October stuff.

One thing that rubbed me the wrong way this year was the lack of summer. A two week trip to Maine gave 13 days of rain and two partly cloudy. Spencer was a little better not the summer we're used to. I held onto a hope all of July and August that autumn would recharge me for winter. It never happened.

Instead?

This was my morning greeting from Mother Nature in early October.

I am bracing myself for a difficult winter weather wise. I have only heard of the snow these parts of NY are known to get. We have never bothered to upgrade our shovel to a snow blower because we've always gotten by on the manpower between us.

Honestly? I still have a pair of snow shoes still tied together in it's packagingthat I got 5 years ago for Christmas. I could dig getting some poles and taking to the trails a few times this winter. But not in OCTOBER!

Whatever. Bring it bithces. I'll take the good with the bad because I'm hardcore like that.

In other news, Sydney has gotten the part of Gretel in her school play. Though, in my opinion, the sissified version they will be putting on is a far cry from the tale that was originally written. Ah well, I guess our kids don't really need to worry about some crazy bitch in the forest shoving them into an oven and eating them.

I have even more news to report if you can believe that! J is all but one week away from presenting his thesis and "discussing" his graduate work with his committee. They will grant him worthy or they will not. The not part is just more of a scare tactic to keep people in check. Not a lot of people go through this process completely and walk away empty handed. He's all but finished with his degree and we are about to enter into preparation phase number II. His post doc starts December 1st! WOOT! I am so proud of him. What an accomplishment.
Halloween was fun. We had a great time trick or treating with the girls. Abby was a little annoyed with all the walking but managed it if only for the reward. Candy is the bestest thing in the whole world when you're a kid. And we got TONS of it.

Which only scratches the surface of the sugar consumed by this family in the past two weeks since we also had a birthday celebration in there as well.

Ugh! I managed to maintain my weight loss but no progress to speak of. I started a serious celery eating phase yesterday. No more Goldfish and mindless snacking until Thanksgiving. Then I'll be a little more....giving.

Speaking of birthdays, Emily turned three! THREE! I am the most shocked about how quickly the years are flying by at our house. It's probably because we are so sleep deprived and delirious. She is totally potty trained now though. Score one for mom and I have begun socializing them (finally!). I make them sound like pets but truth be told, Emily has a slight problem interacting with children her own age and being able to cope and move on to something new when something gets sticky with another kid. Her only reaction is to retreat. She insists we leave RIGHT NOW. And I am a pussy mom because I bend to her will with a single look. I am not comfortable enough in that place to allow a melt down.

So now I'm wrapping this up in a really poor way but I'm tired of blogging right now and I only have so much time in my day. But there's a run down of the latest. More to come...