As dreary as yesterday's daylong rainstorm was, today was sunny, bright and beautiful with highs in the mid 60s.

I raked most of the backyard and hauled the leaves behind the tool shed with a tarp. I also mowed most of the front lawn. I fed the neighbor's cat and gave it lots of TLC. (He's neglected.) I did a load of laundry and hung it out to dry on the line, last time this season, i think. I made a turkey meatball and vegetable soup, using my own homegrown tomatoes from last summer as the base with chicken stock, garlic and onion, cauliflower, peas and kidney beans. A colorful "medley" intended to use up a bunch of frozen veggies taking up space in my freezer that must be over a year old. I'm too stingy to throw it out (horrors!) so it all went into soup.

I crawled out onto the family room roof (very shallow pitch) to check the gutters and scooped some muck out, but just at one end. They have wire screens over them, but still, a lot of stuff like pine needles get in them and it doesn't take long for the acidity from the leaves to eat through the tin and then you get little pin holes and a waterfaull-like effect during a rainstorm. Replacing those gutters 5 years ago wasn't cheap so i'm debating now whether to pay someone to check and clean out the gutters on the main part of the house, which i can't reach. I think i skipped this last year. It's a pain, becus the 2 cheapie handymen guys i know are both afraid of heights and aren't crazy about doing it.

Last night i kept hearing sounds from the basement as if the mouse traps were sprung. Twice, i was sure i'd gotten a mouse or two but when i checked this a.m., the traps were still set with Peanut butter still in 'em, so i don't know what the heck i was hearing. This creaky old house makes lots of noises.

I'm thrilled to report that for the first time since June, my end of month income ($3807) exceeded expenses ($2076) by a whopping $1731. (All this talk of no frivolous spending, no clothes shopping, etc. etc. has finally paid off.) Granted, i tallied up October expenses 5 days early, but i don't intend to spend on anything between now and the end of the month except gas.

Granted, my expenses don't usually exceed income by tons; it's usually a couple hundred in either direction, but i've been trying really hard not to spend on anything that's unnecessary. Yet each month I still wouldn't come out on top becus of once a year biggie expenses that would set me back, like my $800 car repair bill last month, or next month's homeowner's insurance of roughly the same amount, and in December it'll be $1200 for the chimney liner.

So i'm happy October was such a good month. Part of the reason it was becus i earned an extra $460 this month from freelance writing. Believe me, it helps. And next month i should have the same amount of extra freelance income, based on jobs i've already completed but not yet been paid for. I always drag my feet doing the freelance in my precious and limited free time, but when the checks come in, i'm happy as a clam.

I should really get out there for an end of the day walk, it's so nice. At my neighbor's party, M. told me the neighbor with the mean dog who attacked her dog twice (crossing the invisible fence line) is no longer owned by those people. They got rid of it after a number of run-ins with neighbors' dogs and cats. It intimidated me so much that i stopped walking around the block cus it would race to the edge of the invisible fence and stand there in a very aggressive way, waiting for me to get closer. Anyway, i should walk around the block again. When i approached that house in the past, my heart rate actually increased, cus i was never sure the dog was out or not. I feel bad becus the dog was probably put to sleep. So many people get a dog without understanding that making an animal as active as a dog sit around a house all day with no exercise is asking for behavioral problems. I'm sure that if they worked with him, they could have corrected the problem, but i guess it was more expedient to just put it to sleep. Makes me a little sad. The family across the street from me had 2 boxers and a Boston terrier, and all 3 are all gone.