could it be?????

It's noon, and it's 60 degrees outside. This is the first hint of fall weather we've had...as it has continued to be near 90 every day since that first day about 2 and a half weeks ago when we saw our last 100 degree day.

Gawd. At least others around here with whom I work have stated that this summer was very unusually hot, and that the heat lasted an unusually long time.

This gives me vague hope.

My geranium is doomed. As I have said before, I will try again next year, and move it INSIDE in MAY before it's burnt to a crisp.

Going out today to get some mums. Did that last fall, and they stayed green and blooming until almost Christmas.

We went out to Red Rock Canyon state park last evening for a late hike, supper picnick, and some hoped for star gazing, far from city lights.

Two out of the three went great....but the clouds gathered, and covered up the HUGE rising moon, and all of the stars.

Oh well.

I DID see my first Sand Hill Crane since moving! He was walking in a harvested field, looking for fallen grain.
They do usually start their southward migration around the autumnal equinox, so it makes sense.

And, we were about an hour west of the city, out in the open lands, and that's where they are reported to fly over.

Maybe there will be more sightings....I sure hope so. That's something I miss with my whole heart.

In other news, Dave came back from his week away with some scary news. He had spent the entire week away from me smoking cigarettes.

To me, after my months of working so hard to get him healthy, it felt like a betrayal.

He quit Sept. 1, 2009, in anticipation of my move, because I have always said, and STILL say, that I will NOT live with a smoker.

Period.

So, we had some tough discussions...like "Do you remember the FIRST THING the cardiologist asked you when he met you for the first time, in the hospital, the morning of your heart attack?"

(the first words out of the doctor's mouth, AFTER he shook Dave's hand and said "You are far too young to be lying here," were "How long have you been a smoker?")

Anyway, without going into too much further detail, we've had our first really rough "rough patch," and we came through it okay.

Dave announced yesterday that he has not craved a cigarette ONCE since returning home from his cheating foray.

Before he went on this binge, he said he was craving smokes EVERY day for the year since he quit.

Now, it seems to be out of his system.

In OTHER other news, we have been exploring the speculative possibility of buying a house next year. Real estate here is disgustingly affordable.

It could happen, EVEN WITH my already having an absurdly high mortgage payment for the condo back home.

Fingers crossed!

(Oh, and p.s.--I turned my existing neck support pillow the other way round, to the bigger side, and my neck pain went away!---but I may bite the bullet some day, when I can justify the expense, and get the $100 pillow!)