The rains have arrived.

"I want to live the beauty of these years. Cleaning up, I know we are not what we have or what we have done. We are what we have been given."--Gunilla Norris, The Mystic Garden

The pup is dried off, warmed up, fed, and curled up asleep on a cozy chair near the heater. No time for a fire this morning. I am still adjusting to the old/new schedule of being up early, working out, walking, working hard, and dancing,and then early to bed. I am thankful for the big pot of healthy, homemade veggie stew with pearl barley that will stick to ribs and make the house smell inviting all week long. I am thankful for raincoats that keep me sort of dry on these walks, thankful for the new street lights that make our morning and evening constitutionals less daunting. I am thankful for the load of firewood that Fletcher and I carted in yesterday for the month. It is dry and accessible. I am thankful for my health and my heart and the hope I have in the coming months. Facing up to things is the real challenge at first, and then the path opens up. I refer to facing financial things, familial things, friendship things, facebook things..in essence, life. Facing up takes energy, courage, and good coffee. It requires calm. It requires fearless truth seeking and writing it down. I like the aftermath of that---taking stock. So thankful to have those tools or know folks that do and will share.

The Hallwe'en scrum was just that. Babies, kids in costumes, noise, sports on t.v., goodies, cider, tea, noise, collegial squabbling, comments about just about everything, trick-or-treating, homemade pizzas and other good foods, and time well spent.

Taking stock today.Doing curriculum planning and prep. Lesson planning for November. AH! Love being back in the saddle.:) Just waiting for a little more daylight so I can go be a "picker" in my own classroom-in-a-garage and pull out what I think I might need and want. Keeping it simple. Keeping it organized. Keeping it light. Don't need junk. Need the basics, though. And good coffee.