November

 I am grateful for November. We had a tearful end of the baseball season for Brandon. At his last game his coach (whom we love and have been with for five seasons) told us he was going to coach travel ball from now on and was done with Little League. He is an excellent coach and because everyone loves him, the team has generally stayed the same and Brandon is really going to miss his team. Two of the coaches have decided to follow him to travel and one has decided his kid is done with baseball so that leaves one of our coaches, who said he was staying in the minors league and would try to keep as many kids together as possible. Some of them are older and need to move up to majors anyway so the team is totally breaking up. It makes me pretty sad; we really had a good thing going and I invested a lot of time into being friendly and nice with those people. Brandon was really sad and we'll see what happens in the spring. Their last game was awesome though and Brandon had an amazing play at second base. While I was with Brandon, the girls were at Nutcracker rehearsals and Josh was with Curtis at his last game. He also played well and we're hoping he'll get his same coach in the spring. 

 

Then there was the end of the season party. They got pizza and showed Sandlot and Coach Tony gave the kids their baseball cards (he makes them one every season with their stats on it) and a cool personalized baseball. I headed up the parent gift for all the coaches and got them Dugout Mugs, which I thought were pretty cool. Then the other coaches gave Tony a really nice bat with an engraving on it, including a nice quote about coaches. It was all moving and sad and I'm grateful we had the experience and just hope that spring season isn't too disappointing. We would totally follow him to travel but we're not travel ball people. We can't commit to practice three times a week year round  30 min away and weekend tournaments; its too much and we have other life priorities. That was Friday and then Monday the team sponsor hosted a pizza party so I took Brandon to that too; one last chance to hang with his team and now the Cardinals are officially done.

Curtis ran in a cross country meet and crushed it. He came in 8th overall and his school won the meet. I have been teaching piano and all the kids picked their Christmas songs this week which is very exciting. I made copies at school, took a friend dinner, took Kathy cookies for her birthday and talked for a few hours with her and I have also talked with my parents many times. They were in a car accident coming home from the temple and thankfully were okay but shaken up for sure. Then they weren't going to come for Christmas and then I talked them into coming and then it was making arrangements and all of that good stuff. They are going to be here while Josh is out of town and for Nutcracker and my piano recital and Christmas so I am excited to have their company and support. 

Josh had a nice long weekend for Veteran's day and we had a great day together on Thursday. He took me where I wanted to go for lunch and we went for a walk around the wharf and talked and it was wonderful. Nothing makes me happier than being with him. Friday the kids were off and we went for a walk in the woods (Lily said she needed nature time since she hardly ever gets to be outside) and other things that I can't remember now that were nice. Curtis was off at a camp out and so I didn't feel like doing a big family thing without him so we took it easy and enjoyed time at home together. That night was Brandon's baseball party and Josh was really quiet the whole time. By that night he was really not feeling well and he ended up being rather sick and is still recovering. He was so achy and cold and wasn't sleeping well so he was just out of it for days. It made me sad that he wasn't feeling well but also that it took away our weekend and he didn't get the Christmas lights up and I had to clean the whole church pretty much alone and we didn't go out on our date Saturday night and he didn't get to do all his church stuff on Sunday and I had to do everything by myself all weekend; again. He stayed home Monday and Tuesday and while I mostly tried to keep a distance, we did watch a movie together Tuesday afternoon. and that was nice. 

 

Choir is coming along nicely at church and I'm working on gifts now for my family and the ward Christmas activity and then my own Christmas party that I throw for my friends each year. Lots to figure out and plan and I feel like Christmas has really sneaked up on me. 

Emma's play rehearsal has started for The Suessical, which I think is going to be fun. Basketball started for Brandon last night and his coach is super nice. Curtis has his first practice tonight. We are bummed that neither kid got on a team with any of their friends (we were really hoping to match up with the Kinneys especially) but hopefully they have a good season and enjoy it. The kids all did well on their report cards for the first quarter, Curtis especially. His field trip to D.C. got cancelled this week because of all of the protests and that was disappointing but on a happy note we are all excited for Thanksgiving and time with family this next week. 

Speaking of which, today I'm thankful for a reliable car to drive, refrigerators, Snickers, nice people, sleep, books, lovely smelling candles, sunshine, music, how good I feel when I lift weights, friends who listen without judgement, my mission experience in Ukraine (I got to the country in Nov 2001), the scriptures, General Conference, ocean waves, a healthy body, washing machines, love, forgiveness, peace, my parents, how hard Josh works even when he's so frustrated with his job and how well he takes care of my heart.