Yes, that is a beach scene up there.

Every time I look at my blog I think, "Wow. It's almost November. I should really put up a more seasonally appropriate photo."

The trouble is, I don't really have any photos that depict autumn because, well, we don't usually have that season around here.

So, up until yesterday it was still 90 degrees outside, which makes a beach scene look appropriate. However, the temperatures have now cooled down (even if just temporarily) and Thanksgiving will be here before I know it. I may need to make an effort to find a different photo for the blog.

I sincerely hope it's consistently cold by the end of next month. I can't keep track of all the La Niña, El Niño weather patterns. Is it possible that all the snow we got last winter means more mild temperatures this year? I could be totally making that up.

If none of this is making sense, it might be because I've been sneezing like crazy and had a sinus headache for the past five days. Unfortunately, in an effort to ward off an infection of any kind, I've been taking decongestant at night (actually, at all hours) that kind of makes me unable to sleep. The good news is it also keeps me pretty wired during the day. So, I don't notice the lack of sleep so much...except that it may be affecting my brain function just a little bit.

I'll quit this post while I'm ahead. I found some nighttime medication in a drawer that might or might not actually work, but I think it will at least let me sleep, and my goal this weekend is to find a suitable fall picture to replace the beach scene.

Oh, what an over-achiever I am!

Why is Voting So Hard?

This is a public service announcement. November 2 is Election Day. Don't forget to vote.

And if you think you're going to forget to vote, go vote right now in early voting.

Is anybody else getting, no joke, at least ten calls per day with some pre-recorded message from a hopeful candidate? Or maybe you're lucky because you're only getting the annoying political flyers in your mailbox every day.

I wonder if all these candidates know that: a.) no one listens to their pre-recorded messages, b.) I (and probably most other people) only give a political flyer about 1/2 a second of my time, and c.) why would I make a decision based on propaganda that you're sending out about yourself? Pretty much all I know from the countless mailings is that one particular candidate has more money to spend on advertising than any other candidate in the any of the races I'm voting for.

And that's saying something because I decided a couple days ago to figure out who all I'm supposed to be voting for in this election, and there are EIGHTY races. 8 - 0.

80.

I just went to look it up again because I thought surely I had managed to exaggerate the number of races in the time since I last looked it up. Nope.

It took about thirty minutes to read about the candidates in the first three elections listed.

I have an idea. Let's set a limit on how many different races we vote for in a single election. Really, if we expect to have informed voters, there is no way any voter will adequately know about each candidate running in 80 races. Eighty is a wee bit extreme, don't ya think? Who has 13 hours to spend scrutinizing all the candidates?

So, what's going to end up happening is that people will all vote straight ticket or only vote for the governor and forget about the other 79 races.

Couldn't we just vote for about ten races at a time? After all, voting is an important right and if we're going to get everybody involved it'd be best not to overwhelm them with the ridiculous number of elections.

Just a thought.

Oh, and if anybody making phone calls or sending out pre-recorded messages is reading: please, stop calling and leaving us messages.

Thank you.

A Few Links to Check Out

Check out everything you never knew you never knew about Daylight Saving Time. Thankfully this website has a "page" view as well as the "nodes" view that they say they're "trying out", because the "nodes" view about drove me bananas.

Jon Acuff's blog post about Packing made me think. It's a great analogy.

I made these cinnamon rolls a couple weeks ago. Mmmmm!!! I only made half the recipe because I did not really want 7 dozen cinnamon rolls, and I think I added a little too much frosting for my taste. Also, next time I'd cut back on the white sugar and increase the cinnamon...I like my cinnamon rolls heavy on the cinnamon.

Compassion International has been ministering to children in need for nearly 60 years. I was so encouraged to read in Compassion's most recent magazine that groups of Compassion "alumni" (kids who were in the program and are now adults) are springing up all over the world. Those who were helped by Compassion are now meeting to mobilize in service to God and their countries, and are even now themselves sponsoring children through Compassion! Take a look at their website to find out how you can help this ministry continue in its success.

Only 63 days until Christmas. (Just thought I'd throw that out there. 63 days sounds a lot longer than just over two months.) Do you wait until the last minute for shopping, or are you one of those people who buy gifts throughout the year? I feel like I'm somewhere in between, but leaning more toward last-minute.

And, finally: Thank you, Pioneer Woman. Irregardless is not a word!

Dear Secretary of the Department of Energy,

I hear you're the one who's supposed to be reporting the impact of the 2005 Energy Policy Act that made Daylight Saving Time longer. So, here's the impact on me: I kind of hate it. Go back to the days when Daylight Saving Time ended in October.

I just don't know how I'm going to survive (i.e. get to work or anywhere on time in the morning, or be remotely awake in the a.m.) with two and half more weeks of Daylight Saving Time. 7:30 or 7:40 a.m. is entirely too late for the sun to be coming up...and it only gets worse with every passing day. Yeah, it takes a while to get used to the darkness at 6 p.m. that the end of Daylight Saving Time brings, but it's easier to turn on some lamps and drive home with the headlights on than it is to get out of bed in the pitch dark.

I can't remember what the effect is of starting Daylight Saving Time earlier in March, but maybe if you could just make it so the sun is rising around 6:30 a.m. year-round all my problems would be solved. Maybe sunshine as we awake in the morning would make us all happier, more peaceful people - it could be monumental!

Thank you for considering my request. Or at least giving me the hope that maybe this whole extension of Daylight Saving Time could be reversed at some point...I mean, that's a provision of the Energy Act of 2005 anyway.

Tired, Dragging, and Probably late for anything that requires a morning arrival,

Waiting expectantly for November

Scam

Well, I would never have guessed that this particular type of scam really does exist.

I got a baby shower invitation in the mail this week. My name and address were printed on an address label (in two different fonts, I might add...kinda tacky). The invitation was Hallmark stationery, with everything filled out by hand (in purple pen, again...tacky...I think I was probably 13 the last time I used a purple pen). The time is listed as "2p-4p", and I want to know if anyone really thinks that's the correct way to give a time. The thing is, I have NO clue who these people are.

And they live in Ohio. I'm pretty sure I don't know anyone that lives in Ohio right now.

But just to make sure this isn't someone my husband knows from work, I asked him if he knew the "Posts". Nope. Not a clue.

So, I went to the baby registry/baby website included with the invitation (I checked out the general website first and it seems to be a legit place to post stuff about your pregnancy,etc.), looked at a wedding photo of a couple I did not even recognize, and read the most inane post about them and how they're a perfect couple and they registered for all this cool gender-neutral stuff because they want the baby's gender to be a surprise.

Scammers. Scammsters. Whatever. I don't understand how anyone thinks that a person who receives a random invitation in the mail from someone they clearly do not know would then go buy a gift for these total strangers.

Of course, I guess they're also running the risk that a bunch of people no one knows could show up at "Grandma Judi's house" on Sunday. Or start calling the phone number to harass whoever owns that line about sending scam baby shower invitations.

OK. Maybe I'm being dramatic and some weird family accidentally got my name and address on their invitation list and invited me to their baby shower mistakenly.

I guess a third option would be that I do, in fact, know these people and am getting old enough that I know too many people from too many places and my memory is apparently fading prematurely.

But I doubt it.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? I can't see how it's a mistake, and I also don't understand how it's even a productive scam.

October

No more promises about writing more regularly or finishing up the recap of our Hawai'i trip tomorrow. Because obviously my promises mean nothing.

I seem to have a love/hate relationship with the month of October. For instance, I absolutely love the cooler, drier weather this month (usually) brings. However, I hate the ragweed that escalates to such heights it puts me in a state of claritin dependency and causes my throat to be itchy.

I love the way the light looks in October. With the sun lower in the sky, everything has a golden hue. The mostly clear, blue skies have also been a treat this month. I'll tell you what is not a treat: the sun not appearing until almost 7:30 in the morning. The sun might get to sleep late, but I don't, and it is really hard for me to get myself out of bed in the dark.

This October I love that the Texas Rangers have made it to the play-offs. Tonight is game 5, so I'm not sure yet whether we're going on or not, but there is the hope. Speaking of televised viewing events, I also enjoy watching movies that remind me of the fall (When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown among them).

Here's where I have to admit that I kind of hate football season. Thankfully, my husband's not really into football either, but I hate the major topic of conversation around here during the fall being all about the Cowboys. I'm pretty sure even if I watched football, the Cowboys would not be my favorite team.

I love anticipating the upcoming holidays, but I hate that gift-buying is hanging over my head. I love spending time with family and eating good food and getting vacation days. I hate this feeling that I should already be purchasing presents, or at least doing a little decorating around our house...but I'm not. In fact, I'm pretty sure the procrastination will continue well into November.

So, what about you? Am I the only one with this love/hate relationship? Anybody have good fall movies they love to watch?

Happy October! (Or, what's left of it!)

A Month Later...

I have these good intentions of writing more regular blog posts. I go through periods where I have so many topics to write about, stories to tell, and reminiscing to do. Then something happens, and I can't even tell you what it is.

Some weeks just get busy. Unfortunately we have also gotten hit with ragweed along with the extremely pleasant temperatures and sunshine. Ragweed makes me tired, I think.

That or something else is wrong with me, because I. Am. Tired. I don't even have babies or small children, like so many of my friends, to keep me up all night and busy all day. Sometimes I seriously wonder how I would do it!

In any case, we were in Hawai'i a month ago. Can I just tell you that I still go look at our pictures ever few days, wish I were on a sunny beach, and have dreams about going snorkeling? Even a month later!

I didn't even tell you all about the week we spent in Maui. At least, not all of it.

Po'olenalena Beach, just down the street from our resort, was my favorite beach on Maui.


There was some pretty great snorkeling there and lots of green sea turtles.


We even went back for a final snorkeling adventure the morning we left the island to return home. Now, I have no clue about ocean stuff and currents and all. I'm definitely not anything more than a beginner snorkeler. We snorkeled out a ways that last morning and suddenly I noticed small stings, like bee stings, all around my mouth, then on my arms!

I'm not sure I've ever moved through water so quickly and so far as I did getting back to shore. John also got stung on his arms, but neither of us ever saw anything. Apparently green sea turtles like to eat jellyfish, often leaving behind tiny particles of the jellyfish, which can cause stings. I guess the turtles were having a feast that morning before we got there.

Instead of snorkeling, we ended up wading around in the shallow water and sitting in the surf just soaking up the sun.

On word of caution about Po'olenalena Beach. There are basically two parts of the beach separated by some lava rock you can easily climb over. The parking areas enter onto the larger part of the beach. The smaller part is apparently the place for topless and nude sunbathing (illegal, but we still saw it at a couple beaches nonetheless). Actually, both times we witnessed the nude beach-goers, there were photo shoots going on...one of which was a photo shoot of an entire family - two boys (wearing swim trunks), dad (also wearing appropriate beach attire), and mom (topless). We laughed about what in the world they were going to do with those family photos and what those boys are going to say about those pictures in six years or so when they're teenagers.

You will be glad to know we did not partake in the nudity. In fact, with our rash guard shirts, hats, and SPF 70 sunscreen, we were hardly any tanner than we had been before setting out for Hawai'i.

At least, hardly tanner compared to normal people. For me, I thought I had definitely gotten some sun; but when you start out glaringly white I guess it doesn't take much to be more tan.

The rest of Maui will have to wait for tomorrow (hopefully). I need to go get some sleep...and probably dream about beaches and snorkeling.