Randomness

 It's been awhile since I have done this, hasn't it?  Well, today seems like a good day for it.  I have a couple hours before the first two of the four arriving grandchildren for today get here.  I may as well be all random, as anything I focus on around here will soon enough come undone!  Oh, and later I will post more family pictures, because you KNOW I have MORE.

1.  On the way to have our family pictures taken I grabbed this shot as we were going down the highway.
Did they put a lion on top of this?
Yes.  Yes they DID put a lion on top of this.
Hmm.  I just do not know what to say about that.  Occasionally, I have thoughts that cannot be properly articulated.
2.  For anyone who may have been wondering if on Monday I still make things, I will tell you that I do!  This week Monday I made a rather worthless closet in my kitchen usable again.  It was mainly filled with a large bag of dog food, craft supplies that interest no one anymore (with the exception that i found my three missing heart punches!) and bags and bags of bags.  Plastic bags.  Under the plastic bags I found the missing dust pan.  Well, to be honest, I found a total of FIVE dust pans.  There were also small appliances and a plethora of odd pans and large bowls.  I am happy to report that now I have a nice clean closet filled with all the things I actually use on a daily basis.  Sigh.., but seriously, it took all day.  What's left is to drop off a rather large box to the thrift store.
3.  I'll spare you the count of how many MORE toilet paper pumpkins I have made.
4.  The big news around here is that Jonge made the A team for middle school basketball!  Last year I couldn't make it to any of his games.  This year I am hoping to get to some!  Yay!  Basketball!  It's played INSIDE!
5.  When I'm not being annoyed by political ads, I'm searching for resources that I can trust.  Mostly though, since I love to read history, I am becoming more and more alarmed by how history repeats itself.  Presently, I'm reading a book about Clementine Churchill.  Where I currently am in the book is the period leading up to and at the beginning of WWII.  OH MY!   So much we ALL could learn from that.
I love this Lewis quote, which seems fitting now.   “I feel a strong desire to tell you – and I expect you feel a strong desire to tell me – which of these two errors is the worse. That is the devil getting at us. He always sends errors into the world in pairs – pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking about which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between those errors. We have no other concern than that with either of them.” - C.S. Lewis 'Mere Christianity'
So much truth.
6.  Next on our list of things to get done around here is new kitchen floors.  I'm already so stressed out about this that even I am finding myself unbelievably ridiculous.  It comes as no surprise to anyone else that we have a lot of "stuff", but it does always seem to surprise ME.  Ugh.  Sometimes I am so me that I wish I could just get away from myself.  But if I did, I would just come home with more stuff.  It's what I do.  I AM Madame Blueberry from Veggie Tales.  Although I would never go to Stuff Mart.  Just thrift and antique stores.  (because i'm cool like that.)
Anyway.., don't want to dwell on THAT for too long.., as I've given myself a year to get it under control.
7.  Although I can see golden bits of trees out my window, our trees are still mostly green.  I'm hoping there will be color to enjoy soon, before any dreaded snow falls.  Not that I dread snow.  What I DO enjoy is a distinction in the seasons.  I love fall.  It's my favorite season.  My favorite color combinations appear all around me.  I also like the smells of fall.  With the exception of this week, when our entire neighborhood smells like some major maintenance needs to be done at the water treatment plant.
8.  Doctor's appointments.  I suppose those deserve more thought than "random", but good grief, how does anyone afford to stay alive anymore?  Lately, I've been having trouble seeing. especially out of my left eye.  My eyesight has never been good, but when THGGM and I were out shopping on Saturday I found myself wondering of seeing eye dogs will ever be trained to read.  I would like one that could read the prices on teeny tiny stickers that seem to be in vogue at thrift and antique shops.  I can NOT see them anymore.  And seriously, there are a few things I do NOT want to stick my nose into to SEE.  Martha, the dog from Martha Speaks would be fun to have.  But she's only a cartoon.  (hey.  i can dream, can't i?)
9.  For years I had become extremely excited the minute pumpkin spice coffee came out at the very end of summer.  Sadly, by the end of September I never wanted it anymore.  This year, the year I turned 60 and became wiser and all that, I waited until the beginning of this month to purchase a bag of Starbucks Pumpkin Spice coffee.  I only have it once a day, which means I am still enjoying it.  Live and learn.
10.  And I am off to find some Fall-ish books to read with Hertsje and Broeder when they arrive!  Because once Kado and Feintsje get here, I will only exists as someone who cuts up apples for those with wobbly teeth.

Grand Rapids Skyline