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💖

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

Tuesday 4 - It's Time for Fall!

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4... are you ready for Autumn?

Monday,  September 22 is the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of the Autumn season.  

Autumn is the name of the season, and fall is the term for the time of Autumn when leaves begin to fall from the trees.   Let's discuss it.....

1. Are there pumpkins or chrysanthemums on your porch or are you planning on putting some out?  

I have two pots with yellow chrysanthemums on my front porch.  The plant in the pot on the right is farther out in bloom, as you can see, but hopefully in a week or two, I'll have lovely yellow blooming chrysanthemums on both sides of my front porch. I have a "Give Thanks" pumpkin hanging under the flag and a smiling scarecrow on the front porch with a "Welcome Fall" sign, although it is hard to see in the picture.  The flags have been up since the day Charlie Kirk was assassinated, and they also honor the victims of 9/11.  It just felt right to keep the flags up for a while.   No pumpkins out yet because I didn't grow any this year.  I may get one to put out on the porch nearer to Halloween.

2. Are stores around you showing Autumn clothing and decor now?  

Last time we were at our local mall (we walk there every Saturday morning before the stores open), I saw lots of fall clothing in store windows - notably, stores like Hollister, American Eagle, and Nordstroms.    A few places have already started on Christmas, and I expect decorations will be up in the mall before long. 

3. Do you have plans for Thanksgiving yet?       

Yes, right now, our plans are to go to St. George, Utah for Thanksgiving. We will probably eat Thanksgiving dinner at Black Bear Diner like we did last year, and then do some hiking.  Josh will come with us, and we will stay in our timeshare condo.  These plans are subject to change.   

4 . If we can arrange an autumn trip or get away for you, where will you choose to go and why?

We have a fall break trip to Eastern Idaho planned.  It won't happen until mid-October when I have fall break from school.  We aren't really going to see the fall leaves, but I suspect we will see some.  We are going to the town where Josh went to college, Rexburg.  He would like to move back and wants to check out job and housing possibilities there.  

That's all for now.  Here's hoping that your autumn is colorful and beautiful in all the best ways!

Until next time,

🍂Deb🍂

"Autumn is the season that teaches us

that change can be beautiful."

~Heather Stillufsen

Tuesday 4 - Happy Fall Y'All!

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4... are you ready for Autumn?

Sunday September 22 was the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of the Autumn season,so today's questions are about autumn.  

1. Are there pumpkins or chrysanthemums on your porch or are you planning on putting some out?  

I have mums on my front porch.  I bought two large pots of mums last year and they survived the winter and now that the weather is cooling off, they are coming out in flower again.  Sometime this week, I will probably put a few Halloween decorations out on my porch.  

2. What seasonal changes are you noticing in your part of the world? 

I love the beautiful fall leaves.  There are a lot of leaves changing color in the mountains to the east of where I live. They are lovely and will be a the peak later this week, according to our local news.  The temperatures were cooler last week, but are warmer, up into the upper 80s, this week.  I would like to have the temperatures more fall-like, but I supposed that will come with time.

3. Is pumpkin pie on the menu for you this fall?  How about pumpkin spice or pumpkin latte coffee flavors? Are you a fan?   Spiced teas?  What do you like?    

I love pumpkin pie, but we probably won't have it until Thanksgiving.  My husband bakes delicious pumpkin pie. I was going to make some pumpkin muffins over the weekend, but simply ran out of time.  I am not much of a coffee or tea drinker. I have several nice large pumpkins in my garden (as shown in the picture above) and they will go to my grandchildren to carve.   We will use canned pumpkin to make muffins and pies.   

4. If there was a free week long tour of New England, complete with peak colors and a trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts (the colony site with historical players), would you come along?  If that doesn't suit, where would you like to go for your Autumn trip?

I would love to see New England in the fall, and visit historic Plymouth Massachusetts, but our fall break trip this year will be much closer to home. We are planning fall trip to Idaho to see Josh and visit and hike at Craters of the Moon National Monument and possibly Yellowstone National Park. 

That's all for this Tuesday 4 post.  Have a good week!

Until next time,

🎃Deb🎃

“Autumn teaches us the beauty of letting go. 

Growth requires release - it's what the trees do."

~ Ka'ala

The Final Weekend of October

Here's how our final weekend of October went. 

Friday was a full and busy day at school.  We had a meeting before school, and fortunately, the day went pretty well with no big problems. When I got home, Charly and I took a walk, then we spent the rest of the evening at home.  I decided to get started on ordering our family Christmas cards for 2023, so I went online and not only got started, but finished uploading all the pictures and personalizing the sentiments on the cards.  The cards are now ordered and show be here in about a week.  I am excited about this because I like to mail out my Christmas cards right after Thanksgiving.  

Saturday, we went snow blower shopping in the morning.  We are still looking and haven't purchased one yet, but we think we have picked out what we want.   We went to an all-you-can-eat place, that features Asian food and sushi for lunch. Charly had sushi and I had Orange chicken, fried rice, rice noodles, egg rolls and crab rangoon.  It was all very good.  

We also went to a couple of thrift stores ad I was pleased to get some holiday decorating items at great thrift store prices.  I found a big, lighted (plug-in) Jack-o-lantern, a Holy Family nativity still in the box with all original packaging, and two tall skinny Christmas trees which I am planning to put on both sides of the fireplace in our living room. 

In the late afternoon, I went for a walk.  It was a gray, cloudy and cold day. 

Leaves are completely off many of the trees now. Other trees have a few leaves still hanging on. 

Late Saturday afternoon, I went to the temple.  While there, I ran into a woman I used to teach with.  She was a special education teacher who co-taught in my classroom one year.  She left teaching a couple of years ago, and it was good to see her again. 

When I left to drive home, a little before 7 p.m., this was the view of the South Valley from the front of the temple.   It was still cloudy and cold, but quite beautiful. 

Sunday morning, I got up and did my usual morning routine which includes scripture reading.  This is my Come Follow Me reading chart.  I am just starting I Peter, on track to finish the New Testament before the end of the year and ahead of the Come Follow Me schedule. 

We went to church Sunday morning. 

After lunch and a little nap, Charly and I went for a walk.  It was another cold afternoon, but the skies were blue and the sun was shining.  

We made steak and cheese sandwiches for Sunday dinner.  They were good.  After dinner, I had a nice phone conversation with Josh, although the conversation was abbreviated because he was working on finishing a research paper that is due tomorrow.  After that, Charly and I watched a comedy movie, Nine Lives with Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Garner from 2015. 

After this post, I plan to do some more reading. I finished two more books over the weekend - one  audio and one print.  Our Day Star Rising by Jeffrey R. Holland is the audiobook and Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar is the print book I finished.  Both were excellent.  I've only finished four books this month, but I will post a short review of each book next week. 

Weekend gratitude:

• Productive weekend
• Nice walks
• Lunch out with Charly
• Time at the temple
• Good conversations with Josh
• Finishing two books
• Finding great deals on holiday decor

Coming up this week:

Monday - "Emergency" teachers union meeting after school

Tuesday - Appointment for updated Covid shot

Tuesday - Halloween

Saturday - Birthday breakfast with our five-year-old granddaughter

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the week ahead!

Until next time, 

🍁🎃Deb🎃🍁

“Autumn is the season to find contentment at home 

by paying attention to what we already have.”

~ anon.