All the weekend nuggets...

Happy OCTOBER!!  I'm announcing that as if you didn't know already.  October sneaked up on me so maybe it did the same to you and you are like me, scratching your head and wondering how it happened.

It's going to be beautiful weather here this week - low 80s.  That's perfect.  I just got back from the gym and the grocery store and the humidity is low and the sun is shining and if it stayed like this forever, I would not be mad.

In other news, since it is technically fall, I'm slowly pulling out the fall decorations.  Remember this:

Well, the greenery was looking a little limp so I cut some more from our bushes and added some golden rod.  It grows wild around here this time of the year and there just so happened to be some across the street from our house.  On Saturday, Dan and I clipped some and added it to my arrangement.  It looked so pretty and was the perfect late summer/early fall decoration.  I did not manage to take a picture before disaster stuck.

As we were clipping it, Dan mentioned that my Uncle David was allergic to golden rod. I thought nothing of it until yesterday while Peter was at the island working on his Eagle project when he sneezed.

Dan exclaimed, "I bet it's the golden rod!" 

I was hopeful that the sneeze was a one-and-done but nope.  Peter sneezed three more times and began rubbing his eyes.  Less than 5 minutes later his entire face was red and his eyes were swollen.  Benadryl was administered,I sent Dan outside with the offending allergen, and sent Peter upstairs to take a shower.

And I was left feeling bummed out because the free pop of yellow was gone my arrangement.  However, as I was driving home this morning, I noticed some yellow flowers (I think maybe Blacked-eyed Susan) so I'm hoping that I can spot some close to home and grab those.  Hopefully the boy won't be allergic to those as well.

In other news, I made this delicious dessert for Sunday lunch.

These Caramel Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars were a huge hit.  Even my husband who prefers chocolate desserts said they were really good and to make them again.  And my brother who doesn't eat dessert typically had some of this and said it was good. 

If you make them, please note, the crust won't be super hard when you are trying to spread the cream cheese filling over it so you will have to be gentle so as not to get the crust in the filling.  However, with a little patience you can get it accomplished and the crust hardens up when the whole thing is baking. 

Also, if you make this, you must use whipped cream and caramel sauce.  That's what made this bar dessert so yummy!(And mine looks nothing like the original but they were still good!)

Sarah had a busy weekend. Her Girl Scout troop held a yard sale on Friday night and Saturday (with a sleepover in between) and then after they were done and had toted the leftovers to Goodwill, they worked the chicken pie supper at the church that hosts their meetings.  And then because they had worked so hard over the last 24 hours, their leader took them out to dinner.  She loves the girls in her troop and her leaders and had a great time. She was tired though and spent most of yesterday doing homework.

Which reminds me, the reason she was still doing homework on Sunday even though the kids had a teacher workday on Friday was because Peter had to go to High Point to work on a religion project with some kids from his religion class.  He didn't know how long it was going to be so I told him I would stay nearby and get some coffee from Starbucks. (i didn't want to drive all the way home to just a text that he was done.) Sarah heard the word "Starbucks" and decided she wanted to go too.

We found a Target with a Starbucks and managed to kill an hour and a half.  He still wasn't finished so we found a T.J. Maxx and killed another hour and a half.  And then  he was done.  But by this time, it was 2:00 and we hadn't eaten lunch so we stopped for KFC - Peter's choice - and finally made it home a little after 3:00.  Then I had to load my car up with yard sale goodies and get Sarah to the sale.  All this to say, had we known it was going to take all day, Sarah would have stayed home to work on her homework and I would have milled around High Point alone. 

In other news, not sure I've mentioned it or not but Dan has lost 25 (probably closer to 30) pounds since April doing low carb.  I've been on and off the low carb wagon (mostly off) since January and have had no success.  Most likely due to the fact that I have been mostly off the diet. But his determination to stick with it has inspired me.  So, once again, I'm giving it a whirl.  I continue to lose and gain the same 5 pounds which isn't really doing anything to help me lose the 15 that I would like to lose.  So here I go again....Wish me luck!