I've Been Waiting All Year for This!!!

 So it's finally happened! The first frost of the season!!!

This is OFFICIALLY the beginning of the holiday season for our family-the first frost of the season !! We wait for this event all year long!

It's almost as anticipated as the first snow of the season- or even Christmas Eve!!!!

Halloween is great for the kiddos, but for the adults, we watch/listen to the weather forecasts from mid-September onwards. Anticipation builds week after week. We never know when it will be!  We've had first frosts as early as September 20th- and as late as December 11th. 

Our family Tradition for the weekend after the first frost is to all get together for  a Bonfire Night! We make a huge pot of Texas Style Chili(with beans of course) and have all the usual toppings on it- 

Cheese- some like sharp, some like medium, some like mild. I usually have mild and sharp  and everyone can  mix and match to their taste. 

Sour Cream. ( I like Greek Yogurt as an alternative- it's got a similar twang to it and is a little healthy- but again- I usually have both.

Diced onions or chopped spring onions. We are a family divided on this one. Exactly half like one and half like the other. We have both.

That's all the toppings.

We usually have a few big family sized bags of Fritos too. Chili is NOT Chili without the Fritos. We all agree on that point.

We all grab a bowlful and there is rarely any left because everyone goes back for second and third helpings. 

Afterwards, we light the bonfire(or firepit depending on the wind) and we make S'mores for dessert for everyone. The kids run around in the leaves and climbing trees or riding bikes while the adults make smores and trade stories of days gone by. No one is allowed to be stuck to their electronics on Chili Night! It's all about the simplicity of life and interacting with Family.

Honestly it's my favorite event of the year with  my babies... and Grands, and now Great Grands!!!!

I'm so Blessed to have this in my life again. 

Manic Monday...

 I promise I will get a post up today. Yesterday was a Manic Monday and I literally didnt have time to take a break at all. 

Let's hope today isn't a second Monday.

You Cant Win...

 You think you know your job.  I mean, Been doing it for years and years and years. 

You decide to do something you have done off and on for as many times as needed and you take the initiative to do it without having to be instructed and what happens? Apparently you aren't supposed to do it unless asked by the client. Oh and undo what you've done- but if  someone asks us to we going to  redo it to what you did to begin with. 

We cant win.

 

Upcoming Holidays.....

 The weekend was interesting to say the least. 

Saturday I cleaned the shared areas of our house, put away all the Halloween Decor and added more Autumn decor for Thanksgiving. 

Our bedrooms are our personal space to be kept/decorated as we want them( as long as it's not left to go filthy and attracting pests of all/any sizes and species, that is. I try not to look too often, my level of clean is a half foot about a normal person's.)

 I've deep cleaned & organized mine at least 20x since moving in in May and it's still not done to my satisfaction to be honest. Granddaughter is a typical teen- but I have to say recently she has started coming back from her Dad's visit and immediately straightens her room. Yay!! My daughter likes hers clean but lived in and I'm fine with that too. 

So shared spaces are looking awesome- BUT- I'm about to start moving everything around for Putting up the Christmas Tree and Christmas decor.

First of all, I put up an Autumn Tree. Small topiary tree we intended to use for the from porch, but it just looked so lovely on the dining table I decided to just leave it there for now. 

I took all the smaller bits of autumn floral decor and put them all on the topiary tree. They are not attached so when Thanksgiving is over I can literally just pick the floras and ribbons off and put them in a box and label it for next year. Reuse the tree for Our Christmas topiary next to the front door. 

Next weekend I'll be decorating my Bezzie's apartment for Christmas, but the following weekend I'll be making the window swags for the front of the house. Also  we have a HUGE over sized wreath for the porch light on the second floor above the front entrance, and a large one for the front door to co-ordinate colors with the swags.

It's going to be fun. I'm in my element!

Only my sister and nephew showed up for "Sunday Dinner At Vada's" last night. That's fine. I don't think it's realistic to expect everyone to be there every single Sunday. It's just not going to happen with a large working family. We are extremely lucky to get together on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'll have to work most holidays- I was only off last year for Christmas because it was my first Christmas back from England and hadn't celebrated Christmas with my family in 13 years I was over there. That was the condition I had for taking the job- I wanted Christmas off that first year. But now it's back to reality. Working most Holidays. So I'm going to have to plan Thanksgiving and Christmas with perfect timing to be able to do it. It will be fine.

I'm Alive!!!!

 Seems I made it through yet one more October 29th!!

It started of on shaky ground at 5am yesterday morning- although I started out a half hour earlier as a precaution. On the road that never ends I narrowly avoided 4 deer at separate locations who decided I wasnt a threat to them as they stepped out in front of me- either that or they were sick of everyone's BS and decided to end it all. As I said- I narrowly avoided them all. HA!!!!

Then I got on the 4 lane highway and had another issue- an 18 wheeler wasnt paying attention and almost rear-ended me at a Stop Signal. 

At this point, I was 100% positive that THIS was my last day.... 

I got to work and was overly cautious there as well...  As I was on the drive to my Bezzie's house after work. We had hot dogs and I was especially careful to chew everything until it was mush before swallowing it. 

Then we watched Yellowstone until time to go to sleep. And then I woke up at 3am and rejoiced!!!!

 Today when I get home I'm going to put together my Modern Witches outfit(I'm positive I can put a convincing witches outfit from what I own) for giving out candy(IF any ToT's show up) tomorrow evening.

If they don't show up I get to eat all the Lil Debbies myself!! Hee Hee Hee!!!

And also I'm going to try to do an autumn theme for my nails.....I mean how hard can it be.... Green undercoat with autumn color blotches? 

Famous Last Words...............

Final Destination-ish.....

 So the GOOD news is- I woke up alive this morning.

The bad news is- the day isn't over yet.

I've already had some close calls on the drive in to work this morning. Deer ran out in front of me at 4 separate times on the drive in...  and then an 18 wheeler almost rear ended me at a stop sign....

My nerves are shot. I'm second guessing everything I do-  every time I get in my vehicle(several times a day) I have said a prayer for safety. I let one of the other officers do patrol in the truck-yard today and I sat at the truck gate. I fear for my life on regular days going back there- and to go back there today would have been testing fate. Plus, it's raining and I hate driving in the rain- especially in the dark. 

I swear it's like participating in some gawd awful reality Game called Final Destination-The Game. You have to try to perceive all things that could kill you and calculate the risks and try to misdirect them to stay in the game...ie alive. 

I'm glad I did too- because Lolli-pop came in and talking to them made me feel a bit less stressed. A bit less....

My heart rate must be up around 120bpm, but it's also doing that Skippy/Racey thing too- so it's prob evening out the numbers. 

So I only have half my shift left(trying my best to stay in the office for the rest of the shift), then the drive to my Bezzie's house(closer than my own house, therefore less time on the dangerous road). After I get to her house I only have to worry about choking to death on dinner... so I'm probably going to have  a cup of coffee.

 Cold Brew.

 No Ice...... 

Yes- I'm defo in survival mode. 

See ya on the flip-side!!

Tomorrow's the Day...

So tomorrow is the day. October 29th. According to my dream my DOD

I'll post on Thursday to let you know if I'm still on Earth. Or if you don't hear from me by end of week, I may be bound for a higher plane.

I'll admit- about 90% of my dreams are spot on accurate, the other 10% aren't quite as accurate- but still scarily close to it.

Having said that,  my sister was involved in a head on collision on her way to a patient's house yesterday morning. She's a Hospice nurse.

She will heal- it could have been soooo much worse than the plethora of injuries she received. As you can imagine- she is in a lot of pain and will be for several weeks to come, I imagine. 

So I'm wondering- was the dream I had actually meant for me- or was it one of the less accurate 10% dreams?

Time will tell. 

Either way- we are immensely blessed to have Sissy still with us. The Lord looks after us...