Last Days of Fall

These must be the last days of Fall. Colder weather has to be on the way. I'm not complaining. No, indeed, I'll take warmer weather over colder any day. Besides the fact that today is December 1st, it's just beginning to look more like winter. The trees are almost completely bare. And you know what that means? Time to rake the leaves! Thankfully, since a doctor friend of mine recommended "no raking" (among other things ;-) ) after my back injury, I have a brother (in-law, but he and I don't use that suffix) who has a nice backpack blower. I suited up, threw on my sunglasses, and spent three-plus hours in the yard blowing leaves today. I cherish days like this. I know that sounds sick, and NO, I am not offering to come clean up leaves at anyone's house (except maybe Dad's...I owe him a lot). But I enjoy the rare opportunities to get outside on a beautiful day and accomplish something. It's quite satisfying.

The kids enjoyed the leaf blowing as well. Actually, they enjoyed the leaf pile (or mountain as it seemed, by the time I got to the backyard). I took a short break to capture some of the festivities on film:

Planning a strategy for leaf jumping
The Munch
All smiles
Buried in leaves
Action shot
Aggie “helping” Munchkin
Rock Star
All fun must come to an end

The day started out for me with breakfast at IHOP with Wil, Mike, Poppie, Johnny & Kevin (the Rundles men). It was such a good time, and we had some great laughs together. We hope to make this a monthly event. McGrooter wasn't able to join us as he spent the night with his buddy Chandler last night. The two of them had a blast, staying up until nearly midnight playing video games. Needless to say, McGrooter took an unusual nap today. :-)

Leslie had a pretty good day. At least she stayed busy most of the day. However, she continues to deal with the shooting pains that are a lingering result of the radiation, and the chemo. But she got a lot done around the house, which always makes her happy. I came in after working in the yard to find the bedroom nicely decorated with new curtains she had hung. I'm always impressed at how much better she is than I am with tools and such. The curtain rods were hung perfectly, and there were no extra holes (which probably would have been there had I tried to accomplish the task).

We're looking forward to church tomorrow and a day of rest!