Fall is coming!

I'm not a huge fan of winter, but fall sure is nice. We've had the windows open and the air conditioning off for a week now, and today my husband and daughter picked the first pumpkin. She helped start the seed in April, and then helped put them in the ground in May. After checking on it several times a week for a few months, she got to pick a pumpkin. She is so proud of it. Of course I jumped at the chance to take a picture of my girlie with the fruit of her labor. There are about 6 or 8 more out there that will become jack-o-lanterns in October, provided no critters or hooligans wreak havoc upon them.


In no time at all it will be time to break out the flannel jammies and woolen socks. And then I'll start posting about how I wish it were summer. It's a neverending cycle of complaints, I tell ya!

Leftovers

One thing I did not forsee when my husband left the restaurant industry was that he would need to begin taking a lunch to work with him. That means that we need to have food for him to take. Now this represents a problem in two ways. One, we need to remember to get the lunch prepared the night before. Second, I now need to make enough food for dinner that there are leftovers for him to take. The alternative is for him to eat sandwiches at lunch every day. How boring is that? Now I dislike leftovers, as a rule, so in the 10 years of our marriage, I've learned to make just enough for the family to eat at the one sitting. My husband, who is happy to eat reheated, day-old food, has been eating at the restaurant: I never really had to think too much about his nutritional needs. So far, he's taken a salad each day.

This whole lunch-packing thing is going to be a learning experience, for sure.

New job starting today

My husband, after many months of searching, finally found a new job that is not in restaurant management. He started today, managing a warehouse crew. I'm sure he'll be super at it, although he's a bit worried. He's "not already an expert" at this, and that is new territory for him. He'll be done in about 3 hours. I cannot wait to find out how it went.

Lemme tell you about my friend

I have been a part of a couple of internet comunities since late 2002, when my daugher was a wee babe. I've gotten to "know" several women very well in that time. Some of them, just for fun, and some of them because of hard times. In particular, last year, one acquaintance was reeling from some pretty horrible medical news. She had recently found out that she had a genetic predisposition to cancer, and had unfortunately passed the gene on to two of her children.

One day, she had an acute need to talk to someone, so I gave her my yahoo IM name. We chatted a little. We didn't know each other very well at tthat point, but I knew she had a real need to vent about her situation. I don't know if it helped her, but after that, I felt like we were linked. There was now a bond with this woman. In the last year + since, she's had several surgeries, countless different drugs to try to help her cope with the side effects of said surgeries and cancer, as well as a move across the country. As if she doesn't have enough to do, she decided that homeshcooling was the best thing for her kids. I don't know where she gets the energy for all that.

We don't talk much anymore-- she's too busy with life to 'hang out' on inane internet message boards, but I read her blog when I have a chance. And I wish that she lived close enough that I could hug her and make it all easier for her. But I'll have to settle for knowing her online, and drawing strength from her humor and fortitude in the face of a all sorts of crap.

And she's a better writer than I. ;)

How does my garden grow...

While I've been indoors during the heat wave, my veggie garden has been busy. Unfortunately so have the weeds. BUT, I have some tomatoes, and yummy peppers to show for it all. There are teeny jalapenos out there too, not yet ready for picking. And with a little luck, Nora and Nigel will have home-grown jack-o-lanterns this year.

Next year, I hope to have a much larger garden. If I get really ambitious, I might grow all sorts of things, and learn how to put them up in the fall. Grandma Bug will be so proud of me.

It's not 99 degrees today!!!

After we got back from vacation, the nasty stomach flu made ts way through our humble home. Once we all felt better, it was hot that no sane human would go outside. Unless there was free food involved, of course. So finally, FINALLY, everyone is healthy and it is only 76 degrees out. It's supposed to rain again this afternoon, though, so I better get some clothes on the kids and go for that walk before we lose our window of opportunity.