Must. Get. More. Creative.

I guess a close-up shot of canning rings taken with a smartphone isn't really very difficult to guess, is it? No matter, I loved the picture, and I love all the cool camera apps you can download nowadays. I still use my DSLR, but rarely, and only when I want to shoot from a distance. (Although some of the long shots I see on Instagram are pretty impressive.)

The Vice-Presidential debate has been analyzed, scrutinized, sliced and diced. Memes have been created and shared, polling continues and Martha Raddatz won, with Joe coming in a close second.

Best tweet of the night:

Fortune smiled on me yesterday, as I continued to make progress on my granddaughter's Halloween costume. When she asked if she could be Rosetta this year, the first thing I did was search for a pattern. Having last year's bride's dress and veil under my belt, I thought I could handle six yards of pink tulle.

AND I DID!

Thankfully I gave myself more than one day to finish the project this year. I worked on it Monday and Tuesday, took Wednesday off for my cousin's funeral and sewed again most of yesterday (with time out for a walk because IT WAS SO GORGEOUS OUTSIDE). By the time the lights came up on the debate stage, I was sitting down with a threaded needle and a fancy pink satin dress, ready to hand-sew a length of marabou feathers to the neckline.

I still have to make a pair of fairy wings. Have I ever made fairy wings before? No, I have not. But how hard can it be? If you can read, you can sew make fairy wings, right? I don't need to ship the costume until Monday, so if I run out of time today, I still have the weekend to finish. Because …

I have to work at Democratic headquarters this afternoon and I'll be busy in the kitchen both before and after that gig. Today is my husband's  birthday – the last one of his 60s – and he never wants gifts. I gave him a book a month or so ago, and he said that would be his present. He's such an appreciative eater, though, that making him a special birthday meal is a pleasure. Here's the menu:

Outback's Walkabout Soup

(a cheesy onion creation that is no longer on their menu)

Grilled Beef Burgers

Frozen Mixed Vegetables

Pecan Pie

I let the crockpot do most of the soup work, and I'll make the pie as soon as I hit the publish button. The rest isn't any more difficult to prepare than any other weeknight meal.

Despite not sticking with my running plan, I feel like this week has been very satisfying. I've done some good things, some kind things, some fun things and some necessary things.

I've also done some sewing. Heh.