October Blues

Although it's my favorite time of the year, the past few weeks have been incredibly difficult and exceptionally busy. It seemed that we were getting on a more even footing with my son, but it's all blown up again. I feel so helpless and stuck. I don't know how to help him. I have even considered quitting my job and homeschooling him, but we wouldn't be able to afford the treatment he needs if I didn't have my job. It's also marching band season so every single weekend is spoken for right now. Luckily this coming weekend is the state competition so we'll get our weekends back.

I've seen a total of one horror movie since autumn started. Although my family started watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, we haven't been able to finish it. Sigh...

Since I'm (still) an emotional wreck, I'm just going to share some fun photos from the month. (At least I've still managed to capture some of the beauty of the season).

The purple ash in our backyard. Most of these leaves have fallen now.

Some sort of autumn berries.

Our purple ash in our front yard next to our neighbor's golden ash.

A cottonwood tree on a sunny day with a beautiful blue sky.

I loved the way these limbs were still tipped with green leaves.

On my walk once the Cottonwoods started losing all their leaves.

 

The sun hitting the one maple leaf in the pile of ash leaves.

On the creek behind my house.

Sun back lighting the red leaves.

Reflection of the bare trees in the wind-rippled pond.

Autumn grasses.

The following photos prove that I work in a pretty cool place. These guys were placed around the office in different poses.

Lounging at the farm table. Yes, we have a wine rack on the wall, and yes, sometimes we break into it.

Hanging out in the reception area. Do you know where I work now?!

Drinking some coffee with his North Face cap on.

Here's hoping that your fall and Halloween season have been pleasant!

There's Gold in Them Thar Hills!

Whew, this last week was crazy! I went to a conference in Chicago, and realized that I was so busy this time that I didn't take one photo the whole time I was there. I left home before 5 AM on Monday only to find that the travel company for my work hadn't booked a ticket, even though I got a confirmation. Luckily there was still space on the flight so I was able to get to Chicago. But I forgot to have any caffeine at all that day (yeah, I'm addicted), and got the worst headache that made me totally nauseated and ended up missing the opening session of the conference since I was in bed at the hotel. There were over 7,000 people at this conference, which is a bit much for this introvert. So by the time I got home on Thursday, well, actually early Friday since my flight was delayed leaving O'hare, I was SO done with people. Luckily a quiet couple sat next to me on the flight home.

We've also been really busy lately with my daughter's activities since it's marching band season, and she's doing theater tech, on top of her increasingly more demanding class load. We spent all day Saturday at a marching band competition, then Sunday we made it up to the mountains to see the colors. We were probably one week late for the prime colors, but we still had some nice views of the golden aspen trees.