System Status: October 2013

We’ve somehow made it nearly to the end of October without turning our furnace on. This is either a sign of: a) a mild fall, or b), extreme stubbornness on my part to not touch the dial on the thermostat. It’s probably more of the latter than the former as it’s been pretty chilly lately and though I haven’t turned the furnace on, we’ve definitely been getting good use out of our gas fireplace, space heaters, and down comforters. My son, who likes to run around the house half naked (he apparently has an aversion to pants and socks), doesn’t seem to mind, so we’ll give it another few days.

Our latest grounds crew (because our HOA likes to shop around and switches at least once a year) has been my favorite so far in the fact that they do very little. There are piles and piles and piles of leaves all over the place and I absolutely love it. Our neighbors, who average 60+ years in age and have been known to vacuum their lawns (yes, this is true), are probably not as amused as me. But I’ll take the amazing colors spilling over the ground while I can!

In the end of October I am….

…reading nothing….actually. I did finish The Madonnas of Leningrad a few weeks ago (which was very neat to read as I’ve visited St. Petersburg and the Hermitage and could picture the various scenes and artwork that were described), but haven’t had time to pick up The Lowland yet, which is waiting for me on the dining room table. E also picked up the book for The 2:10 Project at church last weekend (they’re doing a series on it right now), and I think we’ll be reading that together on Wednesday nights. We haven’t done any books together in a while, so I’m looking forward to that.

…watching Lark Rise to Candleford. And all the new shows (especially Blacklist, which I didn’t think I’d like at all), of course. But Lark Rise to Candleford is my TV addiction at the moment. It’s nice in the evenings to load it up on Hulu while E is giving B a bath and take a little time for myself. 🙂

…loving the bath set I got from Third Day Naturals. They’ve been reviewed on KOTH quite a few times and I had seen them mentioned on another blog, so I splurged a little and got myself some soap, a sugar scrub, lip balm, and hard lotion. I’m not a huge fan of hard lotion, but I love the sugar scrub and the soap. I think I need to place another order soon….

…eating a few new recipes this month. Kelly Brozyna’s Chocolate Pie + Raw Graham Cracker Crust made me want to drive up to Boulder or Longmont or wherever she lives and knock on her door so I can give her a great big hug (except she’s on tour right now, so it probably wouldn’t pan out that way…). I LOVED this. And of course, Primal Palate never disappoints with their desserts and the Pumpkin Spice Cakes were a hit, especially with B. I think next month I need to work on more non-dessert recipes to talk about here….

…looking forward to vacation next week! E and I will be celebrating 9 years together. 🙂 I’m excited.

And there you have the state of the Reb. 🙂

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