Things feel chaotic.  While one thing gets checked off five more get added to the list.  I wrapped a ton of the gifts I have here and then my favorite egg brought some he got for the girl child, unwrapped.  C'mon man.  Never mind the gifts that I haven't gotten yet; I'm running out of time.

We did get down to the Canonsburg Old Time Christmas celebration this past weekend; just kiddo and I since I noticed her bestie had already gone the night before.  We also made a cheater batch of peanut butter cookies yesterday -- they'll never make it to Christmas, can I still call them Christmas cookies?

I got the Christmas cards ready too.  I want to take them to the post office and verify that they don't need extra postage - call me paranoid - or they'd already be out the door.  Maybe this is a good excuse to go get fish fry from the Italian Club on Friday and pop into the Muse post office!

I also decorated the half bathroom mirror so it is festive in there - even if it is out of service.  In theory the new flapper will arrive today or tomorrow.  It is absolutely ridiculous how often I have to replace gut parts in toilets in this house.

Today was a holy day.  Our church has reduced the number of masses after one our priests passed away.  The 7am was too awkward of a time w/ the bus etc and the 6pm was out if we're hitting jiu jitsu, so I had to run to the furthest church at 12:15 today - and it was paaaacked.  After I checked off another to do, swinging into the engraving/embroidery place to get kiddo's swim parka embroidered.  Of course, they can't get it done by Christmas, go figure.  How do people who always wait until the last minute get anything done for Christmas?

The container that holds the bulk of the Christmas decorations is still sitting in my kitchen.  I want to pull more stuff out from the wall in the basement and sort/remove things before I take that back down, but dang it, it's in the way.

I needed this pseudo vacation.  4 days went pretty quick. Granted, I worked for a few hours on Thursday morning, but that allowed me to get a few things done that required the focus I can't get on a normal work day with all of the calls and chat messages.  We went to my favorite egg's aunt/uncles for Thanksgiving about an hour away.  There was a bit of black ice etc around the area.  We made it home without incident, but did pass a fresh hot mess of an accident.  My take for this event was a broccoli salad (since his one aunt that normally makes it wasn't coming) and a cheesy crab dip (which turned out really yummy).

Friday I spent the morning working to clean upstairs (bathrooms and vacuum) and in my bedroom.  I gathered a few things to get rid of, sorted through the gifts that I've bought thus far, and wrapped a majority of them.  We then ran out to make the remainder of the payment on Avery's second year of jiu jitsu/muay thai with their seasonal "deals" on pre-pay.  We watched a movie, had some hot cocoa, and just relaxed.

Saturday we relaxed at a local coffee shop in town and then popped into the library to get the girl more reading material.  Today I got busy downstairs pulling everything out at the front of the living room to vacuum and clean before putting up the tree.  Avery picked to put it in the living room this year rather than the entry hall, which I support so I don't have to move my antique table out there.  I also started filling out the envelopes on my Christmas cards.  I need another 4 days to get other things off of my to do lit.

I want to get up to the mall again to visit with Santa, but I am dreading how busy it will be.  We need to make some Christmas cookies too - that is the best to do, with a built in reward.

The end of November already and I'm so not ready for the holidays.  I'll also freely admit that I've been fighting the non-festive feelings that comes with the holidays a bit early this year.  I'm good, don't worry, just saying the bits of sadness exist.

I'm not going to get gifts I want/can use unless I order them myself; I'm struggling to come up with a gift idea that will make the kid light up (my greatest desire), and I really don't want to do the pile of other gift buying/wrapping and going to gathering after gathering.  I miss having the holidays with Mom.  While I enjoy every moment with the girl I already lament that one day she'll move on and who knows what the holidays will be like then.  I remember like a fresh would a super hard holiday season many many years ago--I recognize if things didn't go the way they did I wouldn't have what I have and I would suffer it all again for her.  I miss living somewhere that I had friends, even if it was rare that there was time that worked out to hang out with them.  Even so, sadness.

Some of it I think comes from the moments where you see yourself getting old.  When work announces two meetings for retirement planning, one for people that are new to mid career and one for people that are in late career, it hits you a bit, especially when they confirm---based on age---that you should attend the later.  When the acid reflux continues to linger, the sinus issues that persist for almost a month turn into a cough (again), when the shooting pain starts in your left shoulder again (after you suffered through that shoulder also freezing last year), when you find a cyst-like bump on your elbow (and admit you watch too much Dr. Pimple Popper), when you see your eyelids starting to look like they're viable for hood surgery, when random pains strike in your feet, and don't forget those samples that had to be punched from your flesh, when your sight is still fuzzy when using your not very old bifocals., when you realize you need to think about a timeline where you'll need a house with less stairs someday.

Work has remained quite busy.  I find myself sympathizing with and recognizing the remarkable beauty of Phil's experience in Groundhog's Day.  We get things moving in the morning, I work, we run to swim or jiu jitsu, we eat, we ready for bed, and repeat.  Sprinkle in some time hanging out with the foster cats (yes, all three are still here).  This just means that precious time is slipping through my fingers.

Where did this year go?  Why and how did I allow myself to miss it?

Am I caught up?  I am not.  At least 2/3 deliveries have been achieved at work and I've gotten some fall decorations out in the house.  Along with that later activity I did a bit of cleaning, so that's a win too.

Avery has two half days to end the week, so I'll need to engage with her a bit after she rolls out of bed.  It's welcome, don't get me wrong -- I wish the third item was out the door so I could indulge and drop off early both days.  We will step out tomorrow for parent-teacher conferences.  I don't expect it to be a negative thing, but it's always nice to see and talk with her teachers.

Earlier this week I got new tires for the car and then drove across the street to their sister company for an alignment.  The car is officially old enough that something in there has given way and it isn't something that can be adjusted so something needed attached - toe joints or something?  Either way, that wasn't inexpensive, but it still is cheaper than a few months of a car payment.

I'm still waiting for the siding/trim guys to come.  We were on the schedule for last week but it needed to be pushed out to this week and I'm waiting for the call that they're coming.  That too will be a painful check to write, but it'll do good for the house -- and at least give me something to say I wisely did at the end of the year!  (Yes, I think about my end of year blog post to nudge me to get things done.)

Life remains crazy busy.  Tonight's swim practice was cancelled and kiddo wants to just stay home.  I'm here for it.  I told her we could light the fireplace and have some cocoa.  She doesn't have school tomorrow so she'll get a bit of a mini-vaca out of these little extras.

Me on the other hand, I have to work - all three of my tasks are pressing hard to get things delivered before the end of the month.  I'm fighting a sore back (not sure if I tweaked it or if it's understandable muscle tension) and my sinuses/head are doing the normal pressure change freak out.  At least the cold has come so we can expect a bit of allergy relief soon.  I even gave in and turned on the heat the other day.

I still don't have any Halloween out in the house.  If we get anything out I think I'll stick with the pumpkins and fall leaves so we can rock them through Tgiving.  Maybe a year off will reinvigorate me for the Halloween decorations I have.  Maybe there's something up w/ me because I wasn't even all about the Halloween hunting this year.  I'll blame the abnormally long warm weather.

The emails are screaming that a frost is coming, so I took a few minutes over lunch to go pull the non-volunteer tomato plants.  Gathered a small bowl of non-ripe tomatoes, much less than previous years, but it is much later in the year so some have turned naturally on the vine instead.

There are three volunteer plants out there that I need to bring into the basement, we'll see how far they can get.  Two have bit hefty vine; I'm trying to not be too hopeful.

To my surprise, post butchering back of basil the one is booming again.  I should probably bring her into the kitchen and see how long I can keep her going.

Got one more pumpkin off of the vines that I had put out front and pulled the last of those.  The little tiny pumpkin that was trying to grow didn't make it, but I will put it back into the ground and we'll see if she seeds herself.

Last weekend we went to the Houston Pumpkin Festival and the requisite Halloween parade in the morning.  Later in the weekend we went to Monessen to visit daytime hours at Castle Blood.  It was very nicely appointed and we enjoyed it.  Avery commented that it was fun but boring - meaning, it wasn't scary.  Well kid... careful what you wish for or I'll break you in right proper.

I guess I know what I'm "getting myself" for Christmas - tires.  Whee!  I got my oil changed and they noted that my tires are wearing oddly, in need of replacement, and I'm out of alignment.  I've noticed a bit of a ... feeling? ... when traveling at high speeds, so I shouldn't be overly surprised.  I had considered getting in earlier to get it looked at but put it off because, who wants a $$$ fee levied for taking a look. 

I had also just reached out to someone to get a deep clean at the house and maybe a quote to get back into regular maintenance cleaning.  I am just not keeping up the way I would want to in order to say I am ready to receive guests.  It's embarassing.

I did tackle another overdue clean up by dealing with my laundry room the other day.  The top of the dryer is cleared off - and not surprisingly I found something I had looked for a while back.  I also went through another bag of miscellaneous cables. It allowed me to show Avery some really old cell phones.  I miss phones being this small.  A few are the old Sony Ericsson ones labeled "walkman".  I wonder if they still charge.

I really need to get in gear.  My exterior Halloween is set up reasonably well, but I haven't done a thing inside.  Good thing I have some spooky items out all year long, right?

The weather has cooled, so I used the temps this morning to knock down a few more wasp nests that were forming under the deck.  They've been quite persistent this year, much more than years past and trying to build nests all summer, not just spring.

I was only going to empty 1 or 2 of my potato buckets, but when my haul was incredibly sad I said screw it and harvested all 5.  I barely have one small bucket of potatoes from all of that.  I give up man.  This year really left me feeling like there is no point to having a garden.

One tomato plant was completely done, so it was pulled.  I filled yet another garbage can with clippings from the back as I get that area ready for winter.

I also emptied, cleaned, and refilled the hot tub.  At least if I am going to go lazy (not gardening) I'll have somewhere comfortable to do it.

It had my back barking a bit last night.  I was already aching a bit up on my left side near my ribs, but kind of in the side-boob region.  I'm so tender that I expected to see a big bruise there, but nothing.  I have no idea what I did to myself to cause such a feeling.

When family was in I found curtains at At Home for the dining room I thought would work.  I wanted something that wasn't too dark (shocking) but also something that would be dark enough to hide the smudge/ick from a dog that likes to push them aside and look out the window so I wouldn't be washing them weekly.  Solid color "linen" but I would say they are darker than what I'd expect from that name.  They of course only had 1 pair, so I looked on their website.  They had the matching SKU listed as "white" but the photo clearly looked to match (https://www.athome.com/2-pack-cillian-white-light-filtering-grommet-curtain-panel-set-84/124394689.html).

I decided to get enough to also do the windows in the office and a few cabinet organizers to put me over the $150 mark for free shipping.  They're here, they are definitely not white, and they're meh.  I don't hate them, but they also don't do much for me.  I guess I should have gone with the Lush ones I found on Amazon - I still love the curtains in my entry from the same maker.  At least I don't have ripped curtains on my window anymore.

The weather continues to be very pleasant but the cool evenings have crept in.  I started cutting things back and loaded one bin with last week's garbage collection.  It's always a process that takes a good 5-6 weeks here, one bin at a time.  Still pulling tomatoes and haven't harvested my potatoes yet.  I have three volunteer tomato plants that decided to make a run for it.  I don't know that they'll get to fruit in time, but I'll give them every opportunity and bring them in the house when it becomes necessary so they have their best chance.  I cut back the basil a few weeks ago to dry a significant amount and it's been trying to fill back in, to my surprise.  The brussels never got more than 6 inches up from the dirt, but I'll let them keep trying.  My asparagus crowns are still alive!  In theory I'll be able to get a small harvest next year.  I need to think about getting it into the ground.  After babying it for 2 years I'm leery that I could lose it in a transplant to our terrible soil.

I cut the peppers I had and, adding them to the significant pile of peppers I've gotten from the CSA cooked up both a large batch of peppers/onions for fajitas (portioning and freezing them) and a double batch of stuffed peppers.  Last night Avery and I played pepper roulette.  She and I both landed a spicy one that had us grabbing for our water bottles.

It's been a full year without Saffy.  I still miss her, a lot.  I can't believe so much time has passed and yet, it feels like forever since she was physically here.

We were blessed w/ a visit from my Texas sister and my Lock Haven sister last week.  Not only did we get to enjoy their company, but my sister also made me ham pot pie -- one favorite my mother made that I never mastered.  It was delish!

After they departed on Saturday we joined Avery's bestie and his family at Oktoberfest here in town.  Last year I missed this event for a cruise.  While I'd rather be on a cruise, I was glad to get to attend this year.

The weather remains warm, at times overly so, but generally pleasant.  I've been getting tomatoes from my plants, pulled a few peppers, I have more basil to dry, and potatoes yet to be harvested, I guess I best get on top of things before the weather changes.

I also got a quote to fix some siding and trim related issues outside.  I haven't tackled the flooring yet, so I feel guilty spending on this other to do, but frankly, the wind around here feels like those fixes are pressing.

I finished up my work day and one of those random spurts of energy and enthusiasm hit me.  My target?  My downstairs windows! I pulled the curtains from the dining room and office to wash them.  Then I proceeded to clean the windows (top and bottom inside and bottom outside, plus the tops outside where I could reach).  I even took a hand held vacuum to the tracks and sucked the dust and dirt out.

I had been debating if it was time to buy new ones, they're over 10 years old (they were in my dining room at my last house too), but I decided that my want was frivolous and I should just clean them (the dog tends to rub on them and grunge the lower part up a bit).

Unfortunately, the washer thrashed my dining room curtains.  I guess trying to make the right choice has been thwarted.  The good news is you don't see dirty curtains through my clean windows and you can peep in at a few spots.  Time to go shopping I suppose.