My last post left us just a few days prior to trick-or-treating, and now we’re on the last day of November, having cruised through Thanksgiving and being thrust into the hectic holiday season. Time sure does fly!
November was an eventful month. The energy surrounding the presidential election was exciting, and even the kids got into it. On that day, we went and voted, toted the kids around to an Earth Scouts meeting, and later yoga, then came home to watch the drama unfold on TV. Flo colored in a map of the electoral votes as they came in, and I went about our nightly activities with the television keeping tally in the background. It was definitely exciting to be part of such a historical election. Flo said she knew all along that Obama would win, and I said he had to win, just so I could hear Joe say his name… Bawak Abama!
This month also brought a new source of nourishment to us. We had been participating in a local organic produce co-op for a bit, and delivery was just down the street to our friend’s house. After a few weeks, it became apparent that her front porch would not accommodate the task of sorting produce at midnight in the cold of winter, so we decided to reroute delivery to our garage. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now, and aside from the one very late night once a week, it’s been a treat having access to such great produce. It’s really helped our grocery bill, the time we have to spend going to the grocery store, and has got us eating a greater diversity of fruits and veggies.
We rounded out the month with a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home. We made some nice stuffed squash, bean soup and a pumpkin pie. We just enjoyed some time to have nothing on our schedule and hang out together. In the evening we took a ride around town to see how many people already had their holiday decorations up. We were surprised to see people camping out in front of our local Best Buy store, apparently awaiting its opening the next morning. I’m not sure what it was that would inspire someone to do that. I speculate some new video game or gadget, or the promise of some exceedingly good discount.
To join in that consumer-induced, shopping energy, we decided to go out on Black Friday, to get a couple things for Joe for Christmas. My mom watched him for the afternoon, so it gave us an opportunity to just look around without Joe’s predictable commercially-induced anxiety attacks. Thankfully, we didn’t have much of a shopping list, so the crowds weren’t much of an obstacle.
Finally, as we say good-bye to November, and get in gear for the festivities of December, we joined a group of homeschooling mom’s for an evening of baking cookies and socializing. Flo came along to help with Zofia, but enjoyed playing with our host’s daughter more than wrangling her little sister. Social outings are definitely a little more challenging with a one-year old, but it was fun to see friends.
So, with just one month left in the year, we’ll try to soak in the spirit of the holidays and enjoy yet another season of anticipation and joy with our kids!