Life: It Goes On - October 29

Happy Sunday! It's grey, it's cold, and all of the things that were still alive outside are now dead. And this is why I'm not a fan of autumn. I did bring in my herbs and some flowering plants and will see how long I can keep them alive. On the plus side, there are a few tomatoes still sitting on my counter that ripened off the vine this past week because it was abnormally warm to start the week. So maybe one more round of BLT sandwiches with home grown tomatoes? 

I finally finished the furniture for Miss H early last week, after much frustration. I'd liked to have had another week or two to work on it, but it looks good and will serve her purposes. And now I can finally focus on getting some other things done around here. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Madame Restell, by Jennifer Wright; unfortunately, my loan expired before I could finish the book so it will be several weeks before I can finish this on. This week I'll start Louise Erdrich's The Sentence, the November pick for my book club. 

Watched: The usual football and volleyball and the last ever episode of Grace and Frankie. I'm really going to miss the laughs and those two ladies. 

Read: M. C. Beaton's latest Agatha Raisin mystery, Dead on Target, my nod to Halloween. 

Made: Tonight I made a new version of chicken pot pie, which includes a puff pastry topping, instead of the usual pie crust. It's a definite make again, but I'm definitely be upping the seasoning. 

Enjoyed: A Zoom happy hour with my Tier 1 friends on Friday. It was just the therapy I needed! 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: This weekend we go down to help Miss H get settled into her new place. I love doing that, so I'm looking forward to it. Before we go, I'm going to plan out the best layout for her furniture on graph paper and gather together all of the things we'll need to get things put together and on the walls. 

Thinking About: Now that our basement will finally get to be an adult space (for the first time every), I'm busy making plans for what that space will look like one day. BG keeps reminding me that we have other, more pressing, things to get done around here before then; but I'm going to keep dreaming. 

Feeling: Blessed. Yesterday was my birthday and I was wow'd by the number of people who reached out over social media, the number of cards I got, and some very thoughtful gifts, including these frog stepping stones which arrived from Mini-me's mother-in-law, who is also, now, a friend. 

The Big Guy gave me the house to myself for much of the day, and you know how much I enjoy my alone time. That was only interrupted by a visit from Mini-him, who brought me lovely flowers, lunch, and a book. I may have messed some things as a parent, but I certainly taught that boy how to treat his mama (and, I hope, all women) well. 

Looking forward to: Tomorrow night we're headed to dinner out to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary. We're going to one of the last old school steak places left in Omaha; they still have a salad bar and serve baked Alaska. Tuesday we're going to see the musical, Tina, about Tina Turner. 

Question of the week: Some years back, my sister got me a set of peg doll figurines of the lady Supreme Court justices. Later, she added a suffragette to my peg doll collection. Last year, she had one of my mom commissioned, to be added to what has become referred to as my "strong women" collection. Last week, the latest addition arrived in the mail...Miss H. To say that it brought tears to my eyes would be an understatement. She really is one of the strongest people I know (although I love that she still needs her mom and dad on a pretty regular basis!). If you had this kind of collection, what famous woman would you add? Who would you add from your own life?