Sisters

It's my turn to post our weekly Zackrison sister update. You can see last week's on Christine's blog. I'm loving this way of keeping in touch and getting a glimpse into each others every day lives.

Sarah

Last week:
I failed on my goals big time last week. Didn't feed the ducks, didn't make it to yoga even once, didn't plan our east coast trip, and skipped out on my rooftop planning meeting. But I did buy those shoes, so at least I can feel good about that.

• We pulled off a fun birthday celebration for Scott, complete with Oreo Stuff ice cream cake and a new BMX bike (maybe just a little aging-denial?). Dinner at the Tree Room felt a little more grown up, though.
• We also went to an amazing house concert on Thursday night
• Enjoyed a surprise visit from Uncle Brett
• Pulled together information for our accountant to do our taxes (uhhhh.... I have 3 sibilings who do taxes professionally, don't I?)
• made lots of spreadsheets as I did after-tour financial reconciliation

This week:

• yoga - let's say 2x
  
• plan east coast trip
• send out checks and tshirts to lower lighters from tour
• rooftop planning meeting - can't skip this one. Time to announce the series and start promoting our first concert in May
• swimming lessons for June, Oliver & Brenden

Annee

The week went by with nary a photo of myself. I could only document the fact that I was wearing flip flops and a knit skirt all day long today because it was 78 degrees! Other than the fact that I need a pedicure in a bad way, I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome the return of Spring. I hope it’s really here.

On the agenda last week:

1. Celebrate spring break with Darin. It was awesome. We went to about five different malls. Had lunch dates 3 out of the 5 days he had off. Went to an afternoon matinee. And ran together everyday but one! Other than the fact that we worked together like crazed tornadoes every morning to get our kids out the door to school, it was almost like being on vacation together. The next best thing. I’m counting down already for spring break 2012.
2. Ran five times! Although my longest run was only 7 miles, such that my total weekly mileage isn’t tremendous, there is something to be said of consistency. I hope. Next race, Tar Heel 10-miler on April 9th http://www.tarheel10miler.com/. It’s great to have a goal.
3. Hosted sister-in-law Ie Li and her three little ones. On the agenda was sewing together, making food together, playing with kids together, and an early spring tour of Duke Gardens. It was lovely. We hope they’ll come again soon.

On the agenda this week:

1. Maybe I should substitute teach again. I think the Bernina fund is not growing as rapidly as it should be. Please see agenda item #1 from last week.
2. Another 10 mile long run. Or should it be 12? Either way, more mileage for this week.
3. Come up with a dish to cook for cooking club night. The theme is fresh herbs. Does anyone have any great ideas? I’m thinking Pesto. Delicious.
   

Ie Li

Last week's agenda

• kids' swimming and preschool
• no P90X
• I attended a family finance/emergency preparedness Relief Society meeting
• I drove safely to and from North Carolina to visit Annee and family. Activities included going to the nearby park, frolicking in the gardens at Duke, eating frozen yogurt, sewing and almost finishing a dress for Mei Li, backing into Annee's car (no damage, thank goodness), losing my keys as I was packing the car to leave, and calling a locksmith to make me a new key. Needless to say, there were moments when I felt like a hot mess. But overall, we had a grand time with wonderful people, and I want to do it again (without feeling like a hot mess). Thank you, Annee!
• I came home to a clean house and my Steve on Saturday night, and on Sunday we enjoyed some much needed family time.
  

This week's agenda

• Go grocery shopping with coupons
• 6 (!) P90X workouts
• kids' swimming and preschool
• Friday girls' night in/boys' night out
• a Saturday night date with Steve

Rachel

Last week I:

• Worked. I really can't think of anything else that I did. Worked late each night, came home with only enough time to go to bed. Even Saturday I didn't really accomplish anything other than sleeping, working (and watching 20 minutes of some Charlie Sheen interview. That guy is NUTS)... This spring, I'm working for the second year on many of the same clients. It's fun to see how much I've improved, catching issues I didn't see last year, and trying to do them faster than I did before. I'm proud of myself for progressing and yet I know there is still more for me to learn. That's a good feeling.
• I tested out this hair tutorial and wore these fun twisty buns to work one day. It was really easy and I think it ended up being pretty cute!

This week:

• I'd like to bring treats to the March Madness work party on Friday. But what should I make??
• Are any of you going to make a green meal on Thursday? I loved it the couple times mom did that growing up.
• I'm participating in this March Madness Crock Pot challenge. Which means I need to cook two crock pot recipes during the week, compare and pick a winner. The winning recipes advance to the next round until one is crowned the grand champion. Sounds neat right? I hope it's fun.
• We will watch the BYU basketball game on Thursday and then (hopefully) again on Saturday.
• Uh most of those relate to food... so I'll also be running 7 miles on Saturday on the beautiful trail by our house (preparing for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in a couple weeks). I also plan to run home from the office 2 other nights.

Christine

Sorry I'm late getting this to you. I had a big assignment to get done last night.

Last week:

• Ice fishing!
• Breakfast at Communal with Beth, Addie and Hillary (I may need to request a family breakfast there when everyone is in town in April, it was delicious!)
• Lunch at Station 22 with Hillary and Scott (didn't quite make my goal of not eating out, but I only ate out twice, which is actually a good improvement for me. This is another great place we can all try together!)
• Indexed 790 names (I kind of have an addictive personality - I single handedly got my FHE group into second place in our indexing competition after being in last place the week before.)
• Played a lot of games of Words With Friends (like I said, I kind of have an addictive personality, can be used for good or bad)

This week:

• Hopefully finally make it back to yoga since I didn't last week
• Grade more Jr. Core exams
• Take one exam and study for two next week
• Snowshoeing??
  

Scott's been out of town, plus our weekly sister post

Scott's been away for 5 days "on tour" with The Lower Lights. According to all reports, they've had some amazing shows - Scott even says some of the best musical experiences of their lives. That right there makes all the hours of preparation and physical and emotional support worth it to me. I've tried hard to keep things very low-key this weekend since I was feeling quite stressed last week. So that has been sort of nice, although I am pretty sad to have missed out on some great shows.

So we're all super excited to have Scott home tonight, for several reasons.

• The trash is really piling up and I really don't want to take it out in the snow. If I hold out just a little longer I'm sure he'll walk in the door and be happy to resume trash duties as his first order of business.
• The water bottle needs to be changed. I'm really thirsty.
• I haven't had a decent meal the whole time he's been gone. The kids have eaten chicken nuggets and grilled cheese sandwiches, and I've had at least one (maybe two?) whole bags of tortilla chips and a big jar of salsa, plus a whole pan of layered brownie goodness, and oh yeah, cakebites. But my stomach aches for a good reason to cook (or order?) a real meal.
• Brenden was sick on Sunday and had to endure my non-compassionate nursing and constant second-guessing. Scott is much better at that.
• I need some sleep - haven't been to bed before 3am since he's been gone. That doesn't help me get or stay healthy.
  
• Being a solo parent is lonely.

On the positive side, I have managed to make some major headway on Mi Na's Christmas stocking, and also did a much needed re-org in my closet. For the closet clean-out, I found myself having a hard time with the standard throw away/give away/put away piles, so I renamed them:

1. I'm excited to wear this tomorrow - keep it and hang it up
2. I sure wish I liked this more (aka I used to like this and I feel like I should still like it) - put them in a pile on the floor of the closet to most likely give away in the next round, but don't force myself to get rid of them just yet.
3. I wish I didn't even have this so I wouldn't feel so guilty about not liking it and never wearing it - these go to DI immediately

This week's installment of the Sisters blog is hosted by Christine here. We'll be rotating through the sisters in birth order - so I guess I'm next.

P.S. Mom asked about the bedding and curtains in this guest room. I did sew the curtains before our recent house guests came. I got a bit of inspiration for a yellow and white stripe, and added some crocheted flower trim and tied them back with some lace. The bedding I did not sew, but found on ebay from Pottery Barn's Matine Toile series. I really love it - might be my favorite bedroom in the house right now.