Glorious Fall

It's a glorious Fall day here in the Burgh. The leaves are showing hints of changes to come....warm sunny days, cool clear nights, good sleeping & spooning weather. Yesterday I got my hair cut and highlighted to go with fall.........red & blonde, looks good. I've been filling up my days with little projects that have been calling my name, furniture to be stripped & refinished, woodwork to be painted, closets to be cleaned out, clothes to be donated, gardens to be dug up and replanted. Mostly I've been working on that bleacher seat from Cleveland Stadium that's been sitting in my garage since 1996. I stripped all the paint off, about 6 layers of tan, blue & green over metal, sanded it and am painting it Browns colors for Jon's birthday. I'll bolt it to the deck so all the Steelers fans who come over can see it. It is a labor of love, I tell him, when he says I'm working way too hard on it. But when I ask what he wants for his birthday, I get "gym shorts" or "new socks"....I cannot in good conscience give my husband of 16 plus years gym shorts or new socks for his birthday. Also he doesn't want a cake (it's the low-carb thing) so I'm making him sugar free pudding. Sometimes the guy just doesn't know how to live it up. What else is happening? Got an email from Claire today that her divorce is final. She is somewhat melancholy over it I guess. I hate to see people with kids get a divorce but is it good for kids to see their mother be so miserable? The whole process took only 6 months from the time she told her husband (X-husband now) that it was over. I wonder if she realizes the gargantuan nature of this accomplishment...she went from being a non-working spouse of a doctor, living in a very upscale neighborhood, to working full time & living in a townhouse and sharing custody of her 2 teenagers. One can debate the wisdom of divorce when kids are involved but she deserves better than she got from her X. A nice enough guy but totally self-involved and clueless about his wife's turmoil, which was considerable. So I support her and wish her the best. And I thank my lucky stars that I have Jon. Dad tells Jon he won the lottery when he married me!