12-31-10

CNN was talking about New Years Resolutions today, and the Christian radio station was talking about choosing a word to focus on.

Remembering back to a year ago, my 2010 focus word was Shape.

shape (shāp) verb

to give definite shape to; make

to arrange, fashion, express, or devise

to adapt or adjust toto direct or conduct

New Years resolutions:

-Shape family filing cabinet and magazine clippings into usable format

-Make more time for reading and relaxing

-Adapt to new high deductible 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

Results:
-Accomplished most of the concrete goals above; the health care costs took care of themselves. The relaxing, and saying “No” part wasn’t a total fail or success by any means.
- Wasn’t a goal, but shaped our ability to pay for kids college (we hope) by investing in rentals. Which was taking on a lot and reducing opportunities to relax and explore, but it feels good.
- Adapted to a lot of unexpected things that came our way this year. Loss of my step-brother, a nasty robbery, and church drama.

12-30-10

Another three months of reading. My count is 18 for the quarter and 68 for the year, which is about average for both.

My favorites this quarter were The Secret Life of Bees, Fancy Pants & Table for Five. The three books my book club read, at top, were also fun reads. Least favorite? Disappointed in Grave Eventually, 'Tis a Gift to be Simple, Silver Wedding and The Waitress Was New.

Time to get my books read (and stop buying more!) so I can get an e-reader. I thought I had over 100, but I only have 80-something. Maybe by my 40th birthday…

Happy reading…

12-29-10

Here’s Bruce, in the lap of luxury, while his new iRobot mops his floors…

Ok, so it’s not really that easy. It never is.

When I got home from work, Bruce had just gotten the Scooba working. It was fascinating to watch it careen around the kitchen.

Right after this photo was taken it got stuck on the threshold between the laminate and carpet. It’s cry for help must have sucked a lot of batteries, because it had to go back to it’s corner to recharge.

Verdict's still out, but new toys are always fun.

12-28-10

The funny thing about younger nieces and nephews is that they keep dragging you through the past.

We think we are done with certain stages of our life. Then BAM, here they come again.

Take, for instance, Hannah Montana. The pop star was big for Anastasia. Big enough to buy scrapbook paper. And as fast as it came it was gone. But now it’s back. As Kayla’s birthday party theme New Years weekend.

Watch out, Auntie still has the paper, and has some creativity up her sleeve…

12-27-10

I went to work today to check in, but have my last vacation day of 2010 tomorrow!

The Christmas fun continues! Today another Christmas package arrived. With hats from Grandma Vicki!

“And all your future lies beneath your hat.” - John Oldham

12-26-10

One of my favorite days of the year is my day after Christmas shopping spree. I stock up on Christmas supplies and gifts for future years, and look for gifts to pack away.

Today was waiting for various stores to open (after hitting Target right after it opened at 7am), but I had a book in the car and was perfectly content to take my time and spend most of my outing near the corner of 320th and Pacific Coast Highway in Federal Way.

I happily purchased my way through:
Target
JoAnn’s
Hallmark
Barnes & Noble (mostly for restroom stop)
Dollar Tree
Wal-mart
See’s (aborted mission, didn’t open until noon)
Michaels
Rite Aid
Lunch at Chipotle
DWShoes
TJ Maxx
Unwind at Starbucks (last Peppermint Mocha of the holiday season)

Tons of fun!

12-25-10

Christmas always seems to be a bit of a whirlwind.

Wake up, peek at my stocking, rush through my morning workout, Santa and family gifts, get ready to hit the road, call Mom, 2 hour drive, traditional lunch at Jack in the Box, set up gaming system at grandparents house, eat myself sick on holiday cookies, extended family gifts, walk around the neighborhood to keep the blood pumping, big turkey dinner, birthday cake for Jesus, bickering over video games, card game, bed.

We did contribute to the noise level a bit by getting the three cousins Singamajigs… it was fun to watch the kids and adults interact with them.

12-24-10

I wish I felt comfortable taking photos at church. All of the candles (as decorations and held by each person) were very calming and beautiful. I would love to sing Carol of the Drum year round – pa rum pump um pum!

The elves brought the kids an X-box 360 with Kinect, so we’ve been playing family challenges this evening.

But we started our day still at Great Wolf. We did several tube runs while the lines were a little shorter, tried out all the things we still wanted to do, sat outside in the hot tub in 45 degree weather, and posed for some photos. The kids liked having plans Christmas Eve so the day didn’t stretch out so long…

12-23-10

We all agree that Great Wolf Lodge is a fun place to spend a few days, even if it is horribly overpriced.

I think the best part is that your room key and credit card are attached to your wrist band so you don’t have to carry any extra stuff around.

The worst part has got to be all the people. It feels like Las Vegas. Lots of lines everywhere and wall-to-wall people.

Other fun things:
The tornado ride (the big funnel you see from I-5) is oh so fun!
It snows in the lobby during Snowfest, and the lobby decorations are very festive.
A Starbucks in the lobby, so don't hav eto go far for our beloved beverages. (With inflated prices of course.)
Getting lots of exercise walking up stairs – for the water slides and to our 7th floor room when the elevators were too packed.

12-22-10

My Christmas to do list is finally complete! With just a few days left to concentrate on relaxing, reflecting, family time, water slides, and Bible study.

Tonight I wrapped the final six gifts and packed up the wrapping station that has taken over our bedroom.

Bring it on, I’m ready!

12-21-10

After a four day weekend, went back to work today for a half day.

I knew that things would be piled up, and it took an hour just to wade through the new e-mail, but I wasn’t really expecting all the little gifts piled up on my desk. Our work tradition is to get small gifts and cards for the building. I had lot of candy, peanut butter Chex mix, Ben & Jerry’s Terra Fuela flower kit, tie-dyed socks, hand made soap, a lottery scratch ticket, and many more fun items cluttering up my already cluttered desk.

Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!

12-20-10

I played hooky today to go sledding with the family, one of our day trip goals. We went with friends, which makes it way more fun.

We went to Mt St Helens. We were starting to get nervous we wouldn’t hit snow, but we found a nice sledding hill (except for the creek a the bottom that either drenched us or made us airborne!) and enjoyed several trips in the falling snow.

“Stay home. Have fun. Build a snowman. Go sledding with the kids.” – Mike Easley, a politician with some great advice.

12-19-10

I have a belly ache.

Too much cookie tasting. Some good new recipes, some not worth repeating.

Baking alone this year wasn’t nearly as fun as doing it with Grama and Shanna, but it worked out OK. Six dozen batches gave me more than enough for my platters and tins.

Now I'm worn out...

12-18-10

“There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.” ~Vicki Baum

Today we travelled north to Kayla and Molly’s dance recital. We were joking that we are done with Anastasia’s recitals just in time to start another round, but it was fun for me to see how another dance studio does things. The girls did great and it was great to see family again.

12-17-10

Feels like lots of trips to the oven today. Like every 7 to 12 minutes.

Sunday is official cookie baking day. Last year I made 9 batches of cookies, but this year I think a more realistic goal is 6. But I still have plenty of people I want to give cookies to, so I decided to prebake a few batches today.

Bruce helped with the Christmas Joy peppermint ones and his favorite boring chocolate chip (that I’m hoping to dip in chocolate Sunday). I was going to try out a new recipe called Peppermint Whoopie, but ditched it when I saw that they need to be refrigerated even after baking. Next I worked on my signature lemon cookies, but discovered I didn’t have any lemon cake mix! So I did a batch with Strawberry and a batch with Red Velvet mix instead.

Bring on the sugar!

12-16-10

We had some little visitors tonight who enjoyed looking at the tree for a few minutes.

I don’t spend enough time reflecting on it, but it represents a lot of memories, love, and values.

It’s nice to have anchors in rough weeks.

12-15-10

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me…Nine ladies dancing.

No, but how about 3 ladies painting ornaments?

Every other year I do 12 days of Christmas with my staff, where there is a gift or fun activity each day as thanks for another great year of dedication and hard work.

Love the variety and creativity, and chance to just sit and breath, even fif the to-do lsit continues to pile up…

12-14-10

New haircut on top, new boots on bottom.

I blame my sister in law for the boots, she sent me the coupon! Not too many shoe sites with double wide shoes, and these ones are comfy!

Need to wrap more gifts to put under the tree! But not tonight; sleep is my top priority!

12-13-10

King of the couch.

Xander was the most excited to be getting a new couch, and he has gotten the most use out of it.

When I got home from work he was with the couch.
When I left at 6pm to have dinner with Phil & Julie, he was with the couch.
When we got home form dinner two hours later, he was still with the couch.

His clothes even color coordinate. :)

12-12-10

Bruce and I agreed that today was kind of a bad day.

The easy weekend crockpot meal didn’t cook.
Running around like crazy people to be home for deliveries that don’t arrive on time.
The kids lost their dessert trip to Coldstone for fighting.

And that’s just part of it.

But, the good news is that our new couches DID finally arrive. Here’s to ten years of relaxing. Wonder if the family will get as attached to these as the worn out green-and-white striped one we got with our first house…

12-11-10

Today was so laid back I almost forgot to post my blog. Glad Bruce clicked a photo of me a the new coffee spot in town this morning.

Got a few things accomplished today:
- Explored Prospectors Liquidators, a fun junk store
- Took the family to Le Caffe, one of my favorite restaurants in town. Still need to go back for the nutella stuffed French Toast, but ate some of Anastasia’s strawberry cream cheese today.
- Got rental paperwork closer to being caught up, and explored some new-on-the market properties.
- Found the missing Christmas gifts and got organized for the week.

But mostly it was one of those quiet Saturdays close to home resting up. An unexpected gift.

12-10-10

Home again finnagin.

Got home mid afternoon, started excavating my scrapbook room in search of a missing gift. Early dinner of not very good Pizza Soup, then I headed to the pottery store for Glassapalooza and played with glass for a few hours.

Bruce held down the fort as usual. He’s texting the kids. One is upstairs in his room; the other is at Late Night across town.

TGIF.

12-09-10

So what do you do for a blog when you are alone in a hotel room after a day of meetings, a social hour, and a great team dinner?

I could see the big city tree lit up from the elevator lobby.
I could see the pool and fitness center from my room.
I really liked the design in the carpet. Seriously.

Decided to get some self portraits. And wrote Christmas cards. And visited the fitness center. And am halfway through The Secret Life of Bees.

12-08-10

My Wednesday routine brings a visit to the local produce stand and mid week church.
This week my self study on voluntary simplicity (to make changes to reflect God’s priorities) merged the two-

Overconsumption at the grocery store.

Eating more in line with the world’s standards and cutting our need for excess protein and unlimited variety can support personal and global health. My book suggested using meat as a garnishment rather than the main course to plan the meal around, eating food in season, keep meals cheap and easy with rice and beans, buying locally, and shopping along the outside walls of the grocery store.

Well on my way, but must admit I’m more motivated by my waistline than by God’s desire to only use our fair share. Baby steps. At least they don't conflict.

“The world can support more vegetarian Indians on bicycles than hamburger-eating Americans in cars.” – opening of food chapter in my study

12-07-10

A boy and his cell phone. Hanging out in his room, texting friends. Watching TV on Hulu. Playing music loud. Because he’s deaf. He has to be.

Another good day. Second day of the week and second trip to Starbucks. This time for work. And another evening stretching out.

In light of the latest tax cut proposal, I found this entertaining:
“Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it.” - Richard Lamm

12-06-10

Today was a nice Monday, as Monday’s go. Work was good, dinner was good, and Starbucks was good. Taking a break from Christmas preparations to work on rental financials, as the December rent checks slowly roll in. About to finish another novel; December is always a good reading month for me, even with all the holiday hoopla. Anastasia enjoys her relaxing life while Dad texts prospective Craigslist purchasers of her discarded “stuff.” Fa la la la la fa la la la.

12-05-10

We started our day with the children’s Christmas play at church. Here are my Sunday School kids (the bigger kids) rocking baby Jesus. Awww…. So cute!

Another quiet day at home. We got the ornaments on the tree finally, I got the rest of the bulbs planted outside finally, and I’m wrapping up my one week of no sweets finally. It was really rough meeting Aunt Christina and Uncle Darrell at Shari's and not ordering pie!

Off to write some more Christmas cards…

12-04-10

Say cheese! Someone jumped into my photo and made it more interesting.

Bruce and I were on duty to sell tickets for the church pancake breakfast from 9:30am to 11 today. I admired all the hand crafted items and bought a loaf of “pizza bread” too.

We skipped the parade downtown tonight. The weather is chilly, the kids are on a youth shopping trip to Portland, and Bruce is watching the Apple Cup.

Lazy Saturday, loving it. Crossing stuff off my holiday to do list.

12-03-10

The kids and I went shopping together tonight. Mostly to get shoes and clothes, but we got a few Christmas things. And they go to Portland Chrostmas shopping withthe youth group tomorrow.

So when is Christmas shopping officially done? I tend to consider myself done as soon as I have figured out what I’m going to get everyone, even if it’s not fully executed. I still have some things I need to pick up, but the hard part is done.

The pressure at this point is to put the brakes on and stop spending. Myself and Bruce. He keeps suggesting things for the kids and I keep hissing that “we’re done!”. Except for our family stocking shop.

12-02-10

At dinner tonight I told the family that I would like people to be in my blog photo today. It’s been a few days.

Immediately three fingers flew to their noses and they bellowed “nose goes!”. That is their version of “Not It”.

Ha ha ha

12-01-10

‘Tis the season to get loads of catalogs in the mail every day.

77 gifts under $30!

Free shipping!

I did find a few gift ideas in catalogs this year, but I try not to look in them, because I usually just find things that I want for me!

Happy December!