Late November

Well, a month is longer than I intended to be away, but better than I've been averaging, so I'm calling the fact that I haven't been here since October a win. Also --how was than only a month ago?Halloween seems like eons ago! I've almost finished our stash of "Switch Witch" candy which on November 1st seemed like a ridiculous amount of sugar for any human being to consume. Yikes.

This month has been busy. Halloween is pretty much a blur at this point. For the first time we trick-or-treated outside of our immediate neighbourhood. The houses were decorated to the nines and the kids even got some full-sized chocolate bars, but I kind of missed the old Italian ladies who still give out pennies and peppermints from our 'hood.

Kids' got their mid-term reports a few weeks ago. The Bug is doing better than we expected her to! I was so worried about the transition from Kindergarten to Grade One, but her teacher reassured us that she's doing quite well. The Bean, on the other hand, is not doing as well as we had expected. There have been social issues with some of the other students in his class (one in particular), so he's been struggling there. He also seems to be adopting some less desirable behaviours --taking advantage of his keen young teacher's "Zen Zone" and unlimited washroom breaks --scribbling out half-assed responses on his work, including tests. We've come down pretty hard on him. I think he's getting the message.

Sometime mid-month I unintentionally stopped taking my anti-anxiety/anti-depressant medication. A few days in I was still feeling pretty good, so I decided to give it a bit of a trial run. I think it's been about three weeks now, and I feel okay. Of course, every time I have an intrusive thought or feel more tired than usual or am short-tempered I wonder if that is why... I'm not sure whether to go back on them or to stay off. Jen knows and I'm sure will provide a consult when I ask her. Maybe I'll talk to my doctor about it too. It would be nice if it were more obvious that I needed them, but maybe good that it isn't?

We had a insane trip to PA the week before Thanksgiving. We decided to leave mid-snowstorm which was definitely the wrong decision. Our 5-6 hour drive took us nearly 11 hours. When we arrived we found out the whole area was without power. Jen did some crazy MacGyver work on the gas fireplace (electric starter) where she rigged up a battery pack to start it, so we did have heat, but we were without power from when we arrived until Saturday evening. Not what I was expecting from our weekend away but the kids still had a great time, so it is all good. I just hope the weather is better at Christmas!

And now it's less than a month until the Bug's birthday and Christmas and all the craziness that the upcoming season brings. It's going to go fast! Lots to look forward to though, and hopefully I'll get back here to share a bit about it all.