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friday five

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Capping off another work week with a sigh of relief and hoping you are all well – here’s an October Friday Five.

Puzzle season has commenced…

1. 21 Days of Horror – longer term readers will know that every October I delve deeply into the world of horror films. It started out as 31 days, but I couldn’t do 31 horror films and keep a healthy mental balance (and most years we don’t hit 21 either)! On Halloween I will recap the season and unveil our favorite. If you know us, we aren’t big on zombies or torture or overt gore, and tend to lean towards the late ‘70’s and 1980’s genres. Brandon also really enjoys Hammer horror from the ‘60’s. Join us on Halloween for our final pick.

2. Halloween trip to Glenlore Trails with the Girl Scouts. The weather was perfect – cool enough for a jacket but exceptionally mild with a big moon. The Scouts ran off on their own for the roughly 1-mile walk. The displays weren’t scary – mostly lights and projected images – but it was all intended to be family-friendly and it was a nice night to walk in a spooky woods.

3. A real live trip to a movie theater! We saw James Bond “No Time to Die” at our local and had dinner out mid-week. The movie was good but way too long in my opinion. I can watch Daniel Craig forever and a day but I am of the firm belief that we need to get back to the days of 90 minute films (this one was 2.5 hours). We had the theater to ourselves so the teenager was on her phone most of the time ha.

4. The hummingbird feeder is down, washed, and stored, and the seed feeders are up. (I save suet for colder days later in the season.) And yesterday we saw our first dark-eyed Junco, which we also call ‘snowbirds’. They are regular visitors in the snowy months and not around much at all in warm ones, so this is a sign that despite the balmy autumn, winter won’t be delayed indefinitely.

5. I know that I run the risk of jinx but it’s been so nice to have everyone healthy here. I am not taking it for granted. I’ve been back to tracking my food via Weight Watchers, trying to eat well and make overall good choices. Lots of evening kombucha and I’m glad the weather is cool enough for hot tea again. If you like a sweet dessert tea that will give you a post-dinner or pre-bedtime treat, I highly recommend this:

Tonight I’ll be at a football game to watch my kiddo’s middle school band perform a pre-game with the high school band. This is very exciting for me, as I loved band in high school and never miss an opportunity to remind people that I was actually BAND PRESIDENT (#geek). The rest of the weekend – who knows? Lots of relaxing and a couple of runs for sure. I hope you enjoy it and recharge your batteries for the big lead-up to Halloween. Be well – xo.

five things friday

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Happy Friday friends. Just a few thoughts to round out this week.

1. Why do short weeks almost always feel long? A four day work week is usually no bargain for me as I end up feeling like I have to fit five days of tasks in.

2. Fall feels like it has settled here in SE Michigan. The weather has been damp and dreary and downright cool at night. No leaf change yet, though. The birds are all over the feeders and I’m still seeing my very territorial female hummingbird at her feeder. But for how much longer?

3. This article- we need crime fiction – was an interesting read and will be my new go-to when someone asks me why I like to read / watch true crime and horror.

4. The water heater has been on the fritz and one of my joys in life is a blazing hot shower or bath so the plumbers will be here later today. If I’m lucky (extreme sarcasm) then 2020 will be the year of a new furnace and a new water heater! So much for expendable income when you are a homeowner.

5. Cooler days have me already decorating the mantle for autumn and stocking up on multiple fall candles in pumpkin, vanilla, and apple cider scents. Our local Fresh Thyme grocery store also stocks pine cones scented with maple pecan and pumpkin which you can literally smell as you are walking across the parking lot. I had to buy them too. Usually I stick with Bath & Bodyworks or whatever brand they stock at Target but this year I also found som cute yummy ones at Michael’s when Miss L & I went to restock her art supplies. My house smells like a boutique but the dessert smells make me hungry – which is probably why I pressured Miss L to make chocolate chip cookies last night after dinner.

Today of course is the anniversary of 9/11 and it’s not right to let it go without a mention. I remember where I was on this day as I am sure most of us in the US do. On this day I remember and honor all those who lost their lives in the attacks and those who showed the best of themselves to come to the aid of others in a time of great darkness.

I hope you have a great weekend! xoxo

five things friday

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  • I get a lot of “standard bird” visitors to my feeders – sparrows, downy woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, finches, etc. – but this week I’ve been excited to note a “newbie”. I get white-breasted nuthatches but I’ve been seeing many red-breasted nuthatches this week too! Apparently, they are going to be a more common sighting in the Midwest due to poor cone crops on spruce and fir trees in the boreal forests of Canada.
  • I’ve been watching Sandy by the Lakeside’s vlog for awhile now and was thrilled to snap up one of her large project knitting bags during her last shop update. They sell out fast and I am so happy with it – super fast shipping and beautiful workmanship. I can’t wait to cast on some new socks to put in it.
  • I finally got library books after almost six months without. I’ve been solely relying on Kindle reads and old paperbacks and finally had a couple of “must-reads”. My library will return to a limited in-person service next week but in the meantime, the curbside pickup was very convenient.
  • I’ve had a hormone headache all week and since it was also the first week of remote learning school, the timing was not ideal. Miss L is very independent and very efficiently navigated all the new technology – I was only called on to offer tech support a couple of times. I feel very thankful for all of the hard work that our teachers and school staff have done to start the kids off with new platforms, build relationships, and manage stress levels. I also feel enormous gratitude for a kid who loves to do things on her own. The tech has had some issues and glitches this week, and we’re still trying to manage our wi-fi connections here – we currently have all 3 of us at home and trying to juggle bandwidth for work, school, and Tour de France streaming (ahem BRANDON ;)) But all in all, a solid start and now thankfully the kids get 4 days off over Labor Day to recharge.
  • I think I finally have a day planner that’s going to work for me. I started out the year with Hobonichi and they just didn’t work. Too small. Not enough space. I’ve learned that an electronic calendar paired with a simple notebook works best for my work organization and I got a big discount on a Commit30 planner for the remainder of 2020 and a new one for 2021. I love the construction, the layout, and the size of the days even in the compact version (although I did get a full-size for 2021). And yes, fun stickers and colored markers do motivate me.

Very happy now to have a holiday weekend to try to shake this headache and enjoy my birds, library books, and knitting. Wherever you are I hope you also have a peaceful and recuperative weekend! xoxo