Goodbye October, Hello November

After the mess that was September, October is closing on a high note. Following the pandemonium of moving and discovering things were broken, stolen, or missing and filing claims, and spending like we were made of money, we are ending the month with the claims settled, money in the bank, a new travel goal, a successful camping trip under our belts, and an apartment that feels like home. Kaipo and Tilly have also mostly settled down – they had their first Portland grooming mid-month which made a real difference. When we arrived back at the apartments following our camping trip they both got out of the car and walked directly to our apartment and waited for us by the door – they know this is home now. We have also managed to arrange boarding for them when we go to Boston at Christmas, a big weight off our shoulders.

Brett and I voted before we left to go camping. I had forgotten how relaxing and safe it is to vote by mail here. I sat down one afternoon with a cup of tea and the voters guide and slowly read and filled out my ballot, then sealed it in the envelope, signed the envelope, and Brett took both our ballots to the box at the library. We got word in a few days that our ballots had been received and our votes counted. I hope everyone gets out and votes this year – it’s a very important election, and voting in our country is a superpower!

Our big goal for October was to survive and get the apartment settled and we have almost accomplished that; our new dressers won’t arrive until after the new year. But, everything else is almost done and we are happy that our claims from the mover were settled so quickly.

For November, once again there are only a few goals:

• I desperately need pedicure and maybe a manicure. My nails suffered greatly during the move and I am slowly getting them back in shape, but think maybe a professional manicure would help. There’s a great salon just a 10 minute walk away. I also need to get my hair cut again and there’s a great salon about a 10-minute walk in the other direction!
• I want to start a budget for our trip to England next year and tentatively choose some dates with WenYu. We are now talking about maybe spending less time in England and going to France for a few days but no decision on that yet.
• I need to get myself back into reading. I got thrown off before the move and although I’ve tried I have a hard time getting myself to pick up a book these days. I’m currently reading Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. It’s very well written as well as interesting – no complaints there – but I always seem to find something else to do other than read.
• Continue to walk as much as possible!

Otherwise, the days are getting cooler and it’s been raining, to the point we finally turned on heat after we came home from camping. I never thought I would say it, but I’m actually happy the rain has arrived. When we first moved to Portland back in 1992 there were water restrictions put in place because of the lack of rainfall the previous winter, and we don’t want to go through that again so any rain we get now is a good thing.

Here’s to a great month in November for everyone!