You can thank me later

I have no trouble whatsoever taking credit for this lovely weather.
 Had I not changed to flannel sheets, the cold, damp, gloomy weather would have continued
and I would have shivered my nights away.

 But, well, you know what happened.
You can thank me later.

Follow-up

Aaah!  Met my expectations! 

 (check yesterday's post if this makes no sense to you)

Changing seasons

Talk to anyone and they will name a favorite fall ritual - tailgating at the game, visiting the local orchard, baking with seasonal produce, a walk through the woods, raking leaves; 

the possibilities are as varied as the changing leaves.

At our house the changing seasons means one thing: 




changing sheets 

google images

and involves what I have come to call musical blankets. 

You add a lighter blanket.
You exchange that for a heavier blanket.
 You put the flannel sheets on, which may require that you switch back to the lighter blanket.
 Eventually it will mean the flannel sheets and the heavier blanket.

We enjoyed having company this weekend and when I cleaned up I put the flannels on that bed in preparation for Naphtali and Aidan's visit at the end of this week.


Today I took advantage of Younker's Goodwill sale to buy a new set of flannel sheets for our bed. 
 They've been washed  
and are ready to go on our bed tomorrow.
  Monday is always my clean sheet day .  


Which means I can't wait to go to bed tomorrow night!

Ta Da!

Found it!

Mmmm - buttery soft leather.  

Roomy but not bulky.

No obtrusive logos or trademarks.
Mmmm.

As touching our children

Google images

Does anything elicit a stronger response than an incident in the lives of our children?

All those firsts - whether it was teeth, hair, school, sweetheart, car, job - they all take center stage 

for their one special moment.  And we rejoice for our child.

Then comes that time when age becomes inconsequential - we're all adults, right?

Wrong!  Oh, so, ever so, wrong!

They are our children and what touches them touches us.  

Of course, we love the happy times - weddings, babies, promotions -  you fill in the blank.  And we look at our children and hope that the happy times are all they will ever encounter.

  But there will be separations, disappointments, heartaches, illness, and worse.  It would, in fact, be easier to deal with those incidents if they were our own. 

 Anything, rather than watch as our children shoulder the pain.

  We can weep and rail. We can be strong and sensible.
 We can help put together a Plan B, but we can't make it go away. 

 We can't put things back they way they used to be, they way they were supposed to be.  And that,

 I think, will always be a parent's private hell.

Change of pace

On a beautiful morning, like today, or a mellow afternoon, you might find me out here complete with dogs, laptop, textbook and mechanical pencil.  

I love this time of year.

Marking Time

I am waiting for a repairman.  Scheduled between 11 and 1:00.

This will allow me to do laundry, school work, make a shopping list...

Sunday was a great day.  Other than walking the dogs I didn't leave the house.  

Tim had been given a lovely basket of home-grown tomatoes so we made BLTs.  I had mine with chipotle ranch dressing which complements the bacon so well.

Oh! So tasty.

I finished and submitted my school work.

Tim and I emptied a few boxes.

Leslie stopped in with her dress for the wedding.  It is the perfect hostess dress - just what an afternoon wedding calls for.  She looked vibrant in it and it looked great on her.  

Tim grilled chicken and we talked.

The day was a perfect blend of productivity and relaxation. The weather was nearly perfect, and just right for sitting outside in the shade for some conversation.

Can you believe my repairman just arrived!?

As Promised

Charlie and Proton at play,

                                                                             

and at rest.

Have you seen the cute commercials or movie snippets in which the adorable puppy runs down the

 hallway trailing toilet paper?

Not so cute in real life.
By the way, Proton has really grown while he's been here.  A conservative guess is 3 - 4 inches in both length and height!
He's listening to commands and taking cues from Charlie.  He's learned to catch a treat in mid-air.
He abounds with the relentless optimism that only happy puppies can display.


This is my gym.

   Back...

and front views.

As promised.

Hot on the trail

courtesy google images

I'm looking for a new purse and I have my heart set on mustard.  I'll let you know what I find...

No pictures with this one...

...but I will post pictures.  Soon.  Soonish.  I will.

Just to get caught up - because so much has been happening!  Naphtali, Aidan and Proton came last Friday night.  Naphtali left Sunday.  Aidan left Wednesday.  Proton will be here another week, yet!  He and Charlie are getting along famously.  The three of us have settled into a reasonable daytime routine.  It is nap time for the boys and I would normally be doing homework but the day is lovely, I'm easily distracted, this had to be done...

My mother drove down for lunch on Sunday.  Tim took us on a tour of Kennybrook.  I'm glad I waited to see it now rather than during construction.  And I'm glad I got to see it before people actually moved in because good manners would have prevented all the gawking and gushing it elicited, had it been someone's home, rather than an empty building.  It is beautiful - calling to mind the country inn featured in White Christmas.

Most of the boxes are empty.  I have those last few left.  The ones that have consolidated the leftovers from other boxes.  The ones that require thinking and sorting.  Somethings were obviously meant for this place or that task and so were easy to assign a spot in the house.  Other things are not so obvious or necessary and so I need to think about them, make an active decision about their fate.  But it's looking like home.  Feeling like home.  Menards is thinking of giving us our own parking spot.  I will post a picture.  Soon.  Soonish. I will.

My class this semester is cataloging.  Very detail oriented.  Definitions.  Acronyms.  Dates.  Reading, reading, reading.  It keeps me busy.

This rarely happens but I believed the hype and bought a box of Fiber One cereal.  It's awful.  I have a batch soaking to bake apple muffins.  Love these cool mornings.

I've signed on at a gym.  I am there every day.  They have an array of  cardio and strengthening machines which I use on alternating days.  Cardio every day.  And the pool generally every day, also.  It feels sooo good after a workout - there is a water aerobics class 2x weekly and I've enjoyed that as well. Of course, this means that I am also changing clothes (extra laundry!) and showering a lot.  And as I am already challenged by summer grooming, of course, I find myself shaving my legs a lot!  Walk Charlie in the morning.  Shower and change for the gym.  Workout, change for the pool.  Shower and dress to come home.  It's 15 minutes away, very reasonably priced.  Lovely facility (which is why I have to be clean-smelling when I arrive) inhabited by people 55 and older.  They do make the occasional exception for slightly younger folk to join the health club.  Lucky me. During the initial interview/orientation they ask general questions about your level of health and activity, and replacements:  hip, knees, shoulders...
I will post a picture.  Soon. Soonish.  I will.