October Birthdays

The October birthdays in my family include my twin sisters, a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law. We gathered for a visit and dinner out in Blanchester again, arriving a little early so the husband could go metal-detecting out where the old barn stood. (It was recently torn down and the lumber sold, so the site is gradually becoming overgrown.) I tagged along for the walk, enjoying the fields, the creek and the landscape in general. Very peaceful.

Fall Colors

It's finally starting to happen, just in the past week. The trees are starting to turn, with a little bit more color noticeable each passing day. We've had quite a bit of wind the last couple of days and that's taken quite a lot of leaves off many of the trees. I'm seeing big piles of leaves raked up to the curbs, a sure sign that leaf collection season has arrived in our community.

I'm so thankful we're not any further north - news of the renegade snowstorm in Buffalo was an unwanted reminder that Winter is creeping up on us. We've had a couple of early snowfalls in the past in Cincinnati, most notably on October 18, 1989 when I was pregnant with Kelly. I remember it well - similar to the Buffalo storm because all the leaves were still on the trees and the ice and snow created havoc for days. Let's hope we don't see any snow fly until December!

Fun With Talking Monkeys

This is a hilarious site - you can record your own voice and send a "talking" monk-e-mail, and you can dress your monkey in different outfits and use different scenes. Check it out: http://www.monk-e-mail.com/

More later - I have lots of pictures from Tall Stacks last weekend - we went down to the riverfront on Saturday evening after dark (brrr!) and again on Sunday morning - what a gorgeous day to view the boats! We parked on the Kentucky side both times and walked across the Suspension Bridge to Ohio. On Sunday we made the full circle, crossing over on the Suspension Bridge, walking the riverfront, then back across on another bridge, hiking through Newport back to the car. I haven't had that much fresh air and exercise in a very long time!

Homecoming Dance

Saturday dawned sunny and clear, a wonderful autumn day. Kelly and I dashed over to the salon at noon to have her hair done up, something we've never done before for a dance. (And after I paid the tab we may never do it again! Definitely another item under the heading of "What a racket.") Oh, what big hair you have, my dear!



She had to be verrry careful all afternoon until it was time for the next step .... makeup. This would include the obligatory eye-lash curling and mascara.

And finally the dress which we purchased weeks ago in anticipation of the dance ... voila! The finished product. She hates to smile for posed pictures, hence the very serious face.

When her friends picked her up at 6:30, she almost accidentally smiled as I took their picture! Off to dinner and the dance, and IHOP afterwards. She had a great time and took lots of her own pictures - and she was smiling in all of those - what's up with that?

Homecoming Weekend

A self portrait taken by Kelly from her new computer. Big kiss! It's Homecoming weekend and she's got a jam-packed schedule starting with the big football game tonight. It's going to be chilly - dress warmly everyone! Go Spartans!

Predictable

Some things in life are guaranteed to happen, day in and day out, week after week, season to season. Our lives are full of those predicable events. For instance, I always know the routine when I get home from work. I'm very much a creature of habit as are the dogs we live with. When I come in the door I like to check the mail, change into jeans, check voice mail, check on Kelly (if she's home) - and most importantly - go outside and throw the ball for Tango for a few minutes. While I toss the ball I usually wander around the deck and back yard checking on the gardens and various flower pots - water, trim, enjoy.

Tyson usually finds a cool shady spot to hang out, listening, watching, always on full alert in case something happens that he has to investigate.

Tandie keeps a low profile, sometimes sitting wistfully by the back fence dreaming of the days when she used to be able to climb it and escape (temporarily) for a romp through the neighborhood. Thank goodness those days are gone.

We're starting to feed the birds again so part of my ritual is refilling the feeders. The birds in our neighborhood are PIGS - they clean out the feeders daily. Lucky for them we're so indulgent and keep re-filling them.

Jumping For Joy

Now that the weather's cooling down we're feeling more like taking the dogs to the park again for walks along our favorite trail. They were absolutely mad with excitement when Chris leashed them up in the backyard on Sunday, yelping and barking and pulling. They knew where we were going!

The trees and foliage in the woods are still lush and green, though we're beginning to see signs of the autumn colors to come. Red and gold leaves are scattered here and there, and - ick - a little striped snake blending in with the dirt of the trail was in our path as well.

Birthdays Part 2

After our visit in Blanchester we dropped Mom off at home and went to party #2 of the day, for Josh who's now 17. We got there just in time for cake and ice cream, with the adults out on the deck and the kids (mostly) inside watching a movie. Abby came outside with some fun light-up toys that put on quite a light show as she waved them around in the dark.

After a while she asked if I wanted to see her rock collection; of course I did - Kelly used to have a fine rock collection, and I know I used to collect rocks when I was little ... so we went into the living room where she had her shells, stones, fossils and sea glass spread out.

Some of her shells and sea glass were from the beach, and she told me about how she digs underneath the deck to find rocks and fossils - she's quite the archeologist! She knows a lot about her collection and I'm glad she invited me to see it. A fine way to end our busy day!