Ah, October

I am loving the weather. It's been mostly warm with cool nights and then this morning it was nice and almost cold! I've been out a little bit and drove through a canyon and saw the leaves changing. It's getting cool enough they are changing at my house now. Truly, I love this month. 

I'm having some of my nieces and nephews sleep over tonight. We can't really go anywhere so I got my house "kid-proofed" for our rousing game of hide and seek in the dark. It's still funny to me that they love it so much. My house doesn't have that many great spots to hide in. Then we usually have treats of some kind while we watch movies before bed. I created a treasure hunt for them to find some candy and popcorn. Hopefully, the younger ones will think it's fun. 

After I get them home tomorrow, I will have the afternoon to clean and restore my house to it's normal place and enjoy the piece and quiet. It supposed to get cold (possible mountain snow!) on Sunday and I am planning to make homemade broccoli cheddar soup with bread bowls. I can't wait!

Moving On

Well my office is officially cleaned out. I have a couple computer monitors and a chair to move into my new office (whereever it is, they only have a vague idea at the moment).  My replacement starts on Monday. Thursday was my last day in the office last week and it was bittersweet. That’s been my office for 17 years now. Wow has time flown. I’m giving up a job that I have mostly loved and that has provided me with so many opportunities for another job that has been filled with ups and downs so far. The past couple weeks have been ok and I’m starting to feel like I might be able to learn the new stuff. I have to remind myself to be patient with me. I am looking forward to all the things my new job will bring. But....it still doesn’t stop that I’m leaving what I know and love. So yeah, it’s bittersweet. 

I didn’t go to church again today. Instead, I listened to the broadcast from my ward. One of the speakers referenced a talk from President Nelson from 2016 General Conference and it was exactly what I needed to hear today.

My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

So here’s to starting over and again and remembering that I’ve had a great career and been very blessed with it so far and that there are still many more things to learn and ways to grow and I will enjoy it along the way. I’ll do my best to keep my focus where it should be and everything will either fall away or fall into place. 

Random Weekend

We had a small family reunion on Saturday. My aunt and uncle had come from Virginia and we got what family could be there together. This picture is the kids that are left from the William and Lura Hadley family. My mom is the youngest (though not technically, but that’s another long story). I’m really not sure who in this picture is the oldest. I looked on Family Search but none of these kids are listed. Just 6 of the older kids, who are gone. Anyway, large family.

Before the reunion I had stayed the night at my sister’s house. Her and my brother-in-law had made plans to be away and she didn’t want the kids staying alone all weekend, even if my nephew is 16 now. It was easy to spend the night there and I got to sleep in a bit since the kids could get up and do what they wanted in their own house. We had candy and popcorn for breakfast as we watched a Phineas and Ferb movie. I don’t know if that makes me the best aunt or the worst. Ha ha...

After the reunion we headed down to Kaysville to watch my 8 year old niece play in a soccer game. The weather was really perfect yesterday. Not too hot and the smoke from all the fires has cleared out. For now. 

Now I’m having a lazy Sunday. I had toast and blackberries for breakfast. My sister’s blackberry bush is still producing berries so I picked a couple handfuls while I was there. I’m going to watch a broadcast of church and cook a little bit and enjoy the silence of my home for today. I truly do have a good life with all its ups and downs.

Another Mini Road Trip

Took another quick road trip with my family last weekend. Stayed at a hotel in Vernal and then drove up to Flaming Gorge. Lot of time in the car, but it was nice to get out. 

Some Good Things

I was listening/watching an episode of Don’t Miss This on YouTube and they were talking about a spot in the scriptures where, during a time of war, the people were so happy. Then they laughed and said what if we did that about 2020. It got me really thinking about my 2020. Yeah, I can say it’s been a crappy year and nobody will argue with me but it’s the little things that make life worthwhile and I can see some good things as I look back.

I look a trip to Egypt (pre-pandemic) which has been on my list since I made it, and it was amazing.

My family has had some fun family dinners at different parks around the city.

I’ve been able to have lunch at a park a few times with one of my friends during our work day and it’s been such a wonderful blessing to have that friendship and support.

My sister’s twins are 14 months now and they are getting to be so much fun.

I had a bunch of beautiful flowers around my house this year.

Had a great drive to Star Valley, WY with my family one weekend.

I ordered my first subscription box from Margot Elena and it was like Christmas getting to open it with all kinds of soap/perfume/lotion.

Picking and eating fresh peaches and blackberries.

Catching grasshoppers with my bug-obsessed 7 year old nephew.

After some trial and error, I finally found a pillow that I can sleep on with no neck pain and it’s wonderful.

So yeah, there have been some really good moments during the year. Small and simple things make the big things worth it.

Down the Rabbit Hole

I don’t know why I was complaining about there being no books to buy in August. I haven’t read any. Well, I take that back. I’ve read 1 book this month and it’s the 20th. Nothing is appealing to me at all.

Instead, I have gone down a deep, deep hole with Webtoons. I started reading 1 or 2 webtoons last winter and liked them fine. Then one day maybe not quite 2 months ago I opened the app and the Webtoons banner had an advertisement for Midnight Poppy Land. It took me less than a week to get caught up with all the published episodes. I’ve re-read the entire thing multiple times, plus smaller sections of related episodes many, many times. I’m looking at you #25 and #26. I even gave Webtoons my money to buy coins for the Fast Pass episodes. Then I joined 2 fan groups on Facebook. I don’t even like FB and I’m getting on there constantly now to check on what’s going on in the groups. I’ve found 2 different podcasts to listen to things about MPL. I bought notebooks I don’t need because they have pictures from MPL on the cover. Sure, I wanted to support the artist, but I really just wanted to look at Tora and Poppy. I am hooked. We are only on episode 44. I have no idea how many episodes it will be but years of my life can go by before this story is finished. I want to own it in print so badly. I really hope one day it gets published in print format. I haven’t started reading the fan fiction yet, but if anything gets me to do that, it will probably be MPL. I’m hoping the obsessing part will die down a little bit because I can’t live my life like that. I know from other experiences with other stories, that eventually it will fade and I’ll handle it normally. At least I think so. I’m not used to having to wait for the next episode to come out. At least I’m not alone. I’ve already figured out that I can work myself up and then get disappointed by an episode that is too short or goes in a direction I didn’t expect. 

Since I am caught up with my favorite, I’ve started reading others. Some I’m liking a lot and others are ok.  I’ve got a huge list saved on my account though and I’m slowing trying and reading through them. None others have hooked me like MPL, but there are a few really popular ones I haven’t gotten around to starting yet.

Anyway, yeah, I’m spending the majority of my reading time with web comics and podcasts about web comics. I guess it really doesn’t surprise me. Nothing about this crazy year is anything like I’d thought it would be. So if this year’s book count is a lot lower than the previous year, and it seems it will be, it’s because I’m on Webtoons. Not a bad place to be, I guess. I’m not alone, that’s for sure. 

Monday

Ug…it’s a Monday for sure. Truly, April isn’t the cruelest month. August is. It’s hot and things are on fire everything turns brown without water. Even my flowers are feeling it. It’s even a bad month for books. I have 1 book to buy this month and not until the 25^th. Twenty-eight more days until September. I know things don’t magically turn around on September 1^st and it can still be as hot, but it’s a turning point. (Plus at least 10 new books to buy next month 😊). I’ll try to not wish away my time but I am waiting for autumn.