Hello, everyone! It goes without saying and yet I say it anyway but the year is almost over! This is my absolute favorite time of the year but there is this underlying weirdness that keeps me from reveling in the goodness. Anyone else feel that way? I try to distract myself with reading lists and even movie lists. I think part of it is my lack of physical activity. Those long walks kept me sane and they are non-existent right now. I am back to taking short walks though. The Pup is super bossy though and once we are out just keeps going!

The photo above was taken at a local diner. There are two very well known diners where I live that have been in many movies and for whatever reason we’ve never gone to them so the past two weekends we had breakfast out and tried them out. We loved both of them. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day! Now I need to find another diner to try.

Today, I am supposed to be in the office but my doc called me in for some kidney testing so I am doing that and working from home. I hope the scans go well because I really do not want a repeat of what I went through last February.  Due to Veterans Day I have Friday off so it will be kind of a weird work week but I am grateful to have the flexibility.

I finally picked up the new King book, Fairy Tale. It’s starting off very strong. King is always such a good story teller. He pulls me right in, every time. At some point I will be reading it with The Essex Serpent which is my book club book.

My review of Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet posts this Friday. It was very good.

That’s all I have. Let me know how you are doing!

Another Halloween in the books and this year. the kids were OUT! Didn’t matter that it was a school night. We had at least 300 trick or treaters. This is very close to our pre-pandemic numbers. It was so sweet to see families out and about again. Everyone was in good spirits. I made vegan chili and we tested out our new Solo Stove and had a little bonfire time. My friend came over and The Pup got to hang with us too.

If you look carefully at the pic above, you can see a tiny bit of fall color but that’s pretty much it. We have a few trees in my neighborhood that put on a show but only for a day or two. I’ve been enjoying the pics of Missouri as my daughter walks across campus.

A few weeks ago when I went to the doc for my knees, my blood pressure was extremely high. I mean, I was in a lot of pain and even the doc said it was to be expected but now I have to go for follow-ups because my family history is a perfect storm for a stroke and my doc is concerned. In my mind this is just one more thing but probably important. I just don’t do well with appointments these days. Truth be told, I’ve not been feeling great.

Weekend plans. None. We have the time change this weekend. Hope it’s the last. We voted to end it years ago and yet here we are again. I do not mind fall back but absolutely cannot deal with spring forward. It really messes me up!

My reading has been good and I want it to stay that way. I am very behind with my reading goal for the year. Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet is very good so far. I still need to write up a review this week for The IT Girl but then I will be caught up on reviews.

That’s all I have. Let me know how you are doing!