November (already)

Hallowe’en is over and Fall is underway here in the northeastern US.  The warm weather kept the trees from showing off until this week.  Just as we begin to notice them, there is a storm that blows them off the trees.  Such is the weather in these times of climate change.  It was 75 degrees yesterday and today it will be 20 degrees colder (and windy!).  

October was a good month.  Pk and I celebrated our anniversary and had a lovely dinner talking about us and our lives and our dreams.  You’d think after 37 years we’d have run out of things to say but we haven’t.  One of the perks of a long relationship is that you can sit quietly without talking and it doesn’t feel awkward.  But there are always things to share.  Peter Kevin is the first person I think of when I hear something funny or sad or profound.  And thanks to technology, I can share it with him immediately.  

Tomorrow I will be 61 years old.  I keep asking myself, “How did that happen?”  In my mind, I don’t feel like a senior citizen but my white hair (well, right now it’s rainbow colored but the white is there) gives me away.  And the achy joints on a cold rainy day remind me that 18 is a long way in my past.  But I like myself more now than I did when I was 18.  I am more comfortable in my (less stretchy) skin.  I’m more likely to speak my mind, something I didn’t always have the confidence to do at 18.  I am more patient with people but say less patient with time wasting.  I am increasingly aware that I have lived more of my life than I have left (I’m pretty sure I will not live to 120) and things that cause me to wait and wait and wait make me irritable.  

For my birthday, I asked for some cashmere yarn from a kickstarter company in Mongolia.  I got enough to make a sweater and chose this one

.  It’s called Amun.  I have natural cream colored yarn and my pattern but realized I don’t have needles.....isn’t that always the way?  Amazon to the rescue.  They will be delivering them today and I can start on it.  I have been playing around with the pattern with some needles that may actually be the right size but since I always have trouble using the needle sizer (I can’t tell if the needle is supposed to slide through the hole or be stopped), I’m not sure.  The pattern has german short rows and I’m not familiar with them.  I like the fabric it’s making though.  It’s a bit extravagant but (this is me rationalizing it) I am a slow knitter and will get hours and hours of pleasure out of knitting it.  I’m still working on a sweater for me but I’m at the “just keep knitting around and around to make the sleeves and body” part of it.  It’s mindless.

Jamie is growing by leaps and bounds.  Literally.  He got used to the jumping chairseat we got for him and he just jumps up and down for long periods of time (his grandfather cannot keep up with him).  This is what they do best

Peter Kevin seems to be the only one he just falls asleep on.  Aren’t they precious together?

Life is good.  This is my favorite time of year.  What used to be the long slow slide into the holidays has now become the steep slope.  Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks away.  I am going to try a new apple pie recipe today to see if we like it.  The sun keeps trying to peep out from behind the clouds, my neighbor’s trees are a gorgeous copper color and are waving in the wind.  Peter Kevin and I are heading out for breakfast at a diner and then to Lowe’s to look at some holiday lights before they are all gone and then to Walmart to buy a new crockpot. (Our last one was rendering suet out in the garage and got knocked over.  Yes, it was an ugly mess.  All that liquid fat just poured out all over the cement floor).

What’s on your agenda?  Do you fill your weekends with errands?  Do you give yourself time to recharge or are you always busy?  I will make sure I get time to decompress and recharge.  My job is not physically demanding but it is often mentally and emotionally demanding.  I usually find some peace in a quiet time with the spinning wheel or a knitting project and a good audiobook.  Last night we relaxed and laughed watching WKRP in Cincinnati.  It’s very dated but the characters are familiar and loveable.  

And now we are heading off into the Fall morning.  Have a good weekend and don’t forget it’s the end of DST! (I get an extra hour of birthday!)