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Last night was the my oldest daughter’s NJROTC Annual Military Inspection and Parade (AMI) and her younger siblings and I were there to support her. She invited a handful of other friends and family but
none of them were able to make it. I think she was rather bummed about that even though she didn’t say so directly. Her body language showed her disappointment, though.

Even though the little kids thought it was boring and my youngest son had some trouble sitting still – and being quiet in otherwise silent gymnasium – I enjoyed it. The kids did a wonderful job marching and showing their expertise to the higher-ups. And **24** of them got perfect scores during the inspection!

I did get several pictures . . . none of the Teenager – she wouldn’t let me take one. Even though I begged. Pleaded. Bribed. Still, she just wouldn’t let me. The shots I took of her platoon didn’t turn out as clear as I would have liked but there is one where you can mostly see her peeking out from behind the others.

I haven’t uploaded the pictures from my camera yet but I will do that later today and add them to this post. Plan to check back tonight or tomorrow if you’re interested in seeing them.

Until then . . .

Be blessed,

It’s so frosty outside this morning! At first glance, I thought it had snowed! And it was only 23º f outside when I took the kids out to the school bus. It had BETTER NOT be another winter like last year . . . GRRRR

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

First, let me apologize in advance for the length of this post and it’s ramblingness. So many things have happened in the past several weeks since I last posted, there’s just no way to catch up without going on and on and on.

But I promise I will not be like the energizer bunny and never END.

So, having said that . . .

I’m happy to say the first order of business is to let you know that my former brother in law is doing much, much better! In fact, he is even going to be able to go home this Friday! We’re so glad about that. For the first several days after his stroke, it looked like he may not even make it through the weekend. Fortunately, he has LOTS and LOTS of people who just love him and his family who have never ceased praying for his recovery.

It’s been a very long road for him but he’s surprising his doctors and nurses and therapists with his bravery and his inner strength to get through this, to become whole again. All of that inner drive has certainly paid off. Even though he still has a ways to go, it’s looking better every day. For that, we’re all thankful. Just in time for summer, too!

And speaking of summer . . .

We’ve been so busy lately with school winding down. Lots of activities at the kids’ schools – committee meetings, award ceremonies, family nights, book fairs, concerts and the like – that I’ve barely had time to breathe. In between all of that, I’ve been working on design projects and writing projects, both volunteer and paid.

In fact, one of the committees I was on this year for The Short Dude’s preschool, was the cookbook committee. It was very fun and I met a few other moms and kids. It gave the Short Dude some other friends to play with once in a while during non-school hours as our meetings were usually on Friday’s when the pre-schoolers didn’t have class. He enjoyed the meetings as much as I did.

When everyone on the committee learned that I do graphics, they asked if I would create the cover and inner pages for the cookbook along with the flyers and what-not. I was blessed to be able to say yes even though it was A LOT of work. I enjoyed it.

The group and I came up with a cute cover, if I may say so myself. Honestly, though, I was skeptical about what it would really look like in print. I was afraid the background color would be way too bright and set an obnoxious tone. Since it’s all about kids, the cover features pictures of the kids from the pre-school eating fruits and veggies and it’s all in bright, primary colors. We called it “Children’s Chow of Choice” and I think it fits rather well.

So last week when I found out the cookbooks were in, my heart was pounding! I was both scared and excited to see them. Our group leader (who is a staff member at the school) assured me they turned out fabulous. And when I saw them, I must admit – they did look rather great!

Even though I’ve been doing graphics for almost 20 years, it’s still exciting to see something I’ve created in its final form. Often these days when I design something for a client, I never actually see the finished, physical product, (except for things like business cards). I’ll take a picture of the cookbook later and post it.

After such a great time working on the cookbook committee, when the director asked me if I’d be willing to work on the end of year celebration (graduation) committee, I agreed. So now I am working on the certificates for the pre-school ‘graduation’ celebration next week. The theme is “stars” so I’ve put a cascading rainbow of stars on the side of the certificate. I don’t want it to be overwhelming – it’s just a very simple design. I designed 3 different styles for the committee to choose from and now I’m just waiting to hear which one is a go.

Also coming up soon are the elementary school concerts. Gman’s class is performing a band concert with their recorders and other instruments they’ve learned to play in music this year. And Little Girls class is doing kind of a spoken word and music play of some sort. Not really sure but she’s says it’s going to be fun.

School is getting out almost a week late, though, because of the snow make up days. They were originally supposed to have half days this week but that changed too. I’m kinda glad, though – they’ll be home all day soon enough!

The highlight of the first week of summer vacation will be spending some time with my husband’s sister and her girlfriend. They are doing a 30-day long road trip around the Western US visiting as many of the National Parks (and friends/family) as they can. They are Zion National Park now, I think, and will be here June 12th for a few days before they head over to the Washington Peninsula to the Olympic National Park.

I’m very excited because this will be the first time I’ve met my sister in law! She lives in New York – almost as far away from Seattle as you can get and still be in the continental US – so getting together is not easy, especially when you throw in jobs and kids and school and those good things.

And the other thing I’m really looking forward to is the sun and BBQ’s and going to the beach! We’ve had such a cold, dreary winter, I’m definitely ready for a change of pace. This week has been quite nice – in the upper 60’s and low 70’s – just about perfect!

What are your summer plans? Has summer vacation started yet in your area? What are you most looking forward to this summer?

I hope whatever you do, you enjoy the time with family and friends.

I’ll be back soon with some pictures and maybe a reading list along with a few new recipes I’m itching to try out. Oh – and look for a new post over at The Weight Loss Papers soon too.

In the arena,

Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you will still land among the stars. ~ Les Brown

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

I was beginning to think Mother Nature had forgotten what “Spring” meant. But it appears she has finally remembered. And I’m excited about that because snow and rain and cold, icky weather was just getting old and tiring. I can finally see why senior citizens and other retired folks go to Arizona and such for the winter months.

For the past few days here in NW Washington, we’ve had sunny skies in the 60’s. Great weather for this time of year! And it’s what makes me love spring in the first place. Nice, cool (but not cold) mornings and warm afternoons.

Beautiful.

The kids are funny, though. They insist on wearing their winter jackets to school.

Gman – “But mom, what if it gets cold? Or what if it rains?”

Little Girl – “Yeah, mom. He’s right. We should wear them just in case.”

Short Dude – “No, mom. I really want to wear my warm jacket.”

Me – “Ok, fine but trust me, you won’t need it.”

And then when they get home from school,

All of them – “Geez, mom. It’s H-O-T out here!”

Um, yeah, guys. Tried to warn ya.

The bummer of the whole thing, though, is that LAST week – when it was still cold and rainy – was SPRING BREAK. Go figure. So, the kids were cooped up in the house all week with not much to do because it was too nasty outside to do anything or go anywhere. And we all were definitely ready for school to resume this week!

Can’t wait to get outside and ride bikes! Biking is one my favorite pastimes. Another good thing about Spring. I know – there are people out there who ride year-round no matter the weather. But not me. Sorry. Rain, I can deal with – but freezing temps are another thing. And as that’s about all we’ve had since last November, I haven’t ridden in a while.

Not that I have a bike to ride at the moment anyway. I’m looking into getting a new bike as I gave mine to The Teenager because she outgrew her old one. So, I’ve been researching new bikes and drooling over them.

Due to my back and arm issues, the doctor and physical therapist have all recommended I ride a recumbent bike anyway so giving my bike to The Teenager made sense. It’s really a nice bike – 24 speed mountain bike with some extras including a nice seat, top of the line shifters and brakes that were easy on my arm. It’s a smaller frame so it fits people in the 4′8 – 5′4 range quite nicely. If she continues to take care of it as I have, she should have it for many more years.

I am looking forward to getting a recumbent so I’ve whittled my list down to a couple of 3-wheel (trike) versions that I think would really work well for me. Now it’s just a matter of making a final choice and biting the bullet. (Recumbents are typically quite expensive. In fact, some of them are even more expensive than what my CAR is worth! LOL) Too funny.

The models I’m looking at are:

1. TerraTrike Path 8
2. Catrike Pocket
3. Greenspeed GT3
4. Sun EZ Tad

I really like the looks and everything of the TerraTrike, but I’m leaning towards either Catrike or the Sun. They all seem fairly comparable to me though the Catrike Pocket comes in a smaller size to fit shorter folks. Actually, so do the TerraTrike and Sun models. I really like the look and reviews of the Catrike and Sun and I know of 2 of each of those models for sale for a little less than the retail prices.

If you’ve ridden a recumbent – and specifically, one of the models I’ve listed here – let me know what you think and why you like (or don’t like) that model. I’d appreciate any input I can get. Hopefully, I will make a choice and be able to purchase one by the end of the month.

Aside from my back and arm issues, the other reason I want to start riding again is part of my exercise plan for weight loss. I used to ride everywhere as a kid – all over the place, really – and if I wasn’t at home reading, my friends and I were hanging out and riding bikes. I even built my own bikes when I was a pre-teen & teenager because I couldn’t find one exactly like I wanted.

Funny enough – the bike I was riding when I trashed my arm was one I had *just* finished building. It wasn’t even 24 hours old when I had the accident. (No, the accident had nothing to do with the bike – just stupid teenage error on my part; i.e. – riding down a really steep hill going very fast.)

Bike riding has always been one my favorite outdoor activities and I always miss it during the cold winter months. With that and my arm/back injuries, I don’t ride as often as I’d really like to so I think getting a recumbent is the answer I’ve been looking for. Maybe I will even want to venture out when the weather isn’t so cooperative.

Luckily, my kids and my husband also enjoy riding. In fact, that’s we did after our wedding – we packed everything up and went bike riding for the afternoon!

Yes, I’m a funny girl. My kids think I’m downright weird.

But it’s okay . . . it runs in the family. I’m pretty sure I’ll get to laugh at them when they’re my age as much as they laugh at me now.

When I started this post, I had intended to write something about my weight loss achievements over the past few weeks but I think I’ll end here and save that for tomorrow.

Hope you’re enjoying your week!

In the arena,

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.
~ Denis Watley

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

That is . . . if the snow that is currently falling doesn’t stick around until morning. Supposedly, it’s going to turn to rain soon. One can only hope!

It’s been very fun having the kids home for almost 3 weeks. They got nearly a week extra because of the snow we had mid-December that stuck around for 13-ish days. And though it has been fun, we are all ready for school to start again tomorrow.

We’ve spent today ensuring clothes and backpacks are ready, that kids are all bathed, toys cleaned up and put away and that everybody is ready for bed on time. It’s after dinner now and the kids are relaxing with a movie. Soon they will be heading off for a good nights sleep. (I hope! The Short Dude has been waking up in the middle of the night lately for some unknown reason. Anyway . . .)

I am looking forward to being able to work and think without a bunch of interruptions all the time. I will have some peace and quiet once everyone gets on their buses. The only thing I’m not looking forward to is getting out of bed so blasted early! Being a night owl, mornings are especially difficult. And even though I usually am awake by 5:30, I’d rather not get out of bed until around 8.

My plan for this week is to do some additional baking that I didn’t get to while the kids were home. Partly because of the baking I did for Christmas but also because baking with all the kids wanting to see and taste and look and taste and push and shove each other out of the way so they can look and see and taste – it just isn’t fun. So I’d rather bake while they’re at school. Then I can get it done without extra “help” plus I can put things away and the kids don’t know it’s there until I get something out for snack or after dinner dessert.

This week, I plan to bake

Banana bread

Pumpkin bread

Chocolate chip cookies

Whole wheat dinner rolls

And . . .

Chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting

Because The Teenager is turning 15 on Thursday! And that’s what she requested.

Oh my goodness! Am I REALLY old enough to have a 15 year old child? Seriously? Because I don’t think so. Somebody should really check that out. I don’t know why her turning 15 is causing me shortness of breathe and heart palpitations, but it sure is.

Other things I plan to do this week include:

Get a family membership at the Y

Work on the customer service project

Tie up some loose ends with recent client projects

Begin new client projects

Like I mentioned in my 2009: Year of action post, this year is all about taking action. I’m breaking everything down with one intention in mind – to take Action. Every step will lead to the next level and as a result, I see 2009 as a very prosperous year.

Action is a target I can apply to anything I desire. I’ve found in the past that when my goals aren’t in alignment with my motivations, they often don’t get completed. By using a simple, one word goal for the entire year, I can apply it to everything I want to achieve.

If you had one word for your targets in 2009, what would it be?

In the arena,

“Following another’s path leads to who they are, not to who you are.” ~ Henry Palmer

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

The last week has been an interesting one. Some sweet memories and some teenage rebellion I hope doesn’t go any further plus an awesome concert and lots of pictures.

One thing at a time, though. Right now, I want to share what it was like putting my baby on the bus the first week of school.

The Short Dude started pre-school last Wednesday and I was a bit emotional watching him get on the bus. Then watching the bus drive away with my little man on board – without me, without his siblings – just new faces and strangers he didn’t know. That was a difficult moment. But I knew it was for his growth (and maybe for mine, too) so I anxiously counted the minutes until his return home. I did not cry, though.

Really. I didn’t. Because isn’t he cute? Sitting there in his seat like the big boy he is, with his backpack, on his way to his FIRST DAY of school.

We took lots of pictures (you can see them all on my flickr photostream) before and after school last week. Like these flowers at grandma’s house -

And this one of the Short Dude riding Little Girl’s bike –

And these grapes the Short Dude had for snack after school on the first day that he *insisted* I take a picture of -

I love the clarity and quality of the pictures my new camera takes. It’s a Fuji FinePix S5100. Although it’s technically a point-&-shoot camera, it has all sorts of options like you’d find on a DSLR. I think I may do a review of the camera here on the blog soon. Since I got the camera last week, I’ve taken over 400 pictures! And I haven’t even touched them up in Photoshop.

Anyway, I am tired – it was a long weekend but I’m just not ready to talk about it yet. It’s time for a quick bath to relax and head to bed. I will be back this week with an around the web post (which I simply got too busy to post last week – sorry!), part 3 of Stories make us who we are, another post about connecting, a review of the George Duke & Anthony Hamilton concert I went to at McCaw Hall Friday night and anything else I happen to think of.

Oh – and probably a boat load more pictures. I hope you like them!

Until then . . .

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

The first day of high school was extremely overwhelming for The Teenager . . .

We headed out early and made sure we knew where all of her classes were. I left her off hoping she’d have a good day, but about halfway through, she texted me on her cell phone and said she was lost. I tried to help her get her bearings but to no avail. Finally she just told me “Mom, I’m just not getting it. I want to come home.”

I tried once more to help her figure it out but by then she was just so upset with herself, there was no reasoning with her. I went to the school and picked her up.

So, Tuesday night we went back to the school, marked all of her classes on the map and walked from one class to the next just like she would during school hours. And yesterday, she tried again. Although she managed to find everything this time, she somehow didn’t make it to PE class or at least the PE teacher didn’t see (?) her. I don’t know, but she was marked absent for 4th period.

Today she called me after 3rd period and said she didn’t feel well. I told her to go to the office so they could go through the proper protocol. They, of course, sent her to the health room where the nurse had her lay down for a while and then deemed her well enough to go to class.

Guess what period/class it was? Yep, PE . . . again.

Can you tell she has an aversion to PE? Frankly, I don’t blame her. It’s the 3rd day of school and she has yet to make it to that class. I know part of the issue is that she has no idea where to go once in the gym. There is no direction, no clue, no help of any kind in figuring it out.

I called the school and asked them to please come up with a plan to get her from 3rd period to 4th period tomorrow. The other part of the problem is that 3rd period is completely on the opposite side of campus from 4th – a 90+ ACRE campus, no less. And she’s supposed to find her way? With no direction? And nobody notices she’s lost or needs help? Or even OFFERS to help her, for that matter.

Right. I was more than irritated.

The principals secretary said she’d provide The Teenager with an escort tomorrow and ensure she gets to the right PE class and introduced to her teacher.

I’ll tell you what – they better. Because they do NOT want me to come to school and speak with them.

We had a very similar problem with PE last year in middle school. Trust me, they don’t want me to see me in their office with an issue like that at the high school level. I am generally a pretty kind-hearted and patient person, but you don’t mess with my kids. And you sure as hell don’t make them cry.

Anyway, it’s been an interesting week so far. I think I’ve almost been to the high school more often than The Teenager. I’m definitely ready for the week to be over.

On a brighter note, as soon as I have this weeks around the web finished up, I’ll post it. Probably later this evening. We’ll see how things go after school today.

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

It’s a celebration! And you might think maybe that has to do with the kids going back to school yesterday – and it does – but not only that . . . THIS IS MY 100TH POST!

How cool is that? My One Hundredth Post.

So, I think we should celebrate!

What should we do? The coffee’s on, there’s raspberry cinnamon rolls in the kitchen and the house is QUIET! Short Dude is even quietly playing by himself. (Who’d have thought??)

I’m leaving it open for you . . . please stop by and say hello soon and tell me what you did or what you plan to do when you reach 100 (or 1000 or whatever) posts on your blog.

Later I’ll be back with my mostly weekly around the web post and a story about The Teenager’s first day of high school. It’ll be fun!

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.