October 2011 in Review

I had lots and lots of big plans for the month of October. I was going to make a new Halloween quilt. (Check! I accomplished this!) I was going to run my marathon (did it!) I was going to continue running a lot (not really...but sort of. Between my October 8 marathon and my October 29th half marathon, I ran four times. One of those was 12 miles, but still.) I was going to do a big cluster of scrapbook pages to get all the photos from Halloween over the past five-ish years matched up with their stories. (That quilt took me way longer than I expected, so I only got as far as processing and printing the pictures. Oh, and buying a few Halloween-ish supplies. I'm starting my scrapbook cluster today instead.) (If you want to see the layouts I did make this month, you can check them out here. The one about my Dr. Martens is one of my newest most-favorite-ever layouts.) I was going to polish and submit one essay. (Barely got started with the rough draft.) I was going to spend more time with my kids (I sort-of accomplished this. We missed the pumpkin patch, but we did decorate sugar cookies together, do a photo shoot, and carve pumpkins. And I also made sure I got one-on-one time with everyone.)

What I certainly, 100% accomplished is the fact that we ate macaroni and cheese. Several times. And not even the good homemade kind, but Kraft. This was never a goal of mine, but Target was selling Halloween macaroni and cheese—the noodles were shaped like witches, ghosts, and jack-o-lanterns—and I could not resist buying it. Several times. I don’t feel entirely good about feeding my kids the day-glo orange "food" but every once in a while has to be OK, right? And, a perk of having boys: we went through the ten (OK, 15) boxes I purchased very quickly. That happens when Jake and Nathan can each polish off a box all on their own.

One of my favorite days in October was the one before my marathon. We got our kids situated with various responsible adults in charge and then Kendell and I left. Overnight. We didn’t really do anything exciting—there wasn’t even a movie we wanted to see. We did go to the Home Show, which is a convention with, obviously, home-related stuff in it. As all of our home-remodeling energy is gone (as well as our home-remodeling savings!), this wasn’t thrilling, but it was still fun if that makes sense. (Thanks for the tickets Steve!) We went out to dinner, then drove to Layton. Checked out the race finish line, wandered around Walmart, and then went back to our hotel. It was just really, really nice to be away as just a couple, even without doing anything exciting.

Kendell was busy with Brainshare this month, which is the conference his employer Novell does every year. He had to do a presentation this year, which he wasn't happy about, but I am certain he did a great job! The kids look forward to Brainshare every year because of the spiffs, but this year? Totally disappointing. I think he might have brought home some pens and a handful of hard candy. (Nothing like the year when one booth had balls shaped like brains. Those were awesome!)

One of my favorite days this month was with Nathan. He and I went outside one warm afternoon to work in the flowerbeds. Our goal was to get all the nearly-dead leaves trimmed out of my patch of hostas. As we worked together, we talked about all sorts of things. Nothing earth-shattering, but it was a sweet, good moment I imagine will work as a touchstone in the future.

October brought the end of the first term for Haley and Jake. It was interesting to watch as Jake made sure he got straight As—talking to teachers, doing a bit of extra credit, retaking a test or two. I am grateful he’s making the effort to keep his grades up without me having to spearhead the entire endeavor.

Jake also remembered that he loves going to the skating rink. As he is in 8^th grade this seems entirely appropriate to me! He went several times with groups of friends. Two of his new friends are girls, and while he keeps reassuring me that he doesn’t like them "that way," I still wish I could don an invisibility cloak to keep track of these interactions. Jake is teaching me (has always taught me this, really, as the oldest boy in my family) just how differently things work with sons. I worry about different things with him than I did when Haley was the same age. Part of this is, surely, his personality. But it’s also boys. I hope (and pray! Often!) that I am steering him the right way.

Haley was also swamped with end-of-term schoolwork. She read 1984 in two days and brought up all her grades. She ended up with two A-s and the rest As. She’s taking hard classes so that is incredible! The best thing was her physics class, which has been really hard for her, but she managed to pull out an A. Again...this has been interesting. This year is the first year she’s really been pushed by her classes and had to struggle a little bit. I think it’s been good for her to see what she is capable of but also to realize that it isn’t always easy.

She and I also went to a program that the three high schools here put together every year for juniors. We learned about different scholarship options and then talked to some of the local colleges. I’m so happy she is ambitious and wants to continue with her education!

Kaleb’s focus all month has been drawing and writing. He’s still in the cute-spelling phase which I love! He likes to sit down and make books; he draws the pictures and then spells out the words as best as he can. These are always done in secret, with much "Mom! Don’t look!"ing, and then he gives me the book with much fanfare. I love, love reading these and seeing him progress. How can drawings like this one:

 (made just last night while procrastinating getting to bed) not make any mom happy? That is him and me outside picking flowers while it was still warm. He folded it up like a card (only backward, so it opens left to right instead of right to left); on the front is a robot and on the back is a "triangle pattern" and the words "t end." I finally broke down and got over thinking how cute that spelling of "the end" is and taught him the correct way. When he understood, he laughed and said "I always thought that word was T."

This specific October—2011—is one I have thought about for a long, long time. I hate it when people are vague and mysterious on their blogs (I like specific and detailed), but allow me to be vague and mysterious for a few sentences. The 29^th marked an anniversary of sorts, a momentous one, of an experience I had two decades and a bit ago. I don’t know if this will influence my future. I am terrified that it will and terrified that it won’t. I am not who I thought I would be when I imagined myself, 21 years ago, on this October 29^th, and the disparity between what I imagined and what I really am is what terrifies me. This topic will continue to be in my thoughts.

Make sure you write down some of your own October 2011 details!

Comments

[Monika Wright]

I can only imagine that you are better than you think you are. You're a wonderful writer, an awesome quilter, a superb cook, a loving wife, a caring Mom, a dependable co-worker and a crafty lady. But, I do hope that you find a way to overcome what terrifies you.

[Becky K]

I love that picture that Kaleb drew for you! It is so cute. They are so fun at this age.

October was so huge for you. I love that you were able to accomplish so many of your goals. It was seriously so awesome to watch you cross the finish line at the marathon. You picked what looked like the perfect course.

And, a confession: my picture of me finishing at the Halloween half is from the race photography. Shhh!! But I'm glad I have one of me - I didn't think I would, so it was awesome to have one so close to the end!