Into October

I returned from my late September retreat to a newly-revamped bird & squirrel feeder outside my kitchen window. I returned to continued mild weather, making a very green Autumn. I returned to a mound of firewood needing to be stacked (a seasonal favorite; no joke). I returned to just enough crisp in the air to justify the dusting off of my most delicious stew recipes.

I also returned to a scary call-back for a second mammogram and ultrasound (they found nothing but exceptionally dense breast tissue, thank goodness). And... after a few brief weeks of transitioning back to normal life, there was a fatal hard drive crash that ended everything abruptly.

With a family vacation on the calendar for the next week, all I could do was take the failed hard drive to the Geek Squad and pray for the best. Normally a faithful monthly backer-upper, I had lapsed in my good habits for months. Meaning master copies of any new design and financial records were under threat of being lost forever. Re-creating them would have taken weeks of my time, so I paid the big bucks for the highest chance of retrieval, packed my suitcases for vacation and tried to leave the worry behind.

Kids Were Here

Summer Break: Week Six

I know that the pictures I post here often look downright slow and relaxed. But trust me when I say that up in my head, it has been way, way, way too busy this Summer. I wanted a lot more down time, but I've been jumping from one big project to the next, and sometimes working on multiple projects simultaneously. I have succeeded in getting more play dates in for the kids during this school break (which isn't actually saying much, considering last year there was a grand total of ONE, due to my painful back problems). But there have been zero read-alouds on the picnic blanket in the front yard, zero trips to the city for smoothies, and so many other things I try to do with the kids during the "slow" months. Oh well... I do my best, and keep reminding them that the grand result of all of my busy working hours, we will be able to take a trip to Disneyland in the Fall. Worth it? Yes, I hope so.

My poor camera has had very little action; most of these came from my phone camera, which is always in my back pocket when the presence of mind to snap a picture comes around.

Kids Were Here