Nesting

I just got home from an after work walk on this mid-October eve. It is pleasantly crisp and the parkway is getting showy flanked by flaming maples and glowing poplars. The leaves on the oaks remind me of warm cinnamon toast. And speaking of toast, we picked up the scents of wood burning fires and also someone firing up the grill for some steaks. It's my favorite time of the year. It's still outdoor weather, but we come home and light candles and curl up under cats. These nights Gus takes Mike's lap and Hazel is happy on mine. We're still adjusting to an emptier nest missing Teddy, Lily and Finn, but we are good.

We'll have a full house this weekend, which I am very much looking forward to. Mike pointed out how quickly the next few months will pass, and before we know it we'll be on a beach in Zihautenejo. That is one of my happy places, but I'm in no rush to speed the plow. I'd like the next few months to linger as long as they can because October's cozy, November's gratitude and December's joy feed my soul for the rest of the year.

We've been staying close to home the past month and I'm perfectly good with that. The world feels tenuous, sketchy, not particularly safe. The wide world and also my little corner of it for the record. Case in point, we were driving on the highway on a beautiful Sunday afternoon a couple weeks ago and an approaching car unleashed a few rounds. I felt the gunfire in my chest. I don't think anyone was hurt, but it was hard to tell because we were going 65 miles in the other direction. This is just kind of normal these days. Only it's not.

I'll be in New York next week. I have mixed feelings about this trip after the last 10 days of news. My head will be on a swivel and my hand on my alarm. For once, we're going in fall and expecting fall temperatures so that's a bonus. I'm just not sure how much time we'll spend strolling the city and yet on the other hand, I'm expecting it to be fine.

My big outing last weekend was to see the Taylor Swift movie with Jess. I've been singing her songs in my sleep the past few nights. They are catchy and she is quite a talent. I still won't call myself a Swiftie, but I can see why she has such a following. Jess and I stopped for an afternoon happy hour and had such a nice time drinking wine on a Saturday afternoon. It felt good to be out in the world so I convinced Mike to go back out with me after the Badger game. We just went to our local watering hole and had fun running into some familiar faces and catching up on kids. The general consensus is that empty nesting is not so bad.

And that being said, I'm excited for a full house this weekend.