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| I was driving at the mall and saw this HUGE American flag blowing in the breeze and it was too pretty to not take a picture. |
November 4 - the reconnecting with people from my past continued today. I got a random call from Barbi Siemon. She just wanted to call and catch up. It was good to hear that she is doing really well.
Steve went to Nashville for his annual meeting with his work group. They had a fun, yet productive time planning for the coming year. I love that he enjoys the people with whom he works.
November 5 - Another reconnecting moment. I went to the polls to vote and ran into Collette. She and I worked together on the PTA at Highland Creek Elementary. It was good to see her.
November 7 - I had a Relief Society training I had to attend, so Val picked Steve up from the airport. It was good to see him and hear all about the planning they did for the coming year.
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| I love the fall colors and the sun was just at the right angle as I was walking into school! |
November 8 - Steve and I attended a temple session where our friend, Tammy, was going through the temple for the first time. There were a lot of familiar faces in the group. That always makes being in the temple more special. Afterwards, we went to dinner with the O'Briens. We always have such a good time when we get together.
November 11 - I spent the day getting the house cleaned up and ready for Avian to come home for the holidays. I did laundry, put clean sheets on the bed, went grocery shopping for favorite foods, etc. That night Steve and I went to dinner with the Boden's. Rebekah wasn't sure what restaurant to use to cater the Presidency dinner. I told her that Midwood Smokehouse would be amazing and she wanted to sample the food first. Both she and Dave agreed that it was the perfect place.
November 13 - I drove to school with the windows down, because the air was just the right amount of crisp. It was perfect. I parked the truck and went to roll up the windows and they would not roll back up. I had to get into the building and to my morning carpool station, so I called Steve and told him what had happened. He told me to leave my keys at the front desk and he would some over and take a look. About 25 minutes later, Steve came walking up to give me my keys. He had gotten the windows to roll up, but he also made an appointment to have Heath look at it then next day. Steve is the best.
We called Avian to wish them a Happy 20th Birthday! They were really excited about being done with finals and going out to dinner with roommates that night to celebrate. They also told us that one of their professors had drawn them a picture of Batman as a present.
Avian got home safely. I had just enough time to hug them and then headed out to a Relief Society activity. I was going as a representative from the Stake so I couldn't miss it, otherwise I would definitely have stayed home to help Avian move back in. It was a good night. We had dinner and talked about things we were thankful for. I found a new recipe to share and it was a hit - see below.
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| Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bites. YUM! |
November 15 - Avian spent the day with Rose at the RenFest. This was Rose's present to Avian and those two really know how to have fun when they get together.
November 16 - The truck was smelling really funky and I found the source. Some chicken I had purchased a few days earlier had been really juicy and apparently leaked onto the carpet of the truck. It was nasty, but I got it all cleaned up. Unfortunately, having the doors to the truck open for that long drained the battery. Steve went and got a new battery put in. Now Tyrone is ready to take on the world.
Steve finished his leather apron and it turned out better than he thought it would. Charlotte has been invaded by ICE looking for illegal immigrants to deport. The streets were not as busy as usual because people were staying at home and not risking going anywhere. It was a really tense time here in Charlotte.
We also celebrated Avian's birthday - FINALLY! It takes time to coordinate everyone's schedules.
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| Our baby is 20! |
November 20th - Avian and I spent the day fixing their weighted blanket. All the beads had collected in the four corners with nothing in the middle. Avian unpicked the whole thing and collected the beads. We then tag-teamed sewing the rows with the even amount of beads in each section. It was a fun project and Avian loves having their weighted blanket back again.
Afterwards, Avian helped me make the banana pudding for the Relief Society Presidencies dinner the following night.
November 21st - Val's car needed new brakes. Steve and Avian took turns driving Val to and from work while the car was being fixed. We also pulled off the presidencies dinner. The food and conversation were amazing. I didn't think we were going to get it done with such a short timeline and no real plan for decorating.
November 22nd - Avian and I took advantage of the 80 degree weather and went kayaking. It was a beautiful day with the fall foliage and turtles sunning themselves on the rocks.
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| So many turtles. |
November 24th - While opening the side gate at school, I banged my knee on the gate and felt an incredibly painful surge go from my knee down my shin and then back up into my knee. I couldn't walk for a minute. In that minute I recognized that God had his rolling pin ready to get my attention further if I didn't listen. I had put off calling an orthopedic doctor for MONTHs and it was now time. I had the doctor I wanted to use, thanks to Andy Barkley (a co-worker who has had both her knees done) so I gave his office a call completely expecting to not be seen until after the first of the year. They happened to have a cancellation that afternoon so I took it. Avian brought me some shorts and I headed off to my appointment after lunch. Dr. Kirkus was very nice! He got some x-rays done of my knees and then spent time talking to me about my options, which were very limited as I have bone-on-bone arthritis in both knees. A total knee replacement is really my only option to get rid of the pain I am having. When I told him it was my right knee that would probably need to be done first he looked at me and told me that my left knee was worse on x-ray. I told him that my right knee was screaming a lot louder than the left at this point so we decided to schedule a total knee replacement for my right knee. The scheduler got with me so quickly and, once again, I thought it would be months before they could get me on the schedule. It turned out that there was an opening in January, so I took it. I didn't want to see what the rolling pin would do next if I didn't take this opportunity that was handed to me.
November 27th was the annual Turkey Trot. Nick loves running this 5k on Thanksgiving morning. As always, he had a great time running and even decided to run home after the race was over.
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| At the starting line |
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| Finishing well within the time he wanted. |
Steve and I got home and started the meal prep while Avian checked in the dogs across the street.
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| I actually set the table this year and got a little fancy. We invited John Latham to join us for dinner. It was a fun, but laid back Thanksgiving. John always tells the best stories. |
November 30th - Avian hosted a cookout in our backyard with all their friends. They spent the night around the firepit talking and having a good time.
Val went to a birthday party for one of her friends and was the designated driver. A couple of her friends stayed the night since they had a long drive to get back home.