05-31-10

Our side of the duplex is no longer ours; it is now home to renters who say they are clean and will not be moving for a long long time. Let's hope they are right on both counts.

I wonder when my hands will stop smelling like bleach. Or if the new floor will ever be clean; maybe when the bog turns back into a lawn. If would-be renters will stop knocking on the door now.

We both spent most of the day at our "home away from home" wrapping up the last minute details. Now the kids will have to get used to seeing us around more, instead of saying good morning via texts.

05-30-10

Today we took a break from everyday life and headed out to the trail heads.

Traci has been wanting to do a forest day hike and invited us along. We had a picnic after church, drove up the gorge, did a little bit of outlet shopping, and ended with dinner at Red Robin in Vancouver. Larry thought it was a travesty that he was the only one who has climbed Beacon Rock (second tallest monolith in the world), so we tackled the switchbacks.

The most entertaining part of the day was the "girls car" scrambling to find enough change in the vehicle to pay the troll bridge since purses aren't part of a hiking day.

Great day, great friends.

05-29-10

The long weekend is a bit different with tenants moving into the duplex June 1st. We didn't want to fight traffic to go anywhere anyway, though.

Bruce and I sent some time there today - I think all the painting is finally done, and I got about half of the shrubs cut way back. We are really close to being ready for move in day.

Bruce also played a few rounds of golf with friends this morning, and I tried to get the garden under control int he sunshine this afternoon. The kids did what they do when they have no structured plan- not much.

Life is good.

05-28-10

Today I took off an hour to go watch Anastasia’s final Championship Battle of the Books.

She was pretty confident that her team would win. (Doesn’t that often foreshadow a fall?)

It was a close match. That had several overtime questions. According to the librarian, it was the longest battle in the ten year history. Mr. Heinz ran out of questions and had to grab more from his office.

They were down for awhile, they were up for a while, but they were mostly tied. And in the end team 16 was defeated.

She follows the tradition of making it to the finals and not winning. But her team still gets to go to OMSI next week. And she got the benefit of reading several extra books.

05-27-10

We were a little early to the studio to pick Anastasia up tonight, and the conversation was summer classes. Whoa, Bessie, how about some down time?

On the plus side, Anastasia’s dance instructor has been declared cancer free. What a blessing.

Three weeks until recital…

“I saw my costume today. We’re water fairies. With wings on the back, that we’re not allowed to bring home.” - Anastasia

05-26-10

I was snapping a few photos of Xander tonight, desperate for a blog photo, when he hopped up to photograph me instead. Peeling an orange isn’t very glamorous, but it is real life. And the oranges rare really good right now.

Tonight was our first Wednesday evening not dining at church… summer is coming, with its unstructured glory.

05-25-10

Just call me the queen of lists.

Right now I have:

- Weekly work to do list

- Monthly home to do list

- Chicago planning itinerary/budget lists

- List of tasks to complete by June 1st at the duplex

- Weekly meal list

- Weekly honey do list (much neglected)

- Tracking sheet for wellness program

And, I'm been making daily mini lists. I keep it in my pocket and jot down things as I think of them. Left is "must do", right side is "if I still have energy". And I don't throw them away until they are done or moved to a new list, so they seem to accumulate.

Productive? Absolutely. Certifiably crazy? That too.

05-24-10

Day 1 of our family fitness challenge takes Xander from laying on the couch to sitting at the computer.

I guess there was a little bit of energy expended when he got up to 156 Facebook friends. He’s been trying to get more friends than Anastasia for weeks now, and tonight he passed her up.

“I win! Stasia? I win! Ha ha!” - Xander

“She says she can get 3 more friends right now if she wants to.” – Xander

“Mom, do you actually know all your Facebook friends? Can you list where you know then from?” – Xander

Kinda sad that even lame anti-social fairly-selective mom has 103 Facebook friends. I guess it’s easy to forget how small the circle of influence is at age twelve. But congrats Buddy!

05-23-10

When we got to church this morning, the kids were on hour 26 of their 30 hour Famine. When we came back after lunch, they had plates of food in front of them and were counting down the 3 minutes until they could eat. [photo is staring at the clock.]

They both held up well. Xander, due to his age, had the option to go to Subway midway through, but declined. They really slept in cardboard boxes outside in the rain, and stayed dry. And Anastasia was top fundraiser, way to go!

“I’m never doing that again!” - Xander

05-22-10

While the kids were busy starving themselves, Bruce and I had a day to ourselves.

We spent it… napping after a 4:30am wake up for kid send-off, Starbucks jump start, Farmers Market shopping, duplex scrubbing, fried asparagus at Burgerville, Lowe’s shopping, reading a novel in bed, more virus mitigation, putzing on a video for church, and dinner and the movie Date Night at Kelso Theater Pub.

I told Bruce I wanted a photo of us but with a different back drop for my blog photo today. So, here we are in the theater!

05-21-10

With the duplex work winding down, we are on the hunt again. Sort of. There has been a lull in the market, and we don’t want to be fixing up units during August vacation time, but we’re keeping our eyes open.

Today this funky little duplex had a price drop, making it more interesting. Tonight Bruce and I drove over and peeked in all the windows trying to piece together the floor plan and condition. The cash flow pencils out…

As we ponder this at a “business meeting” at Starbucks, the kids prepare to be at church at 5am to start their weekend of Famine. Happy weekend!

05-20-10

And track season is officially over. I'll miss those 3:30pm departures from work.

Today was districts. Anastasia paced herself more today, but at a slower pace. She’s nursing a sore knee.

The high schoolers were at the track practicing pole vault this afternoon; that was amazing to watch.

Much better day today.

05-19-10

Wow, talk about bad days!

Today my computer got a virus AND I got pulled over for speeding.

You don't realize how much you use your computer until it is out of commission...

So thankful that Bruce is here to deal with it. And that my police stop was just a warning.

"Cause you had a bad day

You're taking one down.

You sing a sad song just to turn it around."

- Daniel Powter song

05-18-10

Today was an early-morning long-hours travel day. Made longer by a wreck on I-5.

Grateful to have audio books to keep me company and keep me awake in the car.

05-17-10

The good news: Anastasia qualified for districts.

Today was sub-districts. The top 5 runners from each event from each school competed today. And Thursday at districts the top 5 from each event will duke it out.

The bad news: Anastasia qualified for lack of competition rather than for speed. She was in pain running today, so didn’t beat any personal records or other runners.

Here’s one of her coaches cheering her on before her teammates pulled ahead. Four laps is a long way. Then another 2 laps for her 800 meter event. Kudos for being out there pushing herself

05-16-10

Anastasia is doing what I wish I had carved out time for today.

But it was still a good day. Church, lots of exercise, more weeding, and Sunday chores.

"There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do." - Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin & Hobbes)

05-15-10

Where’s Waldo- can you find Anastasia?

We had a bye for soccer today, but still had an early morning sports activity. Anastasia ran the Girls of the Run 5K. In 25 mintues, great job.

Today also brought shopping, gardening, time at the duplex (people still knocking on the door wanting to rent!), and Indian cuisine for the entire family.

If this is a taste of summer, bring it on!

Hint: She’s in purple.

05-14-10

4am Alarm goes off. Amazingly, don’t feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck.
7am Try to outsmart the GPS in downtown Seattle. Amazingly, less traffic on the I-5 corridor than on weekends.
10am Listen to updates from members of FASB and the SEC. Not surprisingly, recurring topics included impairments, bank failures, and the poor economy.
3pm Enjoy mint malt balls and Seattle waterfront views on break. Not surprisingly, get stomach ache from eating so much junk today.
9pm Play Mexican train with Grama & Grama. Surprisingly, stay up until my normal bedtime after a very long day.

05-13-10

What a gorgeous day! Our biggest issue was fighting the sun streaming in the big windows at Starbucks during Ladies Night.

Do you order hot or cold drinks when the weather is warm? I stick with warm. Oh, and have to recommend the raspberry pound cake after getting a free slice tonight. Especially the cream cheese topping.

I forgot to order my drink decaf. Luckily they remade it for me. Very early morning tomorrow, need to wind it down for tonight.

Shine on.

05-12-10

And she's off.

We had another track meet this afternoon.

Anastasia shaved quite a bit of time off her mile time again today. And she didn't look like she was going to hurl when she was done. So this is her starting her second event, 800 meters.

05-11-10

My family eats quinoa! Yay! Finally, a healthy alternative to white rice.

This, however, is Xander licking the bowl of banana bread clean.

Just another day in another week in another month of our everyday lives…

05-10-10

Being at the track was one of the more pleasant 30 minutes of my day. Maybe it was so pleasant because it was only 30 minutes today. Leaving the office when the meet officially starts works great for minimizing both vacation time burned and minutes logged sitting in the cold.

There were only two girls running the mile this time, and Anastasia shaved 27 seconds off her personal best.

“Almost every part of the mile is tactically important: you can never let down, never stop thinking, and you can be beaten at almost any point. I suppose you could say it is like life.” - John Landy

05-09-10

I meant to pose a photo of me with the kids for mother’s day, but we were all in different directions all day.

Whenever I made an effort to photograph the cousins, Anastasia and Molly were together. Nice that the weather cooperated to be outdoors, and the various bubble toys were a hit.

Twelve hour day door to door, but great food and nice to catch up with the Fischer clan again.

“The sweetest sounds to mortals given

Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.”

~William Goldsmith Brown

05-08-10

My day:

Farmers market – lettuce, pears, and raspberry crème turnover
Soccer game - in the sunshine
Baking – too many botched loaves this time around
Gardening – all the carrot seeds are in, with 16” of loose soil for room to grow.
Old Navy shopping at Jantzen Beach – more stuff fit, & in the smaller size, yippee!
Dinner at BJ’s
Lease signing with tenant #3 – 100% occupancy!

And, drum roll, please… Bruce let me see inside the duplex today! It looks completely different after the paint job. As the kids say, we have traded one strong smell (mold) for another (paint fumes), but it is coming along. Next focus area: flooring.

05-07-10

My evening has not gone as planned.

Meant to garden, but no energy.
Started banana bread, but no milk.
Bruce promised fast applicant screening to a tentant, but no process.

Went out, but no camera along.
Started bread machine loaf, and no flour!

But at least we are all healthy and here. We’ve had two fatalities at work in the past few weeks. Coming home safe each day is taken for granted, and home is precious, no matter how disjointed.

05-06-10

Happy almost Friday! Thursday evening may be my favorite time of the week – so much possibility for the days ahead.

Since reading Animal Vegetable Miracle, I’ve been trying a lot harder to support local farmers and eat what is currently in season. Yakima apples are yummy right now.

In the memoir the author decides to only eat local food for an entire year. I’m not ready to go that far, but I do visit the farmers market Saturday morning, the produce stand Wednesday evenings, and am buying a side of grass fed beef. Moo!

The sun is shining for a change, I should go out and plant more carrots…

05-05-10

Today the kids had no school; all four of us just made a quick trip to the building for student led conferences.

They are a bizarre waste of time and energy, but I am intrigued by how the kids define themselves and what they choose to share.

Our outlook and self perception play a huge role in how we view things. A financial magazine I was ready today was talking about a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. With a fixed mindset thee is a lot of ego, born talents, and disappointment when the world doesn’t agree that you should be on a pedestal. With the growth mindset there is constant learning and striving for improvement, more willingness to take risks, and resiliency.

Now just to instill the more hopeful and motivating mindset in myself and those around me… wish the kids spent their day off exploring, resting, or preparing instead of moaning "I’m bored" from in front of a screen.

05-04-10

I have been cold and weary this week. I have a case of the blah's. And I can't seem to keep the chill out of my bones. Soup and coffee help for a little while, as does excercising, but soon it is back to wanting to crawl under the covers. May is not supposed to feel like winter!

05-03-10

What a miserable afternoon for a track meet! Yes, that's rain you see.

Anastasia beat her personal record for the mile (4 laps) by 6 seconds. She described the driving rain as having a numbing effect.

I wouldn't want to be out there, but I didn't want to be in the grandstands either. We had a roof to keep us dry, but it was a huge wind tunnel.

All I can say is Brrr. And that Anastasia earned her mocha after the meet in more ways than one.

05-02-10

Part of Xander's punishment for his recent transgressions is 30 minutes a day of trombone practice. Well, he skipped several days, so today he had two hours to do. Like exercise, very hard to make up once you fall behind.

Now if we could just get him to stop pushing Anastasia's buttons, giving us sass, and realizing proactively that there are consequences to poor attitude, lack of respect, and texting during meals.

"How strange that the young should always think the world is against them - when in fact that is the only time it is for them." - Mignon McLaughlin

05-01-10

A busy, busy day. But it all got done.

This is Anastasia at the shoe-themed mother-daughter tea at church today. Anastasia was the oldest kid and I was almost the youngest adult there, but we had fun listening to the stories of shoe rationing during the war. I won a prize for wearing my rain boots. It seemed fitting after freezing to death under the umbrella at the 9am soccer game.

Happy May!