It was a week of Halloween Preparations and Good news. We were spared a covid diagnosis, Peter Pan’s second test came back negative and the Royal couple is free of any symptoms or news that their fellow Wedding guests had become ill.
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A good week for Halloween Decorating
Last week turned to out to be a good week, mostly.
The kids enjoyed their fall break from school. The Renaissance Man happened to have a couple days off in that mix and they all worked together to decorate the house for Halloween. They created a big monster to hover over the ‘graveyard’.
Dark and Twisty was in charge of spreading the spiderwebs which is a little funny because she has an irrational fear of spiders.
However, she and her dad conspired together to make it appear that a small human was caught in the web, leaving only it’s bones and ‘spirit’ trapped in the remains.
It’s always more fun with a story.
The ghosty guy was actually made a few years ago. The Renaissance man wrapped Dark & Twisty in plastic wrap and packing tape. It was a little nerve-wracking to watch. I mean, for 30 years I’ve been grabbing plastic away from small children so they don’t suffocate themselves and then I was supposed to sit and watch my husband wrap our child’s head in plastic wrap.
Obviously, she was fine, still wreaking havoc 4 years later but I’m pretty sure I grew a dozen more gray hairs that day. And the ghosty survived, a little dusty and discolored from hanging in the workshop but still maintained his shape. He’s wired for light and glows in the dark.
Good week for Nano Progress
While the family was decorating outside, I was busy writing. My habit is being formed and my hope is that it will continue past November. I managed to write 6,112 words last week. I averaged around 1000 words per day. That’s not nearly enough to actually win Nano. I will need to write 11,669 every week or more specifically, 1667 words per day.
And that folks is why I’m training.
Still, I feel like that was a good start. This week I’ll try to get up to 1200 a day.
Harvesting herbs
I did take a morning to harvest the last of the herbs in my garden. It was a good week for garden work: Dry, cool and sunny. I found some volunteer parsley that was tucked behind the fennel. That was a pleasant surprise.
Then I cut some bundles of sage. The sage will actually keep growing through November but I wanted to get some dried for an idea I had.
I cut the rosemary down completely. I can’t keep rosemary through the winter in our zone. It just gets too cold. I heard they have varieties that are cold resistant but I haven’t found them yet.
Now that they’re just shrubby bit sticking out of the ground, I’m going to make one last attempt at overwintering them. I plan on mulching them heavy and sticking buckets over them for extra protection. Its a trick some gardeners use to protect rosebushes.
My thought is that if we have a mild winter, they may not die. It definitely won’t work if we get another Artic blast, or as the Chicago news outlets called it “Chi-beria”.
Farmer’s almanac is predicting a snowy and cold winter so we’ll see.
I also picked a lot of thyme and oregano. It looks like I could probably get a few more bundles of both before the first frost, I’m just limited on drying space so I pick in batches.
I rinsed and bundled the first of my harvest and realized something.
I called Dark&Twisty into the kitchen, “Look at this!”
“You picked herbs.” She said unimpressed.
“Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is over there (pointing to the sink) ! Now you’re singing the song.” I explained.
She laughed, “Did you do that on purpose?”
“No, But as I was rinsing I realized it and started singing.”
“You’re a dork.” She laughed, “I do that, too!”
At least we’re dorks together.
A Good Talk with Mom
I finally had a chance to talk to my mom after texting for a few weeks. She’s so cute; She asked if she could call me because she didn’t want to interrupt my writing.
Of course I said yes and explained that I tend to wander a lot when I’m writing. I get a few paragraphs in and then walk away and clean something to gather my thoughts. Then I go back to work. I always take phone calls, it keeps my brain from getting to foggy.
She laughed, “Oh, so you’re like me. I can’t sit for too long either.”
She told me about her little projects. Drying flowers didn’t turn out the way she wanted. But the dog bed she’s making is working well.
She decided to buy a new couch. Her previous leather couch was ripped up because her husband let the dog lay on it. Her idea was to take one of the least damaged cushion and make a dog bed so Max wouldn’t be interested in the new couch. She’s even going so far as to make a frame out of wood, so the cushion doesn’t slide around on the hard wood floors.
That dog is spoiled! And he does not like the saw. Apparently, he hides in the house while she’s using power tools. When she’s finished, he’ll come out and bark menacingly at the tools to show his displeasure.
Other than that, he’s always right next to her.
We talked about harvesting and preserving herbs. I suggested she to get a coffee/spice grinder for the rosemary and thyme. They tend to be woody when dried and are annoying to eat. Grinding them helps a lot.
A quiet perspective
I finally saw glimpses of my mom; the mom I grew up with. The woman who could do anything and was in charge of her life. The woman who didn’t second guess herself and who intuitively knew how to soothe her soul. I thought I lost that woman years ago. She became indecisive and unsure when she married her husband.
We talked a little about her sadness. She misses her husband which is to be expected. She has no desire to go anywhere, not even to see friends at the VFW where they hung out. I tried to reassure her that its okay. When she’s ready to go out in the world, she will. There’s no hurry.
There was a sense of relief in her voice as she agreed with me.
I’m feeling better about my mom’s widowhood. Obviously, I’m going to keep connected and supportive but I’m not as worried as I was.
Not a good week for Car repairs
Peter Pan and Wendy came to visit as well since they are free and clear from the cooties.
He had ordered brakes and rotors for her car a few weeks ago. They were delivered to my house because apparently my house is where everyone does routine car maintenance. The Renaissance Man does have the tools (and experience to help).
The old man complained for 2 weeks about this box of car parts sitting at my house.
Then he complained that nobody talked to him about this project…even though we all mentioned it numerous times. The day before the kids were to come over with her car, the Renaissance Man was stressing about not being here to help and giving me all the rules and things to coach Peter Pan about.
“I promise you, the kid is not stupid. He may not know everything you know but he’s familiar with the process and I’ll make him look up videos before he starts.”
That morning, he pulled out all the tools they could possibly need to change the brakes and rotors and complained some more about nobody talking to him about it.
“Well, maybe because you give off this grumpy air as if they would be inconveniencing you by asking. Maybe if you presented yourself as happy to help they’d be more inclined to ask you.”
He didn’t like my response and insisted he wasn’t grumpy. That was the whole stubborn Taurus thing but I know he’s thinking about it.
The Renaissance Man left for work disappointed that Peter Pan hadn’t shown up early enough to get the instructions straight from him.
Late as usual
They were supposed to arrive in the morning. However, they didn’t show up until 3 o’clock.
When he finally got around to working on the car, he had trouble with the jack. Then he had trouble with the jack stand. Finally, when he gets the car up and stable, and he can’t get the tire off. He had to call Lucky to come over to help.
Lucky played football in high school and works construction as a side job. He has always been surprisingly strong, almost Hulk-like. Peter Pan isn’t weak but his brother is definitely stronger.
The two of them go at the tire with hammers and brute strength.
At this point the sun is visibly setting and Wendy is feeling bad about the trouble.
“Oh, sweetheart,” I tell her, “This has nothing to do with you anymore. I know it started as Peter Pan trying to be a good boyfriend, but now its about stubborn pride and male ego. Its them versus the tire and they love it!”
Swearing and creative curse words traveled across the yard.
“It doesn’t sound like they love it!” She laughed.
“I’ll tell you what,” I told her, “ I’ll give them a few more minutes and then I’ll call it. It’s going to be dark soon.”
I put an end to that nonsense.
I called it. They didn’t conquer the tire. Apparently, she’d had the same problem with a different tire a while back. She ended up towing the car to a mechanic so he could change it for her.
They decided that she would bring her car to the dealership they worked at. They are friends with the mechanic and he agreed to change everything out for them. He has the lift and better tools for the job.
The Renaissance Man was happy that nothing was broke and that her car wasn’t still in our drive-way when he got home at midnight. He was also a little salty because had he been here, he would have been able to get the job done and teach the kid a few things.
Good Food
Lucky left and Peter Pan sulked a while before he came in to cook dinner for us. We’ve taught all our boys to cook. Not all of them took to it, but we tried. Peter Pan actually likes cooking and he’s good. He had offered earlier in the day and went shopping for the things I didn’t have on hand, which is why they were so late.
He made Cilantro-Salmon rice bowls that were very tasty. Even the witchlings thought it was good and ate without complaining. They don’t eat fish as a general rule and they aren’t big fans of rice.
Unfortunately, for them, Wendy is a vegetarian and I can’t eat gluten. So they didn’t get the pepperoni pizza they asked for.
Great Compliments
That night, as the kids were cleaning up after dinner, Wendy gave me the best compliment ever. We had wandered out to the deck away from slamming cabinets and bickering. I had turned on the string lights because it was dark. They put out such a good ambiance. She complimented them and then said, “I like your house.”
I thanked her and told her it thought it was too small. She re-framed it for me, “Not small, it’s cozy.”
Peter Pan gave her a look because we’ve all agreed that my house was too small. She tried to explain that either her house was too big or there weren’t enough people in it. It was cozier when her Grandma lived there.
That’s when I realized her observation had nothing to do with the size of my house or my wacky decorating style or the good music playing quietly in the background or the wallflowers emitting the latest fall scents from Bath & Body works.
The feeling was comforting and inclusive, like a hug. It was about the people that live here and the energy we emit. It was one of those rare moments when my work was validated and I will always remember that beautiful compliment.
I hope you all had a good week to. Here’s to many more!