Kittens From The Dark Side: A Relaxed And Pleasant Autumn

We're having some chilly weather here in the desert and we're enjoying every minute of it!

Juvy is the only one who gets let out early in the morning

(because she sleeps in a different room from everyone else),

and she LOVES to cuddle!

Look how cute she is!!!

She was listed in my gratitude journal that day!

I also often work around TWO cats (or more!)

Allistair and Juvy both helped me send out some recipes.

As I type this, I'm cuddled up on the couch (2/4 cats are with me) with a hot water bottle

for my cold toes. It's lovely.

Here's a BIG stretch for you.

Cats are even sleeping close to each other.

It helps conserve warmth!

Blankets do the trick, too.

Here's what happened this morning when I opened the window while a couple
of big fat pigeons were digging around under the bushes outside.

Wanda the whale is Allistair's favorite toy, but today I found Stephen

all snuggled up next to her. Weird! I suspect that Allistair must have dropped Wanda there

on top of Stephen.

One Saturday this month we did a BUNCH of yard work.

Happily, I was feeling energetic and we were able to get a lot accomplished in just one day.

Greg blew off the patio, I dusted the table and chairs.

Greg trimmed all the bushes and the tree in the front yard.

We both pulled lots of weeds.

I sprayed the weedy spots in the back yard with a 10% vinegar solution,

and it seems to have actually made a difference in how quickly the weeds are growing back

(they aren't growing back as quickly!)

I found some teeny tiny little cacti growing in the front patio area -

with leaves! They're itsy-bitsy and ever so cute.

I replanted them in some little pots,

one of which I gave to my friend Cindy as a gift.

This one is named Gretchen.

We found these tiny flowers in the rocks, too.

Pretty!

I wore this shirt, from Target.

"Outside is the best side".

And outside was wonderful!

Look how beautiful our backyard is!

We are wooing a new baby. This is Lawrence!

He is a friend who's been asking for attention (and food - mostly food).

We've been seeing him around for a few months, and so I'm working on making friends

so that we can get this one neutered and vaccinated.

Isn't he handsome?

Here are Allistair and Stephen watching Lawrence.

On a different note, I have found some great vegan
less toxic nail polishes by Pacifica.
I'm now learning how to paint my nails and how to keep the polish from chipping.
Any hints? I'm using base coat and top coat.

This is the color Cinnamon Girl.

It's very shiny!

Here's another color.

Aren't the bottles beautiful?

Here's the t-shirt that my dear friend Cindy bought me

for my birthday. It's from a restaurant called Uprooted in Barnone in Gilbert.

Here's another outfit I wore lately.

blouse: Target
jeans: D Jeans (Ross)

I love the little ruffle on the bodice of this blouse.

This was a favorite lately, because I got to wear my bird blouse

(with a big bow on the back!) AND my pink peplum faux-leather jacket.

Another Sunday outfit

(you can tell because that's the church bathroom mirror!)

jacket: Levi's (Amazon)
scarf: Target
skirt: Rekucci
shoes: Target

Here's what was underneath!

top: Charter Club (Macy's)
skirt: Rekucci

top: Target
jeans: DKNY (Ross many years ago - maybe 10 years ago?)
shoes: Target

sweater: Target
jeans: D Jeans (Ross)
socks & shoes: Target
bag: Target

We happily got to hang out with Greg's Mom for a bit.

We went to Pieology and enjoyed the delicious pizza.

It's really fun to be able to choose our own toppings!

Greg takes the best selfies.

I met up with a friend at Joe's Farm Grill.

Arizona PBS was filming there,

and the guy spent a LOT of time with the camera pointed right at us

(so said my friend). We'll probably be on this show some day!

There's the camera guy.

We sat at the end in one of the booths next to the big wall of windows.

A couple of weeks ago, the fire alarms in our house started going OFF.

I could not get them to stop.

They also went off in the middle of the night. More than once.

Eventually they stopped, and Greg showed me how to disconnect them in case they did it the next day. I had to disconnect them immediately after Greg left the driveway to go to work.

Greg did a bit of research and discovered that fire alarms usually have a lifespan of about 10 years. Ours had been working for 23 years!

Greg bought new ones and installed them. They are wonderful and pretty

and they have all sorts of fancy abilities.

Greg and I have been fighting our way through a cold virus that has seemed to last a very long time.

It's been two weeks - ew. We're better, but still more tired and stuffy than usual.

In the meantime, we've gotten the Chirp Digital Curriculum experience smoothed out for our clients finally. There were (of course) some hiccups with the website, but we FINALLY figured out what the problem was and fixed it. New things always pop up, but we learn from every one of them!

Last Friday I had a dinner party for the special needs team I manage at our church.

I made lots of delicious food and got to hang out with some of the best women I know.

From back left, clockwise:

doughnuts (plain with chocolate frosting, ginger carrot with coconut)

chocolate pudding

chocolate chip cookies

veggies & hummus