My posts have been a little sparse lately, and in all honesty, they’ll probably continue to be so for the next few weeks. Autumn, my favorite season, is setting in here in Ohio – the leaves are starting to change color, the rain has picked back up, and cool weather is breezing on in, but so is the reality of our street being under construction while they put in a sidewalk, moving, maintaining both the house and the new apartment, cleaning, paiting, working four jobs, and keeping up with all our other obligations. Finding time to cook a decent meal, or plan schedules, or spend quality time together, or even think, much less finding the time to actually blog is a far-fetched challenge right now, but I’m going to do my best to keep up with it! Please bear with me. Lord knows how I’m doing to remember a new address on top of all this!
Lately (and finally) I’ve been reading The Help. I literally cannot get my nose out of this book. It is so good. It absolutely sucks you in and keeps you there. I love it! Clearly, this is a problem considering I have no time whatsoever to be reading. I’ve resorted to reading at what I’ll refer to a “job #1” when we’re slow. Which, lucky for me, has been often. I’ve managed to read the first 338 pages in the past three days at work. I was number 200-and-something on the waiting list for it at the library. My turn finally came and I was so darn busy that I just couldn’t get to it in an adequate amount of time to get the whole book read. And since there’s about a million people on the waiting list behind me also wanting to read it, the library wasn’t allowing renewals. One of my co-workers very kindly lent me her copy since I became quickly addicted to it in the nine chapters I read before it was due back. If you haven’t read this book yet, it is worth all the hype. I think it’s a keeper for our bookshelf and Ted and I are both anxious to see the film.
And since fall had officially fallen around these parts I’ve started in (again, on an extremely limited basis) on some of my favorite fall recipes! I’ve stocked up on cans of pumpkin for my pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe, and we have our fresh pumpkins lining the door, waiting to be carved and gutted at the end of October, their innards turned into pies and their seeds roasted and seasoned. But my favorite quick fall recipe is so easy and so tasty you’ll be amazed you didn’t think of it before. I eat it by the batch and take it to any and every potluck or picnic. It is delicious with just enough hints of summer flavors and just enough notes of fall to make it perfect for September.
Ready for your mind to be blown? All you do is cut up a few granny smith apples into bite-sized pieces, mix them with vanilla yogut, dried cherries or cranberries, walnuts, and ground cinnamon. Mix, chill and devour. You might want to make a large batch…just a word of advice from the person who eats it like candy.
Last night Ted and I signed the lease on our new apartment and got the keys. I detail-cleaned the place from floor to ceiling (it’s amazing and disgusting what cleaning crews miss!) and then we spent the evening painting two walls accent colors. One of the living room walls we painted a pencil lead gray color with just a touch of blue in it, and one of the dining room walls we painted a nice shade of mossy green. It looks great and helps the place to feel less like an apartment and more like home. The transition from house to apartment is a big change, so anything we can do to make it feel a little more our style is a good thing. So we taped off the walls, tarped over the carpet and set to work with the brush and the roller. Since none of our stuff is moved in yet we had a pizza delivered and took a break to eat pizza and soda on the living room floor while our walls dried, just like college kids – our first meal in our new home! Then we drove over to ETC to catch the understudy performance of Next to Normal. We’re pleased with the look and I think it’ll compliment our furniture nicely. We’ll post pictures soon.
In other new and exciting catch-up news, our family welcomed a new baby this past week. My neice, Halle Grace, was born on Sept. 18 in Virginia. She’s cute already and I look forward to meeting her before she turns five. I hope.
Ted and I also welcomed a new addition to our little family….my iPad 2! It was my wonderful birthday present from Ted, my parents, and Ted’s parents. And she’s lovely! I spent about two weeks frantically researching every iPad 2 case in existance searching for just the right combination of protection, style, and functionality. After a lot of mind changing and trial and error, my decision is an obvious choice but it was a hard one to come by. I selected the white iPad 2 with the glossy clear Zagg front and back screen protectors, a red leather Smart Cover, and this sleeve from DoryDesigns on Etsy.
Ordinarily I’ve not a red girl – I tend to stick with greens, but I’ve always wanted the white iPad and the red color complimented the white iPad just so vivdly while still looking both fun and professional, plus it’s a (PRODUCT)RED item so I know a portion of the purchase goes toward a good cause. The sleeve is playful yet protective and original, so that made me happy. We’re going to finish getting it all set up this weekend and I can’t wait to start using it!
So I guess that’s about it for this week’s game of catch-up. I know of I’ve also been slacking on Open Letters Thursday and Epic Fail Friday. Not because I haven’t had plenty of snarky passive-agressive thoughts twirling around in my mind or because people have suddenly smartened up (ha! Oh my goodness, no!), but because sometimes life throws other plans your way. I also hope to resume these happy little rituals shortly. :-)
