Well, October has been full of surprises!
There have been lots of things happening here in Texas and I have had opportunities that I couldn't have imagined!
The beginning of the month brought the feast of St Francis of Assisi. I think most parishes have a blessing of the animals on that day, and Sts Peter and Paul in New Braunfels is no exception. Core and I got there about 15 minutes early and there was already a huge turnout. There were dogs of every size, and a few cats in carriers, a couple of birds too. Fr Steven brought his huge Pitbull, which he calls a "pigbull", who weighs about 110 pounds. Cora enjoyed making friends human and canine.
A week or so later I got to go up to the Cookes and then go with the "girls" up to drop Lucy off at a friends so that she could get ready to go to Homecoming for Valor. She looked so pretty! Claire and Molly wanted to give her a good send off. It was nice to see her with her friend getting all dolled up.
Weather wise October was pretty hot and dry. I don't think we had any rain for a few months. It has rained a bit off and on for the past few days. The sunsets are just gorgeous though!
So Paul, Tim and I are huge Formula 1 fans. We follow the drivers, teams and try to watch all the races each season. One of the races each year takes place right here in Texas, at the Circuit of the Americas near Austin. It is a huge event for the area. Apparently it pretty much takes over the Austin hotels and the airport. I had no idea how big it was. I was planning to drive by on the highway that passes it and just get a look at the venue, but one night I was looking at ticket prices and the ones for the Friday practice weren't actually that bad! I was telling Tim about it and he said "Oh, you should just go." I thought about it for awhile, and I thought well, I'm here, and this may be my chance, but I didn't want to go alone. So I asked Laura if the boys would want to go. She said, of course they would! And she was all about it as well! So I got four seats for the Friday practice and qualifying and a parking pass. Now I have never even been to the venue, and there is a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to attending an event there, especially the biggest one of the year. I won't go into all the lessons learned, but the biggest take-away is that God is good, and most people are too. The things that I had to struggle through were not small, but there was always someone sent my way to help.
The day ended up being super hot. Almost 100 degrees, and there is very little shade out there. The track is in the middle of the Texas grasslands. We found a parking spot after a little creative driving, and a blessed soul named Joy offered her perfect spot right as we pulled into the lot. I told her I would pray for her intentions, and I have been!
Then it was time for the mile long walk from Lot R to the track. It's a long way. The boys are troopers though. We were only able to bring one bottle of water in, and that was gone pretty quick. We looked around for a bit and then went to watch the Practice session. As it turned out there was only one, and only one qualifying. That wasn't until 4:00, so we had time to look around and enjoy the county fair atmosphere in the blazing heat. The boys liked the NASA tent, and they got burgers and fries for lunch. I won't even share what those cost. I went up into some of the other stands and was able to see some of the other corners. Our seats were on Turn 19, which, it turns out is actually a great place to watch from.
It was a great day. We left hot, sweaty and exhausted, which only added to the adventure. On Sunday I got to watch the race in the air-conditioned comfort of my family room, and my guy Max came from his grid position of 6 to win! So now I have been to a Formula 1 event! That's a definite bucket list item.
On another note I have been doing a bit of work here and there on the yard. It is going slowly, mainly because the next big project is going to be to get a truck and take out the hedge under the window. I won't want to do too much to the yard that I will have to work around. In the back I am still waiting for enough rain and cooler weather to make it possible to plant some things and give them a fighting chance. I will put in a couple of trees and some rose bushes. I'll probably wait until I get back from MD in the middle of November, so that I can make sure they get enough water.
Dad is on his way down. He should be here before Halloween. He'll stay with Laura and Andrew while I am gone, and then come back here when I get back. He should be here until after Christmas! I have been living alone in this big house....I can't wait for Tim to come in December, and Paul and Madi will be here too! And Brendan for a few days. It will be nice to have a houseful!
