Week 31

Hello and greetings from Canada while traveling for work.

Here are the pictures from week 31:

Day 209- Monday, 7/28/25

 Greetings from Victoria, BC, Canada!  I'm here for the Wildlife Disease Association conference and the weather is amazingly perfect. After I arrived and checked into my hotel for a quick refresh, headed out  on my short and scenic walk to the conference center.  There I picked up my badge at registration, found my fellow UC Davis peeps and then boarded a bus to a nearby castle where we had a wonderful picnic dinner on the beautiful grounds which were fun to explore.

Day 210- Tuesday, 7/29/25

I'm starting conference day 2 with coffee and a scone on my room balcony with the most amazing view of the harbor. After as I walked to the center I took a little detour to see more of the harbor discovering this wonderful "Welcome to Victoria" greeting spelled out in flowers.  This is city is full of wonderful flowers and landscaping.  The conference center is pretty cool too and I sat in on many good talks and viewed some great posters.  Later we all had dinner at a local pub with a silent auction.  I was till walking distance to the hotel so it was great to do the walk at night and see how cool the Capitol building and harbor are lit up in the dark.

Day 211- Wednesday, 7/30/25

 

 Day 3 was only a 1/2 day of meetings and then everyone got to pick an excursion to go on.  Most chose the whale watching boat tour but since I had done that before here in Victoria on a trip with John I wanted to try something new which lead me to this SkyWalk.  It was pretty amazing with a nice gentle walk through the woods and an easy ramp up to some amazing views plus a slide down!  The slide was made for all ages so I went for it and it was a blast.  Dinner was on our own tonight so I had room service and ate looking out at my amazing view.

Day 212- Thursday, 7/31/25

 

Today is the last full day of the conference and I woke up to the best sunrise.  It was a busy day with a lot of talks in different rooms so I really had to plan out what I wanted to see and be sure I was in the right place at the right time.  I also had to present our group's poster in an afternoon session which went really well. Later, while walking back to the hotel, I made sure to swing by a cool whale sculpture made of live flowers I saw from the bus to my excursion yesterday so I could grab a photo. Later we had a semi-formal awards dinner to attend so I refreshed and headed back out for cocktail hour and a nice fancy dinner with all my amazing colleagues.  The walk again back to the hotel was so nice at night especially near the water.  One more thing!  Today is Brandon's 21st birthday and so happy we were able to celebrate in person with him and extended family last week.

Day 213- Friday, 8/1/25

The closing ceremony was this morning and now it's time to head back home.  I'm going to miss all the lovely views of the harbor.  I had 2 flight today with a large layover in between so during that downtime I recharged my electronics and grabbed some dinner at a really nice artisan pizza and wine place in the airport.  That was perfect and just what I needed to get me through the next flight and eventual back home. Oh, by the way, happy August!

Day 214- Saturday, 8/2/25

It's great to be home but no rest for the wary.  My parents are finally cleared to fly back home.  John was kind enough to take them this past week to the post-op appointment and my mom is healing well so stitches were removed and flights were booked.  I dropped them at the airport near the crack of dawn and heard that they made it back to Texas without incident later today.  Otherwise at home the pets were very happy to see me and had been well taken care of.  I wish I had more time to chill with them and John but we're packing Justin up so I can help move him back to Humboldt Monday.

Day 215- Sunday, 7/3/25

Thrown into the mix of my crazy scheduled life is another musical with my retired boss.  We had a nice lunch first at Paesano's and then very much enjoyed the show after. It was fun to compare and contrast the two similar shows we saw together.  Now back to packing and loading up my car and Justin's car for our road trip tomorrow.

Moving on to week 32 next.

Week 30

Here we go moving on to the pictures from week 30:

Day 202- Monday, 7/21/25

This is random and sad to see.  We have had a few neighborhood kids climbing the park trees and actively working to break branches.  So far they have been smaller branches but this one is huge and quite damaging.  The police have even been posted here a few times a week to help catch them but not sure that has helped any..  Hopefully this is the last of it especially with school starting soon to help keep the kids busy and out of trouble.

Day 203- Tuesday, 7/22/25

LOL!  When she wants something she will stare you down. Also she likes to lay in this exact position when you give a "down" command to her.  Her legs are always just like that.  She is wanting a walk and was happy to hear that she was actually getting a car ride to dog training class which we have not been to in a few weeks. It was a nice treat for her and good to be back with her dog pack. Look at her coat down the back.  She is in full on shed mode.  All the lighter colored hair is what is currently falling out in clumps here and there--everywhere!  Don't blame her though it's this heat.

Day 204- Wednesday, 7/23/25

 

 Ha ha! John and my dad  got creative about adapting one of our toilets to make it easier for my mom to use.  The home-care nurse who visits a couple times a week was impressed and they are so proud of their "engineering" skills.  We're also currently using a rolling office chair as a transfer chair which has it's challenges so we have a real transfer chair on order.  Sadly we had all these things in storage from when John was recovering and recently donated them since they were no longer needed, or so we thought. Aside from all that we couldn't do taco night on Tuesday because of the dog training class so we did it tonight. It's great to see they boys interact and catch up with my with my parents while they are all around.

Day 205- Thursday, 7/24/25

My sweet girl. This is what she love to do when I get home from work. Then once 4pm rolls around she'll spring up and start pacing until we go for a walk.  Today's walk was actually refreshing but a bit too windy.

Day 206- Friday, 7/25/25

So much driving around this week that I had to fill up sooner than normal.  Also Tyler and Lupe went camping so I am helping take care of Fred while they are away.  

Day 207- Saturday, 7/26/25

Tyler and Lupe are having a great time in Yosemite and I'm back to visit their cat Fred visit and make sure he gets more food and more love.  Not long after that I had to drop Brandon off at the airport so he can get back to work at Cal State Fullerton.  We'll miss him and won't see him in person again until late November.

Day 208- Sunday, 7/27/25

Last morning feeding and caring for Fred which is near a donut shop so I picked up a box of donuts for group at home to enjoy.  We try to keep Bailey and my mom on different sides of the dog gate just to be safe but Bailey still wants to be close to my parents so she'll lie at their feet.  You can see my mom's real transfer chair arrived and is much better to use when she is too exhausted for the walker.  Later, before picking up more groceries, I ran my car through the wash to help get rid of all the bugs it had collected from driving to and from dog class during the dusk hours. So many bugs!!

 

Up next is week 31 where I was away traveling for work.  Unfortunately I had to leave my parents, still with us for another week, but John and Justin held down the fort and took care of the household for me.  Obviously none of this was in the plan when my trip was booked late last year.

Week 29

Welcome back! 

Here are the pictures from week 29:

Day 195- Monday, 7/14/25

 I'm off from work the next couple days until we know more about my Mom.  My dad and I were with her in the ER last night until almost 4 am.  She'll have to stay until a few days after surgery which we hoped would be today but that didn't happen because of a motorcycle accident that had multiple people needing more urgent surgery.  They now say first thing tomorrow morning.  I spent time with my Dad visiting my mom today who is still in a lot of pain and will be until surgery.  Apparently the femur is the most painful bone to break.  I left in the afternoon to deal with things at home and was happy to be able to get out on a dog walk and enjoy some time in nature to clear the mind.

Day 196- Tuesday, 7/15/25

My mom finally got moved out of the ER and up to surgery this morning which went well and thankfully didn't last as long as expected.  She now has a nice room with a great view up on the 14th floor and more importantly in a lot less pain.  As a nice bonus Tyler as able to pop up and visit just after dropping a patient here while working and an EMT.  His ambulance company contracts with UC Davis Medical Center so he is here a lot and knew exactly how to find us. Unfortunately my mom was still drifting in and out of sleep post surgery but she did wake up enough just before Tyler left to say hi and seemed pleasantly surprised to see him.

Day 197- Wednesday, 7/16/25

Now that my mom is more stable and just recovering in the hospital I'm able to be back at work.  John drops my dad to visit my mom in the morning and I pick him up after work in the afternoon while fitting in a quick visit with her before we leave.  So far she is doing great and working on using a walker so she can come home soon.

 

Day 198- Thursday, 7/17/25

 Bailey and my dad are getting used to each other.  The real fun will start when my mom comes home. She is very much still a large puppy so we'll have to make sure she doesn't hurt my mom with her super charged energy. Hopefully she'll learn quickly to be careful around her.  Long walks in the afternoon will also help tire her out so she cans settle better and not be so hyper.  All these great shade tress really help with those walks.  It's been hot and being able to walk in the shade on grass is key to still being able to get out there.

Day 199- Friday, 7/18/25

What can I say?  The pets love to nap with Justin. TGIF although it doesn't really feel like a Friday.  It does however feel like summer so we've been working our way through watching this new season after almost forgetting it dropped over a month ago.

Day 200- Saturday, 7/19/25

Early this afternoon my mom finally got released from the hospital so now we adjust to adapting things around here to accommodate her limited mobility and make sure the dog stays calm in her presence.  They'll be here a couple more weeks until her post-op visit before flying back to Texas.  Later Brandon also came home today and will spend a week with us for his summer break from work and school.  Bailey is actually doing great learning who she needs to be calm with and who she can have more active fun with.

Day 201- Sunday, 7/20/25

Out on a walk through the park this afternoon it was refreshing to see some nice new blooms still happening even in this summer heat.  Back inside we celebrated Brandon birthday early since both he and I will not be around on the actual day.  It was nice to have my parents here to celebrate with us too.  In the original plans for my parent's visit they weren't staying long enough to even see Brandon so not only did they get to see him but they also got to share in celebrating him.  That at least is one bright side to my mom's accident and this was a wonderful way to end a week that started out so terribly.

That's it for this one.  On to the next!

Week 28

Hello! It's been awhile and so much has been going on in my world for the past few months but now things have settled a bit so I can play catch up.

Here are the pictures from Week 28:

Day 188- Monday, 7/7/25

 Today must be a good day for a nap.  It is Monday after all and that can be a lot!  Love these cute fur babies of mine.  Rusty looks like he's napping in the shape of a heart .💛

Day 189- Tuesday, 7/8/25

 It was a fun work day for me.  I got to take a few visiting international students to see how we partner with the Sacramento Zoo.  Aside from us observing a couple behind the scenes exams we also went out in the zoo to band and vaccinate some new baby Flamingos.  Can you spot the cute little fluffy one on the mud mound up front?

 

Day 190- Wednesday, 7/9/25

Going nowhere fast today!  It took me over an hour to get to work.  This construction on the causeway never ends and leads to way too many accidents.  They were supposed to be done already but sadly we've heard it still may take another year to complete.  Later, back at home while cleaning floors, I saw an ad on TV for the musical I'll be going to Sunday.

Day 191- Thursday, 7/10/25

My new glasses were ready for pick up today and when I got home I found these two lounging buddies on the La-Z-Boy just as happy as can be.

  

Day 192- Friday, 7/11/25

What is it about this week that is making everyone so sleepy? Justin obviously had a tiring day at work and Bailey was happy to join him for a late afternoon nap.  TGIF!  Cheers to the weekend.

Day 193- Saturday, 7/12/25

Here are my new glasses and a new canvas book-bag I got for upcoming travels.  I also finished watching this streaming series which was great for summer and made for a twisty ride.

Day 194- Sunday, 7/13/25

What a day!  First I had the pleasure of seeing a musical with my retired boss.  She has season tickets and is asking some of her favorite people to join her.  It was amazing and I get to go to 2 more over the next few months--how fun and so grateful she asked me.  Then my parents flew in for a visit on their way back home from an Alaskan cruise.  Unfortunately, right after we had dinner out, my mom tripped and fell.  We thought she hurt her knee but it ended up being a broken femur!--not exactly the visit we we were planning on having nor the best way to end the week.

 

Check the next week's post to see how their visit continues.