Good Bye to Pops and time for a breather

The last several months have been crazy; I've been busier than I think ever before. A sick in-law in Florida meant 3 weeks away from home and my honey. Get back home, only to go back down there two weeks later with my honey, only to see his father pass away. We now have mother-in-law living with us temporarily until her apartment becomes available. Moving an older person across country (to Oregon) is one hell of a project: re-establishing doctors, changing medicare, packing the important papers, working with her through her grief, etc, etc, etc. Oh, and I'm also taking 3 online classes through all this: 2 accounting classes and economics! Is it any wonder I can't sleep at night?! 

 In between all that I had a pre-scheduled trip to visit my mom in California. We drove down to Pasadena, her and my dad's old stomping ground, to see what we could see. Pasadena is a lovely town, beautiful and quaint old houses, wide streets with tall canopies of huge old trees, lots of history and memories. One of the things I enjoy the most is going to their arboretum. It's very unlike the one here in Portland, much more polished. The best part of the arboretum are these:

I love peacocks, have always been fascinated by them. Anyone who's ever read the Nancy Drew books will remember the one with peacocks wandering around the grounds of the house she was staying at. Ever since then they fascinate me (see, books are a big influence on kids!). They are funny creatures to watch and follow around. They also love to steal food off your table while you walk away for napkins!