I never did get the porch decorated the way that I usually do. Between having work crews here all of the week before last, and part of this past week, it just never happened.
In the end, though, the porch looked Halloweenie enough, and was welcoming.
Unfortunately, though, it was drizzly and slightly foggy out, so we only had about 20 or 25 trick or treaters. THAT was really disappointing, since it was the first Saturday Halloween since the one that was ruined completely by the 2020 catastrophic ice storm.
Be that as it may, I put on my black dress, my striped tights, and my witch's hat, and had as much fun as possible!
Today has dawned back on standard time, and is beautifully quiet and foggy.
Very evocative of this time of year, when the Ancestors travel, and draw near to us.
(in my belief system, as well as that of many others, and many cultures)
My treatment went okay last week, but I had a trainee access my port, and it still bears a dark purple bruise. I freaking HATE that part of going to a cancer center that's affiliated with a huge university.
I never know which nurses will see me on a given day. Sometimes, it's someone I've seen before, though, which always eases my anxiety.
For a while there, I was having my port accessed by the same person every time, and she had it down to an art....but not this past time.
Anyway, all of the under-the-house improvements are finished now. The duct work, and the insulation. We should notice a difference this winter, IF we have a winter.
We only had one week of cold weather last year, after all.
This coming week brings the second part of this chemo cycle, and the immune boosting injection the next day.
We are also having an HVAC tech come out on Tuesday to see if he can figure out how to get the new thermostat to connect to the WiFi, since neither of us seem to be able to get it to work.
Other than that, we are going to return to the gym. My hip tendinitis is still acting up, but it's markedly better, and I think getting back into at least some gentle exercise (other than what I have been doing at home to try to stretch things out) will help.
We missed the entire second half of October, so we really need to get back to it.
My brother's 74th birthday was Friday. He's in a care facility right now, after taking a bad fall. In the pictures, it looked like he was enjoying himself. We "face timed" in to the party, and sang to him with everyone else.
I'm not sure if he's been officially diagnosed with dementia, but we are all pretty sure that is where he is, mentally, these days. I haven't mentioned it here previously, but I think it's okay now.
I am very glad that he is in a facility, for now, and that they are making sure he eats, showers, and exercises. I just really hope he isn't sent home without at least home healthcare.
He's looking a LOT better than he did when we visited him in May.
Anyway, today, I will be cooking a pork loin, and making German style potatoes. Yesterday, I made purple hulled pea soup. Purple hulled peas are very much like black eyed peas, but somewhat smaller, and a different color. I threw in a ham hock, and some rice, and it was really good.
Wishing you a good first week of November!
