The month did not start out well for me. It opened with The Man being injured while on duty and transported to the hospital for half the night. I was left almost entirely in the dark with very few details. I was a wreck. To make matters worse, I was pulled over by the most unprofessional state highway officer that afternoon on my way to my miracle chiropractic appointment. I don’t know much more now than I did then except that all the testing came back good. This Man really does hold his cards close. Not always a good thing.
The Man also bought me the perfect pumpkin and this year I actually carved it! Last year it just sat around forever.
Otherwise, October was a busy month. My students started our novel unit, which I am very excited that we have moved through much faster compared to last year when my students were still reading at Thanksgiving. We will be done with the book and tested before November 8. What is even better is this year these kids LOVE the book. They don’t care that it’s set during pioneering days – they like the action and the unknown! We are reading Trouble River by Betsy Byars. No matter how many times I read this book (well over 40 by now), I love it with each reading.
My yearbook students co-hosted the Halloween dance (the theme was NEON), and the very next morning bright and early at our school we hosted a practice UIL meet with our sister middle school. The real event is broken up over two days in January and February, and this was just a practice run for the kids to know how their event operates and to get a true measure of where they are to keep working on in their practices. At the end of the month, my partner and I were sent for a 2-day training at our education center in Austin and it was pure heaven. We both came back very refreshed.
I rounded out October going to Urgent Care for incredible pain along my forearms, with huge welts under the skin. I was diagnosed with radial styloid tenosynovitis de quervain. The tendon from your thumb to your elbow is extremely inflamed, making even the smallest everyday activities excruciatingly painful. It is very limiting in what you can’t do – changing gears, carrying your purse, writing – anything you use your hands for. Yes, friends, even the bathroom business. PAIN. FUL. It honestly feels like the pain is in your bone. Being a woman also puts your more at risk to have this. If it does not improve, there’s going to be another visit happening.
@sissybearla
Y’ALL! Texas Teen Book Festival reposted MY photo!
September sucked hardcore for me because I didn’t finish any books. Seeing everyone having read 5 or more books in just one week also really got me down. I wish I could do that! Except I’m at school until 7-9pm or later every night. *sigh* But I was pretty impressed with my October comeback! I read 5 books in October. Several of you have pointed out the trend. I don’t even care! I like what I like. 🙂
Average Rating: 3.8
Pages Read: 1,479
Favorite Book: The Scot Beds His Wife
August Visits – 986 | September Visits – 930 | October Visits – 1,094
I am still changing things up in this section. I wanted to give myself a better comparison of each month, so I am going to include the visits for the previous two months, as above. Things dipped in September, and shot up to over 1,000! This hasn’t happened since March, so I’m very thankful for all of you coming around!
I’m also not listing EVERY post I did throughout the month. These are a select group of posts, but all of the posts for the month can be found in the archives by looking for October 2017.
Sunday Posts:
People Be Crazy | The Worst Wednesday | Friday the 13th | Exhaustion | I Am Famous
Reviews:
Misty Lake | The Black Sheep | Red Dust Runaway | Memories of May | Blue Steal
Other Posts of Note:
September Chit Chat | Fall and Autumn Covers | Famous Last Words #27
Favorite Thing About Fall | Favorite Horror Author | Famous Last Words #29
Unique Book Titles | Famous Last words #30 | Halloween Fun Reads
I already resigned myself months ago to the fact that I will not finish my NetGalley goal, but I AM going to meet it next year. I’ve already started planning. I also know I won’t meet my Alphabet Soup goal either. I picked out (NetGalley) books for all of the letters I still needed back in August or so, but it is already time to move to Christmas reads, so I will start off 2018 with those books. Next year will be my year!
- Goodreads – 39/52 completed
- Alphabet Soup – 18/26 completed
- Audiobook – 6/6 completed
- NetGalley – 23/50 completed
- Shelf Love – 20/52 completed
- October BINGO – 14/25 completed
- Fall BINGO – 5/25 completed
These are as many Christmas reads as I could spend the time to dig up. About a dozen are new publications, and the remainder are NetGalley downloads from last year.
Girl of 1000 Wonders 
Sorry to hear about your arm. That sounds excruciating! I have chronic tendinitis in my ankle but I think that’s probably easier to manage as you do less with your foot than your arm! You got some fantastic books! I have several on my TBR or coming up but I think the only one I’ve read is Alward’s Deck the Halls which was so sweet. It’s a quick read if you want to feel like you’ve made progress! Hope November goes great!
Sorry to hear about your arm. That sounds terrible. And hearing about the man and not knowing anyting at the time sounds so scary. Hugs for all of that.
Great to hear you were able to read 5 books this month. With your long days like that, it is a great amount!
[…] October Chit Chat […]
Sounds like a tough month… I hope November is better 🙂
I hope you and The Man are both okay! It sounds like you had a busy month.
Oh my goodness, October really was rough for you. November better be going a whole lot better!
Wow, I am so sorry about all the hospital and doctors’ visits you had to endure in October. I can’t even imagine being in so much pain. Prayers are headed your way for better health. Your jack-o-lantern is excellent. I also enjoy carving pumpkins but haven’t taken the time in the past couple of years.