November?

• Well it's November, and I didn't have the autumn panic convulsive emotional ride. Is it because the clock change thing hasn't happened yet? Whatever. I'm not complaining.
• Halloween is SO FUN with my daughter. We go out for about an hour- first we drive to a couple of close friends' homes, and then we go to a local church thing. It's really fun- they call it Trunk-or-Treat. The congregation members park their cars in the lot, open and decorate their trunks and pass out candies from there. They have a booth with hot cider, hot cocoa and tea, hot dogs and popcorn- FREE. We just zip, zip, zip up and down the parking lot and BAM - we've hit 20-30 friendly "houses", had a hot drink and some snacks, and we're done. Then Rose comes home and acts out trick-or-treating. Last night, she opened up her M&Ms, handed them all to me, and came knocking at my "door" on the couch. "Trick or treat!" and I would hand her ONE candy. You can imagine how long this went on, but she never got tired of it.
• Have you had snow? We've had snow, just a little. The trees are still beautiful, and the leaves still crunchy. Daytime temps are still very comfortable, mornings and evenings pretty shivery. I am so grateful to Mother Nature for easing me in to winter.
• I am excited about getting ready for the holiday season! Someone on my side of the family cleverly suggested that we opt completely out of presents for everyone but the kids, but go out for a fabulous meal. The fact is, no matter how fabulous the meal, the money we spend will still probably be less than what we would have spent on gifts, and the stress reduction factor? Priceless.
• Hoo-hoo! I'll be working a holiday "barn sale" and am excited about making little dish gardens and woodland scenes to sell. Every year, we also go to the holiday open house at one of our local state parks. There, I make bird feeders, nature-themed gift wrap and popcorn/cranberry strands.
• Book club is at my house again this December, and we will again be bringing dollies to gift wrap and donate to area charities. Reading something called Blessings by Anna Quindlen- I chose it because it looks light, and happy and redemptive. The suggestion was well-received by the members tonight, although it does seem a little lightweight. No matter.

• Any craft suggestions that will SELL? Let me know. Easy. Something that looks great even if teenagers crank it out.

• Went to a restaurant tonight with the book club- we read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle BY Barbara Kingsolver, and the restaurant we went to serves primarily locally produced, seasonal products. Wow. Can I just tell you that the pork loin with carmelized onions and apple marmalade was DE. LIC. IOUS.