09-30-08

I work at a busy intersection.

But not right now.

When I leave the Weyerhaeuser plant site, I am greeted with this barricade. I'm part of the "local traffic only" that is allowed to get close. Normally I am too chicken to turn left into the traffic barreling by at 50 mph, but right now it is a breeze getting around. Unless I want to go to Starbucks across the way, of course. I'm hoping when this is all done that I will have easier access to Starbucks. Not that I need any more enabling to get my $4 cup of pick-me-up.

09-29-08

Yep. Soccer again.

Same thing, different day.

Can I possibly hope to get through this season without any miserable weather?!? Tonight was a wonderful evening to go straight to the fields and watch a game.

"The black guys", as we jokingly and unpolitically correctly call them, finally scored tonight, but the ref called it off sides. But they are having fun.

09-28-08

Shorter days. Pumpkins at the grocery store. Sweaters. Stores gearing up for Christmas.

All signs of fall.

But one of my favorite fall signposts is the sweet potato fries at Burgerville. Each season they seem to spend less and less energy on packaging them, but the sweet taste with the contrast of salt is so yummy.

I get tired of my family always wanting fast food on the weekends. But I make an exception for Burgerville.

09-27-08

I got several cool action shots at Xander’s soccer game this afternoon. Unfortunately his shoes are untied in all of them, but oh well.

Xander has had more air time on my blog lately, so I got a few photos of the sidelines too, and think that is an interesting perspective. Anastasia counts how many more minutes until the ref blows the whistle and we can leave, but she’s a pretty supportive sister. And this week I heard a lot of “click, click, click” as my father in law tried to capture the action.

I bet there are hanging shoe laces in his shots too.

09-26-08

The freezer is overflowing again.

Today I took off early to head to Vancouver with friends to assemble meals at Dream Dinners.

72 servings. An hour to assemble. SWEET CITRUS TILAPIA, COLA AND LIME TENDER PORK ROAST, GLAZED PORK CHOPS, AUTUMN POT ROAST WITH MASHED POTATOES, SWEET CIDER BBQ CHICKEN, and CENTER CUT BEEF KABOBS.

The family groaned as I read them, but I think they look and sound pretty yummy.

Happy Friday!

09-25-08

Xander made it to level 60!!!!

That is the first thing I heard when I walked in the house this evening. World of Warcraft speak is what I hear out of the guys mouth a good portion of the time, actually. Talk about places and quests and gear.

A new expansion pack is coming out soon, so Bruce has been encouraging him to level up. Mogragen is Xander's dwarf hunter. Now with a cool swift brown ram, the dwarf's special mount.

No worries, this blog will switch back to English tomorrow...

Congrats, little dude. Hopefully it will translate to a usable skill someday.

09-24-08

This is my reality. Every day I get farther behind, it seems.

But it’s not all work and no play. I drove up to Federal Way today for a retirement party today. Not many people would I give up an afternoon for during planning season (and this year is worse than most), but Linda is responsible for the intern program, and that is the whole reason I’m even at Weyerhaeuser.

“Retirement kills more people than hard work ever did.” - Malcolm S. Forbes

09-23-08

I have three things I must do tonight. Well, four, actually. The hardest is to stay awake until 7:45pm to pick up Anastasia from ballet class. I only got 3 hours of sleep last night (for no good reason), so I am so wiped out. Bruce and I headed to Starbucks tonight with my treat receipt from Aberdeen this morning, but I made mine decaf! I need some sleep!

I also need to do my blog, write my mom, and paint my nails. Heading to corporate tomorrow, want my nails to be looking good. Too bad I cut them all back since I broke a few. I hate short nails!

“Life is something to do when you can't get to sleep”

Fran Lebowitz

09-22-08

Have briefcase, will travel.

I like to leave my laptop in it's docking station and my briefcase hidden against the wall, but lately that is not the case. I'm packing it home to work a "few more hours" during my busy season. Or packing it to go visit operations, like my monthly trip back to Aberdeen coming again tomorrow.

I didn't get out of the office until 5:30pm tonight and will be arriving again before 5:30am tomorrow. What's wrong with this picture?

09-21-08

So do you ever get part way through a project, realize you are in way over your head, and wish you had never started?

I should know better than to tackle a baking project. But I saw pumpkin cakes in a magazine and bought into the “I can do that” falsehood. I think mine look like kindergartners made them.

Oh well, now I know… and I used up another 2 cups of zucchini! :)

09-20-08

I took 42 photos today.

But none of them capture the day the way I had hoped to. Imagine 21 people hanging out for day- eating, laughing, reminiscing- and you start to get an image.

Bruce's Aunt Gwen and cousin Mark are visiting from New York as is his cousin Adrienne from Hawaii and her kids. We canceled seeing them last weekend due to illness, but this weekend my FIL's side of the family got together for a BBQ. The rain kept us cramped inside, but it worked out OK.

This is the best "stair photo" of the collective grandkids that I got. From the back we have Xander, Molly (hidden), Madison, Kayla, Chloe, Tristin, Sam, and Anastasia. And there was River too, but he's the youngest.

“If you want happiness for a lifetime - help the next generation.” - Chinese Proverb

09-19-08

Can you say Triple Chocolate Utopia?

It is $3.49 of bliss. Cocoa fudge and brownie bits. Only problem is, not all Dairy Queens have it; it's not a standard menu item.

The kids love the tradition of going to DQ on Sunday nights for dessert. But this was such a long and rough week at work that I decided I could not wait two more days for some chocolate therapy.

“Human beings will be happier - not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia.” -Kurt Vonnegut

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.” -Charles M. Schulz

“If work and leisure are soon to be subordinated to this one utopian principle - absolute busyness - then utopia and melancholy will come to coincide: an age without conflict will dawn, perpetually busy - and without consciousness." -Gunther Grass

09-18-08

Happy birthday!

Two of my blog readers have a birthday today! One thinks she is getting old, but she's not the one facing 60! :) Sending birthday wishes for a fun, hassle free day.

"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been." - Madeleine L'Engle

09-17-08

I was going to say that I don't know when this portrait was done, but it is dated. 1976. I was 4 years old. Back when I was Shelly. We were Shelly and Shanna. Sorry for the glare, at least I got it off our faces.

This charcoal portrait hangs in my scrapbook room, on a wall hidden from everyday view. It caught my eye tonight, and I thought "why not?". When I look at it, I am immediately transported back to the house where my grandparents lived when I spent summers with them. This hung next to the bar with the old fashioned adding machine, in the same room with the pool table that I would sleep under or behind. Breakable Baby, the handmade wooden blocks in the green corduroy bag and all the Barbie's with intricate yarn clothes made by Aunt Doris were in the closet.

Ah, the memories!

09-16-08

"Two grande decaf non-fat no-whip hazelnut mochas" - Starbucks barista, calling out our drinks.

I don't usually get biscotti, but I enjoy dunking it every once in awhile. As long as this was already a high calorie day (Chinese food at my Seaside meeting), may as well really blow it.

Bruce and I went out tonight. We wanted to get away from the younger, crabbier, still sick family members.

Party on!

09-15-08

My fresh cut flowers from the farmers market are a bit droopy.

As were all of us at Xander's 5:30 soccer game. I heard temperatures ranging from 82 to 90 degrees. It was in full sun with no breeze. I was thankful to not be running the field! Xander was a bit pokey and got rotated out a lot, but he's still under the weather and the weather is HOT.

We ate our sandwiches from the sidelines, so Xander ate dinner solo.

09-14-08

Down for the count.

I have been surrounded by sickies all weekend. Well, longer, really. But now Anastasia has it too.

We hated to cancel plans with all our relatives for this weekend, but it has opened up time for me to get a lot of projects done this weekend. I haven't quite tackled those zucchinis yet (plan to tonight), but I reorganized my Sunday School room, got a good start on a Christmas project, have almost finished the reading group book for this month, made progress on remembering 2003 so I can scrapbook it, and got a lot of shopping on my to do list done.

I just hope that I don't come down with it too. Usually I'm the first one! I don't want to be the last one, I want to skip it altogether.

09-13-08

Call me Farmer Fischer. Or garden girl. Or Queen of the Zukes.

I went out first thing this morning to harvest the two big zucchini that I knew I had so that I could stuff them this weekend, and they seem to have multiplied! Those squash can really hide!

No family members were available, so I used my gorilla pod to do a self portrait. My arms got tired after several attempts, so it was easy to decide that I liked the missing face. It’s artistic!

I’d better get busy in the kitchen!

“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.” - Jim Davis

09-12-08

I have a lot of favorite flowers, but poppies are one of them.

And my poppies are blooming!

Here is my raised bed in all its splendor. Plenty of lettuce for us, the original zinnias still in full bloom, and the nasturtium and poppies I started from seed are bursting with color.

Tonight Anastasia and I spent an hour clearing and opening more garden space for next year. At Fred Meyer, I pointed out the allium, another favorite plant I need to find a spot for. And peonies, and fringed tulips, and sunflowers, and…

“As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them.” - Henry Ward Beecher

09-11-08

We celebrated attending our last ever Open House at Olympic Elementary tonight.

$2.50 for dinner (a hot dog, ONE cookie, a drink, and chips) is not a bad price, but I still couldn't stomach it, so I ate something healthier before we went. I love the book fair, but the older the kids get the harder it is to find them challenging ready. I caved in to one "wimpy kid" book, but insisted on a "real" book too. And, I wanted to meet Xander's teachers. I know Ms. B, she taught Anastasia last year. But this year he is in a split grade class with split teachers - one teacher in the morning and another in the afternoon, and a student teacher. Craziness.

It was a perfect night for the dunk tank, in the background. I was almost willing after sitting in the sun for awhile in my black outfit.

09-10-08

Look who has a birthday today!

Our last year of not having a teenager. Right. She's been acting like a teenager since she was 2!

The day and week seem a little low key since she will have her party next month when High School Musical 3 hits the theaters, but Dad came through with some decorating... Putting the age in the window is his "tradition". So is making the birthday person answer the phone all day; ring; ring; ring.

Happy birthday Anastasia!

“Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.”
Father Larry Lorenzoni

09-09-08

Here's the sight that greeted me when I got home from work today. Xander came home sick from school early. Which means I'll probably have it by the weekend.

Anastasia, on the other hand, is in her natural middle school position.

“A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold” Ogden Nash

09-08-08

Xander had a 5:30pm soccer game tonight. The sun was in our eyes and he was dripping in sweat, but it was a great evening to be outdoors. And the black chipmunks or whatever they are calling themselves won the game!

And here is what Anastasia did during the game. She wasn't the only big sister sprawled in the grass with a book.

Waiting for her to get through the Twilight book so I can read it...

Never bet against Alice - Edward (Twilight)

09-07-08

Did you know that there is a premier disc golf course near us? Did you know that disc golf is a fancy word for frisbee golf? When we've played in the past, we bring crepe paper to mark the trees, and we go from tree to tree to tree. This course has concrete tee off spots, some where you can't even see the end of the hole, and it has metal buckets as your goal. In one spot you have to get your frisbee over the river, if you are brave enough.

Bruce and the kids have played the course this summer, but today was my first time. I stink at FROLF as much as I stink at regular golf, bowling, or any other activity that takes strength and coordination. But Bruce calls it walking around the park while throwing a frisbee, and thinking about it that way doesn't make me feel as bad about the 17 shots it takes me to get to the bucket. Sometimes the wind was so bad the frisbee came right back to us like a boomerang, but it was a gorgeous day to be out enjoying the Pacific Northwest.

"Most people can throw a Frisbee." -Tony Bomber

09-06-08

Today was soccer jamboree. Which is another word for "spend all day at the soccer field". Xander had games at 9am and noon, photos at 1pm, and if Anastasia had not dropped out after one practice, she would have a 10am and 5pm game plus photos. When we got up this morning and were running around like crazy people (it is so not fair to have to rush around on a Saturday morning!), it was drizzling, but it turned into a great day to be outside.

I saw Xander's team get pounded for the first game (they tied their second game), then Anastasia and I headed south for some retail therapy. We hit Vancouver "Shoppingtown", Red Robin, Plato's Closet, Steve & Barry's, and the scrapbook store. Then I was tired and broke and ready to go home.

Xander seems to be making the transition form defense to offense this season, we'll see how far he goes with it... They all need to work on spreading out, it amuses me that only his teammates are in this shot.

09-05-08

OOPS!

We spent the evening outside in the garden. Xander was being helpful, he wanted to harvest the zucchini and squash for me. I haven't checked it for a few days and was amazed at all the big squash. I told him that cutting them off the vine worked best, so he went got a knife and was happily sawing away. Next thing I know he has a squash AND part of the plant with loads of baby squash. Oops!

Good things he's cute. With his new haircut and his super cool new shirt.

He quickly grew tired of helping me and headed to the trampoline with the hose. Gotta enjoy this weather while it lasts!

09-04-08

I started at Weyerhaeuser in the summer of 1993 in the Controllership Development Intern Program. When I came back in 1994 after graduating, I helped keep the newest group of interns on assignments while the director dealt with a family tragedy. And more recently I was featured in a "your future is growing" ad campaign to recruit new interns.

Now, the program is being shut down due to cost cutting measures, so the director is retiring. There will be a reception at the bonsai garden that I hope to make it to later this month. They are gathering photos of the interns who went through the program for a slide show.

As I looked through all of the 2008 photos, I found a lot of interesting photos of me, but only two that I would consider sending in, and neither was quite right. So this morning I asked Bruce to take a few photos before I headed out to work. Here I am!

09-03-08

Our front porch is going through a transformation. At slow DIY speed, but progressing. I'd like to tear down the whole thing and start all over, but new carpet will be nice.

So the old carpet is torn up, and all the railings are down. it looks and feels really different. Xander keeps pretending to fall off the sides.

I've chosen a reddish carpet. Bruce keeps saying "are you SURE you want that carpet?", and Xander keeps saying "I DON'T like that red, Mom." Where is their sense of adventure? If I can't have a colorful door, a colorful porch will be fun!

“It's much easier for me to make major life, multi-million dollar decisions, than it is to decide on a carpet for my front porch. That's the truth.”
Oprah Winfrey

09-02-08

No, it's not our anniversary. I was just wandering around the house taking random photos of the family, and our curio shelf upstairs caught my eye. It's dusty and doesn't get much attention, but it is full of memories. Like this centerpiece from our wedding cake.

It was so important for me to find the perfect one. I would never in a million years choose a Precious Moments one today, but at the time it was perfect. Dark eyes, light hair (for me,at least!), green and purple accents (our wedding colors), and lighting the unity candle. We lit the unity candle during our ceremony. In fact, I came very close to lighting my veil on fire.

“Nostalgia: A device that removes the ruts and potholes from memory lane.”
- Doug Larson

09-01-08

Ok, yep, I fast forwarded past a whole month yesterday, oops! September on the brain...

So, what's on the top of your fridge?

Since I'm short and Bruce is tall, it is a good hiding spot for all kinds of his junk. This warrior dude has been guarding the kitchen since mid July. It's not the kids toy, it's Bruce's.

What cracks me up, though, is that now he is sitting atop an onion.

I dub thee Keeper of the Onion! May you enjoy your throne until your throne finally makes its way to the dinner table.