{Virtual Coffee}

Can you believe it's November? And time for Virtual Coffee? Oh, I know I have been missing in action on all blogging fronts but that's just life sometimes. If we were meeting for coffee today I might fore go coffee and stick to one of these smoothies that I am still drinking even though it's now officially cold out. That is some greens+ with rice milk and flax seed oil and frozen strawberries and cranberries and despite the colour after blended, it is quite delicious.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would ask you if you minded if I showed you some celebration photos from last week since I was otherwise indisposed, like our pumpkins

and the ninja I got to accompany for two hours on the streets.

I would tell you we have had some really hard frosts lately that make everything look as if it is coated in granulated sugar

and after turning the clocks back last weekend I want an extra hour every weekend, maybe even every day.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would say that every time I go to the grocery store these last few months I seem to ring up $140 on my bill. Sometimes it is $142.16 other times it is $146.79 or $143.56 but the first two digits are always a "1" and a "4" and I would say that I challenge my government to say that the annual cost of living is at one or two or even three percent when my grocery bill and the cost at the gas pump has taken more from my pocket than ever before.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would say that we have been struggling with viruses and that I am quite frankly done with the extra time this zaps from my day.

Then I would tell you that I finally cleaned out my fridge and the oldest thing I found was a yeast package that was best before "2009".

If we were meeting for coffee today I would want to show you a real vintage ghost we found on our trick or treating route that our hostess, Amy, would adore.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would confess that I finally killed off this

it may have taken me the better part of seven years, but I finally managed to kill a spider plant. But I would be quick to qualify that after suffering under my tutelage for three years, this cactus

has now revived, but only after I gave it its last rites in the spring and planted it in the garden to live or die as it chose. Apparently it chose life and I have moved it indoors, figuring I can't do more harm to it than a Canadian winter can and this should prove that you should never engage me to take care of your houseplants for even as little as a week.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would have much to say about accompanying 2 teachers and 44 8-year old children on a field trip to the science museum. As if I needed more challenges to my patience and my inner strength, I volunteered to spend the day as such. And I would admit that I did have quite a bit of fun too. There was a giant bubble making machine where you could actually pull up a bubble around you

and this infrared camera showing the hot spots and cold spots on your body. I laughed to see that the end of my nose read "green" which means cold and, like my feet and hands, the end of my nose is really almost always cold.

But I would admit that when we finally got home, I locked myself in the bathroom and told Riley that unless it was bleeding or on fire, not to disturb me for an hour.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would tell you about the letter Riley wrote to Santa on Saturday night. He wasn't asking for any presents but he did seem concerned that Santa wouldn't recognize the house after we moved the furniture around a bit. He also asked Santa what he could do to help him. I just sat, staring at him and then I said, "do you know how much I adore you?" and he answered, "I think it's a lot".

If we were meeting for coffee today I would tell you about this scouring sponge I bought. It is made out of recycled materials because, like you, I try my best to recycle, upcycle and decycle, but I can't tell which side to use for scouring because what appears to be the spongy side is hard as a rock.

And then I would let you talk to me a bit because everything I have been feeling lately has been so intense and I just know I am being split wide open and it's both scary and a relief at the same time but I just can't put it into words because really, there just aren't any.

And then I would say let's go over to Amy's Lucky Number 13 and catch up with what has been going on in her world.