Still have beautiful fall leaves on our trees despite the valiant effort of some cleaning ladies. 3 of them stood around one of our trees the other afternoon beating it with a long bamboo pole and shaking it violently to get all the changing leaves off. It made me furious. I thought, "That is one of my trees that I look at from my window. Now stop hurting it and my lovely autumn view." Thankfully, they left it alone and we have still have lovely autumn covered sidewalks to stroll along these days.
I woke to clear, blue skies which made me want to get outdoors as soon as possible. It didn't take long for Maddie and I to get it all together for a vigorous walk. I pushed her and she commented on the trees, the cars and the smells. "I smell something. (sniff, sniff) Smells like bad." Car exhaust was our fresh-morning smell. I must be acculturating, since it only bothered me a bit.
We walked towards the mountains that sit at the southern side of our city. There are only a handful of days each year that we can see those high peaks. Today they weren't super clear but they were visable. There are people who have lived here for months before they realize that there are mountains practically at our backdoor.
Madeleine will be 3 years old on Monday, November 10. I asked her how she felt to be almost 3 and she said, "Good." I feel good about it, too.
Our birthday plans span 3 days. We'll start with a visit with the Tompkins on Sat. morning. The kids will make T-giving cookies and decorate them. We'll give her a gift or two that have been adding up over the last few months (from the States). On Sunday afternoon, she'll have 3 friends over plus their folks. We'll have pink cupcakes with pink icing (her request). On Monday, we'll eat hotdogs and french fries for her bday meal (her request) and give her the big gift. It's a barn for her Little People and animals. Huge thanks to Chris and Ashley who got this for her. She's going L-O-V-E it.
3 day celebration for turning 3 years old. Man, going to be tough for her 10th birthday.