Halloween Weekend

 

Friday was a beautiful, sunny fall day.  I came home from work tired, but decided that homemade chili and corn bread muffins sounded just right for the last Friday in October, so that is what we had for dinner. 

I felt a little better after dinner, and it was a beautiful evening, so I went for a walk. I walked alone because Charly had a movie he was interested in and he wanted to watch that.  I saw a couple of ladies from our church congregation who were out walking as well, so I joined them for part of the walk, but mostly it was just me and all of this fall loveliness. 

Saturday, I slept until 7:30, which is good because I was super tired Friday night.  I got up just in time to enjoy this stunning sunrise from my front yard.  

Charly and I took a morning walk on Saturday, then we went to Costco.  Later in the afternoon, we went to Barnes and Noble so Charly could use the Barnes and Noble gift cards he got for his birthday. 

Because my Mac computer is still getting the battery replaced, Josh and I are sharing the PC in our office (which as you can see is slightly messy and disorganized - I really need to fix that...).  He was using the computer most of Saturday afternoon.  I don't mind sharing, but I am sure looking forward to having my Mac back with a fresh new battery. 

Saturday night, Charly and I gave ourselves a Halloween treat and attended the Ballet West performance of  Dracula.  It was a great ballet with an entire cast of  talented young dancers. It was really amazing, and I hope we can go to another ballet soon.  

Sunday was church, as usual.  Charly, Josh and I all attended the main service, then I walked home and Charly and Josh stayed on for Sunday School.  

I came home to call my birth mom because I awoke Sunday morning to the news that a favorite aunt and uncle (my birth mom's younger sister and her husband) are both extremely ill with Covid.  They would not get the vaccine, and now my uncle is in the hospital and my aunt (who is less than ten years older than me), is home but extremely weak and sick. She has been treated with Remdesivir and that is the only reason she is not hospitalized.  This is such unsettling news, because this is totally preventable if only they had received the vaccine.  Fortunately, my birth mom and my sister who lives with her, have received the vaccine, and are now scheduled for the booster.  I am so grateful for that, and for the science that has made the vaccine possible.  I am praying that my aunt and uncle will recover, and that other members of the family will get the vaccine.  I lost another aunt (sister to the aunt who is ill now) to Covid last winter before the vaccine was widely available.  (Update - I just got a message from my cousin - daughter of my aunt and uncle.  My uncle is NOT on a ventilator, thankfully,  and he is doing better today.  I pray he continues to improve.  I was told that both my aunt and uncle was planning to get the vaccine as soon as they are well enough).

This afternoon, I finished this book, A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park.  This is the book chosen by our church book group to discuss in our November meeting.  It is a positive, uplifting little book for the 5th-8th grade reading level.  I will include it in my October reading round up in a few days. 

Sunday dinner was meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, sautéed asparagus, steamed broccoli and steamed carrots.  

After dinner, Charly and I took a walk.  Josh stayed home in case any trick or treaters came, but we did not have one single trick or treater come to our door.  We had a bowl of candy and a box of non-food treats ready, and no takers.  To be honest, I was a little disappointed. 

When we got back from our walk, Charly and I watched another episode of Maid on Netflix.  It's a pretty good series based on the autobiographical book by the same name.  I am looking forward to reading the book soon. 

Coming up this week:

Monday - Appointment after school

Monday - Josh starts his new job with UPS.

Tuesday - I am getting my Covid booster right after school.  I was going to get this last week, but decided to stick with the Moderna shot for my booster, so I rescheduled to this coming week. 

Tuesday - picking up my Mac from the Apple Store.  Hopefully.

Wednesday - Planned sick day from school to recover from the fatigue and achiness from the Covid booster shot. 

Friday - Haircut right after school.

Saturday - Appointment for Josh to get his Covid booster shot. 

Saturday -Set clocks back one hour before bed, in preparation for the end of Daylight Savings Time. 

Sunday -  Tithing Settlement with our bishop (pastor). This is done every year at the end of the year, and even though it is called "tithing settlement" it is really more of a one-on-one visit with our church clergy to update what is going on in our lives. 

We have a new month beginning tomorrow!  Welcome to this month of Gratitude! Here's hoping November is a good month for all!

😊Deb💗

Best of the Last October Week

I have been having some computer problems this week, so I am getting this post ready early and hoping for the best.  There is much to be grateful for this week and every week, so I am joining once again with Susanne and friends over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five.

Weekend getaway - I posted about it last Sunday, but our weekend getaway to Great Basin National Park topped my list of favorites for the past week.  We made some great memories in a beautiful place. 

Teacher planning time - Monday was a teacher work day with no students on campus.  After a meeting and training in the morning (shown in the picture) we had the afternoon to work, grade and plan in our rooms.  It is always nice to have some uninterrupted planning and work time. 

Rain - We had rain every day this last week from Saturday to Tuesday.  There was a good amount of snow in the mountains as well, which is fine because we need the moisture.  I took this picture from my classroom window Tuesday right after school.  You can see the snow on the mountains and also the low, dark rain clouds.

An evening walk - Wednesday evening, I came home exhausted and feeling a little down. Charly was feeling a tired and achy after getting his flu shot earlier in the day, so I was on my own for a walk.  I considered taking a night off from walking, but pushed myself, knowing that it would help me feel better.  As I walked, I saw this lovely sunset, and a little later, I saw a friend and stopped to have a little chat.  All-in-all, I felt much better and uplifted after making the effort to get out of the house for a nice evening walk.

Crisp fall day - After several days of rain and clouds, Thursday was a beautiful, clear, crisp fall day.  

Charly and I took our walk as soon as I got home, and we didn't even need jackets.  It was a perfect day - weather wise.

Economical fix - My MacBook (the computer I do my blog posts and just about everything else on) has been having problems this week.  It would not stay charged, and it would shut down when I was using it without it being plugged in.  Because it is a 2015 model, I was afraid that I may need to get a new machine, but when I took it to the Apple Store on Thursday night, I was told that it just needed a new battery.  The cost of a new battery is $129 and the cost of a new MacBook is about 10 times that, so yes please on the new battery.  I won't have my MacBook for a few days (and will have to share the desk top with Josh who needs it for homework), but I was pleased that for $129, I should be able to get a few more years out of my Mac. 

Video of the grandkids - Wednesday was our youngest granddaughter's third birthday.  We were so pleased when our daughter sent us a Marco Polo video of our granddaughter opening some of her birthday presents.  

It was so great to see (even in a video) these people we love so much!

That's all for now.  Hope you had a good week, with many, many things to be grateful for! See you again soon and...

Happy Halloween from our home to yours!

😊Deb💖

"If you cannot find gratitude, you'll never find peace."

~Leticia Rae

Weekend Getaway to Great Basin National Park

How was your weekend?  Ours was lovely, with a fun getaway, some much needed rain, and a surprise at the end. 

I had Thursday and Friday of last week off for Fall Recess.  Charly and I took advantage of the long weekend to go on another road trip. This time, we went west, to Ely, Nevada.  Our oldest son Alex and his wife used to live here when they worked at Great Basin National Park.  We met up with them there three years ago, but on this trip it was just Charly and I. We stayed at this historic hotel - Hotel Nevada, which was built in 1929.  Back in the day it was, apparently, quite the place, and a lot of celebrities have stayed there over the years.  The place has been restored, but still has some of its original charm and character. Three years ago, our son recommended this place as the cleanest hotel in the small town, and we enjoyed staying there then, so decided to give it another go on this trip. 

It's probably not politically correct, but this fellow stands at the back entrance to the hotel, welcoming guests coming in from the back parking area.  My guess is that he has been on the "hotel welcoming committee" since the place was built in 1929. 

Since he is such a historic figure, we just had to stop for a photo-op. 

This is the room we got at Hotel Nevada.

You can see that the room was very, very small. The bathroom was teeny tiny, but everything worked, the room was clean and the bed was comfortable. 

Friday we drove to Great Basin National Park to spend the day there.  The park is a little over an hour's drive from Ely. 

The trail that Charly really wanted to go on, The Bristlecone Pine Trail, is at a very high elevation and it was closed for the season, so we hiked three other trails that were lower down on the mountain, and therefore still open. The first was Mountain View Nature Trail.   Here are some pictures of this trail. 

We enjoyed starting this day on this little trail.

The second trial we hiked was the Baker Lake Trail.

This trail was my favorite one of the day. It is rated as a "hard" trail on All Trails, but the portion we hiked was not that hard.   We did not hike the entire 5 mile + trail, but the portion we did was just a little challenging and utterly delightful.   We had the trail completely to ourselves.  There is a lovely creek that runs along the trail too.  Here are some of my favorite pictures of this trail. 

The Baker Lake Trail was so amazing.  I want to hike more of this trail next time we come back to Great Basin.  It is a favorite.

The last trail we hiked was the Pole Canyon Trail.  It started at this pretty little creek. 

The creek was probably my favorite part of this hike.  I loved listening to the water.

I also loved the fall colors on this trail and that we also had this trail to ourselves.  Here are some more pictures from this trail and also some fall colors from the gravel road that went to the trail head. 

We had a lovely time at Great Basin, even though we were only able to spend one day there.  Rain was forecast for the remainder of the weekend, and we knew we would not be able to do any hiking so we decided to come home on Saturday.  True to the forecast, Saturday was a very rainy day and we drove all the way home in pouring rain.  We were grateful to get home safely, after a fun getaway.

While Charly and I were enjoying Great Basin National Park, Josh was home going to his classes and a hiring event for UPS, since he left his job at Sherwin Williams last week. Josh has worked for UPS before (seasonally during the holidays) and he enjoyed the work.  He has been hired again as a seasonal delivery worker, and he will start on November 1.  After the holidays, he hopes to start an internship, which is a requirement for graduating from the college.  He is looking for an internship now and already has several possibilities. 

Sunday morning, I got a happy surprise from my son-in-law - pictures of my grandchildren that he was passing along, after receiving them from my daughter.  I was so excited to see these pictures of my grandchildren!  I miss them so much, and children grow so quickly!  All five of them look healthy and happy.  I am thankful my son-in-law sent along the pictures.  We hope we can see these beautiful children in person again soon. 

Sunday was another rainy day.  We went to church, then in the afternoon, I took a little nap before doing some indexing of 1918 army muster rolls.

Sunday night dinner was an easy favorite - lasagna, steamed green beans, steamed broccoli and garlic bread.  I feel like I make this a lot for our Sunday dinner, but it is something we all enjoy.  After I post this, I plan to do some reading, and maybe watch a series that Charly and I just started on Netflix -  Maid.  I have the book the series is based on, but haven't read it yet. We watched the first installment on Saturday.  It's quite gripping and thought provoking. 

Coming up this week:

Monday - Teacher planning and grading day.  No students at school

Wednesday - Youngest granddaughter's third birthday

Wednesday - Covid booster scheduled for me, flu shot for Charly

Thursday - Sick day to rest and recover from Covid booster

Saturday - Charly and I going to Ballet West production of Dracula

That's all for now.  Enjoy the week ahead. 

😊Deb💖

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

~Romans 15:13 NIV