5 things I love about fall . . .

I thought I would follow up with the fall theme this week:

1. Golden fallen leaves
2. Crisp sunny days
3. Apples, pumpkins, corn
4. Football
5. The smell of wood smoke on a cool clear evening
   

There's something in the air . . .

Today, was a very special day . . . it is the first day that it has really felt like fall to me.

The past weeks have unveiled fall-ish indicators: leaves changing, cooler nights, shorter days, school starting, etc. But today, today was a culmination of all things autumn.

The morning was cool and clear. The day was sunny and breezy. As I walked to my car at lunch the leaves rustled under my feet. And tonight, as I left work the air was cold and crisp with just a hint of wood smoke.

I wanted to come home and snuggle up in my cozy pjs with a cup of tea and a good book.

Apples and pumkins and hayrides, oh my!

Saturday we went to the Elegant Farmer, an apple orchard. We sampled some of the delicious wares, and took a hayride through the orchard and pumpkin patch.

[Unfortunately, the memory card in my camera only had capacity of 7 photos so my trip pictures are not prolific. However, they are appropriate.]

This is a section of the pumpkin patch. There were many, many more pumpkins.

It was a pleasant day. The weather was beautiful. We had a picnic lunch and took a pie home -- Caramel Apple Pie. Mmmm . . . it was very good.

Zoey the Chinchilla

Once upon a time in a happy little classroom in a city far away lived Zoey the Chinchilla.


Mrs. C. and her class loved Zoey. They fed her papaya treats and watched her play. One day, Mrs. C's friends from Iowa came to visit. Mrs. C introduced her friends to Zoey. They loved Zoey too. They fed her papaya treats and watched her play. The end.

Oh what a beautiful weekend!

This is the weekend I had.

Beautiful weather, extraordinary friends, & great fun. A friend and I went to Wisconsin this weekend to visit two of our friends from high school. We stayed the weekend with one of our friends near Lake Geneva.

This is where the lake is at:


View Larger Map

This weekend we had great weather so we were outside quite a bit. We walked often and this is the view from yesterday afternoon (the one time I actually brought my camera on our treks). But you'll have to take my word that I saw this view much of this weekend -- give or take a few boats.



More of my weekend to come . . .

5 things . . .

5 favorite kinds of pie:

1. Pumpkin (with whipped cream -- mmmm)
2. Lemon meringue
3. Black raspberry
4. Peach
5. Apple
   

Weekend project

Last weekend I was in a homemaker mood. I did some cleaning and straightening -- tossed some stuff (YEA!). I also dug out my sewing machine and finished making the blinds for my living room and dining room.

Notice in the picture below I have one beautiful blue shade and one disgusting white shade.

Tada!

I also made one for the picture window in my dining room.

Have you ever . . .

Have you ever thought I wish I was anywhere but here? Or, I don't know how I can possibly contribute anything the way I feel right now?

That was me tonight. I had a monstrous headache all evening and I didn't think that I could possibly be patient enough or attentive enough or simply enough.

It is amazing how God can be more than enough. I think last night will go down as one of my best Awana nights all year. All my kids passed sections without getting frustrated. In fact two of them asked if they could recite verses rather than play games -- I don't think that has ever happened to me before! The kids had a great time in game time. Council time went better than I expected.

I can honestly say at 6:45 p.m. I didn't think I would enjoy the evening -- I couldn't have been more wrong.

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. II Corinthians 12:9 (emphasis mine)

What a blessing!

The end is near . . .

One of the most enjoyable experiences in life is completing something. Graduating from high school after 12 years of learning. Graduating from college after 4 years of lectures, papers, and reading.

By the end of this week I will be completing a major project at work. One that has taken almost 2 years to accomplish. Less than a week . . . the anticipation is starting to bubble up inside.

I don't know about your brain but here's a little about mine

Our brains are amazing. They are made up of over 100 billion nerve cells. I don't know about you but that is hard for my 100 billion-celled brain to fathom.

Besides controlling all the body functions that keep us walking, talking, and breathing every day, our brains also interprets the world around us through our senses, lets us think, dream, & be the emotional creatures that we are.

The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. The frontal lobe of the cerebrum performs thought, learning and memory and the hippocampus is the short-term memory center. (I love that word! I'm going to try to work it into conversation -- just to see what people say!)

Which brings me to the reason for this brainiac post. Memory. I have committed (to myself) to memorizing Awana sections along with the kids in my group. My goal is two sections per week -- which is what we, as leaders, encourage the clubbers to memorize.

This means, as I only got my book this Sunday, I have 4 sections to complete this week . . . hmm . . . maybe I should re-think this.

Anyway, I have first three memorized pretty well -- and I think they will stay in my hippocampus (yea!) until Wednesday. It's the 4th section that is giving me fits.

God gave me this amazing brain the least I can do is use it.

(By the way, for more info on brain stuff check out this link.)

5 things . . .

5 of my favorite hymns:

1. Holy, Holy, Holy
2. For the Beauty of the Earth
3. Great Is Thy Faithfulness
4. It Is Well with My Soul
5. How Great Thou Art
   

Christmas is coming . . .

The geese are getting fat,
Please put a penny
In the old man's hat.

If you haven't got a penny,
A ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny,
Then God bless you.

Huh? What? Yes, I am already thinking about Christmas! I like to spread my gift getting out a few months ahead of time. It is less expensive that way. Plus it gives me extra time to make the gifts I plan on making.

I actually have a lot of gifts planned or chosen already. Yea!

And most importantly, I focus on the holiday for that many more months!

Recycling

I'm a fan of recycling. I think we were given the responsibility to protect the world around us and recycling is way for the average consumer to contribute to the conservation of our planet.

However, I have been dreading recycling lately.

This summer our town changed trash collecting companies. I really had no opinion about it -- nor did we as citizens really have a say ( I think the decision was made based on company bids). Anyway, we got all the information on trash and recycling pickup days. We got a "handy little sheet" on accepted recyclable materials.

And I continued to put my trash out at the curb on Wednesday nights for Thursday pick ups. Since I rarely have much garbage let alone recyclables I hadn't put out my recycle bin for a month or so.

During that month, I had been hearing murmurings and rumors of rejected recyclables. REJECTED. Rejected because they weren't bound correctly, not in the correct bin, because they were in a plastic bag or weren't in a plastic bag.

Now you have to understand, the previous trash collecting company basically gave us a list of items they would recycle. Each week we dumped them all in the bin. Each week the garbage men left the bin on the curb empty.

So you can understand my anxiousness. I consulted my "handy little sheet" religiously this week checking and double checking to make sure I had all the items properly bagged, bundled or otherwise disposed of.

Now I can only wait . . .

Update: WooHoo! They took everything . . . I have an empty bin once again.

Just the beginning . . .

It seems like only yesterday I was sprawled on the living room couch trying not to touch anything lest I absorb any heat the object I touched -- including the air surrounding me. Holding out until the last possible minute (before it felt as if I would spontaneously combust) before I turned on my air conditioning.

Now I am huddled on my couch in sweats trying to deny the fact that I really want to pull the quilt sitting next to my shoulder over me and cuddle under it until I start to sweat.

::sigh::

Fall is here. And I'm sure there will be some more warm days yet but the nights have gotten colder and the days are getting shorter. I no longer come home from work to see the sunset. I have to turn the lights on as I walk in the door or risk tripping over the cat (you don't want a cat angry with you -- I drives you crazy waiting for them to finish punishing you!).

I do like some things about fall:

• I like that it is the end of stifling hot, humid days.
• I like the smell of fallen leaves.
• And the sound they make when you walk through them.
• I like Thanksgiving - family and food.
• I like that we are that much closer to my favorite holiday -- Christmas!
• I like football season -- I don't paint my face blue (or purple or red) or have any weird rituals but I do like it.
• I like that the pounding bass from passing vehicles doesn't sound so loud -- as both our windows are now closed . . .
• This fall I like that I am taking a weekend to visit friends and a week to visit my brother (he is in FLORIDA -- bet I won't need a quilt there!)
• I like that Cleo is much more cuddly -- cats need warmth too!

This is just the beginning of my list and of fall . . . Happy Fall!

Something interesting . . .

I read something interesting today about a man named Job . . .

"Job wanted to die and be forgotten but instead God made sure his name and story would be remembered forever. Rather than give Job what he asked for, God gave future generations what they would need -- an inside look at the spiritual battle between God and Satan. The result is a God-inspired document about suffering that has comforted countless people.

When what we fear actually happens, we know, thanks to Job, that God can use it for good." Julie Ackerman Link

I thought that was encouraging . . . it's good to remember that God doesn't disregard our lives -- even when plans He has are not the plans we have.

5 things I loved about my day at work

1. The delight I saw on patrons faces when they discovered a book they didn't know they were dying to read.
2. Pleasant conversation.
3. Quietness.
4. Teenage boys who act like human beings and not wild animals.
5. Being immersed in books, books, books!
   

Okay, so I'm not a sports fanatic

It always amazes me how little I know about anything!

[I know, I know, you're thinking "But Chris, you know a lot of stuff." (Or maybe you're thinking -- "You really think a lot of yourself don't you?") Hah, I know how to pretend I know a lot of stuff. Which is a good skill to have until you actually need to know something. ]

Anyway, I know very little about sports. Yeah, I watch the obligatory Olympic games. I also occasionally catch a Mets game (my sister's boyfriend is a fan) or even a NASCAR race (my brother is a fan). But these are mostly viewed to reap conversational nuggets and I usually play them in the background while I read or clean or do various other activities. I have very little understanding of all the rules and idiosyncrasies of these sports. I have little hope of ever gleaning this information because there are very few knowledgeable people with the patience to answer my endless questions.

The one sport I do enjoy is football. Not to play -- I have absolutely no coordination -- but to watch. Purely spectator. I have enjoyed football since high school. That was the point in my life I began to know enough of the sport to enjoy it. Many, many years later I still have questions about aspects of the game.

If, after 10 or more years of learning about one sport -- football -- I still know so little about it, how much more time will I need to learn about: God, my family, my friends, my job, my life??

Kids . . . gotta love 'em!

What is it about kids? They seem to exude enthusiasm. It just flows out their pores. Do you even remember a time when you exuded enthusiasm? It seems eons ago for me. I could play nonstop for days running, jumping, etc. Now I seem to have to get myself a pep talk just to create a tenth of the enthusiasm I saw tonight.

Rare is the time that I interact with kids and don't smile. Smiling seems to pump up my enthusiasm factor (I wonder if that can be scientifically proven -- the ratio between smiling and enthusiasm -- hunh, anyway).

Tonight we had almost 50 kids (and some parents) between the ages of 5 and 12 at a church fair. It was kick off night for Awana. Wow, was it fun! I got to greet the smiling faces of many of the kids I got to know last year and meet some new ones. Plus I got to eat one of my favorite foods -- ice cream.

The event was to get the kids (and parents) excited for a new year -- I think I am more excited now than I was just three hours ago!

Hmm . . . this excitement may wane as the year goes on but I think there could be something to this theory of smiling creating enthusiasm -- I will have to work on it!

Recharged

There is nothing like a long weekend to recharge. I left the house exactly twice this weekend. Once to work for three hours on Saturday and once for church on Sunday. That's it . . . no more. It was so nice . . . like a mini vacation.

I slept in on Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Wow, I can't remember the last time I really slept in.

I made some twice baked potatoes (delicious), of which I am eating as leftovers. I cleaned a little -- but not too much. I read alot. Alot. I almost feel guilty I read so much. Almost, but not quite.

I went for a couple walks -- I'm not a total bum. It was so beautiful out.

It really was a great weekend. A recharge before all the activities begin this fall and start to fill up my schedule.

::sigh::

And back to my life . . .