After a long business/leisure trip to Texas the week before, I was really glad to spend the past week at home and in the home office. Autumn is in full swing with chilly, blustery winds balanced only by the sun’s warmth. The house has been really cool in the mornings as temps dipped for the first time into the 30’s. Wendy and I have not yet turned on the heat, but the fireplaces have gotten their first workouts of the season.

The week was blessedly routine as Wendy and I worked at our home offices and took care of things around the house. Our lawn has been looking decent despite weeks with no rain. We’ve tried to water it well, but I haven’t been able to do that as much as it really needs (nor have I wanted to pay for that high of a water bill).

The week was really highlighted by October baseball with our Cubs beating the evil empire of St. Louis in the NLDS. By the end of the final game Wendy and I couldn’t sit down. We were both standing behind the couch watching and cheering. When it was over we invited our neighbor, Kevin, over for celebratory toasts. Of course, by Sunday night we’d be 0-2 in the NLCS to the Mets (whom we had swept in the regular season). Such is the life of a Cubs fan.

On Friday afternoon Wendy and I headed to Des Moines. Our friends Kevin and Becky asked if I would take some fall family photos for them. We had some fun at Des Moines’ sculpture garden. The featured photo to this post is the them striking their own version of Greek god statues. Wendy played my faithful assistant, lugging my bag and tripod, as we ran around Des Moines trying to get photos taken before the sun set. After dropping the kidlets off at home, the adults then went out for a meal. Enjoyable evening.

Saturday afternoon Wendy and I headed to Newton to watch Newton Community Theatre’s production of my play Ham Buns and Potato Salad (more about the play here) There was a brief “meet the playwright” time before the show and the audience got to ask me questions. It was so much fun to see the show done by a completely different crew. Wendy and I walked away pleased that the script held up well. We went to Okoboji Grill after the show with the cast and had a lot of fun fielding their questions about the characters and inspirations for the story. They called on me to write a sequel to tell the rest of the story. I hadn’t really thought about that before. Hmmmm. I also heard rumor there is some interest from another community theatre who would like to do it.

On Sunday morning I filled the pulpit for our senior pastor, delivering the message in all three services. I always feel honored to be asked. It’s a rather draining morning, however, and I was so appreciative of Wendy who took good care of me and made sure I had what I needed. Needless to say, I was worthless by the time we got home. We became avid couch potatoes to watch our Vikings and Broncos win, then to watch our Cubbies disappoint.