Discovery

I have not blogged for 4 years!  I discovered my blog today and was like.. wow!  Forgot about this. Anyhow it's intriguing enough for me to want to blog again.  Somehow Life got in the way and I went down the Rabbit Hole.

Currently it's the beginning of summer 2017 and it is peaceful and warm sitting on the back porch.  The side yard with the path has really taken hold this year and we have a nice floral design with a stone pathway. The pathway is probably not good for those unsteady on their feet but it's a terrific pathway for visual and auditory sensory modes. It helps add a peaceful space for the entry to the back porch.

We now have 5 cats who also love the side floral path.  They can be found sleeping there or eating the lemongrass. The "pack" has been together since last September and they are just now getting to the point where they are interacting with each other in a pleasant manner.  It's been a looooooog last winter.

The path has been influenced by a trip to France where we toured Monet's Gardens and it gave us a profound appreciation of florals in gardens and serene pathways. The trip to France, Germany, and Iceland was a discovery of family, friends, allies, and self.

Hello self and a new phase of Wacky Times.

Winter is Coming!

Sort of sounds like the ominous warning from Game of Thrones but it happens to be true in our area.  We have had the flood and now we are starting to prepare for winter.  The weather is getting so much cooler in the mornings that even the cats are refusing to get out of bed.  Actually somehow the cats take a vote and elect one of their crew to get up and beg for food while the others stay in the warm covers.  Once fed, the cat that got the short end of the straw surveys the dishes to be sure they all have food and then heads back to bed.  What a routine they have worked out.  For the rest of the morning they can take their leisure snacking.  Meanwhile us humans are trying to put up the remains of the garden vegetables, make sure the sprinklers are turned off, and that the furnace is working properly.  Leaves are turning colors and raking will begin soon.  This year I am actually sort of excited about the routine tasks signifying that life is back to normal and the seasonal cycles continue.  Life goes on.

Basement

Don't know why I am going public with this except that I have some strange notion that it will hold me accountable to follow thought  (Yah, right... all I have to do is post later... nope that ain't gonna happen... and no more accountability...hahaha)   Anyhow, in a fit of spare time and energy yesterday I actually started sorting through the basement.  Now we are talking years of hoarding past memories down there!  We have old computers... maybe even every one we've ever owned...including one signed by the Apple crew.  We also have all my old teaching supplies and units from years of working.... that's what I'm tackling at the moment.  First goal is to cull the herd!  I have a goal to make one box out of every two or three.  This will be the first pass through.  I figure I can go through the boxes, throw away tons and keep the essentials, label the boxes, and actually put them on shelves.  As I begin to organize, the theory is that the project will take on a life of it's own. The goal here is to tame the basement monster and actually create the illusion of clutter control! Some people plan summer trips, summer reading lists, summer menus, and summer activities..... well... this is my summer goal.  Wish me motivation!!!!!!!

Transitions

Transitions can be funny, frightening, fearful, fantastic, or fulfilling.  (And that folks is called alliteration!...not really done on purpose but when it started to appear I just ran with it!) My life is in full fledged transition from winter schedule to summer schedule.  Since I tutor, my life still revolves around the school calendar. During the winter the work portion of my day is afternoon and early evening.  Now that school is out, the work portion of my day is mainly mornings and early afternoon.  This flip in the schedule does weird things to my thought process due to routines being disrupted and reformed in other ways.  Summer is also looser and varied because of vacations and camps which make my schedule flexible weekly and sometimes daily.  Sooooooo... when you ask about making plans or ask what is going on... I really have no idea! It's not really a senior moment (but could be) but rather, I freakin don't know... it's written down somewhere ...if I can find my written schedule.  Use my phone scheduler... yep, that works if I enter the data and continue to change it...but sometimes that goal doesn't happen either.  My schedule can change in a moment with a cancellation or even an addition... hey...it's summer...let's roll with it!

Summer !!!!

So excited... we had snow for soooooooo long that we didn't get much of spring around here.  In fact, I think we had one whole day of spring.  It was like Pooof!  Spring.... and then summer started.  Ended up leaving for San Diego just as summer started here.  The weather in San Diego was nice and had warm afternoons and cool breezes from the ocean in the morning and evening.  But, nothing compares to the wild temperature ranges in Colorado.  This week has certainly been SUMMER!!! Total sleeveless and shorts and barefoot summer!  Loving it but.... now can someone tell me how to turn the heat thermostat to A/C?  It's like 74 degrees in the house and that's nice but a little A/C would be nice in the afternoon!  Installed the new thermostat this winter and it has saved us a bunch... but just realized that we have no idea how to switch it over.  Just another sweaty learning curve!

Planet DJO

Once again the drumming group performed at StarFest in Denver.  I always forget how much fun it is to actually perform in a group with this crowd until I'm there.  The drive to the tech center is an adventure in itself navigating the freeway through Denver.  But once you are there you enter another world when it's the StarFest convention.  The costumes, fun people, and excitement is very contagious.  Our hour set was fun and the new people in the group got a performance under their belts!  Everything from here on won't seem so scary. With all the craziness... we blended right in!