ME-OW!

Apparently, there is something very life-like about Abbie's cat costume. For Halloween, she is going to be Little Man, our black kitten who is a polydactyl.

Last night, I finished sewing her paws - one has 6 toes and the other has 7 toes.

Tonight, she tried on her kitten costume, paws, and ears. She went around the kitchen meowing.

Slowly, we noticed the amazing reaction that the actual kittens had. Both kittens eyes were huge and staring; their ears were flattened; and Angel's back was arched and his tail was bushed out!

I guess they really thought she was a huge cat!

I will take pictures and post them tomorrow (we also did a test run with her face paint, and it turned out awesome!). Maybe I can get a picture of Angel and Little Man's reaction too.

Snake Charmers

Today, as we were driving home from school, Abbie said outloud, "King Richard, Beloved." Then she asked me if King Richard was a real king. I said, "yes, but it was a long time ago." She asked me how long ago, and I told her I thought it was during medieval times - I told her to imagine Robin Hood times ----- I was just guessing. I don't know the date!
She asked, "so he wasn't king during Laura Ingalls' time?" That was pretty funny because we just finished reading the whole Little House series of books, and she seems to refer to them quite a bit.
Then she asked, "like King Richard, the lion?" (She was refering to the Disney Robin Hood movie.) I said, "yes!" And she asked, "Did he really have a snake?" I laughed and explained that that was just a made up movie by Disney. Then she asked if King Richard was really a snake charmer. I had another giggle!
I asked her why she wanted to talk about King Richard, and she said she saw "King Richard Beloved" on a sign. I was puzzled and wondered if she saw an advertisement for a play called King Richard Beloved. I asked her what else the sign said. She said that all it said was King Richard B-L-V-D.
So I started thinking ....B-L-V-D, B-L-V-D over and over trying to figure out what it meant. Suddenly, I realized she was reading a street sign for King Richard Blvd. I explained what Blvd. stood for.

You never know what kind of conversation you'll have in the car on the way home from school!

Book Clubs

Since I read so much, some ladies at church asked me if I would start a book club. I procrastinated and delayed. Finally, they asked again so I said yes. I didn't tell Paul because I don't need anymore tasks/responsibilities/projects/things-to-do.

I finally picked a month that we would begin. Our first book was "These Is My Words." I have never been in a book club and didn't really know how to structure our meetings. I did seek the advice of a friend who is in a book club.

Our first meeting was in September. Everyone loved the book (thankfully), and we had a really good discussion.

Our next book was "The Thirteenth Tale." I had never read anything by this author, but I did enjoy the book even though it was very different from most books I read. We met today and had a nice discussion too.

Because of the symbolism of "Jane Eyre" in "The Thirteenth Tale," we have decided to read "Jane Eyre" as our next selection. I read this book in high school and seem to remember reading it again for fun, but I will enjoy reading it again.

I have to say that I really like discussing books with others. My husband never reads the same books as I do. When I finish a particularly thought provoking book, it can be frustrating not having anyone to talk to.

Jesus Was Lost and Jesus Was Found

I learned that phrase from my mother-in-law. She once told me that she would repeat the phrase over and over again when she had misplaced or lost something. I think someone had told her about the phrase (or maybe it was something she learned from her own mom); it's supposed to help you find stuff.

I always, always think of this phrase now when I lose stuff. I think it's just a catchy phrase for some reason. It doesn't rhyme, but it has a sing-song quality. I don't think I use the phrase in the manner it was meant to be used. It tends to float through my mind one time then it's gone! Maybe that's why I can't find stuff.

I honestly can't stand to lose things. Especially when the lost item is something I know I saw just a few days ago, but I just can't remember where exactly I saw it. I routinely lose my usb drive. I hate losing that thing!

The good news is that I recently found 2 things that have been lost for about 2 years. I don't sleep in earrings. If I forget to take them off and put them in their proper place, I put them on my bedside table. One day, I lost one of my amythyst earrings because of this practice. I got down on my hands and knees and looked and looked. I moved the mattress around and lots of other things. It was gone, and it's been missing for 2 years or more. Recently, Abbie brought the earring to me. I was all enthusiastic and had her show me the exact spot she found it. It had been under the bed - barely - close to the edge. Believe it or not, I do vacuum under the bed so how did it get missed all this time? I don't know or care and am glad Abbie found it!

The other item was a Mary Engelbreit print - it's a pretty picture that is double matted. I had ordered it along with 3-4 other pictures. When the box arrived, I unpacked the prints from the box and set them aside until I could get frames for all of them. Once I did purchase the frames and was ready to start hanging pictures, I couldn't find one of the prints. I turned that room upside down! And pulled my hair out! And told Paul I was losing my mind. And then I looked again. Never found it - and it was my favorite print of all the ones I had ordered.....

This weekend, Paul was cleaning out the garage, and he found the print. As soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be the long-lost print. I was amazed and asked him where it had been. He vaguely told me "some box" which didn't really help me figure out how I had missed finding it all this time, but I didn't really care. I was just glad I was holding it in my hands at long last.

Things are lost and things are found and that is good!

Who's the Best Mom Ever?

Me!
I don't get that distinction every day, but I did yesterday.

Yesterday, Abbie was out of school. Since she had completed 25 extra at-home-academic projects, she earned a trip to Dollywood.

The day started out cold and cloudy. As we were getting on the interstate, it started to sprinkle. I think I've mentioned before that I do not check the weather before I head out. But Abbie earned a trip to Dollywood, and we were going no matter what!

Hesitantly, I suggested that maybe we do something else for the day, but she wisely stated that the weather in Pigeon Forge might be better. Abbie's glass is half full - a girl after my own heart! So we forged ahead.

As we got to Sevierville, the clouds parted and it did look like we might have some decent weather. At least it wasn't very cold.

Right now, Dollywood is having their annual Gospel and Harvest Festival. We visited several booths and saw several craft demonstrations (harps, dulcimers, stained glass, sorghum making, wood carving, etc). We bought some sorghum (yummy) and a hand painted Christmas ornament and some fresh made taffy.

Abbie was brave enough to ride the sky rider with me for the first time ever. I was really proud of her. And we took a train ride. And watched the magician show. Mined for some gems - we hadn't done that before and found a really, really cool shaped quartz.

While we were having lunch, it started raining really hard. We still had at least one activity to do. Abbie was most looking forward to riding the River Rampage. It's her favorite ride. You get pretty wet on this ride so I told her we had to ride it last because we didn't have a change of clothes, and it was too cold to walk around wet. I asked our waiter if the rides were closed since it was raining so hard, but he said they only close the rides if there is lightning.

Abbie stomped every mud puddle in the place so her pants were already wet up to the knees.
Luckily, Abbie and I had on rain ponchos which helped prevent us getting soaked from the rain itself.

When we got to the River Rampage, there was no one else in line or on the ride. We rode it, and she laughed the whole time. I got just a little wet. As we pulled into the dock, I asked if we could ride it again. So off we went. I got more wet this time, but we were sure having fun! We pulled into the dock and decided to go again. I told the ride attendants that we were part duck. And I was hoping for "mom of the year" status. He said I'd have to ride 16 more times. I think he was just making up that number. One whole leg and shoe got soaked this time. A big avalanche of water came over the boat right behind Abbie. She was thrilled!

So we rode 3 times then decided it was time to head home. At the gift shop, I bought her some sweatpants and socks, and I got a new sweatshirt. We changed in the car, and I immediately felt better being dry instead of damp. I even put on a pair of her socks, and they fit me! I decided to drive home without my shoes on since they were wet. It's such a strange sensation to drive without shoes. I was trying to put my finger on what was so weird about it. Finally, I decided driving in socks made me feel like Fred Flintstone.

Since we have season passes, we'll be going back to Dollywood for the Polar Express in December.

{{{{{{ BIG SIGH }}}}}} ----- Edited

I don't even know where to get started. I am so disgusted with myself.

It's 8:30 pm, and we are putting Abbie to bed. Paul tickles her and gets her giggling. But then he looks at me and starts laughing and tells Abbie that I am a smurf.

I had on blue pajama bottoms so that's what I thought he meant. Then I thought maybe I had something stuck in my teeth (but I had not eaten anything blue).

Abbie looks at me and starts laughing too. Apparently, I have something blue on my face. Amidst her giggles, Abbie says that the blue stuff has been there EVER SINCE SHE GOT IN THE CAR AT SCHOOL THIS AFTERNOON!!!!! That was at 3:15 pm, people! Do the math!

I run to look in the mirror and see blue stuff on my chin and all up the left side of my cheek - it's light blue, not dark blue, but it is very noticable.

I took a shower about an hour before I picked her up at school and clearly remember washing my face b/c I had to use bar soap which I don't like to do. Where did this blue stuff come from?

Luckily, I did not talk to any parents while in the car line today. I did see the teacher as she put Abbie in the car, but surely she didn't see the blue stuff from the right, rear side of the car. {Edited --- in the middle of the night, I remembered that I did speak to two teachers at my car yesterday. One in particular got a really good look at my smurf face!}

But unfortunately, Abbie and I went to the new Earthfare store after school and spent an hour shopping in there.

{Sigh}

This is a very weird coincidence after what happened last week. I'm getting paranoid now about all these embarassing "face" problems.

Paul told Abbie that she needs to tell me if she notices something odd like that!!! Crap! Maybe I need to stash mirrors everywhere. Am I losing my mind?

All I can figure is that I washed Paul's bathrobe today, and it is very dark blue and it bled onto some towels that were in the machine with it. I dried the towels and folded them today. But they were dry. Could blue stuff have gotten on me then? If they were dry? Did I get blue stuff on me when I moved the towels from the washer to the dryer when they were still wet?

Good grief! I'm scared to leave the house!

My Dad Says, Part 1

I spoke to my dad today. About how he used to be a tight wad. About how he has worked hard to get what little he has in his savings account. About how he should NOT be loaning money to people who are his so-called friends. He'll never see that money again.
He said, "You know what the worst part of getting old is?"
I guessed, "Becoming too tender hearted?" This is why he loans the money in the first place.
He said, "The worst part of getting old is getting old!"
Awwww, my poor dad.
I'm glad I'm able to help him and look out for him. If he'll just listen to me about the loaning money part.....

Came Across Something While Cleaning

From time to time, I certainly have to remind myself that I need to stop what I'm doing and just have fun with Abbie. She won't always be little and wanting to hang out with me. While cleaning, I came across a paper that I received at a scrapbooking class (don't know who wrote it):

If I Had My Child To Raise All Over Again

If I had my child to raise all over again

I'd build self-esteem first and the house later.

I'd finger paint more and point the finger less.

I would do less correcting and more connecting.

I'd take my eyes off my watch and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less and know to care more.

I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.

I'd stop playing serious and seriously play.

I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.

I'd do more hugging and less tugging.

I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.

I would be firm less often and affirm much more.

I'd model less about the love of power

And more about the power of love!

Paul Says - Part 1

Paul says, "Joe the plumber doesn't get paid enough."

Today, I was trying to do a thorough cleaning of the kitchen. Since we spend so much time in our kitchen/sitting room, it seems like this area always needs to be cleaned. This room is either tidy (hardly ever) or downright dirty (sometimes) or quite messy (usually).
I hardly ever use one side of my sink so this is where my dish drainer sits - I got this idea from my good friend, Leslie. Putting the dish drainer down in the sink, frees up more counter space.
Unfortunately, clean dishes & utensils that we are too lazy to put away get stashed in the drainer and stay there for quite some time. Today, I decided to clean out the drainer and the sink too.
While cleaning the sink, I discovered that water wouldn't drain on the side where the drainer sits.
Enter Paul, the plumber, who thinks he can fix it!
After repeatedly putting a "snake" thing down the drain, he realizes that it's not helping. So he gets a bucket and a towel and removes the U joint under the sink.
What a disgusting smell!
With a fork that Paul later throws away, he digs some sort of gloop from the pipes. Then he fishes the U joint from the bucket and discovers that the U joint is completely clogged with this thick gloop - no water was going to get through it.
When Paul got a whiff of the gunk in the pipe, that is when he said, "Joe the plumber doesn't get paid enough."
The pipes are all clean now. Afterwards, Paul was so grossed out that he had to take a shower. He even wanted to throw away the dish towel that got some sink water splashed on it. But I wouldn't let him. I immediately threw it in the washing machine with some bleach. It'll be fine.
However, Paul swears he can still smell the nasty gunk/gloop stink from the pipe.

Educational Experience

We've talked about moving for awhile now, but we never actually do anything about it. We have a lot of stuff from living in a house with mucho storage space. Having to move all of that stuff or go through it and get rid of it is what keeps us stuck in place.
This week, Paul and I had a lunch date and saw a house we might like. On the spur of the moment, we called the realtor and scheduled an appointment.
The neighborhood was so-so, but the price was right, and it looked nice on the outside.
We took Abbie with us, and she does NOT want to move. I wondered how she would do. Turns out, she likes looking around in other people's houses.
Bottom line - it was an educational experience. As soon as we got in the car (after seeing the house), I told Paul that looking at someone else's house just makes me appreciate ours even more! Not that I'm critical when I go visit someone at their house, but when you're looking to buy a house, you have to look at things with a different eye. You have to ask yourself, "Could we live here and be happy?" and "Do we want to put our stuff HERE?" and "Could we make this place our own?"
The house we looked at was newer than ours, but it wasn't better. Not that ours is superior or luxurious, but the other house was not even comparable - even though there was a little more square footage and an extra bedroom. Bad carpet, gross tub/sinks, tacky appliances, worse counter tops than ours, not enough storage, broken tile, dirt in crevices....
We've decided we need to look at many more houses so we can decide once and for all if moving is our best option.

Fake Stuff

I love mashed potatoes, but for some reason, I don't enjoy making them. I don't know why. It isn't difficult, and the rewards are plenty!
Now that I have learned the secret to awesome mashed potatoes from my mother-in-law, I love to make them the way she does. However, I also like shortcuts. If you can cut down on cooking time, I'm in!
About a year ago, Country Crock (I think) started advertising that you could now buy mashed potatoes in a tub in the refrigerated aisle. So I did. And I salted them and put real butter in them and heavy whipping cream. Uh, not so yum.... You could tell they were real mashed potatoes and you could taste that I used quality additions (butter & heavy whipping cream), but there was some weird taste in there - chemical like. Was it preservatives or was the taste coming from the plastic tub?
I don't buy those potatoes anymore.
Recently, Ore'Ida started advertising mashed potatoes in a bag located in the freezer aisle. They are already cooked and cubed; you just heat and mash (and add salt, butter, and heavy whipping cream, of course!).
Now the label said to heat them in the bag, but I try not to be a slow learner so I heated them in a glass bowl. Trying to avoid the chemicals here, people!
But these potatoes were also a failure. There was still a weird taste - chemical like.
So tonight, I bit the bullet and made real homemade mashed potatoes - the kind where you start with a brown hard lump of vegetable - peel it - chop it - boil it - hand mash it - butter it up - salt it - add the heavy whipping cream. Super yum!

I'm A Big Turkey

At least I feel like one. I hope this is funny and doesn't turn out to be a too-much-information gross story.
Today, I needed to run 2 errands before picking up Abbie at school. I needed to go to the craft store and grocery store.
Before leaving the house, I washed my face before doing make up. During this routine, I found a zit (right side of forehead) and took care of it - trying to keep the details to a minimum. I put a leetle tiny piece of toilet paper on the zit (like men do when they cut themselves shaving).
Then I applied some blush and mascara and removed the toilet paper. I was ready to go!
I went to the craft store.
I went to the grocery store.
I had time and decided to stop at my favorite little sandwich shop. They had my favorite lemon and pineapple salad. Yes! And I got some tea.
Then I went to school, got in the car line, started reading my book, started eating, and called to RSVP for a birthday party - yes, I multitask like this all the time.
As I am waiting for the other party to answer the phone, a male parent walks up to the passenger side window and stands there waiting for me to roll the window down. The other party is not answering the phone so I disconnect and roll the window down. He and I proceed to have a detailed conversation about important things.
When Abbie gets in the car, we finish our conversation and I pull out of line. I give Abbie my usual cheerful Hello, and she says, "Mom, why do you have toilet paper on your face?"
Good mooglie googlie!
I'm trying to pull out of line, flip my mirror down and look all at the same time. Surely, I don't have toilet paper stuck to my face!!??!!
Yep!
I did pull off the first leetle piece of t.p. but then applied one more leetle piece just to be sure it wasn't bleeding anymore. And left the house with it on my face. And went to two stores plus a drive thru with it on my face. And had a long conversation with a dude with t.p. on my face. And he was standing on the right side of my car with a perfect view of that portion of my face.
I swear these things only happen to me!

Then vs. Now

Growing up, my mom had to get up really early to go to work at a factory job. On weekends, when she could have slept in, she got up early too. Saturdays meant cleaning day. Oh, she cleaned on weekdays too, but on Saturday, she really got down to business.
I was never a sleep-til-noon kind of girl - my bedroom received lots of sunshine so it was pretty easy to get up. Her greeting of "rise and shine" was particularly relevant!
As soon as my mom's feet hit the floor, she had a plan. First breakfast - a hot, cooked breakfast (not cereal or poptarts). Then----the-----cleaning----would-----begin!!!!!
Dirty dishes did not sit on the counter; dishes had to be handwashed immediately. Chores were distributed to everyone, and much to my dislike, chores were divided by what she considered to be women's work and men's work.
Laundry would be hauled down to the basement, and wet clothes were hung outside to dry on a clothes line. I was NOT allowed to do laundry. I had never screwed it up, but she still wouldn't let me do it. (I didn't learn how to do laundry until college.) Everything had to be dusted, vacuumed, wiped, swept, and mopped ------ every ----- nook ----- and ------ cranny. I use the dashes for extra emphasis; she was very detailed.
Our house was small and not in the least bit upscale, but it was VERY clean! And to be fair, I will admit she was not OCD about it. Clean is clean and anything else is just laziness and irresponsible - she never said that, but I got the jist of it.
Even though I was expected to help her and do whatever she told me to do, she never MADE me get up early with her. But she didn't make it easy to sleep in either. As soon as breakfast was ready, she would come into each of our rooms and loudly announce that breakfast was ready. If we moaned or didn't answer, she'd always say, "I'm eating without you, and I won't come call you again." And she meant it. We usually rolled out of bed and joined her. If, for some reason, we did go back to sleep, she would show no sympathy - the next time she came into your room, she'd have the vacuum cleaner with her - vacuuming around and under the bed and using the hose to get behind the bed and in all the corners. And she'd be talking loudly, naming the things that needed to be done. There was really no use trying to sleep in.
I'm thankful for the good things I learned from my mom, but I'm not the rigorous cleaner that she is - mostly by choice - but I do feel a genetic tug to clean just like her.
Today, I had planned to clean out a spare room and large closet. It's 7:26 pm, and I'm just now getting around to that. My mom actually called me today. While we were chatting, she asked me what Abbie was doing. I said, "she's just running around the house, still wearing her pajamas at 11:30 am."
And my mom said, "Well, let her!" I just thought it was a super funny reaction to our level of laziness on Saturdays.
And to be fair to my mom, she did let me watch some cartoons every Saturday. It wasn't all work and no play! Love ya, Mom!

Dave's View

I like Dave's view on the bailout and the state of our economy.

Born to Ride

It's really too bad that I don't have a photo to go with this post.

Today, I went to visit my dad. Before I went to his house, I took a little drive down a side road - a little drive down memory lane.

My dad lives in the country. There are lots of fields, pastures, barns, trailers, farm houses, horses, cows, dead opossums, back roads, more fields, hills, woods, and more barns.

The little side road that I took runs by my dad's house, and after a few turns, you come to the road where 2 of my aunt's homes are. This road has several houses and farms on it, but they are far apart from each other. It is not a heavily traveled road, and it is rock - as in, not paved.

On this road, I learned that I was born to ride!

When I was in middle school, my dad bought me a small motorcycle. Some of my very, very best memories are of riding this motorcycle.

I was only allowed to ride on the rock road. I would ride several miles in one direction and then back to my dad's house and then I'd turn around and do it all over again.

As soon as I would arrive at my dad's house for the weekend, I would get on the motorcycle and ride. I also did not have a helmet!!! Repeat - I did not wear a helmet and no one seemed to have a problem with it...... Oh, how I loved the wind blowing in my hair. I loved the freedom and the scenery and the independence. I can't remember what I thought about all that time I spent on the bike. Sometimes I sang out loud. I'm not a good singer, but it can be fun to belt out a song when no one else can hear you.

Sometimes, the rides were exciting. A few times, I came upon a black snake in the road. There was no time to go around it so I would have to ride over it, but I distinctly remember holding my legs straight out at the sides in case it decided to strike at me.

There was also a man who owned a german shepherd, and this dog liked to chase cars including little girls on motorcycles. I'm not really sure how I never got mauled or how I was able to outrun the dog. I always said a little prayer and hoped it wouldn't be out when I went by.

I never wrecked, and I never got tired of riding. I wish I could remember when or why I eventually "out grew" it. And I really wish I had a picture of me and my motorcycle.

My mom told me the following story, but I need to give the back story.
My mom and step dad attended a small church, and I had never been able to make friends there. I didn't go to school with any of the kids my age - I was the only one who attended a city school which made me different. And I was very quiet and shy which the other kids took as "snobby." One day, one of the girls asked my mom why I was not at church that day. My mom said, "She's at her dad's house this weekend. She's probably riding her motorcycle."
After that, the other kids started talking to me! :)

What Would You Do If....

What would you do if you were gloved up to the elbows - one hand holding and scrubbing with the toilet brush - one hand holding a clean hanky over your nose & mouth - meticulously cleaning the toilet when, suddenly, someone came along and sat down on the toilet while you were doing the chore?
Actually, I don't wear gloves or cover my nose/mouth with a hanky when I clean the toilet. Someone, somewhere probably does {which is a-okay}. And for the record, a comma seemed necessary around the "when suddenly" comment, but I wasn't sure where it was needed. And of course, I needed the dashes - they are my trademark!
Okay, so no one interrupted me while I cleaned the toilet today.
But everytime I scoop the litterbox, the kittens (both of them) get keenly interested and realize they have "to go" right that minute!
Of course, I don't stop them. You never want to interfere with a cat using the privy - that could lead to bad consequences. So I have to be patient - sort of - and divert my attention elsewhere in an attempt to give them privacy. But I am impatient so when they are finished, I cover up the stuff for them and then scoop it out. While I am gloved and masked.

Other Things I Like about Fall

Drinking a hot Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks - yum

Watching the geese fly in a V formation (I still know the words to a song about this from an old Kindermusic class - probably the only song I remember)

Seeing the dew rise up steamy above the fields as we drive to school early in the morning

It's football time in Tennessee! (you have to say that in a commanding announcer voice)

Going to Fall Festivals - my church had one last weekend and the bake sale is always our first stop. One lady makes an amazing butterscotch pie - I could eat the whole thing by myself.

Abbie loves to stir apple butter. My church makes it every year and sells it at the fall festival. We missed apple butter making day this year, but they were doing another pot outside at the fall festival. Abbie walked up to the man and asked to help stir (I'll describe this a little later). He was worried she would get burned, but Abbie just grabbed the stick behind his hand and started helping - he didn't get any say-so! I told Abbie that as soon as she finished, she could go get in the air bounce and see the magician. Well......about an hour later, we were still standing there watching her stir!

Getting out the comfy, cozy pajamas and wearing them around the house (as soon as I get home for the day and know I'm not going back out)

Driving with the windows down (as much as I want to do this in the summer, I usually can't go without the air conditioning for long)

Going to Biltmore House (we haven't done this in a while, maybe I can talk Mr. Stay-At-Home into it)

Ridin' the Creeper Trail

Making apple butter - if I've described this before, just skip on by. At church, they build a small fire on the grass and then set a big black kettle or pot over it (it sits in a 3 legged holder). The outside of the pot is black but the inside is copper (I think). When you cook apple butter or peach butter over the fire like this, you've got to keep it boiling. So you have to keep the fire hot enough to get the stuff to boil but not too hot or else it bubbles and splashes out of the pot and makes a big mess, and you will get burned. A small bit actually popped out and hit me right under the eye! A little scary. As the apple butter boils, you have to stir it constantly or it will burn and stick to the bottom of the kettle. To stir it, you have to use a long wooden pole with a paddle attached to the end. The paddle is long enough to touch the bottom of the kettle so that you can scrap the bottom of the pot as you stir. The pole attached to the paddle is long so that you stand far enough away from the fire and the bubbling brew. You basically stir by pulling your arms in a back and forth motion. You really need lots of help so that you can take turns stirring with someone because your arms get really tired! But not Abbie's arms, she could stir all day long.

Happy Fall Y'All

That's a little folksy saying that you see around town this time of year. Our weather has gotten cooler, leaves are turning and falling, and the weather is mostly perfect. We're not wearing shorts much anymore, and we need jackets in the morning and some evenings.
We bought some additional mums for some pretty fall color. We haven't bought pumpkins yet - we'll probably do that closer to halloween. Maybe we'll go to the corn maze/pumpkin patch again.
Unfortunately, we'll have to start raking soon (or pay someone to do it). I always feel guilty if our leaves blow into the neighbor's yard. Luckily, the weather is nice enough that we won't sweat to death if we work outside.
I told Abbie this morning that we'd probably start seeing the wild turkeys in the corn fields soon. Maybe even some deer.
I've decided to dress up with Abbie this year for Halloween. She's going to be a black cat, and I am going to be a witch. I really like the hat that I got!

The check was in the mail

Today, I did get a response from Kraft (see the post before this one).
It was mostly a form letter, but they did enclose two checks (coupons) for 2 free boxes of macaroni.
That offer was nice, but I wasn't really looking for reimbursement. I just want Kraft to figure out what the problem was because we can't go without our beloved macaroni & cheese (our guilty pleasure).

Communication

Recently, I sent 4 emails to strangers.

I sent an email to Kraft to tell them that a box of macaroni and cheese (that I recently bought and made) tasted rancid. We checked our milk to make sure that wasn't the problem - it wasn't.

Then I sent an email to each of my state senators and to my state representative to tell them my viewpoint on the bailout bill.

4 emails sent = 1 reply

Can you guess who emailed a reply to me?

It wasn't Kraft! :)

My state representative sent me a nice detailed letter explaining his "no" vote, and I appreciated getting a reply.