You Capture - Colors

My husband has a thing for flowers, and 3 beautiful roses (I selected the prettiest for the photo above!) were waiting for me at the hotel at the start of our 24 hour get-a-way.  I love roses and I love my husband. :)   Check out The You Capture Challenge for yourself at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

expectations

I really need to change my expectations because then I wouldn't be disappointed.

the day is off to a great start

Morning is my favorite time of day, especially when I have the house to myself.  Though the sun is up, it is just peaking through the houses across the street and it casts gorgeous shadows my way.  I have Brian Crain's instrumental piano CD Summer in Italy playing and a cup of coffee.  Sarah is still asleep and Jim is downstairs exercising.  I will have at least 20 more minutes of bliss.  (I took the picture just this morning before I sat down to type this post)

Jim and I are heading to Spokane for the annual Vision Source "Holiday Party".  Our first stop will be Chaps for a late lunch, a great restaurant on highway 95 across from Hatch Road.  Then it's off to downtown Spokane to wander around River Park Square and walk through Riverfront Park.  We are staying at Hotel Lusso and the dinner is at The Corbin House.  The theme is roaring 20's!  I'm sure some people will dress up (though many won't) and it will sure be fun to see the attire! I once had a 20's flapper dress in college that I made for a dance, but even if I kept it, it surely wouldn't fit me anymore!  Should be a great get-a-way!

dinner & dessert and a fine red wine

Dinner tonight was really good.  Baked salmon fillets, mushroom risotto, steamed broccoli and a delicious malbec from Tagaris winery.  I had about 2 TB of an herb and cheese spread left over so I spread it on top of the salmon fillets, sprinkled some shallot salt and pepper on top and a squeeze of a lime wedge.  Baked at 325 for 25 minutes.  Yummy!  For Sarah though, I made a teriyaki chicken breast as she does not do salmon.  Her loss.  It was really, really good.

I made a genoise cake for dessert.  It's my grandmother's recipe which I haven't made in a very long time.  My family is not big on almonds, so instead I sprinkled the top with powdered sugar and finely chopped pecans and then 2TB of brown sugar.  I sampled a small piece and it's quite tasty.  I have some grand marnier to drizzle on top and some thawed raspberries and a dollop of whipped cream.  YUM!

happy Wednesday

Seek Balance - that's my motto for the day. :)

why does the day go by so fast?

I slept in this morning and it felt good, especially after seeing Avatar last night and being up later than usual..  Instead of my normal waking hour of 7:00 am I lingered in bed until 7:45.  

After coffee and breakfast of yogurt and pineapple, I ventured in to the office at 8:15.  My agenda was full today with updating the payroll program for 2010 rates, filing the FAFSA, and finishing up 4th quarter 2009 quarterly reports.  The deadline for these reports is 1/31 and payroll is due Friday 1/29.  I plugged along and got quite a bit done but was surprised to see it was already 11:30 and I hadn't even turned on the news (I usually watch CNN for about 30 min in the morning) or the music (normally plays in the background while I work) and I was still in my PJ's.  I went upstairs to change into my sweats in preparation for a walk.  Then started some laundry and cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast.   I spent about 90 minutes navigating the SSA website and getting things set for online W-2/W-3 filing.  At 2:30 pm I still hadn't taken a walk yet, but now I had to pay some bills online before end of the business day.   I had to go to Kinko and the post office and then after a brief conversation with Kristin it was 4 pm.  Wasn't up for walking outside (the mood had passed me) so I got on the excersie bike for 30 minutes then showered.  At 5 pm, I starting prepping dinner, folded the remaining load of laundry and then we ate at 6 pm.  It's back to the office at 6:30 to clean up the paperwork, deal with the mail and file some stuff.  It's now 7:37 and I'm hoping to relax soon.  But not before I make the 'to-do' list for tomorrow. 

1.walk
2.shower (don't laugh...if I don't put it on the list...it might not happen!)
3. scrabble and lunch w/Nanny
4. meet with Gen and take care of shopping (she is moving back home at 12:30 pm)
5. clean/vacuum eating area and kitchen
6. clean/vacuum office and hallway (I think the last time I vacuumed office was 2009!)
7. put away 3 loads of laundry from today
8. Call SSA and figure out why access to certain business areas is restricted - 3rd time I've had to call - definite pain in the ass
9. call Ryan and wish him a happy birthday
10.  figure out dinner

I initially thought I was really productive, but I failed to do 1/2 of the stuff on my to-do list.  I know there is always tomorrow, but the same thing will happen tomorrow and then the next day.   And the stuff on my list is important - change my sheets, clean the bathroom, vacuum.  Who wants to live in a really dirty house?  I'm not being overly picky, but I think sheets should be changed more than once every 2 or 3 weeks! I really wonder why the days go by so fast?  How can I manage my time better?  And the paperwork that comes in to the house is ridiculous...granted most of it is related to Jim's business....I think I need a WIFE!

I'm not complaining, I'm voicing my thoughts on all the disjointed aspects of my days.   I am grateful that I have the accounting skills to do what I do for Jim's business, because we'd have to hire someone to do it otherwise.  But I'm still not convinced that working from home is all that it's cracked up to be.  There is always stuff to do and it's hard to keep it separate from my home life - since the office is in my home!

Here's to tomorrow!

a great blog

You all should read Marvelous Bear, it's wonderful commentary on fashion and shoes.  It makes me laugh as her writing style is quite entertaining and spot on.  

what a wonderful Thursday it will be

I had a great sleep last night.  I was in bed by 8:50 and read until about 9:30.  Then it was blissful zzz's until 6 am.  The alarm was set for 7 but I was awake, so I came downstairs and cleaned up the remaining dishes from last nights dinner and made a pot of coffee.  I absolutely LOVE a quiet morning when everyone is still alseep.  It's as though it were stolen time.

Today I'm off to pick up some special shirts for a dear group of ladies that I will be going to CA with this weekend.  Then it's lunch with my hubby and then a massage at 3.  I have work, laundry and things to do in between those times but things seem quite manageable today.  My neck and low back have been bothering quite a bit the past few days so the massage will provide needed relief.

Sarah is wrapping up 2 finals today - ECON and CWP.   I am so proud of her focus and diligence when it comes to studying.  On Friday is her French final.  I know she'll do well.  Tonight is Thursday and a new episode of Grey's Anatomy is on tonight.  It's about time and I'm looking forward to it.  Just need to get packed for my trip to CA first!

all in all....what a wonderful Thursday it will be.