Happy Holidaze

(11/2) I had the day off today. Once the twins and Dad were off to school and work, I sat down to read my book for a bit before my busy afternoon. It's conference week, so the twins were off at noon. I picked them up and we made a quick run to the store, and then I dropped them at home. I met with a contractor for our HOA and then had D & J's conferences at the school. They went pretty well ~ they're where they need to be academically and there were no surprises.

(11/3) What a day! I went in to work late after dropping the twins off at school. Dad & C went down to Children's for a follow-up appointment after that scare last month. Everything looks good! They headed on home but the range on the vehicle was wrong and suddenly they were out of juice just a few exits from home. Dad ended up calling for a tow and we'll never again play that close to the wire! They got back just in time to grab the twins and took the crew to Wendy's, so now J is set on going there "every once in a while, starting this weekend." Once they were home, Toffee got sick and the shit show continued. Literally. I'll spare the details and just leave it at it was a day.

(11/4) I worked in the building today. It was yucky out all day and turned into quite the storm this evening. I stopped on my way home to donate blood and my plan for the evening was to watch some TV and veg, but the connection kept resetting so I turned in for the night a little early. 

(11/5) Dad and I went out for a date day. We had a members only tasting at a wine club we belong to and thought we'd go thrifting as part of our day. The storm took out a ton of lights and the first store we got to was out of power. We attempted to go to another but were stymied by dark traffic lights and everybody trying to get everywhere. We ended up driving to the tasting where we learned they had just gotten their power back on an hour earlier. There was a dog adoption event at a neighboring winery, so we had some more wine and petted puppies. We then went to Snohomish for some antiquing. We had a very fun day and were definitely thankful we still had power after yesterday's storm! There were so many places without.

(11/6) I went to put Halloween away today and intended to just put up white lights on the porch and wait to do the bulk of Christmas decorating till later, but D saw me getting stuff out and decided we also needed the bells, and while I was at it, I did the Santa pics too. I'm excited to have our new grandbaby up on the wall this year!

(11/7) We all had work and school today. I worked from home and grumbled about it getting dark outside of my window at 4p thanks to DST ending. I'm glad I put up the lights yesterday. It's just too gloomy without!

(11/8) Poor Casserole caught the bug going through our pack and was sick all over D's room. That was a terrible way to start our day. There's just nothing like scrubbing the carpet at 7am. It was Election Day and this news junkie had the TV on all day. It's not looking quite as brutal as expected, so that's good!

(11/9) The Chihuahua squad and I held down the couch this morning and watched more election results. I was a bum and didn't go anywhere this morning and saved all my errands for after I grabbed the kids from school. D had an awful day, so he spent some time without screen time, which he mostly accepted with grace after ask-yelling what was wrong with me.

(11/10) I worked in the building today and Dad had the kiddos. J forgot his backpack today which totally blew his day. D, at least, had a decent day and improved on yesterday's abysmal score.

(11/11) Happy Veterans Day! I took the day off since the kiddos & G were off too. I slept in and then Sarah and I went for a coffee walk while Dad made a fancy breakfast for the kids. I was glad I snagged a bite before I left because nothing survived. Dad and I watched an old favorite, Office Space, tonight for a break in the news.

(11/12) Dad, C, and Rob took C's car out to Stew's to work on its bum axle. Pickles and I went to meet a potential family and they absolutely loved him! I am going to miss his sweet face, but am so happy for him! Since I was already up north, I kept going that way and took a coffee up to Nanan and tried to see if I could fix her TV which hasn't been working since the storm. Fortunately, it was an easy fix and she doesn't have to wait for someone to come out at the end of the month. 

(11/13) We had a pretty lazy day today. I slept in and then read my book while the boys all video gamed. We went to the hockey game this afternoon and C drove us both ways. The Tips blew it at the end and we gave up and left with 5 minutes remaining. We went home for Sunday night programs and had a quiet night. 

(11/14) Everyone had work and school today. I participated in One Day HH and took a picture of my life every hour throughout the day. That was something different to jazz up my day. D had a substitute teacher and always struggles when his day is disrupted. J, conversely, had his appointment and had a great day. They like to trade off.

(11/15) Work and school for us all again today. D had a much better day and is glad his teacher is back. We had pizza night and everyone was in good spirits.

(11/16) I had the day off today and went to Zumba and then to Costco. I made a small dent in my Christmas shopping and now just have to hide it all until the big day. D was a d-saster today so spent his afternoon talking at me while he was off screens. 

(11/17) Oh man. You know when there's no report from school that it's gonna be a doozy. And indeed it was. D has been having a rough week. The holidays always throw him off. He has an opportunity to make it better tomorrow. I worked in the building today and realized I left my watch at my desk after I'd gotten home and had dinner. I haven't gone in after hours before, so tonight was an adventure. 

(11/18) I worked in the building today. I took  an early lunch to go with my committee ladies to get our supplies for our Christmas party next month. Is it just me or is time speeding up exponentially? Since we happened to be at Costco, I also grabbed us some wine for our office FriYays. We had one this afternoon and it was nice to catch up with some of the staff I rarely get to see!

(11/19) We had the kids and Nanan come for an early Thanksgiving dinner and we got a great deal on our Santa photos by getting in early. C drove Nanan and me over and did a really good job negotiating some tricky traffic. When we got home, we discovered the turkey was done early and scrambled a bit to get the sides done. Dinner was delish and we sent the kids home with leftovers! It was so fun to hang out!

(11/20) Nanan stayed over last night and I made us all breakfast this morning. She left around midday, and I finished up the movie we were watching but couldn't finish (Where the Crawdads Sing ~ so good!). I had book club this afternoon. We enjoyed the first book by Bill Browder so decided on his next one for this month's read. It was also really good. And of course, we discussed dogs. It was decided that book club is book/dog therapy.  

(11/21) We all had work and school today, and J had his appointment. He was excited he really only has 1.5 days of school since counseling takes up a chunk of his day. Smart dude! The boys and I have a short week--just Monday and Tuesday before we get a five-day break!

(11/22) Oof. D-saster train right on schedule. D was panicking that we wouldn't be able to go to the family Thanksgiving because J has a cold. I promised we'd all test, but I really don't think it's covid. He had a rotten day at school and will have homework this weekend. Wee. The rest of us had less dramatic work and school days. It's just really tough when the schedule changes and one is very excited.

(11/23) The kiddos and I had the day off work and school. I ran a bunch of errands this morning and got a bunch of Christmas shopping done. I picked up a sushi feast for us to share for "linner." And I know we're headed into cold weather soon, but I couldn't resist some violets for the flower pots in the backyard. They're close to the house and somewhat sheltered so maybe they'll survive? In any case, they brightened my day.

(11/24) Happy Thanksgiving! C drove us out to the grands' house and drove onto the ferry for the first time. He also got to take Grandma out for a spin in her car and well as his aunt and uncle. Lots of practice for him this weekend! The uncles made us prime rib, for dinner tonight, much to D's delight. The cousins did so well playing together this year!

(11/25) Uncle Jake's family rolled in this morning and we celebrated both my niece's birthday earlier this month and Granddad's birthday today. We had a full Thanksgiving dinner with everyone and enjoyed family time. I'm so glad we had a chance to all be together this year!

(11/26) We packed up after breakfast with the fam, said goodbye, and managed to drive right onto the 9:30a ferry! C did a marvelous job driving all weekend. Dad went out and scored a tree for us and I spent at least an hour detangling lights and putting out the rest of our décor. Dad went grocery shopping and bought all the things and we had an old favorite for dinner: bourbon bacon noodles. The wind kicked up and we lost power this evening. C went out to walk in the storm and the twins messed around with flashlights while we sat with scardy dogs who cannot handle the smoke alarm beeps. The power finally came back on as we were going to bed. 

(11/27) I slept in this morning and it was glorious! It was the perfect day for puttering around the house and getting a bunch of little things done. I put together a greenhouse and moved all my pots for the upcoming cold snap. When we let the puppers out this evening, there was a thin covering of slush on the ground. It's heeeeeerrrreee. J is so excited and already got out his shovels! He's going to be disappointed if it doesn't materialize.

(11/28) We didn't get any new snow overnight and packed some disappointed boys off to school. I worked from home and decided to relocate the greenhouse since I couldn't see the bird feeder from the couch where it was. Priorities, lol! I put it in the dog kennel and Toffee didn't know what to think and kept giving it the side eye. Dad ended up staying late at work tonight for a cut-over and the poor loaf just sat by the door and looked sad. She borked at every car door and none of them was the right one. 

(11/29) It snowed and snowed and snowed today, but was warm enough we didn't get much accumulation. The kids had a two-hour delay at school and I bundled up a very excited J in snow pants, goggles, a hat, and boots to go play in about an inch. He had a blast! He said the sledding hill worked great and he had a snowball fight with the neighborhood kids. D opted to stay in. He's feeling blah from a cold today and stayed home from school. It started really coming down tonight and Dad got stuck at work dealing with a broken defroster on the satellite. 

(11/30) I had the day off today, and we got the call early this morning that the kids had a two-hour delay. D is still coughing, so we decided on another day off for him. He's mostly fine; just really offended that his body isn't all better right now. After dropping off J, I came home and shoveled the driveway and sidewalks. Shew, what a workout! I still took J to the store to pick out treats for the boys and spoiled their appetites as per usual. 

(12/1) I opted to work from home today since it looked like a skating rink outside. D was still coughing up a storm so he stayed home another day. There was another two-hour delay so C slept right up to when he needed to roll out of bed and go. The snow has turned crunchy and is annoying. I'm ready for it to go away!

(12/2) I worked from home again today. My coworker played with an Amazon box and took a nap during his shift. D is still feeling rotten and stayed home again today. I sure hope this clears up for him soon!

(12/3) J and I made monkey bread this morning and we had a pretty quiet morning. It snowed maybe three more inches overnight, but it's warmer today so it's at least the roads aren't bad. Dad ran out and picked up a temporary foster doggo this afternoon. She already has a home if she can get along with other small dogs so that's our mission. 

(12/4) I would have slept in today but our old lady foster doggo had other plans. I got up, made coffee, and read my book after all the dogs had been pottied. Yawn! Dad had to work today and the boys and I had a lazy day.  

(12/5) Work and school for us all today. I worked from home which was convenient for running our old lady on to her new home with Old Dog Haven. We ran out of cough syrup that D can tolerate so we made a quick field trip to the store. Since it was dark when we came home we went to see the amazing light show at the Irwin's house. D was in awe and decided his dad needs to learn how to do that. So uh, have fun, Dad?

(12/6) I worked in the building today so we could run the last of our errands for the company's holiday party on Thursday. We now have all the food for the event and spent some time this afternoon etching everyone's glasses with our office's logo. They turned out cute!

(12/7) I had the day off today and was pleased to see it rained and melted some of the white stuff away. I had a doctor's appointment so headed there after a quiet morning to myself. We got a big foster puppy tonight. We think he's in the neighborhood of 55lbs at 6 months. He's a doll baby and will be staying with us for a couple of weeks.

(12/8) My company's holiday party was this afternoon. We hosted everyone at Patterson's in Woodinville. My team did an amazing job if I do say so myself! We had an awesome charcuterie spread, paninis from Gourmini's, followed by a dessert assortment. And of course, wine! We drank a lot, laughed a lot, and ate all the things. I think everyone had fun and it was so wonderful to hug our out-of-towners!

(12/9) Oof, it was tough to get going this morning. Fortunately I got to work from home today. We ran my car in for service and then took the leftover party supplies back in to work. This was the first time Dad has gotten to see my office. We moved locations during covid so it's been a minute. Tonight we went to the teddy bear toss at the Silvertips. This year they had five trucks, one with a trailer, and a zamboni out to collect all the bears! The Tips lost a well-played game in the end. Aww, well. But we did enjoy the couple that ended up in our kids' seats when they couldn't find theirs. Cute kids who were new to hockey so Dad had fun explaining everything.

(12/10) I got to sleep in this morning, which was definitely much needed. The boys and I hung out with the pups while Dad went up to Rob's to customize one of D's Christmas gifts. It came out great!

(12/11) I did something to my back so spent the day gimping from one place to another. Thankfully it was Sunday and I didn't have to do a whole lot. I had book club this afternoon, which was over Zoom, and was able to attend that and add to my ever-growing list of books to read.

(12/12) I worked from home today and ever so slowly my back unkinked. Thank goodness! Ain't nobody got time for that! I felt so much better as the day went on and was pretty much back to 100% by the day's end. The men had school & work today. D had a substitute and handed me a crumpled and ripped chart for the day. Sigh. It's gonna be that kind of week methinks. 

(12/13) I went into work today and finished up the holiday shopping for work's toy drive. We got to the store right at 8am and knocked out all the shopping and skipped all the lines. We then went back to the building for a couple of meetings before running all our goodies to the YWCA. It's so fun to play Santa! I ran home during lunch, grabbed the boys, picked up dinner, and then settled in for the last few hours to work from home. 

(12/14) I had the day off today and slept in until it was time to wake C. I put on a book about decluttering which I knew would inspire me. I decided to tackle J's room and pulled out all the too-small clothes, did all the laundry, and went through all the kid books to see what could be passed along. He now has space for new toys and some much needed new clothing. Yeah! The boys had great days at school and we went to the store for our Wednesday treat. We picked up some advent calendars today since we are on top of things as usual and the boys played catch-up. Dad has been working a gross schedule this week and is having to go back in after 11pm. Tonight was his last night of that and hopefully he can catch up on some sleep tomorrow. 

(12/15) I worked from home today since I was in the office on Tuesday. The boys and I let Dad sleep as long as possible because he didn't get home until 2am. I worked on D's room this time and laid out all the laundry and let the boys choose which clothes they wanted in their dressers. Hopefully everything left fits and will be worn! D was up playing in his and J's clean rooms most of the evening. It's so funny how everything is new again.  

(12/16) Today was probably the longest Friday on record. The boys had a half day and then they're on break for the next two weeks. Dad was also off today. I worked from home but swear time slowed down and it didn't reach 5pm forfreakingever. But eventually I made it and we kicked off our weekend.

(12/17) We're all off today. Dad took us out to lunch at Jersey Mike's. The boys whined about having to get dressed until they heard where we were going. Dad and I went to see Titus tonight! It's been five years since we've been to see both him & his wife, Rachel, perform. Love them both! They both cover really tough, dark material and can make us laugh. 

(12/18) I got a slow start to my Sunday. Dad went off to work and the puppies and I hung out for a bit before I went out and did my local Christmas shopping. I rolled back in right as it started dumping snow. Perfect timing! I spent my afternoon reading and then got a start to all the wrapping. Oy vey. I finished one roll and maybe am halfway through? 

(12/19) I worked from home today. The boys are on break, but J still had his appointment. It snowed just enough to make our main street slippy, but fortunately Dad got him there and back just fine. The transport for Ricky, our foster puppy, got moved up to today, so I took him up north at lunch. There was hardly anything on the ground up there! More snow is forecast for overnight and into tomorrow, and then it's supposed to get really cold. Oh boy oh boy. 

(12/20) I worked from home today and Dad went in for a while and then came home to work remotely after it really started snowing. I think we got in the neighborhood of 4-5". I had a bunch of meetings today as well as a virtual office happy hour, all of which I was happy I didn't have to drive anywhere to attend. Today also marks the Loaf's second gotcha day! Such a sweet girl.

(12/21) I had the day off today. It was nice to sleep in and listen to my book. Sarah's kiddo came and went sledding with J for a few hours this afternoon. I may have hidden upstairs when they all got rowdy playing the Switch afterward. It was crazy cold today (~20ish°F) and is expected to warm slightly enough to snow more tomorrow. Yaaaaaay. I hope it warms up in time for Christmas traveling!