A Shivery Spooky Day

I woke up today to my hubby announcing a 40% forecast of snow. I was skeptical, warm and snug inside my blankets and quilts, a warm chihuahua heating pad cuddled against me. I mean, it's been only about a week where it's been cool enough to bother with socks and shoes instead of flip flops, and jeans instead of shorts. But when I got up and checked outdoors, sure 'nuff, it was acting more like winter than even autumn! And wouldn't you know it but tiny white flakes did start drifting down by late afternoon.


Layering was the theme of the day. I wore a long sleeved orange shirt with another short sleeve shirt over it. I picked this shirt up a few years ago on the after Halloween clearance at Old Navy.

I wouldn't let hubby turn on the heat, as I wanted to get some of the dust that had accumulated over the summer out of it first. I did let him start a fire in the fireplace. It was still cold though, so we finally bundled up and went out to run errands and then treated ourselves to dinner at the new English pub uptown. It's not completely authentic, more like an Americanized version. It's hard to make it look exactly like a pub when you don't have any 17th century buildings just laying around waiting to be used. But it's nice, and they serve fish and chips, bangers and mash, and smushy peas.


More layering was necessary by evening when we were expected to spend hours out in the cold for the high school homecoming game. I added long johns under my jeans, an extra sweater, a jacket, mittens, hat, scarf. I shoulda worn boots because my feet were the only part of me that really went beyond cold to freezing! It even snowed some more.

It probably gets added to the top ten coldest games I've gone to but it was worth it, the game was very exciting. It was a close game, with touchdowns going back and forth between teams, and we won by one point in the last minute of the game. Adding to the excitement, William had a very good game and was totally pumped up. We celebrated by taking him out for an all-you-can-eat breakfast at a local coffee shop after the game, where it looked like every booth was filled with folks from one team or the other. I felt bad for the visiting team. Hopefully some of them were staying overnight in a hotel (those flatlanders are not used to driving around in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night) because the few flakes in town were undoubtedly a more substantial a snowfall up in the higher elevations they had to get over to get home.

Whenever our team makes a touchdown, the cheerleaders throw tiny footballs into the crowd. Everybody wants to catch one. I snatched one up already this year, just before a kid grabbed for it. Yes, I felt guilty. But I still kept the ball. It's every fan for himself out there.

At tonight's game hubby decided he wanted a football of his very own. I saw a ball go sailing over our heads into the crowd above us (usually we sit in the highest part of the stands ourselves, but we got there late and as it was homecoming, we were lucky to find a spot at all). A bunch of people grabbed for it but failed and it fell through under the bleachers. Our bleachers are set on a berm and there's a concrete hill just inches beneath them. I thought fast and dove between hubby, some friends, and the folks on the bleachers just above us. Everyone thought I'd gone nuts or fainted or something but nope, I waited for the ball to roll down and I grabbed it. Kinda like winning a stuffed animal for your sweetie at the fair, I got a football for my sweetie at the game.


Finally back home, it was time to relent and allow the undusted heater to be turned on. Warm jammies and a hot cup of tea also were on the agenda. I've been meaning to show you these for awhile - chocolate. Bedtime chocolate is one of my evening rituals. I went off it a bit this summer but as the weather has cooled, I've craved it again. I found these adorable (and really delicious with a fantastic melt in your mouth feel to it) chocolate bars at World Market. If you're interested in it, the company is called Bloomsbury. Not all chocolate is created equal, not by a long shot, but I'll definitely keep my eye out for this brand again. You can click to enlarge if you want to read the small print.


Last but not least, snuggly quilts and extra blankets for the bed. Digging through a bag in the garage for some polar fleece for a craft project the other day, I found this blanket sized night owl polar fleece print. I can't remember why it was in there but I grabbed it up and brought it inside to use on my side of the bed. Perfect for extra warmth when I'm sitting up in bed reading late into the night, night owl indeed.