Thanksgiving Time is Here

Had a few shopping errands to run this weekend so Mark and I found ourselves in several stores this afternoon. It’s clear that as far as the retail world is concerned, Christmas time is here. I just can’t get all that excited about it yet. I’m just not in that big of a hurry. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving, and not simply because it’s a passage to the Christmas season. I like Thanksgiving. I love the holiday feeling it brings without all the hurry and rush.

I’m fortunate to work for a company that shuts down operations and gives employees time off, not only for Thanksgiving Day but the day after as well. My kids who are away at school will be coming home and I’m anxiously awaiting the happy chaos that fills the house when everyone is here. I’ll have four wonderful days to enjoy having them all back in the fold again. We’ll celebrate Thanksgiving with Mark’s family at his sister’s house. And I’m sure we’ll all overeat and come home exhausted.

After Thanksgiving, the next three days are ours.  I love to stay up late at night with the kids, watching movies and talking and laughing, knowing I won’t have to wake up to an alarm clock. I love to wake up in the morning and know that they’ll be here to spend lazy mornings with me, sitting in our pajamas, eating big breakfasts and drinking coffee.

And maybe the weather has a little something to do with my mood too. It’s been a beautiful, warm weekend. Rather unseasonable for this time of year, you might even say. The weather man says it’s going to continue through Thursday. When I drive through the neighborhoods, so many of the homes are still displaying their fall decor. There are pumpkins everywhere and it makes me want to bake. Something… pumpkin-y! So today I did just that. Don’t these look good?

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/32364/old-fashioned-soft-pumpkin-cookies/detail.aspx

Trust me. They are delicious!

No, I’m not ready to immerse myself in the Christmas season just yet. This week is Thanksgiving season and I play to enjoy it to the fullest.

You’re never too old to carve a jack-o-lantern

Kacey and Connor came home from school for the weekend. Both were craving some home cooking! Connor’s grandma made him a special meal of barbecued ribs. Kacey had asked for Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder. She got her wish too.

While at the grocery store on Friday night to pick up some of the necessary ingredients, Kacey mentioned that she wanted to carve pumpkins. Her friend, Amanda was home from her school for the weekend and they wanted to make a little party of it. So we bought chowder ingredients and pumpkins.

Saturday afternoon, the kids gathered at the kitchen table and went to work.

Scoopin’ the “guts” out

Kacey generated a pattern on the computer for her pumpkin.

Connor worked on a shape of the state of Minnesota.

Amanda created a pretty elaborate spider web pattern.

I made a caramel corn snack mix while the kids worked.

Proof that you’re never too old to have this kind of fun.

The finished jack-o-lanterns

The kids talked while they worked. Amanda is having boyfriend problems and she didn’t seem to mind my presence as Kacey and Connor offered her sympathy and advice. I marveled over the fact that they are grown-up enough to be in love, grown-up enough to offer mature perspectives to one another, grown-up enough to manage college and vote and balance a checking account, and yet, they could still make an afternoon out of pumpkin carving. Once again, I was reminded how lucky I am to have such good “kids” in my life.

Picture-Perfect October Weekend

It’s been a beautiful weekend; the kind of weekend that reminds me why fall is my favorite season. The sun came out, the air was warm and there’s still plenty of color in the trees.

Under the Maple tree out front

October clouds

Halloween is in the air. A handful of Halloween decorations have appeared around our house.

One of the witch hat luminaries that light the way up the front walk

On the front step, there’s a large, plastic, light-up jack-o-lantern. Jack has seen better days. His left eye has a slight puncture. But he stands proudly on the front step every year. He’s the same one Kacey picked out when she was three years old and out on an errand with Mark to the local do-it-yourself store. Jack was as tall as Kacey back then and when she pointed him out and told her daddy she wanted him, Mark’s inner softy made a rare appearance and they took him home. As long as Jack continues to light up, he’ll grace our front steps on Halloween.

Mark and I made a trip to Target today for some necessities and while we were there, we strolled through the Halloween section. Mark pointed out a pair of sound-activated googly eyes that made scary noises. I picked them up to try them out and soon noticed a little boy of about three years looking up at me. I held the box down at his level and asked, “Did you want to see these?”

He looked up at me and nodded as his mom watched, smiling from a few feet away. I showed him where to press the button to make the eyes light up and make noise but he made no move to take the box from me. He was content to let me hold it while he pressed the button.

Mark asked the little boy, “Are those scary?”

The little boy shrugged. Mark asked him, “Are you going to go trick-or-treating?”

The little boy ran over to his daddy who was standing nearby with a shopping cart. He reached into the cart and whipped out a pirate costume, holding it up for Mark.

“Is that your costume,” Mark asked?

“A pirate,” the little boy proudly announced! He then held up his Halloween themed sippy cup for Mark to see and said, “Look what I got!”

His parents and we were laughing by now at how quickly their son had befriended us. Mark explained, “Our kids are all grown up now. No more trick-or-treating for us.”

The mom said something about looking forward to that day. Mark told her, “You say that now, but you’ll miss it all too soon.”

We said goodbye and went on our way.

Back at home later on, I picked up a recipe card I’d set aside earlier this week - Secret Recipe Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’m not sure what it is about fall that makes me feel like Susie Homemaker, but I like it. Last weekend there was all that cooking. This weekend, it was baking. Yesterday morning I took one look at the overripe bananas and soon banana bread was in the works. Earlier this morning, I made a batch of granola. Then came the cookies.

Yum!

Wait… Let me give you a little perspective on just how big these cookies are. The recipe called for three cups of chocolate chips and said to use an ice cream scoop to scoop them. I could only fit six on a cookie sheet as opposed to the usual twelve. I’m not sure who I was thinking was going to eat all these, but I sure don’t want more than one … maybe two. Okay, maybe three.

Cookies, anyone?

I just heard the weather man say something like, “… more active weather patterns this week,” and “… possibly snow.” I’m glad I took notice of this weekend and enjoyed it.

A Memory of a Boy

I loved school when I was little. I mean really. Loved it! I hadn’t yet developed my healthy sense of self-consciousness and school was the place that opened doors to whole new worlds to me.  Getting to school meant walking several blocks down my own street, hanging a left and walking for another couple of blocks before waiting to cross a busy intersection with the assistance of the Police Patrols. (Police Patrols were sixth graders who got to wear cool brown leather belts around their waists with a strap that went over the shoulder and a cool badge on the front. I couldn’t wait to be one.)

When I think back to those days, my memories always take me back to the fall.  In the classroom, I looked forward to making colorful leaves out of construction paper. Or maybe it was a jack-o-lantern or a friendly looking witch on a broomstick. Out on the school playground, my classmates and I raced across the monkey bars to see who could get across the fastest. On that same playground, there would soon be a Halloween parade for all of the students to show off their costumes. I had a plastic witch mask. No costume. My mom and dad didn’t put much stock in Halloween. As much as I wanted a costume to go with my mask, I was grateful that my siblings and I were even allowed to trick-or-treat.

There were two girls in my neighborhood who walked to and from school with me. We made plans to visit and play after school as we shuffled our feet through the crunchy brown leaves along the sidewalks. Bunches of kids all left school and walked the same direction before branching off on various streets to go to their own homes. There was a boy who scared me a little bit and I was always on the lookout for him as I walked to and from school. Jeff King had a reputation as a mean kid. I don’t think he ever did anything to me, personally. I don’t think I really knew Jeff King much at all. I think I was just scared because he was a little older than me. He seemed so big to me. And he had that reputation. Sort of a daredevil. The mean kid.

One of those years, not long after school had begun, there were suddenly rolls of iron-on reflective tape at our house. That tape was everywhere. Mom ironed it on the backs of my siblings’ and my jackets. She ironed it along the sleeves. She ironed it on the corduroy book bag she had sewn for me to carry my things to and from school. I loved the reflective tape. I thought it added flare to my jacket. Everyone in my elementary school was suddenly sporting reflective tape on their jackets.

I was too young to make the connection about the reflective tape back then. It was only years later that I put two and two together. Our parents weren’t jazzing up their kids’ jackets because it was the seventies and it was cool and psychedelic. They were making sure we would be seen. They were trying to prevent us not being seen. They were trying to prevent us being hit by cars. They covered us in reflective tape because Jeff King wasn’t seen. Jeff King was hit by a car while riding his bike. Suddenly Jeff King didn’t seem like someone to be scared of. He was a little boy, with a family who loved him. I remember my dad telling me to pray for Jeff. It seemed like he was in the hospital for a long time. I prayed for him every night until the shock of his accident began to fade a bit and I stopped hearing about him.  I remember wondering how long you’re supposed to pray for someone who is in the hospital and I stopped praying because I no longer heard people talking about Jeff King. When he died, I wondered if it was because I stopped praying.

That was so long ago and I was so very young. Too young to have any concept of what a tragedy this was for one family. My parents did what parents did back then. They did what they could to keep us safe without really talking about what they were afraid of. Every fall, I remember those early school years with fondness. And you’d think I wouldn’t remember my feelings so vividly after all this time, but every fall, I still  remember Jeff King.

Trees and Roots and Colors

My sister is deeply drawn to our family roots. Not much has been formally recorded about our family history before now, and so she has taken it upon herself to reach back in time and uncover our story, little by little. She has been diligently working at it for many years now, tracking down details and dates, preserving photographs, making sure that those who come after us will know from where and from whom we come.

Every so often, my sister feels the need to touch base with our ancestry again. And sometimes she takes me along for the ride. Today was one of those days … a beautiful, golden fall day, perfect for traipsing around the old family stomping grounds just about an hour east in Wisconsin.

We stopped to see my mom’s childhood home…

Deer Park, Wisconsin

… and we swung by the place where Grandma and Grandpa lived a few years later. The house looks so different from the one in my childhood mind. There were people out in the yard, so we went a little further down the road and stood on the bridge that crosses over the Willow River just where Grandma and Grandpa’s yard came down to meet it.

 

Aunt Elaine still lives in the area. I asked Cori to swing by. I hadn’t been to Aunt Elaine’s house in years. When we found her place, it looked like someone was home. So we knocked on the door. Aunt Elaine was surprised to see us, and we apologized for popping in unannounced. She said we should feel free to do so anytime we liked. In fact, she’d prefer we come unannounced and then she wouldn’t feel obligated to clean house before we come! We talked a while and she told us about all the deer that come to her back yard and eat the apples that have fallen from the tree. She told us about the pheasants and their babies that wander through and the feral cats that come sit on her railing each morning and meow at the window, calling her to come feed them. We stayed a little while and then hugged goodbye and went on our way again.

Aunt Elaine’s barn in the distance…

Next, we wandered around, looking for a good spot to capture the fall colors. Small town Wisconsin offers beautiful scenery, but the rural highways don’t provide a lot of options for pulling over and snapping photos. But then… I saw a sign for a local lake with a picnic area. There had to be a place to park and wander around there, right?

There was!

Helloooo, Mr. Grass Hoppa!

 

Golden

Fall days like this are such a treat. As we headed back home again, my sis and I talked about the fact that we’d captured the window for beautiful fall days. First they tend to be too warm and too soon, they become to chilly. Today was just perfect!

Life is Good – October 21, 2011

lifeisgood.com

I used to dedicate Fridays on my blog to Life is Good posts. The purpose of those posts was simply to recognize the things that were good in my life… simple pleasures … a way to be grateful.

Those posts began with a suggestion from my friend, Kim. I was feeling whiney, and probably complained to her that I couldn’t write because I had nothing good to write about. Kim is totally a glass half full kind of girl. She often wrote about her Daily Blessings and she informed me that the best way to have good things to write about is to see the good things in life; to make it a point to look for them, recognize them and hold on to them.

About the same time I began to write my Life is Good posts, Abby began to write on her blog on Sundays about the Silver Liningness in her life. And somewhere along the line, Bud began to write about his Monday Smiles. It was a viral form of looking on the bright side and reading those posts on my friends’ blogs always makes me feel good.

Bud has diligently maintained his Monday Smiles regimen and I can always count on smiling along with him. Abby and I, however… we fell off the bandwagon a while ago. I’m not sure why. And Bud has nudged me on more than one occasion to pick up again with Life is Good Fridays, but I just haven’t done it. I can’t speak for Abby, but for me, it might have been because I thought I was too busy. Or maybe I got lazy and fell out of the habit. Or maybe I had a few bad days and the obstinate side of me decided life wasn’t all that great and I wasn’t going to pretend it was and then I fell out of the habit.

Abby recently resumed blogging her silver linings. And me? While I have on many occasions thought about resurrecting my Friday posts, I have yet to give it another go. But this week, I read a post by MJ called The Glad Game. MJ wrote about making the choice to be positive, whether things are going well or whether life doesn’t seem so spectacular. I had forgotten, until I read MJ’s post, that that was the exact reason I had committed to writing Life is Good. It was at the moment I finished reading The Glad Game that I suddenly wanted to write Life is Good again. And I’ll go easier on myself this time. I’m going to follow Abby’s lead. She often begins her silver lining posts with something along the lines of, “It’s Silver Liningness Sunday on Tuesday!”

I can probably manage that, don’t you think? So thank you Kim, Bud, Abby and MJ for reminding me to be positive and thankful, even when it feels like an effort to do so.

All that being said, you’re probably thinking there should be some good things in here about my week and my world. Well…

You’re probably sick of hearing about it already, but one of the happiest events of the past week was getting Lucy, our new dog. I have felt lonely lately with my kids all grown up and off doing their own things. I needed some companionship for those days when I come home to an empty house. I went in search of Lucy and she found her way right into my heart. Lucy is more than I could have asked for. She’s adorable and loving, smart and gentle. I absolutely love her and already can’t imagine her not being with us.

I have a job I truly enjoy. The business is new and exciting and I am challenged in ways that are very rewarding. I’m surrounded by people I really enjoy, both as coworkers and for the people they are.

Bowling is as fun as ever. Sometimes I bowl like a novice and other times, like last week, I really bring it on! And I love the girls on the team. We are of varying ages and backgrounds and stages of life, and yet, we enjoy each other’s company so much. A couple of weeks ago, we were observing one of the other teams, made up of an older group of women. They are one of our favorite teams to bowl because they are so fun-loving and welcoming. I said to my team mates, “Promise me we’ll bowl together for years and have as much fun when we’re in our retirement years as those girls do.” They all promised we would!

Fall in Minnesota has been beautiful and warm.

I get to see plenty of my baby girl as she comes home from college often. And I was worried I was going to miss her!

I joined the ranks of smart phone users and got an iPhone this week. It was a requirement for work and I get some reimbursement for the monthly costs. It’s a pretty cool little gadget that I’m required to have!

Wow… I can actually think of a few more things, but I think this post has gone on long enough.

Life is definitely good!

**********

I’d love to see others join this little group in writing about the good stuff in life. There’s plenty of bad. It feels good to shift your focus away from all the garbage once in a while. As Kim would say, “Blog your blessings!” Write about what makes you happy, the simple pleasures, the things for which you are grateful. Think about it. Let me know if you do so I can come read all about it!

Scattered thoughts

Another Halloween has come and gone. Kacey made the most of it. I hadn’t hauled out a single decoration as of yesterday, so she went in search of our stuff and put a few things out around the house. She carved a pumpkin and baked a batch of homemade sugar cookies, cutting them into Halloween shapes and frosting them with colored frosting. Thank God for that kid. Sometimes I think if it weren’t for her, one day would just run into the next around here without anyone bothering to stop and take notice of special occasions.

Kacey invited a bunch of girls over in honor of the day. They played Wii for a while, then went trick-or-treating. Yes. This bunch of sixteen-year-old girls actually went trick-or-treating. My mother never would have allowed it when I was that age. But considering the fact that the girls could have been out, driving around, going to the big party that even I caught wind of, and doing god-knows-what, I actually decided that trick-or-treating wasn’t such a bad idea. They didn’t go far and just seemed to enjoy running around and being silly.

I had a couple of invitations to go out and celebrate last night, but passed on them since Mark had to get up early for work today. He’s always willing to go out with friends even when he’s got to get up for work the next day, but either he starts to mention going home just as the fun begins, or he sucks it up, stays late and goes to work exhausted the next day. So I stayed home and passed out candy. There were far fewer kids coming to the door than in years past. The neighborhood is growing up. We used to get well over a hundred kids. Last night there were only about sixty. And there’s too much leftover candy.

I felt good when I woke up this morning. I slept all the way through the night. It was a good feeling. I’ve been battling a bit of insomnia lately, waking up feeling anxious and panicky and unable to shut down my brain. It’s nothing more than the usual worries, but they seemed to be weighing on me a little heavier than normal.

I felt rested enough when I woke up to go for a run outside. I figure there probably won’t be many more days where running outside seems appealing. I wanted to take advantage of pounding the pavement before it gets too cold. It was thirty-seven degrees this morning when I left the house. Perfect running weather for me. I threw on a pair of wind pants, a warm hooded sweatshirt and an ear-band. I’ve come to realize that I run much better in the cool weather. I’m slow but steady. It works for me.

When I first stepped outside, the sky was a solid wall of clouds, making everything a little gray and gloomy. Eventually, the wall began to break up, creating popcorn clouds, allowing a bit of sun to shine through.  The gray was still there, the sun appearing a little weak today. Many of the trees are suddenly bare of any leaves. There was a hefty wind the past few days and those leaves just couldn’t hang on. It makes me a little sad. I like the fall weather, but it doesn’t last long enough. It always gives me a sense that things are ending; like we’re all closing up shop for the winter.

It’s November first already. It’s already snowed a couple of times, but thankfully, the temperatures haven’t stayed cold enough for the snow to hang around long. Everything seems to be changing. My parents leave for Arizona for the winter in two days. Halloween is over and the race to Christmas is on. At least, if you’ve set foot in any of the stores over the past few days, that’s what the retailers would have you believe. Kacey and I were at Target yesterday – on Halloween – and already, the Halloween and fall decor was being pushed aside to make room for the Christmas stuff. I like fall. I enjoy Thanksgiving. I wonder why we can’t dedicate a few weeks of the month to thinking about and preparing for Thanksgiving. These days, Christmas is shoved in our faces so early that I’m tired of it by the time the actual day arrives.

It’s one of those days when it’s almost too quiet in the house. Jake has been hunting for the past few days. He’ll return later today. I haven’t seen Brad since he left for school in August and I’m really missing him. He has met up with Mark and Jake a few times on their hunting trips, so they’ve been able to see him, but he hasn’t made the drive home since school began. I talked to him today and he says he doesn’t plan to come home until Thanksgiving. Sigh! It seems so far away. Even Kacey misses him. Since my kids generally sort of hate each other, the fact that she willingly admits to missing him is huge.

Tonight Mark and I are going to dinner with his parents and six siblings and their spouses in celebration of his dad’s eightieth birthday. Remember me talking yesterday about how silly and juvenile my family gets when they get together? There’ll be none of that when we’re with Mark’s family and not just because we’ll be at a restaurant. There’s always a slight underlying feeling of tension when we get together with his family. Maybe it’s just me. Sometimes I care too much what other people think of me.

I wish it were Monday.

Life is Good – October 16, 2009

This has been a great week!

Our Monday women’s bowling league is in full swing and we are having a great time. We got some cool new shirts this year, which just arrived this week. I’ll have to get pictures. You’re gonna love ‘em! And I’m finally seeing some improvement in my game. My scores this week were 155, 146 and 172! BOOYAH! I bowled a 172 and it was the high score for that game! Considering my average after last week was 124,  I was pretty impressed with myself. I love bowling! But you probably already knew that.

Around the office, business continues to be slow, but I was asked to assist our Accounting department on Wednesday, so I had a nice big project to keep me busy and pass the time. I think I would die of boredom if I had to do Accounting stuff all the time, but this week, it was a welcome change of pace.

Thursday was the beginning of a four day weekend for me. I took some time off to spend with Kacey while Mark and the boys went on a hunting trip. I love a four day weekend, and especially the first couple of days. I feel so relaxed and there’s no pressure to do all those things that are always hanging over my head.

While Kacey was at volleyball practice yesterday morning, I cooked lunch for my parents and the two of us brought it over and ate with my mom and dad. It was just a simple meal, a hamburger and rice hot-dish and some home grown squash. They loved it and were really happy to have the company for lunch. Afterwards, Kacey and I did some serious girl shopping, found a bunch of bargains, had dinner together at Applebee’s  and we both came home happy. She kept thanking me for the few things I bought her and for taking her to dinner. She’s such a great kid.

And one of my favorite things about the day was that I managed to find time to go out in the neighborhood and shoot some photos while it snowed.  I wandered around a nearby pond and just enjoyed the quiet and solitude. And I was pretty happy with the results of my outing.

Life is Good!

Snow Again

It’s only October 15th and it’s snowing again! It’s very pretty, actually. The flakes look like powdered sugar being sprinkled from above and the colored leaves on the trees are laced with a layer of white.

My four day weekend has begun! Mark, Jake and their hunting crew left this morning for four days of hunting. Brad plans to meet up with them after his last class on Friday.

I’m a little nervous and won’t feel better until Mark and Jake call and say they’ve arrived safely. You see, Mark worked twelve hours overnight, then came home, packed up the truck, and headed out for a four hour drive in the snow which is predicted to turn to rain later on. I had hoped he might stay home and grab a few hours of sleep before going, but neither he nor Jake wanted to delay their hunting weekend. I hope he stays awake and alert enough to drive safely, or at least knows when to let Jake to take over the driving. They’ve gone in a caravan with their buddies, so at least I know there are others keeping an eye on them.

Kacey had volleyball practice this morning. While she’s gone, I’m going to cook a hot dish (that’s a “casserole” for all you non-native Minnesotans.) When Kacey is done at practice, she and I are going take the food over to my parents’ house and have lunch with them. My mom has not been feeling well for over a month now, so it’s hard for her to do everyday things like cooking and cleaning. I’m trying hard to do some of this stuff for them when I can. I’ve really been trying to do as much cooking for her and my dad as possible so that she doesn’t have to worry about preparing meals while she’s got no energy. I’m making good use of the crock pot these days, cooking large quantities, so there’s enough for a family meal and enough to bring to Mom and Dad too.

As for the rest of the weekend, who knows what’s in store! It’ll be quiet around here, so I definitely want to take advantage and do some writing and catch up on reading. I may go out with my sister and friends tomorrow night. Ladies’ night always ends up being a good time. And I think there’s a little shopping in the works. I need some new shoes and I think I hear Victoria’s Secret calling as well!

I love a four-day weekend!

I'm fall – ing!

Fall has definitely arrived! Fall means fresh apples and pumpkins, baking, warm sweatshirts and hot cereal and I have to say it’s probably my most favorite time of the year. Even though summer ranks high on my list of favorite things, with all of its sunshine and heat, there’s just something about the fall that brings me such a feeling of contentment and peace. Maybe it’s the absence of extremes that I love so much. It’s not too hot and it’s not too cold. There’s no snow or ice on the ground yet and everything simply feels cozy.

Fall means waterfowl hunting season arrives for my guys. Every year at this time they spend several weekends away from home on a quest to take down their limit of birds. My boys are true outdoors men. Last week Jake was almost giddy with excitement over his first hunting trip of the year. I love to see him so happy and so passionate about something. And I’m definitely looking forward to enjoying Mark’s famous duck stroganoff for dinner.

As much as I love my guys, I also love having them go away a few weekends a year! Having the boys gone for a few days at a time means girl-time for Kacey and me. Our lives are so busy and she’s growing up so fast. The older she gets, the more I realize the importance of setting aside some time for just her and me. It’s always fun to have some one on one time with my daughter, even though I have to work harder at squeezing in some time with her as she gets older. She has such an active social life! If she can fit me in, we’ll do some shopping and possibly go out for dinner.

This morning, I discovered another reason I love fall. I run well in the fall! I struggled with my running all summer long, almost to the point of giving up. It never occurred to me that my problem might be the heat. Then, last week, I went out one cold morning and had the best run I’ve had in months. I went out again this morning, the air still chilly after yesterday’s snowfall. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to duplicate the feeling I experienced last week and had to give myself a motivational talk, telling myself to just do the best I could do and not to get frustrated.  And as it turns out, I had another good, solid run! It’s ironic, because in almost all other regards, I HATE the cold. But where running is concerned, apparently I love it!

As I ran today, I took in the beauty of my surroundings. Some of the trees are beginning to change colors. The reds and golds are gorgeous, like a fire in the tree tops, while other trees are holding fast to their summer greens. The contrast of the colors against one another is breath-taking. I have got to get out with my camera and capture some of this before it all fades away into the gray of winter.

The guys were gone hunting this weekend, and in just three short days, they take off again for a four-day trip. The schools in Minnesota are closed for an annual teacher convention every year at this time, so the boys get to enjoy an extended hunting expedition. I always take a couple of days off work when they go on this trip, so Kacey and I can spend some quality time together. However, she has just informed me that there’s a varsity volleyball tournament this Thursday and Friday and she’s been asked to go along. She’s already planned a little social gathering at home with her friends on Saturday night, so… so much for girl time! Things will be quiet around here Thursday and Friday, but I’m sure I can find ways to occupy my time.

I feel such a lack of stress and anxiety right now, knowing I have a long weekend coming up in just three short days. There are chores that I haven’t dealt with this weekend, and normally that would make me just crazy. For some reason, today, it doesn’t bother me. I LIKE it!

I love the fall!