Nov 4

I’ve had a really hard time staying on task today. I voted about 2 weeks ago. I dropped my ballot in the box and a few days later got the email that my ballot was received and counted. I love doing it that way when I can do it on my time and be done with it. 

Waking up this morning to the news that so many seats had been flipped was absolutely wonderful. I’ve been distracted all day but also so happy. Even in my deeply republican state, the democrats got a few seats. Enough to break the super majority. Now, I know that almost every midterm election swings the other way. I know that it's going to be an uphill battle for things to change. I know that in 10 more years things will still be swinging back and forth. What I am hopeful for is that unchecked power will be checked. That policies can eventually change. I’m hopeful that even as things swing back and forth, maybe things can still be inching towards fair and equal for all. I’m hopeful for the diversity that's happening in the elected officials all over the country.

Nothing has actually changed yet, but I can definitely celebrate for today.

Happy Halloween!

We’ve had some nice rain lately. Last night the family finally got together to celebrate Mom and Dad’s birthdays and eat at Maddox. I drove up in the rain and loved it. Dinner was nice. I planned out my day so that I did my grocery shopping on my lunch break, and then after dinner, I stopped at Target on my way home. The plan had been to just stay home today and get cozy. 

This morning I was doing a little clean up around my house, including taking in some of my flower garden things and I decided it was such a nice day. So I texted my sister and we met up at the parkway for a walk. We both thought it would be a quick one. It’s fairly cloudy and another storm is supposed to come in tonight. But it was so nice! It’s not terribly cold and the wind wasn’t blowing. Sun would peek through the clouds once in a while. We made it from Rainbow Gardens to the playground at Big Dee. While the kids were playing, my sister and I did the loop around the field. I’m quite proud of myself for getting up that hill and still being able to talk. I was still puffing, but I could feel my legs just going up and they are definitely getting stronger because of water aerobics. 

Anyway, the autumn leaves and the sound of the river and the smell of the pine trees after rain…. It was such a wonderful time to be outside and a nice way to say goodbye to October. We were gone for at least 1.5 hours. The rain is supposed to hold off until after trick or treating, but I guess we’ll see. The sun is still in and out of the clouds. 

Now I’m definitely in for the day. I’m making sour cream chicken enchiladas for dinner and I have a piece of Maddox chocolate cream pie for dessert. Then soup and biscuits for tomorrow. I might even make up some muffins in the morning. Or maybe scones. It’s supposed to rain all day and I’m looking forward to it. 

Looking to Winter

My drive to work this morning was lovely. I was late, as usual, but the full moon was so bright and then there were patches of fog in the fields along the freeway. I so love this time of year. 

I recently read a book called How to Winter and it had suggestions for loving the season. I already do love it, but want to try a few new things this year. The author suggested using the time change for the start of winter, since the actual winter solstice is well into the season and I like that idea. She also suggested planning a daylight savings celebration in an effort to embrace it, rather than complain about the darkness. It will be the off Sunday from family dinner so I think I’ll just plan a nice meal of soup or other comfort food and eat it on my nice china. 

The book also suggested listing out 5 things I’m looking forward to about the winter season so here I go:

1. Snow. I know I have no control over this one, but I am really hoping for a few good snow storms that I can enjoy. 

2. Holidays. The holidays are different now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be good. I try to make an effort to make them enjoyable, even if they are bittersweet. My birthday is also in winter so that’s fun to celebrate as well.

3. Crunching leaves. My trees still haven’t lost many leaves and they are still turning. Sometime in the next few weeks, I’m going to go on a walk just to crunch leaves.

4. Good food. I’m already deep into soup season, but I also have other dishes I want to make that are just delicious and comforting.

5. Dark and sun. I am really going to try and embrace the dark and cozy and try to rest through the season. And by rest, I mean take time to do restful, restorative things. On the flip side of that, I want to make sure I do enjoy the winter sun because I’m often in my windowless office and don’t see a lot of it. 

 

Fall Break

I had a nice fall break with my sister and the twins. We left on Thursday and drove to Vernal. Our first stop was in Heber to eat lunch at a park. Then we drove on to Vernal and checked into our hotel. We wandered around town the first night. There is an indie bookstore, Billie's Books, in Vernal, although when we got there we saw that it is not it's own store. It's a small section of what is basically a gift shop. They did have a handful of books I already own so I think their selection was decent, and it's another one crossed off the list. 

On Friday we drove over to the Dinosaur National Monument and spent some hours there looking at the quarry, but also petroglyphs, and the Josie Morris cabin. I don't know what the trail was called, but the little hike we did was really nice as well.

We ended up with a late lunch at the Ashley Valley park, which the kids had a lot of fun in. We decided it was too late for the other thing we had planned so instead we also went to the Ashley Nature Park after dinner. 

Then late that night while we were asleep, a drunk person pulled the fire alarm in the hotel. That was awful, though not the hotel's fault, and I didn't sleep very well after that. Luckily it was not a real fire and we were safe.

Saturday morning we were slow to get started, which was fine after the night we had. After breakfast, we packed the car and checked out of the hotel and drove to Fantasy Canyon. It's been something my sister has wanted to see for years. The roads were mostly dried out after the big rains, and it was the perfect day to go. I had a great time climbing over the rocks. 

From there we started our journey home by way of Flaming Gorge and up into Wyoming. We had a good time. It felt great to be outdoors and also to have a little time in the mountains. 

My car was filthy and I took an early lunch today to go get it vacuumed out and took it through the car wash. I even took out the rubber floor mats and washed them. It needed to be done before winter anyway, so nice to have that done. And now I'm home for the rest of the month and looking forward to the end of October. 

Book Signing

A few weeks ago, I found out about an author signing event hosted by Folklore and Lovebound Library. It was for Ally Carter and she was "in conversation" with Shannon Hale. I thought about it for a few days because it was in Park City on a Tuesday, but then I just decided I was going to go. Spoiler alert: I had the best time!

Somehow, I ended up with 9 books yesterday! LOL 2 of them came in the mail that morning, but still, that's a lot for one day, even for me. 

I decided to take the entire day off and spent the morning doing some errands and getting the oil changed in my car. Then around 2 pm I took off and drove to Midway. I figured if I was off work and heading in that direction anyway, I really needed to go back to Folklore. Three of the books in that stack got purchased at Folklore. Then I drove over to Park City for some dinner. I had a little time to spare so I went into World Market and then they have a huge Barnes & Noble up there. It has been a while since I've been to Park City and it was new to me. I went inside because I knew they'd have a restroom. I ended up with one more book as well. 

Then it was time to head over to the high school, which is where the signing was. I picked up my copy of Ally Carter's new book and then there was a table with books for sale. I bought 2 more books. I figured I needed the other Ally Carter to match (I only had it on Kindle) and then I bought the Shannon Hale book as well. What can I say, it sounded good? 

The conversation was fantastic. They were so fun as they talked and I was so happy I decided to go. They talked and answered questions for about an hour and then we got in line to get our books signed. I was standing in line with 2 other ladies who also drove almost as far as I did. It was so fun to talk to them about books. I really miss that. I don't care if we talk about specific books or just books in general, but that's not something I've had a lot of in my life. That's probably why I am on bookish social media places? Ally and Shannon were very nice and it didn't matter if I sounded stupid when it was my turn.

After that, I drove home. I was grateful that I took a coat because the tops of the mountains got a tiny bit of snow. It also rained most of the day. That only made it better, IMO. I had to really pay attention to drive home in the rainy dark, but I got home without any problems. 

It was just a really good day. 

Rainy Weekend

We are getting the moisture from a pacific hurricane, which means rain. Yay! It rained a bit on Saturday and Sunday. Then this morning when I woke up, I listened to the thunder and then the rain for a bit before I got out of bed. It finally feels all the way like fall. I even got to wear a long sleeved t-shirt today for the first time this season.

I didn’t do much on Saturday. I did my grocery shopping early and then just read or did a puzzle. I did fall asleep on the couch in the afternoon. It was a nice day for a nap and I hadn’t slept well the night before. But that’s what rainy days are for!

On Sunday, I had to prepare for family dinner. Both starting the roast in the slow cooker and rearranging my house. The roast turned out excellent. And I made au gratin potatoes for the first time and they were delicious. That recipe is a keeper for sure. The family ate the entire pan except for a very small scoop, which I saved for my dinner tonight. It was a good time, even though having that many people in my space gets my anxiety up. I didn’t get impatient with the kids at all though. And when they left I just sat there in silence for a few minutes. Then I got up and cleaned and put everything back the way I like it.

Cramped, but the setup works. I'm glad I got that old card table from my mom.

Single Night Out

I got it in my head that today would be a good day to run to Logan after work. So I went to the office and then after work, headed out through the canyon. I went to The Book Table because I knew they would have what I was looking for. Plus, they have sheet music and I picked up 2 small books of easy organ preludes, which I have been wanting for awhile. And since I was already there, I stopped by Locals, a store that’s a lot like The Quilted Bear. I ended up with a few more of my favorite wax melts in fall scents.

Anyway, I was hungry by that time, so I stopped at a sandwich shop and ate dinner before heading home. I was almost to the canyon when a big sign over the highway said 89/Sardine was closed. It didn’t quite register, but then traffic slowed down and I saw the flashing lights. There was a crash involving a semi at the mouth of the canyon heading southbound. So I turned around. I haven’t been the long way around in many, many years. I had to pull over and pull up Maps to make sure I remembered which road to turn on. It was getting dark fast, so I can’t really tell how built up that area is now, but I suspect quite a bit since the last time I was on that road. There was a lot of traffic. I finally joined up with the freeway just a little north of Brigham and made it home. I had turned up the radio and just sang real loud to all the songs that came on and I had a great time. 

Anyway, I had fun on this night out by myself and this is a reminder that I should do it a little more. I like to stay home, but sometimes it’s fun to get out as well, and I’m perfectly happy doing it by myself.