Happy Fall, Y'all!

(8/20) Today was a work day for me, and Dad had the day off. He took C out rock-hounding near Cle Elum, and they had lots of fun, and came home very dirty. The twinsies and I stayed home, and they video gamed while I worked. 

(8/21) Happy Friday! Sarah and I walked this morning before work. I ordered a rechargeable bubble machine for Cass. Cass was so sad when our last one broke. He just pawed and whined at it.  D was also thrilled and told us ALL about its amazingness.

(8/22) Ahh... I slept in a little this morning, and then took a Zumba class online. Dad went out and ran some errands, including taking the car in for an oil change. The lease on our hybrid is up in a few months, and there was a great deal on a fully electric Niro. We talked it over, and Dad went back and signed the paperwork. We sure haven't been driving much lately (thanks, Covid), but when we get to resume going places, we'll use it as our commuter. 

(8/23) The boys and I had a lazy Sunday. Dad had to work, so I took my morning coffee out to the treadmill and enjoyed with the my book. I did some yard work, and we all loafed around the house for the day. 

(8/24) The boys and I caught a ferry this morning and drove out to visit the grands on their boat. We had lunch together, sat in the sun, dip netted, poked anemones, kayaked, and got a dinghy rides from Granddad. It was such a lovely day! Back at home, our new fridge arrived, so Dad took the day off so it could be delivered. We are SO excited to be done living out of the cooler! 

(8/25) Meeting Tuesday was meeting-filled. But they made the day whiz by. I asked the kids whether they'd prefer a grilled dinner or our usual pizza, and Dad said "So, pizza then?" LOL, yep. 

(8/26) I had the day off today, and after my walk with Sarah, I enjoyed my coffee and threw toys for the doggos. I put in a few hours on a project I'm working on while listing to a book. Dad grilled dinner, and we enjoyed it outside. It was a lovely evening for it! 

(8/27) I worked today, and Dad had the day off. He went up and worked on cars at Rob's house, while I went cross-eyed looking at forms. I did take a break for an awesome kickboxing class. I love Tenco's green screen of the gym--it almost feels like old times.  

(8/28) Woot-woot, it's Friday! Sarah and I met for our morning walk, and then I headed home to work. Work was workish, and I was pretty busy all day. I sure was glad to have my news shows back this evening when the children commandeered the TV for the nightly Captain Underpants viewing. 

(8/29) Dad left early to join a few friends at Red Top in Cle Elum to go rocking. The boys and I hung out at home and had an epic lazy day. We did wander down the park to do some swinging, but that was about it.  

(8/30) I went to the Sunflower Festival this afternoon all by myself, which meant I took at least a zillion photos and didn't have to hear any whining about it being hot or boring!  The sunflowers were gorgeous!  Bob's has 12 acres and 37 different varieties planted.  I was in heaven. I came home with farm-fresh corn, and we can definitely look forward to that for dinner soon.

(8/31) D cracks me up. He asked yesterday what all was on the Jersey Mike's sandwich that he absolutely loves. He suggested a "free for all" dinner last night, in which Dad helped him make the perfect sammich. He again asked for the same one for breakfast today. Goofball!  I was supposed to have a three-hour training today, but there was a freak power outage that affected 16,000 people. So we're on for tomorrow instead. 

(9/1) Holy cow, how is it September already? Today really is Meeting Tuesday, now including yesterday's rescheduled three-hour training. It was on the framework for cultural competence, and the facilitator was awesome. It was a really interesting class. I feel for my kids starting school next week--I got very antsy after being on camera that long! Dad had the day off today to deal with cars, and went to fetch C's stack of books for the year. Yeeps!  

(9/2) I had the day off today. Sarah and I kicked it off with a walk, and then I came home to deal with the boys/breakfast/latte onslaught. It was very nice outside today, so I did some yard work and gave ol' Moosey a bath. He's blowing his coat again and his fur is EVERYWHERE. (He's part Chow, and it shows!)  

(9/3) Work day for me, day off for Dad and the boys. Dad headed up to Rob's to work on the car while I was home. After dinner tonight, we got a call from S that her bus had been cancelled and she was stuck in Seattle. Dad went to fetch her, and she'll be with us for the next few days. It's been a while, so it's nice to have her! 

(9/4) Finally Friday!  I got off early from work, and Dad and I went out to lunch at Emory's and sat on the deck. It was beautiful and hot! We went during happy hour and shared drinks and pub food. So fun! We got pizza in exchange for the kiddos for missing out. They seemed okay with that deal. 

(9/5) We woke up early and got started on demoing the old cabinets in the garage. Once we broke them down, Dad ran the pieces to the dump, and I put up shelves and started filling them. I moved a rubber mat over under my weight bench, and moved all my weights out there.  Garage gym here I come! We sold our Subaru to S&S, so they went out to take care of that this afternoon. They seem pleased, and it will be a good car for them! On the not so good front, our brand new fridge is on the fritz, so we had to call for a repair appointment. They can't send a tech out until next Thursday. UGH! 

(9/6) Today was a day for house projects. I installed the mirror from our powder room (we'll be replacing with a medicine cabinet) in my garage gym area. J is really loving it, and I found weights and a pool noodle out there this afternoon after he came in. S&S took D and the pupper to the dog beach this morning and it looked like everyone had a fun time. S postponed her trip to OR, and S&S headed on home after dinner today.  It was good to see them!

(9/7) Labor Day ~ I had the day off, and got to sleep in (glorious!). I took a kickboxing class this morning after getting the boys all situated. The rest of the day was spent bumming around the house, watching TV, and reading. 

(9/8) Yuck! It's so smoky here from all the wildfires. Sarah and I bailed about 3 blocks into our walk. It was really hot here today too, but we couldn't really open the house up because the air remained bad all day. I hope tomorrow is better. The boys had one last lazy day and spent it video gaming in their summer uniforms, save for a quick trip out to grab their school supplies.

(9/9) And they're off! First day of 3rd, 3rd, and 8th grade! I made the boys orange rolls for breakfast, and then they went off to their separate spaces to try to do this whole virtual school thing. The tech was predictably glitchy, but we made it through. I signed up for a parent/teacher conference today, and got a chance to speak with D & J's teacher. We have them in the same class this year, figuring it would be easier to juggle one set of expectations than two for them. They were done pretty early, and since some of their assigned work wasn't loading, I let them play Prodigy math games instead. 

(9/10) The boys had school today, and I had to work. Thankfully, they have half days for this first week, so we can figure this all out and get into a solid routine. We had a tech out to look at our fridge. The control panel is malfunctioning and keeps trying to put it into the defrost cycle. So that's on order, and fingers crossed that the temporary fix keeps it running until the part comes in. 

(9/11) Ugh, smoky smoky out. Sarah and I bailed on our morning walk, and I slept in this morning. It throws my whole morning off when I skip our walk though. I'm far less zen when I have to get everybody going before I've had my coffee or walk. We're figuring school out, and I've been working downstairs for the morning and then heading up where it's quiet for the afternoon.  

(9/12) Dad mentioned special waffles last night, and when he went down the kids had already pulled out the waffle maker. They don't forget anything! The secret ingredient in the waffles was Funfetti cake mix. They were colorful, and quite sweet! I had some breakfast, got my iced coffee, and headed to Zumba.  Almost like our old life... only Zumba is in my bedroom. Dad and Rob did the Cruizin' 2 Colby car show turned cruise around Everett as a rolling car show.  C went to hang with a friend for his birthday this afternoon. He hasn't seen him all summer due to Covid, and we've all been pretty careful.  

(9/13) This morning I ran up to Nanan's house to take a look at her electronics. I wasn't able to fix her computer, so set her up with an appointment for it tomorrow, and will have to deal with her disabled phone another time. I picked up C on my way home, and he had had a great time with at his friend's gaming party. They had a gaming truck with a whole bunch of consoles.  Sounds awesome!  I got home in time to get the twins logged onto their cousin's Minecraft party. Other than that, we hunkered down inside because of the smoke. It's supposed to start clearing out Monday.  Here's hoping. 

(9/14) The promised relief from the smoke did not come, and now it's looking like Friday. Blarg! I took an on demand Zumba class at lunch which helped with the stir-crazies. The boys are cracking me up--they are hitting our garage gym to do weights and push-ups during their breaks from school. 

(9/15) Work for Dad and me today, and the boys had school. The smoke is still heavy, and the air quality is hazardous. It was another inside day for all of us. I'm so over it! And our fridge is warm again, so we're "camping" in this yuck too. 

(9/16) Today was a *day*. Oh my goodness. Dad and I ran the car over to the dealership to work on the sticky fuel door. We came home and got the boys all set for school, and then I ran up Marysville to hopefully transfer Nanan's new phone onto our plan. The phone got stuck in a loop and refused to finish setting up. I wiped it once, and then again, and then had to figure out how to get her disabled iPhone to allow the new phone to finish setting up. We gave up and went to grab coffee, and then I headed back home with her phones to deal with later. I had a conference with D's school, which I took in the car since I had just pulled in when it was time, and what's quieter than the car?! Sounds like there's a good plan for services to start (yay!). The kids finished up their online day, and then all of them had dentist appointments. I ran them over there, and when we came back it was dinner time. I ran Dad to grab the car, which the dealership had ordered the wrong part for (eye roll), and then went back to the phone store to deal with the phone. The new phone kept erroring out, and it was determined it was not unlocked after all. So I came home and called the company it is through, and after a long hard-to-hear conversation, finally determined it was way too expensive and we're not going that route.  So then I tried to update Mom's phone in hopes of getting back into it without restoring it, but that was a no go.  I finally had to restore it, and many things were not backed up to iCloud 😭.  But it's working now...

(9/17) Work and school for the boys and me today. The air got slightly better today (now just unhealthy for sensitive groups). We opened up the house for a little bit and got some cooler air in.  I can't tell you how excited I am for this weekend's forecast of good air! I miss my walks with Sarah in the morning! 

(9/18) Ugh, still gross. 141 AQI.  C'mon rain! I worked today, and the boys had school. This evening we heard the devastating news that RBG passed away. She was an amazing woman, and I am so scared for our country right now. 

(9/19) I went up and met Nanan for coffee and to give her back her now-working phone. We had a nice visit! When I got home, I saw that the boys' clothes had arrived. I ordered a vest for J, who has been wanting one for a long time. He picked a camo vest, and also in their order were some camo shorts. He's decided that's his uniform from now on. He's so cute! The rain finally came and chased the smoke away--I went out for a walk and listened to my book. Fall has definitely arrived. 

(9/20) Sarah and I went for a walk this morning in the glorious smoke-free weather. We caught up on our week apart. Dad had to work today, and the boys and I had a stay-home day. I did some yard work and put some pavers down for old dog feet. We have a combination of pea gravel and river pebbles out in the kennel, but Cass so carefully picks his way out there, and I'm hoping the pavers will make him more comfortable. I picked the last of the blueberries and pruned the hydrangea back. One of them seems like it's trying to bloom again. It better hurry before the frost comes! J and I went to the park this evening where someone had made a heart out of leaves. We played until J deemed it time to come home for baths and Sunday chores.

(9/21) Monday, Monday... Back to the grind. The sunrise this morning was so worth the dark-thirty wake-up! We all had work and school today. 

(9/22) Happy fall!  It was drizzly this morning, and certainly felt like it. Today will be a short work day for me, as we're having an afternoon social at work. The kiddos all had school, and Dad had to work like normal.