November is my new favorite

 I am generally not the biggest fan of November, despite the fact that it's my birthday month.  Generally speaking, November in Ohio is a dismal month with few redeeming features.  

But one week into this November and I am singing a different tune.  There's been so much blue sky this week one might almost forget one lives in Cleveland.  Add to that a few significant celebrations and a the continuation of all of my regularly scheduled fun, and this month is off to a great start.

Behold.  November beauty. Pictured here:  Forest Hill Park, Wagar Beach, and Cumberland Park.

(how lucky am I, that I get to spend time in these places on a regular basis?) 

Ivy met a new friend-  This is Mr. Big, Mallory's third horse who is currently boarding with a trainer.  Because he's kind of insane.  But so gorgeous, and friendly and funny.  I'm in love.  Ivy swears she will never ride him. :) We also went to a tack swap, because apparently that's something I do in my life now.  Life is so unexpected sometimes-- but I am absolutely loving being on this adventure with my girl, and so grateful to my friend for this opportunity.

We celebrated the birthday of these two wonderful humans on Saturday.  Officially teenagers!  I treasure these kids- and their continuing friendship with Ivy. Second generation besties.

In news of our increasingly photo shy son:  Had his annual well visit.  He is 5'11 3/4 " tall and weighs 161 pounds.  Needs to sleep more and get more protien but otherwise in perfect healthy.  We just had his conferences and overall he was termed a delight, except in his engineering class where he is refusing to do his work because he "just doesn't like it."  He's put all his academic eggs into the APUSH basket and has raised his grade from a D to an A- and I'm proud of him for learning how to work at school, for pretty much the first time ever.  He's renamed the kitten "Shmeigelton" and he is generally hilarious and now that swim team is starting I hardly see him at all.  But I love him so. 

The big celebration of this week-  Completion of our OEC training course! Nat and I are official members of the Boston Mills/Brandywine/Alpine Valley ski patrol!

Taking this class was legit one of the hardest things I have done in a long time.  I've made it a practice for so many years to simply not do things if I am not already good at them.  Starting at point zeros with learning the full gamut of skills needed for an Outdoor Emergency technician...  I was not already good at this.  Then the full blown stage fright that kicked in every time we did a scenario-  I hate improv!  And I hate not knowing what to do! I have not cried in front of so many people for many years.  Saturdays on the hill just shattered me for a number of weeks and I came very close to dropping out of the class.  But once I start something I finish it.  So I kept coming back for more torment...

Nat was a constant support on this journey.  He too went through some anxiety as we traveled this steep learning curve (we all did, even Tyler, the "principal's award" winner!) but was always ready to encourage me and accept me with out judgement after I broke down.  And my dear classmates did too.  This group of people- they are so extraordinarily nice.  They were gentle and encouraging and funny and kind and never made me feel like a failure for being emotional.

And this guy- Chris- one of our instructors-- he's probably the single person I can credit with me eventual success.  He knew instantly how to to treat me when I froze up-- a tiny bit of scaffolding, a bit of push, no pity-  and after having him as our group leader for a couple of weeks I was able to get my shit together and start having some success.  I  only cried 4 times on exam day so I count that as a win! :) 

These are the faces of people who have just made it through an intense and stressful day together.  While I am not going to miss driving down to Brandywine twice a week (and not even skiing!) I am going to miss seeing these faces all the time. 

Got another big stressor out of the way this weekend:  singing on a microphone!  (this is a very scary photo for me...!)  Luckily it was at church, in a trio, singing Wailin' Jenny's songs, so it was the best possible way for me to have to sing on a microphone.  And I survived, though with a lot of nerves and a few vocal flubs.  By the end of service I was actually enjoying myself- it is fun to lead music with our sweet, appreciated congregation.  I'd missed it.  I almost hope Amanda asks our group to perform again (who even am I???)  But I'm also glad to have this one performance (and the extra rehearsing for it) out of the way before the next few weeks of COC insanity (pretty much a full week at Severance for the Adams, Thanksgiving off, then the 12 nights of Christmas). Life just does not slow down!

In the midst of the craziness, I do manage to slow time a bit, when I'm out in my kayak. This unseasonably fabulous weather has let me get Betty out on the water not once but twice this month.  I am pleased as punch.  And sad that my trip out yesterday (November 9th) may well be the last one, as we will be in the 30s with snow for the next 10 days.  All good things must come to a pause, I suppose.  (not an end!  Just a little time away from the water while I busy myself with holidays and snow.  I'll be back on the waves again before I know it...)

Happy Halloween!

Parenting these teens and tweens is such an interesting journey.  Guiding these emerging humans along the tenuous path between childhood and the rest of their lives- they are so grown and wise at times, and so very very young still. Holidays especially feel liminal right now.  We are holding hard to the traditions that shaped our lives when the kiddos were tiny- but trying to fit them into the spaces left by new schedules and interests and burgeoning independence.  Such it was with Halloween this year.  We made our cookies, and carved our pumpkins, and Ivy and I designed and pulled together costumes- but no family costume this year, or Coventreat or Spooky Pooch or other "extra" Halloween events (due in part to a lack of time and in part to a lack of interest on the part of these teens, with all their studied apathy.)  Both kiddos treick or treated (one always wonders if this year will be the last, if next year they'll decide they are too grown up) but they rushed off to go with friends from other neighborhoods.  Not only did we not have a houseful of costumed littles, but even our own were too busy to pose on the porch.  It's just as well as I had a COC rehearsal on Halloween night (festive and fun in its own way with costumes, and drinks with friends of course).  But I still felt the loss of all of those years of amazing (if unmanageable) homemade costumes, and little hands in mine and the thrill and adventure on their tiny faces and the joy of sorting candy and the magic of our neighborhood on Halloween night.  The years go fast, my friends. 

A tour of Halloween weekend 2022.

School party and costume parade.  There was no way to encapulate all of the cute going on in our building that day. Say what you will about this year's crop of second graders... they sure are adorable. 

Spent the evening carving pumpkins and decorating the house.

... and then the next morning at our final Saturday ski patrol class.  I can't beleive we've made it this far.

It was a glorious day that Saturday and I would totally have been on the water with Betty...

...if I didn't need to spend the afternoon getting the house ready for a party.  Like so much of what I've spent my time on this fall, having a Halloween party seemed to be a good idea at the time.  And, once I got through the cleaning- it WAS a good idea.  Not as big or long-lasting a party as I'd thought it might be, but a lovely assortment of friends came- in costume- and many cookies and drinks were enjoyed.  And the house shined up nicely, and it wasn't even too strange to have a bunch of people in it at once.  May do it again sometime. 

A beautiful Sunday-- 6 mile run...

...coffee with cats...

.... loveliest of church services.

Then off to Ivy's first horse show! 

Ivy and Vio shared Goose and participated in a whole host of events, including barrel racing and bareback riding (which was, according to Ivy, not all it was cracked up to be). It was adorable.  And long.  

But as always these faces make it worthwhile. 

And then it was Halloween!  a bit anticlimactic for me as we'd already celenrated at school, and I saw my kiddos for roughly 45 minutes and 5 minutes repsectively.  Crazy, just sending them off to have their magical nights without me.  

It's the way it should be, but still.

I was grateful to drive through a few neighborhoods on my way to chorus, where I soaked up the images of young families, out with the teeny-tinies before full dark. And at least a third of the chorus came in costume, which made my heart happy (including several singers who dressed in version of "the Christmas Star").  And we went for drinks at the bar where we're now regulars and it was fantastic fun. 

A different sort of Halloween, no doubt.  But not bad.  Life is made of change, and joy always abounds, if you let yourself see it.