Day 306: Halloween

Back when I started this no-sugar deal, I decided that I could have candy on Halloween. I had a couple of pieces, but this is what's waiting for me next Sunday when I can have sugar again. Oh, delicious chocolate!

Day 305: Die

Joel and I headed over to our church's Trunk 'N Treat to pass out candy to kids. He went as Super-Joel and I went as a die. I was with some friends and our theme was games. It was a fun and I always enjoy making my costume. Last year I was a giraffe and my costume was way-cool!

Day 304: Family Day

We started the day off with brunch out at Denny's this morning. Well, at 11 this morning. I hadn't been there in years and years, and it was pretty good. Later in the afternoon, we went and bowled a couple of games. Unsurprisingly, I did horrendously; I think I bowled a 60-something. Oh well, I had a lot of fun.

We spent the evening watching episodes of 24 and I worked on my costume for tomorrow.

Day 303: Over

What a sad time for the Rangers. After last night's loss, which should not have happened, they just never seemed to get it back together. I heard this song on the radio and it kind of sums up this World Series:

"We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
And you played it to the beat."

And all of that gear that made touting the Rangers as the winners of the World Series? It's on it's way to World Vision who will distribute it to children who don't have clothes. Just wish it was the St. Louis shirts headed overseas.

And I'll leave you with a quote that someone posted on Facebook, which I think is nice. Though I'm not quite this invested in any sport.

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops. Today, [October 29], a [Saturday] of rain and broken branches and leaf-clogged drains and slick streets, it stopped, and summer was gone."

~A. Bartlett Gimatti

Day 302: Cooling Off

The high today was 45, and I loved it! The clouds rolled in overnight and stayed throughout the day. Rain drizzled down off and on. Cold and rainy may sound miserable, but after the summer that we've had, I thought it was glorious.

Day 301: #1

We had these sheets of stickers to use tonight  at church. When I read the top, I couldn't stop laughing. "God made boys number one" and "God made girls number two." Oh my!

I can only assume that there is also a "God Made Boys #2," but who really knows? We certainly found this amusing anyway.

Day 300: iTunes

I finally cashed in a gift card that I got for my birthday this year. Yep, way back in May. It's not that I didn't have music I wanted to by; instead I have too much. I have over $60 of music on my wish list, and this card definitely couldn't cover all of that! So it's taken me this long to choose.

I finally made my decisions, though, and now I have great new music to listen to!

Day 299: Rangers

Two great baseball games in a row! The Rangers won again tonight, and now we just need one more.

In the crowd of more than 50,000 people, I actually saw a girl that I know on tv, which is pretty crazy. I'm bit jealous, I must admit, as she was at the game last night as well.

Day 298: Wedding

I headed to Dallas today for the wedding of one of my good friends. Lindsey and I have known each other since elementary school where we were in Girl Scouts together. She was a beautiful bride and the wedding was lovely. The views from the roof of the Dallas skyline were pretty great too.

Day 297: Finally

I spent the morning in my happy place. Yep, on the back of a horse! Stacie and I finally found a time to go out and ride. It was a beautiful morning and I had a wonderful time. Soldier behaved beautifully for me and we trotted and loped our way around the arena.

Day 296: Bathroom

In the very near future, we will be redoing my bathroom at my parent's house. Tonight we took a trip to Home Depot to look at various fixtures and furnishings. I'm a fan of the tub on the right! Look at all those jets.

Too bad that tub would take up over half of the bathroom! I suppose we'll have to go with something a little smaller.

Day 295

I don't see no picture!

Today, it seems, I did not take any pictures. Whoops! I don't really have a reason, I just never thought of anything to take a picture of.

Day 294: Signs

I wonder what happened to this sign! I thought it was odd that it was lying on the side of the road, so I took a picture. It's actually been there about a week, so I'm surprised it's still there. I wonder if the sign crew will notice that it's down and put it back up. Is there such a thing as a sign crew?

Day 293: Work in Progress

This is the current status of the blanket that I'm crocheting. The plan is to make a plaid afghan, which I've never done before. Right now I'm still working on the "net" and when that's finished, I will weave yarn through perpendicularly to these stripes. I've never done this before, so I can't wait to see how it works out.

I haven't worked on it as much as I would have liked because it just isn't blanket weather yet. We made it up to 95 again today. It's not supposed to be in the nineties in the middle of October!

Day 292: Beary Scary

Okay, so this isn't really all that scary.

However, it certainly did startle me when I turned around to be greeted by this sight! And it took me a little why to figure out why a huge teddy bear was sitting in the file room, watching me work. As it turns out, a coworker brought these bears for another woman to take home to her kids.

Day 291: Lapsang Souchong

I just finished this lovely cup of tea. I love relaxing on a Sunday afternoon with a hot cuppa and today was not exception.

Today I drank a nice cup of lapsang souchong. It's a black tea that's been smoked over a fire. This gives it a distinctive smoky aroma and flavour. It is very unique, and many people don't care for it. I enjoy it, though, and if you haven't tried it then you should!

Day 290: Saturday Night Coffee

JoAnna was in town this weekend and we got together for our traditional Saturday night coffee. We had coffee together almost every Saturday night after we got back from England. Anna soon joined us, and we've done it ever since! Jo and I had a great time talking, hanging out and just catching up. I wish I could see her more often, because I miss her so much. After all, we did live together for three years!

And how 'bout those Rangers? World Series, here we come!

Day 289: Fireworks

There was a loud boom outside tonight and Java came running into my room whining. She's really my brothers dog, and she follows him around the house. She even sleeps under his bed while he's not home. Lately, however, she's been coming into my room more frequently. She loves me!

The evening ended with a long firework display for ACU homecoming. It was actually a really good show, and it lasted almost half and hour!

Day 288: Chai

My sister brought this tasty tea back for me from a tea shop in Oxford. I had some today, and it was wonderful! I had some last weekend as well, and was able to put sugar in it then. I definitely prefer it sweet, but it was still tasty!

Interesting fact: If you didn't know, chai is actually just the Indian word for tea. Masala chai is sweetened, spiced black tea with milk. We tend to use the term "chai" to refer to what is properly called masala chai.

Day 287: Lunch

Lunch at the office today was from Olive Garden. Yumm! I was so happy to see those breadsticks. And I can never seem to eat just one. This just might be my favourite thing about work.

Day 286: Flat

This is what I walked out of work to see. Yep, a flat tire. So not cool, especially after repairing my power steering fluid system just a couple of weeks ago. I am so, so thankful for my dad, who drove out and helped me change the tire. Actually, he did most of the changing and I helped, but I did help change a tire today!

Day 285: Telephone Pictionary

We played telephone pictionary, or Nelson as my family calls it, at small group last night. I wrote "Rangers win the World Series" on my paper. It was the only sheet that stayed the same almost all of the way through all fifteen people. I think it's because we all want it so bad. That last picture is actually pretty great, but it fell apart with the very last person. He thought the ecstatic winning Rangers were Sing Song Hostesses. Huh?

Anyway, this game is so much fun and if you haven't tried it, you definitely should!

Day 284: 3.5

It rained 3.5 inches yesterday! And it's still sprinkling a little. Hallelujah!

I'm giving up sugar for the next month, starting today. I'm already not looking forward to it, and I know it will be hard. I just know that I eat far too much sugar, so wish me luck over this next month!

Day 283: It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's been raining for hours today. You can't tell very well from this picture, but it's pouring! We are so, so thankful for the rain. Just this week, our water restrictions were upped. We can only water the lawn once a week, and only before 10 am and after 6 pm. This rain is much-needed!

I spent the day drinking tea and crocheting and making gingerbread. What a perfect fall day!

Day 282: Sunny

Why is 90 again? It's October now, and I'm pretty sure the weather is supposed to cool off. I think the forecast forgot to get the memo.

But look at those thunderclouds in the forecast! Maybe rain will actually materialize.

Day 281: Love

I love this dog so much! When I'm not sure what to photograph, I just take pictures of our dogs. I think she's waiting for me to give her a treat.

Day 280: Dry

Okay, this picture is horrible. It is also the only picture I took today, so I'm posting it anyway! The stretch of brown, behind the railing and behind that tree, is a creek. At this point, it is completely dry.

Everything around here is dry. The green you see in this picture is very misleading. My hands are so dry that I've been slathering lotion on them constantly.

Day 279: Clouds

If you haven't noticed, I love looking at the sky. And I seem to love taking pictures of the sky as well. This was the view when I came out from work this afternoon. I think the sun streaming through the clouds is so beautiful.

Day 278: Droplets

I like the look of these clouds! And I like the look of those rain droplets on my windshield. Unfortunately,  very little precipitation materialized here in Abilene. It sprinkled for a couple of seconds, and then it was done. Too bad.

Day 277: Fortify

I'm working to fortify my immune system, since I'm working in a doctor's office. I haven't been feeling great, so I went and bought some Airborne. I'm also taking zinc, echinacea and elderberry! Hopefully this will help keep me from getting sick this season.

Day 276: Joel the Janitor

My baby brother turned 17 today. Crazy!! Of course, he's been taller than me for several years. My mom always makes really cool cakes, and this year she made a janitor cake. Joel has a job mopping floors and taking out the trash at a local daycare. His friends think it's funny to call him "Joel the Janitor" and mom played off of this for the cake.

And I just felt like throwing in a picture of the sunset. You can definitely see how flat this land is in this picture!