The wedding is less then a month away......seriously?!?

Where has the time gone? It is very hard to tell most days for me. Oh well, certainly have been packing them in with busy days of planning, volleyball, work and starting the garden fun for the Spring season. This last weekend we had a much deserved sunny day on Sunday and I got to luxuriate in my planned garden for several hours weeding, turning in additional soil amendment and placing a great coat of used coffee grounds across the top to act as a natural mulch and increase the nitrogen content of the soil ahead of my intended plantings. The seedlings for my broccoli and multiple pepper styles continue to do well inside and I hope to get them into the ground prior to the wedding, we will have to just wait and see if that actually happens. ;-) I also got a chance to plant all of the lily bulbs (~21 of them to be exact) in our plot next to the garden as well as some by our work shed. They are Janelle's favorite flower and I have no problem filling our available space with their gorgeous color, I hope that they take this season early enough for some blooms. I also had the opportunity to play a bunch of v-ball with all a large range of players, formats, and locations and had a great time doing them all. Friday was a more organized Moxie reverse 4's open gym at Tyee Community Center in Bellevue. Good times, saw a few faces I had not seen in quite some time and played actually pretty well, great workout event though the really dirty gym made for play like we were on ice. Not the smart day to wear black as both I an Derek March did, we needed sand timeouts!! We even got a picture (shown here) of the whole open gym crew after the fun night, this crew made even me feel tall, a nice feeling for once. Saturday was a USAV men's tournament as we hit the hardwood with 2 Madman teams finishing 3rd/4th out of the 12 teams in attendance. The guys played great, I was a little off at this one, but I felt OK by the end. Our MO for this year certainly seems to be a semi-final team for sure, just struggling to get past the 2 top teams in the region to make the finals this season it seems. Nice to have both teams continue to do so well this season though, hard to ask for any more then that. Sunday, after gardening, I had my last night of the Winter indoor league with our Bellevue team Foushee & Assoc. as we won the league once again with a 4-0 sweep on the night. Such a great group of guys and another fun season as we laugh our way through almost every weekend match. Thanks for including me in another great round guys, looking forward to the next one. Team Foushee: Loch Anderson (Founder/Sponsor), Jason Nap, Ken Deutsch, Jesse Paulson, Gary Shaub, Tony Little, Todd Moore, Matt Weaver, Mark Peterson, and Jay "Short-Bus" Phillips.

Spring is slowly inching closer!!

Even though it seems to be just creeping along for us here in Northwest I think Spring is in actuality slowly making a presence. As the trees begin to bud, the irises continue to sprout and my starter plants get big enough to head towards the garden bed. All good signs in my book. ;-) Janelle and I continue to settle make small changes now and then to improve the house, work on the outside and even get a few of our everyday items upgraded as we look forward toward our impending wedding in just about 1 month's time. The most recent of these was the purchase of some new dishes for general use, something we were in desperate need of with our dated dishes we both had brought with us. Janelle made some great choices as we went with an eclectic set of brightly colored items in the popular "fiesta" style. I really liked how they look and think having the myriad of colors certainly fits our somewhat offbeat sense of style and decoration. How could the wedding have snuck up so close without my realizing it!?! (Perhaps it is a guy thing) Lucky for us we have many of our ducks in a proverbial row as we near the date. I am excited to spend the special time with friends and family followed by a much-anticipated trip to Puerto Rico to celebrate our new life as a wedded couple. Save a spot on the sunny beach for us! I think both Janelle and I will be somewhat relieved to have planning of the wedding behind us as well as a vacation filled with relaxation time and just the 2 of us.

Regional V-Ball Updates:

As we are reaching the middle of March we are almost to the halfway point of the 2008-2009 indoor volleyball season here in the Seattle area. The usual mixed bag for me in terms of results, formats, played, etc.. My coed 6's team which I play on with my brother John and sister-in-law Amy finished second as we lost in the finale to the top team in the league from the regular season. An overall fun season once again. Way to go Happy Fun Ball!! My men's indoor league team (Fouschee & Associates) is in as close of a dogfight for our weekend league as we have been in for years. We play our final head-2-head match versus our main rival this weekend. We head into the match tied for first, should be a fun game. ;-) As for the indoor USAV club team we have had a very mixed result this season to date. Never having the same lineup once might somehow be contributing to that fact some. (No surprise huh?) That being the case we have made the upper bracket at all of the tournaments we have played, one a regional event over arch-rival Island Style, and finished third this last weekend in the most recent regional tournament. I am having a good time continuing to play at the AA/A level and remaining competitive, even if we are not in all of the finals or taking home too many top prizes. Such is life I guess as one ages and continues to try and compete with the young bucks coming up through the ranks. Madman V-ball has continued to prosper as both men's teams continue to finish near the top of tournaments and we appear to be on the verge of adding both a 3rd men's team and a women's team under the banner of the club by the end of the season. Not too shabby I think and fun to see other people excited and interested in the progress and focus we have as an organization. It has really been nice over the last several years to see some of my efforts really making what I feel is a positive impact on the regional volleyball scene as a whole. More to come as the wedding plans continue apace and we try and cram in as many things as possible into our busy lives. Hope everyone is well out there as we celebrate another St. Patrick's Day.

MWBP '09 Volume III

Another chapter in the bachelor party weekend. After another evening of card playing, video gaming, drinking, and some great burgers and beer-brauts we woke up on Sunday to the sight of new snow covering the lovely valley landscape in our cozy cabin in the woods. What a beautiful way to start the day. We enjoyed some additional pancakes, eggs, and some very angry bacon. Thanks to John and Jesse for being the cooks that morning and to Todd and Matt Leicester for working so hard to clean up the mess. We got in a few more games of Rock Band and got to watch Justin do his thing at the expert level of many songs, pretty darn impressive if you ask me. We slowly packed up our gear and set about cleaning the cabin to a good shine. I honestly say it was cleaner after we left. Not to bad for a group of 7 guys don't you think? We headed out to the snow and were glad to find winter weather but clear roads along Stevens Pass as we cruised back to our Seattle homes.

Once back home we were able to break up the carpool and I tagged along with Jesse back to his place where Janelle had been the focus of a bridal shower at the Paulson's new house. It worked great as we were able to catch up with my folks there, who then dropped us back off at our small Shoreline bungalow. Nice to see their faces at least once more before they flew back to Denver. From the sounds of it Janelle had a great time this weekend as well with her own activities and shower, thanks to all of the special women who made that possible for her. A huge thanks once again to the Fletchers for use of the cabin, for all of the guys willing to make it such a special weekend for me, and to the Weaver parents for making the trip out and share in the festivities. It sure was nice to get in some extra hugs and the usual fun pics. The MWBP '09 Roster: Matt Weaver, John Weaver, Jesse Paulson, Moses Lunquist, Justin Paulson, Todd Moore, and Matt Leicester. And always remember....One Way Plumbing!!!

MWBP '09 Volume II

The second installment of the story from last weekend. While the boys were at the cabin Janelle was being surprised on her "girl day" of shopping by cousin Amy with a lunch including her mother, Kris, and Stephanie Paulson. This was included in her ongoing day of shopping, massages, and fun in the big city. Meanwhile the guys woke to another cold but clear and sunny day. After a great breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs wonderfully prepared by one John Weaver and Todd Moore we decided to head into town to see what fun we might be able to run into. (A big thanks to Jesse and Justin for cleaning up after the first prepped meal!) We hit the picturesque town with some light snow falling and decided to hit the first bar we saw, the Old Post Office Saloon to grab a beer to start the day in town, planning to move on from there. Little did I know this was the final destination as upon entering we found a great little spot including darts, 2 nice pool tables, a good music system, and some TVs to catch the Pac-10 basketball games as we enjoyed the company. That was in fact the only place we made it to in town. A total of 16-18 pitchers, many games of pool, some yummy snacks, and a disappointing WSU loss later we were headed back to the cabin for more good times. While at the saloon my dad managed to drop by with friend Dan Nelson to join in a few beers, a few games of pool and general merriment with the "boys". My mom and Mary Nelson also dropped by briefly to check in and get a few quick hugs. It was great to see the parents, however briefly during the Leavenworth adventure. From there it was a quick stop at my favorite cookie shop for some gingerbread snacks and back to the cabin!! The rest of the evening was much as with Friday night including Rock Band, card playing, continued drinking, and overall great times with the crew. More to come!!

MWBP '09 Volume I

This is the first of what might be several entries about the adventure this last weekend as I had my bachelor party/"Man's Weekend" with a small group of seven good friends. We were very lucky to get the use of the "cabin" owned by John and Carolyn Fletcher, my fiance's aunt and uncle. (Thanks you guys!!) It is an awesome location and property located in the picturesque valley just outside of Leavenworth, WA. We were able to cruise through Stevens Pass on Friday evening without too much issue. Even with the heavy snow fall this year we timed it well to have mostly bare roads for the majority of the ride. That night we tapped our fine keg of Coors Lite and the weekend was officially on!! We whiled away the evening hours playing a array of card games and some fun rock band on the small TV and gaming gear we brought with us. (Big thanks to Justin and John for hauling all of the gear and letting us use it to augment the fun!!) That was the majority for the first evening as we went to bed ready to recharge for all of the activities before us that weekend. More to come!!

As per usual it seems that time flies past without my notice between posts on this thing. I am really looking forward to some warmer weather so I can get outside and attack the landscaping, yard, and plant this year's garden in our lot. I have found such a great deal of enjoyment working outside and live things like plants. I find it very calming (Always a good thing for a hothead like me) and quite therapeutic to be honest. In the eventual case that the weather will turn, we continue to have snow flurries here in the Seattle area even in March, I have planted some starters in the house and will nurse them along with my grow-light as I have them ready to go into the ground to extend their growing season during the warmer months. I hope to have some usable peppers this year as my big goal. Last year the goal was at least one "carvable" pumpkin for the Halloween festivities and I ended up with 3 that I could use!! Really a fun way to do the holidays. The peppers came up just short so I am taking steps to try and get them "over the hump" if you will to something I can use in some stir-fry and salads. ;-) Despite the continued cold weather and occasional light blankets of snow the crocuses, daffodils, and tulips have all managed to come up and start blooming quite well. I also have some nice stalks coming up from all of my irises, even those I split and transplanted in the last 2 seasons of work. Now if I can get the honeysuckle to grow on my other lattice to balance out the front of the house and find something to take in the one marshy spot near the shaded front as well I will really be getting somewhere. It sure is fun to at the very least try some of this things for myself. In any case it is fun to have some color in the yard both front and back and see the silly statues we have meander their way through the fun shapes and plants that populate our beds. Till next time......