On OCTOBER 19, my aunt and I went back to Michigan for a long weekend, to visit an old chat friend. The timing was perfect, as the leaves were at their most colorful. Below is a picture I snapped outside an apple orchard. It's just on the outside of Manchester. They had pumpkins, apples (bagged and taffy), donuts, and cider. Many apple orchards offer home-made apples, although I've never learned why. These were AWESOME!

On the way into Manchester, right on the edge of town, there's a yard with a tree, that took what must have been left of a branch and maybe carved an arm and fist into the wood. It's also been painted. This was the best picture I was able to get, Monday morning as we were leaving town. In the fall and winter, the sun isn't at a very good angle to get a nice picture of it. By afternoon, the arm is completely shaded, and a good picture, even with flash, is impossible. It's just something we always look for (along with a llama farm) as we head South on M-52 into Manchester.

We had a very nice visit. We did try to get together with Deb while we were in Michigan, but unfortunately it didn't work out. We've decided that next time we go to Michigan, we will go a day earlier, so we have a whole day to spend with Deb. And perhaps in the Spring, I'll take a day and go visit Deb myself (and maybe meet Kerry there????)

I'll be picking up some pictures I was getting developed (to use up the film I started in August), so I can scan those pictures soon and get some posted in the near future.

***Editors Note: Thanks Styx, for noticing I said November instead of October. No, I didn't go forward in time, I just wasn't paying enough attention to what I was doing when I typed it last night.

Here's a picture I took a couple days ago of the sunset by my apartment. The clouds weren't really that red, they were more pink or mauve. But this is what I got using my digital camera. Pretty cool, huh??

I'm home from my long weekend in Michigan. I had a nice time visiting my friend, but was disappointed in not being able to see another friend. Things just didn't work out like I'd hoped, and I'm not sure what the future will bring.

The colors were beautiful the whole way there, we were told the fall colors are at their peak about now in Michigan, so our timing was perfect. I didn't get the opportunity to get many pictures, we just never seemed to be in a good spot to stop and have me get out to snap a picture. I got one picture while we were at an apple orchard getting cider, apples, donuts, and taffy apples. I'll post that as soon as I get a chance to load the pictures from my camera to my computer.

Right now my knee and back are killing me. I don't know what I did to my back, although it could have been the storage cabinet that I had to push up a flight of stairs on Saturday. Although, my back wasn't bothering me yesterday, only today. My knee though, has been coming on all weekend, the more I went up and down those damn stairs the more it bothered me. I took a couple Aleve earlier, but unless I go elevate it, it won't feel any better. I'll do that when I go watch Journeyman in an hour.

I had a nice weekend, but I'm glad to be home.

Another quiet weekend here. I got caught up on all my tv shows this weekend, and watched two disappointing football games. Oh well. This Friday I will be making another trip to Michigan, to visit a couple friends.

The leaves are finaly starting to turn. Some trees have already changed and the branches are now bare, others are just barely starting to show color. Using the film in my camera that I originaly loaded the end of August for the eclipse, I'm attempting to take several photos over a period of may be a few weeks to show the slow color change here. I think I only have about 4 pictures left on the roll of film, so anything I want to take after that's done will be using my digital camera.

Time to go check the weather for tomorrow so I know how warm I need to dress for work. Have a great week!

So much for trying to support a sports team. Every time I do, they lose. I tried to suppor the Cubs, they were swept in the Divisional Series against Arizona. I tried to support the Cowboys, they are being humiliated by a 1-3 Buffalo team. So I'm back to neutral colors, supporting no team. I give up.

It's late on a Sunday night, I've been watching football all evening, we've had summer-like temperatures all weekend, and I have to work tomorrow, lol.

The Bears just went ahead for the first time, with 2 minutes left. GO BEARS! Tomorrow night is the Cowboys game against Buffalo, so I will be watching that for sure! Another late night for me, lol.

Today, after Kerry's stream, I went out to see my aunt. I haven't seen her for at least a month, as she was sick for a few weeks, and then did too much last Saturday and needed to rest on Sunday. I try to go see her every Sunday, helping her clean her floors (I vaccum, she mops) doing anything else around her condo her son hasn't done, she feeds me, and we go see a movie. Today was no different. We did the floors, ate lunch, went to see The Seeker, I helped her clean her sliding glass doors, I attempted to hook up her new dvd recorder, and I brought in her garden hose for the winter. The only thing I didn't get done was to clean her spare bathtub. She has arthritis in both shoulders, can't bend over to clean the bathtub, and her son won't ever do it. So I do what I can to help.

And the Bears just won the game, intercepting the ball in the endzone as time expires. Wooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooo

So now that the game is over, I can go to bed, lol. Have a great week!

Well, game 1 didn't go as I'd hoped. Cubs lose 3-1. Without reading any articles or watching any post game interviews, I have a few thoughts on the game. Those not interested in baseball can just skip today's post, lol.

1. Carlos Zambrano pitched a GREAT game. He only allowed one run in 6 innings.

2. Since Carlos was pitching well, why bring him out? Confidence in the relievers? Concern for his arm since he'll be pitching again on only 3 days rest?

3. Why is Lou Piniella only going with three starting pitchers for this series? Carlos Zambrano, Rich Hill, and Ted Lilly. It sure puts a lot of pressure on the middle and late relievers to be perfect.

4. All the Cubs, with the exception of Carlos, looked flat last night. Ramirez almost looks like he's not trying when he's at the plate. He's reaching for pitches that he would not normally bother with. Derrick Lee looks like his back is still bothering him. Every time he's at the plate, he's arching back like he's trying to stretch it out. That HAS to be affecting his swing. Soriano, who is typically a first pitch batter, is still being bothered by his sore quad. That affects not just his fielding, but his base running too. In the 6th inning, the Cubs had the bases loaded...THE BASES LOADED, only got ONE run in, and left 3 men on base. They have to be better at advancing the base runners or they'll have no chance tonight or Saturday when they come back to Chicago for game 3.

5. Carlos Marmol pitched the 7th inning in relief of Carlos Zambrano. Marmol had been great, not allowing a run in the last 28 innings he's pitched. What does he do? Gives up two runs to give the D'backs the lead for good.

I really was hoping for more from the Cubs last night. Hopefully they got whatever was bugging them last night out of their system and can come back tonight to tie the series at 1 each.

Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? Cubs are gonna win today!

Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The game starts at 9pm CDT, so I will be bleary-eyed tomorrow morning. Carlos "Big Z" Zambrano is pitching for the Cubs tonight, he's pitched better away from home all season, so hopefully he'll continue that trend and give the Cubs a chance to go up 1-0.

I know all you hockey fans and red sox fans and basically non-sports fans could care less about the Cubs, but StygianMuse and I LOVE the Cubs and we'll support them until they win the World Series. And just so everyone knows, it's been 99 years since the Cubs last won the World Series. 99 YEARS!!!

Go Cubbies!!!!!!!!!!

Oh good, since you liked the pictures I posted of my apartment, now I don't have to post any of the other pictures of my apartment that I took. Not in the mood to post anyway, didn't have a good day at work, not in the mood to talk to anyone tonight.