Lucy in Disney

I told Lucy that as a "gift" she could get me would be to take a photo and then text it to me with a little message as if it's a digital postcard. She followed through!

Spiritual AF

I picked up this box of cards in Doylestown with Kay back in September and I decided to start going through them and pulling out those that speak to me. This one was just what I needed this week.

Accept the good in your life and know you're a fucking delight.

Once you notice the good shit going on in your life, more good shit starts happening. It's like a magnet or a dung beetle. Fun fact: Once a dung beetle gets a little nub of poop, he runs around with it and more poop sticks to it and grows and grows. Goodness is like that.

Here's my list of ten good things that I've noticed lately:

•  Hitting Lena’s Water Ice a few towns from me multiple times this Summer and early Fall. With Jackson, with Wayne, and with Lauryn. On their closing for the season day I went with Lauryn in the afternoon and then a few hours later I was back there with Jackson. The teenage girls that work there have seen me and Jax so often that they know our order. The owner saw me with Lauryn and referred to me as a regular. It's my equivalent of Cheers; that feeling of going into a place and feeling like everyone knows your name. Plus they have the best water ice in the universe. Of that I am certain.

•  This time of year means new episodes and it's so wonderful to catch season two of Ludwig, plus new eps of Abbott Elementary and St. Denis Medical.

•  That Lucy is quite possibly thee sweetest, kindest girl in the world. I was hanging out with her last week for the whole day and mentioned something to her mother, in passing, about financial struggles. Lucy left the room and in a couple minutes returned with her Mrs. Potts bank and wallet and said I could have it. I mean, come on! How adorable is that?! (Note: I didn't take any, of course, but we organised her cash and counted $250 in cash only. That girl is rich!)

•  Calling up bestie Amy in a COBRA induced panic and asking, if I needed to, could she loan me eleven hundred bucks to cover December's payment and I'll give it back to her in late January. Ugh. Hitting up a friend for money feels so icky. I doubt I'll need to, but in order to calm down, I wanted her to back me up. She instantly replied, "Yes. Whatever you need." Immediate relief and my cortisol levels dropped down to normal. I'm seriously the luckiest girl in the world to have her in my life.

•  Getting a postcard from Amber. We kept in touch via Instagram but since I left there in February, it's been quiet on her end. Then out of the blue I pulled this postie out of my mailbox and felt the love.

Hello, dear one! Boy-o-boy

I have been meaning to

send you a little note

for ages! 5 months? More?

In any case I found a 

little torn paper w/your

address on it...and it felt

like "yep-now's the

perfect time to send

some ♡ LOVE ♡ from

Chicago. I know this

year has been a lot of

SHIT. But I hope 

you know you're awesome!

♡ Amber B.

• Having a new TV that allows me to watch a ton of streaming shows that normally I'd have to view on my lil' laptop. Widow’s Bay and Ludwig plus YouTube. Oh my gosh, I spent days going through all the interviews and videos I had saved. Lately it's Rick Beato's channel, some old Track Star interviews (although that channel seems kind of commercial-y and I've lost interest), and of course, loads of drumming vids and classic Dick Cavett Show eps. The interview with Cher and the one with Oscar Peterson were really good.

•  Making a mad dash to finish the books on my to-read-in-2026 list and (so far) thoroughly enjoying Hitch-22 and feeling like I'll be able to finish it this weekend and then start on A Woman in Berlin.

• Seeing Chagrin Falls late last month and feeling so grateful that I have been able to marvel at the falls that I loved as a child, watching The Gathering, but in real life.

• Using my fun CampSnap camera to take the above photos plus more and loving the raw, vintage feel to the finished photographs.

•  Daydreaming about maybe, finally, getting my place repainted and fixed up so I can actually have people over again and feel a sense of pride in my home. Fingers crossed!!

Accepting the good - having wonderful friends, even those I've never met in person, like Amber, plus great kids that enrich my life like nothing else and feeding my creativity by traveling and feeling loved and alive. Here's hoping that this acceptance and gratitude of the good things will lead to much, much more! Oh, and I absolutely am a fucking delight. No doubt.

Maureen's Wicked Witch

A year ago I was sitting at a dining room table in Cleveland Heights chatting with Maureen for what would be the last time. Of the decorations displayed, this witch was by far the coolest. I had to snap a photo.

BONUS: Extra goodies to round out the last of this year's Halloween posts!

Super cute Halloween card from Bishop and Pax:

(The "little treat" was a shower cap from a hotel room - ha! I used to need disposable shower caps for when I would dye my hair and Bishop still snags me one when he travels.)

I helped Lucy pack up Ghoul Bags to pass out to her classmates. She had enough left over to put together a bag for Isabella, who I was having dinner with the next night:

Barbara Signaled me to tell me all about her kids and how they are enjoying the Fall season.

From Autumn, arrived on Devil's Night!

Package from Helen, also arrived on October 30th:

Happy Soup Season, Lisa!

It's time for hot soup, hot drinks, and hot Jimothys! Do you have any good soup recipes? My favourite soup is Leek and Potato. 

Also, do you have any raccoons in your neighbourhood? I love them so much, but we don't have them here. Love their creepy little hands!

Please enjoy the unseasonal strawberry notebook (didn't want you to miss out!), and the teabags pilfered from our hotel room recently.

with love from 

Helen x

Woke up on the 31st to a Halloween greeting from Helen!

Jack-o'-lanterns by Amy and Don from pumpkins they grew on their farm!

Oh my gosh, look at this card that my cousin Alina made for her godmother, Aunt Rose. The cut out puppets are too cute for words!!

Ben and Heather plus Oscar at their Halloween Trunk or Treat in Apple Valley:

Grounds at Night with the Kids

Last night, as an end of Summer outing, I grabbed Jax and Lucy and we went to Grounds for Sculpture from dusk til 9pm. These two are four years apart and this may be the last time the three of us do a long outing (I picked them up at 3 and didn't get them home til near 11) for a while. The difference between ten and fourteen is immense. Lucy still wants to play and be loud and silly and Jax is hitting full teenage years when life is at its hardest. I want these two to stay close and grow to be true pals, so I decided that we will keep our trinity outings to grabbing pizza or ice cream and not an eight hour day together. Jax was super sweet though and played tag with Lucy by her beloved snake. 

Dragon's Shrill in the Cosmic Void by Yuyu Yang 1991

Weekend with Jax & Lucy

In trying to get my place more ogranised I got a storage unit to hold a bunch of my stuff (I have way too many possessions...). I roped Jackson in to helping me on Saturday - he works for Mexican food and vinyl records. After lunch and shopping we picked up Lucy and I dropped the two of them for a sleepover at Nana Rose's house. Then I picked them up on Sunday to take them home. I realise that at fifty I should not consider a ten year old and a fourteen year old as my bestest pals, but honestly, I love spending time with Jax and Lucy. They are so funny and accepting and easy to be with. Best moment was Jackson putting on his 300+ song playlist in Phineas and while on shuffle, between Jeff Beck, Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Incubus, up popped Alice by Tom Waits. A week or so ago I introduced Jackson to my favourite singer's best song and he liked it enough to add to his own faves.