Landed

  Today marks our first day at home.  Every circus season, as the end of the run approaches Georgia and I begin to talk about going home and come up with assorted ideas to fill our time off.  We list the shops and restaurants we like to frequent, speculate on who might be her teacher at public school and of course, there are many a discussion of home projects.  We've even played with the idea of, dare I say, painting the outside of the house!  We both love pale yellow and white. But, we'll see. For now, the first home project, aside from sweeping cob webs and dusting every piece of furniture we own, will be tackling my bedroom's stark white walls and hanging new drapes.  How I look forward to waking up in the warmth of a cozy bedroom. :)

  Living in the country as we do, we expect to see signs of insects when we arrive.  It's not unusual to find dried up crickets, hornets, centipedes and cob webs-a-plenty in our home.  And, unfortunately, country living can mean country field mice.  Fortunately, this season, no signs of rodent activity which is a huge relief for me.  Snakes? No problem.  Spiders?  Bring it!  Skunks, possums, racoons and coyotes?  P'shaw!!  But wild rodents?  Field mice??  They make me cringe and want to barf. (I will save my story about the field mouse that ran across my face while I was half asleep for another entry.)  No old mouse in my house this year...whew!  

  Last spring I once again played with the furniture arrangement in my living room and came up with an interior designer's text book setting that I had forgotten how much I loved over the last 8 months. I had finally arranged my dining room to perfection and my kitchen is one of my favorite rooms in the whole house.  Georgia's room was happily completed in the spring, Tootie inherited Geo's room which it is, as I have mentioned, my decorating crown & glory.  I have a few little projects that need to be done by a professional (base boards need to be put up in some of the rooms and a couple of doors need to be framed) but most of the other projects, painting, etc...can be done by this non-professional.  

  Between the home improvement projects, practice, Georgia's contortion lessons, graveling in the driveway, tending to the front landscaping, school and church, the next four months look to be as busy and joy-filled as last winter.  As my dad used to say, it's good to be landed.

Looking Into the Future...But Not Too Much

  We've been in Texas for a few days now, and I have to say, it's nice to be in my home state.  Almost everyday we've been in Texas I've google mapped the distance to my house.  I am not trying to dwell too far ahead into the upcoming winter months because I won't be able to truly enjoy the day.   As I sometimes remind Georgia when she says she can't wait for this day or that day, it's not wise to wish our lives away.  

  But still, we are doing a few things to prepare for the end of the season, which by the way is creeping up more quickly everyday. We will be shopping for Georgia's school clothes this week.  Class pictures will come around just after she starts public school, so we have to find just the right thing to wear!  An oil change should last most of the off months, so I bought everything I need for the job to be done tomorrow.  Soon, I'll call my garage and schedule my truck's annual transmission and rear end servicing.  I have a few things to start my bedroom redecorating project too.  It'll be nice to wake up this winter to something other than plain, cold unpainted walls and mismatching curtains. 

   Georgia loves Halloween and Toot is really starting to get into the costumes, candy and decorations.  We bought colorful ghostly cartoon window peels for starters and are trying to come up with just the right costumes for all of us.  Our plans for tomorrow include our continued hunt for Halloween threads.  This year has been a challenge to find what the kids and I are looking for.  Georgia has Monster High characters in mind, and as for Toot it is a toss up between an owl and a pirate.  I think I'll know just the right costume when I see it.  Every year as we search out costumes the overstuffed candy aisles call out our names...oh, the temptation of those 'fun size' candy bars!

  With the change of seasons and all the holidays coming up, we've brought out the winter coats, space heaters and electric blankets.  Even though I prefer blooming flowers and beaches to the changing colors of leaves and making of snowmen, there is something pretty special about this time of year.  Mums, jack-o-lanterns & candy corn followed by turkey, gravy & cranberry sauce followed by pine trees, pictures with Santa & presents.  Good stuff!!