We are halfway through October and only a few houses have Halloween decorations up. Normally ours are up, but my son usually has a hand in it and this year he is busy with Fright Fest on the weekends so he hasn’t been able to put them up. For three days a week he dons this make-up and scares people all night long. Fun, huh?
Right Now:
Not a lot going on at the moment. I tried to sleep in a little but coffee was calling.
This Week:
Volleyball games, rehearsal, etc. You guys know the drill. I am seeing my physical medicine doc for my three-month check and every time the appointment comes up I think I am okay and don’t need to go anymore but then the other day, while trying to fix the ceiling after the AC leaked, my severe neck/jaw pain came back so I will welcome the cortisone shot this Friday, for sure.
Reading:
I am at the halfway point with Sleeping Beauties and it’s really getting good although I felt like it took many chapters to get there.
I’m about to begin my book club pick for next month, Lab Girl.
Watching:
American Horror Story is very good this season. Although some parts of the story are very predictable, other parts surprise me. I’ve got a lot of friends watching it too so it’s fun to talk about the show afterward.
The season finale of Fear the Walking Dead is this weekend. The producers of The Walking Dead announced that there will be a crossover between the two shows. I expected as much but the characters and story line are all over the place in Fear so I wonder how it will work.
As for movies, I had a day off so I watched:
- Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (love Doris Day!)
- Rope (love Hitchcock!)
If you are a fan of Charlie Brown, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airs on 10/19 on ABC. Record it!
Making:
I hit Trader Joe’s last weekend and bought all kinds of things for us to eat so the family has had Gyoza dumplings, Orange Chicken and I had some Chicken in Coconut sauce with rice. I also bought some risotto and pasta fixings.
I like to cook from scratch but the kids are old enough and their schedules are all over the place so Trader Joe’s works for me (at the moment). In a few minutes they can put something together and not have to resort to cereal.
Grateful for:
Days off. It seems obvious but this past week I took a day off and it was glorious. I cleaned and cooked and read and watched movies and was still able to catch The Girl’s volleyball game. I love to have a clean house and unfortunately, with both of us working full-time my house is never as clean as I want it to be.
It’s still warm here in Southern California but what have you done to celebrate fall so far?
Book Chatter 
Unfortunately it really hasn’t felt like fall here weather-wise so not really in a fall mood. We didn’t even get apple cider. Leaves are pretty much gone too. 😦 So yeah, nothing to celebrate fall.
I’m sure the weather has plenty to do with the lack of decorations in my neighborhood. But the recent events, the shooting, the fires, the unrest all around, play a role too. I think this might be a bad year for retail. I don’t expect tons of people to be out buying up the place with all that is currently going on in our country.
I have pumpkins everywhere…I love them so much and I wasn’t really feeling it last year! I love Trader Joe’s for the kinds of stuff you mentioned. I am so glad you had a great day off…mostly just for you!
We can’t buy pumpkins here until a few days before Halloween or they go bad. Simply too warm here.
OMG, is that really your son??! LOL! I’m a big fan of The Great Pumpkin, so will be sure to watch this week. Weather has been unseasonably warm here.. probably the nicest weather we’ve had all summer. So strange.
Yep. Every weekend his makeup changes a little. This past weekend he was more bloody than usual. He wears glasses so performing without them has been interesting. He really likes his makeup artist because she tries new things.
Going trick or treating with the grandkids. It’s become a tradition. Cape Coral is a great neighborhood for it. Hope you are far from the awful fires. We can not believe the devastation. Catastrophe everywhere these days.
When my kids were little, my husband always took them door to door and I handed out the candy. We still do this to a degree. My daughter goes with her friends, my husband follows, sometimes with the dog and I hand out candy. We have loads of trick or treaters so not handing out candy is not really an option. We literally have large vans drop kids off right in front of our house.
Yes, terrible fire damage here. Just put away the evacuation bags and belongings. Halloween decorations are few, which is fine by me–I’ve never been a fan. But this year, Halloween seems in poor taste. We do not need any more frightening images in Napa and Sonoma.
Jean, I am so glad that you are safe. I found out that the mother of a high school friend of mine passed in the fire, while sheltering in a pool with her husband. It’s heartbreaking.
Our neighborhood is really decorated for Halloween but we don’t have anything up and I’m not sure it’ll happen. Carl is out of town now and then I leave when he gets back.
It’s been hot here but it’s supposed to cool off this week.
According to the weather forecast, we are expected to get rain on Friday. I hope so because everything is so dry because of these winds we’ve had.
Our decorations are finally up. Let’s see who else joins us. So far only a few houses and that is no like our neighborhood at all.
One of my book club gals has been trying to talk me into putting Lab Girl on the list (and Hope Jahren was even the speaker at the annual library fundraiser), but I haven’t known whether or not it would make a good choice. Looking forward to hearing what you think of it.
You know me, I am not a big fan of non fiction and memoir is not my thing but this book sounds like maybe it’s good enough for me to overlook the fact that it’s a memoir. I mean, science! Gah! I love science.
It certainly doesn’t feel like fall yet, does it! My brother and 2 nieces are coming into town from the UK on Friday and I think they are going to get some glorious weather.
Exactly. The weather IS nice but not fall-ish at all. We did get the decorations up but my husband complained the entire time!
We don’t have our Halloween decorations out either. I have been gone the last two weekends, have guests this weekend and will be out of town the weekend before Halloween. I do have the autumn decor out though, so I feel half prepared. I am a little bummed because I do love decorating for Halloween, but I just can’t find the time or energy and it seems futile when I am barely home to enjoy them.
I wish we had a Trader Joe’s by our house. I think I would partake of their prepared foods often too for the same reasons you do. This week, I want to try making dinners but wonder if I will be too tired to muster the energy to chop and slice and sear and bake in the evenings.
A day off sounds wonderful. I was telling someone else that the only day off I have planned requires me to drive 7-8 hours for a dance competition. From now until February, this is my busy season. I can take some time off, but my a-hole boss frowns on it and will give me grief for doing so. It sucks, and I question why I ever thought this was the field for me.
I hope all goes well at your physical! I will be chanting “no problems for Ti” all week in hopes that good vibes will mean a clean bill of health for you (or as healthy as can be).
I’ll take those chants… this appt is just for me to get my cortisone shot which always leaves me feeling pretty good. But one never knows. It is only Monday. LOL.
Our decorations are now up but I noticed the Hub did not put them all up. I think he was done with it once the Dodger game started.
Why did you go into accounting? Doesn’t seem like it’s your field.
The world of finance was one of the few places I could find work after college (I decided almost immediately after graduating with an education degree that I had no desire to be a teacher) and when we were moving around so often when Jim was in the military. After ten years in some sort of finance-related job, I figured I might as well make it official because it would be difficult to switch to something else without experience. Plus, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. For as often as I dream about quitting accounting indefinitely, I still have no idea what I want to do with my life.
I don’t mind the field so much as I detest the unwritten rule that I cannot take a vacation during month-end, year-end, or budget season. I don’t like budget season either because budgets in the business world are too open-ended and hypothetical. Plus, no one takes them seriously. I like reporting though and love how everything has to balance. It soothes my OCD when that happens.
I love It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and try to watch it every year.
Your son looks bona fide!
we’re too busy to get decorations up…i’m just hoping to have fun with my daughter trick-or-treating.
I hope you have a good time. What is she dressing up as this year?
Hi Ti, how on earth will they do a crossover between the two WD shows? Do you get cortisone shots often? I have recently gotten one to my left knee and it seems to have helped. I’ll be going to So Cal on Sunday to visit my folks for the week — so I hope the weather stays nice, and the natural disasters keep away ….
Are you still in So Cal now? It’s supposed to be 104 by me. Unreal!
I have been getting cortisone shots in my neck and shoulder for about 9 months now. At first I had to get three shots every 3 months. At my last appointment I only got one shot. You can’t do them long term apparently as it causes some damage. The shots last me about 6 weeks-2 months. I am healing and each time I am a little better but I was painting the ceiling and screwed my neck up again so I needed this last shot. I think I am maxed out on them now. The only issue I have is that they often make you feel great which then has you doing things you should not do.
Your son’s zombie makeup is awesome!