Battle Stations Ready

Last Wednesday morning I completed my most recent interview for the MWP.  The woman is a captain in the Air Force, currently stationed in South Korea. She is inaccessible for long periods of time and had a one day window of availability between assignments, so I had only 24 hours' notice to write questions and figure out the technology to conduct the Skype interview online. We use an Internet-based digital recording system and I've always done my interviews over the phone, but because the she didn't have any phone access while on a humanitarian mission in the Philippines, we had to set up a different type of recording. My brother in Bangkok was kind enough to be my Skype guinea pig and helped me work out the kinks in the hardware so everything would flow smoothly. Because of the 12-hour time difference, I set up a little workstation in our unfinished basement to do the interview at 6 a.m. before the kids and Andy woke up. At the appointed hour, I plugged in my little headset and we went to work, conducting the interview from her hotel room in the Philippines. Her viewpoint and experiences as a woman in the military were really interesting. It kind of looks like I'm in a bunker - fitting for the military themed interview. It also looks like my basement could use a little tidying. :) I forwarded the picture to our editor and she posted it on the MWP Facebook page. 

In Other News:

Andy got back a week ago from his annual boys' golf trip. This year they traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, to golf part of the Trent Jones Trail. The group consists of Andy's dad, our brother-in-law Randy (pictured above - L), Andy's best friend from college, Steve (above - R), Andy's good friend from work, and a colleague of his dad's and the colleague's son.  In the four years since they started the tradition, their adventures have also taken them to St. George, UT, Orlando, FL, and Birmingham, AL. This year Andy's uncle also came along. They had a fabulous time, as you can tell from the mile-wide grin on Andy's face. He said four days wasn't enough, but it was plenty for me flying solo. :)

 On Thursday we got a new cousin when my sister Nanette had her baby. This man of the hour is named Gehrig Shaun Blackburn. If you're a baseball fan, you might recognize his namesake. Little G has a bit of jaundice, so he's spending most of the day working on his tan, but got a minute to snuggle.

Finally, although Ben was sick yesterday and spent most of the gloriously beautiful day inside, we did get to have some St. Patty's day fun with our annual green dinner. Then he promptly fell asleep at 7 p.m. Lucy, on the other hand, was up until 9:30. She still naps, but I'm beginning to reconsider the wisdom of that as she's not tired for bedtime. Any advice?

The Simple Life

Does anyone else remember that show featuring Paris Hilton at the beginning of the reality show phase? You can breathe a sigh of relief -  this post doesn't really have to do with any C-list celebutantes. It does have to do with one of my favorite magazines. If you're also a fan, right now you can get a yearlong subscription for only $12. Gotta love that. Real Simple strikes a good balance of what I like to read about: budget fashion tips, smart organizing solutions, book suggestions, saving money, fun (yet somewhat realistic) decor ideas, and yummy recipes. In fact, we tried this Real Simple recipe last night and it was a hit. The perfect combo of healthy, fast, and tasty.

Curried rice with shrimp

What magazines are you reading right now? What do you or would you subscribe to?

Home Sweet Home

The wide open spaces of Eastern Washington. 

My sister just did a blog post about our recent trip back to K-Town, with a more complete version of what actually happened and better pictures since she actually had a functioning camera. (#goodtimeshadbyall)

http://randekka.blogspot.com/2012/03/its-raining-men.html

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

To set the record straight, no I am not pregnant. Apparently the rumor mill has been churning and the outfit I wore to church today didn't help matters. Multiple people asked if I was expecting, so looks like I better lay off the brownies and make my sartorial decisions more wisely in the future. :)

Rolling Five Deep

That's how it goes when you're a Dockum sister.  

The sisters' weekend was officially a success. In addition to doing last minute prep for Nan's baby shower, we stuck to tradition by staying up til the wee hours and engaging in some of our favorite K-Town activities. Namely cheap pedicures, chatting, and eating. Some of our tried-and-true haunts included China Cafe (spicy noodles), Baskin Robbins (31 flavors!!), and Taco John's (best Mexi-Fries in the world, people).

The baby shower turned out really well and we had a great time seeing old friends. My favorite parts of the day were getting the grand tour of Nan's cute nursery, our baseball trivia game, and hanging out afterwards with Nan's best friend from college, now a perinatologist at OHSU (on whom we've all developed a girl crush).  The food was also yummy and the decorations turned out nicely, thanks to the creative ideas we found courtesy of others via Pinterest. In the process, we also discovered some of our own budding crafting skills. Kira and Bekka made the bunting and I taped those pennants together like nobody's business. A shout out to Kaylee for salvaging the cupcake decorating from impending ruin under my amateurish efforts. It's a skill I'd like to develop.

There's nothing like being with your family, and particularly, sisters, to regroup and recharge.
(L to R: Mom, Kaylee, Nanette, Bekka, Kira, yours truly)

As an extra bonus, I got to spend a few hours with a dear friend of mine who moved to WA last year. I flew into Spokane, and when I found out my mom would be late picking me up, she graciously agreed to come get me and we spent a wonderful afternoon at her house catching up. Thank you Heather!!