October: Pumpkin Patch(nearly sold out), bronchitis, flu, Halloween.
November: NYC Marathon Trip of a Lifetime = In reality, 50 hours to get from Fort Jones to JFK and come home. Turkey Trot (350+ people!), Thankful hearts on Thanksgiving.
October was very full every weekend with visitors to the pumpkin patch. The season ended on the last Saturday, with me excusing myself from a customer to vomit all over the bathroom. I started to feel better around two in the morning, when Bradley started upchucking. THANK GOODNESS, we had made the decision to close for Sunday, prior to both of us being barely able to pick our heads up off of the cool bathroom floor. Thank goodness also for wonderful grandparents!
This Halloween Carter was Captain Hook, Miles was Peter Pan, and I was Tinkerbell. (Yes, 4th grade teachers get to dress up, and yes it took TWO adult tinkerbell costumes plus about eight yards of material to compose a tinkerbell costume presentable enough for an elementary Halloween parade.) Carter was not only dressed to the nines, but also in full character as well. Trick-or-Treating was a lot of fun, and we are still enjoying the last few pieces of candy.
November started off with recovering from the flu and bronchitis, only to have Hurricane Sandy hit, six days prior to the NYC Marathon. Runners were ENCOURAGED by Mayor Bloomberg and the race director to come, so I trudged on with my mom. However, it was about an hour into the first plane ride (first class- thank you Mileage Plus), that I could tell I should not tell ANYONE I was running the marathon as it was a very controversial subject. Upon landing at JFK, the devastation was immediately evident. The airport was not running under normal conditions and instead of taking the AirTran I had to ride a bus to the other terminal, before I met up with mom. As we waited for a taxi, I witnessed as many people being put into taxis as possible, not necessarily the number of seatbelts, due to the gas being rationed. I literally had my hand on the taxi door, with the address on the tip of my tongue, when my phone buzzed. It was Bradley calling to say his Grandma Ann ( who watches the news 24/7) saw that it was cancelled. I decided to just come home. A lot of people were surprised I went, and other surprised I just didn't make a weekend of it. I still went because I was encouraged to go, and I just went home because I didn't feel that I needed to take any more resources away from the city than I needed to. I did not want to boot someone who had lost their home out of the hotel room, and I didn't want to use the fuel to even get into the city. I feel that if you weren't a resident of the city, you really didn't need to be there. It was heartbreaking, but there is always next year. Mom and I had a nice (read overpriced airport meal) dinner, drinks, and retired to our COLD cots in Terminal Two. Rising early the next morning we traveled home.
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Thankful for these kiddos and the wonderful play area my dad built! |
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| Someday they will be taller than these tomato plants their daddy grows. . . |
I really enjoy the holiday season, but even more so when I am "ahead" of the game. I nearly have all of my shopping done, the house is decorated (minus the tree which will be picked out tomorrow in the woods), the cards are ready to be mailed, and the kids are excited! I know that it's not even the first of December yet, but I know this season only comes around once a year, and kids are only young for so long.
I'll close with Carter's list for Santa:
1. Fireman dress-up costume
2. Batman Cave with "guys"
3. Buzz Lightyear Car
Carter interpreted his brother's list, note the similarities:
1. Policeman dress-up costume
2. Batman elevator
3. Buzz Lightyear Truck
