Week 43

Welcome back and happy Tuesday.  There are only a couple more days until Halloween.  Let's hope these winds and fires die down.  What a nasty weather week it's been here in California and I hope we all see better conditions ASAP.  This cannot continue to be the new normal.

On a happier note take a look at last week's pictures:

Day 294- Monday, 10/21/19
I brought home some fresh eggs from my boss's backyard chickens today and love the different sizes and colors.

Day 295- Tuesday, 10/22/19

Gowning up to go in the animal wing at work is not my favorite thing to do but some days it must be done.  At home our huge Halloween spider is up and ready to creep people out.

Day 296- Wednesday, 10/23/19

On this minimum day Brandon and I went after school to hunt down the perfect scary clown mask and we found one at Walmart.  I miss the cute little kid costumes but it was still fun helping Brandon search for what he really wants to wear.

Day 297- Thursday, 10/24/19

I'm working the freshman football snack bar tonight and the smokey skies are making for a pretty purple/pink sunset.

Day 298- Friday, 10/25/19

We're so happy to be going out for dinner with good friends at a fun place in Rocklin.

Day 299- Saturday, 10/26/10

I'm spending time outside pruning the yard on such a gorgeous fall day.  I was planning to do this tomorrow but we are expecting high winds so today is a better day to be out here.  Meanwhile in Humboldt county they are cut off by PG&E for power again but that didn't stop Justin from having some fun shopping for props and attending a costume party.  Thankfully the school has some good generators.

Day 300- Sunday, 10/27/19

I'm so glad I got the outside work done yesterday.  The winds here are insane and  have blown all these leaves up against our front door and wall which is something I've never really seen before.  Even worse they have forced more PG&E outages and started a lot of fires all over the state.  This one here is at a bridge near Vallejo.  Yikes!  Stay safe all.

Wait! One more:

October's Family Photo

Just 3 little pumpkins this year.  Missing my older boys and can't wait to have them both home in about a month.

OK!  All done. Hope everyone has a happy Halloween.

Week 42

Welcome back and happy Tuesday. It's the start of another beautiful fall week and we have windy conditions again so PG&E is warning of more power shut offs. Please no! There has got to be a better way. Fingers crossed it doesn't come to that. Meanwhile we'll continue to prep for Halloween. John found our missing box of decorations and Brandon who said he didn't want a costume this year is now considering dressing up as an evil clown.  We'll see.

Until then here are last week's pictures:

Day 287- Monday, 10/14/19

The evening walks have been very pleasant lately and there are so many falling leave now.  It won't be long before the trees are bare and daylight savings forces us to walk in the dark.

Day 288- Tuesday, 10/15/19

Today I'm aliquoting horse serum. The worst part is the repetitive tube labeling, but this is the last set so it's time to get them done and in the freezer for long-term storage.

Day 289- Wednesday, 10/16/19

A perfect warm meal on a cool day.  It's orange chicken for dinner tonight which is one of Brandon's favorites.

Day 290- Thursday, 10/17/19

Some fall color in our backyard.  I'm so glad we live in a part of California that sees color changes with the season changes and that we get to experience all 4 seasons.

Day 291- Friday, 10/18/19

Someone is happy it's Friday and she always perks up the most when her boy gets home.  Love the perky ears on this girl.  Hate that the boy thinks the kitchen is the dumping ground for his belongings after school.

Day 292- Saturday, 10/19/19

I'm so happy to see my pumpkin collections on display around the house.  Other fall favorites here are these seasonal cereals the boys look forward to each year.  Their back!  And look--Brandon finally got a much needed haircut just today.

Day 293- Sunday, 10/20/19

Who needs a fancy cat tree when you can dominate an entire stair case?  These stairs are certainly his favorite place to be most days.  He can survey all from here and catch a nap or two in between.  Later John made us fresh burgers for dinner which is a Sunday go-to meal always straight off the grill.

That's it!  See you next week as we start to wrap up October.

Week 41

Welcome back and happy Tuesday. We had a great fall week last week and a wonderful weekend up north in Humboldt county visiting Justin.  Looks like this week will be just as nice.  Gotta love this time of year.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 280- Monday 10/7/19

Fall colors from dawn to dusk--not a bad way to spend the day.  That's sunrise over the Davis campus at work and a turning leaf found in the park while walking the dog at sunset.

Day 281- Tuesday, 10/8/19

Cool fall afternoons are perfect for making pumpkin bread.  Brandon helped me make these.  We'll be taking a couple loaves to Justin in a few days.  It sure smells good in here.

Day 282- Wednesday, 10/9/19

No! Humboldt county was the first to have their power shut off by PG&E to help protect fires in the windy weather across northern California.  They say it could be off for 1-5 days so Justin's school had to cancel family weekend which is a huge bummer.  What a mess PG&E has made.  Maybe these new pumpkins will help cheer me up.  Love the texture of the sweater one.

Day 283- Thursday, 10/10/19
Good news--Humboldt county got their power back this morning.  Thank goodness that was only 30hrs for them and our hotel is operational again so even though the school events are cancelled we can still visit our boy.  Now Brandon and I can make brownies to take to Justin like we planned before all this craziness started. Brandon was not into pictures today even though we agreed he could lick the bowl if I got a picture.  Ha!  I got 3 --LOL!  Also Justin wants to be this detective guy for Halloween and asked me a few days ago to help him find a similar pea coat.  Amazon for the win-I think this one will do and now I can hand deliver it to him.  We're headed out tomorrow!

Day 284- Friday, 10/11/19

After a long 6 hr drive John and I made it to Humboldt State in Arcata to visit Justin.  We arrived just in time for dinner and then decided to take in a movie that Justin has been wanting to see.  It's so great to be here with him and see how well he's doing.  It's been a long 2 months.

 Day 285- Saturday, 10/12/19

John has never seen the campus or surroundings so Justin gave us a tour of the buildings he has classes in, the community forest steps from campus to hike in, and one of the many local beach areas to have fun in.  That redwood forest is where Endore scenes for Return of the Jedi were filmed which is pretty cool.  After a full morning we grabbed lunch, said our goodbyes, and then drove back home.  It was a short and sweet but totally worth it trip.

Day 286- Sunday, 10/13/19

We're back home and back to reality.  It's time to get some laundry done and enjoy our furry friends.  Brandon did a great job taking care of them while we were gone but they missed their real parents.

OK--all done!  Hope to see you again next week.

Week 40

Welcome back and happy Tuesday! We're enjoying a slow start to the fall season.  It's always a refreshing time of year where the air is crisp but not too cold and the change in scenery with the start of fall color is welcomed. School is also in full effect for all three of my boys and a couple of them are already facing midterms. I don't miss those days, but I am looking forward to seeing Justin soon at  parent's weekend.  He's been sick with a nasty cold and could use a little TLC. 

Until then let's take a look at last week's picture:

Day 273- Monday, 9/30/19

Since it's the start of the work week my cultures are very hungry and I have a lot to feed.  There are many projects in the works which means a lot of bulking up.  It's time to push through and get some of these things done before the holidays which are just around the corner.

Day 274- Tuesday, 10/1/19

Welcome to a new month.  I have less family members to rotate through my monthly marker pictures so I'll have to use more props instead.  These beautiful pumpkins on my porch will work perfectly for this month.

Day 275- Wednesday, 10/2/19

It's a minimum day for Brandon so I picked him up from school, loaded his bike in the back, and took him to the doctor for a flu shot before taking him out to lunch.  He was happy with the lunch but not so happy with the shot.

Day 276- Thursday, 10/3/19

Creepy!  I  almost sat on this spider resting by my work desk first thing in the morning.  After flinging it off and stomping it to death I then saw the sun rise through the lab door window. These are things that only happen in the early morning hours before the rest of the crew shows up--sometimes good and sometimes bad but never a dull moment.

Day 277- Friday, 10/4/19

It's family movie night and we're watching another Marvel movie.  Brandon rarely watches movies with us anymore so I was happy to find one he really wanted see and have him join in.  Me, I mainly watched to see all the travel footage. TGIF!

Day 278- Saturday, 10/5/19

Now that the temps are cooler we have a second bloom happening in the backyard and need to enjoy it while it lasts.  I also need to spend some time out here doing a fall prune before the first frost.  Maybe next weekend or the one after.

Day 279- Sunday, 10/6/19

It's always a happy day when the fall candy dish comes out.  It's time to get the rest of the fall decorations out as well and maybe bake a few fall treats.

That's it!  See you next week.

Week 39

Welcome back, happy Tuesday, and here we go starting a new month already. Bring on October and all the fall goodness. The only downside is it's that time of year when the weather can't make up its mind especially here in our region. We saw a lot of that last week from record breaking high temps to tornado warnings with thunder and lightening, rain, hail, snow in the mountains, and chilly mornings turning into down right cold windy days--oh my!

Take a look last last week's pictures:

Day 266- Monday, 9/23/19

It's the official first day of fall and down at UCLA our fall baby turns 21!  Happy Birthday Tyler.  Sadly we could not be there to celebrate with him but we did send him a custom donut box and a picture of us having a drink in his honor.  He also went out to celebrate a bit and was even given a free shot by one bartender.   

Day 267- Tuesday, 9/24/19

This old girl now get daily meds to help with the arthritis pain in her leg joints and recently I found these pill pockets to help give her those pills.  She most defiantly approves.

Day 268- Wednesday, 9/25/19

LOL!  Gotta love this age--teenage angst.  I miss my sweet baby boy who would always smile for the camera.  He's happy to be here at Cold Stone on this super hot day for some ice-cream as we help out with a Booster's fundraiser, but he's not happy to be in my picture.  He only agreed so he can have his cup of goodness sitting there waiting for him.  In other news,  today we broke a temperature high record hitting 100 degrees and we are also received a winter advisory for snow in the mountains this weekend.  What?! Crazy weather times.

Day 269- Thursday, 9/26/19

Brandon just got home from school and is having an afternoon snack that Rusty is very interested in.  He's hoping something will accidentally get dropped or that Brandon will give into those poor kitty eyes and slip him a quick bite.

Day 270- Friday, 9/27/19

Thank goodness the wether forecast was right and things are cooling down by quite a bit.  I had to pull out a sweater for my evening walk.  It most certainly feels and looks more like fall right now than it did 2 days ago which mean these flip flops will soon be stored away until spring.  Wishing I had some warm toasty socks on right about now.

Day 271- Saturday, 9/28/19

John has a track day lined u for tomorrow so he's prepping his bike and took a quick break to watch some college ball while sitting on the bike.  Look at the lighting behind him.  It's very pink out because of the sunset and these crazy thunderstorm clouds in out angry ski.  We even got a tornado warning on our phones which is very rare for us in California.  Take shelter where?  Most of us don't have basements here.  The tornado super small in comparison to what the midwest sees ended up touching down just north of Davis not far from my work.  Wow!

Day 272- Sunday, 9/29/19

And today there is snow in the mountains--a lot of snow--which is super early for us and it's causing bad travel conditions and accidents.  Thankfully we had no plans to go up there, but we are enjoying the local pumpkin patch on this brisk sunny day here in the valley.  Brandon was actually happy to go and enjoyed the fresh made apple-cider donuts we picked up there.  It's all about the food with teenage boys but whatever works especially if it gets him out of the house for a bit.

Wait!  One more:

September's Family Photo

It's us at the dinner table--just the 3 of us now for family pictures until the holiday months anyway.  John just grilled us some burgers to enjoy and we're having some fun conversations which I love.   This was actually taken just before the tornado warning blew up our phones.  What a way to end the day!

Ok all done.  See you next week.