November: the summary

Events I want to remember from November (and a couple from October):

1. The Thanksgiving feast held at my dad's rest home. It was so nice to see him for Thanksgiving.  My mom, sisters, and uncle were all there.  It made it a little easier that I didn't get to have him come to my house.
2. Cooking Thanksgiving at my house.  It was so much fun. I don't know that I'll get to do it again for a while, so I'm so grateful I was able to this year.
3. Playing Lego Rock Band with my kids.  I've never been super comfortable with them playing Rock Band; there were 2 songs I was okay with, and even one of them made me squirm a little.  But now we have a whole game with kid-friendly songs that my kids and the neighbors can play with little squirming.  Yahoo!
4. Meeting my new great-nephew Lukas.
5. Waching Thomas at his patriotic-themed school concert.  Those third graders did such a good job!
6. Making a really cute Thanksgiving table runner that unfortunately didn't get finished before Thanksgiving. But it was fun making it, and will be so awesome to pull out next year when it's done.
7. Finally being able to play O Holy Night on the piano with minimal stops.  If I can get it really good, I'm going to record it and see if I can post it on my blog. Playing Christmas songs was the original reason I wanted a piano.  It only took me two years to have one whole Christmas song down.
8. Starting our Christmas tradition of watching a Christmas movie on Sunday night while eating dinner.  It is such a fun, peaceful way to start the week.
9. Watching Thomas get baptized in October.  It was such a great day full of food and family.
10. My first ever trip to Zion National Park. I wish I could have stayed a few more days to really enjoy it.

People who made me happy:

1. Thomas, who passed off his addition facts today. Yahoo!
2. My much-loved now retired obstetrician, who didn't think I was weird when I invited him to Thomas's baptism (he even came!  I love that man.)
3. All the friends and family who also came to the baptism.  It wouldn't have been the same without you!
4. Janna, for a lovely lunch and conversation.  It's so amazing to be able to step into a friendship after 6 years of no contact.
5. My friend Rebecca, who I am so excited to say is engaged. Yay! Another of my friends who will soon be married. 
6. Ben.  He loves to draw and write, which is so fun to watch. Man, I can't believe he is closer to 5 than 4. Sniff.
7. The guy in the ward who showed Shane how to safely add a breaker to our breaker box. Shane wasn't electricuted. That always makes for a good day!
8. Amy for making the Vitamin Z cd for me. It was so fun to drive home the day I got it, reliving the music that I used to sneak to listen to.  This is the thing about it: I love it, but it doesn't remind me of anything.  No boyfriends or friends or school or anything, which makes me think I must have listened to it when I was in gymnastics and had no life.
9. Some friends from my gymnastics years that I found on Facebook. Just when you think you won't find anyone else from your past, one of them pops up.  I love that.

8 things I ate on Thanksgiving:

1. Turkey!
2. Green bean casserole. It took Shane 9 years of being married to me to like this, but now he's hooked.
3. Brussels sprout casserole.  This took nearly 11 years of marriage, but Shane finally tried & liked it this year.
4. Yams.  Oh, the buttery, brown sugary goodness. Kind of like candy in the form of a vegetable.
5. Cranberry marshmallow jello salad.  Mmm..
6. Thanksgiving crescent rolls. It isn't Thanksgiving unless I taste those rolls.  They are a tradition in our family.
7. Mashed potatoes.
8. Stuffing.  And a whole lot more.  Oh, I'm thinking I might need to make another turkey soon.

Things I got done for that big holiday coming up next month:

1. Decorating. My heart wasn't in it a lot, but I'm glad it's all up now. 
2. Clothes shopping for the boys.
3. Shopping for Shane.
4. Shopping for myself. Oh, you mean I'm not supposed to by stuff for myself? Oh well.  Shane was technically with me, even if I was doing the actual buying.
5. Purchasing fabric for a wall hanging to make next month. Sewing is always a part of Christmas preparation, right?
6. Toy shopping.  I feel like Scrooge when it comes to toys.  It's a good thing Shane is around, he knows what to buy better than I do.

New songs on my iPod:

1. Fetish, Vicious Pink
2. Take me now, Vicious Pink (are you seeing a trend? Oh, Amy, if you knew how many memories these songs bring back! Thanks for putting them on my mix CD!)
3. Lonely is the Night, Billy Squire (heard this one on the Couples Retreat movie, and had to have it. All I can say is I'm glad the missionaries I ran past the other day didn't know what I was listening to...)
4. Read my Mind, The Killers (I used to have this song, then lost it when I got my new iPod.  So glad to have it back!)
5. Vitamin Z songs.  Oh, they are fun!

Things we bought that we really like:

1. A heater for our cold basement.  The old one died last year.
2. Lego Rock Band.
3. Beatles Rock Band.
4. New running shoes.  I can't wait to start wearing them!

Things I plan to do this week:

1. Finish two sewing projects that have been lingering for far too long.
2. Go to the Festival of Trees with my sister.
3. Host the ward missionaries.  This should be fun.

Places I organized:

1. Put all my sewing stuff in a tote.  I love seeing it all organized!
2. The hall closet.  My closets are always terrible.

The one thing my kids love that I got out for Christmas:

1. The Playmobile nativity set.  Even Thomas and his friend Chandler love playing with Mary, Joseph, and the rest.  It's always fun to see my son arming the mother of God with a sword and gun and calling her a "heavenly mother with attitude."  Boys.