  Glad the Seahawks dominated.

02-01-14

Anastasia was lifeguarding today, the rest of us were at our vacant rental getting it closer to rent ready.  Since it wasn't raining I spent most of my time outside, removing vegetation near the structures and picking up microscopic trash from the lawn and gravel.  I would never buy a rental with gravel again.  We had some potential applicant stop by, that’s always fun and interesting.

Happy February!