November 2011

November felt like a fly-by month. Now it's done.

The first days of  November will forever be tough for me. Seems, in my life's journey, the days of October 28-November 3 have been designated my trying time of year. I always feel, if I can get through those days without anything horrible happening or any life changing event, I'm good for the next year. Several major events happened over my lifetime and they were often during this time. From the death of my grandparents,cancer diagnosis, to surgeries for my sons, among some of the events,and then ultimately my dad's passing on November 3, 2009. I always feel apprehension, sadness, and often depression when the end of October into the first of November arrives. No major events this year. I breathed a big sigh of relief this morning. I made it.


Looking back over November, the next big day of the month is November 14, which was my youngest son's twenty-sixth birthday. My oldest son (who's twenty-eight) was determined we'd all get together for his brother's birthday. They live about three hours from each other, with our home right smack in the middle of their travel time, meaning we'd all gather here. It made me smile that my two adult sons still think the world of each other. I made a point to foster a caring relationship between the two of them when they were growing up. I am more than pleased my influence paid off. They are brothers, but they are also best friends. Makes me proud! We gave baby brother a sweet little birthday party including sword play (Hubby's new collectable weapon) outside, practicing their slicing technique through water filled gallon milk jugs sitting atop a tree stump. My "boys", all three of them, have never been lacking for ideas when it comes to play of one sort or another. My daughter-in-law even took a turn knowing full well,this is how we often have fun in this family. It was a good day!

Thanksgiving came earlier than I had anticipated this year. I hadn't paid attention to the calendar. I thought we had one more weekend before Thanksgiving Day. I was caught off guard. I remedied that by ordering from Bob Evans for our Thanksgiving dinner, the week prior. My mother-in-law probably shook her head at that, but who cares? She didn't come anyway. My mom thought it was a fantastic idea. Food is food and however it's served, it's the time spent with those we love that matter the most. 

My sons were here Thanksgiving afternoon, and evening,with their ladies. Both ladies have their families in the area and I told both sons to go to those gatherings because I felt it was more important. I told my sons I'd have something here in the late afternoon into evening and hoped they'd stop in. I left it open ended. 

Oldest son has been married for three years now. He and his wife have known each other since they were kids. Youngest son is getting married in June 2012. They've known each other since high school, and she has said she ALWAYS had a crush on my son. After graduation they went separate ways when they attended college. They got back together a couple of years ago and officially started dating. The story she tells is that they remained friends via Facebook chat through their four years of college. They jokingly agreed that if neither one of them was married, or involved with anyone, when they both turned twenty-five,they'd just marry each other! As it turned out, they were probably meant to be together way before they both realized. They were engaged in December last year, the year they both turned twenty-five.

Hubby and I are thrilled whenever we can have all our kids together, and on Thanksgiving Day, it worked out that way this year. I'm a realist. I know that these times are precious and as lives evolve, children come along, time becomes more demanding for all of them, we may not all be able to get together on the same day. That's why I find these gatherings very special.


Hubby and I made one more hay run last week. We picked up thirty more bales of hay. When we placed the last bale I felt a sense of relief. My hay building is full. I am ready for winter! I have enough hay to get through even the toughest winter this time around. The dog houses are filled with straw. The cat is warming by the fireplace. Our new generator has been tested and ready to go should we get any foul weather power outages. We got a few flakes of snow last night. OK, December, and winter, bring it on!