Mental Health Monday

Today's read: How To Let Go of Things From the Past

This Beautiful Poem:

Consumable Christmas: This year, when asked what I would like for Christmas, I asked Hubby and the kids for consumables, things like soap, candles, treats, bath/lotion stuff, etc. Almost everyone complied.

These are my only nonconsumable gifts, a shirt from Hubby and a painting by R, and I adore them:

Scenes from work: The view from V's office - snow on the ground! Look close, I promise it's there. Other employees called into work too snowed in to get there. My Alaska native boss and I mocked them repeatedly (no, we didn't).

I ate lunch in a small break area. Hardly anyone was on campus, and it was absolutely quiet and still there. Hmmm.

After work, I lounged around. Snow fell all day and into the evening, even with sunshine and somewhat clear skies in places. I made another batch of Funeral Potatoes for dinner, and cookies. It's winter! Bring on the carbs!

We watched a Netflix movie called Don't Look Up - FUNNY. Two potato-covered thumbs up!

Sunday Selfie 1: Roots

Me, after my "warm Hubby up" nap. He and R met up with C's soccer team and coaches for a mini-reunion, and they came home cold (snow fell earlier today). Hubby took a long time to warm up even with toasty little me beside him. 

Nataliya did my hair last Tuesday. It was a grown out mess with major roots showing from the last time I dyed it, so I had her trim and color it. Now my roots can grow in and it'll look natural. That girl is a genius! 

We had a very nice Christmas, by the way. H and Maddi spent the night on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed our left-right gift game and singing/ quoting along with the Muppet Christmas Carol, eating, and waking up early for gifts on Christmas morning. Christmas Day was a great day, very relaxing, and C came over on Christmas night and exchanged gifts with us. 

Just a few more days left, and then the Rose Bowl trip will begin! Due to the snow, we're not quite sure which way we'll be driving to Pasadena, other than "south". Hubby and I are hoping to finish off Highway 101 this trip - we'll see how it goes. Stay tuned for trip updates! 

Happy October 25th!

 

Grandma meets the Great Grandchildren

R and C had fun meeting and playing Peekaboo with Grandma and Aunt Kitty. Uncle Scooby and Lori were there too. The girls took their usual few minutes to warm up, but once they did, it was smiles and fun and giggling.

Home from Seaside

This morning we said goodbye to Josh and Aimee and the kids, then packed up and left for Vancouver with the Utah family. 

Bri and Roz went with Kristy, Steve, and Lori to the University of Utah / Oregon State University football game. Have fun, I said, and later I took myself out to dinner. 

Mmmm, meatloaf sandwich. 

IKEA and Chow with R

"I'll take one of everything here, please"

 

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT

Beautiful Baby C

Snow Bunnies

IT'S A NEW CARRRRRRR

But first: The C at work today. He was kept quite busy with this massive shipment of fabric we received.

And now: (Cue the music) The Car

Test drive

We're so tired. Please give us our car

They asked if we wanted the bow for pictures. OF COURSE we want the bow!!!!

Getting comfy

meeeee

R Having A Cozy

Sometimes it goes like this when you sleep

Bringing Home Our Kayaks

But first: my sushi socks are making me okay with going back to work this morning

And now: The Kayaks

We've been talking about kayaks for quite a while. Living in this area, with all these beautiful lakes, rivers, and ponds, I've been in the mood to own some kind of water conveyance for years now. I still hope to own a little rowboat with an outboard motor someday (Hubby wants something bigger). 

But first, we want something a bit smaller and easier, and so here we are tonight buying our long-awaited kayaks.

The minivan was ready with the J hooks, but tying the kayaks to the racks was a bit less straightforward than we were hoping. Bringing the kitchen stepladder turned out to be a good decision. We also now know where all of the little hooks underneath the bumpers are located.

An hour later....

Ahhhh. Welcome home, babies.

First Sunday

....which means the first big planning session of the year. 

I love the dots on the pages; they're making a huge difference. They can't help me keep my days of the week straight, though (ha). It's a good thing I'm not going to obsess on perfection this year, isn't it?

I stopped making New Year's resolutions years ago, noting that like most people's, mine tend to fail. Guidelines relating to a year-long theme work better for me. 2021's theme is getting healthier. 

Hey look, blue sky!

Wednesday decided to help with my journal:

Then: adventure time. We didn't have much time, so we only stopped at Portland Women's Forum. We drove past Vista House and a few waterfalls before turning back toward Portland, then drove through Rooster Rock State Park to see what it's like.

I kept falling asleep on the way home, so I took a giant nap while Hubby ran errands. Here's one errand:

We have our J hooks installed! Kayaks, here we come!

Also, the string of bells I bought at Tipton's in Seaside looks very festive on our front door:

Later: Spaghetti and silliness for Sunday dinner

First weekend of 2021: GOOD

Seaside Saturday

My favorite picture of the weekend.