It is the last day of November.
Finally! I love November and all of the birthdays and Thanksgiving fun, but
November was long this year. It wasn't long in a negative way exactly, just in
an anticipatory sort of way. We had an entire eight days of November
between Thanksgiving and December 1st. That's a lot of days in limbo! We
cranked up the Christmas music and put up our decorations, but still, November
lingered.
Now that November is a few short
hours before surrendering to December, I can look back and reminisce with some
day-to-day snapshots and assorted journal entries:
Tuesday, November 6, 2018. We had
four sister missionaries over for dinner tonight and as usual, our little
kitchen was filled to bursting. But if it's going to be full, it may as well be
full of goodness! And sister missionaries are good. The dinner I made was
actually good too! (crock pot pork) It was one of the better dinners I have
made in recent history, and we have plenty of pork to last us for the rest of
the week!
The sister missionaries are so
kind and fun. I like having them over. We didn't have them over at all during
cross country season, so it was nice to have them back. I was proud of myself
for making so many side dishes. Getting a big dinner together by 5pm is
stressful, though, even with the crock pot, and I had to pause and pep talk
myself. Jeff helped immesely, both with the pep talk and the dinner prep. He
swept the floor, set the table, and rounded up our assortment of chairs.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018. I
was so productive inside our house today, the only time I went outside was to
throw stuff in our trash can. It was a beautiful day, and it felt like a waste
not to go outside, but things needed doing in the basement! I finally vacuumed
the basement and cleaned our shower down there again, then cleaned the toilet
and scrubbed the floor for good measure. Somehow I completely overlooked the
sink and mirror, and forgot to clean them too. Oops. But I moved the couch and
consolidated a whole stack of boxes so the basement looks and feels much
bigger. It was very satisfying to tackle those cluttered corners that have always
bugged me but I avoided because I knew it was a huge time commitment to begin
organizing it all.
While I worked, I kept verbal
contact with Amber as much as possible because it keeps her aware of my
presence and curbs her mischief somewhat. She did manage to spirit the Nutella
jar off the the playroom, where she appeared to attempt serving Nutella in
teacups, but in general her mischief was minimal. This afternoon we made apple
carrot superhero muffins together, and Amber played in the sink for the entire
half hour the muffins were baking. I practiced piano during that time. I like
how I can hear the water running and know where Amb is and what she's doing
more or less when she's at the kitchen sink.
Thursday, November 8, 2018. So
tired. The girls woke up at full energy at 5am today and started jumping and
squealing in their bedroom, which is right over my bedroom. Therefore, I have
been awake since 5am. Mom came to visit us today and it was the best!! She got
here around 10:30am and stayed till 6:30pm. We talked and explored our house
and played Jeff's VR headset (even Mom did, although I opted out). We went on a
walk on the canal road at sunset: glorious, and COLD.
After our walk, we went to Burger
Ranch to display the local finery to mom. Mmm, that spicy fry sauce! I miss Mom
already and my heart hurts at the thought of her living so far away when she
and Dad move in less than a year. So sad and hard to see her go, both today and
next year. The thought of how few one-day visits we have left before she moves
makes me feel bereft. Sigh, at least today was good.
Friday, November 9, 2018. This
morning I drove to the middle school track and ran a Garmin lactic acid
threshold test workout, provided by my spiffy watch. It was a very different
type of workout, and I liked it! I was huffing and puffing by the end, but my
lactic acid threshold is 169, a 7:16 mile pace. That seems high and fast, but I
guess I'm still in ok shape after all somehow. It was satisfying to have my
watch tell me I am in good shape.
We got our kids to practice piano
and clean the playroom and do the dishes today. It was rather amazing and they
are getting so responsible. Amber even helps sometimes.
Today I bathed Amber and gave her
a haircut-- her first real haircut ever! Her only other "haircut" was
when I snipped off her curly mullet when she was a baby. She was even
relatively well behaved for her haircut today too! I cut a lot of inches off,
and now Amber has a short little bob of curls around her ears. I excited about
how much easier it will be to take care of now.
Rose watched the mom salon going
on and wanted in on the action, so she took a shower and I gave her a trim too.
Her haircut wasn't as drastic as Amber's, but it was my best girl haircut ever.
I only cut Rose's hair myself once, back when she was 2, and I cut it so
crooked I had to go shorter and shorter to make it straight. After that I took
her to real salons for haircuts. But today I decided to try again. And it
worked!
Family movie night: Kung Fu
Panda. Jeff and Shaina lounge time: we started watching the Dick Van Dyke show
and it is so awesome!! We love it!
Sunday, November 11, 2018. While
I was writing the date here, I just realized that as of today, it's been
exactly 100 years since World War I ended. Wow! I need to record this:
yesterday on my run, I yelled at six different dogs and it worked every single
time! They all actually stopped chasing me and retreated when I stopped, turned
toward them, and yelled "NO!" I was as surprised as they were. Sigh.
Another wow is my roller coaster
of emotions today. Why are there so many emotions? I'm tired of riding the
waves:
- Anticipation: Before church, Jeff and I hid from the kids and had a Christmas budget meeting. We figured it all out. It will be fun.
- Irritation: This morning on the way to church, I was annoyed at the low key disputations going on between Jay and Rose in the back of the van. I prayed silently for patience and forgiveness for my irritation.
- Exasperation: During the last half of sacrament meeting, Amber chose me as her target. She was relentless in her attentions, wrapping my hair around my face, kissing me noisily on the cheeks, wiggling her bony little butt on my bony lap, thrashing, hitting, kicking, thumping her torso into my chest, etc. I asked her to stop over and over. I held her still manually. Finally with ten minutes left in the meeting, I walked out, leaving Amber behind with Jeff and the other two. I needed a time out from Amber! It was so helpful and restorative for me.
- Warm fuzzy: While I was in time out, I chatted with a fellow foyer-mate for the last ten minutes, and we had a really non-superficial talk. I felt calm and happy again. Re-centered. Then I headed to primary.
- Tall girl discomfort: The piano bench was horrifically uncomfortable in primary, as usual. I was antsy sitting on it grinding my booty bones into the wood and crunching my spine in uncomfy positions to fit at the low piano.
- Guilt: I escaped primary once and chatted with the senior primary teachers in the hallway but ended up ranting about cub scouts and felt guilty for it.
- Gnawing hunger: I was faint with hunger by the end of church. (hunger is totally an emotion, trust me.)
- Productive: The afternoon at home was fine. I wrote a brief blog post and finished reading my book. Then I made taco soup for dinner.
- Long-suffering: After dinner Jay got out his dungeons and dragons type game that he invented and we all tried to play it together. It was exasperating, especially since I've never played anything like it before and Jay hasn't either so he did not really know the rules.
- Hilarity: We stopped Jay's game after 20 minutes and moved on to play guess the animal--my choice, since I informed the family [petulantly] that we never get to play a normal non-video game together. It was hilarious and way more fun than lame video games. We were laughing our heads off! Especially at Jeff's mermaid (not even an animal) and my beaver and at how all of Rose's animals were loud and all of Jay's animals looked the same and how all of Amber's animals were the same (she finally started to get the hang of it by the end and did a pig snort instead of her alley cat meows).
- Peace and laughter: Jeff and I watched the Dick Van Dyke show tonight and it made me happy.
Monday, November 12, 2018.
Somehow we all survived the emotionally fraught two hour battle of Rose vs. the
dishes this morning. It was not pretty. It was not pleasant. But it is over for
another day.
Today Jay quietly did his half of
the dishes even dutifully ate carrots with his lunch without being asked. Yes,
his endless questions sometimes make me want to claw my brain out, but every
time he hugs me, he gently pats my back the whole time. This boy is the silver
lining to motherhood.
Jeff and I were standing kissing
in the hallway when we looked over and saw Jay sitting on the couch looking at
us/kind of not looking at us/trying to read his book.
"Don't you love it when your
parents stand around smooching all day?" I asked with a laugh (still
hugging Jeff). Jay grinned and shrugged. "Don't worry, when you're
married, you can smooch your wife all day too." I told him. Jay smiled the
FUNNIEST sidelong toothy grin and gave us the thumbs up, then continued
reading.
Rose forgot to load the
silverware in the dishwasher. She started the dishwasher and it was a third of
the way through its cycle when I discovered the mistake. She had been very
unwilling to load in the first place and she slacked off, so I made her wash
the utensils by hand. It was a long hour, but maybe she learned something? Or
maybe I'm a mean mother.
Tuesday, November 13,
2018. I started a blog post today but had to pause it for various reasons,
one of which was to update forms on the website for the kids' health insurance.
That site is so ridiculously impossible that I lost my writing groove and felt
too irked to finish the blog post. But I still feel "written out,"
aka tired of writing. Amber got her four year old vaccinations today, 1 shot in
each leg. She didn't cry, although she flinched. She kept saying "ow, my
leg! She poked me! The two doctors poked me and gave me stickers." It was
cute and sad. Amber got over it pretty quickly though, and told the tale with
relish and hand actions to each member of our family: "poke, poke,
bandaid!" over and over.
This evening after dinner (Costco
broccoli cheddar soup and homemade bread), Rose laid on my lap and I rubbed and
scratched her back. Then Amber wanted a turn. Jay was reading on one side of
me, and Jeff was playing Wordament on his phone on my other side. We were all
crammed onto the short side of our sectional couch and it was crowded but cozy
family time. Then the girls started brushing Jeff's back hair and I laughed my
head off like I always do when they brush Daddy.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018,
12:03am. Technically it's now Thursday, but I haven't gone to bed for Wednesday
yet so it's still Wednesday for me. I just got back from a lovely evening with
my good friend. I went to her house and we watched a movie and talked. It has
been a while since we got to sit and talk one on one, and it was just so
pleasant. It's good to have a friend who is comfortable and not stressful. I
left home at 7:15pm and got back at 11:55pm. It's a half hour drive to their
house, but still, we splurged and talked till late and it was lovely.
I went to the temple today (thanks
to a babysitting exchange with a friend) and it was beautiful. I was tired but
stayed awake on prayers and due to my uncomfy temple dress, haha. When I walked
into the celestial room, the sun had come out and was shining through the
stained glass, lighting up the whole room with such bright clean glowing light.
It lit my soul up too, especially since we haven't seen the sun all week
(freezing fog).
When the kids got home from
school, I ran a mile with Rose (Jay ran ahead of us). I love my kids. And leftovers
for dinner. :)
Thursday, November 15, 2018. More
thick freezing fog. I keep getting online and looking at pajamas because I
don't want to wear real clothes till springtime. Today I comprised by wearing a
wool shirt on top and my baggiest junkiest sweatpants on bottom. My friend and
I ran with our kids in plastic wrapped strollers (rain covers) in the thick
cold fog this morning, and I was tired all day (late night last night plus
period plus cold gloomy day).
Amber was exceptional today. The
ups and downs were intense. I jumped on the trampoline with her today then
followed two stray cats that ambled through our yard with her.
Jay was the first person in our
family to say thank you for the dinner tonight. Sweet Jay. After dinner he
knocked down the girls' brick castle that they had built together, and they
screamed and cried. We made Jay rebuild it. He's sweet but also a total tease
to his sisters.
Rose beat Jay on their run today
(Jay had a tiring PE class at school) and Rose felt quite proud of herself.
(Jay beat her yesterday). We keep telling them it's not a race, and the loser
tells the winner that it's not a race every day too. Haha.
Saturday, November 17,
2018. This morning I dropped my family off in Grandview for Grampa Dan's
Saturday morning pancakes at 7:30am and drove to WinCo for $198 worth of
Thanksgiving/rest of November groceries. Then it was time for the real fun: a
trail run.
I planned an epic long run on two
mountains, and it was definitely long. I ran up and down Candy Mountain, then up,
around, and down Badger Mountain. I called it the Candy Badger, and I totaled
over 1,000 feet of elevation gain during the 10 mile run. I was running for
nearly 2 hours! (1:50). My mile times were slow due to the steep climbs, so the
ten miles took long and I was feeling quite fatigued by the end. It was a bit
more than I bargained for, but so peaceful to be out pounding actual trails for
all of that time. That tired-long-run-zone kicked in and I hunkered down and
jogged along the quiet trail in between the sunny blue sky, the wind, and the
scrubby brown mountainside. I love going to Badger when it's cold because the
snakes are hibernating.
It was a clear breezy sunny day,
and the views from both mountains were sweeping, but I did not take any
pictures. I wore my loose jogger pants and did not carry my phone at all
because it bounces around too much in the pockets on those pants and makes them
fall down. It was weird not having my phone to take pictures of the beauties
around me, since that is such a hobby of mine. At the same time, however, it
was kind of nice just to run without any distractions. Not to mention I felt
much lighter without lugging my phone up two mountains!
I arrived home around 1pm. My run
took longer than my grocery shopping. In other words, I am winning at life! I
picked myself up a Burger Ranch mushroom burger on the way home (it's so nice
to have a good local burger place!) and it provided much needed nourishment
after the rigors of my double mountain run. And that spicy fry sauce has SUCH a
fiery kick! I love it.
After my shower and lunch this
afternoon, I was on the computer when I received a text message from our piano
teacher. Ice stabbed into my stomach. It was 4:13pm!! We were supposed to be at
ensemble recital rehearsal at 4pm!
I grabbed Jay and Rose and we
bolted for the church building. We arrived at 4:20pm, right exactly at the end
of Rose's rehearsal time (it was 4-4:20). The rule is if you don't attend both
rehearsals, you can't play in the performance. Rose was removed from the
performance. It was tragic. The teachers were sympathetic and everyone felt bad
while Rose sat next to me and shed silent tears of heart-wrenching sorrow while
we waited for Jay's turn. Jay's rehearsal time slot was 4:40pm, so obviously we
were present for that one. He was able to stay in the recital performance. I
couldn't help kind of wishing we had missed Jay's rehearsal rather than Rose's,
because he would've been glad to get off the hook, while sweet Rose adores the
spotlight.
In preparation for the recital, I
pulled my longest black skirt over the clothes I was already wearing (loose
comfy pants and a turtleneck). It was as low key dressing up as I could
manage--but I was not in the mood to struggle into a pair of tights for a mere
half hour of wear time. (I am so over tight clothing right now!)
The ensemble recital was tonight
at 7pm. Jay and I sat in the back with our friends and Jay's song was the
second one on the program. I played the duet part with him, and there were
three other pianos with two people at each, playing the same thing. It was nice
and I was less than a quarter as nervous as I am when it's only me playing up
front. After we played Good King Wenceslas for what felt like the millionth
time after all of our practicing, we went back to our seats and watched two
more numbers so we could see how Rose's song sounded without her. Then we
slipped silently out the back and drove home. I was at home in my pajamas by
7:29pm.
I felt a little guilty about not
staying to listen to all of our friends play in the recital, since we knew
someone in almost every group, but we couldn't even see the people at the
pianos from our seats and poor Rose didn't even come with us, so it felt like
an acceptable plan to leave early. The place was packed anyways, so I'm sure
some grateful person took our seats.
Monday, November 26, 2018. My
sinus headache finally went away today!!!!!!!! I felt so effortlessly happy all
day and it was a welcome change. I even read 3 stories to the kids before
bedtime tonight!
Last night before bed I was
feeling anxious about starting the school routine again after Thanksgiving
break, so I mentally mapped out my morning, going through each step and giving
myself time estimates for each chore and to-do. It helped so much! I don't even
know why I was anxious about going back to the routine, but planning out my
time helped immensely.
I went out to lunch today with
four friends for a three-way birthday celebration and we had a pleasant time
chatting together. Amber was a bit wild by the end, but I left feeling so GOOD
about these wonderful ladies. It is good to have friends. They are good people.
I am over using the word "good."
Our first wave of Christmas
presents arrived from Amazon today. So exciting and fun. For FHE tonight, we
read all 104 of our thankful ice cream sundae scoops while taking them down and
then had ice cream. I considered keeping the thankful sundae up till the end of
November, but we haven't added to it in a few days, and it was quite large. So
we finished it off tonight. We did the thankful sundae from Nov 7th to Nov
22nd. We didn't write thankful things every day, but some days we did large
stacks of scoops. (especially Rose!) It was not perfect, but it totally worked
and accomplished the goal of getting us all thinking about gratitude, so I'm
calling it a success.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018.
Tomorrow Jay's class is having a potluck as a finale to their study of Brazil,
and Jay was assigned "pastel de queijo," which Google informed us was
basically a deep fried cheese empanada. We simplified the recipe by cutting and
filling phyllo sheets with cheese, brushing oil on top, and baking them in the
oven rather than making our own dough and deep frying it because this is only
4th grade after all. Hopefully we didn't deviate too much from the traditional
Brazilian pastry... I for one am not skilled enough in the kitchen to make the
original recipe, so I can't expect 9.5-year-old Jay to do it!
END JOURNAL ENTRIES
It's 1pm and the sun has finally,
with great effort, dispelled the thick fog. Reading my November journal has me
feeling all warm and happy with memories. I left out the entries where I wrote
Thanksgiving week since I already posted about that. Also excluded here are
journal entries about getting our Christmas tree and decorating for Christmas
because that deserves its own post. Now that I look at this LONG post, I think
that each of these days deserves its own post. But it's the end of the month
and they are all going into one. Maybe I should start posting weekly miscellaneous
journal posts rather than one monthly recap. Except hardly any of this stuff
seems interesting enough to post on its own; I only find it post-able in
retrospect, when I've had some time and distance from the everyday.
A few more November pictures:
- A neon orange sunrise, spilling across our frosty yard--a nice reminder that we did see the sun a few times during November.
- Dia de los Muertos: Jay and Rose made these intricate masks at school.
- Amber tucked Jeff in. She totally mothers him all the time and it is hilariously cute. Jeff will tell her "I need you!" when he's persuading her to come over for teeth brushing or other things Amber likes to hide from, and Amber takes him very seriously. Daddy NEEDS her. So she takes care of him.
- Morning hugs before school.
- Helping out.
- For a little while this month, we had our old TV and a VCR set up on a rug in a corner of the basement. Amber loved her little movie nook.
- Running with my Rosie.
- Sweet tender Jay is the silver lining to motherhood.
- I have no idea how this lumpy mass of blankets is comfy enough for sleep, but these sisters love to have sleepovers. It's funny because they make a bed on the floor, lay in it and read till lights out, then go to sleep. It's the same thing they do when they sleep in their beds which are 1 inch from this floor bed. But sleepovers are more fun than normal bedtime!
- Piano practice.
- Amb-monkey
- This boy reads so fast, I am left in the dust.
- Rose enjoys experimenting with her hair. She and I have a deal: she gets to do her hair on weekdays, and I get to do it on Sundays. Jay likes to photo-bomb.
- One word: CARTOONS. One more word: BLANKETS.
- Rose, running in shorts along the ice-crusted canal--no big deal.
- Jay did the same thing on that frigid icy day: ran his daily mile in shorts. He said "my legs freeze so I can't feel how tired they are." Rose told me the exact same thing separately. Kid logic is irrefutable and universal.
- Heart eyes every time these sisters put their heads together and play.
- The plug on our bathtub has been out of commission for about a year. We have been bathing Amber in a shower all that time. Yesterday I bought a simple 97 cent rubber drain stopper and let Amber take her first long deep bath in a year. She was in heaven and stayed happily occupied mischief-free for 45 entire minutes. I foresee frequent baths in her future.
- Amber begged to wrap some presents this morning, so we wrapped her gifts to Jay, Rose, and Jeff. When we were done, she put them under the tree and asked "can we wrap my present now?"
