Raining leaves

Monday I mulched leaves on a third of the yard; then attacked another third on Tuesday. By Wednesday it was difficult to tell if any of the leaves had been eradicated. Today it is hard to see part of where the driveway is because of the leaves. The good news is that a majority of the leaves have fallen so that the next time I mulch should be the last time. I did remove three piles of leaves the grandchildren had raked a couple of weeks ago and dumped them in the burn pile. We had rain twice this week and they were soggy.

Things accomplished this week include getting the downstairs carpet and stairs cleaned, the chiropractor visited, a lesson with the missionaries and a member, and running a couple of times. The big news was running on Saturday in my favorite 5 K of the year; this is the full, half marathon and 5 K that supports a village in Kenya with its proceeds. Approximately 750 participate; less than 150 run the 5 K, so that says something about the people that run. Some come from as far as Memphis. I invited the sister missionaries to run, and they did. It was 41 degrees, chilly, overcast, and there was a slight wind. I pushed myself and was surprised with how well I did: 42 of 136 and 1st male in the over 70 age bracket. I am going to need to get a lot faster to maintain that standing, since next year the 69 year male that runs in 25 minutes will be a year older. 2nd place is still good. But today the body is stiff and sore.

Next Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, will find my running shoes in Mt Vernon running their Turkey Strut 5 K. Five members of Andy's family as well as Isabelle will participate. Unfortunately, the weather is forecasted to be in the mid-30s with rain! We will enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with Jonathan's family later that day.

The body shop called to inform me that the van was ready; I got my ministering brother to take me in Thursday morning on his way to work. I arrived about the time the secretary discovered a front end alignment, which was needed, had not be performed. So Chad was kind enough to drive me in again the next morning.  It is nice to have the van back after not driving it for 12 days. While the weather is good, I have been driving the Model A more.

Saturday night was also our ward Thanksgiving dinner; it was well attended. I drove 34 miles round trip to pick up three generations of women from one family; it was worth the drive.

Today in church, our newly revived choir sang in sacrament meeting. It is nice to be back in the choir singing again. In elder's quorum we discussed Elder Holland's recent general conference talk given Saturday morning about making Jesus the center of our lives. Some good food for thought on prioritizing what is most important in our lives.

This week I also tried to clean out some drawers in the house. In doing so, several thoughts came to mind:  why do we just put stuff in a drawer and then never return to that drawer to use those items or discard them if necessary? What is our criteria, if any, for saving stuff? My problem now is that I don't necessarily have homes yet for the stuff I am pulling out of drawers or off bookshelves; so in the process of organizing things in an orderly manner, at least in the manner that this male thinks, I have several piles through out the house strategically placed where they will eventually end up, but can't yet because their new homes have not been purged of old stuff to make room for them. This could be a very long term project! But. I have been discarding a lot of unnecessary stuff though.

With the weather cycling between cold to warm, the wasps have made a strong showing in my bedroom. This past week I have had to kill at least a dozen of them. They are usually pretty lethargic, so it is easy to discard them, but it is annoying. Every time I enter the room, I find myself on the lookout for them; don't want to step on them. I don't know how they are gaining entry.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!