15 Activities on my 2018 Autumn Bucket List: Update, 11.2018

Dear friends,

Gathering together with some of my favorite bloggers to share our progress on the autumn bucket lists we created waaaay back in September.  This is our second update; our first went live on 10.21.2018.  If you missed it, you can read mine, here.

I am pleased with my progress and hope to have checked everything off the list when I share my last update on 12.21.2018.  Which, by the way, is the same day we will publish our winter bucket lists.  Here’s where I am so far on the 15 activities on my 2018 autumn bucket list.

My 2018 Autumn Bucket List in ABC Order, Of Course

• College football game – pending.  We have that on the weekend’s agenda.
• Donation or pay it forward – check, check.  Made a donation to my sister’s Relay for Life Facebook fundraiser.  You can, too!  Follow this link to make a donation in honor or memory of someone you love who’s had to battle cancer.  Also, made a donation to the Animal Rescue League on El Paso Giving Day, 11.15.2018.
• Fall craft – pending.  Want to do something special.  Thought it would be something pumpkin-y but I think that ship has sailed.  If I don’t hurry, it won’t be a fall craft at all.
• Fire in firepit or fireplace – checkitty check check.  We have really enjoyed doing this several times a week lately.  Our little chiminea is so cute.  Made out of a vintage fire extinguisher.

• Full moon at White Sands – check, 10.24.2018.  My camera was acting squirrelly, of course, so my photos leave much to be desired.  And PC was a bit of a grump about going which made me grumpy.  But once we got to White Sands and had sub sandwiches and snuggled under the moon, all was well.

• Groove and Glow 5K Run – check, 09.22.2018.
• Hike – pending.  Have that also penciled in for this long weekend.
• Hot air balloon fest in Albuquerque – check, 10.12.2018.  So enjoyed this.  Not sure who was more mesmerized, Lucia or me.
• Instant Piano Class for Hopelessly Busy People at EP Community College – scratch.  I registered for this one day class.  On the morning it met, my alarm clock, in its infinite wisdom, had ‘fallen back’ one day early.  So I was over an hour late to class but when I arrived, the classroom was dark with no sign of teacher, students or pianos.  Turned out the class was cancelled.  I plan to try again next semester.

• MSBL World Series in Phoenix (PC adds ‘and win a World Series ring’) – check, 10.13.2018-10.19.2018.
• My Fashion Haus for looks from the Fall 2018 Work Wear and Fall Capsule Wardrobe Challenges – check.  Shared some of my looks from the Fall Capsule Wardrobe, in this post, here.  And some other Fall Capsule Wardrobe outfits, here.
• New soup and Instapot recipes – check, Tasty Tuesday on 10.16.2018, crock pot chicken pot pie soup.  And Tasty Tuesday, 10.23.2018, creamy sausage potato soup and a soup recipe swap blog hop.
• Paint rocks – partial check, 10.06.2018.  Over the long weekend when I am not hiking or attending the UTEP football game, I plan to paint…I WILL paint some rocks like these.

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on Netflix – check, 10.28.2018.  So moved by the book when I listened to it on Audible and the movie was very well done.  Not completely true to the book, probably in the interest of condensing a book into a 2 hour production.
• UTEP dinner theater or dance performance – check, 11.10.2018. Not a UTEP dinner theater play or a dance performance but a Broadway performance (!!!!) of The Sound of Music at the Plaza Theater.  Oh, so good.

By my count, there are 3 activities still pending…the football game, the fall craft and the hike.  Had to nix one – the piano class but that was pretty much out of my control.  Which means I have accomplished 11 things on my list with a month of autumn still remaining.  Yay me!

Mini Bucket List for the Holidays

Last year, since winter doesn’t officially start until 12.21, I decided to put together this mini bucket list for the holidays.  It was a hit with several blogger buddies.  So I decided to do it again this year.  Would love to have you join us.  We will share our list on 12.01.2018 and then report back on how we fared at the end of the month.  Please let me know if you’d like to join us.  And keep in mind we will share our winter bucket lists on 12.21.2018.  Mark those calendars!

Your Turn

Did you make at least a mental list of things you wanted to do this fall?  What progress have you made?  What has been your favorite activity of the season?  I have really enjoyed the time we have spent sitting in our hot tub with a fire in the chiminea.  Sometimes it is the simple things, you know?

If you have a fall bucket list post to share, please link up with us below.

Final Thoughts

While most of us look forward to the holidays – the family gatherings, the traditions, the cooking and eating and gift-giving – there are some folks who really struggle this time of year.  My mom is one.  This time 2 years ago, my brother and sister and I were scrambling to try to find help for our then 89 year-old mother who had just attempted suicide.  An overdose.  My brother found her.  Five years before that, my mother made her first suicide attempt.  My father found her that time.

We find ourselves trying to navigate these strangely familiar waters again this week.  My mom hasn’t tried a third attempt yet.  Yet.  But we are on the brink and scrambling to figure out what to do.  Again.

As we make plans for turkey and ham with all the trimmings, with thoughts of all we are thankful for, my brother and sister and I are praying hard for our mom.  Every day lately I wonder if I should set this blog aside.  And it may be that the time is coming.  Praying for clarity.  Praying for my mom.

Hugs and kisses and happy Thanksgiving,