Yikes...time flies by

Here is it already March.

Wow. Our adventures have been happening, but my posting of the adventures has not. What have we been up to recently?

1) Last Saturday (February 28th) marked the beginning of Yard Work 2009.

Mick started on the weeding in the flower beds along our front fence. I gave the grass the first cut of the year. So - again this year I missed out on mowing in January, but February was covered on the last day.

Before starting the mowing, I figured that I should change the oil in the mower since I didn't do it last fall like I had intended. It was a little scary because only 4 ounces of oil came out when I took out the oil plug. I about 20 or so ounces of oil back in. It was quite hard to determine the exact amount that was needed since the oil dipstick always looks like there is a certain amount of oil in the engine. This must be due to the crazy tube the stick is in - the oil must stick to the sides and it gets on the stick when pulling it out. So - I guess I was mowing last season with only a little bit of oil in the engine. I'll just have to see if any long term damage was done...doesn't sound like it as the engine is still purring along - 13 years after we first bought it.

I tried sharpening the mower blade - but my Dremel tool is still not working after many hours of taking it apart and putting it back together. Not sure why - and they are too expensive to just go buy another one. I did put the Dremel sharpening bit in my drill - and that seemed to work, even though the drill RPMs are much less than the Dremel.

The lawn needed a lot of moss killer this spring - the green I was seeing was not due only the the grass, which does stay green year round. It is just starting to be growing more now...but winter is not completely out of the picture. Apparently there is a chance for snow in Portland this coming weekend.

2) Family dinner at Macaroni Grill.

Last Friday, we went to the local Macaroni grill with all of Mick's family. We had a table full of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Sister-in-law Maritza's mother was soon going back to Guatemala - and she was there too.

Connor really loves this place because he can get pizza - and draw on the table. They have the paper on the tables, and we all love drawing on it. Connor even packed extra crayons so we wouldn't be stuck with the roasted Red Pepper, Bleu Cheese, Florentine, and Eggplant colors they provide.

I love the pizza as well - but I really like the bread they bring the table when you sit down. It is always warm and fresh out of the oven - and it has a delicious coating on it - almost sweet. Dipping this in the olive oil with ground pepper....hmmm. Yummy!

3) Waffle Extravaganza at Temple.

Just over a week ago - the Women's Ministries group at church had a waffle feed after the Sunday Morning service. I was there to make my 'famous' chocolate chip waffles. They are famous at least to those who have had the pleasure of enjoying them. I made regular square waffles and also Mickey Mouse waffles....because those people are hungry and waffles do take 4-5 minutes to be cooked. I stayed mostly ahead of the rush - but I did have a line for a time. There were other stations with other types of waffles being prepared as well.

4) Speaking of church....I've been workin on our church's website. http://www.temple-baptist.com - just in case you are interested in checking it out.

I am not the person creating the content - I just get it formatting, looking good, and get it posted. I've learned a lot of XHTML, CSS, and lots more web programming tricks. I've checked out more web books from the library that I thought possible, checked out 'how-to' CSS websites, and more. There is still not a lot of content on the website - but I am still working on it. Bit by bit it will look more and more like the place you have to be on Sunday mornings in Portland, Oregon. If you are out there reading this - make plans for this Sunday. The morning service starts at 11am, and Sunday School starts at around 9:45am. We'll see you there!

5) More, more, more!

Bingo night at Tegan & Connor's school.
Getting ready for spring soccer (starts March 9th!).
Diabetes Expo - Tegan & I were there in our Red Rider shirts!
Getting bikes ready for the coming Tour de Cure!
Small group bible study every week - hi small groupees!
Birthday parties, dance classes, Wednesday night bible clubs, homework
Reading! You should see all four of us sitting around some evenings - each lost in our own book.


So - dear blog reader - what is going on with you these days? You never write, and I'm never quite sure if you get my updates.

Drop us a line! Comment right down here! You know you want to....and I'll try and write more often. They will probably be "Brian's Crazy Thoughts" postings - I've got a lot of those swirling around lately.