October

Wow I hate this time of year. Well, love it and hate it. I especially hate it during an election year. Commercials, the media, and the 'net just go totally insane and everything becomes more about image and sound bites than actual facts. And whenever I try to talk about facts, all I get is arguments based on soundbites and image.

I've made no secret about where I stand this time around. Is Obama and the Democratic party a perfect choice? No. But there has never, ever, been a perfect choice in the history of democracy, in this country or any other. Has the current administration been an example of promise keeping always doing the right thing for everyone all the time? No. Have there been mistakes made? Huge ones. But show me one administration, apart from William Henry Harrison who only served 30 days, that hasn't made a huge mistake in someone's opinion.

But what is the best for my children now and in the future. I can't look at the platforms of the Democrats and the Republicans and not conclude that the Democrats have the best plan for this time in our nation.

But enough of that.

The absolute worst part of fall is allergies. I have allergy problems all year round, but especially in the spring and fall. Fall seems to be the worst in the southwest. But along with the allergies comes the sweet relief of the first freeze. It's like magic. As soon as it freezes allergies are over. (At least the worst part thereof.)

Another good thing? Pumpkin flavored everything. Everything. Well, ok, so lately food makers have gone nuts with it, and some of the imitation stuff is just...ew... but pumpkin is awesome. If I could I would eat pumpkin pie every single day. I would weigh 80 thousand pounds, but I would.

School pretty much sucks for those of us not in it. Everyone is gone all the time. Makes for lonely times. Everyone is doing well, but all I seem to do is sit and wait for something to happen. Never get to go many places. I wish I could go to movies and plays and restaurants and stuff. But, alas, those things will just have to wait until life settles down. The missus is only a short time away from starting her career, miss R will start kindergarten next year - and then I'll be really lonely... ok, maybe not, but I am hoping we'll find some time to do some of those things.

I've taken way too many pictures over the last month to be able to share them all here. But here's some...