Friday Night Lights!

Ahh, football season!  I am not ignoring the fact that it is also cross country season (you can read about that on my other blog) but there is something special about being a fan and believing that you can actually influence the outcome of a game by the intensity with which you yell at the television!  We have a standing date with some football buddies.  If Boise State is playing, we will show up with snacks in hand. We will all yell for the Broncos, believing that we can help them to a win.  It must be true, because usually they do win.
Tonight is different.  The Broncos are off this week, but BYU and Utah State are going to battle it out.  Tonight could strain our friendship!  We are going to show up in our Aggie gear and yell for USU, while our friends will be cheering on BYU.  Okay, it won't really strain the relationship because we are all primarily Bronco fans and BSU will play both Utah State and BYU later in the season.  We will be united in our efforts to help the Broncos defeat both of those teams.
Tonight should be fun.  I am anxious to see how it plays out.

Parma's First Annual Turkey Trot

Writing is like parenting. If you focus too heavily on one baby, the others get neglected. I have been attempting to be more consistent with my examiner.com work and I discovered my blog is not getting the attention it deserves. So much to write – so little time!

Really cool shirt

Parma's First Annual Turkey Trot was held Thanksgiving Day! The most official thing about it was the shirt … oh, and the distance – 5K.

Very tired shoes

We gathered before dinner in an attempt to burn some of the calories we were sure to consume. Clothed in our pretty red shirts, hats, gloves, and running shoes we followed a course on the edge of town. (Definition for those who live in the city: Town; a small residential cluster surrounding local businesses in a rural community.) Our group consisted of walkers, runners, and those who couldn't make up their mind. Run? Walk? Run/walk? It didn't matter, everyone got outside, breathed some fresh air, and burned off a few more calories than they would have had they remained inside watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Yum!

Did I mentioned we ate cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate to celebrate? I also found that my Thanksgiving Dinner plate, loaded as usual, did not provide the usual anticipated guilt. Oh, I'm certain I consumed more calories than I needed for fuel that day, but I did offset it just a tad compared to years past. Besides, I got a really cool shirt!

Another Reason to Love My Life

Eagle Island State Park

I have a bowl of tomatoes on my counter - remnants of a bountiful garden. There is a pot of Butternut Squash Soup simmering on the stove top – my first attempt. The squash is also part of the last of the harvest. A batch of cinnamon rolls is baking in the oven – an overdue gift. As I look out the window, gold colored leaves scatter the green lawn, reminding me that there is work to do outdoors. The swaying trees also remind me that there is more work to come. The weatherman is promising snow for the weekend.

Scotch Pines Golf Course

I am trying to live in the moment. In the spring I can't wait for my newly planted garden to produce. In the fall I pray for a frost to slow the workload! Today, however, I am enjoying the season with its beauty, its unpredictability, and its ever changing vistas. As I roam the country roads, I marvel that the green and gold fields so recently blocking my view have become beige carpets neatly groomed and awaiting the interruption of spring. The wind, tho it hinders my forward progression, cleanses the air and clarifies the horizon.

I know that the thundershowers and snowstorms are coming. They, too, will have a beauty of their own. Today, I glory in the colors of the season.

Is it Just Me?

I've reached that time in my life where I don't know what to wear.  I go to bed wearing an extra layer, then sometime during the night I kick off the covers.  By morning I don't want to get out of bed because it is too cold.  Before long I am perspiring again, changing out of the sweats and into lighter layers, or even a pair of shorts. I fight my urges to turn the thermostat up and then the air conditioner on!
I know what you are thinking, but it isn't menopause ...

It's Autumn!

Dear Blog, I've missed you!

I've been neglecting my blog a bit. I won't blame it on writer's block this time.  I've just had other things on my mind as in:

• How many hoops will Spence have to jump through to obtain his Utah Residency status and have out of state tuition waived to the tune of $6000 per semester?
• How many times will I tell my married kids and granddaughter "Goodbye" before they actually leave for Pennsylvania?
• How sad will it be?
• How long before I hop a plane to Pennsylvania?
• How am I going to get through another year with a high school senior?
• How much money will it take to fix the pickup so the "Service Engine" light will go off and an emissions test can actually be performed?
• How many pints of beans will I can this year?
• Ditto for quarts of tomatoes.
• When does An Eclectic Collage: Volume II (A collaborative work on relationships by female authors) come out so I can tell all my friends?
• What's for dinner?

 Well, I have some answers and they are all good!

• As many as it takes.  Residency Awarded!  No more out of state tuition hanging over his head - nor mine!
• About three.
• Sad.  Very sad.
• Five and one half weeks until I make my first visit to Pennsylvania and welcome a new grandchild into the world.
• Hang on!  It's a wild ride!  However, I am wiser and more seasoned than the first two times I rode this attraction.
• $175
• Between 50 and 60.
• Who knows?  They are just coming on.
• September 15!  I am one of the authors of this book.  More info to come!
• Whole wheat waffles - or maybe BLT's.  After all, the tomatoes are ripening!

Autumn!

Amidst the business of Autumn (and around here it is busy!) it's nice to take a moment and enjoy the visual pleasures!

Cold enough to turn the leaves, yet warm enough to enjoy a Cross Country Meet in one's shirtsleeves. What a beautiful time of year!

It doesn't last for long. Soon, all of those leaves will be on the ground. Then - someone will clear them away and we'll have to wait another year to behold the brilliant colors of fall.

Blue skies! Appreciate it while it lasts!

I'm glad I was enjoying the scenery instead of running the race this time! So long Cross Country Season - until next year....