October In Numbers

Clockwise from upper left: 1) My latest impulse purchase - fake candles; (2) Searching through microfilm for genealogical records; (3) Bottling of some homemade liqueurs; (4) Notes from my first Spanish class; (5) Watch out for tortoises on the road; and (6) Early voting in Florida.

Here’s the usual recap of the month in numbers – an assortment of odd tidbits and random thoughts that popped into my head when I was reflecting back on the month.

• 2285056 - The number of the microfilm that the Family History Center at the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints kindly had sent to me from Salt Lake City. I've been searching for Tahitian birth certificates for my great grandmother and her sister. So far, no luck, but there's still a lot of microfilm to go through.
• 4 - The number of AAA batteries I need to operate my new fake candles. They're kind of tacky, but tacky in a fun way and they won't burn down my boat if they get accidentally knocked over. I'll take tacky over fire any day.
• 24 - The day of the month that early voting opened in Florida. I got there bright and early. Florida is one of those states where you vote really counts. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of the electoral college. It makes votes in some states less meaningful than others.
• 4 - The number of extra lines I used to secure my boat prior to Hurricane Matthew. Fortunately, he passed us by in Indiantown and it was a non-event. Unfortunately, he caused massive death and destruction elsewhere.
• 2 - The number of Spanish classes I've attended. The local library is offering free classes which are led by a lovely Venezuelan lady. So far, I can't say too many useful phrases (other than "Where's the bathroom?"), but it's a start.
• 3 - The number of bottles of homemade liqueurs I decanted after letting them sit for several months. I've got two bottles of limoncello and one of a spiced plum concoction. The limoncello was a tad disappointing. It doesn't taste quite like the real stuff we drank in Italy.
• 1 - The number of tortoises I almost ran over the other day. He was crossing the road and decided to stop halfway in the middle for no apparent reason. Eventually, he worked up enough energy to get moving again.
• Nil - The number of boat projects I did in October. I really need to get my motivation back up to tackle things on the project list. Although prepping your boat for a hurricane should count as a boat project, shouldn't it?
• 5,959 - How long my submission to the IWSG anthology contest was in words. I just squeaked in under the maximum word count of 6,000 by removing unnecessary words like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. {Apologies if you can't get that Mary Poppins song out of your head today now.}

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from last month:

Hurricane Matthew Prep & An Annoying Tree Frog
Knowing When Your Story Is Ready
Things That Go Bump In The Night


How was your October? What are you looking forward to in November?

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