I got my favorite cider last night, and my favorite kind of apples. I stopped to buy them at the orchard and there was a 13 year old boy with a 9 week old chocolate Lab. They were both pretty cute. The dog's name was Joey. I didn't ask what the boy's name was but he didn't know much about puppies and was clutching the dog in the most inappropriate way, by the shoulders with the bottom half of the dog hanging down unsupported and facing out (with his pee-pee showing), the way you do for a joke (only he didn't know it was a joke). It was a nice puppy but they had bought it at a pet store. I hate that. Anyway, I was happy to see such a cute puppy but happier that my puppy is now older than a year and settling down a bit. And happy to be able to buy unpasteurized cider, since the biggest cider mill here has shut down after they found e coli. in some of the cider. So now I'm drinking James' cider, which is the best in the area and is hard to find. And I have a bag of Macoun apples, which only come in season in late Sept/early Oct. and are crisp and sweeter than Macintosh.

Yesterday passed by ok. I started it out with a bang by crying all the way, all the way to Plattsburgh, which was ok because I had an 8:00 appointment with my psychiatrist. Pity the poor girl I shared the waiting room with. Anyway, the appointment went well: he of course thinks we need to see each other soon. I compromised on three weeks (he wanted 2, I wanted a month--or later). He thinks part of the problem is that I don't get enough sleep--4 hours a night, and he's probably right about that. So I have Ambien, which I've taken before and does work well. The tv commercials for it are really funny, they involve these very attractive, normal-looking people who have golden retrievers and wonderful looking homes who wake up when the sun rises over their beds. Anyway I took one last night and got to sleep by midnight--should have gone sooner but had to wrap Bill's birthday presents and had forgotten about them.

Tonight Ken, Bill, Fred and I are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Going to a nice restaurant not far from home, a small one that has tons of entrees and has really good food. I guess I'm looking forward to it--as much as I'm looking forward to anything these days. It'll be nice for the 4 of us to be together, we always enjoy being together and I know the food will be good. I got Bill a small coffee maker, which he recently said he would use if he had. I also got him a pound of Green Mtn. Coffee (decaf) and some filters for it, both of which Tess unwrapped this morning while I was getting dressed. Oh how I love my dogs.

This weekend is a big deal in the neighborhood. Lots of people come and there's plenty of activity. I get Monday off (Columbus Day) and may leave early Friday afternoon to do some shopping. I'm having a cocktail party on the boat house porch Sat. afternoon before our traditional Thanksgiving dinner that night. Linda always cooks a turkey for our big group of people. The judge from Mass. and his wife, plus their son and new daughter-in-law (whom I really, really like) will be there, as well as assorted other people. I always really like this weekend but am not as excited about it this year, all my emotions are sort of dulled right now. The leaves are pretty much peak, which is nice for all the visitors.

I didn't stack my firewood yesterday, got home too late. Am falling behind, it's been 2 days since I stacked (bless me Father for I have sinned, it's been 2 days since I've stacked my last stick) and I won't have time to do any tonight. Oh dear. Well, I've got time.

Went to the chiropractor last night and got a lesson in the meridians in our body and pressure points. He's pressing on my pressure points, trying to release energy to treat my sciatica. So far it's meeting with limited success. My neck and shoulders are better, he cracks my neck every time I go there and has treated the muscle spasms in my shoulders well. I'm not sure what the treatment for sciatica is but I see my internist on Friday so maybe I'll talk to him about it.

Am having problems with Jackson lately, he pees on the floor every single day. I'll call the vet today, yes I will. I'm dreading this call. I don't want to admit defeat about this dog, and cannot afford to spend much money on this problem, but he's ruining my floor and I will not have a dog who pees on my floor (well, ok, Chances sometimes pees on the rug, but she's different, and she doesn't do it every single day).

So today is cool, not maybe as cool as yesterday. There's been heavy frost on my windshield each morning and yesterday it was 21. It's sunny and crisp, yeah, that's the word--crisp. It's nice, this autumn thing. I do like fall weather, it has a special quality to it. The foliage is certainly pretty, and it is time to move along to the next phase of the year. I need to have my wood stove worked on, and I sure could be using it now. I was 58 in the house when I got home last night and I only got it up to 61 before I went to bed. Not good enough, but having Tess lie on top of me on the couch, with Chances curled up on my feet does help, nestled under the down blanket Jenica gave me for Christmas.

And now I'll spend the morning doing data entry, which is a peaceful way to spend time. I am enjoying this clerical stuff, it's not very challenging but I clean up the records when I need to and that requires some skill and judgment that I know the others wouldn't be using. Oh I'm just so special! And then I'll weed some more. I'm on the Si's now, moving toward the end of the fiction. The S's are very, very long. I've been in them forever. I should do some book selection, read reviews, make some decisions. You'd think I'd WANT to do that, wouldn't you. For now I'll get another cup of coffee and type in some data.