It’s Tuesday. With Thanksgiving closing in fast, I decided I had time for one last batch of pumpkin seeds before the season slips away. I made the first batch back in October and another in early November, and I’ve enjoyed them so much this year that when I noticed my stash dwindling to just a handful, I realized I wasn’t ready to wait until next fall for more.

Back in early October, we’d bought a whole assortment of pumpkins—big ones, small ones, the decorative oddballs—and my girlfriend arranged them on the front porch and by the garage for a little Fall color. After sitting outside for a month and a half, I fully expected them to be soft, saggy, or otherwise done for. But when I took a closer look, to my surprise, they were all still in perfect condition.

So I grabbed one of the bigger pumpkins, brought it inside, and gutted it for every last seed. Sunday night I roasted my third batch of the season, and they turned out fantastic—honestly, probably my best batch yet. It was nice getting in just one last batch before the season switches over to all things Christmas!

-keep

It’s Monday. Ugh. Here we are again, that magical time of year when the sun apparently has better things to do than stick around past 4:30. One minute you’re having a perfectly normal afternoon, and the next—bam—pitch black like someone unplugged the sun. It’s ridiculous. My brain keeps insisting it must be bedtime because it’s been dark for hours… then I look at the clock and it’s only 5:00 PM. Fantastic. Nothing like eating dinner while your body thinks you should’ve gone to bed hours ago. Honestly, daylight savings or not, I just want to file a complaint with management. Who approved this? Can we negotiate?

Since it’s been cold and dark, we’ve been watching a lot more TV. We have subscriptions to Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, Prime, and HBO Max so there’s no shortage of material to choose from. We’re currently watching a variety of series’ like Silicon Valley, Squid Challenge, and Task. As for movies, I’m a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro. We watched his latest film, Frankenstein, on Netflix and it was fantastic. If you’re a horror fan, I highly recommend checking it out.

Since the cold and early darkness have basically pushed us into hibernation mode, the girlfriend and I have been burning through a lot more TV lately. With Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, Prime, and HBO Max all in rotation, there’s never a shortage of material to watch. Right now we’re juggling a mix of series like Silicon Valley, Squid Challenge, and Task. On the movie side, I’m a huge Guillermo del Toro fan, so we checked out his latest film, Frankenstein, on Netflix—and it was fantastic. If you’re into horror, it’s absolutely worth your time.

And can you believe it—the Bears went up against the Steelers and pulled off yet another win! The final score was 31 – 28 and the Bears are now 8-3! Keep it going, guys!

-keep

Hey, it’s dark… must be time for bed.

It’s Friday! Buckle up—because the holidays aren’t just coming, they’re thundering toward us like a runaway, tinsel-covered freight train barreling down the tracks at full speed. And there we are, stuck on the tracks wondering how it’s already that time of year again. One minute you’re enjoying leftover Halloween candy, and the next you’re blindsided by inflatable snowmen, peppermint-flavored everything, and the constant drone of Christmas music that somehow follows you everywhere you go.

And the pressure. It wouldn’t be the holidays without the pressure building up every day. The shopping lists, the travel headaches, and the relatives. Meanwhile, social media is overflowing with your friends all boasting about how they finished their shopping and decorating back in October. Bastards.

There’s no stopping it. The holiday machine is greased up and ready to drag all of us along in a whirlwind of crowds, cookies, and chaos. So yeah—buckle up. The holidays are coming, and they’re not slowing down for anybody.

-keep

Keep, my wife wouldn’t go along with a total nude, so a compromise was made. I hope that you’ll still be interested in sharing it with your readers. -Anonymous