03-31-10

We're ending a quarter; 25% through 2010. Time to check in with my resolutions.

My word of the year: shape (shāp) verb
to give definite shape to; make
to arrange, fashion, express, or devise
to adapt or adjust to
to direct or conduct

The specifics:
Shape family filing cabinet and magazine clippings into usable format
Make more time for reading and relaxing
Adapt to new high deductable health care plan - actively reduce medical costs
Keep up with 2009 accomplishments, resist taking on so much in 2010
Direct more family & exploring time - go on at least 12 day trips & climb Mt St Helens

I could use a few course corrections, but overall I am pleased with my progress. And glad I still have 75% of the year left to keep trying!

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” Eleanor Roosevelt

03-30-10

My haiku:

cold rainy dreary
exhausting and depressing
not very fun day.

But things are better now…

Missed the photo of the awesome black storm clouds rolling in. This photo was taken during a break in the weather; enjoyed a walk.

03-29-10

Happiness is a signed lease.

Bruce and I officially became landlords today. Our four bedroom rental closed today, and we met with the current tenants to work out a lease this evening.

I feel like I’ve been in a very long period of waiting, always waiting for the next step. House stuff, Mom’s visit, losing weight, for the new associate pastor to get clearance to move from Canada, living for the weekend. Waiting, waiting, waiting. One big thing is settled; now I can relax. Until we make another offer…

“It's tangible, it's solid, it's beautiful. It's artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.” - Donald Trump

03-28-10

After a great nights sleep (thanks to NyQuil!), today brought a different worship experience and a trip to University of Washington.

We didn't get to canoe, the buildings were closed for spring break, and it was too wet to walk around campus much, but we did have a yummy lunch (some at Dicks Drive In, some at Pagliacci's Pizza) and the kids got some new UW gear. And we had fun with this new Husky statue in front of the HUB.

Happy Palm Sunday!

03-27-10

Operating on about 4 hours of sleep, Saturday brought a trip up north for nature walks, exploring the Museum of Glass, and attending an author Chat for Pierce County Reads.

Here are Grama, Mom, and Grampa at the museum in downtown Tacoma. The museum is small but cool. I didn't realize that you can see live glassmaking in the Hot Shop whenever the museum is open. One of the most fun exhibits was 52 sculptures created by the Hot Shop Team between 2005 and 2009 by the Hot Shop Team based on drawings by kids.

Fun day!

03-26-10

Xander finally got a soccer coach, so let spring soccer begin! The weather today was sunshine-drizzle-sunshine-rain-sunshine-pouring, so thankful he had a dry practice.

Spring break officially started today, woo-hoo for everyone but me! And Xander's girlfriend is headed to the "plane station" to come back home from a Disney trip, so all is right with the world.

Bruce and I signed paperwork today; our first rental property purchase closes Monday. The adventure continues!

03-25-10

Spent a lot of time with Xander this evening.

He is on a mission to eradicate all Spiderman paraphernalia from his bedroom. Today we got him a new lamp that doesn't sing the Spiderman tune.

He *somehow* ripped his jeans jumping on the trampoline (when he was supposedly helping me plant snap peas), so we went clothes shopping too. Found three pairs of jeans that he might wear under $22 each, and he picked out this very loud sweatshirt.

And Bruce decided he is behaving well enough to join us on a Starbucks run, so we sipped our liquid sunshine together.

03-24-10

We sat down as a family to fill out our census form today. I took a photo, but the whole thing was kind of anti climatic. But we've done our part.

What was more exciting was the power outage this afternoon. Have you ever seen a street light with no light at all, not even blinking red? How about every light on your path being that way? it was eerie. Our building lost power at work, but it doesn't seem to have impacted much more.

I used it as an excuse to go home, get in the garden, and walk the lake with Bruce and Xander.

03-23-10

I've had a nice relaxing birthday...

Breakfast at Starbucks with my honey,

Healthy potluck provided by my coworkers,

Walk and gardening in the evening sunshine,

Eating dessert in the neighborhood with the family,

and now think I'll curl up with a real estate book!

Happy days!

03-22-10

Happy birthday eve to me!

A pretty typical Monday. Productive day at work. Heard that the house purchase is still a go. Allergy shot. Pick up Anastasia at ballet. Heard that the first house we wanted is on the market again. Take Anastasia to a forum on underaged drinking. Try not to eat, in anticipation of eating lots tomorrow. Work out with the new jumbo sized TV.

Yep, just a typical Monday!

03-21-10

Another full day.

- Teach Sunday School to 8 active preschoolers.

- Hang around the house, doing Sunday chores and doing more tenant-landlord research.

- Explore the new produce stand; buy enough fruit to make it to grocery day tomorrow.

- Head to Portland to shop for (and ultimately purchase) 42" TV's.

- Driving around downtown in the rain with a huge TV in the back killing time until dinner.

- Purchase more tenant-landlord books at Powell's.

- Dinner at Chipolte's. My birthday coming, my choice.

- Chocolate cherry milkshake at Burgerville.

I have lots of photos to choose from, but decided on this one at the Oregon Holocaust Memorial. They have abandoned belongings bolted to the ground on the approach. The whole experience is very impressive and sobering.

"I'd rather be called Alex than Dick." - Xander's funny quote of the day, after learning Dick is a nickname for Richard.

03-20-10

I spent a little bit of time out in the yard today planting rhubarb, blueberries and raspberries, but most of the day was spent inspecting, counter offering, and contemplating another house purchase.

I was surprised it was warm enough, but the kids went out and played on the trampoline with the sprinkler.

And it was raining at dinnertime when we found ourselves at Porky's, a new-to-us Longview restaurant, with friends.

03-19-10

Tonight was Family Movie Night at church. Our numbers were few, the movie was like a BAD musical, and we didn't find many during sardines, but it was still a fun evening. We had brownies, played a few rounds of Mafia, and had plenty of pizza for all.

Let the weekend begin!

03-18-10

Tonight was band concert and trip to Dairy Queen.

Xander, in the 6th grade band, performed Montego Bay, a Calypso song. Anastasia, in jazz band and 7th grade band, performed Chattanooga Choo Choo.

Danny and Jordyn joined us for the concert and cool treats.

Almost Friday...

03-17-10

Two early mornings down, one to go.

Today's destination was PeEll. I pass by two washed out bridges on the way; today I stopped to photograph one.

The December 2007 hurricane force storm took out a LOT of timber on the coast, but PeEll was more impacted by the flooding. They have already spent almost twelve million dollars on storm repair.

Today I asked a road engineer what was keeping him busy these days, and he said he was still spending 100% of his time on storm issues. Bummer.

03-16-10

I call it a morning fiasco, Bruce calls it a fiesta.

conversation last night:

Michele: "I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, what should we do about you guys waking up?"

Bruce: "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

Uh-huh.

Nobody set an alarm or woke up, and the kids missed first period completely.

"Oh, daylight savings time, I forgot about that." - Bruce

"You didn't work out today, did you? That usually wakes me up." - Bruce

"I got to sleep in later and the kids got to miss class, what's the problem?" - Bruce

Tomorrow I'll set an alarm for them...

03-15-10

“Don’t go upstairs, it stinks like Axe.”

“Deodorant, put that on the grocery list for me.”

He brought his laundry downstairs tonight. Not sure how he filled up his hamper, wearing the same shirts over and over.

He went to his girlfriend’s house after school today.

“Their house is awesome. The TV is huge. The couch is so soft! The bathroom floor is cool fake rocks.”

“That’s going on your blog?!?”

Shaggy hair. Tomorrow is haircut night. Will probably still be shaggy after.

- Xander’s afraid to open his mouth anymore

03-14-10

My sister laughed at me taking a photo of the photographers photographing the cousins.

It turned out to be the most compelling photo of the day though. When I asked them to pose in front of a pretty bleeding heart bush, the bush was completely covered and the remaining background is very distracting.

Today ten of us descended on Sizzler for an early dinner to visit and “pass the mother in law along”. :)

“Hey, why are we driving by Sizzler?!?” – Anastasia, at the Olympia Sizzler where we normally meet family. Sorry, kiddo, another hour of driving…

03-13-10

Today we made an outing to Portland. We had lunch at Bob's Red mill, tasted all the bread flavors at Killer Dave's "Breadquarters", walked around Mount Tabor, and stopped in at Voodoo Doughnuts for a bacon maple bar, banana peanut butter fritter, chocolate voodoo doll and bubblegum flavored donut. Then back in Longview Grandma and Anastasia baked, Grandma gave pedicures, and we had dinner and saw Blind Side at Kelso Theater Pub.

Fun day!

03-12-10

"This is a grown-up party. That means no cameras!" - Tyra, who hates it when I am a shutterbug.

Tonight we went to Smithville for some fun and fellowship. And fantastic clam chowder and a few entertaining rounds of Mafia.

This is Julie (down from Canada with "Pastor Phil"), Pauline (with more willpower than me tonight! But I didn't give up sugar for Lent...), and Mom.

Happy Weekend!

03-11-10

Mom wasn't sure there was much point exercising after eating a fabulous heavy meal at the Indian restaurant, but we pushed through.

Sometimes wii Active feels like a torture device to get us to jump, lunge, and kill our abs. But we push through.

We found out today that the Peaches and Pistachio house isn't in our future after all. And we push through.

If it's not hard work it's not worth the effort. Keep pushing!

03-10-10

Happy St Patricks Day early!

I lucked out and just happened to wear green today. Mom and I went to a women's fellowship luncheon at church today. On the menu: corned beef and cabbage, broccoli salad, green jello, and key lime pie. Yum!

03-09-10

Today:
Eye doctor appointment.
Trying the new dark cherry mocha at Starbucks.
Finding out that he has a better credit score than me.
Special trip to the grocery store for butter beans.
Continuing negotiations on the "Peaches and Pistachio" house.
Retired from shaving.

03-08-10

We went from lovely weather Saturday to frigid cold today.

My car is covered in plum flower petals; I missed getting a photo.

Took a long lunch today; really helps break up the day.

Allergy shots again; ready to break the twice a week routine!

Listening to Xander's incessant singing; wonder what he would do at a karaoke bar.

Watched Undercover Boss with Anastasia; she can cuddle under an afghan like the best of us.

Another Monday under my belt.

03-07-10

Another great retreat, wrapped up with casting our cares on rice paper and communion. So thankful for the (short-lived) awesome weather, great food, wonderful fellowship, opportunities for exercises, and thought provoking message.

03-06-10

The theme of the weekend was pearls, so Saturday night we created our own string of pearls.

We are pearls God is forming. Sometimes that involves irritation, trauma, or layers we can’t understand. See opportunities and character building, not despair.
Just as the man in Matthew 13:44-46 sold everything he had to get the pearl of great worth, we can’t have our biggest treasure and everything else. Balancing life involves focusing on the few priorities.
Pearls dry up and lose luster without contact, and so do we. We need to be in community.
Fine pearls need to be restrung annually, and so do we – look at how we use our gifts, time, and talent. If we don’t like where we are, change it. Don’t disregard our pearls, use them.

"Although pearls grow in darkness and distress, the luminosity of their beauty - born of imperfection, irritation, and sometimes, neglect - like the woman who wears them, is only visible in the light." - Sarah Ban Breathnach

03-05-10

This weekend Mom and I attended a women's retreat in Yelm, WA. It is my 15 year of attending the Marine View Presbyterian event, even though we moved away from the church 12 years ago. Time flies!

Friday stuff:
- Trying to get out of the office early.
- Shopping the outlet malls. Had to look at everything on the $3 racks.
- Navigation challenges to find Quizno's and the retreat center in the dark, even with a GPS!
- Playing and winning Bunko.
- Going around the room discussing hidden talents and weekend expectations. Dive in deep fast!

03-04-10

Grandma's here!

Now maybe Xander will stop saying "Grandma's coming?!?" every time we mention our coming plans.

Tonight he led us on a nice long walk around Old West Side. And entertained Grandma making his homemade vinaigrette. We shuttled Anastasia home from dance, and Anastasia smoked her at a few rounds of In A Pickle this afternoon. I showed her all my scrapbooking adventures since her last visit. And now we get to curl up to watch Survivor.

03-02-10

I'm a gold medalist!

Tonight I met my Olympics challenge goal for our Health & Wellness event at work. This medal represents one "new to me" healthy behavior each day and 90 minutes of exercise each day, seven days a week, making up any missed minutes.

Worn out and ready to give my body a breather, but also energized by all I've learned and accomplished.

03-02-10

I'd like to get back into the habit of taking more people photos, but we seem to always be going in different directions these days. Tonight Anastasia had dance and Xander attended his girlfriends orchestra concert.

So, since food and exercise are a big part of my world, I offer a kitchen still life.

• Still eating only fruit all morning, usually five servings. This is a well established habit now.
• Focusing on whole grains this month, so eating less meat and more carbs. This Dave's Killer bread is so yummy that Xander and I fight over who gets to eat the heel.
• Starbucks, with soy milk in my mocha, is often my biggest source of protein. Tonight I had a white chocolate hazelnut Americano to keep the calories down. In addition to tracking calories, this month I've been intermittently tracking sugar, fiber, and protein as part of the Olympic challenge at work.

03-01-10

Do I have to write down the calories if I sneak the soup one spoonful at a time?

Normally evening exercise is enough to curb my hunger as the hours stretch out between dinner and bed.

But not this week.

We've been eating this bean soup every few weeks since November. The kids are truly sick of it. They'll be glad that the dry bulk ingredients are almost gone, but I'll miss the full flavor and texture.

And I guess it is a better late night munchie than Girl Scout Cookies!