Little Pink Hat

Well ... this little hat was a "community" project. Michelle sent me the pattern, Heather found the 2.5 needles (they actually look like toothpicks!) and my knitting "coach," Kathy at work, guided me EVERY step of the way. This pattern was way beyond my skill level but Kathy patiently translated each row, fixed my mistakes, and was a cheerleader throughout the entire process.
What a JOY to see something finished after a long "struggle" in learning many new knitting terms and stitches. Now I need to find a little baby girl to wear it : )
Well ... onto Matt's Christmas gift ... 2009! I have 6 inches to go before I cast off and give him his new afghan. It took a year to complete! Feels good to be knitting again and I am enjoying the company of coworkers as I knit and purl. I hope you are finding time for a favorite craft or hobby this month!

Wii Enjoyed Celebrating ...

Last night we celebrated Liz and Paula's birthdays with an old-fashioned Germer-Peterson get together BUT with a "high tech" twist ... a Wii game night. Steve and Mindy brought over the Beatles:Rock Band and boy, did we rock out! What fun ... but a good dose of reality ... I am NOT musically inclined! hahaha --but many of you already knew that!

It was fun to celebrate a birthday with my friend of five DECADES ... happy birthday, Paula. May we still be enjoying crazy times together for several decades ahead! And ... Happy 30th birthday, Liz. You rock on drums : )
Thanks, Petersons for inviting us to share in your fun evening!

What's On Your Playlist?

The first two weeks of the year have been very successful in the area of health and fitness. I am working out @ ClubSport six days a week. I am finding a routine and equipment I like to workout on and music is a big part of my workout. I need something upbeat and energizing. Michael Jackson's, "This Is It," Paul McCartney and the Newsboys have been keeping me going but I need to create a playlist to keep things fresh and livened up. If you have a playlist that helps you go the extra mile, please share what you're listening to.
Hope the first two weeks of the new year find you reaching toward your goals!

Vitality

Look at the class Club Sport is offering ... The SECRET of Vitality! Yes! My word of the year. I'm hoping to sign up for this free class ... the perfect fit for my new year goals.

We worked out late Saturday evening and I spent an hour there after work today. I feel so much more energized than when I just head home and veg. I am looking forward to getting stronger each week. I am truly thankful for the opportunity to do this and look forward to getting fit : )

Today's bonus ... we get a 10% discount for being a district employee!

iPhone app

One of my favorite apps downloaded for our iPhones is the YouVersion Bible. Since my phone usually goes everywhere I go I always have my daily Bible reading at hand. With this app I can pick the version I want to read so I've chosen to do my one year reading plan using The Message -- there are 41 different translations to pick from. I selected Project 345 from several reading plans available. This is a simple way to read the entire New Testament in one year. It involves reading one chapter a day for five days a week and the weekends for catch up if needed. The plan was named for the average of the three minutes and forty five seconds that it takes to read one New Testament chapter.
Each day after the reading it checks off the chapter and keeps track of my progress. What a great use of technology : )
Have you set any goals for the new year?

Happy 2010

Happy New Year! We enjoyed a wonderful evening with lifelong friends, the Petersons. Don made an amazing meal and we enjoyed catching-up until the wee hours of morning. We are so thankful for these dear friends ... what a way to start out the new year.
In keeping with my "Word of the Year" ... VITALITY ... we started a membership at Club Sport yesterday afternoon. We are both excited to work on wellness this year. This was our Christmas present to each other ... the gift of a healthier lifestyle!
I would love to hear if you have a Word of the Year for 2010 ...

Best Buys 2009

As we looked to simplify life in 2009, two investments come to mind ... that we ask ourselves ... why didn't we do this sooner?!?!

• we invested in a heated mattress pad and have noticed improved sleeping patterns. A coworker recommended this and it was one of the best investments of 2009. A good night's sleep can make all the difference in your day.
• After waiting months after our Verizon contract expired, we purchased two iPhones on Black Friday for $49 each and love this powerful organizational tool. It includes a phone, iPod, camera (still and video), photos, calendar, a free texting app, Bible with many translations, Google Earth, a Basic Spanish app, games galore: Bejeweled 2, Skee-Ball, Solitaire, Hearts, Cribbage, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Jumbline, Sudoku, a GPS, iTreadmill, Walkmeter, SparkPeople, FastFoodCal.
  

My last cell was a flip phone and as a call came in I would flip it open ... and it would flip shut ending the call before I could even say hello. Sorry if this happened on your call : (

Home: Simplified

Monday I moved my new box of cookware to the kitchen to wash and put away (thanks again, kids!) and for some reason ... I made a decision to take all our holiday decorations down -- tree and all ... by myself. It took most of the day because as I packed things away I was also "simplifying" (purging) some of our Christmas decor. Yesterday I tackled the Christmas storage closet ... organizing gift wrap, bows, tissue paper and putting everything away until next year. I did discover a crate of gift wrapping essentials (that I couldn't find before Christmas) after stocking up on clearance items Saturday @ Target. I guess I'm set for several years now.
It's nice to have the house clean and in order ... it just feels peaceful and relaxing ... Simplified.
The lights are still up ... I will leave that to Walt. I'm not brave enough to get up on the ladder : )

Word of the Year 2010

vi·tal·i·ty
Pronunciation: \vī-ˈta-lə-tē\
Function: noun
Date: 1592
Definition: the state of being strong and active; energy. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually. Creatively.

• being able to survive and grow; the capacity to live and develop
  
• energetic style
• healthiness
• power of enduring

After a six year struggle in my return to health, 2009 revealed a glimmer of vitality in my life. I have been giving my "word of the year" a lot of thought during the month of December and this one keeps standing out. My goal/focus has been shifting ... I want to be stronger. Making better food choices, joining a gym and working on fitness, scheduling an earlier bedtime ... working on growing mentally, spiritually ... renewing interest in projects and creativity.
As we near the end of the year, I have been reviewing my 2009 word: Simplify. I have worked at making life as uncomplicated as possible ... despite some pretty complicated issues I have had to face this year.
As I reflect back over 2009, I am so thankful for those who have come alongside me through prayer, support and friendship. And as Steve shared in Sunday's message ... in each situation we found ourselves facing this year ... "God showed up!"
Welcome 2010 ... I am excited about the coming year!

It has been two months ...

... since I've had time to sit down and read a good book! I'm working on the stack of books I brought home from work and the first one I finished is, "When Heaven Fell." It's the story about the 1975 Operation Babylift where more than four thousand Vietnamese children were flown out of their country to homes in America, Canada, Europe and Australia. I have read several other cultural books by this author, Carolyn Marsden and have enjoyed each one.
As I looked over my LibraryThing list I only counted 24 books read for 2009. Usually I read between 35-50 books a year so this is something I need to improve for 2010. I think starting a new job this year and working longer hours has changed my joy of reading. Maybe I just need a fresh start ... try a new author ... new titles ... a new genre. Any suggestions? Leave a comment : )

Cookies Anyone?

Monday night I went to our annual cookie exchange ... my 20th year. I've missed a few along the way due to illness or ER visits but this year ... thankfully, I felt well. I made my favorite cookie recipe ... Chocolate Crackles. I love them but I have to say that my kitchen looked like a snowstorm had blown through after rolling all of them in powdered sugar. I packaged twelve dozen for the exchange, took a couple dozen to TCC's Tastes and Sounds and sent the rest to work with Walt.
Tuesday the moms at school invited the staff to a "cookie exchange" ... tables were covered with plates and platters of cookies they had lovingly baked for us. We were invited to select two dozen cookies but we were encouraged to enjoy another round as there were so many cookies leftover. What a thoughtful school community. I would love to have some of their recipes.
Needless to say, I will not have to worry about baking next week. If you stop by, please help us out and have a cookie or two. They're delicious!
P.S. Matt: I saved your favorite -- Loretta's candied nuts :)

Our Christmas Card

This year we discovered that Costco Photo has a new option where you can custom design your own Christmas photo card so we decided to give it a try this year. Walt tweaked the template I downloaded last year and we just added paper, embellishments, and photos. It was fun to have enough space to include everyone in the family ... including a few 35th anniversary shots.
Sending our Christmas greetings to all of you ...

P.S. Passing on a great idea ... we sent our Christmas card jpg file to Costco and ordered an 8x10 to insure the color was correct and that the pictures weren't distorted etc. before placing a large quantity card order. I framed this and displayed it in our home during the holidays. It was enjoyable to view this often since we usually send the cards and don't usually have one on display in our home. A good idea to keep in mind for 2010!

It's Been A Hard Days Night ...

This Beatle song was playing on the radio when I pulled out of the school parking lot yesterday ... the first minute of my two week winter break. Very appropriate for how much I have been juggling while working full-time and keeping up with Christmas traditions.
You know you're ready for a break when ...

• While on lunch duty and trying to keep the cafeteria quiet, I walk by a second grade table with the intention of saying, "This table is too noisy." but in my fatigued mind I said, "This table is too quiet." ... and believe me, they haven't let me forget it : ) Now any time I'm near their table they comment loud enough for me to hear ... "Hey, we're being too quiet!" and laugh. OK ... hopefully they forget about that over the break. I think I'm starting to feel "at home" in my school community and find myself getting attached to so many of the students. There are more hugs, a lot of smiles and teasing ... and connection in seeing a student's love of reading. I think I will miss many of them over the next two weeks.
• My RSS inbox shows 287 unread posts. I haven't had time to keep up with my favorite blogs and miss these "internet" friends and what is going on in their lives.
• Shopping is only about a third of the way completed and I haven't started wrapping yet. Everything always comes together by the 24th and I'm thankful to be off work to pull it all together.
• I haven't had the time or energy to make an appointment for a haircut ... my last one was in June >gasp<>

There have been very few blank squares on my calendar this month. We have been to parties, cookie exchanges, school programs, dinner out with friends, church programs, volunteering time as stocking stuffers @ Templeton, shopping for presents, mailing cards ... all that is usually associated with the season. And it can all squeeze out the reason for the season ... Jesus' birthday and "making room" for Him in our heart ... and with our time.
I am looking forward to a relaxing vacation ... one of the great benefits of my job! I hope you are finding time for JOY ON YOUR JOURNEY this week.

Bargain Hunting

One of the fun things about Christmas shopping is stumbling onto a great bargain. Yesterday I found this blouse on the clearance rack at Kohl's for $3.20. I'm into brown now so even if I only wear it camping at Wallowa it was worth every penny. However, I'm sure it will get use beyond camping. But for now it will be stored with my spring-summer apparel ... bbbrrrr ... it's too cold to wear this today. The current temperature is 33 degrees. I'm heading downstairs to sit by the gas fireplace and warm up!

Ssshhhhh! We're Secret Santas

Last night we picked up the grandkids for a dinner date and Christmas shopping for Mom & Dad. We let them pick the place and it was WENDY'S ... honest, Grandpa had no influence on the decision : ) We enjoyed our favorite entrees and the best part of the meal ... a Leap Frog calculator!
Next it was off to the Tanasbourne area and their favorite place to shop ... Target. What fun we had looking at EVERYTHING ... especially the toy dept. We now have some good ideas for our shopping lists. Our favorite part of this adventure was in the Christmas aisle. Calleigh found all the dancing-singing stuffed characters and had an entire row "performing" at once. What fun!
We did accomplish our mission ... these Secret Santas are good. They picked out one gift for Mom and one for Dad. We even bought gift bags and tissue, went over to the snack bar in the store, ordered Colin's favorite --popcorn, and sat down to wrap our gifts before heading home.
I think this will be one of the highlights of the holiday season and could easily become an annual tradition. However, we need to plan "date nights" for the other 11 months of the year. I'll have to come up with some fun ideas ... do you have one to share?
The only disappointment in our outing ... my "purse" camera was left behind at home. It would have been wonderful to capture some of the magic of the evening!
I hope you are finding JOY in this season ...

Good Morning Sunriver

This is the view from our Sunriver window ... a wonderful wintery welcome for our day!

We are enjoying this very large, spacious house ... the snow is an added bonus.

What a wonderful family "retreat."

A Good Read

One of my favorite things about our fall "retreat" in Sunriver is uninterrupted time to read. I usually bring a stack of books and so far I have finished two. It seems like each year at this time Richard Paul Evans's newest Christmas book is released and is at the top of my Sunriver reading stack. And I was not disappointed! It is a story you do not want to put down.

Evans was inspired to write this book after recalling a seventh-grade assignment of writing your own obituary. Thus begins the story ... James Kier reads his obituary in the Tribune only to discover what people really think about him. With three weeks before Christmas he has no idea what this article is about to set in motion. It is a great story of redemption, forgiveness and our legacy.

Now it's time to get back to "Gone With The Wind" and the rebuilding of Atlanta : )

Living As A Desert

Not many people I am acquainted with have heard of Sjogren's Syndrome (pronounced SHOW-grins) but it affects 1-4 million people in the United States. Women are nine times more likely to have this than men.

Sjogren's Syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease in which people's white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands. The most prominent symptoms are dry eyes and dry mouth but it can also cause dysfunction of other organs -- kidneys, gastrointestinal, blood vessels, lungs, liver etc. It can also cause extreme fatigue and joint pain.

On average it takes about seven years to get a diagnosis for this disease and that is exactly how long it took in my diagnosis. For years I went to doctor visits with various symptoms only to be told I was suffering from depression, fibromyalgia etc. It wasn't until Ron, a Physician's Asst. investigated a little further. After I shared a strong family history of autoimmune disease he ran tests and sent me to a Rheumatologist.

Over the years I have had some ups and downs with symptoms, remission, medications but I have been able to tolerate most of it. However, in June I started having mouth sores and tongue cracks ... my mouth burns all the time. I find it hard to eat most foods and have difficulty talking for long periods of time. My mouth and eyes are so dry that I feel like my body has turned in to a desert!

Right now I am trying several remedies, medications etc. but so far all of this has had no impact on the cracks and burning. The Dr. says stress aggravates this disease and suggested I reduce my work hours / workload. This week I had two days off work so we rented a house in Sunriver for four nights. It has been so nice to rest, read ... relax. Hopefully, this retreat will be the perfect Rx to get this Sjogren's thing turned around.

Fall Family Fun

Sunday the family gathered at Lee's Farm for a fun fall day together. We were a bit concerned about the potential weather and bundled up in warm coats and boots only to be welcomed with patches of blue sky and warm temps. The perfect pumpkin patch day!

Our first order of business was to grab a bag of their delicious fresh pumpkin donuts. They melt in your mouth. Colin and Calleigh wanted to visit the face painting booth and each sat patiently while waiting to see the artists' creations. Colin chose aliens and Calleigh wanted to be a kitty.

We ventured over to the jumping castle where Calleigh had little interest ... her eyes were on the giant slide. Daddy was her first co-pilot and then grandma offered to go with her. I think the slide may be a tad bit too waxed because toward the bottom we were "airborne" and my head hit the slide pretty hard. Uncle Tim even got a turn at Calleigh's request. Our next adventure was riding the horses. I think Calleigh nearly fell asleep in the saddle. She is at the point of wanting to give up naps but still gets a little tired in the afternoon. The ride was much too relaxing!

After picking up a few pumpkins and gourds we drove back to our house for a meal of homemade soups and snacks. Of course, our day wouldn't be complete without our annual cookie decorating. There were some very creative designers this year ... after several decades of doing this, we are getting quite good at it : )

It was a very full, fun day ... LOVE spending time with the family. I hope you are enjoying some fun fall traditions at your house!

Oregon Culinary Institute

Last Friday evening we had the pleasure of sharing a new dining experience with Donna and Pierre at the Oregon Culinary Institute.

The dinner offering is a four-course meal from their Autumn menu at a cost of $18 per person. For a starter I selected the Smoky Lentil Soup and the Roasted Beet Salad from the salad choices ... both fabulous selections. With four choices in the entree section I chose the Maple-Brined Pork Chop that included roasted acorn squash, creamed brussels sprouts and chestnuts. I am not a big fan of brussels sprouts but these were delicious. To top off our meal I selected the Chocolate Dream Torte. It was hard to narrow it down with so many wonderful choices. Soft drinks, coffee and tea are only $1 with free refills and glasses of wine start at $4.

The Oregon Culinary Institute is open Monday through Friday. Lunch is served at noon and dinner at 7 pm. Reservations can be made at 503.961.6200. They are located at 1701 SW Jefferson in Portland.

We will definitely go back again. The staff was very courteous and attentive, the food was fabulous ... and of course, our dining companions are the best : ) I highly recommend giving it a try!