Happy October 1st!  A little sad to see September over, but looking forward to some cooler temperatures soon!  With this post, I bid September farewell by remembering some of my favorite moments/events of the month.

FAVORITE #1

Both Big Eagle and I have birthdays one day apart at the beginning of September.  Mine was actually on Labor Day this year.  We celebrated on the Saturday night just before our birthdays by going out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Pappadeaux’s!

 

We started with a yummy appetizer: Crab & Spinach Dip w/Parmesan crostini.

It was delicious!  For our entrees, I had the mixed seafood grill, and Big Eagle had crab cakes.

I ended up taking most of my entree home, and it was just as good left over. Guess the appetizer filled me up more than I realized it would!  The one down-side to the whole evening is that Pappadeaux has changed their menu, so no onion rings, which were one of our favorites there.  Also they’ve pretty much doubled their prices!  So as much as we’ve always loved this restaurant, and the food is still really good, we may not be back.  There are too many other great restaurants where we can enjoy food just as delicious for more reasonable prices.  Hopefully, we can find another one that has onion rings that are as good as what used to be on the menu here.

 

FAVORITE #2

Around the middle of September, Big Eagle and I drove to Louisiana to stay with the girls (our two granddaughters) while Cara and Paul went to the west coast for a wedding.  Any time I can be with family, it’s a favorite for me!

Although Cara and Paul were leaving Thursday morning, we got there on Tuesday afternoon.  That way we were able to get a feel for the girls’ morning routines on school days, and instructions about their extracurricular activities.

Thursday evening, Big Eagle took Edie to her gymnastics class.

 

Meanwhile, I was home with Helen as she worked on homework.

Although Helen is only in 8th grade, she participates in the high school’s marching band.  Friday night was a home football game, so Big Eagle, Edith, and I went to watch!

 

It was SO much fun to watch the band march into the stadium before the game!  Took me back to when Cara and Danny were in the marching band.

Here’s Helen coming in with the band!  She told me afterward that they’re supposed to keep a serious look on their faces when they’re in procession.  I think as she was glancing at me, she was working hard to suppress a smile. 💖

The only set thing on the schedule for Saturday was Edith’s violin lesson.  We had time to go the farmer’s market and pick up a few things before coming back home to get her violin and get her off to practice.  While she and Grandpa were there, Helen and I drove up to Covington for a little shopping at Target and Bath & Body Works.

On Sunday, Helen made macarons.  She wanted something to take to her friend at school who was having a birthday.

I never did get a picture of the finished cookies, but they were good!  I’ve had macarons before and didn’t think much of them.  But when she offered me one a couple of days later, I was having a cup of coffee, and it was the perfect compliment!

While the circles of batter were drying out (who knew they needed to do that?), the four of us went out for sno-balls.  Well, Big Eagle and Helen had sno-balls.  Edith and I had ice cream cones.

 

Had to get a picture of these two with their tongues hanging out!

Back home we finished up working on the cookies.  They wanted to stick to the baking sheets, so that part was touch and go, but we were able to rescue enough of them to make the effort worthwhile.  By then it was late afternoon.  We had a quick dip in the pool before dinner.

After dinner, we drove down to Lake Pontchartrain to watch the sun set.

 

We got home just before Cara and Paul walked through the door, returning from their trip!

We continued to stay with them for a few more days, so we could attend Grandparents’ Day at Edith’s school.  On Tuesday, the girls were at school, Cara was at Edith’s school volunteering, and Paul was at work, so Big Eagle and I decided to go out for lunch.  We had been wanting some seafood while we were there, so we tried Mandeville Seafood Market & Eatery.

It was cute…all the tables were labeled according to a Halloween theme.  Maybe you can see the table in the background labeled Hocus Pocus.  Ours was labeled Little Vampire.  The table labels change with the seasons.  Fun!

Big Eagle had fried catfish, hushpuppies, and coleslaw.

I had a shrimp po boy and seafood gumbo.

Everything was delicious!  We will definitely make a return trip if we get the chance again.

That evening, I accompanied Paul and Edie to her swim practice.  I wish I had the energy that I watched her display!

The next morning was Grandparents’ Day for us at Edith’s school!  We got there early enough to get a decent parking space and waited for Edith’s class to come down the hall.  Once we met up with her, the first thing we did was go to the picture-taking station.  We were the first ones in line there!  Haven’t gotten the picture yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Next we went to the book fair, and Edith picked out some books, and I picked out one for her.  After making our book fair purchases, we went on to the cafeteria for breakfast.

After breakfast, we went back to the picture line where Cara was working to leave Edith’s package from the book fair with her (that is after Edith retrieved one from the bag to read when she could during the school day).

I’m so proud of how involved Cara is with the girls’ schools.  She was volunteering pretty much every day we were there when she was home.  Listening to what she does with the PTA for the teachers made me appreciate the PTA parents where I taught all the more!

Once we left the school, we were on the road back to Texas!

 

FAVORITE #3

While we were in Louisiana, our son Danny and daughter-in-law Erin were taking their first trip with Leo.  They went to a destination that I dream of going to: Italy!  They texted us many pictures of their adventure, and every picture is a favorite of mine.  But here I will share just two.  (Had you worried, didn’t I?)

 

FAVORITE #4

On September 15th a miracle happened!  It rained!  A good rain!  So badly needed and refreshing to see.

Only problem is that we needed many more days of this.  But we are thankful for any that we get right now!

 

FAVORITE #5

On Saturday the 16th I participated in my third Orangetheory Fitness DriTri.  This is an event where you row for 2,000 meters, then perform 300 body-weight exercises on the floor, then run a 5K on the treadmill.  For a power walker (aka:  me), you walk 1.55 miles instead of running a 5K.

I’m usually the last one off the rower, always the last one off the floor, but so far I’ve been able to make up my time on the treadmill so that I’ve never come in last.  My best time for the overall workout is 45:32, which I did in 2019.  This year I was 24 seconds shy of that with a time of 45:56.  I was the second to the last one done.

This will be a favorite as long as I am able to keep doing it and not finish last.  Or at least finish last respectably close to the second to last finisher.

 

FAVORITE #6

If you read my last post, you already saw my spider lilies and know about how thrilled I am that they are finally multiplying.  Well, I’ve discovered they are multiplying even more than I previously realized!

Can you see those shoots coming up closer to the bottom?  I counted at least 6 of them, which doubles the total count!  And through my neglect and this drought, who could have imagined?  I feel like there must be a message in this!  You can be sure you will see another picture of these spider lilies in my October Favorites if not before!

September is one of my very favorite months of the year.  It’s the month where we say good-bye to summer and hello to fall.  As I said in my intro, I’m kind of sad to see it end, but time marches on!  Before it marches on too much further, perhaps you’d like to look back and remember a little bit of YOUR September.  I’d love to hear about anything you’d like to share!  Please do so in the comments.  Happy October to you!