Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Week 43

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  I can't believe it's Halloween tomorrow and also it's demo day in my house!!  Things are about to get real.  I'm not sure how we'll survive without a kitchen, laundry, or main living space for at least 2 weeks but somehow we'll manage. Deep breaths.

For now here are last week's pictures:

Day 295- Monday, 10/22/18
This afternoon was beautiful out and I was putzing about in the yard with my sidekick who always enjoys the opportunity to explore out back free from her dog run.





Day 296- Tuesday, 10/23/18
Brandon got this 3D skull puzzle for his birthday over the summer and had it mostly complete but got stuck and abandoned it for awhile.  With Halloween coming up he felt inspired to try again and got it all done this time.  It's pretty cool but hard to photograph the details with all the layered pieces refracting light.





Day 297- Wednesday, 10/24/18
Another beautiful fall sunrise up on the 5th floor of VM3A were I work.  I even caught a huge bird in there this time.  I'm pretty sure it's a raptor of some sort looking to hunt rodents out and about at dawn.





Day 298- Thursday, 10/25/18
Justin is taunting Bella with a treat and she is sitting there perfectly still, pretty, and waiting.  What you can't see is the drool dripping from her mouth in anticipation, and I'll for sure make him mop up the puddle after ;0)





Day 299- Friday, 10/26/18
 TGIF!  It's been a long week and we just decided to pull the trigger and sign a contract to get our remodel started in hopes it will be done before Thanksgiving.  Hold on tight--it's going to be a wild ride and it starts tomorrow with shopping for appliances, but tonight we relax and enjoy each other's company.





Day 300- Saturday, 10/27/18
I had pretty much all the other Halloween decorations up and out except for my huge hanging spider so after we spent the morning driving around deciding on remodel stuff I put him up in all his glory.  I also begged Tyler for a few random pictures and this is what I got.  LOL!  He's a total college boy tailgating at a football game and partaking in some frat ceremony.  That's ok-- I'll take what I can get.





Day 301- Sunday, 10/28/18
While John is away at a motorcycle class I worked on out picking tile for bathroom floors and the kitchen backsplash, and the boys worked on carving pumpkins.  It's great they are so self-sufficient and didn't really need any help from me except for setup and cleanup.  I'm trying to keep some sort of normalcy for them while I pack stuff away but there's no doubt they'll feel pretty out of sorts without the true comforts of home in the coming days.




Wait!  One more:

October's Family Photo







This was taken Saturday on one last, fine, fall day in October before the winds picked up and the chill set in.  We're sad to be missing Tyler here but he'll be home in a few weeks for Thanksgiving so we'll get him in the November family photo for sure and the December one as well.




That's it. See you next week in November!


Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Week 42

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  There was a big beautiful harvest moon to gaze at on my drive in this morning. That's the upside and the downside is that full moons bring out the crazies so traffic before 6am heading into Davis was insane with 2 truck breakdowns and 1 multi-car accident causing major slow ups. Sadly I'm not sure being up and out early enough to experience that moon was worth it. Halloween is fast approaching and I'm in the final stages of prepping for that, but I'm not even sure my boys are going to participate this year which marks another transition into having nearly grown kids. They can at least help pass out candy for me.  It's a new phase for us in terms of holidays. Mine still like all the traditions but without all the magical excitement and it's sad, but I'll be ok.  I'll just roll with it and take what I can get from them.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 288- Monday, 10/15/18
Today was the day of Brandon's bike accident while riding to school.  He was struck by a large pickup truck on his left side just after it turned right at a stop. Thankfully there was not much momentum or speed so he was not terribly hurt.  He has a few road rash scrapes, his shoulder is sore, and he's shaken up, but he also learned some good lessons and thankfully will be ok.  This afternoon he rests quietly with his faithful dog by his side.  I have to give props to the EMT, West Sac Police, school staff, and community members who stepped up to help take care of and comfort him until I could get there and even after.  He was in good hands.  His bike was thoroughly checked out and is unharmed but could use a little air in the tires.  Since John is traveling for work Justin pitched in to do that for his brother.  It really does take a village and I'm glad I have that here for me and mine.





Day 289- Tuesday, 10/16/18
Moving on to a new day with a good start.  The barista at our work coffee joint put a cute touch of fall on my mocha today which made me smile and helped me kick off my morning.  Then this afternoon I caught the sun beaming through some fall leaves in the backyard as I check on our tomatoes trying to ripening up for the last harvest.





Day 290- Wednesday, 10/17/18
Justin just got home from a cross country meet that he said he rocked and he's happy to be sporting a new jacket.  He's very picky so it took me awhile to find one that he approved of--it must have several pockets with zippers, a hood, and can't be too heavy or too light.  Luckily this one fits the bill.  I think the hood is a little weird but he likes weird so we're good.




Day 291- Thursday, 10/18/18 
Now that it's fall and the temps have dropped I have my lap cat back.  He's seeking out human warmth again which is fine by me because I've missed my cat cuddles all summer long.  I'm enjoying seeing all the new fall colors popping up too, and I like that my cat is a pretty fall color as well.





Day 292- Friday, 10/19/18
Yep- it truly is fall as you can tell on my walk with the dog.  There are so many colorful fallen leaves littering the sidewalks.  When we return I find Justin stealing one of the boxes I just brought home for packing things up to start the remodel.  He has an AP Stats project he's working on with a friend and needs a box or two.  How convenient for him that there just so happens to be a new pile of boxes in the garage.  Oh well--saves me a trip to find one last minute.  It's always easy come, easy go with these kids.






Day 293- Saturday, 10/20/18
It was a busy day.  Justin had another XC meet that I was hoping to go to, but Brandon's shoulder and now his back are still bothering him so I decided it was best to get an x-ray and make sure it's just normal healing pain and nothing more serious.  We spent 2 hours in urgent care but got it done and there may be a slight dislocation and a muscle contusion but nothing major that won't heal on it's own with time and rest so we'll just be patient.  After that was done and Justin had returned and also put in more time on his AP Stats project the boys and I went out to dinner and a movie.  John is back from his work trip but is now up in Tahoe on a guys trip for the weekend so it's just us and a Marvel movie.






Day 294- Sunday, 10/21/18
It's been awhile but worth the wait because the weather is perfect now for Cinnamon Roll Sunday.  These ones have an orange icing that we all love.  It's the perfectly yummy way to end a full fall week.




That's it.  See you next week just before Halloween!




Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Week 41

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  I'm ready for the rest of this week to be a good one.  Yesterday was emotionally draining as some of you know because Brandon was in a bike accident involving a car, but he is OK and doing well with just a couple scratches and a sore shoulder.  Thanks for all those who reached out and sent well wishes.  We are very grateful it turned out to be nothing serious and are counting our blessings.  This month is flying by but what else is new?  The nice fall weather continues and is a great treat.  We're pretty busy with planning a remodel for our house and made some progress this weekend that will help us get started real soon.  It's a bit over whelming but the end result will be well worth it.

Here's a look at last week's pictures-


Day 281- Monday, 10/8/18
It's a beautiful day out but a crazy Monday work-wise so on my break it helps to sit in the window to clear my head while enjoying the view of campus from the 5th floor of the building where our lab is located.







Day 282- Tuesday, 10/9/18
Here's another 5th floor view first thing as I'm coming into work right at sunrise.  Fall time always gives off the best sunrises and I'm fortunate enough to catch them with my schedule.  Back at home our front porch area is also looking very fallish with those pumpkins we picked up last week.  The bumpy one is my favorite.





Day 283- Wednesday, 10/10/18
It's been awhile since Brandon asked to join me walking the dog so of course I said yes.  His basketball practice has been less lately so he has more free time, and it was nice to have him tag along for our evening stroll.  Bella likes it too.  Then later I noticed that one of the day lilies by the pool has started to bloom again which is refreshing to see since we lost a lot of the flower color in our yard during the heatwave late September.  I'll most certainly take one last bloom cycle before winter sets in.





Day 284- Thursday, 10/11/18
Tonight I'm working the Boosters' snack bar at the freshman football game.  I like being able to work a Thursday shift so I don't have to work Friday night.  It was a lovely evening too.  This is always a good time of year to be outside.




Day 285- Friday, 10/12/18
TGIF!  The boys just finished midterms and Justin had a really good day so he came home in a great mood which is unusual for him during testing season.  I'm so glad he ended the first quarter on a good note and can now relax and enjoy his weekend.  Then while I was curled up on the couch watching a movie I lifted the blanket and saw this.  Those eyes!  He likes this corner spot to peek up at me especially when popcorn is nearby.  Silly kitty.





Day 286- Saturday, 10/13/18
After a full day of checking out remodel ideas in showrooms and picking some materials John and I went out to dinner and a movie.  They just opened up a new Yard House restaurant right next to the movie theater so we ate there and had a couple drinks of course.  Great food, great movie, great company, and another great fall night!





Day 287- Sunday, 10/14/18
The boys have been hinting that I should make some pumpkin bread and today seemed like a good day for that.  We made 3 loaves and packed one up in a fall care package to send to Tyler.




Ok that's it!  Hope to see you all next week.


Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Week 40

Welcome back and happy Tuesday.  Last week was a good week with some fall fun and good progress made getting things done.  It even feels like fall which is great.  I think we are all loving the cooler temps and even the fresh spit of rain we got although I don't think we're quite done with the heat yet.  We are also making plans to do some home improvements and will be starting with replacing our floors so that will keep us busy for awhile.  It's time to clear out the clutter and prepare to empty rooms.  I'm looking forward to the project being done but not the process.

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 274- Monday, 10/1/18
Hello October!  We started putting out the fall decorations and filled the fall candy bowl today.  These two were happy to help with that and then posed with my monthly marker.





Day 275- Tuesday, 10/2/18
Just Sunday the boys washed the car for me and did a great job as you can see in the first picture but this morning, in Davis while at work, it actually rained for a few minutes and ruined my newly clean car.  Bummer!  They boys totally noticed too, right after school, and were not happy about it either.





Day 276- Wednesday, 10/3/18
Today was another stormy day with thunder showers here and there and beautiful cloudy skies.  I think I also saw a rainbow at one point.  Even though it messed up my clean car I'm happy to see the change in weather.





Day 277- Thursday, 10/4/18
Brandon had no basketball practice this afternoon so that meant he had more energy and free time to play with Bella and she was super happy about that.  Using her green octopus toy for tug-of-war and a little fetch are always their go-to fun activities.






Day 278- Friday, 10/5/18
The boys had the day off for a teacher development day so after a quick work morning I was able to join them for the rest of the day.  It was beautiful out so we decided to hit up the pumpkin patch where we picked out pumpkins and sampled fresh made apple-cider donuts. Yum!





Day 279- Saturday, 10/6/18
It was a college prep day.  I busted out 2 FAFSA (financial aid) applications in the morning and then helped Justin with his Cal Sate Apply forms this afternoon.  One application made it possible to apply to 6 different state schools he's interested in.  Bam! That's done and now he just has 2 more schools with different applications left to complete.






Day 280- Sunday, 10/7/18
Ever since the weather turned John has been craving apple pie so today seemed like the perfect day to bake a pie with a crumb top of course.  He's thrilled with the pie but not so thrilled about how the Niner game turned out. 




OK! That's it.  Another week in the book as we get closer and closer to the end of yet another year. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you next week.


Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Week 39

Welcome back and happy Tuesday.  Here we are starting October already which means it's time to watch scary movies and bust out the pumpkins.  We're ready for all things fall and Halloween but before we start that . . .

Let's look at how we ended September:


Day 267- Monday, 9/24/18 
We were just sprung from Justin's MRI appointment.  That took forever but good news so far is that both scans are unremarkable so there is no obvious reason for the bump on his head and the swelling on his face that won't go away.  We'll have a follow up soon with the doctor and think about looking for other possible reasons.  He has that funny looking smile because he's trying to hide a mouth full of food.  The poor kid is starving.  Thank goodness I had an extra granola bar in my bag.





Day 268- Tuesday, 9/25/18
The longer high school days compared to middle school plus basketball practice either before or after really wipe this kid out.  At least he's got his dog to chill with after. 



Day 269- Wednesday, 9/26.18
Justin and the rest of the cross country team had a meet today in the hills.  He's standing in the back on the far right and had a good run.







Day 270- Thursday, 9/27/18
I was cleaning the sheets on Tyler's bed and found his baby blanket tucked under his pillow.  This sad 20 yr old thing is well loved, extremely tattered, torn in two and practically see-through, but I love that he still keeps it and seeing it makes me miss him even more.  Justin on the other hand is happy the room is free again and has taken over the desk for studying by moving his high school books in.





Day 271- Friday, 9/28/18
It must be my turn to walk the dog because she is giving me the stare-down and has already eaten so I know it's not that.  OK Bella, let's go so we can get back soon to relax and enjoy a Friday night movie.





Day 272- Saturday, 9/29/18
It's a beautiful cooler day and perfect out for doing some fall pruning.  It was a chore kind of weekend.  Not a lot of fun but had to be done.




Day 273- Sunday, 9/30/18
Finally this kid gets his coconut.  He had one earlier in the month but when he opened it there was mold inside so John took him to picked up another one which is so much better.  Now he needs to work on getting the meat out and putting it to good use.  He's has plans. I'm not exactly sure what, but he's all over it.  See the dark bruise like mark on the left near his temple?  That is actually a shadow the bump on his head makes and then see the swelling from just below his eye to the top of his cheekbone on the right?  Those are the the issues we are looking into that are not going away.  At least they cause no pain but it worries me that there must be some underlying reason why they are there.




That's all for now.  See you next week and in the meantime enjoy the start of fall.