July Fly-by

(7/4) Happy Fourth! The boys and I were off today and Dad was able to work remotely for the second half of the day. We grilled and set off one firework (it was a biggie) and sat outside to enjoy the neighborhood's show. Dad took D for a drive and C went over to shoot off fireworks with his friends. Noodle is the only dog bothered to the point of needing sedation, and the others got by with us blasting 80's music. 

(7/5) I had the day off today since I don't usually work on Wednesdays. Sarah and I met for a walk and then I had a tech out to look at my treadmill. I think she's all fixed which will give me a rainy day alternative again! We all had a fireworks hangover so an afternoon siesta was the order of the day.

(7/6) I met Sarah for a walk this morning before things really started to heat up and then worked from home for the day. Dad was off, but still had to run in and do some work stuff. Dad made bean dip tonight and it was the perfect hot-day dinner.

(7/7) I worked from home today. The day totally dragged and it was beautiful outside which made it worse. Dad went and got a key lime pie to celebrate C's birthday per his request and then we handed over the keys to his car. Zomg!

(7/8) Happy birthday to C! 16 today! He was able to print out his license this morning. We celebrated at GameOn with pizza and VR. And then he got to take his brothers for shakes at Sonic all on his own. It was a pretty special day!

(7/9) I went to Zumba this morning and ran a few errands before coming home. I worked out in the yard for a bit before book club. It was a small one this month, but we still had a good exchange of books we'd read/want to read. Dad had to work today but came home early and finished his shift remotely. It was nice to have him home for dinner tonight!

(7/10) I worked from home today, Dad worked at work and C started summer school classes. It's only for a few hours in the morning so won't take up all of his day.

(7/11) I worked in the building today. My day was a busy one filled with meetings. C had his first job interview this afternoon. Sounds like they were very busy and could use him, so fingers crossed!

(7/12) I had the day off today and slept in a bit before getting up and heading to Zumba. After I got back, I took the boys out for their Wednesday WinCo run. We hung out for the rest of the day afterward. Nanan came around dinnertime. She has surgery in the morning and it's quicker to go from here.

(7/13) Nanan had to be at the surgery center in Edmonds bright and early this morning. I took the day off work and drove her to and from. They sent her meds up to Stanwood though so after we got back to my house and settled in, I drove up to grab them. She was feeling much more steady this afternoon and may even be able to head home tomorrow. We'll see.

(7/14) I worked from home today. Nanan was feeling pretty good and headed back home this afternoon. I'm so glad she wasn't feeling any pain!

(7/15) We went up to visit my brother and fam today. They have a huge, new pool and invited us up to swim. We finally made it up there after running to Freddie's because some weeds had outgrown their gear since last time, lol. We drove the Mustang up and it was a beautiful day to have the top down!

(7/16) I love Sundays. I slept in and then went to the gym for Zumba. I read and finished my book and then started another. We sat out by the fire this evening, which was quite pleasant other than the neighbor's kids barking back at the dogs and riling them up. Le sigh.

(7/17) I worked from home today after going for a walk with Sarah. It's going to be a short week, so I tried to cram in what I could today before tomorrow's festivities.

(7/18) Today was so fun! It was my work's summer outing. A group of us worked a half day at a coworker's house and then carpooled down to the Flastick Pub where we had pizza, bevvies, and played mini golf and duffleboard. I ended up bringing the troop at home pizza on top of it already being pizza night. There will definitely be leftovers!

(7/19) I had the day off and took the crew to WinCo for snacks after C got home from school. He thinks he'll be done tomorrow, which would be awesome! I had a relaxing day of book reading in between spurts of gardening in the heat. We're definitely needing some rain around here!

(7/20) C is indeed done with summer school and got to turn in his laptop. Hopefully he'll do the work next year and not have to make it up in the summer? J was supposed to have an orthodontist appointment, but after everyone got up early, they called and moved it to tomorrow.

(7/21) I worked from home and Dad had the day off. Dad took J to his appointment and we're looking at braces for the next few years. Weee. We go in next week for spacers.

(7/22) Dad had a fun morning out estate saling. I opted to stay home this time and read my book. He grilled this evening and we had a fancy steak dinner. We went to see Brad Williams at the Neptune tonight. It was way past our bedtimes, but it was an amazing show and we laughed out butts off.

(7/23) I slept in this morning and opted for a walk in the sunshine with my book instead of the gym. We're supposed to finally get some rain tomorrow so I did a little shopping and then transplanted one of my hydrangeas that needs more sun after it cooled off and planted a new one in it's place that will be happier there.

(7/24) I worked from home and helped C fill out his new hire paperwork. So proud of him!

(7/25) I worked in the building today and it was a meeting-full day. I was pretty wiped from a day of people-ing. We had pizza this evening and J and Dad made up a batch of cookies for dessert. Yum! After all the paperwork we filled out and submitted yesterday and not saying anywhere on the ad or in the interview, it turns out C cannot work there because he's not 18. Blah. Back to the drawing board.

(7/26) I slept in this morning and it was glorious. I missed my Zumba class, so went out for a walk with my book instead. D and I did the regular Wednesday WinCo trip. J said again and again how he was feeling too lazy to go and then was upset that we went without him. Doh! I made a roasted veggie dish for dinner that I haven't made in forever and D kept making faces at my ingredients. All the boys were shockingly "too full" to even try it. Uh-huh.

(7/27) I worked from home today and Dad and the boys were off. Poor J went in for separators today and they really had to wrestle them in. I imagine he's going to be feeling that later. We let him have a couple of popsicles afterward but he was still feeling pretty ouchy and grumpy.

(7/28) I worked from home and the rest of the men were off. C had a job interview this morning. We figured out how to filter for teen jobs and he feels much better about how this one went. He should find out on Monday.

(7/29) Happy Anniversary to us! Year 22. We went to Scuttlebutt for lunch and then to the distillery for a lil tasting. We came back home to grab the pupper and took him out to the dog park on our way home to try out the Nerf ball blaster. It took him a bit to focus on the gun instead of the of chuck-it and he ran hard for about five minutes. He's not a spring chicken anymore... J has found the end of the internet and wants to start logging off early to watch movies with us. We're starting him on the classics. First up: Robin Hood Men in Tights! He was in stitches throughout.

(7/30) We said yes to a foster pup and he made his way here this morning. Cute lil thing! Although I am having to follow him around with a squirt bottle to make him rethink some of his choices. Tonight's movie with J was Hot Shots. J loved it, but between the cookies we made earlier and all the snacks he was noshing, he made himself sick during the movie. He rallied and we finished the movie in good spirits.

(7/31) The SD card in my phone suddenly stopped working yesterday. Thankfully I was still able to pull off my photos so I could still put this post together. Mainly I just lost time reloading everything, which is annoying.

Summertime!

(5/23) We all had work and school and I worked in the building today. It'll be my last Tuesday in for a few months since we shift to our summer schedule of only coming in once a week after Memorial Day. It was a quiet day, which was just fine with me!

(5/24) I had the day off and went to the gym after Dad and the boys headed out. I had a severe case of the grumpies today and even the gym didn't take the edge off. But the boys had great days. D's favorite hot lunch was being served and he told the admin staff that, "It's hard not to have a great day on orange chicken day!" Maybe I just needed some orange chicken to turn my day around.

(5/25) I worked in the building today and Dad had the day off. He arranged to pick up a foster doggo for the next week or so while her people are out of town. She has some good apps, so may even get adopted from here. Cute, little thing. She definitely likes the boys and Dad, but is not sure about me yet.

(5/26) I worked a half day from home and then got to kick off a mini vacation. I'm off until next Thursday! I binge watched a show while working and then went back to (binge?) re-reading a series I read six years ago. Love me some Blake Crouch!

(5/27) We all had the day off today. Our crock pot gave up the ghost after many faithful years of service, so we now have a fancy Instapot. Dinner was fabulous and the boys are excited to try out the air-fry setting. Other than that, we did a whole lot of not much, and it was nice to just hang out.

(5/28) The boys and I were off today and Dad had to work. I slept in and read my book this morning and eventually wandered outside. I weeded the front yard and managed to make it to Lowe's and only buy what I intended (mulch)!

(5/29) The boys and I were off for Memorial Day and Dad worked today. I got my weekend chores all done and then stuck my nose in a book for a few hours.

(5/30) I got to chaperone a field trip to the Lively Environmental Center this morning. I had the twins in my group and we started in the gardens where each school has their own bed to maintain. The kiddos drew what they saw, and then we moved out into the trails. The kids went running down the trails, so that was over pretty quickly, lol. The caretaker came out and chatted with us. She's been there for about 20 years, and D was enamored with her dogs. She let us pet and then gathered a group of kids to go release salmon fry into the creek. Then the kids got to do Snap Circuits and try to put together a circuit based on written directions only. The kids built theirs fast, but it didn't work because they didn't exactly follow the instructions. They tried again and got it to work. We then had lunch and J loved doing parkour off the big trees.

(5/31) I had the day off today and bummed around the house for the morning. I took our foster pup out to meet a potential family and she was quickly adopted. Lucky girl gets to go live on a horse and donkey rescue farm!  Since it was Wednesday, I took the boys to WinCo to pick out their treats. We're almost done with school now. Just 15ish days left!

(6/1) I worked in the building today, the boys had school, and Dad had the day off. It's gonna be a rough work week for me ~ two whole days! I don't know if I can handle it. Dad took the boys for haircuts so they're looking fresh for summer.

(6/2) I worked from home today and Dad took me out for lunch in the Mustang. We tried a new poke restaurant near us and omg it was amazing! Super filling too! Dad picked up the boys in the Mustang and they got to show off a little in front of their friends. 

(6/3) We had my brother and his family over for dinner this afternoon. We played Cards Against Humanity and the little parrots kept piping up about what they'd overheard. We tried to be quiet, but that game lol! We all had fun and it was great to see them! I once again failed to take any pictures though, dangit.

(6/4) The boys and I had a lazy day today. I didn't get much done other than some weeding in the back yard and finishing a book I was reading. The summer flowers are coming along and my rose bushes have gone bananas.

(6/5) I worked from home today and worked on a very tedious project. I was definitely glad to shut off my computer and stop thinking about it at the end of the day!

(6/6) I worked in the office today and the men had work and school. Dad got us pizzas and calzones for dinner tonight. Yummo!

(6/7) I had planned a quiet day, but instead got called out to help Nanan get her car unstuck. She had tried to go up her rock walkway and sunk her tires. I gave it a good effort, but we ended up calling a tow. I gave her a ride into town and we took care of some business that needed doing anyway, so yay for that. We also went and had burgers at the pub and they were amazing!

(6/8) I surprised D this morning because we're on summer schedules at work and only in the office on Tuesday. He was shocked to see me before they headed off to school. The twins had a field trip to their new middle school today. D said he's totally going to get lost. But we'll have another chance to tour when they register.

(6/9) TGIF! Man, that was a long week. It rained this morning after several weeks of not and I sure missed it. I worked from home today and the kids had a half day at school. It was a big news day but I got irritated with the channel cutting out so gave up after a while.

(6/10) Yay for the weekend! We went to a couple estate sales today. Dad found a vintage Mac and a really pretty chess set. Once we dropped our treasures at home, we went furniture shopping. Both C and J managed to break their desk chairs in spectacular fashion. We checked out a few places but ended up at Costco. I was done after that and stayed home to read while Dad went and checked out another sale.

(6/11) The boys and I had a lazy start to our Sunday. C needed driving practice, so we drove out to Snohomish and then we stopped for burritos on the way home. You know, for practice. He takes his driver's test soon and is excited to get his license. After we got back, I ran to the hardware store to grab more compost and potting soil aaaannndd may have picked up a few more plants. I'm really running out of room, but I can't help it. I love this time of year!

(6/12) Last full week of school! We can do it! I worked from home today. I think it's going to be a quiet couple of weeks with everyone off at conferences. I'm not complainin'!

(6/13) We all had work and school today. I was in the building and watched a lot of news as I worked. C laughs at me that I tape all the news programs, but I don't like listening to the commercials and would prefer to zip through them. 

(6/14) Dad and I had the day off together. We spent a quiet morning at home after we dropped off the boys and then went out to lunch at Poke Boy. So delicious! We surprised the twins when we picked them up together and all went on our Wednesday WinCo run. Dad picked up a pineapple to dehydrate and the boys got their usual snacks.

(6/15) The boys and I had work and school and Dad had the day off. I worked from home, but it still felt like the day really dragged. I swear it was 4pm for at least 3 hours.

(6/16) I worked from home today and the boys had school. It was a day of tedious projects for me and we did a virtual happy hour at the end to decompress. J came home from school with a gift card to Baskin-Robbins and a sweet note from his first grade teacher. He initially planned to wait and enjoy his treat on a hot day, but that quickly changed to planning our weekend around when we were going to go.

(6/17) Dad and I went to a wine release party this afternoon. We sat and listened to music, sipped on wine, and had some tasty wine pairings. We then hit another winery where they were running a blow out sale and ended up buying cases for us & my coworkers. Our car was packed!

(6/18) J was ready to go get ice cream at 9am this morning and was pretty frustrated that I made him wait until this afternoon. We had C drive us at a more reasonable hour and we all got a snack. D decided on a small packed container all to himself. Smart kid!

(6/19) The boys and I had Juneteenth off from school and work. I putzed around in the yard and got about half the back yard weeded. That was about the only productive thing I did. The puppies and I also did some serious vegging out.

(6/20) I worked in the building today and Dad ferried the kiddos to school and back. The school sent the twins home with Class of 2030 hoodies ~ I still can't believe it. They are looking sharp!

(6/21) I had the day off today and had a quiet morning to myself once everyone left for work and school. I put a book on and worked out in the back yard refreshing the mulch and the rock area. I picked up the kids for their last WinCo Wednesday of the school year--though they've decided that our Wednesday trips to the store must continue, lol. I told them they could only get one item, and both boys selected dinners since they were candied out from Marketplace, where the fourth grade classes get together and "sell" a good or service. J was in a split this year so got to participate and it sounds like D got to wander in as well. Such a fun day for them!

(6/22) I worked from home and today was the boys' last day of school! They made it! J had a rough end to his day but was feeling better and excited for summer after a bit. Dad picked up pizza to celebrate and we sat out on the porch to enjoy a beverage. The boys came out too and picked a bunch of honeyberries, which J tried to smoosh into his own beverage with so-so results.

(6/23) I worked from home today and everybody else is on break. C took and passed his driver's test and then chauffeured Dad around to finish his practice hours.

(6/24) Yay, now I'm on vacation too! I slept in, read my book and worked a bit out in the yard. Today was errand day, and we ran around and did stuff to prep for our trip.

(6/25) I saw some plants for sale at Freddie's while I was there yesterday and went back for them today. I picked up a sunflower and more salvia since my sunflowers are still months off and salvia since my other plants are so happy where they're at. I planted everything up and then spent a relaxing afternoon reading my book.

(6/26) We rented a small cabin out a Flowing Lake for the next few days. We couldn't check in until the afternoon but the boys were raring to go. We eventually got packed and out the door. Once we were there and had dinner on, we realized all the things we forgot and C got lots of driving practice running back home. We played games tonight and J swam. He is a fish!

(6/27) We all slept rough last night and were up early this morning. C decided to try and make a fire with some wood left by the previous tenant. He got it going and kept it burning while Dad ran out for some more wood and home for the hatchet. The perks of camping close is you can run home for all those things you forgot when you haven't been in a while! J swam this afternoon and I read my book on the beach. C built another fire this evening and we enjoyed hanging out.

(6/28) We decided to stay and play all day today and then come home after dinner to sleep at our house. C built the morning & evening fires and both he and J went swimming. We got some new neighbors at the campsite next to us and got to listen to them sing and play the mandolin while we sat by the fire. After we packed up, C and I took the long way home and detoured out to the houses where I grew up and learned to drive. Things have sure changed while I've been gone!

(6/29) Nanan's car is on the fritz, so for more driving practice, C drove me up to grab Nanan for a bunch of medical appointments she has tomorrow. We stopped on the way home to get some new blood work so we'll be well armed. She took us out to eat at IHOP afterward, which was delicious as usual.

(6/30) Today was appointment-palooza. We started off in Everett for an appointment at 9am, got squeezed in for a CT in Smokey Point at 1pm, and then were back in Everett for a third appointment at 3pm. While we were out at appointments, Dad & C went clothes shopping. When did my child grow into a man? Traffic was bananas this evening, so we opted to have dinner before C chauffeured us back up to Nanan's house. After today, he's done with all his daytime driving practice, and just has a little more nighttime before he can get his license.

(7/1) We drove up to our grandson's first birthday party. W was off and running as soon as anyone set him down. Such a character! J decided to come with us so he could play with his cousins. The weather was perfect for a party and we enjoyed ourselves. (7/2) Dad headed back to work after a nice week plus off and the boys and I were home for the day. I cleaned the dog yard and mowed while listening to my book and then reorganized the garage to make the garage gym equipment fit better. I've finally got a tech coming out to look at my misbehaving treadmill. Fingers crossed they can actually fix it. (7/3) Dad and I are working today and the boys are off doing their own things. C got his food handling permit and sent off an application today. Welcome to adulting, kid!