I was looking at the trees in the backyard this morning when I was taking Ivy outside. It looks as though we’ll have a good day to work and cleanup the leaves. The temperature dipped into the twenties last night and it will pop up into the fifties with bright sunshine later today. Leaves were wafting from the trees to the ground as Ivy and I went outside and I’m hoping more will fall before we start yard work in a couple hours. I have a few errands to run before I get outside and start raking and bagging.

William is camping with the Boy Scouts this weekend and it is just the three of us and Ivy at home until Sunday. After dropping William off at the church for the campout, we went to Five Guys and Fries, our current favorite burger joint, for dinner and drove by two high school football playoff games ‘on the way home.’ We stopped at the Neuqua Valley HS game and I watched the final fifteen minutes of the game. They were up 14-7 with three minutes remaining when we pulled in to the parking lot. They ended up losing 21-14 in overtime, too bad, I was rooting for them. From there we drove by another game that was just ending as we passed. Naperville North HS knocked off the top seed in their bracket and advances to quarterfinals. Our team, Wheaton-Warrenville South, defeated them earlier this season and is in a different division for the playoffs. They play tonight in a re-match against cross- town rival Wheaton North. It should be a good game and we’ll be there.

I have a load of tasks to complete today, including writing the climax to my story I am writing with my students. I looked through some old photos this morning and I have a few to add to the posts when the time is right. I need to call Julie and share what I am writing and catch up. It has been fun writing the story and it is one I have wanted to tell for quite some time and I have just never taken the time to sit down and make it happen. I dragged home a box of papers to grade and sort through before Monday comes, in addition to all of the other have-to-do’s on my list. Today is gonna be a great day, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day before it passes by; Making the Day Count, one day at a time!