As it turned out, I did not mind the drive down to Bedford. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, one of the prettiest fall days I can ever remember seeing. It was warm and sunny, and the soccer field was surrounded by forest on three sides, and the leaves were gloriously beautiful! I actually even briefly napped in my lawn chair on the sidelines during halftime of the game. The sunshine was marvelous! On the way home we stopped at an apple orchard and bought a gallon of fresh cider and some homemade apple fritters.

When we got home Dan and Bill helped me plant flower bulbs. The ground near the house is very hard with a lot of clay, so they wet things down with the hose and dug the holes for me with a big shovel. Thanks to their help, I planted half of the hundreds of bulbs (and all of the ferns) which were left. Dan promised to help me again later this week, and we should be able to finish up. I am so glad for the help!

Should be yet another busy week. Soccer is over, I believe, for both kids. But wrestling is gearing up. Steven is in a big tournament at Michigan State University today. Next weekend he will be wrestling in the national championships for a youth league called Border Wars. The tournament will be up in a little town called Holt, near Lansing. I had asked for a long weekend from work a year ago, so I could go to a book convention in Madison, Wisconsin that weekend -- but Stevie is a lot more important to me, so I will be watching him instead. I am glad for the long weekend! Maybe I can actually get some housework done, too. I am way behind in the laundry, and the bathrooms are really vile and need a good scrubbing from floor to ceiling!