October 2015

Hello everyone and welcome to November!

Let's take a walk through the last month and see what happened during October in the lives of Matthew and Margaret Pauls, including a 2nd anniversary!
This sweet poem is at one of the houses I clean. I took a picture of it because Vanessa had just been telling someone how she leaves Hailey's handprints on the glass sliding door for a few days before washing them off!                                     Can you relate, grandmas?!We can't see the horizon where the sun is setting from our house, but we sure enjoy the sky from time to time. Whenever there are clouds in the evening we keep our eyes peeled for the colors to start!This comic says "Custard's last view." Another sighting at a cleaning job comes below...I'm not afraid of mice, but when this little lizard scurried across the hall in front of me, my heart definitely skipped and then pounded for a second! It was the first time I'd seen one in the house. Poor little thing was so scared.Fried egg, bacon, avocado sandwich, Yes please!We often spot wild turkeys when walking dogs at Woods. We also have to keep our eyes peeled for momma cows. Since the calves have been born, they can be a little possessive!Super banana muffins! Based on a paleo recipe, I added lots of extras to these to pack it with protein, fiber, and other good things
The first Saturday in October, Mom had a yard sale at their house. Grandpa and Grandma Pauls on the left, Uncle Phil and Aunt Pam in the middle, Austin blending into the background (see below) Mom, Dad, Michael, and Sarah Beth.
There he is!It was a ton of fun and while we sold lots, there was still lots left!That Saturday Matthew was geeking with some fellow geeks at a mini edtech conference in Avila. Rich Hovey used to work at the Del Rio school and Matthew was super excited when Grizzly hired him. They did a presentation together. Nick Perez in the middle with Scott Burt on the right, two more great teachers.Austin and Dad worked on the roof most of that Saturday. And finished the shingles that evening with Matthew's help.I think this is Brickley, but maybe not!When we clean their kennels inside, we lock them in their little yards on the outside. Some of them can't wait to get back in to investigate their new toys and bedding! I think this was Sunny.We can finally carry our kayak! But... there have been so many shark sightings that Matthew doesn't want to go out in the ocean now!
The daily job. Done for another 24 hours, or less."Tut-tut! Looks like rain!!!"

Hailey helping Vanessa make a cake.I know it is hard to tell what is going on in this picture. If you look closely, you made see a hump on the side of Buttercup's water bucket. It is a squirrel getting a drink! She has to share her water with deer, fox, squirrels, and birds!The sun shining on this cloud just made my heart rejoice! It is just so glorious!Another batch of Super banana muffins in the making!Our 2nd anniversary! We made some plans kind of at the last minute to do some hiking and the zoo, but then I got sick, the weather was icky (overcast and chilly, hahah!) and we felt more like vegging than scampering around the country. We took some drives, did some shopping, went out to lunch, took it easy, and did lots of talking. We didn't take many pictures, so Matthew thought we should get some documentation...Saturday we drove out 41 and then Old Creek Road to 46. Sunday we drove to Santa Margarita Lake and then down to SLO and out Perfomo Canyon Road. Wish I'd gotten more pictures up there! It was SO pretty and amazing. Then you wind back down and meet up with See Canyon Road and end up in Avila.This loaf of Udi bread was 1/2 calorie!I finally went to the dentist. First appointment they did assessment and took pictures and x-rays. The next appointment they did a cleaning. The next appointment they cleaned up a few soft spots. So glad to have all that done! And for insurance! Matthew grilled chicken with BBQ sauce one evening. It was SO delicious!Matthew's plate afterwards...The picture I sent Matthew the next day! yummy leftovers :) (I didn't really have it all over my mouth like that, I just did that to show him how much I was enjoying it!)Fall colors!When Pat saw my Canadian flag out, she had to give a U.S. one to Matthew!One Saturday evening we hiked Bishop's Peak with Mom, Dad, Austin, Sarah Beth, Lucy, David and Lauren, Codie and Tessa, Kevin, Addie, and Cassie.Someone is excited to be hiking!It was the perfect warmup for running the next morning!So much fun running my first half marathon, 13.1 miles! Chief Weathersbee forgot my Grizzly Run Club shirt, bright pink!, but she has a good excuse (baby brain! :) Someone told me there was only one hill. Going up about the 5th or 6th on mile 10, I asked the people behind me if they'd been told the same thing. We had a good laugh. Everyone was also talking about the tarantula that was out for a stroll that morning as well! I didn't think I had anything left in me to sprint at the finish line, but I could hear mom and Sarah Beth yelling from a couple 100 feet away, and I started sprinting no problem! Matthew ranked 3rd in his age group and several of the cadets also placed in the top. It is a pretty small race, but a plus is that the kids take home extra medals. My sweet, thoughtful sister-in-law even brought me flowers! The official race photographer got a picture of mom holding them! You can check out the pictures of them and the cadets here. And if you see a picture of 212, no it is not our Jenni Hulburt, but I did a double take every time I saw her... which wasn't often because she was doing 7:20 miles and was WAY ahead of me!Lady and Bruno, a bonded pair (meaning they were in the same household and have to adopted to the same household).Bought myself a treat this week when I was grocery shopping!Have you heard of baked oatmeal? One chilly morning it sounded like fun to try. I had to make quite a few substitutions to the recipe, but...It turned out okay! Yeah... I ate the whole thing! But hey, my metabolism was still on turbo boost from running Sunday morning.I like making quiche for dinner every so often. Vanessa gave me her yummy recipe that Matthew likes.There had been a stack of papers on our dresser for weeks, if not months, and I was ready to say good-bye to them! I asked one of the ladies I clean for it I could borrow their shredder while I was cleaning. Many thanks to her, the dresser is now... a catchall for other things! :)

And that wraps up October.