Relaxing with my family

Last weekend was Valentine's day and I spent it with one of my best friends, Kelly and my niece Letitia.
Kelly and I flew to Spokane in the morning after a great breakfast at Anthony's at the airport. mm,mmm, mmm. We shopped around a bit at a couple of stores in Spokane and both found fun rings at a local christian book store. We went to our tax appointment and then met with Letitia.
Letitia had driven from Missoula, Montana.
We found this great Italian resteraunt and got one of the last parking places in the lot. The food was great. We went clothes shopping on the way back to the hotel.
Spending the rest of the weekend visiting and catching up was a great way to spend my weekend.

How did I do it then???

This is my friend Leann and I when I was about 20 years old....wow!
I think this should be my goal picture....what I aspire to be again!
(ok, so the hair hasn't changed a whole lot!)
So besides the waistline changes I also am noticing that I'm doing pretty well with balancing a large load on my plate/platter....as well or better than I did then.

Here's the short version update on my goals:
Children's story - In the process of receiving feedback, have receive quite a few...thank you! I will be working on it after mid-March
School - I have 1.8 papers done and 3.2 to go and about 4 weeks left - YIKES!
Work - Ramping up on two key projects with slow down in sight around end of March...
Family - all good on the home front :>)))
I'm enjoying the process and am looking forward to relaxing this summer and enjoying the lake.

The dream is not lost.....

I am taking a PLA (prior learning assessment) course at Marylhurst University this term and am writing 25-30 page papers on topics where I have college level learning through training and experience. One of the topics I am writing a paper about is Real Estate 100, basics of real estate. I realized as I started to write the section on investing , how very much that dream is still alive. I can see the time when I own several properties and am enjoying the benefits of positive cash flow. Looking forward to when that becomes my reality. ciao' for now!!

The "AFTER"....Love my new office space

We started "Operation Office Clean out" after breakfast this morning....

Yep,,,,I did it, I'm getting rid of 3 boxes of books.....for those who know me, I love LOVE books..

I had to empty the shredder 3 times because of all the oooolllldd paper work..

This went off to the Thrift Store today for some other souls to enjoy. (Plus I get a write-off!!)

Thank you so much Brenda for all your help today. Your friendship is a gift that I will always treasure.

Ok,,,so I didn't get rid of all the books....The good news about this photo is that I now have a designated spot for homework ...lower right...I had it all scattered before, it's my favorite result of the day...thanks for asking the great questions Brenda.

I was so glad to be done, it took us just about 3 hours...what a fantastic gift.

That's it, birtWEEK is officially over. I am so blessed to have shared it with my family and friends.

What a great birthday week!!!

Yesterday was my official Bday, but as you saw in the other entries, the celebrations started last Thursday.
First thing yesterday morning, one of my best friends and sister Kelly, came over and gave me the gift of time and help yesterday. Look!!!

We got new pendant lights and light switch installed in my living room. It made a huge difference in the lighting in that space.

We even got my toilet fixed using some new "Gloveables"!!

Then she and I met a couple of friends Christi and my Aunt Chris at...
We had a great lunch and some amazing wines....

A little snooze on the couch and I was off to celebrate and eat more!!!!

I met my friend from high school, Leann for dinner at Engs Chinese for dinner....

Talk about calorie overload!!!!

zzzzzzzzzzzzz for me.

My next Birthday wish and gift....

My other great friend Brenda has offered to help me with any project I chose....so, putting her great organizational skills to work, we'll be organizing my office Saturday morning...after an evening of fun catching up visiting of course!!....I've sort of started....kinda.

Well at least the piles on the bed are sorted by work, school, personal, etc.

Come back this weekend to see the 'after' pictures....

I love turning my BirthDAY into a BirthWEEK!!!

Spoiled Rotten

My daughter and all three grandchildren (see Heather's blog to the left), were up here since Thursday to visit. Heather fixed me a birthday dinner Friday night and we invited my aunt Chris and uncle Roy over. We had a great dinner.
The kids and I picked up branches in the front yard and then headed across the street to the park.
They swung on swings, the teeter-totter and then we dug in the sand. It was then that I spotted it,,,someone's empty potato chip bag in the lake. Thank goodness I had my rubber boots on. I tried to reach it and couldn't , so I got a long stick and still couldn't. Well, looks like I'm getting wet. I went for it....OMG!!! talk about cold water. I got the garbage and the water suctioned the boots right to my FREEZING feet. But I got them off,,,water pouring from my boots and my pant legs wet to my knees. Abagayle and Jackson were giggling the entire time at how cold I was.
I made a beeline for the house!!
We played 'tennis' (badmitten sp?), laid on top of the guest room bed and visited about school, listened to a christian lullaby CD I had gotten them for Christmas and really had time to connect and lots of snuggle time.....I truly miss them!
I am blessed to have such an amazing daughter and the best grandchildren on the planet. I love this life.

It's a New Year!!

This year started out a little quicker than most that I remember.
I left on Jan 5th for my first work trip of the year, but like all good companies during this time of recession, mine is cutting back on travel this year....which is totally ok with me.
I started back to school at Marylhurst University on January 2nd. Although I am only taking one class, it is a 6 credit class and I'll be writing Prior Learning Papers to challenge 5 three credit classes, for a total of 21 credits this term. I'm also taking a Dantes' challenge exam for another 4+ credits....It is a lot, 25+ credits....
But not when I think about people like my son in-law who takes well over 30 credits each term, works 25 hours a week and studies for national board exams...oh yeah, and has a wife and 3 young children at home.
I am totally expecting to be busy, but it is completely doable given that I only work about 40 -45 hours a week and have no children to care for.
I am excited about my book, and have been in contact with a publisher!!! can you say HOORAYY!!?
I've also committed to Financial Abundance for the year and have taken some 'active' steps to reach my goals.
My birthday is coming up on January 20th and although some will be celebrating the inaguration....I'll be celebrating 47 wonderful years on this planet and spending time with family and friends.