A few things in October

1. This boy, 18 months old, curly tendrils round his ears, sweet tooth from his mama, talking all the time: this, sister, go out, cheese, shoes, cheers, and aha! there it is! He's obsessed with clothes and children's' vitamins and still loves to be held.

2. This girl, "drawing" letters everywhere she goes (most recently on the bathroom floor in colored pencil), newly interested in the game of Memory, Duplo creations, and complicated jigsaw puzzles. She says, " Let's watch a show on Parmesan," and means the Amazon Prime app, because

3. No TV. We canceled our tv service! Lest you think we've actually given up shows, never fear: Hulu, amazon, netflix and PBS.com supply all our "needs".

And actually, Martin Clunes has been meeting most of those needs as Kipper (best, least annoying kids' show ever.) and as Doc Martin (new season on Netflix now- highly recommend).

4. Christmas music. When the first grey frost strikes- and it has- I find the hot cocoa and the holiday tunes hard to resist. So I'm still mostly abstaining, except for a quick Rosie Thomas binge. But there is this: remember four years ago, when Jack and I wrote and recorded a Christmas album? No, you don't remember? (Well, only blood relatives were allowed to listen, I believe.) Get excited: volume two is underway. That's all I have to say, for now.

Except. The Surfjohn [sic] Stevens Christmas Sing-A-Long: Seasonal Affective Disorder Yuletide Pageant On Ice is coming to Indianapolis, so my Christmas season will be complete.

5. Call the Midwife. A new PBS drama about London's East End in the 1950s. Really, need I say more?

6. Third parties. . Would you ever consider voting for a third party candidate for President? You know I don't like to get political (except when I do, and I'll leave you to go sifting through the four year old archives for that). I never feel educated enough to really debate things well, but I'm thinking about voting for a third party candidate this year. I don't trust Romney, and I'm disheartened by the way Obama has continued Bush's moves to expand the power of the office of the president - not to mention his drone wars....frankly, I'm leaning Green. How about you?

(P.S. - Relevant magazine did a good series on Christians who vote different ways.

And, is your church participating in Election Day Communion?)