By The Numbers......

Ten: 10 is roughly the number of trips we took across the street today with a large tarp full of leaves/pine needles. Across the street is a bit of land that turns into a steep drop off, and is owned by the town. We are able to send our biodegradable items over the edge, which is really handy when it comes to things like leaf disposal. Our trees generate a LOT of leaves. Normally, we would have the yard raked up by now. This has not been a normal year. Mr. Man raked up the pine needles in the back, and The Boy and I hauled them away and did the leaves.. and now the yard is nice and pretty again. Just in time for it to rain for the rest of the week. I do want to run the mower one last time, so I'm hoping for a mild day soon.. but the best I can see in the 10 day forecast is next Wednesday at 46 degrees and sunny. I have the day off. It might have to do.


Nine: 9 is how many people I still have to buy Christmas gifts for (3 of those people reside in this house, so don't let that number fool you). Normally I am at least halfway done my shopping by now. My logical brain knows that Christmas is in 6 weeks. I just can't wrap the rest of my mind around it yet. I am completely finished shopping for 2 people. Right now, I consider that to be a huge feat. I have started thinking about what to get my kids and have picked up a few things (few is the key word there). I have NO idea what to get The Boy. I do however have wrapping paper for when I finally get my act together and get a move on the holiday shopping.

Eight: 8 is how many days I have to wait to get the results of the maybe serious and scary thing. Turns out however, after talking to the people who were doing some of my tests last week, that it may not be so scary after all. I'll post more about all this next week.

Seven: 7 is how many people started out in my family. We have had a divorce, and several marriages, and a few children, and now the number is at 15 (including 3 out of state step sisters). Out of that 15..10( or 11) of us get together every year at Christmas time. This year we are exploring alternate gift giving ideas (ie. picking names etc). So far it has been a heated discussion that has involved swearing and frustration on the part of some. I am slightly saddened at the behavior of 2 of my brothers, but one has since redeemed himself and we are *this* close to coming to an agreement we can all live with.

Six: 6 is how many school days we have left until Thanksgiving break. November is my favorite month of the school year, because it is the shortest. Most people assume, wrongly, that June is my favorite month. Nope. By June I am exhausted and burnt out. My brain stops functioning correctly and for a few days I'm lucky if I know my own name. November is much better, with it's short weeks and rejuvenating breaks.

Five: 5 is how many weekends are left between now and Christmas. (deep breath) In those 5 weekends, we have a trip to my in-laws to help with some major cleaning of the attic/sheds, and the above mentioned holiday gathering. I don't have half a clue when I am going to do my cleaning, finish my baking and do my shopping. I need about 5 more weekends please.

Four: 4 is what time it began getting dark today. By 4:30 it was almost dark, and it was completely dark by 5pm. I cannot begin to tell you how much I loathe these short days. Once it gets dark, I am less motivated to leave my house. This is a problem considering how many evening meetings I have coming up in the next 3 weeks. We average about 10 hours of daylight this time of year. That's not enough to sustain a good mood as far as I can see. I'm going to have to start getting my evening walk in as soon as I get home from school unless I want to be walking in the dark.

Three: 3 is the age of my favorite little girl. She came over today while her daddy and The Boy went shooting at the pit (my friend, her mom was out). I love how excited she always is to see me. I love that she asks at least 3 or 4 times a week to come over and visit me. She was the recipient of the poncho I blogged about here. She carries that thing with her EVERYWHERE, and it is so cute and heartwarming. She is the first person I buy a Christmas gift for every year, and this year is no different. She lives right across the street and I'm blessed to know her.

Two: 2 is how many rooms I have fall cleaned. ..(Actually, considering that I also did my porch, which is enclosed and like a room, it really is 3).. and those rooms were cleaned yesterday. I still have (counts...) 12 more to go, and one hallway. If I clean 3 rooms a week, I will finish the day before our holiday gathering with my siblings(assuming I need that Saturday, as our gathering is on a Sunday this year due to scheduling conflicts). How on earth I am going to manage this, I have no idea. Please send help. Or chocolate.

One: 1 is how many blisters I received raking today. 1 is how many times I tripped and fell hauling leaves across the street. 1 is how many of the kids friends came over today to play. 1 is how many evenings I will be home this week. 1 is how many skeins of yarn it should have taken to make the baby sweater I was working on. 1 is how many extra skeins I had to buy today to finish it. (won't ever use that yarn again, huff!) 1 is how many brand new knitting bags showed up by UPS today. 1 is how many years I have been waiting for them to finish developing that bag. (I got the cocoa/olive version). 1 is how many more minutes I will be up before I head on up to bed.

(sorry Meggers... I wasn't up to the tag the way you meant it to be)