Smoky Autumn

Greetings from smoky Eastern Washington where we are surrounded by forest fires, perhaps until the snow flies. The last few days we've had some relief until the wind kicked up yesterday evening and picked up a lot of dust to mix with the smoke. We need some rain!

The school year is well underway as is the cross country season. The Kamiakin High School team is doing quite well, even ranking in some national polls. Kirsten's season has not gone well, starting at the end of last school year when she picked up some kind of bug that left her with a cough that wouldn't quit and an inability to get enough air into her lungs to run well. Her times this year are well behind last year's. Argh! So frustrating for her. She's on an inhaler and allergy meds, slowly improving her lung function, and then the smoke came in and she caught another cold - slammed back down. Guess we just have to do the best we can to get her immune system boosted and hope for better things in the spring.

JV girls ready to run the Bulldog Invite, Pasco, WA

The smoky skies have impacted the cross country schedule for teams across the state; not just xc, but in some areas like Wenatchee, all outdoor activities. Our area had one league meet postponed, and the big Sunfair race was also postponed to this coming weekend. However, we already had that weekend booked for the Richland Invite, so we won't be doing Sunfair. Sunfair will be a much smaller event this year which is a shame as it was looking to be bigger than ever with a team flying in from Hawaii and several coming down from British Columbia, plus the usual teams from all over the Pacific Northwest.

My oldest DD is getting close to delivering our fifth grandchild around the 1st of November! I'm trying to get over to her house several days a week to clean up her kitchen, do dishes, and fold some laundry, read to kids, etc. so she can spend more time with her feet up. Plus it's harder for her to bend over the sink - how well I know that lower back pain! Then I visit with my Dad and there's always shopping, medications to order and deliver to Parkview where he's living, keeping his bills paid, etc. I'm very thankful that I have the time to be able to help my family in these ways!

As for myself and DH, we've made some big changes in our way of eating and have lost a few pounds. Well, DH has lost more than a few - almost 50 pounds at this point! Wish it was that easy for me. But still I'm down 19 pounds and had to buy new jeans - yay!! Eventually, maybe, I'll catch up with DH.

I haven't picked up my stitching for a very long time, but with my new diet, I'm beginning to feel more like my old self and perhaps the desire to get back into my projects will come back as the weather gets cooler.

And I wouldn't complain if we got a rainy day or two that would impact those fires!