Day After Santa Day

Merry day after Christmas.... How was your holiday?  Mine was good. I spent the majority of the day with John and my girls, but in the afternoon John's parents came over and had dinner with us. I tried a new recipe - Roast Beef with a Dijon/Horseradish Crust. Turned out pretty good - smelled great when it was cooking. (Hhmm, I think I'll make myself a sandwich in a minute....)

This was my first Christmas holiday spent with a partner in about 18 years. John is getting me a washing machine. I'm very practical, so that's my idea of a great gift. I just need to find one and he'll go get it. 

I gave him a haircut today and was worried that I cut the front too short, but then I ended up cutting the whole thing super-short and it turned out great. I've been cutting hair for years, since I was 14 and I was a hairdresser when I lived in Washington, but even so I'm not immune to distractions and a house full of kids and pets usually includes some distractions. It seems that the shorter his hair is, the younger he looks. I'll have to get a picture of him today... I think he looks beautiful.

Today is my second day off of work. My hours are super-light next week which is worrisome.  I'm a bit tired of being broke. I'd love to be able to go see a movie and pick up a pair of basketball shoes for Sarah. Time to look for a second job............

We have a new cat. Her name is Tinkerbell, but we'll call her Tink.

Creek-y Morning

Sarah and I had a creek morning - just the two of us. Yes, that's Casey in the picture, but unfortunately, he was home in Bakersfield - not at our creek. I just prefer to use a picture with him in it. :D Sarah noticed that it looked very different. I explained to her that it will change daily, depending on the water level and the weather. We didn't see very many polliwogs - last week there were hundreds. We did see a couple of large trout. One kept jumping up and when he broke the surface, we'd turn quickly to try to see him. I never caught him, but Sarah did. The dragonflies landed on me - I like to see them up close.
It was eerie outside today. The light was very orange and there was ash floating down. I like floating on a raft in the creek and when I was on my back, I could see it landing on my legs, my chest, my belly. It was creepy. And sad. Our beautiful California is burning all over the place.

People who have never been here think that California is all like LA, but it's not. There's desert and mountains and incredible coastline. I live up at the top of the Sacramento Valley and let me tell you, there are parts of this valley that are not beautiful, but my town is surrounded by orchards and foothills. There's a park that runs up through town, into the hills - that's the park that I always talk about. Anyway, my point is that it looks nothing like the California where the stars live - the sky is usually blue and clear. This latest fire, I hear that it's in Paradise/Magalia area. A lot of people who live up there are retired. Steve's dad lives there.

Bay's out here now. She is sick and somehow thinks that using the computer will help. I need to go outside and see if I can photograph something for tomorrow's Wordless Wednesday. Good evening to you.

Sunday

Here is a miracle shot - all three kids in the living room, nobody fighting. Max is napping (okay he never fights with anything but his dinner), Bay is on the computer, and Sarah is multi-tasking her cartoons and her paperdoll-stickers. I ran today - first run in a month, I looked it up in my log. I still can't exercise outside, had to use my treadmill, but I needed the movement. I need to get out of my head. I've gained quite a bit of weight and I feel uncomfortable in my skin. Not a good feeling and definitely not a good look.

Tomorrow is going to be hard, I suspect. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Maybe I should pick up something for the girls and I to do in memory of Grandpa. Possibly a Hibiscus. Or something tropical for the patio. I'll see what they've got at Lowe's.

I tried to take some photos from the cat's point of view. There's always a kitty on the patio these days. Geez, every word is a struggle right now. Enough of this. Tomorrow I'm reclaiming my brain.