Today's Good Things: The sun returned; mild enough to open some windows. Les went to the orthodontist to have plaque scoured off. Not pleasant, but he got through it.

Today's Good Things: Less chilly than yesterday, with some sun. The Culligan technician arrived to check the timer on the water softener system, change the filter, and do whatever else she does. Everything fine.

Today's Good Things: In news: Hostages released! Despite wind, no branches fallen in our yard. I uploaded this week's blog post. Finished another book review in my November newsletter. Added about 200 words to the vampire pumpkin story.

Today's Good Things: Less chilly last night. Handbell ensemble proved music at today's service. First sermon by our new clergy intern. The gospel was about Jesus' healing of ten lepers (only one paused to give thanks), and she preached on distance and lines of separation.

Today's Good Things: Last night: The first season finale of OUTLANDER: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD. Of course nothing is really resolved. We have to wait for season 2. Les attended a "retreat" for the choir. Discussion about changing the current performance / practice schedule.

oday's Good Things: We allegedly spent $3.00 less on electricity this week. Whoo-hoo! Giant seemed less crowded than usual. I finished shopping in time to hear the National Anthem on the radio again. They had 7-pound bags of Fresh Step back in stock, which had vanished last week.

Today's Good Things: In the news: Gaza ceasefire! Les picked up his new dress uniform. (Needed for the Civil Air Patrol Wing Conference.)

Today's Good Things: Intermittent rain stopped around midday; sun in the afternoon. I uploaded this week's blog post. Still checking the LOCUS Forthcoming Books list.

Today's Good Things: Almost like summer in the afternoon. I drafted this week's blog post. Finished another book review in my November newsletter. Started checking the new LOCUS Forthcoming Books list for titles of interest.

Today's Good Things: No heat needed in the wee hours this morning. I finished one book review in the November newsletter. Started this week's blog post. WINTER LOST, a new Mercy (the coyote shifter) book by Patricia Briggs, from the library.

Yesterday Les made Astral Plane cocktails (the purple drink from the D&D drink manual) with edible glitter. Cool! Next week we'll try shaking the glitter with the liquid instead of just sprinkling it on top, hoping it will look even better.

Today's Good Things: The heat works. I don't like turning it on so early in October, but we did have to run it for a couple of hours early the past two mornings. Good to know it works. In compensation, today's weather was perfect, bright and above 70.

Today's Good Things: Giant had mini pumpkins for sale decorated with scary/cute faces and little witch hats. (Some years they don't.) I finished shopping and left the store in time to hear the noon national anthem on the radio for the first time in several weeks.

Yesterday I hung the fall decoration on the front door. Today's Good Things: I registered for the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, held annually in March in Orlando. With most of the information auto-filled, it was easy and quick.

Today's Good Things: Lots of sun. The final lawn-cutting of the season was done. One more item not to have to worry about until spring. The Value Dry man checked the basement waterproofing system. It's fine for another year; he cleaned out a few roots growing into the sump pit.

Also yesterday: Forgot to mention my routine annual dermatology exam; it went fast, everything okay except for a little spot on my scalp she "froze" off.

Today's Good Things: I uploaded this week's blog post. Found someone -- who lives on our street -- to do our final lawn mowing of the season. Apparently there's nothing wrong with our phone's calling function after all. There's just one particular number that it won't connect with -- strange.

And here's the page for "Her Death Was Doubtful" on the publisher's website: wildrosepress.com/product/her-...

My YA ghost novella "Her Death Was Doubtful" got a 5-star review from N. N. Light: substack.com/@nnlightsboo...

Today's Good Things: The Wild Rose Press released my YA ghost novella, "Her Death Was Doubtful," part of the Haunting of Pinedale High shared world. Yay! N. N. Light's Book Heaven reviewed it with 5 stars! More on it in two separate earlier posts. The checkbook statement balanced exactly.

Last night I watched the ninth episode of OUTLANDER: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD. One more to go in the season. Although there will certainly be a lot of loose threads left dangling, I hope it won't end on a cliffhanger. Today's Good Things:

Much less rain than forecast. We didn't get wet on our grocery run. Yesterday I accidentally left three items in the bottom of the shopping cart instead of loading them into the car. Dumb. :) Today a nice person at the customer service counter helped me get replacements without paying over again.

Today's Good Things: The sun returned. Routinely OK grocery shopping at Giant.

Also today (Sept. 25): Les put salt in the water softener bin -- those bags weigh 40 pounds each! I succeeded in buying my plane tickets for Orlando in March. Used "points" for the first time. Watched this week's episode -- no. 6 -- of TONY & ZIVA, four more to go.

Today's Good Things: Less rain than predicted, even some glimpses of sun. Despite the weather, the tree company crew arrived not much later than scheduled. Luckily, almost no rain while they were here. They cleared vines, cut back bushes, removed greenery gone wild, etc., and hauled stuff away.

Today's Good Things: The man from the tree-cleanup company gave us an estimate for removal of vines, bushes, and a couple of small trees. He scheduled it for tomorrow -- quite a surprise. (Hope it doesn't rain much and mess up the whole plan.)

Today's Good Things: The property tax check I mailed almost two weeks ago has finally been cashed. We got our COVID and flu shots at Giant. Nobody there when we checked in at the pharmacy, so it didn't take as long as it did last year. Very little discomfort.

Today's Good Things: The sun returned. The re-paving of our street is finally finished. I drafted and uploaded this week's blog post.

Today's Good Things: Church music by Wellspring, the folk / contemporary group. Reverend Patti preached on trust in God, with lots of references, which I like. No sun to speak of, but at least no rain. Still catching up from being gone for almost two days.

Today's Good Things: Very good buffet breakfast at the Williamsburg Lodge. We found our way around the hotel complex all right after being lost in the maze upon arrival yesterday. Uneventful drive home. The house and cats survived fine without us. Bagels for dinner, easy comfort food.

Yesterday's Good Things: We drove to Williamsburg to celebrate our anniversary weekend. Nice weather, smooth trip. Wine tasting and lunch (cheese and cured meats) at Ingleside winery on the way. We ate in the courtyard, shady with a fountain in the center. Bought a case of wine, naturally.

Today's Good Things: The sun returned. Another not very expensive grocery shopping day. We used less electricity this week than last week.

Today's Good Things: Much less rain than originally predicted. Doing some Thursday chores (e.g., cleaning bathrooms -- sort of -- and writing the grocery list) on Wednesday because of a short trip coming up.

Today's Good Things: Working on the October newsletter. After proofreading the vampire story, I submitted it to the editor of a vampire/horror zine. Watched the second-season premiere of DOC last night. Glad to see it renewed.

Today's Good Things: I made an appointment for the heat pump's annual checkup. Monthly flea drops applied to Lorelei. Freya still remains to be done. Briefly working on the October newsletter. Drafting and uploading this week's blog post. Editing the vampire story.

Another nice day -- sunny, cool at night, warm during the day. Music at church by the handbell ensemble. The gospel reading was about the lost sheep and the lost coin. Father Peter talked about loss and how the flock isn't complete until the one missing sheep is returned.

Today's Good Things: I finished the first draft of the vampire story, Rough, needs a lot of polishing. Contacted BGE Home (heat pump routine inspection) and a tree service (vines and bushes) to arrange servicing. Yay internet.

Today's Good Things: Our grandson who joined the Army earlier in the year has just graduated from basic training! According to BGE, we used less electricity this billing month than last. (Well, very little AC used, so yeah.)

Today's Good Things: Three nights with little or no coughing. Maybe we're almost all better. The sun returned in the afternoon. The black-eyed-susans that spontaneously sprang up a month or more ago are still blooming (despite the chilly nights).

Today's Good Things: The final volume in the very long series ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM (Japanese light novels about a book-obsessed college student reincarnated in a book-poor, preindustrial world) arrived. Feels as if I've been reading these almost forever.

Today's Good Things: Les ordered a new dress uniform through the Navy Exchange. I finished and uploaded this week's blog post. Finished (roughly) a book review in my October newsletter.

Today's Good Things: Star Trek Day! It premiered the same month we got married. Sunny and mild. Les's periodontist checkup. Needs "scaling" done, but not done today.

Today's Good Things: The choir sang "Day by Day," which I like a lot (except IMO they should have used the tune from GODSPELL). I had coffee hour duty; survived it. :) Actually, it went quite smoothly. Luckily, there is always someone in the group who knows more than I do.

Today's Good Things: Maryland Renaissance Festival. The predicated afternoon rain didn't arrive until almost 4:30, so we got to do everything we planned. Several shows new to us. Chocolate-covered frozen cheesecake on a stick. Soup in bread bowls for lunch.

Today's Good Things: Following last night's rain, the sun came back today. Giant bill at checkout was lower than usual. They've completed the drastic overhaul of the restrooms -- yay. A new video series from Extra History started. Dinner at Adam's.

Today's Good Things: We set up an appointment with the lawyer to talk about rewriting our wills. Arrangements are made to have the book boxes in Camille's former room picked up. I read the September issue of COSMIC HORROR MONTHLY, the same day it arrived.

Today's Good Things: Less coughing last night. Maybe it's finally at least starting to clear up. The new checking account statement balanced except for a mysterious 3-cent discrepancy carried over from last month. So I altered the checkbook to match.

Today's Good Things: The scale has been showing a slow downward trend in my weight, so my new routine of food restriction on Mondays must be working. Of course, that means I'll be stuck with this regimen for the rest of my life, because my metabolism will get used to it.

Today's Good Things: Another sunny, mild day, as September should be. I uploaded my September newsletter and e-mailed it to subscribers. Started on this week's blog post.

Today's Good Things: Church services reverted to the non-summer schedule, back to getting up at dawn. Two good features, though: (1) Parking lot and pews not crowded. (2) Getting home earlier, with some free time before lunch.