Marvelous Monday: Week 43

Hi, Monday!

It was a full weekend, but I managed to squeeze in some good couch time, too.

Wish is definitely not a night owl. When we're hanging out in the living room in the evening, there's guaranteed to be a moment around 8 or 9 p.m. where he gets up and ambles out of the room. We call him, and if he comes back, it means he was foraging and/or causing mischief. If he doesn't come back, it means he went to bed. Usually, I go into our room and find him curled up in the bed, giving me a look that makes it clear that he thinks I'm a lunatic for staying up so late. Then I pick him up and bring him back into the living room for a snuggle (see above) before he goes back to bed.

Anyway, Marvelous Monday begins the week with five nice tidbits:

1) Yesterday was another Sunday slow-cooker project. This time, I tried a recipe pretty close to a soup my mom made for my brother and me on Saturday: copycat Olive Garden pasta e fagioli. We ate it for dinner last night and I'm excited for leftovers this week.

2) It's Halloween week! We don't get trick-or-treaters at our door, but our Halloween tradition is to take a long walk around a busy neighborhood after the sun sets to see the trick-or-treaters and their costumes. Also, I need to get Wish's costume(s) out and see if I have time to make the new costume I had in mind for him.

3) As I briefly mentioned earlier this fall, I've been collecting and pressing leaves - like, enormous quantities of leaves. I had a project in my head that would require lots and lots of leaves, when in reality, I am probably one of the last people in the world who needs to spend more time looking at leaves. I pressed tons and then realized, as one reader warned me, that they had faded more than I had hoped.

Anyway, there were a few that stayed vibrant, so I tried a few alternate projects instead. Here's one outcome, which fit perfectly into a kitchen reorganization we also did yesterday: nine pretty leaves in different shades, glued onto ivory cardstock and popped into a 12x12 record frame I had on hand:

4) I was randomly browsing the upcoming classic movie showings, mostly to find scary movies to watch for fun during Halloween week. I found a showing of "Gone With the Wind" next week, set the DVR, and I'm very excited to finally watch it.

5) I'm carving another pumpkin tonight!

What's marvelous about the start of your week, Reader? Favorite scary movies? Any projects going on this fall around your house? And most importantly: have you carved your pumpkin yet?