November 2016

We all remember November 2016, right?  It's the month where most peoples' expectations of how 2017 would be were flipped over.  The best thing I can say about that day is that I was able to vote with my girl and show her a belief in a process...however corrupt it might be, it's not worth abandoning altogether.

The most memorable day in November to me was the day of the baby shower.  Two wonderful ladies in my life put together a day that I cannot imagine every forgetting.  It started off with the kind of stress that made me just unload in tears upon arrival.  There were not one but two parades running through the city in between our home and the restaurant, which mind you is no more than a mile down the street, and we were late.  And if you know how badly I wanted to enjoy the entry experience at one of my favorite restaurants wherein there would be warm scones and jam, you'd understand the stress I was experiencing as Erwin did his absolute very best to get us as close as possible, and then me and S had to just walk the rest of the way.  Sanaa, who was very hungry, was a trooper, and when we got there, I just broke down in tears in the arms of a good friend.  But then, I jumped into it and had two not so warm scones!  :)

A few very close friends were missing, but the people who gathered to celebrate me and my munchkins, and who promised to be great role models for them and be there when they need them, humbles me.  It was one of the most magical afternoons ever in my life.

But lest this get too sentimental, I encourage you to laugh with Sanaa, who is perennially silly, as you can see in the below video.  And a few pics are here.

October 2016

A very important thing happened this month: I turned 40.  And it's true all the articles I read when I was in my 20s and 30s.  The 40s do feel great.  In honor of that, I've taken the liberty of making the above picture one of me, rather than S.  The Mister and the Miss joined me at the office for my birthday and took it.  The little Miss is somewhere in that belly...almost ready to come out.

October was a time for fall and S settling into the school we plan for her to be at for the next 10 years, through 8th grade.  We just fell in love with this school.  Its approach and candor about diversity issues, its amazing vegetable/fruit/herb garden, and the love the teachers seem to have for their work.  There are days she liked it, days she didn't.  And the adjustment period of finding new friends and missing old routines, friends and expectations.

And of course, Halloween!  This was the year where she was more forthcoming about going to ask for candy.  That blossoming was fun to see.

Here are a few pics.