October

October has always been one of my favorite months. Not only does it have MY birthday, it also has my Mom's birthday, and Benjamin's birthday. Ben is my "middle" child, my fourth born. I am linking here to his birth Story, for those of you who have not read it before.

I love that the weather is cooling down. Not too hot, not too cold. The mornings are crisp and clear, and I can see a million stars as I leave the house for work.

Here is a picture of the loot Tommy brought me from his Brazil trip this summer. I asked him for a small rock. Lacking rocks in Curitiba, he found a bit of a quarried stone slab. He also got me a sparkly bracelet, and a bottle of Adult Beverage. On his layover in Chile, he found me two very interesting rocks. One is almost perfectly round. At some point between its purchase and my receiving of the Adult Beverage, Tommy noticed that it had been made in Chile. So it gets to represent TWO countries.

Oh, please notice: New back steps! Mr C called with a list of 'complaints' on the house: the well house door off its hinges, a leaky pump within, and rotten to crumbling back steps. All are now rectified!

This is sure a beautiful day today. it will be in the upper 70's... later. For now, I JUST took off my sweater. (The brown one, Mom... It was NOT shrunk... it was that heavy when I got it. Guess it is just the nature of thick cotton sweaters. Oh, I have also worn the green silk shirt. LOVE it!)

I have a pot of beans simmering on the stove, and a ham bone to go in them later. (Sam is already grumping about that. My Sam doesn't like green eggs OR ham .) Maybe I will do corn muffins, since I am about the only one who eats cornbread. Even the smallest skillet of cornbread is "too much".

Thanksgiving plans are still under discussion. I had figured we would probably have it with Tom's family in Ohio, since we haven't done that in five years. But I'm not sure we will. Arlene said we can discuss it when we come up there... which is less than 2 weeks from now. She REALLY doesn't want to dogs to come, as they bother her kitties. But I don't know what to do with them. The co-workers who kept them earlier this year were NOT amenable to doing so again. I said I can take them to Becky's house, but Mr C said it was too far/ too much gas for that purpose. (He forgets the side benefits... seeing the kids and grandkids!) So I don't know what to do about them.

I need to come up with another goal to strive for in my walking. Since hitting the 150 mile mark... I have already slacked off twice! The goal needs to be a) reasonable and b) far enough from now to keep me focused on it... without being so far away I can ignore it. Suggestions?

Hey, maybe I ought to set myself some WRITING goals! Like, a deadline for getting the long promised cookbook done. And deadlines for increments on it. I keep encouraging Chris to write... we bat around ideas for novels... but neither of us gets too far. It used to be... "If only I had a typewriter.... If only I had a word processor..."
Now, I HAVE a computer! I ought to write more.

Have a wonderful and blessed October, everyone. Hug someone you love. Be thankful for what you have!