October in Review

I was without my computer for a large chunk of my favorite month, October. Thank goodness for Instagram for capturing and reminding me of all the special, little moments!

I'm a bit nostalgic when it comes to the month of October. It reminds me of a lot of fun times, riding around in a car packed full of friends listening to the Misfits and other punk tunes, going to shows, spook houses, and generally, being up to no good. So to me, October is all about trying to recreate these good vibes and creating new memories. It's my favorite season and the weather is perfect for bonfires, parties, and drinking with my favorite people. This past October was no exception. My KISS mug seemed to be perpetually filled with straight Jagermeister. It was my sidekick several times to Connellsville to visit Russ and his room mates and friends with Michael. Also, good ol' Thunderbird. Bum wine! I didn't drink it but if you can believe it.. it was a pretty big hit at our Last Rites of Youth Halloween party (which I will be sharing very soon.. keep your eyes peeled!) It was the first bottle empty!

Of course, October isn't without the normal routines and work. I spent my usual 5 days a week at the school. It's been a long month with probably the least amount of holidays. I know everyone there is looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas break. We have quite a handful in our classroom. I know the odds were stacked against us, with new employees and just basically the attitudes that come along with the environment our children are from. Still, we show up to work every day and do our best and sometimes I think we should just stop stressing out and give ourselves on the back for that. I also did a bit of photography work on the side. I think October is a busy month for photographers. I guess the temperature and the beautiful backdrops are to blame for that. I shot some engagement photos and also snapped some photos at a reception (Sharing these soon, too!!). As much as I love being behind the camera, it's not all fun and games. It does get awkward and challenging, but not to the point where I feel hopeless. It's something I still somehow feel determined to learn and move forward in.

 More fun! The fall season usually means bands going on tour. Somehow I got lucky enough to see two of my favorites bands. I have a lot of bands I really love, but these ones are up there! I found out about Leftover Crack just a day before they were coming to Pittsburgh. I had contemplated going for several reasons, but when it came down to it, I knew I had to go. It would be crazy for me not to! I don't think I was even ever honestly over not being able to see Leftover Crack due to the blizzard in New Jersey in December when they were suppose to play Home for the Holidays 4 with The Bouncing Souls. I had the best time there with Laura and Jami and even ran into one of my best friends, Paul. When Leftover Crack came on, I went to the front and kind of lost everybody but it was really worth it. I had some serious battle wounds after this show! As for Primus, the concert was a bit more laid back. It was at the new venue, Stage AE in Pittsburgh. It's a pretty large venue so it was not nearly as crowded as the club shows I'm use to. Corpsey had the opportunity to go see Primus several years ago and I was pretty jealous of this. I'm very glad I go the chance to see Mister Les Claypool in the flesh. It was amazing! I'm pretty sure I mentioned on my blog before how much I enjoy going to concerts and shows. Not another past time makes me quite as giddy!

 Did you really think a month would go by without new Littlest Pet Shop?? Noooope!! My sister and mother were in a Big Lots in the next town over when they found this Chinchilla. They weren't sure if I already had one and when they called to asked, they had terrible service and I couldn't make out anything but Littlest Pet Shop over the phone. Unfortunately, they decided not to get it for me because they know I have quite a large collection and they didn't want to buy me something I already have. So you better believe when they told me about it, Michael and I made a little trip out of it and headed over there to adopt it. That sparkly little Rooster is the special edition pet you get from saving up all the stickers from the LPS you buy. I had more than enough stickers to send in for this one. It has somehow became a tradition for Kelsey to help me fill out the paperwork and address the envelop for me to send off for it. I'm so glad I have friends who support my childish collections.

 I love animals. The usual household to the out of the ordinary pets. I try to show them all fair love on the blog here, but you know, the ferrets are the most photogenic! This is KuddyKoo being sweet at the moment on a Sunday visit home to LaBelle and on the right is our new house guest. I think we are calling her Marilyn Mantis. Since Zorak passed (I have more photos of Zorak I'd like to share whenever I have the time to hook up my external hard drive), we had a friend come across another praying mantis and give her to us. She' in a large aquarium terrarium. She is a lot bigger than Zorak ever was! Apparently, she is quite comfortable in there. Comfortable enough to lay an egg sack! Like I said, I know it's probably not right to keep insects or other wildlife as pets, but if you have the chance, it's a really interesting thing to observe and something  you wouldn't normally have the opportunity to see.

Ferret love. Ick seems to be fully recovered from his accident. I know October is about being scared and all kinds of different interpretations of fear, but when you think about fear and being scared, you often don't think about things that are so real. I was completely terrified when I got the phone call on the way home from work about Ick being, well, pretty pale and unresponsive after the couch falling on him. It was looking extremely grim when I got home. On top of it, seeing Michael so heartbroken and hopeless made it even harder on me. After some contemplation on what to do, we did decide to make the trip to Pittsburgh to the 24 hour animal hospital. There we waited, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Waiting rooms are just awful, aren't they? They didn't even let us stay with our pet. It was a very useless feeling. Eventually they came out and informed us that they had gave Ick some pain meds but there wasn't much they could do, unless we paid a hefty price, in which, we just could not do at this point. We took Ick home and stayed up all night, taking turns holding and laying around with him, just wishing and praying he would make it through the night and that we wouldn't have to make the decision in the morning to put him down or wonder if he was in pain. Luckily, he started showing signs of feeling better. He drank water, he licked up a little bit of vitamins, and he even pooped and peed a couple times. It was looking good. Slowly, but surely, he began to walk again, with a little struggle at first. We fed him soft, watered down food until he could eat kibble again on his own. It was a worrisome road to recovery but I think he is finally back to his normal, sleepy ferret self. I know I couldn't feel more blessed to still have Ick with us and back to normal health. I'm sure Michael feels the same way. That is his pride and joy. Thank you to everyone for all the wishes, thoughts, and prayers. It means a lot that everyone is so concerned and caring for our little family.

Of course, October wouldn't be complete without the usual Halloween and fall traditions. Pumpkin carving and trips to spook houses!

What a special month! :)

Goodbye, October! Hello, November!

xo, Linds