Fall Fun

Last night Trey told me his favorite seasons were winter (Santa comes.  Duh.) and summer ("We get to stay home."), and then he asked me what were my favorites.  I said summer (We get to stay home.  Duh.) and fall.  I love the colors of fall and the weather.  It cools down enough that we can enjoy being outside, but we don't have to wear coats.  

I haven't been motivated to blog lately because I am following the age old mantra of "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."  The adjustment to my new job has been rough, and I feel cranky pretty much all of the time.  The stress is wearing on me (teeth clenching, jaw pain, headaches, eye twitching, hands alternating between numbness and cramping, shitty sleep, and now a twitch in the side of my face), and I'm trying to brainstorm some ways to lessen the constant overwhelm (Is that a noun?  It should be.).  Yoga is the only thing I've been able to come up with, but I haven't started yet.  Because I have time for yoga....riiiiiiight.  Right now the highlights of my weekday are Starbucks in the morning, a gin and tonic at night (they seem to be getting stronger and stronger), and going to bed.  Sad but true.  

There are a few positives of my job...

When I left the Clackamas area, I thought I was saying goodbye to Great Harvest.  I spent way too much time in that delicious bakery, enough that they knew me by name and I think Trey is part scone based on how many scones I ate when I was pregnant.  When I drove down to McMinnville in June to do some transition work with the teacher I was replacing, my jaw dropped when I saw that there is a Great Harvest less than a mile from my school.  Beth gave me a Great Harvest gift card for my birthday, and I've been visiting them once a week for a pumpkin muffin and coffee.  Delish.

The sunrises on the way to work slay  me.  I feel like how Randy is when we drive anywhere near a river and he can't keep his eyes on the road.  I just stare and stare, and sometimes I pull over and take a picture (that was for you, Mindy).  I will say that the drive to work in the morning is beautiful.  The sunrises, the fog, the cows, the horses, the farms...I really like it.

As you can see, there is a big park right next to my school.  I have been trying to take a 10 minute lunch break and walk around the park for a little bit to get some sunshine and fresh air.  This works about once or twice a week.  I should add that an upside to my job is that I'm getting a ton of steps each day which makes my fitbit really happy.

Here's a view of one corner of the park.  You can expect more pictures as the leaves start to change.

We have had some fun moments in the past few weeks, and there a lot more to come this fall.  Weekends are precious, and I love my time at home and with Trey more than ever before. 

Dave came over for the Broncos-Seahawks game and the guys did a good job of playing nice.  I won't mention who won.  In overtime.

While Dave was in town, we had another China get together at ABV.  Tracey and Terri like ABV a lot too, and we have run into them there more than once.

The beginning of fall is always marked by the Hood River Hops Fest, and the weather this year was gorgeous.  Mindy, Bill, and Camille came to meet us, and the kids had fun in the bounce house.  It kind of went downhill from there, and both kids got a little fussy.  Being in the sunshine and drinking good beer made the trip to Hood River worth it.  

Four parents vs. two cranky four year olds.

Guess who wins?  

After Hood River, we headed over to Julie's house for a family BBQ with my Dad and Sandy and our family friends Kay, Tom, and Alex.  It was great to see them, and the dinner was delicious.  We can never get enough of Kay's Korean beef.

The boys relaxing at the end of the night 

The best part about coming home from work is seeing my boy.  Only spending a few hours a night with him definitely makes me appreciate our summer vacations even more than before. 

Last weekend we drove back to the gorge to pick up our wine at Cor Cellars.  Kris came along, and we had fun introducing her to the wines at Cor and then getting lunch at Solstice in Hood River.  We had to race back to town for Grady's birthday party and then I had another party to attend that night, so it was another full Saturday for the Clarks.

Can't think of a more beautiful place to get gelato. 

Happy 3rd birthday to Cousin Grady!!! 

Saturday night was the 40th birthday party for one of my oldest friends, Kelly.  Nyree, Kerri, and I made a girls night out of it, and it was so much fun to all be together.  We have been friends since grade school (Kerri), junior high (Kelly), and high school (Nyree).  The theme was 70's night, and the costumes at the party were awesome.  (I felt pretty uncute in my costume, but at least I participated, right?)

Kerri and Nyree 

Pre-funcing at Kerri's house 

Celebrating with Wonder Woman (aka the birthday girl aka Kelly)

PS That wig of mine didn't last long. 

Kerri and Kelly

I've been in a bit of a book slump lately; a few of the titles I had looked forward to came in at the library but I couldn't get into them.  The only book I've finished since my last book post is We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas.  I really liked that and would recommend it.  Oh, wait, I guess I also read Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell which I don't really count because it's a young adult book, but I liked it.  I have been working on Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte inbetween books that I can't get into, and that one really resonates with me.  She writes that men usually do 1.5 things at a time while women usually do 5 things at a time while thinking of 2-3 other things.  This explains a lot.  I just started Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng last night, and I'm hoping it's a winner.  I need to get out of my slump.