Highlights for another week

It's been another whirlwind week. Work actually turned out to be extremely difficult, so I was very happy to have some nice things going on outside work. My DH was great the day after my company laid off a bunch of people. He gave me big hugs and took me out to Bick's for dinner. I had my favorite, seafood curry. No one on my team got laid off, but there was a lot of drama and plenty of questions for me to answer. I guess another highlight is that no one on my team got laid off last week.

This weekend, the DH and I hung out with the nephew here in town. We started out Friday evening with dinner at an Italian restaurant and then books and bed. Saturday, we hung out and ran errands and did grocery shopping and all the while, the nephew was a great sport and had a good time with us. We also played with the Wii and watched movies. The nephew shared one of his favorites with us -- Star Wars Clone Wars. It's a cartoon and we liked it. I was impressed with the nephew's knowledge of space and I was certainly glad that I like Star Wars. I think that he enjoyed going out to breakfast with us and getting McDonald's for lunch. After all that cruddy food, we ate dinner in.

Tonight, the DH and I got to help a couple in our Ward that we're friends with. They needed help with their satalite TV and called in a frenzy. This from a couple who wouldn't call for help if a meteor fell in their backyard. We had a great time joking around with them and I called the helpdesk after fiddling with the remote for 20 minutes didn't work. All in all, we had a great time with them and we figure we can help them out any old time.

Highlights...

It really has been a good, busy week. It started off with our weekly Family Home Eatin' with the usual suspects. We really enjoy the company of those folks. On Tuesday, I had a stake relief society presidency meeting where we got more plans in place for our women's conference in April. On Thursday, we were going to home teach, but instead we spent a few hours at the hospital ER where one of the women we home teach was admitted when she lost consciousness. She's fine now and out of the hospital, but that certainly added to the excitement of our lives for a couple of days.

On Saturday, we headed out to Monroe with Beep and Bop to see our friends, the Momma's Boys. We had a fantastic dinner! I'm very lucky to have friends who are such great cooks. Nicole made corn chowder and homemade rolls (divine). Dan made the most amazing dessert of grilled pineapple, mascarpone cheese, nutella, and toasted hazelnuts. I never knew these things could be so delightful together. You can read Giada de Laurentis' recipe here. After dinner, we had a great time talking and playing fussball, ping pong, and pool. I think I could really enjoy pool if I got a little more practice.

On Sunday, I got to go to my own ward for church. I like ward conferences, but they take me away to other wards and I prefer going to my own ward, so this was a good thing. We then had a very low key Sunday with no other plans. The DH got a long nap and I caught up on some of the ABC TV shows that I can't see on TV due to the Dish Network issues with Fisher Broadcasting (Booooo! as said by the witch in Princess Bride). And now we've started another week...

Highlights for the past couple of weeks

I've still been having trouble posting regularly, but I'm trying to get back in the habit. The last couple of weeks have been full of fun and friends and all kinds of good stuff.

• For President's Day weekend, we went to Seabrook (20 miles North of Ocean Shores on the Washington coast) for a bit of a getaway with friends. We loved the house and little community that they've built there. And the bed was amazing. Patrick and I are trying to figure out how we can get that same mattress at home now.
• Extra time with my husband because of the weekend away. I don't know why, but we both really like going on road trips together. It's great to be in the car and have good scenery along the way.
• Our friends Carolyn and John got married last Friday. It was great to go to their wedding and share the joy with them.
• Carolyn's friends Serge and Linda came up from Las Vegas and we had a great time visiting with them.
• I enjoyed seeing some old friends from working at Microsoft at the wedding parties. Carolyn is working in the group I used to work in at Microsoft, so we now have several mutual friends.
• I had lunch with Jan and Julie, former collegues at Microsoft, yesterday and had a great time catching up. I was so lucky to work with great people while I was at Microsoft and I still really miss them.

That's the short version. I'll try to get to posting some pictures of the beach trip when I'm home one evening.

Highlights for the last month?

Even though I had a lot going on, there were still several highlights over the last month. Here's the good stuff:

• In mid-January, I got to hear Michael Pollan speak at the Seattle Arts & Lectures. In addition to being very entertaining, he also got me thinking. I'm now looking forward to reading some of his books. Thanks, Kathleen, for loaning me one!
• Later that same week, I made the trek over to the U district to hear Julie Beck, the General Relief Society President. I really enjoyed her message about how none of us really get to live the "dream" we thought about as young girls. It was a very nice reminder that although life doesn't often turn out as you thought it would, it can still turn out quite nicely. I left feeling pretty good about my life as it is now.
• Last weekend, the DH and I got to help celebrate a friend's birthday at Luau. The restaurant is really fun and the food is fantastic. We also got to see some folks we don't often run into, so that was fun too.
• On Saturday, also last weekend, was the Seattle Mathlete's baby shower. Beep did a fantastic job of planning, creating, and decorating. You can see more of what she did here. I loved the chartreuse theme, but the very best was her invitations and the onesies that she embroidered with the same bird she put on the invites. She's brilliant!
• Later that weekend, the BIL, Brent, came to town for some business. Since his business just happens to be my business, we got to hang out some. It was pretty cool going on a client call with him.
• Last week was super hard, but another hightlight was finishing two HUGE projects that had completely unreasonable deadlines. It feels fantastic to have them done and out of the way.
• This weekend, I finally got a pedicure that I've been wanting for weeks, but just couldn't find the time to do.
• My Sunday was actually very relaxing and I didn't work at all. That's the way it's supposed to be.

What have your highlights been? Enquiring minds want to know!

Highlights and more...

I didn't post highlights last week, because it was just too crazy, so I'll have to cover the last two weeks. Here are the good things:

• A fun project with the Relief Society making stockings for under-priveledged children. We also had very yummy soup for dinner and I got to hang out with some fantastic women who I really enjoy.
• Going to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and then getting Annzy jealous about it. It was based on the movie, so it had all the fun things Annzy loves.
• A weekend with NO obligations at all and then church cancelled. It's been a long time since I could just take care of personal stuff and enjoy the weekend.
• A super fun Indian cooking class with Carolyn and Lori. The food was fantastic and I need to get some of the spices so I can try the recipes. We totally stunk after the class, but it was worth it.
• More Indian food the next night with my co-workers. The only down side of that was wishing Patrick could have joined me.
• Snow, snow, and then more snow! I guess this is good and bad, but I'm not stranded anywhere, not missing a trip to see loved-ones, and not worried about getting in a wreck on the roads. I'm blessed to be in a nice warm house and be able to work from home, so I don't have to stress out about things getting too far behind there.
• Making pecan brittle and having it turn out right on the first try (so I didn't have to waste all that butter and pecans).
• Giving a talk in church yesterday. I know it's hard to believe, but I actually volunteered and then got help from Dad and gave a talk that got pretty good reviews. There were only 28 of us at church and I must say that I enjoyed the much more intimate meeting.

Well, life is good and I'm looking forward to the rest of this week. We may see a thaw, but we may see more frozen stuff too.

Highlights -- and We'll Forget the Lowlights

Life doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, but it's been a great week. The DH and I bought a Christmas tree this weekend in addition to going to two parties with lots of fun friends.

Friday night we went to the famous nacho party hosted by those crazy ice cream eaters. The nachos were great and the green tomatilla salsa was the highlight of my night. Wait -- maybe it was the peppermint bark. Both were very tasty!

On Saturday night, it was the annual Christmas gift exchange at Fred and Cathy's house. We all brought two gifts to exchange and that's just where the fun began. The gifts were funny, irreverant, practical, and everything in between. We left with a purse, a teepot, a spork, and a gnome. Now, that's fun times. I was a little sad when the DH lost the lottery tickets, but we'll live. I like to work anyway.

Sunday we had a wonderful time visiting with another set of friends who live in Lynnwood now. We went to church with them and then had a great pot roast dinner. We got to see their new baby and I even got to have spitup on my shirt. Good times! That evening, we went to a stake Christmas event around the broadcast from the first presidency and Mormon Tabenacle Choir. The presentation was a very nice way to be reminded of the reason for the season and associate with some really nice people. I was in charge of refreshments, so I ordered brownied from QFC and topped some with Andes mint sprinkle. I had a few friends (and tons of help from the DH) to get everything plated and out to the masses. It was an hour of pretty intense work, but everything went off without a hitch. We had exactly 20 brownies left over. How's that for planning? I was pretty happy about it.

Week in Review and Highlights

I've had one crazy week, but it's all behind me now. Here is some of the wackiness:

• I don't even know how many hours I worked last week. Even with the holiday, I know I topped 40. The DH and parents got to hear my conference calls, the BIL got to be part of my meetings, and the whole family saw me watching movies with my laptop always attached. It's ugly when there's a big deadline on December first.
• The DH and I traveled to Boise and go to spend time with my family. We also spent an evening with the Ips and an evening with the Godfreys. They are both great couples that I miss a lot being so far away.
• Thanksgiving dinner was GREAT! My family really can cook and there was too much of everything. It was also great to be in the same room with my entire family, parents, siblings, brothers and sisters in law, and all my nieces and nephews. They're all such wonderful people to be around. I think all the nieces and nephews just keep getting to be more fun too.
• A bunch of the women went to see Australia. I loved it. The cinematography was outstanding and the story moved along nicely. Even at one hour and fourty minutes, it didn't drag for a moment. And of course, I enjoy a good love story. I'd recommend it to anyone interested.
• The DH and I took two nieces to the World Center for Birds of Prey just south of Boise. It was really interesting seeing the different birds and hearing the volunteers there talk about the birds. The birds in the center now are all birds that couldn't make it in the wild.
• Had a great dinner at Flying Pie Pizzaria Gourmet Night with Whitney, Brent, and the girls. They have all you can eat gourmet pizzas in addition to all the regular stuff. YUM! And fun with such good company.
• The DH got to see three football games on Thanksgiving day and watched the BSU/Fresno State game on Friday. I can't say he got his fill of football (because he may never get his fill), but he sure got a good fix.

All in all, it was a great week with a lot of time spent with a great family and some good friends. I miss them already!

Highlights -- Better Late Than Later

I usually post highlights on Wednesdays, but that was a busy day and no posting on highlights got done. As you can imagine, Wednesday is included in the highlights though. Here's the good stuff:

• The DH's birthday. I was really excited to get him Photoshop, but now neither of us know what to do with it. I got a book with online tutorials, but that will take some time to learn. Maybe that will be a highlight in a few weeks -- figuring out Photoshop.


• We had fun with the Wright's and Leyland's at Snoose Junction Pizza in Ballard. It's such a great little place with very tasty food and no issues with hollering kids.


• A weekend with very few committments. We went to the ward play, but not much more.


• Hanging with the nephew while the brother and SIL went to her 10th anniversary at Microsoft party. We had dinner at IHOP and the nephew seemed to have a great time.


• Roasted free-range chicken from the DH's sister. She must have been an old bird -- the chicken that is. We had yummy carrots and potatos with it too and it was sure good.


• Hearing the DH talk in church, and our good friend Carolyn. They both did great!


• Home teaching the Neumann's. They're an older couple in our ward from Germany and were teenagers in WWII. They have more interesting stories than you can shake a stick at. We always have a great time visiting with them. They also sure put "trials" in perspective. I never had my friend die while we were working or throw a bomb back out the window after it fell in the kitchen. Seriously. Real stuff.


• Hitting the gym like it's going out of style. I ran a bunch yesterday. Ouch.

I'm sure I've missed some, but those are a few high points.

And here's one I forgot to add last week. The DH asked me to make a bowl cake for one of the guys at work for his birthday. The guy loves to play pool, so we gave him a 9-ball. Fun, huh? The DH said the guys at work thought it was fantastic.

Highlights (and Lowlights)

It's been one heck of a week! Last Thursday I had to drive up to Smoky Point in the rain and rush-hour traffic for a meeting and didn't have the good sense to try to carpool with anyone else who was going. That was just me being a bit loopy. For once, the DH and I didn't have much at all planned for the weekend. It was good not to have any obligations, but we were thrilled when Fred and Cathy called and invited us to play Settlers of Cattan with them on Saturday evening. We went out to Mexican and then went over and played -- and the DH won! There were a couple of very experienced players who thought they had the strategy down, but the DH beat them out anyway.

On Saturday, we also had our internet connection go out again. And, again, AT&T doesn't have customer support on the weekends, so I had to wait until Monday to call to get it fixed. I was on the phone from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and they finally got it up and running. While I was getting ready for work, I left the browser window open and when I went to close things down at 8:30, the internet connection was gone again. I had to get to work though, so I had to wait until evening to call again. I was on the phone for over an hour in the evening before the support agent told me that I can't get a signal because I'm too far from the signal. Funny... I wasn't too far from the signal last week, or for the last few years for that matter. At any rate, he said he was sorry, it wouldn't work. Period. Good luck getting internet.

Tuesday I did a little research and found out that Qwest and Verizon DSL are also not available at our house. That leaves HughesNet satalite (which apparently is only a bit faster than dial-up), ClearWire, or Comcast. I found out that Costco carries ClearWire, so I thought we might get a deal on that, but also thought I would at least call Comcast to see what it would cost. I was expecting that it would be more expensive than I wanted to pay, but found out that if I bundle internet, local, and long-distance calling, then it's actually $8 more than I was paying for AT&T DSL. It's also faster than DSL or ClearWire, so now I'm committed. We get Comcast internet next week (waiting 7 days to transfer the phone number to Comcast).

The rest of the week has been crazy work and Relief Society meetings, so I'm ready for another weekend.

Highlights of the last seven days

I love this country! I love the democratic process (even if it does seem confusing). Today I listened to both speaches from Barack Obama and John McCain given last night after the election results were in. One of the highlights of this race was John McCain's consession speach. What a fantastic speach from someone surely disappointed in the results. He showed such diplomacy and true courtesy and respect for the office of the President. Another highlight was the speach given by Barack Obama. I loved this quote from his speach:

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.

I know not everyone who reads my blog shares my political opinions, but today I am thrilled for a new president-elect who I believe does bring new hope.

In addition to the amazing speaches those two men gave, other highlights include having my husband return from a weekend away for a Raider's game, an uneventful Halloween, getting all the goods for some Christmas gifts I'm working on, and fun with the nephew's Halloween party and a movie afterwards with the SIL.

It's been another great week and I feel blessed. It's a good feeling.

Highlights for the last week

The past week has been pretty good, but I'll have to settle on a few highlights:

• Dinner at Hy's Steak House in Honolulu with the DH
• Sleeping in my own bed again after a long trip
• Autumn party at Bop and Beep's place
• Hearing about everything I missed while I was gone (specifically my Relief Society responsibilities)
• Going to the temple with the DH yesterday

Good Times

I feel like I've been too busy to breath lately. Work just doesn't seem to let up and the DH and I seem to overbook ourselves between work, church, music, and everything else we like to do. Don't get me wrong. This is not a complaint. Really, it's just more of an observation.

I thought this week was going to be a little less hectic, but several church responsibilities have proven that to be a bad assumption. I'm responsible for refreshments and the program for Education Night while I'm out of town this weekend, so it's been a scramble to get everything done. Still, I've had a pretty fun and entertaining week.

These are the highlights:

• Easy peasy Friday night with the DH and no plans. We went out to dinner and then came home and watched TV from the DVR.
• Making a Christmas present for the SIL at our Relief Society activity on Saturday morning. I can't say what it was (because that would spoil the surprise), but it was fun to learn.
• Ballard Art Walk and dinner with friends. We had a delightful time chatting and looking in shops and seeing art.
• Ham and mac 'n' cheese for Sunday dinner. I haven't made the soup yet, but it's on the list for Thursday.
• Completing the program for Education Night and deciding that it doesn't look too bad. I'm not a designer, but I could play one on TV.

More Highlights

Work has been a little hectic (though I think I may be caught up by the end of the day), and so has the church responsibility, but there have still been some really bright moments in the last few days.

• Mahler's 8th Symphony. Brilliant!
• Continueing to read Three Cups of Tee. Informative.
• Dieter Uchdorf's remarks at the women's broadcast. Moving and motivating.
• Chicken and dumplings for Sunday dinner. Tasty.

I hope the last week has been good for you!

Another Great Week

It's been another really nice week and I've got several highlights. It's really great to have good friends and family to share with. Here's the best of it:

• Listening to Richard Russo at Seattle Arts & Lectures
• Attending SA&L with Kathleen
• Pizza with the DH for Friday night dinner
• The Greek Bazaar on Saturday
• Friends over for dinner on Sunday

I'm also glad the parents made it home safe and sound from their trip to Yellowstone, Jackson, and Cody.

Highlights of the Last Week

It's been a great week and there are so many things to choose from for highlights. Here are just a few:

• Lunch with the brother, SIL, and nephew at Snappy Dragon -- great company and yummy salt and pepper chicken
• The new cabinets getting done
• Ballard Art Walk and seeing Kim's photos
• Potluck with friends in Pioneer Square
• Seeing the documentary Nobody Knows and hearing Margaret Young and Darius Gray talk about their expereince making the documentary

There's just so much good stuff going on! What was the highlight of your last week?

What a Week!

I haven't posted much in the last week, because it was busy, busy, busy! The DH and I were traveling again, this time to Boise, so we had lot's of fun with family. Here are the highlights of the last seven days:

• Traveling to Boise for Art in the Park


• Staying at my brother's house and being entertained by the kids


• Pumpkin waffles for breakfast


• Celebrating the brother's birthday


• Finding out our new cabinets are almost done

The Best of the Week

Keeping the tradition of the weekly highlights, these are the best parts of the last seven days:

• Phad Thai at the Raiders game on Friday
• Sarah coming to visit (and going to the art museum with her)
• Meeting Sarah's friend Anna -- what a hoot! We loved her.
• Sleeping in on Monday
• My anniversary flowers looking even more beautiful today than when I got them over a week ago.

What's going on with you? Any highlights?

Highlights

Today was a really nice day, but it's been a pretty nice week as well. Highlights this week include:

• Fresh Hermiston watermelon (it really is #1 on my highlight list for a reason)
• Driving with my DH this weekend
• Roses delivered to work on Monday
• Anniversary dinner with the DH this evening

I hope you're having a great week too!

More Highlights

Background: when we were growing up, we always sat down together as a family for dinner. The TV was always off and we all had to stay at the table until we were excused. During dinner, dad would ask each of us to share the highlight of our day. Note that there are two brilliant parenting examples here. 1) The whole family was together once every day. 2) We actually had to talk to each other when we were together.

There are a couple of results of this (and other family stuff), the most important being that I actually like my family and consider them friends. I know a lot of you like your families, but as I meet more people, I'm amazed at how many people really don't consider their siblings or parents friends. It makes me realize that I shouldn't take it for granted and I feel VERY blessed.

So, enough of the other stuff. It's time to get on with the highlight of the past week. I've had a really good past seven days, so this is kind of hard to narrow down, but here are the very best bits of the past week:

• Sunday dinner with the family. And I know I've talked about the fried chicken and new potatoes too much. The best part really was being with the Boise part of the family.
• Seeing Aida (the opera) with the DH and our friend Ken. It really was great. I usually get bored about half way through a lot of operas, but this one held my attention to the very end -- after four acts at 11:00 p.m.
• Watching Mama Mia! with my mom and sisters.
• Celebrating Mac's birthday on Sunday (and her actual birthday was yesterday, when she turned 13).

How was the last week for you?

The Highlight of My Week

Annzy asked what the hightlight of my week was, so I thought I'd share on my blog. These are a few of the best things of the past week:

• Going back to the gym because my foot doesn't hurt (YAY!)
• Sharing brownies with the Wright's and talking about their foray into the world of adoption. Go see their adoption blog and spread the word. They're a great family and we know there's someone out there with a baby meant for them.
• Watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics -- Oh how I LOVE the Olympics.
• Hanging with my main squeeze on the weekend and having dinner at Wild Mountain Cafe. I didn't get the Mac 'n' Cheese, but the paella was really yummy.