i'm supposed to be doing a myriad of things!

. . and i'm sitting here updating my blog. greg is taking m and c to their dances patrelle nutcracker gingerbread rehearsal. today is the new york city marathon, so they didn't take the car. they went by subway, and they will return in a few hours. of course i have so many things i would like to do while they are gone, and am trying to quickly get in a blog post so i can "move on!" (korrina met her friend nia at church this morning. neither of them have been to youth group in awhile. we now have a new youth group advisor, so they went to "check things out!" afterwards, she will visit james. i look forward to hearing how the day went.)

above is . . a black eyed susan! yes? it is. isn't it? it certainly looks like one. this is the lovely, quiet, little flower that has slowly been blooming in the wildflower section of our courtyard. dear little black eyed susan. we planted you so late that you are blooming in november! how brave and strong you are to open in these cool days.

and what is this? a rose? blooming in november? truly, i am very confused! how can these lovely flowers be blooming in november? i think our weather is drastically changing . . !

the roses are beautiful. these don't have a strong aroma, but it is heartening to see their sweet blossoms during our grey november days (albeit, a bit disconcerting . . ? maybe roses have always bloomed in november and i've just never noticed?!)