Greetings, my lovelies,

It’s October 3rd, and we woke up this morning with absolutely no plans. Well, technically, we had plans. We were going to Apple Annie’s, but we changed our minds and decided to just get out of the house later and play things by ear.

I love days like this because anything can happen.

There’s something wonderful about waking up knowing the hours ahead are wide open. No itinerary sitting on the counter. No clock telling us we need to leave by a certain time. No pressure to squeeze every possible activity into the day just so we can say we did something.

Apparently, that was exactly the kind of October Saturday I needed.

First Coffee, Then Everything Else

I woke up around six this morning because sleeping in is apparently a skill I no longer possess. To be fair, I’ve been so exhausted this week that I’ve been going to bed around eight o’clock at night, so six wasn’t quite as ridiculous as it sounds.

The dogs were hanging around with me while Ronnie showered and made coffee. Before I could launch into my normal routine of making the bed, straightening the house, taking care of the ferrets and generally behaving as though the world would collapse if I didn’t accomplish seventeen things before breakfast, Ronnie stopped me.

“First coffee. Go slow.”

Excuse me, sir. Do you know who you married?

But I listened. I wrapped my hands around my morning magic bean potion and let myself wake up without immediately racing through the house. The morning was quiet, nobody needed us anywhere, and there was absolutely no reason to hurry.

That felt pretty damn good.

Apparently I Relax by Tinkering With Technology

My new iPhone 18 Pro arrived yesterday, and although I’m only on day one with it, I already love it. I chose the gorgeous burgundy one, which is completely my vibe, and this morning my new case and glass protector arrived. The case is clear with eucalyptus leaves across it, so that rich burgundy still shows underneath.

It looks amazing.

My only concern is protecting those giant cameras on the back. I swear smartphones are slowly becoming professional camera lenses with tiny phones attached to them.

I got everything set up, boxed up my iPhone 15 for its Verizon trade-in, and later we dropped it off. I also finally removed the glass protector from Ronnie’s phone—the same one he had on it when he had his accident almost two years ago.

Folks, that thing was cracked.

Somehow the actual phone underneath was fine, so that poor battered piece of glass clearly died a hero. Ronnie inherited the newer case from my iPhone 15, although now he wants something more fun of his own. Maybe Scooby-Doo, Supernatural, or something witchy.

Then apparently getting a new phone sent me into an entire Apple housekeeping spree. I renamed my iPad, although its current name may need another intervention. It was Rustic Phone iPad Studio, which sounds less like the name of an iPad and more like three completely unrelated thoughts collided in my brain.

I also moved our AppleCare coverage over to the family plan, so now I’m waiting to see how the billing sorts itself out since we had just been charged for some of our previous coverage.

Other people relax with meditation.

Apparently, I reorganize my Apple ecosystem.

Fort Knox, Tucson Edition

We also bought two Aqara security cameras for the house, one for inside and one for outside. I thought setting them up would be a quick little morning project.

It was not.

After considerably more fiddling around than expected, I finally got them working. The indoor camera is mostly so we can check on the dogs while we’re away. The outdoor camera is for, well…the Tucson people.

If anybody has plans to come over here and cause chaos, I strongly suggest reconsidering those life choices. I’ve got cameras now, and I’m already considering buying a third.

Between those and everything else, Fort Knox: Tucson Edition is coming along beautifully.

Home Is Feeling Good

Somewhere during my coffee-and-technology morning, I watched a video about Marisa Tomei and discovered the wellness company she founded, Terra Mare. One of its products is called Morning Restore, a daily powder with ingredients including probiotics, botanicals, mushrooms, greens, fruit extracts and marine collagen.

First of all, Marisa Tomei looks freaking amazing. Second, now I’m curious about the stuff.

Do I need another morning potion? Probably not.

Will that stop me from investigating it? Absolutely not.

I also realized I never mentioned that when I came home from California, Ronnie had added two beautiful blue gouramis to our aquarium. Sadly, we did lose one of our other fish, but I love watching those flashes of blue move through the water. Between the gentle movement of the fish, the plants and the soft hum of the aquarium, that little corner of the house has become incredibly peaceful.

Actually, the whole house feels peaceful lately. It feels calm and settled, like there’s very little we actually need here anymore.

What I want now is to keep the pantry, refrigerator and freezer stocked with good food. We’ve eaten home-cooked meals all week, and I’ve loved it. October is officially fall-cooking month in this house: roasted vegetables, apples, squash, potatoes, chicken, pork, cinnamon, herbs and all those warm smells drifting out of the kitchen.

Although I still want a ring light so I can make better TikToks and YouTube videos.

Contentment does not mean I’m done shopping.

Let’s not get ridiculous.

Cowgirl Boots and a Better Witch

I put on jeans today with this yellow-orange-gold-whatever-the-hell-color-this-damned-shirt-is shirt. I genuinely don’t know what color to call it, but it feels like October. Now that it’s finally getting cooler, I’ve also been itching to wear my cowgirl boots.

I’ve been thinking about putting together my own witch costume, too, but I don’t want one of those ridiculous Halloween costumes where someone decided every historical witch apparently wandered around in a giant pointy hat, dramatic black cape and seventeen pounds of fake spiderweb lace.

I already have a long skirt and flowing white blouse. Add a corset-style bodice, boots, a shawl and some of the jewelry I already own, and that feels much more like what I want—earthy, old-world and slightly mysterious.

More woman who knows exactly which herbs to gather beyond the tree line and less Halloween aisle exploded on me.

And Off We Went

Eventually, Ronnie and I headed out with no particular itinerary. We dropped off my iPhone 15 for the trade-in and then went to Petco because we had a muzzle to return that we ended up not needing.

Naturally, we left with fish supplies instead.

And, of course, I had to visit the ferrets. There was never a universe in which I was walking into a Petco containing ferrets, conducting my business like a normal adult and simply walking back out again.

Then we wandered through Kohl’s, where I found approximately seventeen thousand things I suddenly wanted and added plenty of them to my mental wish list. After that, we went food shopping at Walmart and stocked up for home.

None of this was particularly exciting. We weren’t on some grand adventure. We were simply wandering around together, looking at whatever caught our attention and going wherever we felt like going next.

And I was having a fantastic day.

Then I Read Today’s Prompt

My October 3 writing prompt was called My Perfect October Day — No Responsibilities Allowed. The question was what I would do if the entire day belonged to me. No work, no schedule, no pressure to accomplish anything. Would I stay home? Go somewhere with Ronnie? Wander through stores? Read? Write? Watch movies?

Underneath all of it was one simple question:

If nobody needed anything from me today, how would I choose to spend my time?

I laughed when I read it because apparently I didn’t need to imagine the answer.

I was already living it.

October Bubbling on the Stove

When we got home, I put together a simmer pot with cranberries, apple, orange, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. As it warmed, the fragrance slowly worked its way through the house—the brightness of citrus mixed with sweet apple, tart cranberry and those deep, warm spices underneath.

If October has a smell, I’m pretty sure I made it in a pot.

There was a little magic tucked into it, too. 

In folk and magical traditions, apples are often associated with love, harmony and abundance; oranges with happiness and prosperity; cinnamon with protection and success; cloves with protection and purification; nutmeg with luck; and cranberries with vitality and abundance.

So while the pot filled the house with the smell of autumn, I liked knowing that its ingredients also carried associations with happiness, harmony, protection, prosperity and good fortune.

Considering I had installed security cameras that morning, I apparently spent the entire day protecting the house by every available method.

Technology and witchcraft, baby.

When the simmer pot was finished, I strained it and saved the rich liquid left behind. The cranberries, apples and oranges had released their color and pulp into the water, leaving it deep, fragrant and completely unsweetened.

The scent lingered long after the pot stopped simmering.

The Art of Changing My Mind

At some point in the afternoon, I got tired and decided to lie down for a nap. It wasn’t a particularly successful nap because I didn’t sleep very long, but who cares?

I was tired, so I laid down.

That might sound ridiculously simple, but that’s exactly what I mean about a day like this. I didn’t need to finish something first. I didn’t need to earn the right to rest. I felt tired and listened.

Our dinner plans changed, too. We had a maple-herbed Dijon pork roast with apples and roasted potatoes cooking in the Crock-Pot, but we’d started it around two in the afternoon and it simply wasn’t going to be ready when we wanted dinner.

So we got Culver’s.

The roast can become tomorrow’s dinner.

There was no reason to turn dinner into a battle of wills between me and a stubborn piece of pork. Today was about letting things unfold, and apparently the roast wanted to participate.

Even dinner got to play things by ear.

From Corpse Bride to Steve Martin

We watched Corpse Bride earlier, which was perfect for an October afternoon. Ronnie also surprised me with some Nightmare Before Christmas figures he found at Walmart because apparently he knows exactly how to make me smile.

Later, we decided to watch the original The Shining. We had barely started before I remembered something: I have free tickets through Galaxy Rewards, and The Shining is playing on the big screen tomorrow.

Nope.

Turn it off.

If I’m going to watch Jack Nicholson completely lose his shit inside the Overlook Hotel, I might as well see it enormous.

So tomorrow we’re going to the theater.

Tonight?

Cheaper by the Dozen.

We somehow went from Corpse Bride to The Shining to Steve Martin trying to survive a house containing twelve children.

Frankly, I’m not entirely convinced the last one is less terrifying.

Apparently, This Is My Perfect October Day

When I first thought about the question, I could have made a list of everything that belongs in my imaginary perfect October day. A bookstore. A witchy shop. Lunch somewhere good. A drive up Mt. Lemmon. Music playing while I read. Dreamlight Valley. A craft project. Spooky movies. Sitting on the patio with a book.

I still love all of those things.

But today showed me that my perfect day isn’t really about cramming all my favorite activities into one carefully curated twenty-four-hour period.

It’s about having room.

Room to wake up slowly and drink my coffee before doing anything else. Room to wander through stores with Ronnie and come home with fish supplies instead of whatever we originally went out for. Room to stop and see the ferrets. Room to take a nap because I’m tired. Room to change dinner because dinner isn’t ready. Room to start one movie, turn it off and choose something completely different.

Room to ask myself, “What sounds good right now?”

And then do that.

There was nothing spectacular about today. We didn’t travel somewhere exotic or attend some big event. I didn’t create a picture-perfect fall itinerary and race around trying to experience October correctly.

I simply lived my Saturday.

There was coffee in my hands and cinnamon and cloves in the air. Blue gouramis moved quietly through the aquarium. Ronnie and I wandered around town with nowhere we needed to be. The dogs were home waiting for us. A simmer pot bubbled on the stove. A pork roast stubbornly refused to cooperate with our dinner schedule. There was cake with buttercream icing waiting in the kitchen, movies on the television and a little surprise from Ronnie because he saw something he knew I’d love.

And somewhere inside all those completely ordinary moments, I found exactly what the prompt was asking me to imagine.

I don’t need every day to be exciting. I don’t want every hour scheduled in the name of making my life fuller. Sometimes fullness looks like the exact opposite.

It looks like having enough space in the day to let life surprise me.

Nothing extraordinary happened today. And somehow, everything I wanted did.

Big huge smile. 🍂