Week 43

Hello, welcome back, and happy Halloween!   It's been rainy, cold and windy here with a few warm days sprinkled in.  Everyone was pulling out the winter clothes this past week.  At least tonight it will be dry and pleasant for the trick-or-treaters.  

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 296- Monday, 10/23/23

We started the week wet with some rain but thankfully not a traffic jam.

Day 297- Tuesday, 10/24/23

Today was was a much better sunny day plus Taco Tuesday for dinner.  It's so nice to have help planning and prepping meals again.

Day 298- Wednesday, 10/25/23

We're expecting near freezing temps overnight so I bet I won't be seeing these wonderful roses out back much longer.  It's time to prune the bushes way back and prep for winter.  Rusty also found another new napping spot upstairs where it's a bit warmer.

Day 299- Thursday, 10/26/23

Today was brutally cold and windy with more rain here and there.  It was the perfect weather for a chili and baked potato dinner.  Rusty is not a fan of this cold snap and has taken to napping in a loaf position near my feet to cope.  He's our little pumpkin loaf.

Day 300- Friday, 10/27/23

TGIF!  Here are some more of my house pumpkins and for our Friday night movie we watched the Halloween Ends movie that was in theaters last year and is streaming this year.  We're on a mission these next few days to watch a bunch of scary movies--'tis the season.

Day 301- Saturday. 10/28/23

Today I was working on projects around the house like trying to find a better color match for touch-up paint in our bedroom.  The paint we had that is supposed to be the same on the wall is drying too dark.  Hopefully one of these will work better so we don't have to paint the entire walls of the 3 we need touch-ups on. Fingers crossed!  Later I also prepped a bit more for Halloween--need to make sure I have enough candy to fill the cauldron for the big day and it looks like we're set.  Now to avoid eating too much before then.

Day 302- Sunday, 10/29/23

Brrr!  Definitely time to switch to winter PJs and slippers. Our overnight temps and early mornings are pretty darn cold.  At least once the sun comes out it does warm up for the afternoon and is still pleasant out as long as there is no wind.  This afternoon was a good day to be out for a wine pick up.  Then around dinner time Brandon sent me a picture of him on a date night with his girlfriend.  They like the scary movies too.  Boo!

That's it for another week and month.  Time to kick off November and can't wait to have the college kids back home for their Thanksgiving week break.

Week 42

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  I finally had a nice chill work week which allowed me to have a nice week overall.  I'm so happy things are slowing down on that front.  The weather has been wacky though.  Cold then extreme heat then cold and rain--can't make up it's mind!

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 289-  Monday 10/16/23

I'm not sure what it is about Mondays but over the past 5 weeks there have been 3 major accidents causing huge delays during my Monday morning commute.  It was just one big parking lot out there for a good 40 mins this morning.  Maybe I should change my remote work day t from Tuesday to Monday.

Day 290- Tuesday, 10/17/23

I was a able to get a few more decorations put up outside and inside this afternoon.

Day 291- Wednesday, 10/18/23

Wednesday at work there are more and more fall leaves littering the ground even if it is hot as heck out. These ones remind me of puzzle pieces. Back at home there are more and more fall decorations littering my house but I love them.

Day 292- Thursday, 10/19/23

This is his favorite way to play mouse--with a blanket to hide behind so he can be stealth about his attack and if the blanket is not set up just right he won't play.  Has he got me trained our what?

Day 293- Friday, 10/20/23

Our One Health Institute Lab won the University's grand prize lab safety award this year.  Each of the different schools in the UC Davis system had a winner but we were the top system-wide and were honored at a luncheon with the Chancellor, various Deans, and safety officials.  What a great way to end the work week.

Day 294- Saturday, 10/21/23

Yesterday afternoon I got my flu and updated COVID shot which was not a great way to end the work week.  Both John and I got hit hard with flu-like symptoms overnight and into today.  The last couple boosters had no side effects for us but this one was just as bad as the very first so today was all about napping and doing low-key relaxing things like coloring.

Day 295- Sunday, 10/22/23

We're feeling much better today which is nice but still a slow stay-in kind of day especially since we had 3 rounds of intense rain down pours.  It was also the perfect weather for some warm comfort food and we were happy to have Tyler join us while Lupe had plans with friends. Rusty trying to train Tyler on the proper way to play mouse.

That's all.  Catch you again next week as we start to wrap up another month.  Where does the time go?

Week 41

Hello and happy Tuesday! It was another exhausting and brutal work week, but I feel like I'm finally past the worst of it and things should slow down helping to ease me into the the holidays.  Otherwise I'm loving the fall-like weather and hoping to enjoy it a bit more without so much on my plate.

Take a look at last week's pictures:

Day 282- Monday, 10/9/23

Work, work, work!  A lot of unexpected stuff just keeps popping up but I'll power on and get through it even with my support person on vacation for the week.

Day 283- Tuesday, 10/10/23

I found this HUGE leaf in our driveway that blew in from somewhere even though we don't have trees near by with leaves this big--still cool to see.  There was also a storm that blew in just before sunset that dropped a lot of rain in a short amount of time.  It's still warm out so it actually felt good to stand out in the down pour for a bit and marvel at the orange cloudy sky.

Day 284- Wednesday, 10/11/23

He can't wait for me to get home so he can jump up for a cuddle.  It forces me to relax though and just enjoy a minute or two with my furry friend purring away before moving on to the next pressing thing.  In other news, up at Humboldt, Justin is enjoying his herpetology and entomology classes this semester.  The post in the middle popped up on my fb feed so I shared it with him because I knew he'd get a kick out of it especially in this creepy season. Nature is such a fascinating thing and I'm so glad he appreciates and revels in that.

Day 285- Thursday, 10/12/23

We're seeing more and more changing color as we get deeper and deeper into Fall.  There is a lot of yellow and red spots showing up in trees all over the neighborhood.  And look!--we got Booed.  I heard a knock on the door and when I answered it this is what I found.  How fun!

Day 286- Friday, 10/13/23

TGIF! I'm exhausted from this week and still have a work commitment tomorrow so I'm unwinding for now on the office couch while my kitty boy takes a lap nap.  Later our Friday night movie was anything but relaxing but did keep my mind off work and was a good scary movie to watch this time of year.

Day 287- Saturday, 10/14/23

I was asked to give a professional talk at UC Davis Horse Day.  I don't speak much so was super nervous at first but I had such a great group of guests that asked so many good questions that made it more fun than stressful plus they gave many wonderful reviews.  Phew! Now this work week is officially done and next week should be pretty mellow compared to the past few weeks--hope I didn't just jinx myself.  John was kind enough to take me out to dinner tonight which was really sweet and much appreciated.  That lavender lemon-drop tasted so good.

Day 288- Sunday, 10/15/23

After getting most of my house chores done I was able to take a nice walk around the neighborhood before dinner to soak up all the new fall color popping up here and there.  Fall leaves and flipflops--only in Calif. 💗🍂

That's it for now.  Hope to see everyone back next week.

Week 40

Welcome back and happy Tuesday! I'm still dealing with super busy work weeks and it just keeps coming and hitting hard.  The holidays can't come soon enough for a break.  At least I was able to get some fun downtime in on the weekend.

Here's a look at last week:

Day 275- Monday, 10/2/23

Rusty watching me while I watch TV in the office since Monday night football is on in the other room.  We don't like watching football..

Day 276- Tuesday, 10/3/23

John had a job interview today.  He's pretty bored staying home all the time and feels good enough to try working  again.  Sadly his former work place has no "comparable" positions at this time but that's ok because he's up for trying something new.  Meanwhile I managed to break free from zoom meetings and virtual trainings to make a quick trip to the store for essentials, and yes, the bumpy pumpkin is an essential this time of year.

Day 277- Wednesday, 10/4/23

Wednesday at work I'm wrapping up a protozoal seroprevalence study in sea lions--so many samples to run but almost done.  The washing step between incubations is my least favorite part.  Later back at home I got a little kitty therapy while unwinding from my day. 

Day 278- Thursday, 10/5/23

I'm slowly working on getting the Halloween decorations out and found this cute skeleton stacked pumpkin on sale at Target.  He lights up too and was perfect to replace another decoration that got too old and need to be tossed.

Day 279- Friday, 10/6/23

TGIF and cheers to the weekend!  This week was so draining that I don't even remember what movie we watch because I'm pretty sure I slept through it.  At least the drink John made for us was good.

Day 280- Saturday, 10/7/23

Our SF friends invited us to Treasure Island to watch the Blue Angels air show at Fleet Week today and it was so fun plus an unusually perfect day near the city--warm, no fog, no rain, just a little wind, and a whole lot of sunshine.  The only difficult part was getting back out over the bridge with all the traffic heading home.  A good day with friends out in fresh air was just what we needed.

Day 281- Sunday, 10/8/23

Back to reality getting chores done today but also stopping to step outside and smell the roses for a bit.

  That's it!  Come back next week for hopefully more fun.