Sister Time

Here it is!! Sorry it's getting up a little later than planed!

RACHEL

LAST WEEK:

• The majority of the week was spent in Roanoke, VA. It's a small, random town that's quite run down. Homes on Zillow were listed between $2500-7000 for a 5 bedroom house. No joke. Staunton, where Polyface Farms is located, is a lovely simple rural town which reminded me of La Canada or even Pasadena in size. Meaning it's quite liveable. But how do you live in small towns removed from the city? What do people do for work in such places? I don't think a life like that is anywhere in our future.
• I spent time at the pool, which was mostly IN the pool because it was so hot! Ken feels great about his test! We'll find out for sure in November.
• I worked on Thursday and Friday. It's getting busy.
• White House Tour on Friday. Nowhere on the website do they mention the hour long line you'll wait in despite having an "appointment". It was HOT outside. Ew. But it was neat inside to see them setting up one room for an interview with the president later in the day. While we were in line outside the house we saw the Motorcade bring the President home and then leave an hour later. It was pretty awesome to see how they shut down the roads so smoothly.
• Saturday we went up to Philadelphia for a quick day trip. The drive was lovely and there were about 100 tiny antique stores and garage/estate sales I wanted to stop at but didn't. We explored the city and ate some cheesesteaks. It was too hot to really enjoy life so we plan to go back in a couple months.
• Sunday afternoon we helped a lady in our ward move which wouldn't be too noteworthy except for the 30 bug bites I received on the 6 inches of skin exposed below my running capris. My legs/ankles have swelled up so painfully that it's actually rough to walk. Lame!

THIS WEEK:

• Work all week. I can't make it all the way through my to-do list each week, which is the hallmark of busy season. Yikes.
• No sweets, no eating out, strict control. We're getting back in the zone where I believe we'll be until December. If you do the crime you've got to do the time.
• Early office close on Friday. I hope I really get to leave early!
• Finish The Girl Who Played With Fire. Only 2 hours left. It's good but I don't recommend, too gross.
• Run on Saturday!
• Book photoshoot with Bluelily for when they're in DC in October.

IE LI

LAST WEEK:

• Watched Theatre in the Woods at Wolf Trap. The two performances were The Maryland Youth Ballet and The Monumental Brass Quintet. Mei Li left with an even more fervent desire to become a ballerina, and Stephen decided he'd like to play the trumpet. I didn't get to see much with all of Mi Na's wiggling.
  
• Played in the sprinklers and in the pool.
• Went to Costco as a family on Saturday and spent so much money. Feeding five people is no joke. I can't believe how much we spend on food these days.
• Started turning our second walk-in closet into a sewing room. Right now, the closet, the storage room, and our bedroom are a complete wreck.
• Steve spent about ten hours this week helping people move.
• Tried to make our bookshelves look pretty. I ran out of books. Hmmm.

NEXT WEEK:

• Temple
• Organize
• Clean
• Swim
• Continue to agonize over what I'm going to put on the living room walls. I'm so terribly indecisive.
• Make progress on my year-long piano hunt. I'm going to look at two this week.

ANA

LAST FEW WEEKS:

• Searched wearily for a home to rent and finally put in an application for one in Carmel Valley. It is 15 minutes to Zack's work in one direction and 15 minutes to my sisters house in the other. Our movers dropped off our 6 crates of belongings last Friday, only 2 of which we had with us in Boston. What was in the other 4 crates that we lived without for the last 2 years? With the exception of my bedroom end table, the crib and all of the kitchen goodies I have missed, I think we should have just told them to drop it all off at Goodwill.
• We bought a piano off of craigslist to help fill the empty room at the front of the house. It was super cheap and pretty ugly but we are now on a mission to paint it some bright color thanks to a suggestion from Sarah. We'd love color suggestions! The good news is that Jack cant keep his hands off of it. He was even trying, and almost succeeding to recreate "Pioneer Children Walked and Walked..." by ear.
• Was surprised by an impromptu visit from Grandma Z. She called Zack one night and surprised him by saying she was in Oceanside and had decided to drive the Honda down for us to borrow for a bit figuring an extra car might be helpful in our first few weeks in town. We were definitely surprised but happy for any excuse to visit and eat yummy pancakes with her.
• Signed Jack up for Kindergarten. From what I have researched the school seems amazing and it's only half day Kindergarten because it is the Del Mar School District and not San Diego which is full day (7:45-3:30 each day for Kindergarten is just ridiculous in my humble, inexperienced opinion). He will be going from 8-12:40 every day. I spent our last few months in Boston crying that I was going to have to send my baby to school, and the last month in San Diego having nightmare after nightmare about sending him to school, but now that I see the school, and know its half day and see my bored out of his mind almost 6 year old who is so sad he has no friends in San Diego, I can't wait for it to start for his sake. (I can't wait for it for myself too about 1/2 of the time...hey that's progress!)
• Enjoyed a visit with the Wiley clan, minus Scott this weekend. It was great to see them and so much fun to have so many kids around. It helped make our house feel like a home. We are so grateful they made the trek down to visit.
• Had two doctors appointment, the last of which included an ultrasound which showed my complete placenta previa has almost completely resolved itself. If I delivered today I'd still have to do it via c-section, but they are hopeful that it could still resolve itself by 34 weeks (I'm 31 today). I took the news hard. Not that I wasn't excited to not have to worry about hemorrhaging to death anymore (as Zack lovingly pointed out when I looked so dejected), but I was really looking forward to having this baby by 37 weeks and not having to go through labor at all. I have had to be so inactive because of the placenta previa that I am dying to be more mobile again. The baby is measuring about 2 weeks larger then 31 weeks so he might just come early on his own...although I know I am setting myself up for disappointment by even writing that.

THIS WEEK:

• Send Zack to work. I can't tell you how great it sounds to be going back to a dual income household.
• Try to figure out what life is like without Zack around all day. I don't think its going to be a pretty transition for either Jack or myself.
• Get some pictures hung on the wall. Seriously this has been my one goal every day for the last week and has yet to happen. What the heck have we been doing with our time if not spending it hanging pictures?
• Try to get Jack together with some of his old friends from San Diego. I don't know that I can see his defeated, "I have no friends, Mom" face anymore.
• Get some sheet music and start piano lessons for Jack, if only by yours truly this week. But then again, isn't that the fastest way to get your kids to hate something? Try to teach them something and make them practice? :)

SARAH

LAST WEEK:

• Had a great time in California with the kids - it was a lot of work on my own but really a nice visit and nice change of scenery. Drove both ways straight through without much incident. Spent 4 nights at the beach house, 2 nights in LC, and 2 nights in San Diego. Got to see Zack & Ana's new home, boogie board at 3 different beaches, go on lots of bike rides, and listen to all of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" on the various drives. Got myself new Rainbows and got new mini Toms for Huck (so cute!), successfully loaded/unloaded the bikes on the bike racks 4 times, and took the boys to go on the roller coaster at Circus Circus in LV (it was raining in Primm and they wouldn't let Oli on the one at New York New York - too short by 1/2 inch). We were all so happy to get home last night and see Scott. I had pretty much thrown up my hands and given up for the last hour of the drive - it was a bit of Lord of the Flies back there.
  
• On Friday Brett took Brenden & Oliver to the X Games, so I took Huck & June and spent the day in South Pasadena. We went on a train ride, played at Garfield Park, went to My Sweet Cupcake (winner of Cupcake Wars), went to Mix 'n Munch (Cereal & Grilled Cheese cafe), and did some antiques shopping
  
• While we were gone our postal box cabinet (found in an antique shop in Sandpoint, ID) was delivered. I love it. I have no idea what to do with it.
  
• On Thursday Laurel watched the kids while I went on a quick business trip up on Mountain View. I was there for some department-wide meetings and team building activities, but ended up also getting a promotion - new title "Staff Software Engineer" - so that was exciting. I don't think it'll really change much in terms of my work load or projects since apparently I've been performing at that level for a while now, but it's fun to be recognized. (also fun to not get fired - I never quite know where I stand with these people since I think surely soon they'll find me out and the jig will be up)
  
• While we were gone Scott did some covert improvements to the electronics situation in the basement - added a projector and screen, which included doing some electrical work and drywall repair. Fun surprise!

THIS WEEK:

• Recover from last week's trip - laundry, unpack, grocery shopping, cook at least a few meals
• Acknowledge Huck's 2nd Birthday - I was out of town on his real one last week so we pretty much just ignored it. We should have some sort of a party this week. So I guess that means plan something and maybe get him some presents?
  
• Our next rooftop concert is on Friday. So this week I need to hang more posters, figure out how to get screens/projectors there, get the merch stuff ready, make sure the volunteers show up where they said they would when they said they would, print next month's posters, and make arrangements to be there most of the day on Friday to set up. Also pray for good weather. So far we have lucked out big time for all of our concerts. The weather report calls for rain and overcast most days this week but sunny skies and no rain on Friday. Let's hope that holds. We don't have a great rainout plan.
• On Saturday morning Scott and I are going with friends back to the beach for our annual Couples Retreat. Thanks to Mom & Dad for watching the kids for 5 days! Oliver will start Chinese camp, which hopefully he'll realize is a good/fun thing to be back with his friends and back in a routine, and won't be too resistant - need to help mentally prepare him. Maybe I need a new bathing suit?!
  
• Finally see a dermatologist about my fungus disease on my chest (what is it called, Rachel?)
  
• Catch up on yard work.
• Catch up on the blog.
  
• Do I dare even hope to make it to yoga this week?
• Work on the postal box cabinet - clean it up, pull together a crew to move it into the house and move other furniture around to make room for it. Should it be functional or just decorative? Might need to change the combos on the boxes if we want to be able to open them easily. Or do I put it backwards so all the cubbies show? The doors are so pretty though. Can't decide.
  
• I really want to get a round gilded mirror for the living room - need to make the rounds to the local antique stores and should probably check out the Springville antiques mart. Would be fun to find one for under $100. I guess maybe I could do that in CA when we're there next week.
• Oh man this list is way too long. I already know I'm going to fail on most of this stuff. That's kind of demoralizing.

ANNEE

LAST WEEK:

• Ran 30 miles. Including a 12 mile long run on the American Tobacco Trail. It's darn hot here in the south!! I can hardly wait for autumn.
• Obsessed over a Crate and Barrel floor sample chair, which was more than 50% off it's regular price, until I finally broke down and bought it. When I went in to make my BIG purchase, the lady said to me, "Are you the lady who's been calling to see if it was still here?" I had been calling every night to make sure it was still there. When I told her that I was that same girl, she said, "Oh good, because otherwise, I thought that poor girl was going to be pretty sad". She was right, I would have been!
• Took the whole family to the dentist all in one day. It only took us three hours! In the end, we needed only one follow up dental appointment to fill one single cavity! We all need to floss better. And Ruby and George need orthodontic consults ASAP!! What?! How can we be ready for braces already?
• Darin and I got to sneak away on a fun two day trip to Charlotte, NC. We spent the time looking for a suitable desk for Darin's upcoming school year. He needs a dedicated "office" space of his own. In the end, though we looked thoroughly at the world's biggest furniture store in High Point, we ended up at an old Fabric Mill turned antique mall, which was also the world's biggest antique mall that I had ever been to. We found this perfect, old library table, that had been painted blue, just sitting there waiting for us to buy it! We shoved it in the back of the van and spent all of Sunday night rearranging three rooms in the house to accomodate the new study spaces. The kids now have the new library table as their computer desk, and we have our old desk back in our room. I really hope I don't have to move any more huge pieces of furniture up and down our stairs anytime in the near future! While in Charlotte, we even managed to go out to dinner with my long time high school friend Sandy, and her husband Randy. That too made the trip totally worthwhile.
• Thank you for coming Christine. The kids loved having you here, and we loved getting away.

THIS WEEK:

• Summer is starting to feel long and hot. Need to remain positive and optimistic. Need to keep the kids doing good things. The boys have decided to re-read the entire Harry Potter series. I can totally endorse that activity. Too bad it's too hot for bike riding and basketball playing. We're inside too much.
• Take Jane back to the dentist. She maybe inherited the weaker teeth? Poor Jane.
• Take a day-trip to the beach. Variety in our days seems to be the only thing that brings an extra spring to my step. I simply can not have each day be exactly like the day before.
• Finish my quilt. So help me!!! Will I ever get to sew again? Will I ever finish my beloved quilt? It seems so doubtful.
• More running, and trying to mix in a bit of core strengthening as well. November is starting to seem closer and closer! I said I was going to register for the marathon on August 1st. That's today!

CHRISTINE

LAST WEEK:

• Finally met my current neighbors on Monday after one of the apartments in our complex got broken into. It was pretty crazy and the cops came and questioned us all and a witness was found. Most likely the guys followed a girl into the building when she got home from work, which calmed our nerves about someone possibly having a key to get in. Luckily Melissa's apartment is the only one with a deadbolt, so it should never be targeted.
• Spent Tuesday touring around DC with Ryan and his sister for their shared birthday (not twins). This included walking all over Arlington Cemetery, unknowingly breaking onto an army base, eating dinner at a delicious pizza place called Matchbox in Chinatown (it actually reminded me a lot of Pizzeria 712), and riding bikes all over downtown visiting the monuments.
• Had dinner with a group of friends at Cheesecake Factory on Wednesday night. That place is always delicious.
• Thursday I drove down to Chapel Hill where I stayed until Sunday. Friday morning Annee and Darin left me in charge of entertaining the kids for the next couple days. I think everyone had a good time, which included some time at the pool, going to watch the new Smurfs movie (while eating a whole lot of popcorn), and a trip the Life and Science Museum. The kids were fantastic, no fights or complaining really, and I even got to sleep in a little each morning.

THIS WEEK:

• My study materials finally arrived so I can now actually try to set up a good study schedule and hopefully figure out when I can take the tests.
• Finally work at Anthropologie again! I didn't actually make it onto the schedule this week, but luckily I was included in all the emails and was able to pick up shifts for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I'm excited to finally have some work.
• Look at more apartments. It seems to be a never ending search. I have found some possible options, but really nothing I'm in love with yet.
• Go running at least twice, I've gotta start training for my big 8K in November! I'd also like to find somewhere to start going to yoga again.