Autumn-like weather....

The evenings and nights have turned cooler (around 70 degrees) but the days are sunny and warm and crisply gorgeous. We turn the heat on in the house when we get up, just to take the chill out of the house. I start the day with a sweater or jacket, but by noon-time, off it comes because the temperatures have risen into the 80s. Perfect weather, although I could do without having to wear the jacket. (Picky, picky.)

I drove my husband to the airport this morning...... by now he's in Las Vegas, attending his last conference for this year. It's funny that the only reason he submitted a paper to this conference was because young C and her family had been planning to move to Vegas this past June. We thought we'd both fly out to Vegas for the conference, and surprise them with a visit.

Thankfully, for C and her family, they didn't have to move to Vegas...... but my husband was already committed to this conference when we found out about their change of plans. I was supposed to go to Vegas also, but then Barry Manilow's shows at the Las Vegas Hilton have been suspended till early November because of his recent surgery. So...... no Barry..... which means no reason for me to go to Vegas right now. While he's out there for the conference, my husband got tickets to see "The Blue Man Group" again, and he also got a ticket for Louie Anderson's comedy show.

Just as well that I didn't go to Vegas anyway, being that I'm finally feeling better..... and I will be getting things ready for our Halloween party this weekend. By the time my husband returns on Wednesday, the house will be party-ready..... all except the last-minute cooking. I'm not doing any baking for this party because enough people are already bringing desserts.

I took care of some errands on my way back from the airport this morning. Seems like so many little things had just piled up on a to-do list while I was sick. Little dinky things that weren't important enough to bother my husband with while I was home sick with the flu. Even after a few hours of driving back and forth to the stores this morning and afternoon, I didn't come home and collapse on the sofa in the breakfast room, so that means I'm finally over being sick. Yeeeee-haaaw to that!

I also spent some time dusting all the bookshelves in this house...... between the built-ins in the living room and the TV room, there are a lot of shelves here, which hadn't been dusted since I first got sick. What a treat that was to do, but it's done. Not a speck of dust in sight and I hope it stays that way till after the party so I don't have to do it again this week.

Then I got to the next thing on my list.... deciding what to wear for the Halloween party. I had it narrowed down to either a "Flapper" or a gypsy. The flapper-style dress that I have is perfect, since the bottom of it has long fringe....... but I've worn that dress for two New Year's parties and a Christmas party, so I decided to let that one stay in the closet for a while to give everyone time to forget it.... then when I take it out again, it'll be "new." The gypsy-style skirt that I have is brand new, bought this summer when I was looking for clothes to take to Hawaii. I didn't but it for Hawaii, but it was just a pretty skirt with lots of great colors, and it looked like the perfect skirt to wear on Thanksgiving.

However..... that colorful skirt, along with a lace-y top, a beaded shawl, lots of beaded necklaces, bronze-colored sandals....... instant gypsy! I even tied a silk scarf around my hair and it looked great and very gypsy-ish, but I don't know if I will be able to stand having that around my head for the entire party, so I might not use the scarf.

My sister would be appalled to know that I can go right into my closet and pull a "costume" together...... but I probably won't go into too much detail with that when she calls. What's the point of having a closet filled with clothes if you don't have some fun stuff in there?

This afternoon was so nice that AngelBoy spent a couple of hours out on the back deck. When he first got out there, he looked around the deck for Rusty. I know he was looking for him because I actually saw that cat peek underneath the chairs, and he walked around the wicker table to the spot where Rusty used to sleep. No Rusty... not anymore. So AngelBoy jumped up into Rusty's favorite chair and curled up for a nap. I swear, not one of the cats ever put a paw into Rusty's chair while he was still here. Now it seems that AngelBoy has claimed that chair as his own.

We got a very nice card from our vet this week, telling us how sorry he was that Rusty had to be put to sleep. We've never gotten a card from our family doctor, for anything. And our vet makes house calls...... our family doctor does not. Tell me what's wrong with that picture? I swear, the next time I get the flu, I'm going to call our vet.