The weather has been very nice the past two days, and I’ve been trying to walk every day. I also have been trying to lift weights every day and do sit-ups, chair dips, and push-ups. Tuesday, I walked from my house to the post office and CVS. It always makes me happy when I can combine exercise and errands. Walking down that particular main drag isn’t the prettiest walk. It could be nice; I cross a little bridge over the creek, and the trees and the view are pretty. But there’s lots of traffic and noise, and trash all over the ground, and a couple of weeks ago a body was found in the creek. Vermont, it ain’t.

Last week, I was on a roll. I made banana bread that the younger two absolutely loved. Don’t ask me why this time they loved it. Who knows. This week they asked me to make it again. I made dinner in the Crock-Pot on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday was just chicken breasts simmered in salsa and shredded cheese on top at the end. Simple but tasty. Thursday, I did a beef stew with 1.5 lbs of short ribs, some Lipton Onion Soup mix, red wine, garlic powder, and carrots. I think that was it. Served over egg noodles. The whole day that it cooked, I was like the dad in A Christmas Story with the Christmas turkey. I kept lurking around the pot and the smell was driving me crazy. It did not disappoint. Sooooo good! The leftovers were even better. I was thinking about them all day while I froze my a– off at our school’s Fall Festival. They tasted so good when I finally got home and they warmed me right up. I also was good about eating up leftovers all week.

On Friday, I stopped in Frugal to look for jeans because I just got a hole in my last pair. I found a good pair (although a bit short, since they were petite, but I needed something) as well as a few other things. Then I crossed the street to check out one of the newest stores on the Avenue, called Clutter. I should run screaming from a store with that name. But really it was the opposite: a pretty cool collection of used, vintage and upcycled things. It was well curated — not like a thrift shop where you have so much to pick through. I bought a necklace for $15, since I had been wanting one for a while that I could wear with lots of things. And I’m going back for this:

This week has been more difficult to get a handle on because we have so many appointments: Monday, today and tomorrow. But I’m hoping that tomorrow and Friday, I will get some errands done and take care of some things around the house. Namely, switching out all the clothes to winter clothes. I had to run down the cellar on Monday and pull all the winter coats out in a hurry because it was so cold. That was our first frost, and I think all the pumpkin plant leaves died, so that’s probably it for them. There are two green ones on the vine. The tomatoes, basil, and flowers are hanging in there (I took the basil inside that night).

Speaking of flowers, my front garden really hit its stride this fall. It looks better than it did in the summer.

I want to give a shout-out to my husband. He’s been tackling the ol’ honey-do list lately. He put together one of the IKEA dressers he bought for my sons’ room (one left to do). He installed one of three new digital thermostats that he bought. Now the downstairs is nice and warm in the morning automatically. On Sunday he throroughly cleaned out my van. Wife is pleased 🙂

This weekend: soccer games and finalizing Halloween costumes. And that’s it! Maybe work on my daughter’s room.

P.S.: I’m enjoying the Halloween decorating this year.