My house is officially decorated for Fall, something I’ve never done before in my adult life, which is wild! I love decorations and festivities. I have three orange and white striped pumpkins on my patio steps outside, a few mini pumpkins on various shelves at home, an LED-light pumpkin next to my TV, and a Mr. and Mrs. Turkey couple perched on a shelf.

I guess I always felt like decorating for holidays in a house by myself was sort of pointless, but if I’ve learned anything lately, it’s that I have to charm myself. And let me tell you, Mr. and Mrs. Turkey and all the pumpkins are totally charming me.

It’s nice to look around my home and feel this way, particularly because this week was approximately 13 years long. On Monday, I had an unexpected, weird fight with a good friend and then my childhood cat died. Every day from Sunday through Friday, my current cat, Waffles, vomited multiple times a day. Friday, I took him to the vet, where I spent $1,100 to learn that he perhaps has pancreatitis (not a huge deal) or intestinal cancer (huge deal). On the way home from the vet, Waffles got tangled in some strings on his carrier, began suffocating, and I had to speed back to the vet - driving on the wrong side of the road for the last 200 feet - so they could free him when I couldn’t. It was really scary and upsetting! Because of all the vomiting, I didn’t sleep much, and instead spent hours scrolling through updates on this abysmal White House COVID outbreak. I also watched the whole debate on Wednesday. That was a poor choice.

Anyway, that was a lot for six days, so I spent this weekend sleeping through both nights, cleaning every surface in sight, procuring most of the little pumpkins I mentioned earlier, and baking some unfortunate tasting Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk cookies.

Here are some other things of note:

This song appeared in my Spotify rotation and it’s an absolutely delightful cover
I impulsively bought Luna a new Halloween costume. I planned to re-use one from previous years - she’s been sushi and a bat - but I couldn’t resist.
I’m getting my flu shot this week! Last year, I mentioned to someone that I didn’t always get it and they asked if I was anti-vax. In horror, I corrected them, and they pointed out that if I am pro-vax, I should always get my flu shot. So now it’s something I’m very committed to doing.
This week I am also getting a COVID test in preparation for my trip back east, during which I’ll get to spend two full weeks with my brother and his girlfriend and several days with my mom. She’s promised pumpkin-carving, her famous cinnamon rolls, and homemade chex mix.
I’m hosting my first book club this week! We’re reading Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin and while it has mixed reviews on Goodreads, I really like it so far. I feel good about the book providing some good discussion points.

Finally, we’re on 60+ hours of no vomit from Waffles, so fingers crossed for both of us that he’s on the mend.