01-30-15

We were getting ready to start a lake walk when we got a text from Lance that Jessi was on her way over.  No problem, plenty of things at home to do too.  Aren't they cute?

01-29-15

Right theme, wrong couch.  Is it Friday yet?!?

01-28-15

I can start a series of family members sitting at the same spot on the couch futzing with their technology.  Tonight is Bruce's turn.

01-27-15

At about 5pm all four of us were at home together for about 5 minutes, and at about 9pm we were all four again home together for about 5 minutes before Xander announced he was going to bed.

01-26-15

Walking the lake in the dark with our face in the phone.  #INGRESS

01-25-15

Xander and Jessi are celebrating 6 months of togetherness.  Clean car, spiffed up guy, a rose.  They drove down to Benihana in Portland.

01-24-15

Finishing dinner after 9pm?  What kind of alternate universe am I in?  We met up with 15 other Ingressers for dinner tonight, and after drinks, apps, dinner and cake, it was bedtime!  It was fun to learn more about the game and the other players.  Happy Smurf Year!

01-23-15

We walked and drove around in the dark this evening visiting all the churches of Kelso, near and far.  Friday night, cheap entertainment, and time with my honey.

01-22-15

First family photo of 2015.  We'll have to try again, because I'm looking for a really good shot of us to put in a frame at work.

"You are cutting into watermelon time." - Xnader

01-21-15

My new gloves arrived today!  

Right after Christmas I realized that I need some gloves that allowed me to still use my phone, with Ingressing.  I found a cheap pair of cute gloves on e-bay, but they were shipping from China.

I was beginning to wonder if they were going to arrive before the cold weather was over with!

01-20-15

I was complaining to my hairdresser that my bangs aren't behaving.  She pointed out that I now have a cowlick that makes my bangs want to go the other direction.  So I need to try to retrain myself and my hair to part on the other side.

01-19-15

Excavating my stuff, clearing out clutter, uncovering plenty of memories.  I don't remember when I was stamp collecting, but the most expensive US stamp in my book is $0.20.  The stamps are brittle and fall out when I turn the pages, but it is fun to look through.

01-18-15

See the blue heart?  Bruce and I built that by walking and driving all over Kelso today.  Ingress, free entertainment.

Oh, yeah, and there was some kind of important football game today too... way to go, Hawks!

01-17-15

Had plans at the beginning and end of the day today.  The middle was just trying to not get soaked.

Our evening plans were dinner at Burgerville to support fundraising for the senior party.  I love the city high school logos they have painted on their windows.

01-16-15

I have such unrealistic expectations in what I can accomplish in a day.

I had really big plans for tonight,  Crazy big plans.  Turns out I had time to bake and work on my Beth Moore study.  That's it.

I made carob cherry trail mix cookies (which Anastasia declared dry but could not stop nibbling on) and a cranberry/apple/sweet potato dish to bring to womens breakfast tomorrow.

TGIF!

01-15-15

Halfway through January.  Technically our Christmas decorations are not yet stowed, and my Willow Tree collection is still a jumbled mess.  Sometimes life is just a jumbled mess.  Little details can slide when the bigger picture is in focus.

01-14-15

I had a vacation today,  my only work obligation a retirement luncheon in Vancouver.  Bruce and I headed down south for a day of Ingressing, walking, and enjoying the day.  We hiked at Salmon Creek, toured Fort Vancouver, and walked several other areas, covering 10 miles on foot.

Look right above my head; you can barely see Mt Hood in the photo, but it sure looked majestic in real life!

01-13-15

Just Xander and I this evening.  I think he forgot I was home, because he rocked out his stereo from the weight room.  I wandered down since I had stuff to do int he basement and this was his best pose.  Dork!

01-12-15

We walked around scouting out houses for an investor friend this evening.

This house wasn't on his list, but it's on mine.  I drive by it almost every day on my route home from work.  I love this house.  It looks so out of place in the old Longview neighborhood, so Frank Lloyd Wright-ish.

Joy in the little details of life.

01-11-15

Day 2 of playing with the new spiralizer.

I know this looks kinda unappetizing, but it tastes so yummy.  It's a curry with chickpeas and spiralized raw veggies.  The beets make it so pink.

Playing with food...

01-10-15

Weekends with no significant plans are a great time to slow down and get to things that I've been wanting to do.  Today we did a lot of Ingressing, in West Longview and Castle Rock, but that still left time for chores and projects.  I've been wanting to try out the spiralizer we got for Christmas.  Fun to play with for sure!

01-09-15

Bleck!  Late Friday night, my hair's been thought the ringer, want to get to bed, and I'm forcing down my liver cleanse.  I've been trying to pinpoint the odd flavor, think it might be marshmallow...?  Hoping the temporary discomfort will being long standing health benefits.  TGIF!

01-08-15

Normally our family morning routine is a dance of passing in the hallways and shouting goodbye to each other.  This morning everyone had some extra time to hang out and eat oatmeal.  How domestic of us!

01-07-15

Cruddy day at work.  Chilling weather again.  Nice evening, but looking forward to crawling into bed.  Not as much as this guy, he didn’t wait to doze off.  Down for the count.  AGAIN.

01-06-15

It was a dark and foggy night.

Actually, it’s been foggy all day.  Parts of my drive down to Vancouver for work were quite soupy.

Missing summer weather...

01-05-15

Here I am on Don Berg Memorial bench, at the end of our block.  It’s kind of our couch portal.

Couch portal: Refers to portals that are hackable from players' homes or work, making for easy/repetitive interaction.

The weather is finally nice enough again to make walking around town Ingressing pleasant.

01-04-15

My focus word for 2014 was Fallow, and it served me well.  For 2015, I’ve chosen the word Catharsis.  I’m defining it as: the process of releasing, purging and experiencing relief, relieve tension and anxiety.

This year I’m expecting to help get Anastasia launched to UW, experience a year of change and preparing for more change, de-clutter and purge a significant amount of belongings to simplify and focus on the truly important, and spend less time and money on both health care and the rentals.

This photo is of a childhood memory I've been holding on to.  We used these crocks to serve pudding.  Usually butterscotch pudding.  I requested the stoneware, but rarely make pudding; it’s not a memory for my kids.  I realized that I can photograph the cups and let them go without letting go of the memory.

Bring it on, 2015.

01-03-15

Ingress takes us on interesting adventures.  We spent a chunk of time in Kelso today.  This photo was taken inside the Kelso Longview visitors center at the park and ride.  They had info on geocaching, squirrel bridges, and hunting Bigfoot...

01-02-15

Friday night at the Heights.  Doesn't feel like Friday, but I'll take a weekend!  It will be a rude awakening to work 5 days in a row next week... year end close to boot.  For this evening, it was nice to sit and sing a spell.

01-01-15

Any guesses where we are?!?

I guess the photo doesn't provide any clues, I should work on that!

We had planned a big family outing to Costco, but Costco is closed for New Years.  Plan B, something fun and warmer than being out int he frigid cold...

We went to the horse races!  The bets were against us this time; there were only 6 horses in a race, we bet four different horses to show, and none did.  I did win $0.15 on one race... $20 for a few hours of entertainment, life could be worse.

12-31-14

New Years Eve.  

I stayed up this year, but kind of a quiet evening.  My owl and polar bear arrived, so I set up my terrarium gift from Bruce.  It will be fun to enjoy at work.  

So long, 2014!