Happy day before Thanksgiving! I can’t believe that it’s the end of November already. Seems like just the other day I was wetting my pants at the idea of the scary corn maze for Halloween. I think that was over a month ago now. Weird! Let’s see… What else has happened since I last time I wrote?
For the first time in our relationship Kristen and I finally have weekends off together. It’s crazy because after 5 years you kind of get used to having one day off alone to get “your” stuff done and one day to spend together and to get “together” things done. The only time that it was really a problem was when we wanted to get away for the weekend and one of us would have to take a vacation day to make it happen. I think that this weekend will mark the third weekend together and I’d say it’s going pretty great. It’s not without its challenges, but this is going to be really great when the baby comes!
Even this past weekend we were able to brave the Pass and head over the mountains to spend the weekend after dad’s birthday with him. It was nice that she was able to go with me. We actually fit a ton of stuff in this weekend, too! Normally heading home is a way for me to recharge my batteries. Sleep in and not have to clean. Spend time with mom and dad and pick on my little brother. This weekend was full of seeing old friends and running around! We got to see Sara and spend time with her two boys, hang out Liz who I haven’t seen since high school (gotta love how Facebook brings you back together) and have yummy Casa Mia lunch with Michele (minus Pam because of work, booo!) who are in town from Boston to spend the holiday with her family. Then over the course of the weekend we got to spend time with Dave and meet dad’s girlfriend’s sons. All in all it was a great time.
It was also a good way to forget about the eviction process that I’ve been going through with my rental house tenants. To quickly sum it up, this has definitely been a learning experience and not one that I wish to go through again. I’m not a fan of how one sided the judicial system is toward tenants, especially when they’re not paying (yet I still have to cover the mortgage?). BUT, I’m in the process to getting a property manager who will hopefully be able to turn a somewhat downer situation into something positive. My only issue is that I tend to be a bit of a control freak so giving up being part of the rental house and decisions regarding the house is going to be challenging!
The baby front has been pretty quiet lately. For us, anyway. November is typically a huge month for the agency, more than any other month other than June, and I’m chalking it up to Valentine’s Day and frisky activities. By the 20th, 6 families were gone from the pool (which is great because typically the months tend to run from 0 to 4 families on average) but without the newsletter which won’t come out until Dec. 1, it’s hard to tell if it’s because of adoptions or maybe for some other reason. Two lesbian couples have gone from the pool and that always makes me feel good about this process. Both couples had been waiting longer than us so it’s awesome that their journey has moved onto the next stage. In other baby news, though, I learned that a co-worker’s wife is pregnant and due in May or June, another co-worker has not one but TWO grandbabies due next year and a third co-worker was just placed with a 3-year old foster daughter!
I feel like 2012 might be our year. I’m not getting my hopes up super high as I’ve been in this process long enough to know better, but I really think that it might work out for us. In the meantime we’re going to keep planning fun things with friends and family! Deck the Hall Ball in December, our annual Leavenworth trip and CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying soccer in January. Maybe I can even get Kristen to plan a trip somewhere sunny and warm soon. Winter hasn’t even started here yet, but I’m already over it. Haha.
I wish everyone a fantastic and safe Thanksgiving weekend. May you have too much to eat, laugh too loudly and enjoy every minute with your friends and family! If you’re anything like us, you’re going to gorge yourself on food, get about 2 hours of sleep and head out to the Black Friday sales. I know, it sounds crazy but it’s just another way we’ve found to bond. And I secretly love it ;)
