Cozy Day

It's raining again. Which is good. We need the rain. And I like rainy days. They are perfect for curling up on the couch with mending and movie. Which is just what I planned on doing today, anyway. Lucky me.

Thunder, Lightning, Birds

Birds circling during a thunder storm. A real thunder storm. With lightning overhead. In CA. Big Flash and CRASH just now. Wow. There goes someone's car alarm.

Had to step outside a couple minutes ago to see for myself, and that's when I saw the birds. Back to photo project . . .

Rainway

It's finally raining a little bit, here in this drought-land that I live in by the sea. But the funny thing is that you don't notice the rain much except in certain places. Or should I say at certain speeds? There is no problem with the barely noticeable moisture in the air, until you get up to about 55mph on a freeway. Then, suddenly, you need the wipers. So my question is, are the clouds more dense over the freeway? Or am I just hitting more drops more quickly at that speed?

Rain

It's a rainy day, and I'm happy about it. I hope we get more rain this winter. I've been pretty worried about the drought. I have my car back, without too big a dent in my wallet. All the walking I did without it was really good for me, but I'm still glad to have it back.

Life is pretty good right now. I've been focusing on building relationships and getting exercise and it seems to be helping my mood a lot. Of course, I know that there are deeper issues that may need more professional help at some point, but that can wait until we figure out our budget . . .

Snorring Old Men and Falling Pets

So we are finally getting some much needed rain. It feels more like a proper winter--we've been having a drought the past couple of years with not nearly enough rainfall. This winter is feeling more like the winters I remember from my first couple of years out here--lots of intermittent rain with some sunny days in between. I'm not sure what's really "normal" for this climate, given El Nino, and Global Warming and all that, but rain is good. :)

Wet weather did somewhat dampen my weekend--the Farmer's Market was rather soggy--but I still had a lovely V-day with my BF. Also spent time planning a church service for next month and doing projects around the house.

Guess I Really Can't Complain

Am really happy that it's finally raining again. We need it, and too much blue sky is boring. Although it was kind of fun and funny when we had 70-80 degree whether while the rest of the country was below zero. The only down side is it slows my commute and I don't get my walks with the baby--his parents don't want him getting wet.

Ren Fog?

So driving home in the fog yesterday, I thought I saw to knights on horseback with full armor and lances. Did they get transported from some medieval tournament? Was there a Ren Fair going on nearby? Did my eyes deceive me? Whatever happened, it was pretty cool!

Trip Log

It's been a nice week with my BF in the Midwest. We had snow on the ground when we arrived and more fresh overnight. Then we had ice and rain and thaw and so forth. :) We skipped the day trip . . .

We got to spend time with some of my friends and time alone together exploring the town. I got to meditate in the Domes (M. had several books to read while I was busy). We also had an official tour of the Domes, so M. could see them. There were a couple of other MSAE/MUM (see sidebar) graduates with their girlfriends on the tour as well. It was kind of weird--they've grown up and changed a lot, but then, I suppose, I have, too.

Now I'm in the Chicago area with my parents. We dropped M. off at the airport (in Iowa) on our way here. Tomorrow, we'll visit my Grandma. I'd better close now. I ought to get ready for bed. :)

Melt to Ice

So first it melts, and then it rains, and then it freezes. Just in time for us to go on a day trip tomorrow! Well, not if the roads are icy . . .

Rain and Rainbows

I walked out the door this morning and there was a rainbow above the roof tops. It was raining, but the sun was coming through the clouds in places, so I got to see the rainbow appear and disappear as I drove to work. At one point, it was a (partial) double rainbow and I could see both ends on either side of the highway. Then I drove right under it. Pretty cool!

Back on Track

Things are so much better this week that I actually had the energy to get out to the library before work. I've been so productive and I'm excited about doing even more projects. Suddenly, I actually want to get that stuff that's been sitting in my "out-box" for over a year out of the house. And I want to work on my framing project (framing art from my collage days for my walls) and all sorts of other things.

The weather had finally turned cool and foggy. It's such a relief after a summer of nothing but blue sky. I have more energy for my work, and more energy for myself. Life is good. Except that I need to fill my ga$ tank again . . .

Randomness of Life

So the matching avatar is a little late, because the public computer I was on yesterday doesn't support avatars, or more specifically, it doesn't support flash. But I still wanted to put it up. I decided not to rent a costume at the faire, but it was lots of fun anyway. :) And there were lots of other folks in costume to enjoy.

We've had exceptionally clear weather the past few days--all the smog has been up in the clouds. That makes the clouds look purplish gray, but it means you can see all the detail in the distance. It makes the views at work and on my commute really nice. Work has been really good lately, and I've got a promise of more hours starting in Jan.

Am feeling glad to have introduced a friend to some of my current favorite music through my blog postings. I'm in a pit of an experimenting mode, have been checking out CD's of artists I like on the radio, to see if I like their albums. Discovered this morning that the album I'd been putting off playing (because I was concerned I wouldn't like it) was actually pretty good. Not sure I'd buy it, but no songs I had to skip. Whereas the album I was pretty sure I'd like at least some of the songs on, I ended up skipping every song I didn't already know from radio play, because I found either the sound or the lyrics offensive. Definitely will not be buying that!

Have a long weekend (Thurs-Mon) because of clients being out of town. Must remember to get to the Meet the Doulas Night this month! (It's the same one I forgot last month.)

Have joined another church group and volunteered to put in a good bit of time before realizing how, um, time consuming that would be. Possible oops there, but we shall see. Am trying not to overcommit.

Work Week

I'm working more than usual this week (no objections as my usual is so low and money is good), and I've also been very productive with errands and other personal business (like getting on-line). The air quality got better over the weekend for my Aunt's wedding and my mom's visit, but now visibility is reduced again and it's getting hot. It's a Spare the Air day, but with out free transit, what more can I do than Drive 55 (which I do already)?

One exciting thing yesterday was getting to hear two of my favorite songs back-to-back on the radio. :)

Heat Wave

It's hot. Temperatures are reaching record highs. And I am crazy enough not to drive or turn on the A.C. What's wrong with me? Well, if this is global warming, I want to do something about it. It's a pretty good motivator, actually. And walking/biking isn't too bad, with plenty of water and taking it slowly.

Plus, I have a North/West facing apartment, which does heat up some, but cools off relatively well overnight. And it stays relatively cool if I keep the windows closed during the day. I got dowels yesterday, so now I can open the windows safely at night. Only a crack, but it still helps.

The main problem with the heat is that it's demotivating. (I know that's not a word, but it means what I want to say. :-) I don't want to do anything or make any decisions. Maybe I'll be able to overcome my inertia this afternoon, or tomorrow, or some other time in the future. But for now, I doubt I'll do much today that can be put off until tomorrow. :-)

Cycling by Choice

Car repair accomplished with hefty price tag. But the price of repairs is still less per year than payments on a new car would be, so it's o.k.

Expected package arrived--am very excited to have new tools for emotional stability. :) Began reading the included information and immediately found more I want to order. Also led to the discovery of a very interesting flower: clitoria. And you can guess why . . .

Didn't hear from my friend until late in the day, but had nice conversations with M. and parents.

Today I am glad of a Northwest facing apartment--it stayed cool all morning, despite the growing heat. I didn't even know until I stepped out at 2 that the weather was so warm.

I cycled to the library in Downtown Campbell. Boy am I out of shape! But I took the rout with the least stoplights, so that made life easier. :) Now I have letters to mail and a deposit for the bank. Life is good.

Midwestern Sky

Today, driving home from work, I got to enjoy a sky full of beautiful, Midwestern-style, cream puff clouds. Of course, the low, snow capped mountains in the not-so-far distance kind of ruined the illusion.

The day was good and busy. I cooked a vegetarian meal for my current postpartum clients in the morning, and started working with a new family, doing some babysitting, in the late afternoon. I had a short break between clients to meditate and start some laundry. M. called as I was leaving to say that he has a cold. :( I hope he feels better soon.

Now it's just past 7, and I'd better get home. My evening clients fed me, but it wasn't very filling, so I have to eat again when I get home, finish my laundry, and try to get to bed by 9. Eek! Only 2 hours! How am I going to do it all????

More Rain

It is actually raining today. Not misting. Not drizzling. Raining. Not pouring, though. Just a nice, steady, wet rain. There is water on the roads, making driving a bit dangerous--going slow and having plenty of time to get where I'm going will be good. :)

Work went well. I took on a new client for a couple of hours, a couple of days next week, as my current client is scaling back on her hours. It's all good. The client I've been interviewing with has yet to make a decision, so I get to tell the people at the Meet the Doulas Night tonight that I'm available starting in mid-March. Hopefully I get at least one taker for mid- to late-March. I also get to increase my rates, but not as much as if the mom I was interviewing with had signed on. Oh, well. There's a reason for it, I just can't see it yet.

I had a couple of really nice phone conversations last night. It's always nicer to have company over the phone than to try to pretend that a book on tape is company. Although the book I'm listening to at the moment is quite a good one. I've gotten really into the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones. It has a fairly unique take on magic, and the books don't really rely on each other the way some serial books do, so you can read them out of order and they still mostly make sense.

Anyway, now I'm in the library, on their wireless Internet connection on my laptop, killing time between work and tonight's Meet the Doulas Night. Since I work more than half way to where the MTDN is tonight, so there was no point in going home in between.

Drizzle Day

At work today, the mom I'm working for commented that it was, "Starting to get kind of yucky out there." I couldn't resist "correcting" her, explaining that what was coming from the sky was "just mist" and that rain would "soak you in 5 minutes." Maybe it was a little rude, but what can I say? I'm from Iowa where a light drizzle doesn't slow anything down. It's so weird to me, out here in Cali, when people freak out about a little moisture in the air.

Anyway, I had a full day at work. I also started a new book for my Postpartum Doula certification. This one is about Postpartum Depression, and so far, it's kind of, well, depressing. Other than that, not much is new. It's 1630 and I need to get home and get busy with all the things I need to do this evening. I really shouldn't have come to the library at all, but I needed one piece of information and then got sucked into doing everything else I normally do here.

L8R G8R :)

Rain Again

It's drizzling and windy, which made my walk to the library quite invigorating. My prenatal last night went well. It was really good to get back into my business. My schedule is actually filling up quite nicely, which is good, because I tend to get more done when I have a full schedule than when I think I have all the time in the world.

I am getting ready for a conference through my school that will happen in March. It is interesting to be choosing sessions, etc. with my work as a postpartum doula in mind, instead of choosing them as a student midwife. I find myself making very different choices, but I still expect to enjoy the experience. Now I'm looking at flights.

Thunder by Social Agreement

When I was visiting my Aunts in PG over Christmas, one of them said, "Reality is a Social Agreement." Today, I had an experience of that when there was a loud rumbling overhead. I was under a flight pattern at the time, and wondered aloud whether it was a plane or thunder. The person I was with is also from "back east," and he had no more sense of how "real" the possibility of thunder in CA was than I did, but we agreed it didn't sound like a plane. Then came another rumble--this one distinctly thunder (by our agreement)--but the third rumble was definitely (we agreed) a plane. I wonder how I would have decided the matter if I'd been alone . . . hmm . . . food for thought. But if it was thunder, it's not surprising, as it has been very stormy. I don't even know if my power ever came back on, as I am staying elsewhere during the repairs on my apartment.

On another note, I watched Shreck the Third with my host last night. It's a pretty good movie, although there's not much new in it. It was certainly funny, but I thought Shreck 2 was more creative.

The rain let up long enough for a trip to the Farmer's Market this morning. I just love Farmer's Markets--food looks so much better when it is fresh, local, and out on the street. Blood Oranges are in season, and so are Madjool Dates. Mmmm, Nature's candy!

Anyway, I've got other stuff I ought to be doing, so I'll be logging off now . . . :)