i love fall

Fall has to be just about my favorite time of year...so much to enjoy about it. The smell of leaves and bonfires. Yum. Fresh apple cider and pumpkin roll. The weather starting to get nice and cool. You start out the morning with a sweater or jacket and by lunch are wearing short sleeves again. Lots of festivals, most centered on some type of food or drink. And the best holidays are coming- Halloween and Christmas. Yep, fall is great.

Almost every evening, Norman(the poochie in case you don't know) and I take a walk. I have made the conscious decision to on every walk try to find something of beauty or interest, despite the fact that we walk along the same route every night. I am beginning to notice things I otherwise would have missed. The neighbor 2 houses up has a butterfly chrysalis on the underside of the mailbox. I check it now daily to see when it will hatch. It has gotten dark, so it should be soon. I think one of the neighbors may have a drinking problem. The entire recycling bin was filled with beer cans- all Coors Lite. That's a lot of beer cans to generate in one week. That particular recycling bin is filled almost every week. The house I always loved growing up for its crazy decorations at holidays is actually pretty creepy looking. The yard is somewhat overgrown, the paint is peeling off of it, and shutters are loose. And someone still lives there. Strange that it would be so different from my memories. Where there was a beautiful house that burnt down several years ago, you can no longer tell a house ever existed- other than the mailbox and a dirt path that circles part of the lot. The lot is now full of grasses and weeds. It's amazing how quickly nature can take back over something. When walking, Normie evidently does not like to walk through pot holes. He dodges them every time. Those are just a few of the observations made on our (almost) nightly walks. I hope to be able to spread this to other areas of my life and notice the small things of beauty and interest wherever I go.

stupid people

seriously annoy me. Do we really live in a society where we lack what should be common sense? There is a difference in being dumb and in being stupid. Dumb is when you just aren't smart. Stupid is where you do things that just don't make sense. Like if you drive a grey car, make sure you put your lights on when it rains. And don't ride a lawnmower down the middle of the road at night. Those things are absolutely STUPID. Just a little rant. Out of my system....for now.

spending money

It seems more and more so that I have a bit of a different perspective on spending money than many of my peers. Yes, I do want to have a house (and will hopefully be purchasing one soon). I would like a different car and more nice clothes. I could spend a small fortune on books and movies. I realize though, that those are not the things that I really NEED to have. Instead, I need to have good food to eat. I need to pay my car insurance. I need to pay doctor bills, gas, and the like. These are the things that come first. Whatever money I have left over after my have to bills, I put most of into savings or just leaving in my checking as you never know when you will suddenly need to spend it on something important. I also allow myself a small amount as spending money to get those things that I just want- a new book, a new skirt, going out to eat, etc. While I have never followed a formal budget, I do know about how much I spend on different things per month and allow that plus a little extra before figuring out what my spending money and savings money are. Also, before I spend more than $15 on an item, I ask myself if will get at least that much in enjoyment out of it. If no or maybe, then I don't get it. If yes, I buy it. If maybe and I still want it a couple weeks down the road, then I will typically go back and buy it. This seems to be very different from many in my age group who buy something just because they want it(oftentimes without much forethought) and then later come to regret it and go into debt. I am glad that I am how I am with money. It is one of the few things in my life that I take actual pride in.

secret pleasure

There is something that I take a secret pleasure in...not what you are thinking probably.. I take a secret pleasure when people that have done something wrong have something bad happen to them, either caused by their wrongdoing or when it is something oddly related. For instance, there was a recent wreck where two young men died. I found a secret pleasure in the fact that they had stolen a 4-wheeler shortly before the wreck. I also know a woman who lied to get her prescriptions for free for years....only to come down with colon cancer and have to rely on the very system that she abused. Scenarios like this seem to be such sweet, poetic justice. While I feel bad for those involved, I do not feel sorry. As evil as it may seem to think it, they have received their comeuppance.