November

I love November.  November is my month.  I have something to look forward to nearly every week in November.  Things like: 

1. My wedding anniversary

2. My birthday

3. My Thanksgiving

I spend a lot of time eating in November.  I spend a lot of time eating every month, but I don't feel any guilt about my gluttony in November.  Because November is my month.

My November in 2020 was great.  Let me tell you about it.

1. My wedding anniversary: Michael and I have now been married for 18 years.  I scratch my head at this. I would really like someone to explain to me how the years swoosh by me so quickly.  But here we are.  For me, being married to Michael has been 18 years of learning, growing, forgiving, loving, fighting, and laughing. Marrying him remains the best decision of my life. 

We celebrated by getting a massage and sending Kitty to my sister's house for a sleepover.  I also celebrated by getting a head cold. Seemed like the timing was right.  It's tricky laying on your stomach for a massage with nasal drip.  I guess it's a good thing we had to wear masks.  Mine was the perfect snot-catcher.  The best part was when my massage therapist completely exposed my bare backside and kneaded my nekkid buns with her forearms.  At first I was very alarmed at her attention to my buttocks, but then I liked it.  Does that make me weird?   I don't care...it was a nice butt massage.

2. My birthday: Our governor re-issued tightened Covid-19 restrictions that began on my birthday.  We couldn't go out to dinner, we couldn't go bowling, and we couldn't go to the movies.  But we could go to the Chik-Fil-A food truck!  I received presents galore - an electric blanket was my fave - and we ate ice cream cake with a side of ice cream.  My friend Monica took me to the DQ drive-thru for a blizzard and we went back to her house and gossiped like teenagers until nearly midnight.  And my other friend Andrea made me brownies and apple pie and had us over for games.  I received a loaf of homemade bread and freezer jam from my ministering sisters, more brownies from my friend Genevieve, flowers from my sister, money from my parents, money from my mother-in-law, and a load of calls and texts.  I felt very loved. Not a bad way to turn 41.  

3. My Thanksgiving: My sister invited us over to her house for the holiday, but only if I showed up with pie.  Deal.  I made pumpkin, pecan, apple, and chocolate cream.  They were delicious, as was the meal.  My sissy and brother-in-law outdid themselves.  I ate so much that I went to bed that night wondering if I would ever be able to eat again.  We talked and laughed, played games, and had a really nice day.  Man, am I grateful that my sissy lives nearby.  And that she'll feed me.

Yup, November is my buddy.

Accolades and Awards

This is how I will earn my Parent of the Year award.

No one has a chance of beating me this year.

School

Kitty started the 2nd grade this year.  It was kind of a non-event since school is now at my kitchen counter.  But we took our first-day-of-school pictures anyway.

Look at my cute 2nd grader.

Kitty was excited about starting school but the reality of the online learning doldrums hit her pretty quickly.  

But she found a way to cope.  I hope Jeffery will learn how to speak English while she's online.  

I'm not keen on the online-learning situation but we're surviving.  Let's just say that some days are better than others.

But! Starting a new school year always calls for ice cream. So that's exactly what we went for after a successful first day.

 And a few months later we've gone rogue.

I guess this is how we do school now.

Cuzins

I've lived far away from my family for quite a while now.  It's hard sometimes to have Kitty be detached from her bus load of cousins.  Imagine my excitement when my sissy moved only an hour away from my house last year.  An hour!  That's practically next door!  And she has 3 kids! 3 kids!  Her youngest daughter is only a month older than Kitty!  A month!  That means we were pregnant at the same time!  Pregnant at the same time!

Alright, that's getting annoying.

It has warmed the vacant spots in my soul to have them close.  We've had sleepovers and adventures galore.  

I'm incredibly grateful.

More Idaho

Venturing to Northern Idaho this summer wasn't our only adventures to the Gem state. We also made a couple of trips a South-easterly direction to crash at my parent's place.  These trips home are never a disappointment.  In fact, this summer Kitty even managed to score a new pet....much to Booney's chagrin.

We slipped away to Idaho for Memorial Day.  It was a lovely trip.

We did things like visit the zoo.  It was a great time.  They had lemurs - Kitty's favorite!

And we visited the cemetery.  There were no lemurs there, but we did get to remember our loved ones so that's pretty great too.

We had a campfire around my sissy's new fire pit.  I helped haul some of the rocks to help finish the job.  In fact, I'm quite certain she never would have finished without me.  She certainly wouldn't have had anyone to eat her chicken pot pie leftovers if I hadn't been there.  You're welcome.

We also had a tea party. 

And made a Lego man named Jeffery.

And then we had to rush home so Kitty could finish her last day of 1st grade.

It wasn't very exciting.

BUT - then we rushed back to Idaho to celebrate the 4th of July.  Now that was a good time. Even with the Covid, we were able to enjoy the holiday.  

We went to a parade - they didn't throw candy so we barely survived the heat.  

We also trekked to the Indian reservation and loaded up on fireworks.  It's possible we spent hundreds of dollars.  Hey, in these uncertain times, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.  We had a delicious dinner of smoked pork and watched our fireworks and the city's fireworks from my sissy's driveway.  It was divine.

On another day we watched my nephew play baseball.  Kitty got to try her hand at batting afterwards.  She did pretty well for a feline.

And we had plenty of cousin time.  It really is the best kind of time.

And don't forget our pet acquisition. I shall withhold my true feelings about this since it was a dream come true for Kitty.  Her name is Jeffery.  Jeffery the girl cat.

Jeffery was the Co-captain on the drive home.

When we arrived home, there was a note waiting for me from Kitty.  She makes me smile.

And that's that.  Going to Idaho is not a bad way to spend the summer months.  

My Google review is a solid 5 stars.