October 2026 Recap

10/05 (Mon)
A Great Horned Owl was behind the house early this morning. It sounded closer than usual, but it was too dark outside to spot it. It was making a squawking sound vs the normal hoo, hoo-hoo, hoo, hoo vocalization which was really interesting.

Patio garden update on the coleus and Costco mums:

Even though they look good here, I don’t know if I’d get either again. The coleus got much taller than I wanted and the mums were too big for the area. Next year I will get the small four pack of mums from Costco instead and stick to orange since the purple is often either more maroon or in this case more pinkish, especially as they age and lose color.

I put the solar lights from Dollar Tree in the front yard.

10/07 (Wed)
This morning I was just relaxing on the patio, looking at my phone, when out of the corner on my eye I saw something fly past. When I peeked under the patio table, off to the side was the black-throated blue warbler hopping around trying to readjust its grip on a freshly caught insect. It got loose so he chased it past my zinnias and disappeared. It was only 10 seconds but I was in awe. What a cool sighting!

10/08 (Thu)
The warbler came back this morning and I “chased” it around until I got a good photo of it.

10/10 (Sat)
We went to the arboretum to see the glass pumpkin patch. We got there an hour early because I had the time wrong so we walked around the visitor center area beforehand. By the time we got back to the area for the patch there was a long line already but it moved quickly. So many beautiful glass pumpkins were available but I liked the glass fruit even more.

10/12 (Mon)
I made friends with a Platycryptus undatus, also called the tan or familiar jumping spider. I’ve only ever seen tiny zebra jumping spiders, so this one was extra special! Thanks to reels I’ve seen about jumping spiders, I wasn’t scared when it made an appearance on the patio table. It seemed interested in me, so I put out my hand and it jumped onto it and climbed up my arm.

When it would get too high I’d put out my other hand and it would repeat the process. This happened multiple times. Eventually it climbed the patio umbrella pole, then made its way to the top of the open umbrella where it used its web to sail across to the suet feeder five feet away. I lost track of it after that.

10/14 (Mon)
We dropped our mail-in ballots in an official voting drop-box. Let’s hope enough people are fed up, and the orange turd isn’t allowed to cheat AGAIN, so we can get some much-needed blue back into the white house. I’m so sick of this timeline.

10/17 (Sat)
Decided to drive around Glen Ellyn to look at the homes participating in their decorating contest.

10/19 (Mon)
Went to Savers for the first time in years. Mondays are 50% off and there was literally a huge line when they opened at 9am! I found these two hoodies in great condition for under $10 total. Unfortunately I missed the hole in the arm seam of the purple one. I’m bummed because I don’t know how to sew so I will have to see if the lady who does tailoring is still working at our local cleaners.

10/22 (Thu)
We went to Oak Brook mall so I could look at the new iPhones at the Apple Store.

After seeing the color and size options in person, I’m fairly certain when I’m ready to pull the trigger I will be getting the silver iPhone 18 Pro Max.

I think the glacier color is actually nicer, but it would limit my case options. I usually get purple cases which would clash with the blue, or force me to get a case that covers up the back camera area completely.

I’m a little nervous about the Pro Max size, but the regular Pro is actually more narrow than my current phone (iPhone 11) yet taller, and frankly I think it looks ridiculous. The Pro Max is closer in size to the iPhone 11, just a bit larger all around. I am concerned about the weight, but my biggest gripe is the price which is what stopped me from buying the phone right then and there. Well, that and the hardware issues I’ve been reading about which I hope will get resolved soon. I plan to have this phone just as long, if not longer, than I’ve had my current one (7 years), so I’m not making a decision lightly.

While in the store I also looked at the Apple Watch 12 and verified the 42mm one is compatible with my current watch bands. Not that I plan on getting a new watch; I just wanted to know for future reference. Apple’s site claimed the bands were not compatible but people said on Reddit said they were so I had to see for myself.

They no longer offer the case in silver, though, which sucks. I don’t care for any of the aluminum color choices and am not willing to pay $700 for the titanium so hopefully nothing happens to my watch.

I even went to the Google Pixel store to look at their phones but for the price I’d rather stick with Apple, although the zoom on the Pixel was better. I wouldn’t want a Pixel watch though because they’re rather ugly.

Speaking of watches, I was shocked there was a Swatch store and how expensive their “dumb” watches were. Most were godawful looking. There were several employees in the store just chatting and didn’t even acknowledge us. Same goes for the empty Google store. Just another reason I like Apple – even when they are busy their employees always approach you immediately and are extremely friendly.

We came across Uniqlo and took a look around. I had heard of them but never shopped there before. Well, I found the most comfortable fleece jacket in the men’s section.

Besides the shade of purple, what initially sold me was the two very deep inner pockets. I’m glad I didn’t let the $50 price tag get in the way of purchasing it because I’m in love with how cozy and warm it is. Plus it’s made incredibly well. It took me a bit in store to decide between the small and medium size, but I’m glad I went with the small. It’s more form-fitting while still being incredibly comfortable.

Of course a week later it went on sale for $10 less, but what can you do? It’s tempting to get one in black too but I’d either have to go back to the store or order two on the website to get free shipping. It’s too bad I don’t like the green version. If it was a deep forest green I’d get it and a black one – THAT’s how much I love this jacket!

After shopping we stumbled upon Wildfire restaurant and decided to have a nice anniversary lunch a day early since it wasn’t very busy inside. Joe got the bison burger and I got a filet which was delicious. As we were leaving there was a small dog sitting quietly between its owners in a booth. We stopped to admire how well-behaved he was and his owners were beaming. I was a bit shocked to see a dog in a restaurant, though, but I’m guessing it was a service dog, like the ones I’ve seen online who monitor their owners for sudden drops in blood sugar or seizure activity.

10/25 (Sun)
Joe was poking around in the McDonald’s app when he noticed that they finally accept their Arch cards. It’s about time! I’ve only bitched about this oversight for years.

I promptly loaded the unused $25 gift card my brother gave me two and a half years ago and used it to get a Coke Zero to go along with the Chinese food we ordered nearby.

10/27 (Tue)
Got a new 12″ ceramic frying pan from TJ Maxx (no pic, but it’s grey).

10/31 (Sat) – Halloween
Was happy the weather was relatively warm and dry for the trick-or-treaters. We got a total of 17 kids, the majority of which were young and came before it got dark. We gave out Kirkland microwave popcorn and Trader Joe’s gummies this year.

The latter were better than I expected and I plan to get them again but put together treat bags which are quicker and easier to handle when you get a larger group of children all at once.

Notable media this month:

We watched a lot of movies this season to make up for not being able to tolerate that stuff last year and most of it was garbage. That being said, Tubi has quite the collection at least. I don’t feel like describing anything we enjoyed, so I will just include pictures and my rating.