The End of October

 Here is a little bit about the last week of October in my world. 

We had a cold rain early in the week.  The mountains got a little snow, and we were left with colder temperatures.  

The rain moved out leaving blue skies and only a few clouds.  This is the view from the parking lot of the school where I am currently a long-term sub. 

Halloween was a perfect fall day, with crisp, cool temperatures, and blue skies and sunshine.  I took this picture during a lovely early evening walk.

We were all ready for Halloween at our house, but we only got two groups of trick-or-treaters.  We were happy for that because last year, not one trick-or-treater came by. 

I've been reading this book, Every Other Weekend by Zulema Renee Summerfield.  It's about a dysfunctional blended family in the 1980s.  

I finished this mystery, Falling Darkness by Zara Evans,  on my Kindle last week.  It was a pretty decent suspense book, until the very end.  I didn't care much for the conclusion, so I gave it only 3/5 stars on Goodreads. 

I've been listening to a lot of different podcasts this week - mostly political and religious/Christian.   I listen to podcasts while I eat my lunch and at school, and commute back and forth.  I love listening and learning from many different podcasters. 

Charly made a delicious batch of crockpot lasagna. In addition to the original meal, it gave us leftovers for a couple of days of easy dinners.  I had cooked carrots and green salad with it on Halloween. 

I had my biannual teaching observation last week, done by the district sub supervisor.  Despite being with a challenging student population and not teaching from my own lesson plans, I felt it went quite well.  I found out that my current assignment in a junior high English class will end on November 21, and then I will spend the entire month of December, up to Christmas break, at the high school shown in the picture, which is only about five miles from my home, in an upscale neighborhood.  I will be a history/social studies classroom.  Believe me, I am looking forward to a break from the junior high crowd. 

While I was at school on Friday, Charly and Josh went to lunch at this all-you-can-eat place, Golden Corral.  Charly and Josh have been going out to lunch together every week for a while, and I think it's a wonderful father-son thing to do.  Charly and Josh both liked the food, which is good because we are considering having our Thanksgiving dinner here.  We are cancelling our plans to go to St. George because Josh can't get enjoy days off of work.  Charly doesn't want to do a lot of cooking on Thanksgiving and neither do I.  We have friends that go to Golden Corral every year for Thanksgiving and they have said that it is good, so we may give it a try. 

Tomorrow, Saturday, November 1, will be a busy day. We plan to get up about 6 a.m., walk at the mall, then go to Utah County (30 miles to the south of us) to look at the two houses in the picture, which are both having open houses.  After that, we are going to meet up with friends who live in Davis County, (which is about 20 miles north of our home), for lunch.  We will be on the road a bit, but it is supposed to be a nice day with a temperature of about 65.  

That's all for now.  Hope you had a nice week and a very Happy Halloween.  May November be a good month for all of us, and may we find much to be grateful for!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

Sunday Stealing on Monday

I enjoyed reading some other bloggers' Sunday Stealing posts this week, so I decided to join in. 

Four 5s (or more than five)

More than five things on my to-do list:

1. Laundry (in the washing machine right now)

2. Vacuuming

3. Dusting

4. Winterizing my yard

5. Continue paring and packing books

6. Begin getting holiday plans together

Five snacks I enjoy:

1. popcorn

2. nuts

3. potato chips

4. crackers

5. dark chocolate

More than five places I have lived: 

(I have lived in seven different states and didn't want to leave any of them out).

1. Colorado

2. Utah

3. Oklahoma

4. Nebraska

5. California

6. Illinois

7. Arizona

More than five jobs I have had/currently have:

(Again, I have done more than five different things and I didn't want to leave anything out). 

1. WIFE

2. MOM

3. Babysitter

4. Typesetter

5. Receptionist

6. File clerk

7. Health insurance claim processor

8. Communication specialist

9. Technical writer

10. Newspaper writer

11. School teacher

I am joining in with The Gal Herself over at One Gal's Musings for Sunday Stealing.  Thanks for stopping by!  Have an awesome week!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"You will never feel satisfied by work

until you are satisfied by life."

~Heather Schuck

The Final Weekend of October

 Here are some highlights of the last week of October in our world. 

In the school district where I teach, junior highs are released early on Friday so that teachers can plan and attend staff meetings.  Because I don't have to attend staff meetings, I get home about two hours early on Fridays.  When I got home, I was exhausted from a busy week.  I took a nap, which felt good and was much needed. 

After dinner, Charly and I went to the rec center to walk and get some exercise. 

 

After the rec center, we went to Crumbl Cookies to get these yummy treats to take to our granddaughter who has a birthday coming out next week.  We are going to Utah County tomorrow to take her out for her birthday lunch, and we always take Crumble Cookies to the family when someone has a birthday. 

Back home, we got to Halloween cards we are taking to our grandchildren tomorrow.  Each grandchild is getting a Chick-Fil-A gift card, too.  We will give them to our grandkids tomorrow. 

Saturday morning, I woke up to this beautiful sunrise.  

Pictures don't do it justice.  The beauty filled the whole sky - not just the sky in the East where the sun was coming up. 

We went for our usual Saturday morning walk at the mall.  We then headed down to Utah County to take our granddaughter to lunch for her birthday. 

We headed down to our daughter's home in Utah County to take our seven-year-old granddaughter to lunch. 

Our granddaughter, Hattie, is so excited about her birthday coming up on Monday. She sure has a lot of presents waiting for her to open. 

She recently won an award for an art project she created at school, and she was excited to show us that as well.

This our 11-year-old granddaughter, Paige. She was working on an arts and craft project.  It's always fun to see all of our granddaughters.  

Hattie wanted to go to a crepe restaurant for her lunch. She ordered a crepe with Nutella, chocolate, strawberries, and whipped cream.  

We enjoyed helping Hattie celebrate her birthday with a special birthday lunch. 

After lunch we our granddaughter, Charly and I drove to our favorite used bookstore.   I turned in almost 40 books and only brought home three new ones, so I considered the trip a success.

After that, we went over to browse at our favorite thrift store, although we didn't buy much.  A fun thing that happened at the thrift store was that I saw one of my favorite podcasters there, browsing with his wife and kids.  I talked to him for a few minutes and told him how much I enjoy his work.  

It was a gray, cool, and cloudy Saturday.  This is the view from the thrift store parking lot

After the thrift store, we went back to our daughter's home and picked up our oldest grandson who was off work by that time.  We took him to dinner.  He wanted barbecue, so that's what we did. The food was great!

Both Charly and I always enjoy getting together with our grandchildren.

Sunday morning, before we went to church, I noticed that the morning glory seeds we planted in the spring have finally produced blooms.  You can see that the surrounding leaves have shriveled with the cold, but the flowers sure are pretty, and it was a nice Sunday morning treat to see them.  

Sunday was another cool and cloudy day as we went off to church.

Sunday afternoon, I took a little nap, then went for a walk.  It was a cold and gray afternoon.  I didn't walk long because it was cold.  I should have worn a heavier jacket. 

Sunday dinner was leftover swamp potatoes, corn, baby spring mix salad, and freshly baked corn muffins. 

After dinner, we watched another Bible archeology video.  We are both loving and learning a lot from these Patterns of Evidence videos. 

Weekend Gratitude:

• Seeing our daughter's family and taking two of the grandkids out to eat.
• Traveling safely to Utah county and back. 
• Worshipping at church. 
• Spending time with Charly and Josh.
• Paring down my books so we can move.

Coming up this week:

Monday - New refrigerator being delivered to condo. 

Wednesday - New pictures of the condo being taken.

Friday - Condo going back on the market. 

Praying for:

• My family - children and grandchildren - especially those who are struggling with some things.
• A friend who desperately needs to sell her house. 
• Safety at school.
• Our nation. 

That's all for this weekend.  Have a good week. See you again soon!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. 

Let nothing move you. 

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, 

because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

~I Corinthians 15:58

An Autumn Week of Good Things and Gratitude

Here are some of the best parts of the past week for me and my family.  I am joining with Susanne and friends over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five to look back at some of my favorite things. 

😊 I'm grateful that we had a nice Fall Break trip to Idaho and returned home safely on Sunday. It was fun to spend a weekend in the little town where Josh went to college.  It's a great town, with a nice atmosphere and friendly, helpful people.  Josh has not made firm plans to move back there, but he is considering it, if he can find the right job. I'm thankful that Josh could go to college in Rexburg and that we could have a nice visit there. 

😊 I'm grateful that Charly and I were able to get our annual flu shots when we were in Idaho.  I know that vaccines are controversial, but because of Charly's asthma and my exposure to viruses in the classroom, we have been advised to get flu shots every year, and we have done so for quite a while. That being said, we have decided to skip Covid vaccines for the foreseeable future. 

😊 I'm grateful that our little condo is now all clean and fixed up and ready to go back on the market.  The new stove came and was delivered, but the new refrigerator won't be here until next Monday.  It was frustrating not to get both new appliances at the same time, but I am grateful that we are making progress.  

😊 I'm grateful that I was able to get outside to walk this past week.  We had some sunny albeit cool days - perfect for afternoon walks.  A lot of leaves in our area seem to be at their fall peak of color and I am grateful for their beauty.  

😊  Charly and I have been watching a Bible archeology series on DVD this week after dinner. These archeology DVDs are very interesting, and I am grateful for people who do scientific, historic and archeological research that sheds light on the truth of scripture.  They strengthen my faith. 

😊 I am grateful for nights like tonight, when I come home the wonderful aroma of dinner in the crock pot courtesy of my sweet husband.  Tonight, he made Swamp Potatoes for our dinner and it was delicious.  It was so nice not to have to worry about dinner after a stressful day. 

😊 I have been going through the books on my "to read" shelves so weed out books that I have had for a while and am no longer that interested in.  These books will be turned into our favorite used book store on Saturday.  While I was going through my books, I packed two more boxes of books I want to keep.  I am grateful to be making progress as we get ready to move when I retire. 

😊 Even though the school where I am currently long-term subbing is not great, and my days can be stressful, I am glad for the income I have that is helping us get ready for a good retirement in a few months. 

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by to share the good in the last week.  Have a great weekend! 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

Fall-Break Trip to Idaho

This week, I finished my assignment subbing for a math teacher at a junior high about 12-14 miles west of my home. Our fall break started after school on Wednesday.

My next assignment is back at this 80-year-old junior high school, which was the same school I spent four weeks subbing in a computer technology class at the beginning of the school year.  Starting next Tuesday, I will be subbing here in an English classroom. 

Our fall break started on Thursday, and goes through Tuesday for me.  Monday is a teacher planning day in our district, but I am taking that day off. 

It was a mostly rainy and cloudy week, until Friday.  We set a record for October rainfall around here.  We had over 4.5 inches of rain in just up to the middle of the month.  After our very dry summer, it has been nice to get some much-needed rain. 

Friday, we left on a little fall break trip to Idaho. 

We stayed in Rexburg, Idaho, the town where Josh went to school at BYU-Idaho.

One reason for our trip was to allow Josh to check out job and living opportunities in Rexburg.  He is thinking that he may move back there.  He really enjoyed living in a small town, rather than a bigger city.  This is an apartment he looked at.  It was a two-bedroom apartment that he could rent for about the same price as renting a single room in a house down here in Salt Lake City.  Josh hasn't accepted a job or made any firm decisions about moving back to Idaho, but he wanted to go up and have a look around, and his mom and dad are always up for a little road trip. 

Of course, Josh wanted to visit his alma mater, BYU-Idaho.  There is such a great, positive, Christian vibe there.  It is beautiful, and the people are friendly and helpful.  We had blue skies and sunshine in Idaho, although it was windy and cold.  

This is a view of the city of Rexburg from the BYU-Idaho campus.  You can see it is not a big city - no skyscrapers - just lots of trees.  The population is about 40,000.  Look closely and you will see snow on the mountains to the North of the city.  Snow is in the forecast for Rexburg this coming week!

We worshipped at the beautiful Rexburg Temple, and that was a very special experience. 

The temple looked so awesome lit up on Saturday night when we got out of the worship service.  The Rexburg Temple is set on a hill overlooking the city of Rexburg.

After worshipping at the temple, we went to Applebee's for a delicious late dinner that we all enjoyed.  

While we were in Rexburg, we got some Huckleberry Honey and Huckleberry Jam.  We've had Huckleberry Jam before, and it is a real treat, so we thought we'd try the honey.   I had some on toast Sunday evening and it was excellent!  

We left Rexburg on Sunday morning and we were home by just after 1 p.m.. Although Sunday was mostly sunny, by evening, the clouds were back.  More rain is in the forecast for the end of next week.  There are always a lot of things to do (like unpacking and doing laundry) when returning home from a trip, so that is what is taking up my Sunday evening.  I hope to do some reading and relaxing once all the extra laundry is washed and put away. 

Weekend Gratitude:

• Having a nice fall break getaway to Idaho.
• Traveling safely. 
• Worshipping at the Rexburg Temple. 
• Getting our flu shots (yes, we went to a pharmacy in Rexburg).

Coming up next week:

Monday -  Taking a day off. 

Monday -  New appliances being delivered at condo. 

Tuesday - Begin long-term assignment at a different junior high school. 

Wednesday - New pictures being taken for the new real estate listing of our condo. 

Saturday - Birthday lunch for our granddaughter who is turning seven. 

Praying for:

• Help with the new long-term sub assignment I am starting.
• Inspiration about and help with retirement planning. 
• Family members going through some rough times. 
• Our nation. 

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good week. See you again soon!

😊Deb💖

"Life is beautiful.

It's about giving. 

It's about family."

~Walt Disney