And that first week of October just kept getting better! The girls and I made our way down to San Diego Civic Center to watch Anastasia! What a wonderful show! I used to be able to take Evelyn to broadway musicals-- now I can take Ev and Anna and my life is complete. We had such a nice night.
Because my birthday always seems to last more than just one day, it continued into October with so many amazingly fun birthday surprises. Sameen surprised me with the news that she had scored us tickets to the Ellen show! What a day that was. The best part was telling Nancy all about it because I've gone so much, we find it hilarious that I keep getting so lucky to go again and again! It's crazy. And she always ends up getting the short end of the stick by having to come out and tend to the kids and all of my responsibilities while I'm gone. She always makes me feel like it's no trouble at all. This past month we leaned on her a good amount. So grateful for her and all that she does for our family. A few fun pictures of birthday dinners with the Jones and hikes with my friends in my new neighborhood. It's taken a couple of years, but I now feel pretty close to a few girls over here and consider them very dear friends who I am so grateful to have in my life. This month was excellent in that I was also able to spend so much time with my old girlfriends! My dear friend Laura was in town from Utah and I threw her a baby shower. Nothing on earth could have made me happier than hosting this shower for my dear dear friend who has wanted a baby for years!!! It's finally happening and I'm so thrilled. I don't take a lot of girlfriend pics but this month-- be prepared- they will make an appearance!
A dear friend of mine took our family pictures and they turned out wonderful. Of course I was going for a certain color scheme and needed a burnt orange element. Could not for the life of me find that element- and yet I wasn't willing to give up. It was a heaven send when I saw out of the corner of my eye a burnt orange men's sweater on the rack. I swiftly ran to grab it, only to realize it was a size small instead of Blake's normal size medium. Overly consumed with my goals of the perfect color schemed photo- I overlooked the minor problem. On the day of our shoot, however, Blake tried the sweater on and realized it was definitely too small. I was panicked! But then had a brilliant idea! I decided to stretch the sweater out with all of my might- never mind that Blake was wearing it at the time! Ha! No time to for extra frills. The kids helped and we stretched and stretched until it fit! I tell this story for two reasons. 1. to explain the tight fit of Blake's sweater so that his descendants will understand he would normally never choose such an outfit for himself. and 2. because I'm really quite crazy sometimes and I hope that my children will always remember that about me. I'm glad I'm eccentric.... it makes life fun.
Our kitties are doing well. I've had my moments of regret. Many of them. But overall, the level of joy that has accompanied the inconvenience has made it all worth it. The kids adore Edward and Louie. I kind of do too. Most of the times. It's certainly teaching them responsibility.
Our plumbing leaked this month and destroyed the boys and girls bathrooms, hallway and surrounding walls and flooring. It's been a hassle, but we are so blessed to have USAA insurance-- they have been outstanding and wonderful in every way. Because the flooring guys couldn't find a match for our wood floors- we get NEW FLOORS! I'm tortured trying to find the right color for our home. This is NOT something I'm very good at!!!!! But I'm excited about lightening up the floors and picking out new vanities. We will have to stay in a hotel for a few weeks in January- but we are up for that adventure!
This month, Evelyn and I traveled to New York for her birthday and had the most magical time of our lives. Again, Nancy saved the day.....spending five days with the kids- even over Halloween! Taking care of their every need. Evelyn, Jamie and I spent five care free days roaming the city and visiting all of the places I hadn't visited in 10 years. LOVED seeing the 9/11 Memorial which was not completed when we lived there-- a highlight for sure. It was awe inspiring and brought me to tears. Loved showing Jamie and Ev the Statue of Liberty, Union Square, Washington Square, Time Square, Bryant Park, Wall Street, Brooklyn!!!!!!!! Oh wow.... Brooklyn! It was so fun to walk down 7th Ave- eat at La Bagel Delight, see our old apartment, the Y across the street, the hospital Grant was born at, Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Bridge. It was the best day ever! Riding the subway, the hop on hop off bus! SoHo, Chinatown! Dear Evan Hansen, Beetlejuice, Mean Girls! I could go on and on and on. I am STILL on a high thinking about the fun times we shared. I really am. So grateful to Nancy and Blake for allowing it to happen. I feel so blessed by that trip.
I'll close this post by mentioning that Halloween got the shaft this year, so to speak. With the New York trip and the plumbing issues and the stress of it all, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to celebrate to the extent I normally do! But we made sugar cookies, donut spiders and white chocolate ghosts. We had an awesome night at the Boogie Bash where Evelyn and Caylie ran a booth and then Dane and Ryan also ran a booth. Fun to have two kids old enough to do that! We enjoyed Trunk or Treat and dressing up in various costumes for each event. Grandma took over for Halloween night and the kids had fun spending that night with her and Blake. It turned out incredibly fun and no one missed me in the least. So you see- it was a full month and a fun one. So much to be grateful for!
