Can you believe that Halloween is almost here?

I always associate Halloween with the beginning of the holiday season, which is probably what most people do. All of my family members have birthdays between Halloween and the very end of January… both of my children, my husband, as well as my sister, mother, and brothers… even Sprite! That’s a lot of holiday celebrations for my family!

Halloween also reminds me that it is actually autumn. Here in San Antonio, we have such mild fall weather, it is difficult to remember that fall is actually taking place!

Halloween also makes me think that it’s time to get out my recipe books and leaf through them, searching out my family’s “comfort food” meals. I have to admit that I am not one of those people who absolutely love to cook. Actually, I enjoy going out for dinner, preferring to let someone else do the cooking. But, since part of my “job description” includes being the sole cook in the house, then so be it!

I am planning on spending this morning going through my two favorite recipe books, after which I will make my (very organized) shopping lists. I have to admit that once I am reminded about the meals that we all enjoy so much, I get rather “pumped-up” at the prospect of making the meals.

Unfortunately, once the chopping, dicing, mincing, and sauteing start, my autumnal cooking plans become just as tedious as any household chore… regardless of how tasty my efforts are!

Man Alive! I have been dragging… I just haven’t been able to gear myself up to spend time at my computer for the last few days. I simply missed reading!

I had been spending more and more time at the computer recently, and am trying to get back into my Cozy Mystery reading. I used to be able to make my way through mystery series on a regular basis. But it seems like lately I have been only “meaning” to catch up with my favorite authors.

Sometimes I spend an allotted amount of time trying new (to me!) authors. I try about six new authors (making sure to read the first mystery book in their series) to find out if I like them. When I like the authors, I then want to read every single book by them, which means that I add more books to my TBR (to be read) bookshelf. This of course means that I don’t catch up with the authors who are already in my TBR bookshelf, instead, I add more authors to it.

So, for the last few days I have simply been reading… and I have been really enjoying it. My husband came home yesterday and asked me if there was something he had to fix on my computer… since I am usually at my desk typing, with a snoozing/snoring Sprite on the adjacent bed. (He was quite relieved to find out that he wouldn’t have to spend time trying to fix something I had messed up on my computer.)

As for Sprite, being a creature of habit, she has been a bit annoyed that “we” now are spending time in the living room reading instead of the guest bedroom, where she enjoys spending time catching up on her napping, which recently has become a major part of her day…

Ditto what the title of this entry says, only DOUBLE YIKES!!!

First, let me say that I really am enjoying the Friday night television show Blue Bloods. I think that the producers were particularly clever in getting both Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg to star in the series… Both of them are actors who appeal to the two demographic age slots that control the television remotes. (Anyway, that’s what I am thinking… 40+year olds probably remember Selleck from all of his roles, and 40- year olds probably identify with Wahlberg. So, touché, job well done to the casting department!)

I don’t want to complain (AGAIN!!!) about this one detail in “cop shows” that really grinds at me… but…. last night’s episode of Blue Bloods showed yet another television scene of what a SWAT team and two detectives looks like. (Actually, I hope that’s not what it looks like!!!)

If any of you watched the show and were not bothered by the SWAT team scene>>> Please stop reading this entry! I don’t want to put this little kernel into your  thoughts when seeing a SWAT team scene in the future!

Yes, there we have it>>>> The SWAT team with all of their protective gear on, helmets, heavy body armor, all parts of their body covered with some type of protective gear… except for their faces, so that they could actually see what they were doing.  And, here come the stars of the show…with their tight-fitting, little body “bib” gear on… and of course, the female main character has her long hair flowing in the breeze… No helmets for these two detectives, as they join in the gun firing.

You may wonder about someone (me!) who is so “annoyed” by this type of UNreality on a cop show. I have to admit, I also wonder why something so small (like the two stars’ lack of helmets and protective gear) but this type of thing gets me wondering about the little “glitch”… while I should just be enjoying the show. I mean, I know it’s not a true life event, but really, can’t the producers/directors of these shows at least try to seem a little more real?

Or, is it in the “stars” contracts that at no time should their heads not be visible?