Thanksgiving, Sick, Canning, Christmas Season

The Hunger Games movie was good, though sad. It's hard to see a villain become more evil as time goes on.

I can't remember a lot of the past 2 weeks because we've still been sick. One cold turned into another over Thanksgiving break. I know this because the other had lasted about 2 weeks, then I started over with a sore throat and a lot of fatigue. Our entire break was spent trying to get enough rest while we were there. Because of other family events, it was more possible than usual. I didn't go shopping or play any board games either. Even sitting through the Thanksgiving meal was hard because of the fatigue. We still had a good time visiting with family, though, and I'm glad we went.

We returned home on Sunday to 2 inches of snow, our very first of the season. It was too powdery for a snowman, but there's supposed to be more today.

Not too much has happened this week. I got the rock chip fixed on the van and finally finished canning! Ashley is coming over soon to learn how to do spaghetti sauce. I did apple sauce and some meals in jars on Tuesday. My final count for the season is 144 jars! That's more than double of what I normally do.

I feel like I'm ready to start Christmas-y things. We put up our tree and train on Monday. I've started buying some presents on Amazon as well. Hopefully I can have all the shopping done by the end of next week. I'm still trying to keep things as simple as possible. Not shopping in person is one of the ways I save myself some stress. :)

Presentation, Recovery

Everything went well with the presentation, but that didn't stop me from losing sleep over it and being in a cold sweat all of Sunday. I think I got pretty dehydrated because I was extremely thirsty for the next 2 days and even had to resort to Gatorade to start feeling normal again. I've recovered about 90% now, but I had to spend a lot of time resting the past few days, to the point of getting super bored. I still feel a little lightheaded occasionally, but I'm doing so much better. I cancelled everything on Tuesday just to be safe, but I was feeling well enough to go to the Relief Society activity last night. We made thankful trees, and they turned out really cute.

I'm so happy that it's raining today because IT'S NOT SNOW! We still haven't had a single flake of snow and daytime temps are in the low 50s. I couldn't be happier. Well, there could still be more daylight, but I can't change that.

Today I'm going to see the new Hunger Games movie with the boys. I hope it's good!

We had a presidency meeting earlier this week, and it went well. There's nothing we haven't done before since we've been in there for a year now. I'm really happy that I have all the notes and things from last year, so nothing feels like a big deal. Last year at this point, I was SO stressed because I didn't have a lot of resources to use to figure out what the heck I was supposed to be doing. I lost a ton of sleep over it. Not this time! I'm going to keep Christmas as simple as possible for the Primary and for my family. The traditions that take too much time, money, or stress are going to go!

Time Change, November Glimmers

The time change has been just as hard as I thought. I'm still tired, and it's Thursday. I've tried to get enough sleep, but that's easier said than done. Plus, it's the season of being "kinda sick" (meaning, just having a headache and fatigue), so I don't know which thing is more of a factor today. Maybe both are.

I stressed about it a ton, but we had our first practice for the Primary program on Sunday. It was a great success! Yes, there are some things to iron out, but we made it through the entire thing, which is a miracle. It went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would.

I made spaghetti sauce on Monday. 1 more batch of sauce to go before I finish with the tomatoes! I'm still waiting on the rest to ripen. I'm not done with canning yet because apples will be coming my way from my in-laws. Maybe by December?

I met my friend's twin babies on Tuesday. They are the tiniest babies I've ever held! I can't even imagine having 2 newborns at the same time.

I've been struggling with November a little. Suddenly, it's dark and cold. I'm trying to find the "glimmers" in this month, though. I know it's important to stay in "fall/Thanksgiving mode" and not start anything relating to Christmas because it makes me feel rushed and stressed. It's already been so much better than November of last year. We cleaned up the yard on Saturday, and the kids had a wonderful time playing with their friends in the nice weather. It hasn't snowed yet, and no one has died either. Last year, we had a record-breaking amount of snow and lost 4 relatives. We were also constantly sick. This year has already been a lot better in so many ways.

I'm still stressing about the Primary program, but not as much. The main planning is done, and it's going to happen on Sunday no matter what. I feel a lot better about it. I don't regret all the organization I've done for the Primary in the last year. It's one of my greatest strengths, and I've had lots of opportunities to use it. By Sunday, we will have done everything at least once, so I already know what to expect from here on out (theoretically).

One thing I'm glad I started doing a few years ago in the fall: rereading a favorite book series and doing a movie marathon (not necessarily the same series). As I get stressed about the cold, dark, and holidays, it's nice to revisit something comforting and familiar. I read the Hunger Games and have almost finished all the movies with the boys. I'm also starting The Stormlight Archive again, and I love it even more this time. Thank you, Brandon Sanderson, for being the best author ever.

Dad's Visit, Halloween

I spent Friday morning grinding up deer meat. We ended up with about 30 pounds of meat, which is a lot when translated into current beef prices. Dad visited us on Friday and Saturday. We of course had to get some KFC for dinner. We also tried some of the deer, and it was delicious, not very gamey at all. It's probably because James got a young deer, butchered it as quickly as possible, and didn't overcook it. It was especially tasty with butter and some fresh herbs.

Saturday night, we went to the Jensen Pumpkin Festival. It was cold, but fun.

I went to Halloween parties for both Samantha and Lewis. Everything went well with the Trunk or Treat on Tuesday. It got a little chilly, but we had the right amount of pizza and treat bags. The kids are still working on their candy. I hope it's gone by Saturday because they've been grumpier and leaving candy wrappers on the floor. I'm always glad when Halloween's over. I don't hate it, but it's not my favorite either.

James and I went on a date yesterday to see where he shot his deer. It was good, but I got kind of carsick after a while. The view from Little Mountain was especially beautiful at sunset.

Today hasn't been the best so far. I took Joseph to the orthodontist, and while I was at the gas station, the power steering stopped working in the G6. I drove it home after the ortho to switch it out, but the Yukon had a completely flat tire so I couldn't. Ugh. Luckily, the power steering started working again. I got my book at the library and stopped at Smith's for sales. I didn't have much luck there, but I got Katie her pomegranates there were on sale.

I'm not looking forward to the time change this weekend. The stuff I love about fall has come to an end, and now it's just cold and dark.