“I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world.” – Dolly Parton

Happy October everyone! Some of us are getting excited about Halloween, others are already planning and decorating for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and others are just plain happy to be done with the hot hot weather (that’s me 🙋‍♀️). I hope whatever it is about this time of year that brings you joy, that you receive it in abundance.

1. Propagating houseplants. This week I did a bit of pruning on some of my houseplants and I now have a whole little army of cuttings that I’m attempting to propagate. Most likely, not all of them will take to it. But if I get one or two out of the bunch I’ll be happy! I never ever thought I’d turn into such a plant lady, but here I am!
2. Mums. Speaking of being a plant lady, I bought mums this week! We were at Home Depot for a few other things and I saw they had some really healthy looking mums and I couldn’t resist. I bought two HUGE planters of multicolored mums and I am so excited for them to bloom! It also prompted me to finally get rid of my summer hanging baskets that have been dead for a few weeks.
3. Writing desk. We have a room in the house that somewhat functions as an office. I mean, it has a desk, a printer, and some file cabinets. But it’s also where the snake and lizard live…so it’s hot with their heat lamps on. And it’s cut off from the rest of the house. It was great when I was working full time and on conference calls constantly because I could shut the door. But now that I’m doing something different, I like to work in our more open living area. After a year of sitting on the couch to write, I decided last week to get a small desk. Tyler helped me pick one out that would look good and wouldn’t be too large and clunky in the space. Target was having a sale on desks and then we found the perfect chairs at our local Habitat for Humanity Restore. Altogether I spent less than $150 for a desk and two chairs! I’m really pleased with my new setup and I’ve spent a few hours sitting here every day since it put it together. Here’s the desk (though not on sale anymore). It was pretty straightforward assembly and it feels really sturdy, but doesn’t take up too much space in the room.
4. Crossword puzzles. This week I signed up for a free trial of the New York Times crossword puzzle app and I’ve been having a great time doing puzzles in my spare time. In fact, I’ve stayed up way too late on a couple of nights working on a crossword! I don’t think I’m going to pay for the full trial just because the NYT puzzles are pretty difficult for me still. So I’ll probably buy a book at the store to get back into the practice of doing them regularly at a more beginner/intermediate level to start. I do not consider myself competitive with other people at all, but I am super competitive with myself when it comes to trivia or puzzles of any kind, if that makes sense. I feel so accomplished when I’m able to get an answer quickly!
5. Autumn! I mentioned it earlier, but I love this season so much. The end of summer kind of drags on for me a bit and I don’t like really hot weather. So as soon as things start to cool down my mood gets such a big boost. And my energy levels too! It doesn’t last forever, I know, but I love the leaves changing and pumpkins everywhere and pulling out my favorite sweaters and scarves. Cozy season for sure!