October is a busy month

Yes, October is SUCH a busy month, especially when you take advantage of all the fun things to do. We had some cold, rainy days this week, and I appreciated the chance to sit around reading and just chilling out. Wednesday night it got very cold, so we put our comforter on the bed, and oh, I slept so well that night, cold air and warm blankets. But on Thursday night (so cold that we covered my flowers and brought the basil inside), Rocket Boy turned on the furnace. We haven't gotten a new filter or anything, and I woke up on Friday with terrible sinus issues, plus very sweaty. So I turned the furnace off. Later, Rocket Boy turned it back on. Last night, I turned it DOWN (but not off).

It's that time of year: furnace on, furnace off, comforter on, comforter off. When it gets truly cold I'll appreciate having both the furnace and the comforter, but until then, we argue.

This week I cooked recipes from Moosewood Restaurant's Simple Suppers: Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table, which I got at the Bookworm some years back. It's not my favorite cookbook, but the recipes tend to be easy, so I find myself going back to it from time to time. On Monday I made Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Soup with Cranberry Chutney, both of which I thought were very good, especially the next day. On Wednesday I made Two Potato Gratin (with white and sweet potatoes), plus broccoli, and on Thursday I fixed brussels sprouts to go with the leftover gratin. I love brussels sprouts -- Rocket Boy doesn't, really, but these were so tender, and I made a sauce out of butter and Dijon mustard that was so delicious, that we ate all 34 of them (except for six that RB set aside to take to work for his lunch the next day). And then on Friday I made Tortilla Melts, which involved portabella mushrooms, red onion, cream cheese, pesto, tomato slices, and provolone cheese -- they sound complicated, but they really weren't. 

And I made brownies. I think on Thursday.

A few times this week I caught myself thinking that I'm actually enjoying cooking dinner these days. I think it's because I'm only doing it three times a week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays (and Saturdays and Sundays) I do not have to think about dinner. That really helps.

This week I'm going back to the NY Times cooking section, and I am going to make recipes that involve walnuts and figs. That sounded fall-like. We'll see how it goes.

I went to the Faculty Concert again on Tuesday, but this time I didn't get as much out of it. I think part of the problem was that I had physical therapy that day and I was sore and tired from it. PT is a workout! Also, I guess I hadn't slept well the night before. Anyway, I actually FELL ASLEEP during the concert. It was called "A Trio of Trios," three piano trios played by a violinist, a cellist, and a pianist. The first two were good, but the third one, after the intermission, was the Brahms Trio No. 2 in C Major, Opus 87, and although the cellist really talked it up, what a wonderful piece it was, I found it boring and fell asleep. I'm not sure I have ever done that. Of course, I woke up quickly, but how embarrassing. Channeling my poor mother, who fell asleep in everything.

This coming week, the concert is guitar music, so I think I have a better chance of staying awake. We shall see.

I managed to write, I think three days this week, which is not as many as I had hoped for, but it's not bad. I'm trying to work the new mystery I came up with into the old draft, and that's harder than it sounds, but I'm trying. I've made it through the first seven chapters so far, and I will try to work on Chapter 8 tomorrow. There are still some chapters that aren't even drafted -- maybe I'll get to some of those this week. 

Yesterday, Saturday, there was another No Kings protest downtown, the first since I think March? It's been a long time. And I wasn't really into it, but at the same time, how could I not go? I didn't have any good ideas for a sign, so I just used my old one ("Cats Against Trump") and it got a few laughs. Rocket Boy was much more ambitious and made two signs having to do with voting. That's what I should have done. It was really a pro-voting event, and lots of people's signs referenced voting. (By the way, I did manage to get Teen A to vote this week, so we're all done.)

Teen B arrived from Fort Collins about an hour before the protest was supposed to start at 12, and we tried to get him to go with us, but nuh uh, he wasn't having any of that. He pointed out that Teen A (and his girlfriend) were still sound asleep in the twins' bedroom. We dropped the subject. He wanted me to take him to Starbucks, but there wasn't really time. I did, however, treat and wash his hoodie -- he'd had a nosebleed on the bus and bled all over it. "And I just washed it!" he complained. It did look very clean, except for the blood. I showed him how to treat stains, and offered him an extra bottle of stain remover, but he said no, that was too complicated. Baby steps. 

It was a beautiful warm day, in the 70s, and we stood near the bus stop near Broadway & Canyon and waved our signs. Lots of people honked. It wasn't a huge crowd -- actually, I have no idea how big the crowd was. We got there late and just found a place to stand and stayed there. Later, I guess a portion of the crowd marched over to a polling place, but we didn't notice them leaving, so we stayed. 

At 2 pm we were hot and tired, so we packed it in and walked back to our car. We'd parked at Boulder High -- they charge on Saturdays because of the Farmer's Market across the street, and I gave them $10 instead of the required $5, because it supports something at the school, sports or music or whatever. But as we were walking back afterwards, I noticed a mentally ill woman screaming. We tried to avoid her, but she kept coming closer. RB stopped to buy some pretzels at the Farmer's Market, and I saw the woman kicking a sign. If she comes after us, I'll hit her with my sign, I planned. It seemed so ridiculous to be dealing with someone like that on a beautiful sunny day with normal people all over doing normal things. Where are the police when you need them? But maybe they wouldn't have done anything. 

Anyway, we managed to get back to our car without directly engaging with her -- at one point she just seemed to vanish -- so I didn't have to hit anybody with my sign.

I took Teen B to Starbucks when we got home, and then we just hung out for a few hours, not doing anything, just being together. 

At six, we decided to have dinner at Red Robin, so we dragged Teen A away from his video game and he drove us there. Teen B had to catch his bus back to Fort Collins at 8:10, so we were in a bit of a hurry. Red Robin was crowded and slow, but once our meals came, we all ate quickly, except Rocket Boy, who is the slowest eater I know, but he obligingly scooped up half his meal into one of our take-out containers (we always bring our own and reuse them), and we made it home by 7:40. 

There was a CU football game starting at 8:15, so I took Teen B to a different bus stop, not the one on campus. The stop was close to Target, so after letting Teen B off (and driving around the block a few times to be sure he got on the bus), I decided to go there and look for Halloween things (that I had meant to look for a few weeks ago). They didn't have anything I wanted, but I got a card and some candy, and wandered the store happily, completely forgetting that Rocket Boy at home would be worrying. 

He is often very late coming home from things, and I feel as though I have spent half our marriage worrying about him because he's late, so it seemed fair. But he really was worried. He thought Teen B had missed his bus and I was driving him to Fort Collins. No, just wandering the aisles of Target.

After I finally got home, we watched the last episode of "Widow's Bay," which we've been working our way through for a couple of weeks now. We both found the last episode a bit underwhelming. My verdict on the show: the second episode, in the haunted inn, was REALLY scary, but the rest of them, maybe not so much. There were good bits here and there, but I think the problem with the show, for me, is that it's in the "horror" genre, and I prefer the "ghost story" genre. Sometimes I think most people don't even understand the difference, and that includes writers and filmmakers.

Well, so, that was our week, or whatever I can remember of it. This coming week, as I said, there is a guitar concert and I will try to cook recipes with walnuts and figs. Rocket Boy is kind of messing up my plans by deciding to make onion soup tonight, but I must not fuss about that, because it is NICE to have him cook. He hardly ever cooks anymore, too tired. I will work out the rest of the meals. It will be fine.

The main thing I need to do this week is clean the house, because the book group is coming a week from tomorrow. So that will be my project. I got the Halloween cards mailed today (the few that I still send -- I remember the days when I'd send out at least 20), and the house is pretty well decorated. I can't say I'm looking forward to cleaning the house, but it will be OK. And now I must go for my walk. Happy second half of October!