It's Pumpkin Time

The last few Halloweens have not been very exciting for us, which is just fine, because they still include pumpkins.
This year's selection was a first - a daytime pumpkin hunt. Just as fun, and turns out there are even fewer people around to watch me being pulled back to the patch in a little red wagon. This is Thunk:

and his friend Ooof!

Plant Friends

I've been bogged down with a little sinus thing lately; not so happy. Most of the last 4 days have been spent either steaming myself in the bathroom or watching bad tv with a bottle of saline spray within reach. Mark always at the ready with the Tylenol and pints of water. Blech. The brightest spot has been the amount of plant maintenance that the dry weather has required lately.

Somehow my plant friends always cheer me up.

Dee Dee is a brasso-laelia-cattleya hybrid orchid, who blooms every fall after a good fog. I like her reliability and she smells incredible - but only at night.

Little Box, the gorgeous purple & white phalaenopsis (orchid) has been blooming since last December. Yeah, nuts. When she was given to me she was the saddest little orchid I'd ever seen. One tiny leaf and about three roots. She can't be stopped.

There's the nameless daisy I got in seed as a leftover shower present, about to bloom, even after a nasty giant caterpillar attack. (He scared me)

They all make me happy; get me moving. So I just thought I'd give a little love today - they've already been watered.

Paperwork as a Blessing

We arrived at our shul on Tuesday night, one Witness present, to meet with Cantor B and officially marry ourselves up. After hours, there was no one in the office - including Cantor. Hmm. After deciding how many handfuls of minutes we could stand to sit steady (two) and how many minutes lay comfortably in a hand (Witness believes in elegant sufficiency and will hold just 5, M believes in Efficiency and can handle a whopping 15) we catch up. Before the handfuls dwindle too much, Cantor arrives with apologies. She's got a teenager in the sanctuary just working on a speech. Do we have a few more minutes? Quick hand check says we do! But then M, the siezer (Caesar?) of opportunity, asks if she'd like an audience. Indeed! And how would we like to sign our marriage license in the sanctuary? Very much!

A few minutes later we were sharing a really wonderful moment with wise K, just about to be bat mitzvahed, and her so rightfully proud parents. I'd never seen a 13 year-old so poised and sweet. When she was done, Cantor suggested she also witness our license completion; a perfect adult duty. Suddenly we were just as beaming as on our wedding day, and feeling just as blessed.

1. Wedding - DONE

2. Sort the Home . . . not so much.
3 Weeks married and 5 months home and we're still figuring out the living space. More than stacked boxes and stuffed closets, we're thinking about what we want in the space of our lives. An amazing work-life balance for M. Exploring the things all around us that we've not "had time for." And in a big way, slowing down, connecting, and learning as much and as often as we can.

Tonight we'll be completing our marriage license - a little more slowness than we'd hoped. So we'll be officially off and running.