A few nights ago, we were expecting a very bad rain storm in our area. Looking at the weather app and seeing how much we were getting had me worried that the creek in our backyard would overflow and flood again. We’ve had a few times throughout the four years living here where that the creek has flooded, so that was on my mind throughout most of that night.

Luckily, I was able to fall asleep that night. Usually, when we have bad weather coming our way, I tend to get anxious about the possibilities of it that I end up not sleeping well. With the possibility of the creek overflowing, I was thinking a lot about it flooding into our parking lot and making its way into our basement storage room.

The Morning After the Storm

The next morning, when the worst part of the rain storm was over, and we were just getting light rain, I took Chance out and checked out the backyard creek. It was heavy on my mind that morning, so I just needed to see how it did overnight and if things were damaged.

Surprisingly no — the creek did overflow onto the backyard that night, but not by much. And when I was there in the morning, it was back in where the creek flows. The water was pretty high still. Usually, it’s down a foot or two, so we had some heavy flow of water there.

From the weather app showing how much water we were supposed to get, I thought this was going to be the worst flood yet. If I’m being honest with myself, I think every bad storm we get is going to be the worst one yet. But it definitely hasn’t beaten that yet; nothing has beaten the time the water made its way into our apartment complex basement.

To show an example — the worst we had with the creek overflowing was on September 1st, 2021, when the water started flooding the floors and damaging some of the tenants items they had stored down there. In the first picture below, the tree that’s in the center of the photo is just before where the creek would be, a good idea on how far the water has traveled over.

An Unsuccessful Walk to the Local Shops and the Library

In my previous blog update, I have mentioned that I took off of work for the rest of the year. With no plans during Monday, I thought it would be a great time to go and check out our local shops and finally stop at the library.

We’re currently down to one car (thanks to a kid who totaled our other car due to them texting while driving), and Yessica needing it to go to work. Which leaves to no form of transportation to go anywhere, unless I use an Uber that is. But I didn’t want to do that, which came the idea that I should walk to the shops and get a good walk in because I also don’t own a bike either.

What I didn’t really plan for was the rain that we got from the night before, did not stop until later in the afternoon. I have thought the rain was going to stop around the time I was planning on walking over to the stores, but it did not at all which ended up me walking a mile before calling it quits and going home. Got a good two mile walk in, but I was soaked from head to toe by the rain the entire time I was walking.

It wasn’t until later in the day on Monday, that the first store I was walking over to, that I ended up not making to because of the rain. They weren’t even open on Mondays nor Tuesdays. Nothing on their website or Google regarding hours, so I made the assumption (you know what they say about assuming…) that they’ll be open. That would’ve been fun to find out if I kept going…

They’re open the rest of the week, so I won’t have to worry now.

All in all, this was a failed attempt to go to the stores and the library for the day. Now I’m thinking of going either Wednesday or Thursday since my shoes and clothes are dried now. Both days have clear skies for the weather, so I should be good to go!

Baking

From the middle of November, to just about now, I have baked a few sets of desserts for holiday occasions and events that Yessica’s job had. I ended up spending part of my afternoon today baking chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese on top. They have a name, but I can never remember them. I made them for her job’s potluck on Wednesday, and when I asked what she’d like for me to make, this was what she requested that I bake.

I’ll share some photos of the desserts that I have made throughout the last month. I was fairly busy baking this holiday season as you can tell. The apple pie cupcakes I had to bake for two separate occasions, so imagine that’s in there twice.

I don’t mind baking. It’s that, I wouldn’t do this for a job, even though I get compliments on how good they are. Usually by the time I’m close to being done with the batch, I’m about ready to call it a day and be done with it all.

Audiobooks

I completely forgot to mention in my earlier post, but I’m also listening to an audiobook. I’m not really big into them, but when I get to take Chance for a long walk, that’s usually when I put it on, because our walks take about 45 to 50 minutes, depending on Chance that is.

Right now, I’m listening to Asian Journals: India and Japan, by Joseph Campbell, and it’s pretty good for the little that I have listened to. I’ve heard about Joseph Campbell before, but never read or listened to any of his books. There was a deal going on with the audiobook version of it, so I thought why not give it a try.

This is my first book that’s a collection of journal entries from someone, something new in the mix of books that I usually read or listen to. What’s nice about this book is that I can put this on and go about with what I need to do while not feeling completely lost on the story.

What I find interesting on a book of collected journal entries is that you get a look behind the curtain and see their perspective on what is going on. The raw truth you get. You get to feel how they are feeling at that moment, especially cause it’s not edited either (what I believe that is).

I’m definitely more interested now in finding books like this from other people. Collection of letters or journal entries seem really interesting to read, and I’ll take any recommendations you may have.

Car Shopping Soon

Shortly after Christmas, Yessica and I will be shopping for a new car to replace the Nissan Rogue Sport that was totaled back in November. While it was nice to only have one car, there have been times when having a second car would’ve made things a lot less stressful on us. All of the insurance processes are just about done paying off the Rogue Sport, so now we’re ready to buy.

We’ll be looking at Kia’s this time, go with either the Sorento, or the Telluride. Our rental for the week was a newer Kia Forte and we both enjoyed driving that car around during our time with it. It was enough for us to look at their other models, especially the bigger size SUVs, where the Sorento and Telluride come in place. When we get there and see what both Kia models have to offer, I hope that we made our decision and can drive out of the dealership with it.

Once we officially own the car we pick out, I won’t be able to use the excuse of only have one car as to why I couldn’t go into the office at work. I only go to the office once a week, but since Yessica needs the car more than I do with her job, I was fine just working from home the full workweek. If it wasn’t the fact that my commute is about an hour or more one way, I wouldn’t mind, but it’s a long trip and I rather save two hours a day if I can.

I’ll update on either the next post or the post after, depending on when I write the next one, on what car we end up getting. Something about me is I like getting new things, so I’m excited to be shopping for a new car soon.

Last Remarks

If you haven’t checked yet, I do have a couple microfiction stories posted here that you should check out! I’m still practicing my 100 word stories, and I’m planning on posting more in the near future.

This time of year can be pretty hectic for some, and I’m very happy to be able to wind down at times when I can to collect my thoughts out here for you.

To finish it off…everyone enjoy your time together and have a Happy Holidays!

Brad