Week 47

Welcome back and happy Thanksgiving week!  I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday break and gets to enjoy spending quality time with family.  We're just waiting on one more college kid to get home very late tomorrow and then our hearts and home will be full again.

Until then here are last week's pictures:

Day 322- Monday, 11/18/19

Just a whimsical weed among some fall leaves which reminds me of a snowball--winter is coming!  Meanwhile across town because of factory defects it took the T-mobile rep 5 tries to get me an acceptable screen protector replacement.  Better him than me!

Day 323- Tuesday, 11/19/19

It's crazy how big some of these leaves are that litter the neighborhood floor.  Because of all the wind lately the trees are pretty much bare now, but we still have pretty blue skies and bright warm sun.

Day 324- Wednesday, 11/20/19

Justin sent me a picture or two of the fall color on his campus up north today and then also announced that he got a job working at the library which will start after fall break.  Way to go kiddo!

Day 325- Thursday, 11/21/19

Grey's Anatomy is still one of my favorite shows and they drink a lot of wine on that show so I like to have a glass while watching to join them.

Day 326- Friday, 11/22/19

Justin's fencing team had a "Fencegiving" (love that) feast tonight which looked like a lot of fun, and back home we were celebrating the start of the weekend and fall break.  I'm happy to be staying home to spend time with the kids next week.  Cheers to that!

Day 327- Saturday, 11/23/19

This morning I worked the door collecting entrance fee money for Brandon's basketball game and later after dark we picked Justin up from the train station in Davis.  He's finally home after a long 10 hour journey and is super hungry so the first order of business was a stop at In-N-Out.  We're so glad to have this guy home.  It's been a long 3 months and he's just as excited and super chatty which is great because I want to hear it all!

Day 328- Sunday, 11/24/19

After a much needed haircut Justin was more than happy to help me run errands and then help John with yard work.  We're expecting a storm in a few days so we need to get this pruning done. Later it was football time.  John watched his San Francisco 49'er team bring in another win.  That makes them 10 and 1 which is the best record they've have had in a long time making us all very happy.

That's it!  Hope you have a lot of good Turkey coming your way and I'll see you in December--wow, just wow!

Week 46

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  This is the last work week before Thanksgiving break and I'm looking forward to being home next week with my family.  It will be great to have all 3 boys home again.  We're still enjoying the nice fall weather and hoping that maybe some rain and snow will be in the forecast soon.  The last thing we need is to get back into a drought cycle.  I'm ready for winter to be here especially since December is just around the corner.

Until then here are last week's pictures:

Day 315- Monday, 11/11/19

We're home for Veteran's Day and enjoying a nice big breakfast together which doesn't happen often enough these days.

Day 316- Tuesday, 11/12/19

A beautiful fall sunrise over the Davis campus and some fall leaves on the campus grounds in the afternoon.  I don't usually see these shapes in my neighborhood.  It's fun to spot different fallen leaves in different areas.

Day 317- Wednesday, 11/13/19

Finally after almost 2 weeks of tryouts and 2 rounds of cuts Brandon made the JV basketball team and that's his golden ticket--a very full schedule of games and tournaments.

Day 318- Thursday, 11/14/19

Today I spent the afternoon with some high school kids in an Animal Science class doing outreach.  They were a great group and wrote me a nice thank you note.  Check out the high-tech visitor badge.  They scanned my license to to get the picture and check me in.  Never had that done before--sign of the times, and I guess it's good since you can never be too careful these days especially at the schools.

Day 319- Friday, 11/15/19

What the heck?  I've never seen or heard of Buddha's Hand fruit before today.  I guess it's a citrus lemony-type fruit.  I was tempted to buy one but decided to just take a picture instead.  LOL!  After that quick trip to the market Brandon and I headed to Woodland for his first couple of games.  Sadly there was more waiting than playing and we didn't get home until after 9pm.  It ended up being an unexpectedly super long Friday.

Day 320- Saturday, 11/16/19

Yep- the craziness has begun.  We're out early for another game in the opposite direction but this time more playing than waiting so it was fairly quick.  I got back in time for lunch and then yard work.  I'm trying to get through the fall prune before rain starts.  I actually filled this whole yard waste bucket today so I made good progress but am only about half way done in the back.

Day 321- Sunday, 11/17/19

Today is a good day for a catnaps.  The whole Disney + thing also happened for us this weekend but we didn't have time to watch.  I want to see the Mandalorian but also want to wait and watch it with the boys when they are home on break.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you next week.  

Week 45

Happy Tuesday and welcome back! Of course I'm running late since it's a Tuesday after a holiday.  It's nice to have the day off but sadly that just means double the work when starting back at it.  Thank you to all the Veteran's who serve to protect our country.  You most certainly deserve a day where we honor you.  Now as for last week, we had a great, no wind, no fire, warm week so there are a lot of outside nature pictures here. I think it's safe to say this is Indian summer type of weather and it feels wonderful. Those earlier dark evenings from the time change really get to me though.

Take a look at last week's pictures:

Day 308- Monday, 11/4/19

Our neighborhood park on a fine fall day right at the golden hour.  It's the perfect place to stroll through.

Day 309- Tuesday 11/5/19

All the Halloween looking pumpkins are put away, but I like to leave out the fall looking ones through Thanksgiving before dragging out any Christmas decorations.  I still want my house to look and feel like fall until December.

Day 310- Wednesday, 11/6/19

After a nice warm chicken dinner Brandon headed out in the dark to walk Bella.  And look, there is even a dog site commercial on the TV just for her.

Day 311- Thursday, 11/7/19

Today was a field day for work so we got to spend the day on the coast at Tamales Bay.  It was a bit foggy and chilly at first but once the fog cleared it ended up being a beautiful day at a beautiful place.  It's nice to get out of the lab and off campus every now and then.

Day 312- Friday, 11/8/19

Humboldt State posted the top picture on Instagram and I'd recognize that jacket and those buttons anywhere--hello Justin!  Love this picture so much because it's so him.  The school had a photographer take some pictures of him to use as an intro for when he takes over their IG page for a week in Feb and I guess they decided to use this shot now.  Back at home I'm learning to get out before dinner to walk this girl so we still have light and can see to enjoy the fall color while it lasts.

Day 313- Saturday, 11/9/19

This evening we crossed the bridge into downtown Sacramento to catch another Steven King movie. We took Brandon with us this time and he did his homework making sure to watch the Shining before seeing this sequel.  Good flick.

Day 314- Sunday, 11/10/19

Chore day--we're still cleaning up after the wind storms.  John worked hard out back to fix some broken fence pieces and he also cleaned up the pool.  It looks so much better.  I focused on trimming things up in the front yard while Brandon mowed both the front and back lawns.  Thank goodness we have another day off to look forward to.

That's it!  Only a couple weeks until Thanksgiving.  Can't wait to have the older boys home for a bit.  See you next week.

Week 44

Welcome back and happy Tuesday! I can't even believe we have kicked off November already, and it has me in a panic because it's jammed packed with one thing after another.  This means I'll blink and it will be the start of the holidays. I am looking forward to them but not quite ready to think about planning for them. Yikes!  One-day-at-a-time.  I just need to remember that.  Sadly October went out in flames so here's to hoping for a less disastrous November. 

Take a look at last week's pictures:

Day 301- Monday, 10/28/19

The winds were insane last night and into today.  This tree at work snapped right in half near where I park, but it happened overnight so I just saw the aftermath and was glad my car was nowhere near at the time.  Meanwhile in LA the Getty Fire broke out early this morning and could be seen from UCLA in the wee hours.  Imagine waking up to this picture first thing in the morning as parent with a kid there.  Thankfully we have a great parent group with locals that kept us updated.  The campus is east of the 405 freeway and the fire is on the west side with winds continuing to blow it west away from campus. They are safe but's it's still hard not to worry especially if the winds decide to change direction.  LAPD also had them on alert to possibly evacuate but it never came to that.  Classes were cancelled for the day though since roads were closed and some teachers, staff and commuting students couldn't get there.

Day 302- Tuesday, 10/29/19

I think it might be dinner time.  LOL!  They have banded together to stare me down, and I'm the only one home right now so it's all on me.  Just wait until the time change.  That will really throw them for a loop.

Day 303- Wednesday, 10/30/19

Brandon and I carved pumpkins this afternoon and John was able to bang his out later.  We're ready for tomorrow.

Day 304- Thursday, 10/31/19

Happy Halloween!  Brandon, the creepy clown, went out treating for 2 whole hours and brought home enough candy to feed a small army.  John also wore a Jason mask and played pool while passing out candy and watching the Niner's game.  They are finally having a good season.

Day 305- Friday, 11/1/19

It's so crazy that November is here already. Brandon is at basketball practice and John is still at work so I'm the only one left to pose with the monthly marker.  It will be nice to have more kids home later this month and into next.

Day 306- Saturday, 11/2/19

Our nightly temperatures have dropped drastically this past week so I had to pull out the winter jammies which also help with the cold starts to each day.  The cat feels it too and has been working hard to seek out the sunny spots in the house.  He also like swatching the leaves blow around.

Day 307- Sunday, 11/3/19

The windy conditions did a number on our pool and trees.  There are not many leaves left on the trees but you can find a whole lot of them in our pool.  Inside Brandon has just finished lunch and is enjoying a few treats from his Halloween haul.  If I'm lucky he offer to share a piece or two with me which is nice because we had hardly anything left after the many ghouls and goblins came to our door.

That's it!  See you next week.