How I Know It’s November 3rd

All day today I had to keep reminding myself that it is November 3rd. Stuck inside my office, away from windows and the lovely scenes of autumn, I was startled by the familiarity of “11/3" every single time I had to write today’s date on a document. I would think in surprise, “Oh yeah! It’s November 3rd – my birthday!”

But as the day wore on, I began to wrap my head around this special date. This is how I know it’s November 3rd:

1. The air is ripe with the energy of political activity! My birthday has fallen on Election Day at least twice since I can remember, and it’s always within a couple of days of the election, regardless. This year I am thankful that (just in time for my birthday) the political campaigning is finally over…the commercials, the phone calls, the signage. I took Ryley with me to vote yesterday, and she was fascinated! The volunteers in our precinct made a big deal out of showing her how the process worked, and it made a big impression. She wrote this when we got home:

She is so silly.

2. Our garlic-seasoned pumpkin seeds are beginning to turn brittle in the bowl on our kitchen table. Only three days ago, I was so excited that I took the time to make them. Now I’m starting to think we should throw them away. Just looking at them makes my teeth hurt!

3. Animal teeth marks have begun to appear on the jack-o-lantern still sitting on our front porch. Every day it seems that the raccoons and/or squirrels have chiseled just a tad more progress.

Here’s Ryley (Dorothy) with our pirate jack-o-lantern before the neighborhood critters discovered it:

4. The leaves are half-fallen off the trees….There are just enough on the ground to crunch a little under my feet, but there are still enough on the trees to be a  kind of “faded pretty.”

5. Something different this year….Usually the Daylight Savings change occurs the weekend before my birthday, but this year, it’s the weekend after it. I am used to it being dark by 5 p.m. on my birthday, but this year I had an extra hour of light. Just an observation. :-)

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I’ve had a delightful day!

I received these wonderful text messages within 30 minutes of each other, and I am certain that each sender did not know about the other:

Birthday wishes from my nephews Will and Jack:

And birthday wishes from my niece and nephew Olivia and Samuel:

Too funny! Aunt Joy loves all her nieces and nephews, and she feels very loved!! :-)

Ryley and I “went to coffee” after work/school, and that was fun and different for us. :-) Very girly.

Then Ryan and Ryley spoiled me with gifts and going out to dinner. They even indulged my geeky obsession with the “The Sound of Music” by purchasing the 45th Anniversary Limited Edition Favorite Things Collectible Set:

Jealous?? You know you are.

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And here are some more pics of Dorothy from Halloween. We had so much fun with this! It was completely Ryley’s idea to be Dorothy, which was a refreshing change from her typical princess or fairy costume. She just read “The Wizard of Oz” a few weeks ago.

 

At our church’s harvest carnival and trunk-or-treat event:

I was pretty proud of the braids. We got them right on the first try! :-)

With the scarecrow:

Notice how Toto’s basket is becoming increasingly heavy with candy as the night wears on….

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Happy November 3rd! I know mine has been perfect. :-)