It's Almost Thanksgiving, Better Post About Halloween

It's so easy to fall behind with blogging. I did the same with my personal journal, but with that, I gave up entirely after going for such a lengthy time without writing. We'll see how well I can keep up with this. . .

Halloween, of course, was a favorite time for the kids (particularly Molly). She changed her mind about what she wanted to be so many times, it was dizzying. Ultimately, however, she decided to be a witch. Keenan, on the other hand, had no choice: we already had a cute cow costume and a police officer outfit bought on sale from last year. So at the school festival, he was a cow, and for trick-or-treat night, he was a policeman. Good thing he wasn't picky. . .

We decided to go to my brother's neighborhood in Beaverton this year to trick-or-treat, but made a few stops at neighbors and friends before heading over there. Our neighborhood gets so few trick-or-treaters that a bowl of candy I left on the doorstep when we left, was still full after we returned home. My brother's neighborhood, however, was teeming with trick-or-treaters. They live in a large town home complex where because everyone lives so close together, you can get A LOT of candy with only having to walk a few blocks. The kids had fun going out with their cousin, Cash who was Batman. Baby Cole stayed home to help mom pass out candy and get "Oo's" and "Aaah's" from all the visitors because he was just so doggone cute in his skeleton costume. Molly is getting a lot better with the trick-or-treating etiquette, but Keenan still needs a lot of work: e.g., do not grab a handful of candy even when offered the bowl; do not say, "What about me?" when you are behind other kids because eventually you will be taken care of; and finally, do not spend an hour digging through the bowl trying to find whatever you think you are looking for and/or looking inside your bucket to see what they dropped in and whether or not you like it. Eegad!

Anyhow, we made it through the night and have just about finished off the candy thanks in large part to myself and Kevin. Great! Just in time to gain 5 more pounds on Thanksgiving! Yay!!!

Defying Gravity

I don't know how long this "Glee" video will be available to see, but I wanted to post it anyways because it was such an awesome musical number. "Kurt" purposefully "threw" the high note, but that didn't take anything away from the performance--I still got got goose bumps. Interesting also, this plot line of the show (boy with a high voice being denied the part traditionally sung by a female) was taken from "Kurt's" real life. Enjoy!

Glee Video

I Finally Succumbed

Getting older is not very fun. Along with the crow's feet, furrowed-brow lines, and occasional aches and pains, comes the metabolism slow-down. No longer can I get away with eating anything I want and maintaining my weight with tennis a couple-of-times-a-week and an infrequent walk. Nope! More has got to be done esp. since we are into the holiday season and most adults gain weight during this time anyways. So. . . . I gave in and joined a fitness club! 24-Hour Fitness to be exact. I didn't think I would ever do that again (It's been 11 years), but I get a great deal through my job at Adventist ($25-a-month) and they have childcare for Keenan at only $3.50 for 2 hours. So, yesterday I went for the first time and had a great work-out. Technology and advancements in exercise equipment seem to have come a long way: Individual tv screens/ipod plug-ins on all the aerobic machines; a different weight machine for every muscle in your body. I was a little overwhelmed in the weight room, but figured out what I was doing after covertly observing others appropriately set-up and manipulate the machines. I'm excited to go back and try some of the aerobic/step/spinning classes. If I was really motivated I would be there for the first class at 5:30 in the morning, but I'm not. I just don't want to be one of those who joins a gym (typically at New Year's), goes for a month and never goes back again.

Last Birthday Before the Big 40!

A few weeks ago (Oct. 16th) I celebrated my 39th birthday. It landed on a Friday and because I had several people tell me to make it a birthday weekend, I decided to do just that! It was a fantastic birthday because I got to do nearly all of my favorite things. On Friday I woke up early and played my usual 2 hours of tennis. Then, because Kevin was home in the morning/early afternoon, I came home and planted some winter flower plants and worked in the back yard. Mom and Dad came up in the early afternoon and we played a game of Settler's before picking up the babysitter to go out to a non kid-friendly restaurant, Nickolas'. I was sad because Kevin wasn't there (working) and felt a little guilty that I left the kids at home, but knew that tomorrow (day after my birthday) planned to also be a fun-filled day.

So after eating a very large and delicious meal of warm, puffy pita bread, lentil soup, and beef shish kabobs, we headed home for donuts and ice-cream then more Settler's. We stayed up until 1:30 in the morning playing--yikes!:)

Unfortunately, the next day brought too much of a sore throat for my dad, so they headed home to Dallas (big bummer :( ). My brother Paul, wife Ellen thought the heavy rain would be too much for their newborn son (6 days old) and opted out also on the planned trip to the Hood River Festival in Parkdale. Our big plans were fizzling out, but we determinedly went as a family up to the festival and although it rained the whole time we were there, it didn't stop the kids from playing on all the outdoor toys and having a great time. We loaded up on apples, asian pears, picked a couple of pumpkins out, then traveled back home in time to have dinner with my brother and family. Kevin fulfilled my wish to have lemon meringue pie and Ellen brought over the traditional chocolate cake. Double desserts! Ellen, the magnificent seamstress, made me a fabulous "happy birthday" banner which I had seen over at her house and must have vocally coveted. You are awesome, Ellen! Here you have a 6-day old baby, yet you took the time to cut and sew a banner for me! That is kindness. Many thank you's!!! And thanks also to everyone who sent me birthday wishes via Facebook, e-mail, cards and phone calls and gave me gifts to go shopping! (Another of my favorite things to do:) It was a VERY splendid birthday.

Kyokawa Apple Orchard







Molly holding baby Cole


Ellen's "Happy Birthday" banner