Because the last diary entry was devoted exclusively to one topic, this time I thought I would let you know about some of the other things we've been up to.

First, going way back to early September, there was a bit of an historic event around Akron. All four Goodyear blimps were flying around town at the same time. This may not seem like a big deal, but you have to realize that only one blimp has its home in Akron...the others have bases around the country. The occasion was the christening of a new blimp. Living in Akron, you get used to having a blimp flying around pretty often. But four at one time was quite a sight!

Of course, our other September event was our housewarming party, but if you've been keeping up with the diary you already knew that. We kept ourselves busy during October as well. The first thing we did was take an afternoon and go to a Russian Festival at a church in Mogadore. We had a great time seeing all of the handicrafts and eating some delicious foods. I enjoyed being able to show Kylan some of the things I grew up with.

Another great outing in October was the credit union's day trip to Hale Farm and Village. (For those north of the border, it's a lot like Black Creek Pioneer Village.) We caught the train in Independence, near Cleveland and had a nice, leasurely ride through the Cuyahoga Valley park system. There was a harvest festival going on at the farm that day so we got to see lots of demonstrations of things like cider pressing, candle making, and even square dancing (which Kylan thoroughly enjoyed participating in). Over in the village portion, the setting was 1848 and everyone "living" there acted accordingly. It was lots of fun listening to a landowner telling a young boy that he could pay him the excellent wage of 50 cents per week and would even let him sleep in the barn! We had a great time and, of course, I took lots of pictures.

October 15 was Banzai's first birthday. As we did with Spirit on his birthday, we took her to Petsmart to choose her own gifts. She was more excited by all of the other animals there and all of the different smells than she was about getting a toy and some treats! She finally chose some rawhide and a rope chew toy. When we got home, we gave Banzai a special treat for dinner and then she had some birthday cake. I know, we indulge our dogs...but we don't have kids to spoil yet!

We did do some other things during October, but those were the biggies. I planted more than 200 bulbs in the garden and cleaned up the spent summer flowers. I have also just about finished all of the Christmas shopping (although Kylan has even started yet). We bought our tickets for our Thanksgiving trip to Memphis as well. (Tickets to Toronto for Christmas will be purchased very soon.) And Hallowe'en was pretty good...no parties but we did have over 100 kids at the door and I got into the spirit of things by dyeing my hair green.

That's all for now!
D.

Books Recently Read
Dawn:
Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.....6 out of 7
(Although geared toward men, a good read for the women in their lives.)
Feng Shui: Dos & Taboos by Angi Ma Wong.....6 out of 7
(Great tips if you already know the basics of feng shui.)

CLICK HERE to read the diary entries from the beginning!
(Keep in mind that this one is #24.)