I have no hair...

OK, not strictly true, but finally when I approached my hairdresser with a picture of a super short cut, she didn't want me to "think about it." She just went ahead & chopped. It only took three years to get to this point. I'll take a picture & share it soon (because that's who I am as a person), but today I have bits of hair everywhere & no makeup & just look really tired. So something for you to look forward to!

And why am I so tired? Because BASEBALL, that's why! The Indians are up three games to two (in case you haven't been paying attention). The Cubs are headed back to Cleveland to finish the series out so we get a break tonight.

In other news, I've been given the assignment of writing a poem for my dad's family's annual Thanksgiving gathering. And you know, I'm struggling with it, a bit. I haven't written any poetry worth reading in a while now, and it's a little bit hard to find the thankful with all the things going in the world right now. But a few weeks ago we sang a song at church (Now Thank We All Our God) written by a man whose life was much worse than mine is! From Wikipedia:

Martin Rinkart was a Lutheran minister who came to Eilenburg, Saxony at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. The ...city... became the refuge for political and military fugitives, but the result was overcrowding, and deadly pestilence and famine. Armies overran it three times. The Rinkart home was a refuge for the victims, even though he was often hard-pressed to provide for his own family. During the height of a severe plague in 1637, Rinkart was the only surviving pastor in Eilenburg, conducting as many as 50 funerals in a day. He performed more than 4000 funerals in that year, including that of his wife.

After the war ended Rinkart wrote the hymn for a grand celebration service. So, come on, I can surely get it into gear & write something for our celebration service!

Today is Halloween. And right now Dr. M is outside giving candy to short strangers. I'm hiding in the house. So, for today, our lives are pretty darned normal for us. For that, I'm thankful.

The Week That Was

This week has been a bit hard. Bad news came boom boom boom - knocked me back a step. Most of the bad news only affects my heart & other people, but still... But then last night the CUBS won their way into the WORLD SERIES! And they're going to be playing the CLEVELAND INDIANS? Does that mean that there's still hope for the world? I say yes!

Therefore, since there's still hope in the world, I will share things that I did last week. First, after reading on a blog post (hi Steve!) about how many people don't really like makeup, and having been considering that I was about tired of all of that rigmarole, I decided to do a photo shoot to see if I could tell a big difference (I actually think I've done this before, but humor me).

Left - all natural Bug; Right, my full complement of makeup (which took four minutes to apply, even with photo breaks after each step). I was going to show ALL the steps along the way, but since I can barely tell any difference between the first & second photos I decided to spare you. Actually, the second picture looks like I used a filter to soften up my features (or maybe it's not in focus). Verdict: I shall use makeup on a case by case basis (yes for church & work, no for the grocery store).

When I wasn't peering at my face in a mirror, I crocheted (I know - shocking).

Do you see that? BLUE!!!

At one point during the week I ate a salad. Actually, I eat a salad almost every weekday - I took this picture because I was laughing at all the toppings. There is actually some spinach under there...

Last weekend, Dr. M & I went to the Renaissance Festival. He wore one of my favorite t-shirts :)

Finally, I got a lovely surprise from Rita - cards that she colored & made her self. I think I might have to share one or two of them with some of the folks on my heart...

The Moon Man Strikes Again!

Other Things That Happened While I Wasn't Blogging

These photos from our yard are all courtesy of Dr. M.

Our hibiscus decided to have a second blooming. 

And so did the Rose of Sharon behind the garage!

Ms. Pinky is winding down. If it ever cools off she might even come inside for the winter!

Take me to your leader!

Such a pretty kitty!

I sense a disturbance in the force - has a raccoon been here?

Things I Did Instead of Writing a Blog Post

1. I went on a Vestry retreat & stayed in my usual room. For obvious reasons. The retreat center has a new labyrinth, with a watch cat. Very nice!

2. I crocheted some things. The temperature monster is still on track to be 10 feet long. 

These are two different square patterns - I didn't realize how similar they looked until I put them together here.

First attempt at a Batman logo - now that I understand the pattern better I think the next one will look a little better.

3. Put some bling in the yard & on the Daisy-mobile. 

4. Grew a pokeberry bush (actually, it's been growing all summer - I just took its picture this week). I know, I know - they are quite UN ideal to have in the yard, but look - purple! I think it's lovely. Ha!

5. Voted. I think that's probably the Most Important Thing of All. 

Next, in hopefully less than a month, pictures that Dr. M took while I wasn't blogging!