Halfway to seventy

I wrapped up September by going on the Wild Rose Trail most of my free nights, because fall is the best time of year for that trail. But the pictures don't really do justice to the beauty.

I can tell that my parents are from an older generation, because they always say I'm "jogging." Here is a chart of how often "jogging" has been used over the decades; it peaked in the 1980s.

And here is a chart of how often "running" has been used over the decades. It has steadily increased.

During the month of September, I've come across a tarantula and a raccoon. This week, I came across a Jerusalem cricket on our front step. We used to find them in our basement, but it's been a long time since that's happened. They look terrifying, even though they're benign.

I think the blue splotch is because my parents recently painted a shed at my sister's/grandparents' house

And yesterday on my Wild Rose run, I came across what I'm pretty sure is a baby rattlesnake:

This was a first for many reasons:

• The smallest rattlesnake I've ever seen
• The first time I've seen one on Wild Rose in the nine years I've been running there
• The first time I've seen a rattlesnake in September

Also last week, I got a text from a friend saying I was invited to his thirty-fifth birthday party this week. I responded, "Wha?! It's my thirty-fifth birthday this week too!" So I went to that birthday celebration and talked to a few people. It was good to go to a birthday party, since I wasn't feeling up to having one for myself.

My own birthday was on Friday. I was working from home, and I had a friend drop off a very generous gift of holiday kitchen towels (wrapped in rainbow tissue paper) and a Target gift card. Thanks Sandra! 

In the evening my family had pizza, Mexican chocolate cake, and ice cream, and I got my gifts. My sister got me a shirt and my niece got me socks,

and my parents got me an inflatable ghost, a mandoline, and a label maker (all of which were things I had asked for).

And this week we made grape juice, which was later in the year than usual. There are still some grapes on the vine, so we'll see if we make any more.

And I finally finished getting all the Halloween decorations up. We have outgrown the living room! I put these up while listening to my Halloween playlist, which currently has 546 songs (including many that are not available on streaming services). 

The wooden skeleton is very 1980s Relief Society, but it wouldn't be Halloween without it (a friend gave it to my mom back in the day)

My favorite is on the bottom right

Now that my article is done and the decorations are up, I'm hoping things will calm down for a bit!

***

Pumpkinundation roundup will be short this week. Since it was the week of my birthday, I could eat whatever I wanted, so I reserved my sugar calories for nonseasonal things. 

I was nervous about Trader Joe's Gluten Free Pumpkin Ravioli, because a lot of gluten-free things taste like sadness, and it had parmesan cheese in the ingredients, and I really don't like parmesan. But it didn't taste sad, and it didn't taste like parmesan! It was sweeter than I expected. I ate it with my own homemade tomato sauce. 7/10.

I got this Gonesh Pumpkin Spice Scented Broom two years ago, and it seems to be less fragrant than it was. But it's good when you can smell it. 7/10. 

Though I was nervous about the gluten-free ravioli, I knew I would like the Trader Joe's Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli, because I've had it before. This one has more added sugars, and it definitely is sweeter than regular ravioli. I almost think I could have it a little less sweet. 7/10.