Last weekend we headed into the mountains with some friends to hike and camp and enjoy autumn.

Our plans shifted rather dramatically, but they turned out to be lovely just the same.

I’m in love with these gorgeous sunny days although my mind cannot comprehend that October is half way complete and we are barreling right into the holiday season that vanishes always with the blink of an eye.

But enough about that, I can’t even bear the thoughts of that already.

Sunday nights always feel a little like staring down the barrel of a gun.

I guess you can tell by now that this post is going to be a rambling, chatty one.

Prepare yourselves, friends.

Our mailbox fell off its post some day last week.  And by “fell off its post” I guess I mean someone probably hit it off its post.  Because its metal rusty self was mangled and beaten and lying roadside when we discovered it.  For a couple of days we managed to balance it precariously on the post and hope for the best.  Finally, this weekend, the boys conquered the attaching of our newly purchased mailbox for the collection and retrieval of our mail.  (Isn’t the United States Postal Service actually genuinely remarkable, people?  I mean, in exchange for a tiny square of postage, human beings will take our cards and letters and such and deliver them EVERYWHERE for us??  It is pretty fantastic, if you ask me.)  I believe the boys ended up using some form of super glue adhesion as the post and the mailbox I purchased did not exactly fit one another or suit themselves well to nails or screws.  So – you know – this week will tell if super glue really is all that super.

Last week I had the older girls try on their jeans for this next season of eventual cooler weather.  Seven pairs of jeans tried on between two girls.  ONE pair still fits.  One pair of jeans.  Two girls.  That math isn’t working, is it?  And do you know who dislikes shopping even more than I dislike shopping?  Two of my daughters.  The jeans-less daughters, naturally.  If only they would embrace leggings and skirts.  It’s much harder to grow out of leggings.

This weather really is the best and if I could manage to be out in the woods every day right now, I would be.

Sometimes if it’s directly before bed and I notice the kids’ feet are really dirty, instead of making them wash their feet, I just require them to wear socks to bed.  That’s fine – right?

I rearranged the kitchen again this weekend.  No big surprise – eh?

Also.  What is up with the increasingly large population of gigantic spiders in my home?  I find it entirely unacceptable.  Equally unacceptable is the fact that my eldest son appears to be more terrified of spiders than even I am.  Which is saying a lot.  I need someone to kill those freaks of nature for me.  Currently, Mosely is our go-to Spider Control Engineer.  It’s a rough job, but I tell you what, it pays well.

Although I adore our present home and will miss so very many aspects of it, I am anxiously awaiting the day we move into a home with perhaps two legitimate bathrooms.  For teenagers and pre-teens and all the warm bodies that live and visit here.  The waiting is the hardest part, though.  It’s true.  It’s just been so much waiting on top of waiting for the “just right” place to come along.  Or even the “it’ll do for now” place.

One of the coolest parts of our outdoor weekend was being introduced to this amazing plant that produces these tiny seed pods.  When you touch these little green pods, the pods themselves basically explode at your touch.  You can feel them!  It’s incredible.  The magic of their little ambitious actions had me laughing loudly and searching out all the seed pods I could find.  What’s that plant called – does anyone know?

I wasn’t going anywhere with this post so there’s no need to neatly wrap it up.

I just hope the weather stays grand, the seed pods appear on my nature walks and blue jeans that fit materialize at the thrift store on our next visit. Oh – and that the mailbox stays put and that the spiders stay away and that a two bathroom farm house goes up for sale in our neck of the woods.

Happy beginning of the week to you guys!

(And I hope the spiders stay away from your homes too and I hope that all your kids’ next season’s worth of clothing fits!)

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