Nightly Reflections – Monday, October 25th, 2021

Two months from today is Christmas. There. I said it. 😛

Happy Monday. And welcome to the week that ends with Halloween. Boo and all that stuff. One week from today, Christmas begins in my household. And I am quite excited to bring back into view all my Christmas decor, little by little. And then there’s the candles. I’ll tuck away the fall scents and break out my Christmas scents. I even bought one at Kohl’s when I was back home recently. My sister and I each bought a Balsam Fir. If it smells as good lit as it does not lit, it will smell like a Christmas tree is in my living room. And since I have an artificial tree, it will be quite a treat 🙂 But, I get ahead of myself. We still have six days in October!

This morning, I received my track schedule beginning in April already. I look forward to five more weekends with my former student as well as all those kindergartners through sixth graders. Can’t imagine it right now as we’re only on the precipice of winter, but soon enough, as we all know, it’ll be here before we know it. Something to dream about for the time being 🙂

I reached two major decisions today that have been awhile in coming. The first one, and the cheapest one…I have always been against purposely sitting down to nap. If a nap was ever going to happen to me, it was going to happen by accident. Today, that ended. I was really feeling tired around 4 and figured a short little nap would get me through the rest of the night. I sat down and purposely closed my eyes after putting the recliner back. Next thing I know, I’m waking about thirty minutes later. Once I had a chance to take inventory, I realized I felt better. And with the onslaught of winter before us, what better time to surrender to the concept of taking a nap than now. I will be doing this far more often, I think. Wait til the snow flies. I’ll be in my den’s recliner, watching the snow fall until the actual artistry of Mother Nature lulls me to sleep for a while. Sounds damn inviting as I write this. 🙂

Now, the other decision…well, that was a little pricier. I’ve been playing around with this decision since being given the numbers. I’ve told you that our first book, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas In Rosemount, which had been reprinted four different times from the first year it was a reality, was now almost unavailable. Actually, I have been down to one book. I know a woman who graduated from RHS in 1980. She has told me she would buy ten of them if they existed. I’ve also been bothered by the fact we don’t have extra copies anymore after all these years. The book is now a little slice of history. The front of the school as well as the school’s parking lot are illustrated in the book. Since that publication, both the exterior of the school and its land for the student cars has been altered. Well, I shared with you this summer that I looked into how much it would cost me to reprint yet another 100 books. I truly would like to have extras on hand so I can have copies when the opportunity arises to sell them again. I felt like the community had seen its share of me after three books and being on hand at various Rosemount events, selling them. Yet, I discovered this summer there’s a population in our community that has no idea we ever did these books. This woman, for example, who wants ten for sure, wasn’t aware. So today, I drove back over to Cornerstone Printing, and based on the quote they gave me for the 100 books, I ordered them today. What I will do next week is snap a couple of pictures, one of the school’s front and another of that parking lot, and display them with this post. It’s one way I will once again advertise, in time for Christmas, the books for anyone who still doesn’t have them and wants them. Because they’ve been around, I likely will do a deal like buy two, and get the third one free. We have enough of the other two publications to be able to do that. Plus, I don’t see a huge rush on the offer. But I would like to make the money back to at least pay for the printing costs I will incur. So, on that front, stay tuned. I know many of you have your own copy of the first and likely the second and third books in your home. Some people have told me they read the first book to their kids on Christmas Eve. That might have been one of the most flattering comments I received at the time. It’ll be nice to have copies of the first one again. 🙂

I also ran to Cub to pick up yet another $40 worth of groceries. Before that, I ran into Menards and picked up two cases of the Duraflame logs. Right now, they have 11% off everything. And I am going to need these for fireplace starters in the weeks ahead. So, I’m set. At least for fourteen more fires in my fireplace. I still have two from last season. And a few pieces of actual wood. The fire I lit Saturday night was so very nice. How I love a fire this time of year.

My first stop for my errand running began in the parking lot of RHS. I had four new books to give to my buddy in the main office. She’s always such a delight to see and converse with. The day was decent enough where we could stand outside in the parking lot and chat without getting overly cold. As we did just that, several of my former colleagues were walking out as the end of their day had arrived. It was kind of fun to see them too since they popped over to say hi on the way to their cars. But my friend was happy to see me and to receive four new reads. She’s a great friend and someone who has her own personal challenges right now. We both felt it was great to see each other, and as I drove off, I figured I need to stop down here more because she makes me happy. And she’s going to need the hug of a friend sooner than later. I can explain that when it’s appropriate to do so.

The evening will likely be Monday Night Football. A friend of mine allowed me to use his Peacock membership for yet another stupid streaming service in my life! The reason he was charitable was I asked for it, actually. lol This Sunday, my horror movie buddy is popping over to celebrate Halloween with me by watching the original Halloween as well as the final one released in 2018. It is a lead-in to the movie in the theaters right now…Halloween Kills. Well, Peacock is also showing that film and it’s one I wouldn’t mind seeing in my living room versus seeing in the theater. I doubt we can fit in three of those films Sunday, but if he doesn’t have time in the weeks ahead, I will watch it. His mother is joining us, despite her lack of horror movie appreciation. lol She just doesn’t want to be home this Halloween. Her reasons are valid. So, we’ll be whooping it up here! Whoop! Whoop!

I hope you had a super duper Monday, boys and girls. Last one in October 2021. More nice weather tomorrow before the rains come for two days. So, enjoy it while you can. By Friday, the trees may be fairly bare if the rains come with winds. And likely that will happen as it’s that time of year. SO, enjoy the sunshine tomorrow! I’ll be sitting inside with my fellow writers for the first time in two-plus years. It’ll be too cold to be in our normal park location. So, we return to where we started…The Steeple Center. I have a couple of books to share that I’ve been wanting to share with you, so tomorrow night, you’ll learn what those titles are 🙂 Ho Ho Ho.

The Inspirational Quote of the Night: “Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all. Be patient and tough; one day this pain will be useful to you.” – Ovid, poet

G’Night!