It’s funny how people from Southern California talk about the weather. We don’t have seasons but we expect this time of the year to be below 105. I mean, is that too much to ask? We ALWAYS have a heat blast in October but never this bad. The winds and heat have turned all brush into tinder. Not good.
I feel like it’s affected everyone’s decision to not decorate for Halloween. I don’t know how much candy to buy now. Will we get the same numbers when our neighborhood is practically void of decor? Probably not.
Right Now:
I am recovering from a busy week. My body is rebelling by allowing me to feel every ache and pain. I feel like I fell out of a window.
This Week:
I am taking Halloween off which makes it an extra special day. I am going to cook and make snacks and then my daughter and her friend will go trick-or-treating and my husband and I will hand out candy with the dog. Sometimes, he goes with her but she is getting to be the age where a chaperone is frowned upon. My son has to work Fright Fest that night.
The volleyball season is over and the banquet is this Thursday. I can’t believe how fast it went. It was SO enjoyable for all of us. Great kids, great parents and we love the coaches. We could not have asked for a better season.
Reading:
I am finally into Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. I started it once before but got distracted by other things. It’s reminding me of Did You Ever Have a Family.
I am also reading Lab Girl by Hope Jahren for book club. It was my pick so I am supposed to lead the discussion but it’s the same night as the volleyball banquet so I will not be there for it. Bummer. I was looking forward to it.
Watching:
I’m about to breakout Halloween.
Making:
These days I have to go for easy so anything that can be cooked in one pan is good. I could live on stir frys but my family gets tired of them. I love the idea of just cooking everything in a wok.
So, we’ve had sandwiches a couple times this past week. Chicken veggie soup that we served over rice. Pizza. Gluten free corn dogs! I know. It sounds so wrong. For Halloween I am making rigatoni and meatballs. The Girl’s request.
Grateful for:
The ladies in my life group.
If you had asked me two years ago to join a life group, I would have said no. I was too busy and I didn’t know enough about the Bible to discuss it. Plus, I couldn’t see myself with a group of women on a regular basis. I am too tired at the end of the day and just want to crash. I still feel all those things and yet I am now in a life group and could not imagine life without one.
Support. Study. Great meals and conversation. Accountability. I am grateful for all of it.
Your turn:
I leave you with this, what is your favorite movie to watch as Halloween approaches? Mine is Halloween. The classic with Jamie Lee Curtis.
Book Chatter 
Your week sounds so busy…as usual…I am sorry that your body hurts.
I don’t really watch any Halloween movies…in fact…I think I avoid them!
Our weather went from summer to winter in the blink of an eye. The high today is supposed to be 53, which is January temperatures.
I’m sorry you’re hurting and hope you get to rest up today.
These things only happen to me but somehow I managed to take a spike right to the face while at the volleyball tournament. I think the average person would not have blinked but it hit me right in the jaw which made me neck hurt all over again and I just got cortisone shots! At least today my teeth are lined up again!
No Halloween movies for me! I love fall but I only like Halloween stuff if it’s cutesy Disneyland-level. I’ve never been a fan of horror movies. I am super-enjoying our first fall in the Pacific Northwest! We moved from Irvine, CA in February. The husband is in heaven. I’m pretty happy too, but I didn’t have the undying hatred for CA that he has. Anything over 65 is no good for him. I hope you get some rest! It sounds like your body is insisting upon it!
We seriously considered moving to Hillsboro or Lake Oswego, Oregon a few years back. I love that region and although we are okay with California it’s starting to bug me. Too hot. Too crowded and we’ve done everything in So Cal. No new places to visit which is a drag as we like to discover new things.
I like scary Halloween but also Disney Halloween. Right under our scary bat, we have Mickey!
Even down to one kid in activities, your schedule still exhausts me from afar! As much as I love summer, I hate when it hits temps in the 100’s; I can’t imagine still having them in October! It would be hard to get in the Halloween spirit when it feels like the peak of summer. Of course, I can’t imagine being in the spirit of Halloween without leaves changing colors, temps being cool, and spider webs appearing every where naturally!
Today it drizzled. That is my big news for the week! LOL. A little cooler. I hope it stays that way for Halloween.
We are always busy but so much of it is volunteering and I would hate to give that up because even though it has me running around sometimes, I always feel good afterward. My husband volunteers with me now so we get some good quality time there. Now, to get the other two to join me. Sometimes they do.
105 degrees? That is a NIGHTMARE. You have all my sympathies. Even Louisiana has taken a break from ridiculous temperatures this week, good Lord.
Practical Magic is my favorite Halloween movie! I need to double-check that it’s still on Netflix and I can still watch it this year. With margaritas, possibly.
I’ve never seen Practical Magic!
I’m sorry your body is aching so badly – that really rots. My fingers are crossed you feel better soon. That heat sounds unbearable. We actually got a cold front down here in So FL this week and it was nice to not have the sun glaring down on me for once. Of course it was short lived and then we had a tropical storm – ugh. I still can’t believe Halloween isn’t already over – seems like everywhere I look its Christmas. I plan on watching Halloween (my fave!) on Halloween and eating pizza with my sister – its our tradition and I am looking forward to it. That’s so great you have the day off – enjoy it 🙂 I hope you have a great week! By the by, did you watch TWD last week. I’m not sure I’ll get to see it tonight. What did you think? I have to admit that it was a bit lackluster – not as exciting as I had imagined it would be for a premiere.
Last week’s WD episode was kind of ridiculous. All those opportunities to shoot Negan but nope. This week’s episode is choppy but much better. SO many hints dropped. I haven’t started Stranger Things yet but my daughter did.
Pizza and Halloween sounds perfect. I introduced The Girl to Halloween but after 12 hours of volleyball she conked out when Michael was coming after Laurie!
Oh yes, I remember Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween; wow it scared me to death back when it came out. Still a Classic for sure. And glad to hear the Girl’s volleyball season was such a great success: Terrific. I just got back from SoCal and I almost burned up out there; wow it was hot! (I posted on my blog about the heat there as well. It was crazy for this late in the season.) I hope it cools off there. I’ll be getting to the Little Fires book — so i’ll be interested to hear what you think of it. Enjoy your Halloween night.
It drizzled this morning which I almost kissed the ground over. I am stuck in a windowless office but I heard it’s very cook and nice out. I bet you did burn up when you visited! It was crazy hot.
Favorite movie – HOKUS POKUS always cracks me up.
Did you read Did You Ever Have a Family?? I read it about 6 months ago. It was supposed to be my bookclub pick but no one would give it a chace. I was so moved by it – thought that while it was a tragic story it had a such a beautiful end – and what a study on how people deal with grief differently. I just quit my bookclub – in hindsight I’m sure that book had a bit to do with it. It was a bit awkward of a quit since I started the club. Everyone is friends though, and I think I bowed out gracefully. It was just getting annoying to me….many didn’t read or complete the books and the discussions were rarely insightful or deep. So I figured what a waste of my time. I get more out of your blog then I ever did in book club :)))) So keep recommending and I’ll do the same. Lab Girl is big on my to read list. As is Celeste Ng’s books.
PS – these are the busiest, best, craziest, scary times to have kids their age. Remember the car is still the best place to get information so drive them as much as you can. You”re totally supposed to ache and be tired and stressed. But at the same time enjoy every second of it – the good, the bad, and the crazy. Before you know it they will be in college!!! It just moves sooo fast.
Terry, first off, thanks for the compliment. It’s hard when a book club does not work out. Especially when it’s your own! I have to have a good discussion or it would be a total waste of time for me. I can discuss many different kinds of books though and I don’t have to like a book in order to discuss it. Some readers consider it a big fail if they didn’t like a book and just don’t want to talk about it or even finish it, sometimes. I did read and review Did You Ever Have a Family and some in the group said did not like it but some did very much. I loved it. https://bookchatter.net/2017/02/06/review-did-you-ever-have-a-family/
I recorded Hocus Pokus to see tomorrow. I watched some of it last year but didn’t get to watch all of it. It looks fun!
I know Holly is not going to go out to trick-or-treat tomorrow, and we never get any kids. So tomorrow will be low-key. Hopefully, we will get the chance to watch another episode or two of Stranger Things. At least we get to stay warm; it is supposed to drop down to 28 degrees tomorrow night!
My son has to work Halloween and we still haven’t carved the pumpkins because you really can’t when it’s so warm without them turning all fuzzy and caving in on themselves. But today it drizzled. No time tonight. We will be carving Halloween DAY.
Ouch. You feel like you fell out of the window…not good…and 105 degree heat with all the fire risk…equally not good. I hope you do have a bunch of kids because it’s always fun to see the kids in costume.
We’ve had busy weeks for months now. I can’t imagine what relaxation looks like at this point.
We finally carved the pumpkin this weekend and made pumpkin seeds — this year my daughter was adventurous enough to try them…and lo and behold she loves them!
My husband is on the Stranger Things kick, finishing up season 1 this weekend. We’re moving on to Season 2 now! Thank goodness….lol I find the 80s theme a bit heavy, but that’s ok.
Favorite Halloween movie with my daughter is The Nightmare Before Christmas, but just adult time is spent with the Shining (of course) and Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween (My husband loves that one).
We introduced The Girl to Halloween this weekend but after 12 hours of volleyball she fell asleep right when it was getting good.
I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying Little Fires Everywhere… hoping to get to the top of the library list soon. As for Halloween movies, like Patty I avoid them. 105 is just ridiculous!!
I agree that those of us who live in SoCal love to talk weather. Last week was 100 and today was about 60. What the heck?! I hope you have a great Halloween night. I am dressed in black and orange, but we never get trick-or-treaters, it’s too dark (no street lights) and we don’t have sidewalks.
We had hundreds of kids. I bought half the candy I normally do because no one decorated and it looked like it was going to be a dud year but noooooo. I was wrong. Plus, for a school night they were still out past 9:30pm. We had to bring all the decorations in and unplug everything to go to bed!