Is it Monday already?

And November?! Where did the year go?

I actually stayed home sick from work today. I came down with a nasty cold and have been coughing and coughing... Sometimes hard enough that I'm worried I'm going to throw up. Ick! Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you look at it) the chest congestion has started to break up, but I'm still coughing. But, it will be back to work tomorrow. Today, we got the children out the door to school and I fell asleep on the couch, propped up on pillows, and slept until 11. I think that was more sleep than I got all last night.

Being Monday, I guess I should do an Independence Days update, as usual.

1. Plant something- not a thing. And it will remain this way for a few months unless I decide to try planter box lettuce again.

2. Harvest something- the last few tomatoes and peppers out of the garden and... wait for it... Brussels sprouts! Yup. Last spring, I planted one plant that I got from the local grocery store. Honestly, I kind of forgot about it. It didn't really do very well and most of the little sprouts were only about the size of my finger tip. But they were tasty.

3. Preserve something- Not a thing here either.

4. Waste not- hmm, we've been giving away pumpkins so they don't go to waste, I hope that counts. Plus, the usual composting, recycling, using cloth bags, etc.

5. Want not- stocked up on some more coffee. They have been having a coffee sale at the local grocery store. We've picked up a few packs of decaf hazelnut coffee. We like to make half and half coffee, especially on the weekends where we're likely to drink more coffee than usual. Since coffee prices are predicted to go up we've been picking up coffee to store when it's on sale. There are many things I'm willing to go without to be frugal- coffee isn't one of them at this point in my life.

6. Community food systems- the only thing I can think of is the pumpkin trade that's going on here. I'm getting a copy of a cookbook in trade for three pumpkins- not a bad deal.

7. Eat the food- I can't pinpoint a specific meal this last week but we've been eating the last of the ripening tomatoes and the last of the peppers plus some salads from the yard lettuce.

And just a reminder to all folks here in the US - although I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here- Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Socialist, Independent, or are holding your own little Tea Party- GET OUT THERE AND VOTE. Our voices count. Let's be heard.

And there is no complaining allowed if you don't vote.