Week 23

Welcome back!  Summer just started and it already feels like it's slipping away.  How does that happen?  The heat has been unreal here so we're all just trying to keep cool.

Take a look at last week's pictures:

Day 158- Monday, 6/6/22

He's staring me down waiting for me to get ready for bed.  Monday's are hard even for the pets and he's so over it. 

Day 159- Tuesday, 6/7/22

I usually hit up the grocery store on Tuesdays in between remote meetings and computer work.  My goal is to make sure I get enough stuff to make dinners for the week so I don't need to come back until next Tuesday.  It usually works until one of the boys or pets need something I hadn't expected.

Day 160- Wednesday, 6/8/22

Today was a beautiful cooler day for a walk, and I just love looking up through this interesting tree.  There aren't many like it around here.

Day 161- Thursday, 6/9/22

Today was a crazy day.  I had to hurry through my morning in-lab work to head home and help Brandon with his dorm room selection appointment.  Since he's still 17 I had to be there to electronically sign for him but it all went well and he now has a dorm room secured in the Juniper building on the 4th floor top left corner.  They have limited housing and not enough dorms for all incoming freshmen so we are very happy he has his housing set--one less thing for me to stress about.  Talking about stress, I spent the afternoon running around getting paperwork in order and signed to extend John's medical leave.  I thought we already had that done but apparently it was only for him getting paid and it's a different process for continuing to keep his job secured past a certain point. Of course I just learned of this late yesterday and need to have it filled out, signed my multiple people, and turned in by first thing tomorrow. Yikes!

Day 162- Friday, 6/10/22

Today was another unnerving day with insane campus traffic and graduation heatwave drama at UC Davis.  What a mess! It was almost near impossible for me to get to my lab today even at 6:30am and then their were those poor graduates melting in the heat for over 6 hrs.  Insane! I've never seen it like that in all the years I've been here. Thankfully getting home was way easier but unfortunately I spent my afternoon and evening fighting insurance to keep John where he is a couple more weeks so he can get strong enough to bridge to acute PT place after missing PT in the current place for almost 2 wks due to COVID.  They just told us today he needs to be out by Tuesday but is not strong enough for acute care to take him yet.  Grr!  Time for some wine and Felicity (a show I always wanted to watch back in the day but never got around to and recently found on HULU--this is how I escape and try to decompress.)

Day 163- Saturday, 6/11/22

Summer vibes- enjoying the pool in the backyard trying not to over think everything.

Day 164- Sunday, 6/12/22

He was finally released from COVID isolation so we visited today and brought Bella with us.  It was a sweet reunion and a good visit on this much cooler day.  Too bad Justin had to work and couldn't join us.  We're hoping next weekend for Father's day we can bring John home for a few hours to have brunch.

That's all for now.  See you next week.

Week 22

Look at me posting on the right day!  Hopefully I can keep it up although the next couple months are super busy with appointments, getting things ready for 2 going to college, and transition stuff with John so we'll see.

For now take a look at our very busy and eventful week last week-

Day 151- Monday 5/30/22

Happy Memorial Day!  We had chicken wings for dinner and then started binge watching Stranger Things 4.  I'm so glad they had a good recap because it's been way too long.

Day 152- Tuesday, 5/31/22

Rusty and his rat friend are surveying the land below, and I'm finally finishing with getting those grad announcements in the mail.

Day 153- Wednesday, 6/1/22

Welcome to June and the kick off to summer.  John had a heart dr. appointment today so I was thinking a lot about hearts and noticed how big the small heart leaves from a few weeks back have grown.  They are larger than ever this year.  I wish I could say this is a good sign but looks like we'll be heading down the transplant road as soon as he gets his muscle strength back.

Day 154- Thursday, 6/2/22

Look at this sweet girl.  These days she can't decide if she wants to stay in or go out.  For now she will stay out as I head to the airport to pick up my parents flying in for Brandon's graduation.   It's good to see them here and have them around.  They were hoping to visit John but sadly the facility has had a run of COVID infections and John just tested positive for COVID so he's in isolation.  The poor guy just cannot catch a break. At least he feels fine with no symptoms except being a little extra tired.

Day 155- Friday, 6/3/22

It's High School Graduation Day! Congratulations Brandon on a job well done!!  Even though it started at 10 am we were seated in direct sunlight so it was a super hot one.  Regardless, we still had a great day spent with family celebrating our youngest ready to spread his wings--empty nest here we come!

Day 156- Saturday, 6/4/22

After a 5:30 am trip to the airport to see my parents off, today was all about decompressing from this crazy full week.  I did a whole lot of nothing except watch for Stranger Things with Brandon and also make my way to the mail box where I noticed upon return our lilies finally in bloom.

Day 157- Sunday, 6/5/22

We had a rainy start to the day but it ended cloudy with a chance of meatballs.  These were the first things I made in the new air fryer and they were a hit.  Gotta love Sunday dinner with the boys.

That's all but it was a lot!  See you next week.

Week 21

Here we go!  It may not be Tuesday but this catches me up as the post for last week.  Now let's see if moving forward I can stay on track.  It's doubtful though as summer is shaping up to be pretty busy especially with preparing another kid to head off to college.  I will try though!

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 144- Monday, 5/23/22

Justin is super happy to be back with Rusty.  These two most certainly have a special bond.

Day 145- Tuesday, 5/24/22

I'm in the middle of weed wars trying to get all the weeds out of the flowerbeds during the cool and shaded hours which usually means after dinner.

Day 146- Wednesday, 5/25/22

A friend helped me pick out an air fryer and it came with a great recipe book.  I need to perfect some of these recipes before John comes home so we can master a heart healthy diet.  In other news, the Survivor finale was tonight.  This was one of the best season yet.  I love how they have really changed things up to keep the players guessing.

Day 147- Thursday, 5/26/22

Today was a day to get things done.  I had to visit the dreaded SDI office again, drop off papers to the tax preparer for an amendment, fill out and mail in my voting ballot, and take a late afternoon appointment with this super nice sprinkler guy.  He's so kind he won't take money from me even after multiple trips to get us set up correctly.  I had to call his daughter who does the books for him and gave her the payment he deserves.

Day 148- Friday, 5/27/22

TGIF!  Brandon got his yearbook today and this is his final day of instruction.  School doesn't officially end until next week but the seniors just have a few event days they need to show up for.  All course work and finals are done.  Yay!  Then since John has been gone I have no one to cheers with on Fridays until now--Justin was more than happy to join me for a Friday drink.

Day 149- Saturday, 5/28/22

The boys and I had another wonderful visit with John today.  Earlier in the week he was feeling well enough to even send me a selfie.  He's looking more filled out and is in good spirits.  The boys were amazed at how much better he looked this week than when they saw him 2 wks ago.  After our visit, back at home, Justin and I made some frozen-yogurt fruit pies as a cool treat for the long weekend and then attended a graduation party for the Cepeda family.  Olivia just graduated high school and Marcus just graduated college.  This card I found is perfect for Marcus since for his 1st birthday party the theme was yellow smiley faces and I made his yellow smiley face birthday cakes and cupcakes--total full circle right there.  Wish I could find the pictures from back in the day.

Day 150- Sunday, 5/29/22

The weed wars continue this time around the pool and these ones are gigantic--like Jurassic size--with nasty thorns.  I had to put up a good fight but it was worth because I got them all pulled just in time to relax by the pool as the boys enjoyed a refreshing dip.  Memorial Day weekend is always the weekend we open the pool for the summer and I'm really glad we still made that happen.  John would be so proud.  Just wish we was here enjoying it with us.  

That's all for now.  What a full week and look at me getting all caught up!!

Week 20

On to the next one which almost has me back on track!  I'll get there I promise.  This week here was all about having Justin and John back in the same area as the rest of the family so we can see and enjoy them more.  It's so wonderful and much easier to have us all close again.

Here are the pictures from week 20:

Day 136- Monday, 5/16/22

 Time for her treasured evening walk. You can see just how happy she is and ready to go.

Day 137- Tuesday, 5/17/22

I got to spend some time with John and learn all about what he'll be doing for PT, OT, and Speech Therapy.  This is the first time I've seen him back in those shoes since we went to the ER many, many weeks ago.  He's come so far but still has a long road ahead.

Day 138- Wednesday, 5/18/22

Wednesday at work I'm finalizing the data in this excel document that has way too many sheets.  At least I'm almost done.  Later at home Brandon showed me his haul from senior awards which I had no idea was happening today.  He too is almost done.

Day 139- Thursday, 5/19/22

I took Brandon out by the river to get some pictures for his graduation announcements that need to be made up and printed ASAP.  Then we went out to our traditional welcome back dinner for Justin that we haven't quite had time to squeeze in until now.

Day 140- Friday, 5/20/22

It's super hot and super windy which means the start to fire season--something we are all dreading.  Skies like these give me PTSD feelings as they remind me of the devastating fires from years past.

Day 142- Saturday, 5/21/22

Here she is back at it with Brandon controlling her to mow our lawn.  The yard looks so much better now even if that grass is mostly weeds.

Day 143- Sunday, 5/22/22

This is what happens when your wine-club guy is out of commission for a few months.  I finally got around to picking us the rest of our missed selections from 3 different wineries-18 bottles in all.  Time to spread the wealth and share a few.

Thanks for stopping by and look for more to come.