I’ve been feeling very nostalgic the past few days, thinking about Halloween and our kids, and the costumes they wore, the pumpkins we carved, and all the nights Brett and I took them around trick-or-treating. So many good memories, and YaYu and I have had fun trying to remember all the costumes! We’re still not sure though about what we’re going to do about Halloween candy here this year. We had a few kids from the neighborhood come to the house last year to trick-or-treat, but not enough to finish the bag of candy we bought. We got a giant bag of mixed candy from Costco and divided it up for the girls, and we’re hoping maybe we can get YaYu to part with a few pieces from her stash when kids come to the door since she still has so many pieces of candy left from last week’s lei gifts. Maybe though we’ll just run out and grab a last-minute bag and Brett can deal with the leftovers (which he wouldn’t mind doing).
Thursday’s walk-through with the landlord was great. We told him about next year’s travel plans, and that we want to move out at the end of July, so instead of a year’s lease we signed a month-to-month one. And, although we were expecting our rent to go up he’s keeping it the same, so that was a nice surprise as well. He told us he’d take us back as tenants any time when and if we come back to Kaua’i after we’re done traveling. The day after he texted Brett and told him he would like to help us sell the stuff we’re not storing (he’s been here a l-o-n-g time, and has a LOT of connections on the island), and that before we go he and his wife want to take us out to dinner! He seems to be in good condition right now health-wise, and said he’s “winning the battles” against his cancer but still doesn’t know yet if he’s going to “win the war.”
The weather has been absolutely glorious here this week! It rained all day last Monday, sometimes so hard we could barely see the house across the street, but the rest of the week has been lovely during the day with sunshine, breezes, and very low humidity. It’s been cool enough that we’ve been able to keep our ceiling fans off most of the time. On Thursday night the temperature dropped to 66º, which is pull-out-the-parka-and-boots weather here.
This afternoon I am:
- Reading: I confess to getting absolutely no reading done this week. Between our walks, working on the house and other chores, there’s been no time during the day, and at night I’ve fallen asleep the moment my head has hit the pillow. Both books I have checked out from the library will be going back without my getting them finished – sad.
- Listening to: It’s pretty quiet outside, although a few nearby roosters are doing their thing now and again. It’s a sunny, but cool, day and there are LOTS of birds singing. We all got up early here this morning for some reason, and then Meiling called and we did a group chat with her for a while – fun! Brett went for a run, YaYu is reading and the laundry hasn’t gotten started yet, and I’ve been enjoying the quiet. Wait – someone just started up their weed trimmer, so there goes the quiet.
- Watching: We didn’t watch much TV until Friday, when Stranger Things started! We want to binge watch all the episodes, but are pacing ourselves so the series lasts a little longer. I also started rewatching The Crown at night to review and get ready for the second season which will start on December 8.
- Cooking/baking: I baked a fresh orange bundt cake on Thursday, so there won’t be a need to bake anything else for a while. Dinner tonight is one of our favorites: Chinese stir-fried tomatoes with eggs. Brett and YaYu will have rice with theirs, and we’ll have some cucumbers as well.
- Happy I accomplished this week: We were really happy with how the house looked before the landlord came on Thursday, as good as it did when we moved in (the landlord was impressed). We took last Sunday off from walking, and got rained out on Monday (I rode my bike instead), but otherwise Brett and I did our 3-mile walk every evening. I drank all of my water every day, even though I didn’t feel like it some days because of the cooler temperatures. J’ai étudié le français pendant 10 minutes tous les jours et I moved up to Level 4!
- Looking forward to next week: I hope we see a few trick-or-treaters on Tuesday! We still get a big kick out of seeing the kids in their costumes and handing out candy. Weather permitting, both Brett and I would like to get down to the beach at least one day this week. Otherwise, there’s nothing urgent on the calendar.
Friday’s view at the half-way point of our walk. - Thinking of good things that happened: Our rent not going up is a very good thing, especially since we were expecting and had planned for an increase this coming year. We learned that both our Social Security benefits and Brett’s military retirement will get a 2% cost-of-living increase next year. It’s not a lot, but we’ll take it! The cooler fall weather and low humidity this past week has been wonderful, and it’s made our walks down by the beach in the evenings very pleasant. My new gray shoes arrived and they’re better than I imagined – they fit great and are very comfortable and lightweight.
- Reporting gains and losses: We put $752.63 into our travel fund this month! Our total savings are now $7554.18, so we’re well ahead of where we thought we would be at this time. I lost another pound this month as well, for a total of 29 lost so far. I still have a few more pounds to go, but I’m really happy with how I’ve done so far.
- Grateful for: I’m feeling very thankful right now for all the events that conspired along the way to get Brett and me to this place in our lives right now, and for all the family and friends (and loyal readers!) that are part of it. We know life can change in a moment of course, but for now life is very, very good, and we are blessed.
- Bonus question: Fall brings soup weather (even to Hawai’i!). What’s your favorite soup? My all-time favorite, since I was little, is tomato, and right now I am especially in love with Pacific Foods roasted red pepper and tomato soup. Yum! Costco recently got in their fall shipment, and we bought two cases when we shopped last week, and hope there will still be some left next month so we can buy two more. I also recently discovered Costco’s cheddar cheese and broccoli soup and have fallen in love with that as well. Both soups are surprisingly low carb, and I could eat them every day, but limit myself to a couple of times a week. I also love a good, homemade clam chowder or seafood bisque, potsticker soup (of the infamous stolen recipe), and pretty much any kind of vegetable soup. I’m OK with some chicken soups, but don’t care for soups with beef. I’ll eat them, but won’t go out of my way to make them or order them in a restaurant.
That’s a wrap for this week from Casa Aloha! How was your week? What did you accomplish? What good things happened for you?
The Occasional Nomads 
Hot or cold weather. I like Chili. Mama used to make a great vegetable soup from scratch but she doesn’t hardly cook anymore. She will be 82 on Nov 7th.
I took French for four years. Two in high school and two in college but have forgotten almost everything. I was happy to be able to read most of your sentence. Congratulations.
Your rent is probably staying the same because you take good care of the place. Most landlords will maintain the rent as long as the property is properly look after. You would be surprised by how rare that is.
Weather finally cooled off here but we’ve had a lot of rain since the cold front went through. So can’t really go out and enjoy it,
Have a great Halloween.
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I like chili too, although I’ve never thought of it as soup. My favorite these days is Amy’s vegetarian chili, medium hot.
Glad things are finally cooling down for you. You all deserve it. And best wishes to your mom for a very happy birthday!!
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