Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2007
Peoria, AZ

One benefit of living in a 55+ community is that you don't need to buy Halloween candy. We didn't expect any trick-or-treaters, and we were right. We've lived in communities without a lot of kids in the past (CT, NJ) where we saw a lot of carpools of kids "bussed in". Here, not so much. A few of the neighbors put out s0me decorations, but nothing like we're used to. On the other hand, all the stores are rolling out the Christmas decorations in earnest, so it's time to start counting the shhopping days...

Yesterday featured another record high temperature, or maybe two of them. Here in the desert, they also keep records of the "highest low", and we've set a few of them over the last week or so in addition to a couple of actual records highs. We grew up with "record lows", so this is a new concept. We've been generally up in the 90s, although we've had a couple of upper-80s, and have even left the A/C on several of the last nights. Since "normal" (whatever that means) highs are around 82-83F, we're hoping it'll cool off soon. Preferably without a huge swing to the other direction! We still remember the cold weather of last winter!

Since it was warm, yesterday was also an "inside day". Geri had a doctor's appointment (never on time) so she was gone for quite a bit of the day. I caught up on some stuff in the study, making sure that the last few remaining mailing address changes are in place (I don't want to have anything important coming here while we're away) and doing some online research into parts I need for a couple of projects on the coach.

Geri picked up some catfish on the way home, so we had that with steamed broccoli. I made another rendition of the curried couscous we had last week, and we had cherry pie for desert. Woo-hoo! I opened a bottle of Chilean red (Escudo Roja) that was particularly good. It's a non-typical blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc) that we picked up at Costco. We had some last year and it was gone when I went for more. Hopefully, they'll still have some the next time we stop by!

Today, I put in some time organizing things in the garage (how does it get disorganized when we're away???) in the morning and did some "project shopping" in the afternoon. I needed a few things from the home supply stores for the DirecTV setup (e.g., a 2x8 to attach the new dish to, lag bolts, paint that matches the trim color on the house), so I'll get started on that tomorrow. I also picked up a few things to make some new shelves in one of the cabinets in the coach. I'm copying the setup that Wayne and Eva had added to theirs for a spice cabinet. It's amazing how the little things can make you happy. Of course, I had to get the right grain, stain, and polyurethane to make things match the rest of the coach. I'll work on this project a bit each day (cutting staining, fabricating/gluing, finishing) until done. It'll be good to test this out when we visit Rick & Annette and Dave & Sandy in the second half of November.

Tonight, we had the rest of the pork roast from the other night. Geri made her new recipe for "crispy smashed potatoes", this time with a bit of grated Parmesan. She also made Provencal Tomatoes, an old recipe we haven't had in a while. A cheap ($3.99, I think) red was drinkable but disappointing, so we won't try that one again.

Tomorrow, I'll start on the new satellite dish and the shelves for the coach. Each will take a few days. Hopefully, by next week, it'll start to cool off and I'll be able to start on the water feature in the back yard.