Week 25

Welcome back and happy Tuesday! I'm getting caught up and back on track.  What a start to our summer and now we're looking at 4th of July right around the corner.  Every week in July is already booked with stuff too.  It's a lot but also a lot of good and fun things to come.

Until then here are the pictures from last week:

Day 167- Monday, 6/16/25

 I didn't have time to make it to the store over the weekend so after work today I tried to kick off the week with a shopping trip to stock up on items for meal plan options that will get us through the rest of the days.  Ideally I like avoid multiple trips to the store throughout the work week.

Day 168- Tuesday, 6/17/25

Today we are at a different type of store after work.  The Ace Hardware store in Woodland welcomed our dog training class back.  The dogs love it here and it really is a great way to help teach them to behave even with detractions.  Bailey loves the garden area and the of course the pet aisles.  Her least favorite part is the automatic door but she's getting the hang of it.

Day 169- Wednesday, 6/18/25

Wednesday at work one of my international grad students stopped by to give me a thank you gift for helping him complete his MPVM (Master of Preventative Veterinary Medicine) program.  It's a beautiful hand painted plate from his home country of Costa Rica.  That was very nice and thoughtful of him.  Then later I got to demo a new toy for the lab that has the potential to make our slide production process more efficient while helping improve ergonomics by reducing strain from repetitive motions while pipetting. 

Day 170- Thursday, 6/19/25

I was off today for the Juneteenth holiday and thankfully Rusty was adamant about helping me relax.  I also had the time to book an upcoming vacation to Maui for end of August.  We'll be staying in the Wailea area but will of course venture out to explore other parts of the island.  We've been to Oahu and Kauai but not Maui before.  Super excited!  This will be our first real vacation trip in 3 years.

  

Day 171- Friday, 6/20/25

Having yesterday off was a nice break but made for a long work day today.  We had to mass produce more slides, and because the weekend is up next, something we would normally do in 2 days had to get done all today.  First step was spinning down our antigen and now the rest is history with over 800 slides made using our new toy which took some getting used to but did help a lot once we got the hang of it.  After all that it was nice to get outside to see and feel the gorgeous day.  On my walk to the car I was able to capture a few good shots of these beautiful wild sunflowers that are now seen all over the valley--they're a sure sign of summer around here.

Day 172- Saturday, 6/21/25

This week we also got a work trip booked for end of July.  I get to present a poster for one of my grad students who has been advised not to travel out of the country (sad sign of the times), but I'm more than happy to help because this will be a fun conference to attend with a lot of our colleagues going and in an amazing cooler place to be instead of stuck here in the hot valley.  In other news, Bailey is hoping I have some leftover chicken from my lunch to share with her, but sorry pup, this bowl is empty.

Day 173- Sunday, 6/22/25

Today we were at Lafayette Reservoir for a picnic with our bay area friends.  It was a nice cooler day and we had a good spot with lots of shade right by the water.  This place is hopping on the weekends.  There is a nice paved 3 mile loop trail around the lake that a lot of people take advantage of.  It was great to see so many people of all ages out walking with their dogs, kids and friends.  We on the other hand mostly ate and drank--LOL!

That's it for now and hope to see you back next week.

Week 24

Hello!  Busy, busy times so running late with the latest post.

Here are the last week's pictures:

Day 160- Monday, 6/9/25

 It's the dawn of a new week and as I pulled into my parking spot at work the rising sun shining through the leaves caught my eye.  Later, back at home, I found Rusty napping in the office on top of the back couch cushions.  He usually naps upstairs on Justin's bed, but it's hot out this week so napping downstairs is cooler for him.

Day 161- Tuesday, 6/10/25

Today was a really long work day. I'm usually working remote Tuesdays but there is just too many things going on in person that I need to be there for and now I usually have to stay later in the day as well. At least our shipment of Babesia blood went out on time and I will get a break from that project for a few weeks anyway.  Since today was so much and so long already we had to skip puppy class in the evening but over the weekend Bailey did receive another BARK Box (someone missed the cancel date) so I opened that for her to make up for not being able to see her friends. 

Day 162- Wednesday, 6/11/25

Wednesday at work I'm back on the microscope, moving from one project to the next, and bulking up to produce antigen slides.

Day 163- Thursday, 6/12/25

Ice-cream cones are perfect for hot summer nights.  We're enjoying them while wrapping up the second season of Andor on Disney+.  Bailey quietly napping nearby being a good girl and not begging for our treats.

Day 164- Friday, 6/13/25

TGIF!  This was a long and brutal week so I'm glad it's over.  Thankfully there was a good cool breeze so I was able to Take Bailey on a nice long walk where we came across this plant in a new pretty bloom.  Justin also shared these cute pictures of Rusty with me.

Day 165- Saturday, 6/14/25

We're making the most of Father's Day weekend by taking John out to a movie today and having homemade pizza for dinner tonight.  It was great that Tyler and Lupe could join us for the movie and will be back tomorrow for a Father's Day brunch.

Day 166- Sunday, 6/15/25

Happy Father's Day!  We are so grateful for John and all he does as a dad. The boys made pancakes and sausage for a special brunch and then one had to head to work and the other was headed off to his in-laws to join their Father's Day celebration. Later, when Justin returned from work, we ended the day with a special cake for dessert.  I hope everyone else also had a great family day or weekend.

That's all and see you in a few days as we head into the the final weeks of June.

Week 23

Welcome back! Summer just started and I already feel like it's slipping away. Hopefully moving forward I can enjoy more of it.

Until then here are last week's pictures:

Day 153- Monday, 6/2/25 

After a little bit of work this morning, three of us were able to escape the lab and attend our lab assistant's wedding.  Congratulations to her and her groom! It was wonderful to experience a wedding cermony from a different culture and learn all about their traditions and rituals.

Day 154- Tuesday, 6/3/25

Tonight we had a fun and cool dog training class all done inside a large Ace Hardware store.  Our trainer got permission from the owner and staff.  They were very accommodating and super excited to have us there.  It was a great place for learning to behave around a lot of distractions and encounters with new people.  Bailey can't wait to go back.

Day 155- Wednesday, 6/4/25

After work today I had a consult with a surgeon about the ultrasound results for my hernia.  I do have one but it's too small to do anything about just yet so we'll play the waiting game and just keep an eye on it for now.  Back at home I noticed that this plant which had died over the winter and came back nicely during spring now has flowers on it again!  This is a great thing to see and hopefully a sign of more great things to come.

Day 156- Thursday, 6/5/25

Look at our pool at night!  John found this neat, solar-powered, floating projection-light that makes a fun pattern on the water after dark.  How cool is that!

 Day 157- Friday, 6/6/25

TGIF!  It's been a full week but at least there were some different and fun things going on in between my crazy and demanding work projects.  Cheers to the weekend!  We settled down after dinner with a nice cocktail and a good movie that just dropped for streaming on Prime.

Day 158- Saturday, 6/7/25

Time to go out with some friends.  We hit up a local winery first and then went to Old Sacramento on the river for some surf and turf at Joe's Crab Shack.  We'll see this same group again in a couple weeks for a different outing near where they live.

Day 159- Sunday, 6/8/25

The day or rest!  We needed it today for sure.  I had laundry going but otherwise it was a chill day hanging with the pets.

That's all for now and hopefully we'll see you back next week.

Week 22

Welcome back! This week has been crazy busy so I'm running behind with getting last week's pictures out and now that it's Saturday I at least have the the worst of everything else behind me and can catch up.

Here are the pictures from the last week (seems so long ago now):

 

Day 146- Monday, 5/26/25

 

Happy Memorial Day and we're so grateful to those who have given their lives to help defend and serve our country.  It was a nice cooler day so I took advantage of that and the extra time off to get more yard work done.  Sadly today was too cold for any pool time but we did grill up some burgers and dogs to enjoy for dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 147- Tuesday, 5/27/25

Back to the grind.  All my cultures are more than ready to be fed after the 3-day weekend.  I also heard from Brandon who is officially finished with his 3rd year of college and took a fun break from work to go to Disneyland with a new friend.  He hasn't been there in over in 10 years so it was great for him to go again and see it in a new light as a young adult.  I ended the day here with Bailey at training class in one of Woodland's shaded parks.  All the dogs love new adventures at new places and when they can go together it's not quite as unsettling and more exciting.  She loves her training pack.

Day 148- Wednesday, 5/28/25

The crazy heat is starting to creep back in but we still got a decent evening walk out while making sure to stay in the shade and off of any hot pavement.  We have to watch those dog paws so they don't burn!  During one of our stops for a good sniff Bailey found this perfectly heart-shaped leaf on the sidewalk.  She tired to eat it but I think it's stuck there so we took a picture of it instead. 🍃💛

Day 149- Thursday, 5/29/25

Bailey doesn't care what the forecast says.  She will stare me down while waiting for her walk.  I usually distract her long enough for the sun to start to going down first so we at least have more shade but not going at all is not an option for her.  She needs to get any extra energy out so she can settle for the rest of the night.

 

Day 150- Friday, 5/30/25

TGIF!  Here's an amazing tree at work I passed while going to another building in search of a missing package (happens a lot on campus).  This tree is so big and expansive! I'm standing on the second level and it's base is down on the level below--reminds me of the Tree of Life.  Back at home Bailey and I were checking out this second tree that had a squirrel in it who was very intent on watching us.  He stayed so still for so long I figured I might as well take a picture.

Day 151- Saturday, 5/31/25

It's the last day in May and we are setting a May high heat record here.  The best way to deal with that was to spend a lot of time at the air-conditioned movie theater.  The new Mission Impossible movie just premiered and was over 3 hours long so that did the trick.

 

 

Day 152- Sunday, 6/1/25

Welcome to June!  John worked hard the past couple weeks to get our pool cleaned and ready for summer.  The water temp is still a bit cold but the hotter air temps will help fix that real quick.  Hopefully next weekend we can give it a try.  While out back I also found this pinecone that one of the squirrels really did a number on.  Must be good eats for them. Can't say I've seen this before but we do have more squirrels in and around our yard this year.  There were a lot of new babies born n the early spring that are now taking over our fence-line and trees.

 

That's it for now and I'll see you next week in just a few days.