It's time to plan the Halloween costume - or what to wear when the little kids come by. I'll do my standard by digging out an old large hat and calling myself a gold miner or something. The kids never seem to notice. DW digs out her witch's hat and lets it go at that.

My first Double-crested Cormorant of the season flew over yesterday. Their arrival is a sure sign that we're headed toward winter. The Farmer's Almanac predicts more snow on the East Coast than usual. After nine feet last year, I do hope they don't mean more than that.

We live in the country w 15 acres of woods/trees. Great for nature & the birds & animals consider our 5 acre lawn as part of their habitat & visit daily. So it's easy to burn-off calories going outdoors w them as our extended family.

The owls, eagles, hawks r fascinating to see fly. We snowshoe hike in our forest & I really recommend it for a wonderful winter exercise & peaceful experience. Be sure to get 1 or 2 ski poles for balance if you will be in snow deeper than 6". Snowshoeing is a relaxing-fun activity that is affordable.

Happy Monday....
Hope everyone had a great weekend.
I was alone and managed to be very productive-- errands, gym, dogs, the usual.

Dh comes home from Europe late Wednesday. He's had a horridly exhausting trip-- over 2 weeks where he's in a different place almost every day-- planes, trains, and automobiles! So I suspect he'll be wiped out when he gets back.

I have a kind of weird work week. Tomorrow I'm going to a library conference which I'm looking forward to, but it involves a lot of driving and sitting, so I'll be pressed to get my steps (haven't gone under 10,000 a day since Mid August) or exercise. Thursday we celebrate Halloween at school with a parade and early dismissal. Friday the kids aren't coming but we have staff development so I'll be on another campus for "training". Then Saturday, dh and I are going overnight to Napa (hooray!)....

I had my "Sunday Funday" yesterday (one off plan meal) and I'm paying for it today. My weight is up 2 pounds ( I know... I know... mostly water), but it (the sodium retention) causes major sciatica pain so I'll be hopefully flushing that out today.

And I'm just DONE with the earthquakes. One right when I was trying to fall asleep (which then made me wide awake) and then another during the night. They've been almost every day and most days more than one.... hope they end soon!

I had a pretty good weekend and last week. I'm down 2.5 pounds from last Monday, even with dinner out last night including Mexican food. First week back on plan down.

Michele - how long have these earthquakes been going on?

I don't think I'm going to wear a costume this year. I'll probably be giving out candy at our house while DH takes DSS around.

Shannon-- several weeks now. They call them "cluster earthquakes"...

Yick.

They may be annoying but they do help alleviate the stress on the fault lines so it cuts down on the chance of a big one.

Well that is a good thing.

I'm out in the "remnants" of Hurricane Patricia today - high winds and heavy rain. Two clients have actually cancelled their dogs walks. Not good. DH has been unemployed since May and we need every dime. But I can't say that to them.

I wonder what they would do if their workplace called and said "oh we're going to dock you a day's pay because it's raining".

Dagmar

I don't understand Dagmar - why do they cancel if it's you who will be out walking the dog in the rain?

Frustration! My brother, sister and I are busy filling out forms and sending them in to get the proceeds of my Dad's estate. It's hard to keep track of everything, but I got a form to fill out yesterday and was asking my brother about it (as it needs both my Mom's and Dad's death certificates). Turns out we all filled out the forms months ago and sent them in together with the certificates. Frustrating that they're duplicating the request. I wonder if they've lost the originals? All this work for what will be maybe a $1000 payout for each of us.

But, then my brother also called me about the dining room set that I want from my parent's house. His daughters are going to move into the house once a few repairs are done and he's afraid they'll be less than careful with it and thinks I ought to arrange to move it down here now. I'm grateful he's looking out for me! And I've found a local moving company that can hopefully get it down here for less than a major moving company.