Daybook: October 27, 2012

I have been awfully quiet on this blog in the past few months.  For lots of reasons.  Partly because I've been busy.  Partly because I just haven't felt like writing here.  Partly because our lives are different than it used to be in a lot of ways.  But I want to start back.  I miss it. 

So as a way to ease back in, I am doing a daybook. 

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I am thankful for… I've been able to get two full-time technical writing contracts since June.  It has been nice to work in the field that I got my degree in, and to make some good money for the first time in years. 

At work… My first contract was producing some process documentation and job aids for a client.  My current contract is creating a SharePoint site and creating templates and rebranding numerous documents for a client.  And I'm working with a recruiter to get a long-term contract.  With benefits. 

From the kitchen… Pizza and cinnamon sticks. 

I am wearing… my Halloween costume.  :)  We are going to a Halloween Party tonight.  Mr. Simple is going as Gregory House, M.D., and I'm going as a patient. 

I am creating… some salsa.  And some strawberry jam.  I don't even have close to enough jam for this year.  :(

I am going… to a swim meet next weekend.  We are in the midst of the busiest part of the school year period of swim meets.  We have had a meet every two weeks since the beginning of September.  But if they are travel meets, they are within 45 minutes, so nothing too dreadful.

I am reading…The Kitchen House.  I'm a little over half way done.  It was the October book for my book club and I didn't finish it before our book club meeting, but I do want to finish it.  And I want to finish it before I move on to our November book. 

I am hoping… that I get a long-term contract, although it will require revamp our family's schedule, and I already have a hard time getting things done some days. 

I am hearing… the kids are playing with legos and the nerf gun downstairs.  In the last year, they do a lot more things together.  I guess Super doesn't seem like such a "baby" anymore.  I guess, probably because he isn't.  He just turned 8 in September.  You can't even call an 8 year old a "little" kid. Sigh.

Around the house… my house is really cluttered.  How does that happen? My kids go to school all day.  I work from home.  But yet, every flat surface in my house is covered.  I haven't vacuumed for at least a week.  I have been keeping up on laundry and dishes. But everything else? Not so much. 

One of my favorite things… is Fall.  I wish I could bottle it up and open it on a cold, miserable winter day, when it has been cold and miserable for weeks.  Or on a hot, miserable summer day, when it has been hot and miserable for weeks.  If I could have my perfect weather, it would just be Fall all year round. 

October 2010 in Pictures: Autumn is Everywhere

I took a bunch of pictures in the first part of October, and then I thought the camera was broken. I recently discovered that the camera might not be ALL the way dead. But I took pictures in the last part of the month on my phone and the pictures were of mixed quality.

We started the month of October with going to an Autumnal Celebration at the Horticultural Center. This is our third year of attending. The weather was sunny but windy.

Super running on top of hay bales.

They always have a bunch of scarecrows on display. We won these scarecrows. The name was "Preschoolers" Perfect for this preschool teacher!

A picture of all three kids on the hay rack ride. This is one of my favorite all time pictures of the children.

We also went to Starved Rock Park and did a bunch of hiking.

A picture of Super in one of the canyons.

The next weekend, we went to an Apple Orchard and got a BUNCH of apples. I made applesauce and dried apples.

The night before we went to the Apple Orchard, Jelly Bean fell off her bunk bed ladder and broke her wrist. We thought then that she would only have a cast on for three weeks, but we found out today that she will be in a cast for another 4 weeks. At least. :(

Flower is on Student Council this year, and they were on a float for the local high school's homecoming parade. The theme, if you can't guess, is the 70s. Pictures from the 70s of me had much less tie-dye and much more plaid than they show on this float. Flower is in the middle with Peace Sign glasses.

We also went to the University's Homecoming Parade and Football game. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful that weekend - in the lower 80s!

The following weekend, we went to the other Autumnal celebration that we usually go to - this one was at the local Nature Center. It was, if you can't tell from the picture, a little wet that day. Unfortunately for us, it rained the whole time we were there, but it cleared later in the day. We love decorating pumpkins from natural materials instead of carving. This dude is still out on our front porch (as well as the Preschooler scarecrows. And MANY gourds. My kids are all about decorating with gourds this year.)

We finished out the month with Halloween (Halloween pictures will be in a separate post) and a visit down to Springfield. We went to the Illinois Capital and then the Dana-Thomas House. It was cold AND windy that day, but we still had a great time.

Autumnal Celebration 2010 - Part 1

I blogged about this Autumnal Celebration last year. This is usually the first celebration we go to in Autumn. It is held at the university's Horticulture Center, which just so happens to be less than 5 minutes from my house. We had just been over there recently when the Horticulture Center unveiled their new sculputures, but we were still excited to be there for the Celebration.

This year, it wasn't that cold or wet, but goodness, it was WINDY. But we still managed to have a good time.

Super and Jelly Bean drinking some cider
Super running on top of hay bales

They always have a bunch of scarecrows on display and they raffle them off. Here's the one that we won. The name of it is "Preschoolers." Kind of fitting for a preschool teacher, huh?

The Simple Kids on a hayrack ride. I love this picture.

Hanging gourds

The edge of the corn maze. This corn must have been planted late because it was still mostly green. Most of the corn in Illinois has been dry and brown for a couple weeks now.

A field of sunflowers

Garden Update - Early October

So there was one more eggplant that I harvested a couple nights ago. They were predicting frost, so I wanted to try and get out to the garden one more time to pick things.

So I picked one more eggplant (although there are SEVERAL small ones on the plant. I will probably leave the plant alone and see if I get anything else to salvage in a couple weeks) and I picked the last of the tomatoes that I'm going to pick. All told, I got less tomatoes this year than last year, but I think it is because I wasn't quite as on top of harvesting in August as I should have been. But I'll still end up with about 24 pints of tomato sauce, so that will go quite a ways for us. Definitely through the fall and winter anyway. I also picked all the peppers off the pepper plants. A couple were "regular" sized, but I picked the small ones too, so in total, I picked about 8. I plan on making stuffed peppers with the big ones, and chopping up the smaller ones and dehydrating them.

I'll go clean up the garden in a couple weeks, and then I'll give a big ol' end of the season report. Well, not that big.

Themes and Plans for October

I think October is my favorite month. There is a crispness to the air, but a sweater is enough to keep you warm, and everybody is back in the school routine, and there is still time to make presents for Christmas. Plus, I love all the colors of Autumn – the oranges, deep reds, browns, dark greens and the smells – apples, pumpkins and berries.


In the Moon of the Falling Leaves

Joseph Bruchac
I was born in the Moon of Falling Leaves,
that time when summer’s harvest
falls from every maple tree,
painting the forest trails
golden as sunlight
and crimson as Great Bear’s blood.

Each October brings back the scent
of fires burning on the hills,
the first etchings of frost
on my bedroom windows,
the departing wings
of a thousand geese
cutting the clear cold sky.

There is no time closer to my heart,
than this season of changes
when the balance tips between
darkness and light,
when the last flowers
nod in our garden,
when so many things
are about to end,
so many about to begin.

So here are our themes and plans for October (from the Latin word octo, meaning “eight”. October was the 8th month of the Roman calendar.):

• Birthstone - Opal
• Flower of the month - Marigold
• The full moon of October is the Full Hunter’s Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see fox and the animals which have come out to glean.

Nature:

• withered cornfields
• pumpkins on the vine
• chrysanthemums in gold, russet and magenta
• acorns underfoot
• National Squirrel Awareness Week (7-13)
• geese flying in V's
• The Full Hunter's Moon (26)
• falling leaves
• the first frost
• Weather Report: On October 3, 1912, the longest dry spell of record in the U.S. began as Bagdad, California, went 767 days without a drop of rain

Food:

• National Taco Day (4)
• National Dessert Day (9)
• World Food Day (16)
• National Chocolate Cupcake Day (18)
• National Nut Day (22)
• National Potato Day (27)
• National Candy Corn Day (30)
• casseroles
• crockpot meals
• chili and cornbread
• baked beans, brown bread and ham
• pumpkin soup
• pumpkin bread
• maple leaf cookies
• popcorn balls
• cinnamon sugar toast
• homemade pretzels
• hot apple cider
• apple butter
• apple crisp
• baked apples
• caramel apples
• cider donuts
• winter squash soup
  

Home & Garden:

• deep clean of family room
• stock up on baking essentials
• rotate mattresses
• change over to flannel bedding
• clean out and restock medicine chest
• put up storm windows
• rake and clean out garden beds
• store outdoor toys and furniture
• organize board games and puzzles
• buy Christmas stamps
• continue working on Christmas gifts
• organize Christmas cards
  

Life:

• Columbus Day (13)
• All Hallow's Eve (31)
• The World Series
• Football games

Stories:

• Nuts to You!
• The Little Scarecrow Boy
• The Night The Scarecrow Walked
• I Spy A Pumpkin
• The Pumpkin Book
• Pumpkin Soup
• Apples and Pumpkins
• Chipmunk at Holow Tree Lane
• Every Autumn Comes the Bear
• Around the Year
• A Picnic In October

Field Trips:

• an autumn hike on the Trail
• Autumnal Festival at the Horticulture Center (4)
• Fire Station (17
• Autumnal Festival at the Nature Center (18)
• Pumpkin Patch (24)

Crafts/activities:

• twig frames
• leaf rubbing
• acorn hunting
• leaf crafts
• homemade seed and suet cakes
• roasting pumpkin seeds
• carving pumpkins