We've passed the first official day of fall per the calendar, but in Texas that's pretty meaningless. The high was 94, so it sure doesn't feel like fall around here. Honestly, I'd just be glad if we could transition to temps topping out in the 80s. I don't need to be in boots and a sweater. But it sure would be nice to put away my shorts and bring out the jeans.
I recently whipped up a big pot of Italian meatball and cheese tortellini soup for a couple ladies in our hood who were feeling under the weather. I always associate soups with late fall and winter time, so this was a bit of an anomaly for me. I'm still getting the hang of our gas stove here at the lake house. Making turkey meatballs from scratch was fun. However, I'm not one of those folks who loves cooking. But I'll admit it was satisfying to make a nice big pot of healthy soup so I had enough to put in our lake freezer for this winter.
I don't know why I was surprised when I was in Lowe's recently to pick up a couple bags of decorative gravel and caught them putting out Christmas decor. That meme about Hallowgivingmas is pretty darned accurate. I swear Christmas hits the aisles a little earlier every fall. Oh sure, it's the most wonderful time of the year and nobody loves Christmas more than me. But I just can't be too enthused when it still feels like summer here in our neck of the piney woods.
There's a blogger I follow that does this thing she calls The Wednesday Hodgepodge. Every Wednesday, of course. I've never participated, but it's always an interesting mix of questions. This post will kinda be like that, an assortment of several pics I want to share so I can chat about them.
Since I was at the lake for all but a few days in August, the dogs started smelling ripe. Which I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't enjoy lounging on the fabric sofas and sleeping in the bed with me. So I hoisted them into the master bath tub for a good scrubbing. After I bathed the darker Pepper, I emptied the tub and I swear it looked like a black rat had exploded in there.
That really invigorated them and they raced circles around the house for a while. Played with their toys. Tried to take the drying towel from me when I went to wield it and the brush to fix their fur. Then they were whooped. Next thing I know, they're piled up, one on each sofa, for a good snooze.
After our final summer Bible study session, I treated myself to dinner at one of our local faves, Catch Me If You Can. I ordered too much on purpose so I could bring home the leftovers for a few more meals. It's a great Cajun themed restaurant with excellent food and reasonable prices. I also included a pic of the chicken fried chicken I ordered last time the husband was at the lake and we dined there.
The sweet little octogenerian lady who built our lake house a few years ago opted to put a large spice rack in the pantry. Call me lazy, but I like to house my spices in a handy spot there next to the cooktop. So I bought a fancy drawer insert and did just that. I hated the thought of "wasting" the pantry spice rack, so I decided I'd use it as my home fragrance organizer. It's pretty convenient, y'all, because I do like to keep a good smellin' house.
Mornings are my favorite. I've always been an up with the sun chicken instead of a stay up 'til all hours night owl. That's just how God made me. I love to see the day start to come alive. On the back porch recently, I spied one of our local herons catch his breakfast near the neighbor's dock and then bring it to shore to eat. It was pretty cool, y'all.
Speaking of eating... I've noticed my pants are feeling a little snug, which is no surprise since I've only worked out sporadically all summer. Ye olde postmenopausal metabolism crawls along at a snail's pace these days, so I really miss my exercise room in the hill country house when I'm at the lake house.
Since I'm a morning person, I decided to find a local workout facility where I could sweat it out at the crack of dawn. Me and the local retirees. And when I say retired folks, I mean those old enough to be my parents. This morning I watched the sun rise while putting in four miles on the recumbent bike after I finished five miles on the elliptical machine. I am the cardio queen.
I love how exercise wakes me up and gets me energized for the day. I fed and walked the doggos as soon as I got home. Then I made myself a cup of English breakfast tea so I could sit down in the husband's office at his old beat up table and spread out my Bible study materials. Being in God's word is THE BEST way to kick off a productive day, letting the Lord speak to me in real and meaningful ways.
Since we'll be transitioning from two houses to one in the new year, we've started farming out excess furniture no longer needed. Thus far my sister is taking two twin beds, nightstands, living room occasional tables, and a couple lamps. Our nephew has called dibs on a love seat as well as a couple nightstands and lamps. We recently trailered a queen bed, nightstands, lamp, desk, chair, coat rack and electric bike to our CPA daughter and her husband in Austin.
What we can't farm out to family, we'll put into storage with the rest of the things housed in our barn until it's needed. Or we end up with another second home to furnish. I just can't see parting with nice things like dining tables from Restoration Hardware. Or custom leather sofas. So we'll be hanging onto several pieces to see how things shake out with where our girls settle down over the next few years.
My sister and I tried lunch at a new place yesterday. We've been searching for a really good Tex Mex restaurant near the lake house. This establishment definitely goes on the list for another visit. The taco, tamale and cheese enchilada were quite tasty. The chicken enchilada was a pass for me. Afterwards I thoroughly enjoyed a bit of dessert, a halloween themed mini cookie cake from a favorite local baker. Saturday cheat day, dontcha know. Tomorrow I'll be back on the salads, and Monday I'll be back at the gym, sweating with and to the oldies!
I've had this song below running around in my head for several weeks, "One More Day" by Sons of Sunday. I liked it when I first heard it on Air1. But then it became more meaningful recently. A girl I went to school with, CJ, was diagnosed with advanced stage 4 pancreatic cancer in August. I looked up the statistics on life expectancy for her, and it's an awfully short timeline. CJ wants what we all want, which is one more day. And another after that, please.
This hits home with me for a couple of reasons. It was my mother's birthday recently. She would have turned 79. Mother was diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer. Hers wasn't as advanced as CJs, so mother lived twenty months. In hindsight, mother wished she had opted out of the harshest treatments to better enjoy the time she had left. More time to enjoy family, friends and her favorite things before this insidious disease took her down. Because with stage 4, you're just trying to beat it back rather than eradicate it.
The other reason I've been so touched after hearing of CJs diagnosis is because I think about how her daughters are feeling since I've been there with my own dear mom. They're about the same age as our girls. Too young to lose your mom. Honestly, though, I don't think you're ever ready to say that goodbye. But I'm afraid they'll be finding out sooner than any of them expected. Or wanted. I was blessed to have my sweet mother for 54 years, but not everybody gets that. So I can't help but feel empathy and a crushing sadness when I contemplate how my girls would handle stage 4 news. How CJs girls are undoubtedly devastated at the thought of losing her as reality settles in.
But God, y'all. He is the Great Physician. Jehovah, the Lord who provides. And He hears our every prayer, those spoken and unspoken. But we don't always get the answer we want. One more day, month, year. So we must lean into our faith and rest in the knowledge that our Almighty Father walks with us in the valleys. He carries us when our strength falters, and provides comfort as no other can. He alone is worthy of our praise, and so I offer up thanks that He erased the stain of sin and overcame death for me. And you, too. Our healing may come in this life. Or it may be after we've drawn our last breath in this fragile earthly body God gave us to use for a while. But either way, I know I'll be healed for eternity, and raised to life everlasting with my Savior. I hope all of you have that same assurance!
A psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along right paths for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23 (NIV)
Nothing makes me happier than seeing my calendar hit the BER months. The husband and I hauled all 23 bins of fall decor to the lake house in August. Some of it comes from the hill country home, while the rest is a combo of fall decor from our old lake and river properties. So yeah, it's a bit of a mixed bag, a combo of light blue, green and silver as well as navy and gold. And now I've added chinoiserie to make it interesting.
I spent two days in the garage at a card table I arranged, unpacking, sorting and purging fall decor the week before Labor Day. I ended up with six boxes of things I'm giving to a friend. She has lots of kids and grandkids who enjoy using decorations I no longer need. That still left me more than enough to get busy with setting up the lake house for fall. Oh sure, I ordered a few things online. First I scoured several local antique and vintage stores, but unfortunately had no luck finding the blue and white turkey platters I need for the bookshelves. So yippee for eBay! Plus I made a run to the craft store to buy a carvable foam pumpkin to create a floral centerpiece for the coffee table.
One of the first things I did was decorate my pot of greenery in the entryway. I added white lights on a timer and I love how festive it is, something you immediately see when you walk in the front door. And those highland cows in their burnt orange are too stinkin' cute, y'all. I contemplated my options for the living room shelves because I just got them in their *final* form a few short weeks ago and hated to undo it all. So I decided to just clean out the bottom six, leaving the top four with my collection of green and blue glass that still kinda fits the fall vibe I'm working.
The two blue and white turkey platters I purchased were delivered. Once I drove back to the lake, I unpacked the boxes of goodies I brought from the hill country and placed those platters on the shelves. Now that they've been added, the lake house is pretty well tricked out for the autumnal season with all of my "keeper" fall decor. Now I'm ready for some college football and cooler temps!
Our younger daughter recently kicked off her last first day of fall semester. As a 3L at SMU, she's starting to see glimpses of light at the end of the law school tunnel. After a successful summer internship with a Dallas law firm, she secured a job offer from them once she graduates. We're so excited for her. I asked for a first day pic and she sent me the one below with a few of her law school besties. Go get 'em, girls!
This recent flareup with my neck/shoulder has run its course and I'm happy to say I've returned to my regularly scheduled programming. That includes giving our house a good weekly cleaning, which entails a full vacuum and mop of the floors. When I went to run my mop beneath the entry hall console table recently, a gecko skittered out. I'd like to tell you I didn't shriek like a little girl, but that would be a big fat lie. Little man Finn, our intrepid hunter, raced into the entry on high alert. Sure enough, he found the gecko under the edge of the rug, scooped him up in his mouth and raced away from me when I shrieked again. After some chastising and mop waving, he finally dropped his gecko trophy onto the floor in the kitchen.
RIP Sir Gecko
That's where the fun continued. The gecko dropped its tail, which was flopping around on the floor. This gave me a serious case of the heebie jeebies. The poor stunned gecko hustled beneath the refrigerator while Finn was entranced by the twitching tail. I was still carting around the mop at this point. I used it to cover the writhing tail to keep Finn at bay so I could go get the broom and dustpan to sweep up the lost appendage and toss it in the trash can. Finn soon shifted his focus and began snuffling around the fridge, hoping the traumatized, tail-less gecko would reappear.
This wasn't Finn's first rodeo with geckos. An avid lizard hunter at our hill country house, he was gleeful when he discovered a bountiful nocturnal gecko population at the lake. Every evening when I take them out on their leashes in the front yard for a final potty break, Finn is on patrol for any geckos around the garages and sidewalk where they tend to gather. He has already killed several before I could haul him away. I know this instinct to chase prey, even little reptiles, is an inherent cairn trait. It's entertaining when he's treeing squirrels he'll never be able to catch. But these poor geckos just don't stand a fighting chance against his terrier hunting skills.
PS - After I did a rough draft of this post, Finn killed three more at the lake before we drove back to the hill country house for the holiday weekend. Then last night he killed a hill country gecko that made the error of zipping in the front door when I opened it.
