A little catch up...or ketchup

The summer flew,
Now it's fall,


And there should be a poem or ditty or limerick in there. I haven't got it quite in me. Feel free to finish it on your own.

We had a great summer.  I did, anyway.  We had a new grandbaby --baby Rachel--toward the end. That was wonderful.  She is SOOOO cute!  She will be blessed this coming Sunday, November 2.

I got to visit with Mom and Donna at a Scrapbook retreat in September, too.  That was a lot of fun. AND, in week or so, I'm going to Georgia to visit with Mom and Dad again!  Mike is coming along for a few of those days, Mom and Donna and I will have an All Girls Weekend for a bit, then I'll go to conference (work-related) in Atlanta for a few days.  I'm looking forward to all aspects of that.

I thoroughly enjoyed our garden. I didn't really put up a lot of it. Hardly any, as a matter of fact.  We gave a lot away.  We had another bumper apple crop and I gave a LOT of those away, too (13 boxes). But I still seem to be "doing" apples.  A lot. (Just drying them) We have been covering up the tomato bushes, but now that it's practically November, I guess we'll give up on that this weekend since we'll be away.  And I'm kind of done with it all, anyway.  This was the first year we've juiced apples, and my-oh-my---What a treat!  yummy stuff.  Especially when heated and you add cinnamon.  Hot mulled apple cider, fresh off the tree. Nothin' better.

I've enjoyed my new kitchen floor.  Wish I could do better at keeping up with floors and dishes and the regular stuff that normal people seem to accomplish with little or no effort.  My sink is totally piled high right now, but I choose to sit and shop online (to support my daughter's jewelry party), and to catch up on my TV show I never get to watch.  I still can't ever seem to actually catch it on tv. "Once Upon a Time," in case anyone was interested.

I have not sat down to play the piano in forever.  I think I may have forgotten how.  I didn't hardly decorate for fall or Halloween at all.  Seems rather pointless with no grandkids around, doesn't it?  I have a few pumpkins out and about, and I took some treats in to work.  And I did take some of my decorations there, too, so it looks a little festive at work.

We had our first ever 17th ward halloween party/trunk or treat on Tuesday night.  I dressed as "Lindyana" Jones. ha!  One of the ward members called me that and I thought it was clever. No pictures, though.  I did get to hold a tiki torch, so that added some authenticity. I had a snake in my trunk and some old bones, too (really skeletal models from the library). I thought it was kind of cool and creepy looking. I can even still snap that bull whip!  CRRACKK!!  Too bad I felt so icky that night.  They had a great chili dinner and yummy desserts.  But I was just ill and fell into bed by nine-thirty that evening, just shivering and aching.  Ugh.  It passed quickly. Thankfully.

When Eric came for a brief visit in October, we went up on the mountain and took some gorgeous photos of fall leaves.  It was the perfect time of day and the perfect time of the year.  Just glorious. I do love fall, and we've had a wonderful one!

What else?  Mike has been so busy at work and outside of work. It's been a long time since he's taken on any outside jobs. I mean work other than the regular SWATC work.  There are just not enough hours in the day or days in the week to keep up with that much work.  Or energy in one's body, either.  We feel like we are aging.  We are.  So is everyone.  It stinks to age.  What they say about it not being for sissies is true.  Aging is tough.

I was reminiscing about "MY THREE SONS" earlier today.  I remember being with my three sons together last about 2 years ago when Nick got married.  All three were together in the temple with me. That was so nice. They were so silly, all together at the reception.  I remember taking a day off of work and going skiing with my three sons once.  Two of us skied and two snow boarded.  Man, that was a long time ago.  Those times are too few and far between. We need to do more of those, fellas!

My two gals and I were just together this summer. We attended the temple, too!  We even got to do family names.  And we've had such fun on AGW over the years. I miss those, too.  When are we going to have another one of those???