October!

Echoing the sentiments of many…. how did we get here so fast?? Where did September go?

Whew.

I started the month by finalizing & submitting my application for Medicare. I meet with my insurance guy on Wednesday to take care of the rest. Speaking of things happening fast… WHAT??? Well, I have a big birthday coming up… here we are!

Then, on Wednesday afternoon, I get to spend a little one-on-one time with Davy boy. He’s in a super-cute stage right now, and I’m looking forward to some fun time together!

Rusty’s heading to Australia in the middle of the month to spend a few weeks with Maddy & Viv. He & Maddy have some exploration plans further afield, including a trip to New Zealand and a visit with Kiwi Family. (Don’t feel bad for me, Kate & I are saving & planning for a completely different sort of trip Down Under in early 2025!)

Before he departs, we decided to get away, ourselves… all the way to Two Rivers (or Trivers, if you’re a local). This is the time of year I love heading north, but we only have a weekend. We’ll enjoy the lake, and I plan on taking the self-guided tour at Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum — located practically across the street from our lodging. I can’t believe I’ve never taken the tour. And, speaking of Hamilton, Kate just wrote a piece about them for Arts Midwest (and she has some other articles in the works for them).

I spent a little time over the weekend in the garage (huge work space with no vehicles able to get in) playing with broken pottery. I’d like to get these tables underway and/or finished this month! After consulting with Rusty, I took a trip to the lumberyard for some Durock cement board and mortar mix. Sharon’s broken pottery is all so curvy & dimensional — there’s barely a piece that’s flat — so fingers crossed that it all “takes.” And I’m not sure how they’ll actually be arranged in the end… so far, just playing around.

I’m hopeful that our construction project will wrap up this month. (Please, please please!!!) They are to finish the last of the street paving (a lane yet to do a block over), and the sidewalks will get underway this week, along with backfilling behind the curbs. On Friday, I could take a direct route home (one of my usual) for the first time in ages. I’ve been able to park in front of the house (still no aprons) for a while, mainly because I leave pretty early for work most days, so I’m not impeding progress, but the past couple of weeks had us zigzagging on weird streets, through alleys & around cones. I had Airbnb guests for last Thursday’s football game and, well, it just had to seem a little sketch, y’know… them & their rental Mercedes SUV? They were very gracious. 5 Stars for everyone!

Other than being pretty busy with the Airbnbs later this month, those are most of the hopes & highlights for October. We’ll see what actually happens… heh.