Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Only Murders in the Building

(for our Halloween Party)

Dodgers Fans for Halloween Night

Little Boo, Monsters, Inc.

Stick figures and their cutest stick figure baby!

Our trick-or-treater numbers are dwindling. Only had about 40 this year,

but the Jeep Ducks instead of candy were a hit.

Dan and I watched the season finale of Only Murders in the Building

and a new show, High Potential, in between answering the door. 

Dodgers World Series 2024!

The only good part of Dodgers getting bashed by the Yankees last night,

is they met for Game 5, the night Courtney and Michael had tickets.

Yay!

It started off looking like the Yankees were going to crush the Dodgers again,

and Courtney & Michael got to cheer for some awesome Yankees home runs.

Gut in the 5th inning they're defense fell apart and the Dodgers won the World Series!

Dan made it home from his business trip in the top of the 6th,

frustrated because he had a super chatty Uber driver who wouldn't stop talking and

Dan couldn't hear what was happening in the game.

When we got home, we rewatched the 5th, because

you had to see it for yourself to truly believe it. 

The Dodgers came back from 0-5 to tie it up at 5-5,

thanks to the help of the Yankees.

It was a nail biter down to the last pitch

and was sooooo fun to watch.

I know we won in 2020, (and technically the year the Astros cheated,)

but it just didn't feel the same.

And so cool that Michael & Courtney were there to see it in person!

(Of course, as New Yorkers, they have to love the home team too!)

Courtney got a pic of The Trophy!

Marty was such a huge fan in his teenage years.

Several times Dan asked if he wanted to go to a playoff game, but he always declined,

saying he didn't want to go unless they were in the World Series. 

I got my stitches out today. 

Recovery going well. So grateful to finally be able to sleep soundly.

My body is making up for the missed hours those first few days, and it feels great.

Black and blue and still swollen, but I feel good.

Sleeping

 I finally slept. 

Through the night, throughout the day,

couldn't stay awake.

***

Thankfully.

World Series Game 3 Dodgers/Yankees

I'm still not sleeping, so I stopped taking the steroid today. 

I go to bed around 11:00 and am wide awake by 2:30 a.m.

After tossing and turning for a couple of hours, today I gave in and listened to to my Audible

The Silent Patient -- thanks for the rec, Marty & Lizzie.

By 7:30 I went downstairs to get Kershaw out and rest on the couch

and was able to get pretty relaxed for a while.

But its not ideal. Wish me luck tonight.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous Indian Summer day before rain tonight.

And I know I'm not supposed to overdue it, so I didn't over work, or lift too much,

but I brought in all the outdoor cushions and winterized any patio furniture that didn't 

require moving.  

I also was able to shower today which was heavenly. 

Except my skin is so dry and I'm not sure what I can put on my face, if anything.

Meanwhile in New York, everyone is obsessed with Emi.

And tonight the crew is at the Dodgers/Yankees game -- except me and Courtney.

Oh yeah, and Nick. 

Go Dodgers!

Courtney's friend, Megan, is watching Emi.

Dodgers took Game 3!

We got to talk to Nick today. He's in his same area but with a new companion.

His comp is from Peru and only speaks Spanish so Nick is excited to 

have some serious language immersion. 

He's optimistic and happy and enjoying the work.

Spirit Sunday

I haven't had this quiet of a Sunday for... a year?

Between travelling, F1, Cowboys Football etc.

(which don't get me wrong, are fun to enjoy with my boys i.e. Dan and whoever else is home).

But a quiet Sunday is restorative.

I didn't sleep well again last night, but was very relaxed, an improvement from the night before

when I was simply wide awake.

I was trying to get in a mindset of Dan's 3:30 a.m. snoring 

being a comforting thing rather than a distraction. 

White noise. Or enjoying my sweet husband's breathing.

But eventually I couldn't take it anymore. And since I'm in the la-z-boy in the corner I couldn't 

gently nudge him.

I fake coughed, and it did the trick. He instantly rolled over and was quiet the rest of the night!

We got new sunroom furniture last Wednesday and the last two mornings I've enjoyed journaling, scripture reading and praying on the comfiest new couch and having a new set-up.

Dan turned on our Sunday Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Church music Pandora playlist 

which I LOVE on Sundays to fill our home with the spirit.

Dan found me in the sunroom after he walked with his friend, Corey, who had a neck fusion last week.

Dan and I talked about goals and future planning.

I never get tired of hanging out and getting into each other's heads discussing what's on our minds for where we see life going in the near future.

I watched YouTube church, which I'm a huge proponent of keeping.

I love gathering with my ward family. And I also love watching my ward when I can't go.

Afterward we drove to the ballot box and posted our votes.

Chris came over for a late lunch and then he and Dan took off to NYC

for the World Series! 

I will take some credit for convincing Dan not to miss taking the kids.

Dodgers vs. Yankees, c'mon! It's too good to pass up!

And, Marty and Lizzie were already in New York for a Columbia tour.

And Dan was heading back to the east coast tonight 

to go on property tours through Wednesday anyway.

He was impressed that both of the boys were prioritizing work and school

and weren't entirely sure they could swing it.

But when the deal got real, it all worked out.

Courtney has work in Philadelpha on Monday and has to miss, 

but she got a raincheck for Wednesday's game.

So hopefully Yankees will get a win in so it goes to Game 5! 

And then hopefully Dodgers win it all.

I'm feeling good, so not worried about being on my own at all.

I like being on my own, but remember how I got a little bored a lonely for the first time 

in my life a few months ago? So I prepped with giving me lots to entertain myself.

I can't exercise, but I've got lots of work tee'd up for my book, starting Instagram posts again,

shows to watch for entertainment and ice packs to rest my eyes.

Dan filled the fridge and we have all my food prepped and ready so I'm living a life of luxury,

thanks to Dan being like my butler.

Go Dodgers!

Emotions Aren't All Sad

Dan spent time the last three days reading my book and making notes.

Lots of tabs are mostly proofreading errors (to be expected after all my redlining),

but also great notes on a areas that need a few sentences of clarification.

We went through his notes, but he also let me grill him on his feelings of every chapter 

and paragraphs or scenes that were special to me. 

We didn't always see eye to eye on the characters' behaviors,

which is exactly what I want.

Tissues for tears as we talked it through.

And some scenes he said, "No, I can't talk about that one without crying,

but it was good."

We say the book is sad because we cary a lot and there are sad parts.

But if you really look at it, most of the emotion comes from hopeful scenes full of love and tenderness. 

That's a big difference.

I've felt great all day. Didn't sleep well, but attributing that to the steroid I'm taking for swelling.

Big sports day with BYU's easy win over UCF taking them to 8-0.

Haven't had this great of a season since 2001, the year after Lavell retired.

Jared Thomas won a post-season Mazda race on a Nascar oval.

Then the Dodgers held off the Yankees in a 9th inning rally for a second win! 

Smash Hit

 Gooooooo Dodgers!

First walk off Grand Slam in a World Series EVER!

Freddy Freeman, what a smash!

I had a first-thing-in-the-morning doctor appt to check my eyes.

All looked well.

The rest of the day I rested. I need to keep ice packs on my eyes 30 min. on 30 min. off.

But I downloaded a great podcast to enjoy while I wasn't dozing. 

and had the amazing Dodgers game to finish off the night.

I have two black eyes and they look really intense. 

I'll spare you the pictures!

Dan's a good sport for talking to me and hanging out with me even though 

I'm hard to look at.

True Love!

Fixer Upper

 So... 

I had a little cosmetic surgery today.
Blepharoplasty on my upper and lower eyelids 
because I hate that my eyes are so squinty in pictures.

I've had a couple of acquaintances with cosmetic surgery horror stories
so I was a little nervous making the decision,
but prayed about it and ultimately felt really excited.

I wasn't called to come in until after 1:00, surgery at 3:00.

Dan picked me up at 7:00 p.m. 

All went really well -- starting with I woke up,

(dreaming that it was the day before so it was super weird to get my bearings post surgery).

and I wasn't blind.

But I couldn't open my eyes much that evening and Dan had to help me up to our room

and guide me to the bathroom, toothpaste on toothbrush, to my bed (la-z-boy) etc.

Michelle and I practiced to be blind all the time when we were little,

so it came in clutch tonight.

Sent!!

 My book has once again been sent to the proofreaders.
Almost every single page has editing.

I have notes and notes of alternative words for:
grin. laugh. wink. smirk. whispered. snorted. laughed. gasped.
glare. gaze. stared. shrugged. heart pounded. froze.
idiot. sweet. embraced. 

I have counted (well, Word did the counting) and replaced so many of the above words and tried to keep 
the usage to under 20. (A number I just arbitrarily chose based on when certain phrases got annoying).

The words that far exceed that amount are:
sorry. heart. head. cry. hug. hands.
especially heart or head pounded and shook their head

I crossed out or replaced a lot of those when I could.

Often I'd replace with another word and then discover I'd used that word in the sentences previous or after.
So had to rethink again.

Chapters with 

glass. cutting. blood. piece. shard

got suuuuper whittled down because I decided I didn't want to use 

those words more than once in a scene. And it took hours.

Also challenging: finding different words for sea glass, piece, poured and sea glass colors.

Guys, it's not as easy as it sounds.

Even after all my previous editing and revising and beta readers and developmental editing and proofreadings, I still found some timeline problems and times when I said one person was somewhere and then a few paragraphs later said they were somewhere else.

I used Blake as the name of Henry's friend AND Matt's friend.

And Lily as the lady in the pool AND a girl in Henry's class.

I'm still finding mistakes with the "ing" grammar rule, but I'm recognizing it more and 

it's finally sounding wrong when I do it wrong. Like, I get it now.

I clarified time progression quite a bit better in the last ten-ish chapters.

And hopefully integrated the storyline better in the chapters 5-9.

I think I got the ending wording right.

I've got tabs on page 1 to continue reworking the paragraph where they drive to the lake

(I say summer twice and can't figure out how to get around it)

and on page 309 still revisiting what words Grandpa and Jill use to console

Jake at the end of their family meeting and answer all the questions.

I'll bet you anything there are still improvements to be made.

Read three times in its entirety over the last three weeks. 

And many chapters over and over and over.

But my goal was to finish by today, and I did it.

Lessons Learned

Resuming gorgeous fall pics from around the yard.

These three dead pines aren't pretty, but they have symbolism.

They were planted in the backyard of a beautiful home a few years ago.

I suspect they don't have the proper sprinkling system set up along the fence.

Or perhaps they're the wrong variety for the light or amount of water they receive.

I've loved cozying up our home with new furniture and added color.

But, there are some pieces, I don't really like. (Pillows, mostly. 

And the original rug under the kitchen table. It was the weight of a towel!)

When I make an expensive mistake, it's pretty discouraging.

And sometimes I start ruminating on what I should have done differently.

But these dead trees remind me we all make frustrating mistakes.

Yes, the money and time invested can eat at you.

But you gotta let it go. It's a sunk cost and it's okay to move on.

Donate, sell or chop down. Living with something you don't love isn't worth it.

And learn a little from the experience.

(Like, ask what the pillows in the darling fabric will look like

BEFORE you sign your name on the dotted line. If they have ruffles, say NO!)

Annual? Halloween Party

We hosted a Halloween Party!

So glad Patti was willing to be part of our trio.

I love that everyone embraced dressing up!

Planning and execution were super easy:

Evite makes creating and invite and sending it a cinch.

Instead of catering like we did for our Christmas party,

we asked everyone to bring appetizers or desserts.

I made meatballs & apple crisp.

After the fact I decided we should have had more real food options.

(The most common appetizer was chips and dip.)

Or, ask a few people to bring veggies or salad.

Apples & biscotti cookies, before I added the whip cream and cute tray.

Emi is darling, even when she's a vampire.

(I was going to change Nick's Book of Mormon to a "Book of Spells"

but it felt sacreligious so I chickened out.)