The last of September

271/365
Pouring (really really pouring) rain on the car window. I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for Robert to just run in and grab something - 2 minutes  (translation 20 minutes).

272/365
Canning spaghetti sauce.  I made a double batch of sauce which gave me enough jars that it took three rounds to can them all.  This was two rounds down, third one in the canner, all the dishes that I had washed (for the fifth time that day) and my celebratory glass of wine.



273/365
Yoda and Wilbur cuddling.

September ended, I can wake up now.

I love September.  In theory.  The beginning of fall - which I do love - and all that goes with it.

In reality though, we are not the greatest of friends.  I always feel overwhelmed and flustered and stressed and depressed and ANXIOUS about all of the things. Always.  It probably has a lot to do with the autumnal equinox and the rapidly changing amount of light that brings out those feelings with me as it does with many others.

But it's October now, and I'm feeling better.

I know I have a hard time with September so I planned ahead and took a day off for me.  A day where I could do what I wanted or needed to do while the kids were in school and have not have to worry about work.  I took it on a Friday - and after I ran some errands in the morning I convinced a friend to bring her newborn over so I could take a couple pictures of him.



Walter was more interested in eating than sleeping for photos so I didn't get too many, and it hasn't worked out to get anymore newborn photos.



Adam had some friends over to play games to celebrate his birthday and he agreed to let Carus throw him a Minecraft themed party.  We had red vines as "TNT", carrots and watermelon as themselves, chips and dip, cucumbers and dip, pizza (of course) and a Creeper decorated cake.  Carus planned, and helped make and put together everything for the party - even drawing the signs.

While spending some gift cards we've had laying around far too long I found this crate - which is a new prop for putting babies - or pug dogs (or cats, etc) in for photos.  Yoda was very cooperative and would jump in and sit down for me.


Providence (the hospital/health care group I work for) has forums for it's employees to keep us informed of progress and plans, etc.  At the end of each forum they do a drawing to give away a little prize.  I won this time - a gift basket with coffee and chocolate.  The chocolate was good - I haven't tried the coffee yet.


We were able to line up schedules one last time for me to run over to do this shot of my friends kids with baby Walter.  She saw this idea on Pinterest and loved it and so did I.  I'm glad we got it, I love it. (Of course Walter wanted to sleep that day!)


Dogs begging for treats from Robert - who got into the closet for paper towels or something.  They did get a treat too.


A good portion of September was stormy and wet.  We had 8-10 inches of rain in September.  Lots of gray skies and wet.



But fall does have lovely sunsets.

Rainy day(s)

Because it's Oregon, and it's spring, we have been getting a lot of rain lately.


(168/365) 

I was stopped at a stoplight and was in awe of the sky and clouds, which were more beautiful than my phone could capture, when the light turned green.  I put the phone away before I started driving again and uploaded it after I got home, much later.

It's "real" rain, with the rain smell (what causes that smell).  Oregon doesn't get that fresh rain smell often because of how often it rains here, so it's nice when we do.  This week we even had thunder and lightning, also not usual for northwest Oregon.  We also have had a few tornado watches (we're currently in one now), with a couple touching down; though nowhere near as bad as those in tornado alley get them.

I don't mind these late spring rains.  They have an end to them and are followed by sunshine and some GORGEOUS clouds and skies.

We've had nearly 4 inches of rain (per my probably rather inaccurate rain gauge) in as many days, and many more days of rain storms to follow until we reach the "drought" of summer.  I wish I could share the rain with other parts of the country and world.  It would be nice if it worked that way everywhere - sharing the sun and rain as needed.


(169/365)
During the thunder and lightning storms there were many downpours.  It rained, hard; and passed quickly.

I had such fun taking pictures of the rain splashing that I got enough photos for a little gif. (Remember my tree cutting down gif?)

How about a Wordless Wednesday?

How about a Wordless Wednesday.  Then I don't need to think of something clever to say.

Moss covered rocks

We have a retaining wall in the backyard that is becoming quite green.  It's no surprise that moss grows so well with all of our rain.  I think it looks great, like they're in a forest from a fairy tale.  It's bugging Robert though, and I think he might remove the moss this spring/summer.  I hope not.  It's more mossy then it was last year and I'm curious to how mossy it will get next year.

If I'm stuck with the rain and wet, I'm going to make the best of it.

January blues

Raindrops through the car window.



I think January might be the hardest month for me. I always feel quite sad in January.  The weather is usually the worst (in that it is ALWAYS raining).  I feel like I will never see the sun again (though we did have a bit more than a full week of sun) and that it will rain forever. I'm missing some of my family because I didn't get to see them, yet again, for the holidays (we can't travel to them and they can't/won't travel to me). It's a new year, but I didn't get to a whole bunch of stuff I wanted to do the year before and now it's gone...

BLAH!

So yeah, we had about a week of sun with a few sprinkles here and there, nothing really.  On Saturday, the rains returned.  The rain allows Oregon to be so very green and the springs to be very lovely, and keeps the summer drought off much longer than many other parts of the country, but it can be hard to handle.  Sometimes I blame it on being from New Mexico, but New Mexico is no longer my home and I've lived in Oregon longer than I lived there, so it doesn't feel right to blame it on that.  Where we are in Oregon rarely feels like my home either, even though I live here, and I'm not sure why.  Nor do I know where my home is. I don't mean home where I live with my family, but a home where my family and I live that feels right.  A place where it feels like we fully belong.  Does that make sense?  This town and/or house is close, I think, but it's not quite there...

I don't know.  January's make me sad and weird weirder.

Do you feel like you're home?