Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Fall

10. Mums
9. Haunted hayrides
8. Football
7. Fall Clothes
6. Shows begin their new seasons
5. Chili and other warm comfort foods
4. Flipflops and hooded sweatshirts (deserves a whole new category othe than fall clothes)
3. Cool days and frigid nights
2. The leaves changing color
1. Pumpkin Spice Lattes

My favorite Fall month: October
My perfect Fall music: something like jazz or swing
My favorite Fall something new necessities: a new longsleeve white and/black longsleeve fitted cotton shirt, new Rocketdogs/Merrils, new jeans, chapstick, and anything "spice" scented candles.
My favorite Fall activities: windowshopping, hayrides, horseback riding, walks outside before sunset, collecting leaves, drinking a hot treat on the porch, opening the windows in the living room to let in fresh air in the morning.
My favorite Fall meal: Thanksgiving of course (that's still in the fall right?)
My favorite Fall memory SO FAR: Asheville NC, October 2006 - our last night in town, sitting at Barley's upstairs by the window, watching the sunset and sky fade from bluest blue to pinkiest orange right above the bare black treetops. We sat at that cold window drinking draft Pumpkin Spice Ale for hours just the two of us (Nick and me of course) talking and laughing and loving Fall.

What are some of your favorite Fall memories?

The Perfect Weekend

It truly was a perfect weekend.
Friday afternoon I shopped with Laura Mc. and enjoyed watching her face light up and wheels turn in her head as she discovered the joys of shopping at Kohls! The discounts, satisfactory customer service, and convenience all in one trip that produced a plethora of outfits for work and pleasure (i hope i used that word correctly ;) After we shopped we joined our hubby's for wings and beer at...Wings, surprise! It is always fun to go out to eat with company who are as fun as those two.
So fun that Saturday morning we all had brunch at our favorite local restraunt Sinclair's in Old Cloverdale. We browsed through Cafe Louisa, Mandy Bagwell's Gallery, Capitol Book and News (where I met Cheryl ;)and then watched a quarter of the Huntingdon Hawks get creamed by...um, sad, I can't even remember who they were playing. But it was a beautiful day nonetheless. After the early afternoon in Old Cloverdale, Laura and I headed back out for some more shopping...I bought some essentials: unmentionables and some FABULOUS Vera Wang flats that if I were Heather T. I would have a picture linked...HERE...but I don't :( Anyway, they are black, they are flat, and they are fabulous. I also purchased a matted and framed black and white photograph of a Cala Lily to hang in our guest bathroom. The original price was $59.00. I selected the picture under the assumption that I would be spending roughly $30.00 because it was on sale at 50% off but when I got to the register it ran up as...$13.00 WHAT THE HECK! I was so happy and it looks as great as I hoped that it would. That evening we & the McFee's shared deliciousness at our second favorite local restaurant Jalepenos! Have I ever mentioned that their margueritas are THE BEST? And their cheese dip, and their salsa, and every thing on the menu THE BEST. Onward to the Mielke's for a little AU football...I won't go there. Actually I didn't go there because LMc. and I went to bed...my bed and slept from 9 till what? about 11:30pm? It was nice. Not so sure the guys had a great time.
Which brings me to Sunday. I woke up at 8:30am which is only 1 hour later than the perfect time to wake up...I drank an entire cup of coffee while I checked FB, MS, gmail, and Blogs. A wonderful weekend morning tradition. After computer time I cleaned my house top to bottom and lit all of the new candles I forgot to mention that I bought on Saturday at Hobby Lobby because all candles and candle holders were 50% off. I'll insert a little from Stephanie's blog and agree that clutter in the home drives me crazy and I won't have it (not her exact words at all). I cooked supper, watched "Never Been Kissed" wrote this blog, and now my love is pulling up in the driveway (for real) which means I am done describing my wonderful weekend except to say that while I did enjoy having the McFees all TO MYSELF (YAY!!!!) I did miss a certain out of town couple ;) you know who you are.
I'm blessed and not checking for typos!

On a Much Lighter Note :)

My sister shared this little video with me and, well...let's just say it brought a smile to my face :) Thanks Mere.

My Broken Heart

It has been difficult for me to find the motivation to write lately due to my broken heart.
For twenty years I have watched one side of my family struggle hard. Divorce, indifference, lies, broken promises, threats, and now drug and alcohol abuse are ruining my loved one's lives...and I am watching it happen first hand.
It is so ironic...one of my favorite shows on A&E is "Intervention" and on Tuesday an intervention is just what I was a part of. This intervention was a result of seeing the most horrific scene I have ever seeen in my life...in my father's living room on Monday night. For two hours I watched as someone I love, while under the influence of alcohol, prescription drugs, dope, and rage, ripped through furniture and my father's arms and my arms and my sister's arms while foaming at the mouth all because he doesn't know how to deal with his pain. It took a grown man and myself to keep my brother from leaping across the room to slap his mother for asking what is wrong?. In between each outburst of blame and profanity, suicide threats, and cursing God, my brother, who I love so much and can still remember as the blonde little boy who wanted to be Peter Pan on our living room couch, would just fall to his knees and tremble as he cried. He is clearly someone battling huge demons inside. By the end of the night, my 60 year old father was soaking wet and pale as a ghost. I never want to see what I saw again and pray that I will be able to forget the images of the two men I love so much rolling in the wet grass and again on the living room floor and my red faced brother in a headlock begging for one of us to kill him. Here is the most devestating part...on Tuesday he refused the intervention. He is 22 years old and doesn't believe he has a problem. He insists that maybe he "just shouldn't drink if it makes him that crazy." He says he is in school and that he won't drink any more and that he is "fine." And everyone else involved, except me, is accepting that answer. "Well maybe it won't happen again", "He knows what he did was wrong" "Let's just see how he does" is what I am hearing from the same people that watched what I saw.
Brother if you are reading this just know that I am your biggest fan and want to see you get the help you need and deserve, no matter what anyone else says or thinks.
And some of you are probably thinking "why would she write all of this? I would never!?!" Because...the internet is so...public? And my answer is I have no idea why but I didn't want to bullshit through some topic I didn't really care about when I knew what was actually on my mind. Most of the people reading this are some of my best friends anyway and so I just thought you should know.