And It's Almost November

For once I'm actually almost looking forward to Halloween.  It's never been (for me) even a remotely "liked" holiday, but this year it has felt like summer/fall with our warm and lovely weather for so long that I'm certain once that calendar turns over to November we'll have some cooler weather. (And of course, when I bought that bag of halloween candy I made sure to pick a variety that we like just in case there's leftovers.  I'm quite fond of leftovers.)

Me in the leaf pile.

So The Husband returned safely from CA.  It was lovely to see him at the door ready with a hug and a kiss.  I haven't wanted to leave his side ever since. We spent yesterday morning bagging up the leaves and pine needles in the backyard.  And it was great to be out there together.  Toward the end I was so out of energy that I just fell over into the pile, causing The Husband to chuckle in surprise when he turned around and saw me. (I made sure to fall forward so I wouldn't have any chance of getting any microscopic critters in my hair, that'd totally freak me out!)

Packing down the leaves.

9 full bags.

And those leaves / pine needles?  The 9 bags we filled were just the beginning.  The maples haven't dropped a single leaf it looks like.  And only one of the tri-color beeches has shed any leaves and the honeylocusts in the front are always the last to leaf out and the last to be leafless so we still have lots to do, if'n the weather cooperates.   And speaking of leaves?  Our grandson and daughter were out raking in the wind the other night.  They saved us hours of work.  How thoughtful and generous they were with their efforts.  The bad part of all those leaves?  They've filled all our freshly cleaned gutters  to overflowing.  The Husband wrangled the blower up on the tall ladder but we just aren't young enough to get up on the roof for the access we need.  I see another professional gutter cleaning in our future...

We finally got the driveway and patio concrete sealed.  It feels good to have that done and know we can now better weather the winter.  The storms held off just long enough for the crew to get the work done - yay!

Had our annual eye exams the other day.  My one cataract has grown substantially.  It's almost at the point where I'll have to have it removed.  And I'm nervous.  My vision is one sense that I truly cherish.  But the cataract interferes with my vision enough that it is a bit of a constant frustration.  So when it's time, I'll be ready.  The floaters are also annoying and they might be bad enough to have fixed when the cataract is removed, but I'm postponing that decision until I absolutely have to.  This aging process is not only frustrating, it's discouraging.  I'm not ready to be old.

And today was my last day for triple duty at church.  Another reason to be grateful for the beginning of November. Next week is Stake Conference and though the weekend will be overfilled with meetings, at least I'll have a bit of a break from my anxiety-filled Sunday School class.

I'm grateful for the storm coming through, we've had lovely weather, but I really enjoy a (mild) storm once in a while.  I'm grateful for getting projects done around here.  For extended family who sacrifice their time and comfort to help us with the yard work - my heart still warms when I think of how much that helped us.  I'm grateful for healing of blisters on the bottom of my toe so that I'll be able to walk in the morning. And for the safe return of The Husband - he is my whole life! I'm grateful for friends to do dinner and movie with that make the time enjoyable.  And I'm grateful for loyalty.