02-28-10

Anastasia and I thought about going to the Barlow Girl concert tonight, but I'm glad we decided to stay closer to home today.

Sundays are perfect for:

- Saving the day to watch hockey then being too disheartened to follow through. (Bruce)

- Baking with a friend. (Anastasia)

- Reading, walking, and Sunday chores, after keeping 12 rowdy preschoolers under control in Sunday School. (Michele)

- Resting to try to stop the latest bug from setting in. (Xander)

Happy almost March! Our street is in full bloom...

02-27-10

Today was a day of new things:

- Touring houses for sale for possible rental properties.

- Finally eating at the hole in the wall Mexican restaurant we've never been to.

- Exercising for minutes rather than calories. Trying to tally five hours this weekend, so more yoga and less aerobics.

- Eating (and loving) eggplant for the first time.

- Checking out the new Indian cuisine in town.

One thing that wasn't new is not being able to sleep in. I was sure I'd get 8 hours of sleep last night, after four the night before. But nope, I popped awake close to 6am as usual.

02-26-10

This isn't the most flattering photo, but it's funny. Bruce had the camera out and decided to document my little fit. I cannot fathom what would possess her to run to the garbage and throw away a half eaten banana when we got home. Like we're going to beat her for eating fruit?!?

Not even a poor nights sleep, a crazy daughter, a terribly long weekend to do list, staying late to make sure payroll processed, or a son who won't stop singing "you're a jerk" can diminish the fact that it is Friday. Bring on the weekend! :)

02-25-10

Tonight was Connections Ladies Night at Starbucks. It was fun to watch the collective sighs and relaxation as the gals sat down with their drinks. For me it is as much about being almost Friday as it is about the long awaited java.

"I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee." ~Flash Rosenberg

02-24-10

Another food photo today.

It was Healthy Snack Day at work today. I challenged the building to bring in a snack that is 200 calories or less per serving. We had seven participants and some great items to munch on all day. Most of them were low calorie desserts, but baby steps...

This photo showcases the creativity of my small but mighty Longview Finance & Planning team-

Donna, our tireless baker, compared her homemade cookies to the store brand.

Debbie, our part-time vegan chef, brought chocolate banana pudding. I've never seen such a pretty presentation in a kiddie cup!

Happy eating!

02-23-10

Today is a good day.

Dinner was greeted with "that looks halfway decent" and "it's better than I thought"; that's an improvement. An apple has been extracted from the upstairs toilet and it magically works again. Our taxes are done and we're getting back more than I had planned. And I got all my evening tasks done.

Here are Apple & Orange Rockies, a recipe I've had since the kids were little but don't make nearly often enough. "They'd be really good without the orange. That's apricot?!? Yeah, make it without that!" - Xander

02-22-10

Tonight after dinner we had a bit of excitement in the alley.

Not sure if it was arson or an accident, but our recycling tub caught fire. Made quite a mess and brought quite a response. The kids and I watched from the upstairs window for awhile.

Dinner itself was a bit of an adventure. The kids called my wheat berry experiment "beetle poop". Xander decided he'd take any punishment over eating another bite.

02-21-10

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood.

We stayed close to home today, but still got outside to soak up the sun. Walked to church in the morning, puttered in the garden at noon, and a lake walk right before dinner.

Wish weekends and sunshine lasted longer!

02-20-10

Today we did the first of 12 planned family day trips for 2010.

Danny had spent the night, so he was included in the Fischer family outing. We loaded everyone into the station wagon and headed to Portland. Ultimate destination was a park in Hollywood district, where author Beverly Cleary grew up. The area boasted statues of characters from her books, but the three we found were underwhelming. Here is Ramona.

Other stops (Chipolte, geocaching, and Voodoo donuts) added to the fun outing.

02-19-10

We have a little curio shelf with hand painted seasonal figures. Bruce gets frustrated that nobody ever changes the contents to match the seasons. So this week it moved to a more prominent location, in hopes that more visibility will bring more attention. We'll see.

Life seemed so simple about 20 years ago when painting wood and ceramics was a passion of mine. I still enjoy art, but other things take precedence. Tonight I did paint though- painted mud at the feet of a pig in preparation for teaching about the prodigal son in Sunday School this week.

02-18-10

Today I took a half day vacation and kept heading north to visit with G&G. I made a few shopping stops, we spent a few hours catching up, I showed Grampa how his digital camera talks to the computer, and we had a great dinner with Razzleberry pie for dessert.

Almost Friday!

02-17-10

A day at Weyerhaeuser Corporate headquarters.

The topic this trip was LEAN 101 training. Lean is a process management philosophy derived mostly from Toyota. Lean is a practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination.

My goal during the training simulation was assembling the windshields of toy Land Cruisers. My goal as I go back to Longview is to eliminate $100K of waste.

02-16-10

Ah, bliss. Date night at Starbucks.

The barista got the soy milk out of the fridge before I'd even ordered. Decaf tonight, I have to be on the road by 5:30am tomorrow. After leaving the house by 6:30 today.

I think one of my least favorite things is getting up early and missing my morning workout. Maybe I need Starbucks in the mornings AND evenings on Weyerhaeuser travel days! :)

02-15-10

My evening is a blur.

Allergy shot, cook dinner for myself (family enjoying the holiday in Vancouver), walk on the treadmill while trying to finish my book (I'm at that great ending part), then volunteer in the church nursery for teen MOPS. We only had two babies and they were mostly happy.

Here's Riley, who would much rather have Aunt Katie holding her.

02-14-10

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tonight was the Valentine's Dinner fundraiser dinner put on by our youth group. The theme was Broadway musicals. Anastasia waitressed the Guys & Dolls table, Xander waitered the Music man table, Grandma and Grandpa dined at the South Pacific table, and we hung out at the Grease table.

Here is the fourth course, Creme Brulee with a heart shaped strawberry. Great company, great food, and lots of laughs - what more could you ask for?

02-13-10

Now we have two Fischer's out of commission. Hope this trend doesn't continue!

Today Bruce took a big tumble on the gravel path at the lake, scraping skin off his knee, hand, and chin. Ouch!

Otherwise it was a quiet and restful day; I got lots of whole grain baking done.

02-12-10

Bad start to day: Carpool to Vancouver running late, no time for traditional Starbucks stop, making for a LONG morning.

Good start to weekend: Unlocking my car at the park n ride to find an early Valentine's card and cool necklace on my seat, even though we agreed to not exchange gifts this year.

Bad start to weekend: Anastasia had a collision in PE class that landed her at the hospital getting X-rays. Arm likely not broken, but in a sling and causing pain. No Valentine's Dinner waitressing for her...

Good end to day: Family outing to Starbucks. Enjoying the java even more now that we get free syrup and soy.

02-11-10

Ok, I know this photo is our of focus, but I have to do something to get our of my fitness theme!

This morning was another early morning of trying to avoid the cinnamon rolls (it helps that Xander says they are cold and awful and doesn't finish his, but they still smell so good!) and clapping while endless names are called for honor roll.

There is much less participation and honorees in seventh grade, but more teachers involved. Most of Anastasia's teachers were there to shake her hand for her 4.0 GPA. That's her in the green top, trust me.

02-10-10

I had not planned the blog to focus on the Olympics challenge every day. But to taking other photos gets you there by default.

Wednesday is church night, a night to scurry around to get things done before and after, especially when I’m trying to get to bed early for another early morning awards ceremony.

At church we covered the “for everything there is a season” verses of Ecclesiastes, so right now it is my season to exercise and focus on nutrition.

Today’s accomplishments:
- 90 minutes of exercise
- 50 push-ups
- No ice cream after Simple Supper at church
- Building a grocery list to cook a few whole grain snacks this weekend
- More disappointment on the scale. But I have faith!

02-09-10

Day 2 of Olympics:
-50 squats for healthy behavior.
-65 minutes of exercise.
-Cook brown rice to add more whole grains to my diet. Rice, broccoli, and fruit salsa.
-Avoid Krispy Kreme donuts all day, but cave to date night at Starbucks.

Vegetarian minestrone soup was on the menu for dinner. Instead of “boy, you have a lot of leftovers to eat all by yourself”, I heard “let’s add more beans and corn to this and have it again Thursday. We’ll call it soup week.” Yes!

02-08-10

Today starts an Olympics style fitness program at work for four weeks. I am team captain of the TOB Incinerators, 10 other willing participants in my office building.

My goal is to excercise at least 60 mintues every day and to do one fitness/nutrition task each day. Today I counted my sugar gram intake in addition to claories. How depressing!

And I got 70 minutes of excercise in:

30 minutes jogging on treadmill

5 minutes daily sit-ups

15 minutes neighborhood walk with Bruce at dusk

20 minutes upper body free weights right before bed

Happy week! Get moving!

02-07-10

See Xander's new clothes? Somehow we ended up with an emergency shopping trip today after he tried to wear shorts to church.

"These ones are too big." - showing us a pair that were clearly husky sized

"These one's make me look stupid" - showing us a pair of skinny jeans

"These ones are too tight now." - his black pants

"These ones are dirty." - the pair he wears almost every day

Yep, he seems to be down to one pair of jeans overnight. And somehow he only wears jeans now, when a year or two ago he refused to wear jeans.

After a frustrating father-son (Xander is hard to fit, is fashion conscience, and is super picky about comfort) shopping spree, Mom helped him find a pair he loves. Later we discovered another pair of clean jeans in Moms folded laundry pile. Evidently Bruce is now mixing up me, Anastasia's, and Xander's clothes.

But kudos for doing laundry. Not for clothes shopping. :)

02-06-10

Our day started with the Solo Ensemble Music Contest. The idea is that middle school and high school musicians perform and get graded and critiqued.

Anastasia and I arrived early, and I was shocked that the parking lot was already almost completely full, with many cars parked illegally.

Anastasia participated in ensemble at 11am and a solo at 1pm. Her and her classmates got some great feedback, including one piece of advice I've been saying - look like you are having fun when playing an upbeat song!

02-05-10

A great Friday!

the sun was shining all day.

great turn out to Family Movie Night & Sardines.

exploring our new wii Fit disc.

a restful weekend stretching out before us.

woot-woot!

02-04-10

Xander's been working on an assignment for science class to record the moon every day for a month.

It's pretty rare that we can walk outside and see the moon. So he's getting computer skills and exposure to other life skills instead - what time zone we're in, how to understand military time, and figuring out what date it really is.

"It's almost a half moon." - Xander, when I asked him what phase it's in.

02-03-10

Another day.

Things just keep piling up.

But, guess it doesn't matter too much. As Bruce would say, there's always tomorrow!

Life could be much worse. But I keep praying for energy.

02-02-10

Look who got a new saxophone today. The case is almost bigger than she is.

When I got home from work today there were music cases, backpacks, and disregarded shoes everywhere. Including this monstrosity.

At dinner Anastasia was telling us how the American life expectancy is decreasing due to obesity. She doesn't have to worry about that with lugging her instruments around.

02-01-10

Bruce recently used his Christmas money to get Guitar Hero Rock Band. I thought he had already used it on a fancy new crock pot. Silly me.

He thinks we can have fun harmonious family time playing together. Silly him.

Today we did a few songs with Anastasia on bass, Bruce on guitar, Xander on vocals, and me on drums. We got booed off the stage a lot too. Even on the so-easy-even-a-toddler-could-do-it mode, I can still only hit 30% of the notes!