Just a phone call away from plans changing.  Or so it went yesterday morning as I was leisurely sifting through pictures and sipping my first cup of coffee…

Ring a ding ding…Hello

Hi honey, the Fry’s Electronics on the other side of town has that camera…  Much to my surprise my darlin’ informed me that indeed there was a camera left on a store shelf in our town!  It was difficult chasing this thing down, and we didn’t want to order it for various reasons.  But finding it was key as we soon learned most retailers were short on stock for this model.

I quickly made a call to the store and asked if they still had the model in stock.  I was asked for my name and phone number just in-case we were disconnected.  It took a while but worth the wait.  The gentleman took it a step further as he printed out my ticket and placed my camera at the front of the store for me to pick up (without me asking if he would hold it for me).  It was a great feeling driving to the store knowing there was a camera already allocated for me.

Upon arrival I hung and immediate right, just like the guy had instructed.  Went up to the appropriate counter, told them who I was and what I had come to pick up.  And just like that, I paid for the camera and away I went.  What a great shopping experience all the way around.  We love you Fry’s Electronics!

The pictures below have nothing to do with the new camera.  The new camera is still in the box.  If I’m good from now ’til Christmas, there’s a high possibility it could be mine.

So, I was sitting at a light on my way home looking over here at this Starbucks.  And the thought came to me that I only had about 3 pumpkin spice lattes this year.  The crazy thing is that the strong desire for them will not return again ’til next autumn.

But the wild thing about the whole autumn thing is the fact that it’s finally getting around to autumn in Southern California.  We enjoyed autumn in Alaska this September, an autumn in Indy and St Louis early November and a pretty little autumn here in SoCal in December.  Wow!

But some things never seem to change no matter the season.  These shots were all taken yesterday afternoon.

This view will look the same 6 months from now.

And other areas look like paradise year round.

While I do enjoy autumn and the pretty colors, I’m thankful for all the different spices to life in these parts.

I picked up this magazine in our mailbox yesterday afternoon.  It came to the attention of Resident.  It puzzles me as I received it last month too.  Hmmm I didn’t order it, don’t intend to order it, but I will enjoy it on-the-house for as long as they wish to send it.  Thank you Good Housekeeping!

By 3:30, this chicken was in the oven.  This picture was taken right before the meat fell off the bone.  It literally fell apart as I took it out of this dish.

I rubbed a little olive oil over this tater and salt and baked it right on the oven rack.  I put a pan down below to catch any drippings.  Such a good potato, we’re going to have another again tonight.

Steamed broccoli for just a few min.

Twas a tasty little meal.  Hubby insisted he help clean up and shortly before the kitchen was all put back together, I heard him racking these balls.

We ended up not shooting pool last evening as the night seemed to move along so quickly.  Hubby said “my, with it getting dark so early, it seems like all I do is work, eat and sleep.”  That’s how it feels around here on these dark nights in paradise.

But at the end of the day, I’m thankful for food on the table, a roof over our heads and each other.

Blessings – Debbie