November!!!! I think I stand with the rest of the world in that I was excited to see time creep closer to the end of 2020... Everyone was holding out hope that when 2021 came along, things would be so much better... at least so much more normal.
Our fireplace wasn't working when we moved in, so we had a service come check it out. They cleaned it out entirely, repainted the inside black, and got it up and running. We all love the fireplace!! The dogs will literally scowl at us if they are laying in front of it and we turn it off. Ahhhh.... a Happy Place for all of us!
And on we trudged on with online school... there kept being talk about getting the kids back to school, or back to school part time, etc... but Oregon remained pretty cautious and went the 100% online route. I have to admit it sucked watching friends in other states send their kids back, but Oregon COVID cases remained one of the lowest in the Nation, so that was comforting. I have never been more thankful to have married a teacher! Although I felt guilty a lot, leaving for my office in the morning and leaving Neal with all the kid AND school responsibilities.
He was a rock star, seriously.
November started with some good news in that we voted in a new President, and got to celebrate the FIRST woman Vice President!!!! I am hopeful that the state of our country will get better. We made the boys watch and tried to explain the significance of it all and they were like "oh, um cool I guess"
Just a typical night in our house... Neal back in the kitchen trying to shake the ketchup bottle to get the last little bit out, and the boys being weird. Their imaginations always amaze me and how they come up with different things to do and pretend to be all the time.
I started working from home one day a week in the Fall, and with Neal and the boys doing school at home, we all got a day to be together. When my workload wasn't too crazy we'd take afternoon walks. It's awesome that the boys' new school is across the street from our neighborhood. It's fast to get to a playground and let them (and Daddy) work on their Ninja Warrior skills! I was the audience and made sure the dogs got to wander and sniff to their hearts content.
See what I mean? Always in costume, always imagining something... on this night he was my security and I was the Queen. He patroled the house to make sure I was safe!
I probably already mentioned it, but I started working from home on Thursdays... It is so nice to have one day to sleep in a bit more, not do my hair and makeup, and just be home with my boys. I tried to help with the kids' school (although I failed a lot because Neal is the one who knew everything that was going on since he was there since the beginning.... so I just helped get the boys dressed, made food, etc.) and I always had a pup glued to me. Cubbie is great lumbar support.
We taught the boys to play Clue (one of my very favorite board games!) and Austin caught on right away, and became pretty darn good at the game. Owen still needed a partner, but did awesome for a 6-year-old. The concept of "process of elimnation" is a complicated one to learn.
The boys got to go down to Gramma and Grandpa's for a weekend in November. We tried to be really really careful in the days/weeks leading up to the boys seeing my family or Neal's, so we didn't get anyone sick with Covid. I'm glad that we were still able to make the occasional get-together or weekend happen with all of our family. The boys needed the change of pace for sure, after being stuck at home every single day with really nowhere to go and nothing to do.
Poor Austin. For the last year he's been getting bad headaches. They only happen a few times a year (maybe 4-6 times a year) but they are pretty intense and he has thrown up from them a few times. They are always behind his right eye, much like my migraines (but mine are behind my left eye). Usually we can get ahead of them with medicine and sunglasses. Sleeping always helps and he's had his eyes checked a lot so we know it's not his glasses. I'm starting to think they coinincide with weather changes.. pressure changes bring headaches on for me, and they seem to be about the same reason for Austy too.
Thanksgiving... what a different one it was this year. Not only were people being encouraged to not gather this year because Covid cases were going beserk, but I found out my coworker tested positive a few days before Thanksgiving, so I had been exposed. I did an at-home Covid test (because cases were so high, it was REALLY hard to find a place to go get a test) and had to mail in my sample and wait for the lab results. So we had to cancel seeing family for the holiday and celebrated with just the 4 of us. The boys and I made a pumpkin pie from scratch!
We also went out for a walk in the woods next to our house on Thanksgiving. It was the first time we really explored back there. There is a lot of brambles so we couldn't walk back all that far.
Neal found a cool bottle though! And we found a spot where someone had set up a camp chair.. probably the previous owners or their kids. Other than that, just a lot of bramble!
We made a small but yummy dinner! We cooked a turkey breast on our Traeger, made mashed potatoes, biscuits and some roasted veggies. It was pretty simple but perfect for just the 4 of us. The boys had fun drinking sparkling cider out of my fancy glasses!
A few days after Thanksgiving I got my test results back that I did not have Covid! Neither did my other 3 coworkers, so none of us that got exposed actually ended up sick. Knock on wood! That was stressful... counting back days from when I was around my coworker, tracking every single thing I was feeling... not fun.
Well that was our life in November... lots of staying in and trying to stay healthy. The boys got plenty of time to perfect their headstand skills!
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