It was another full weekend, though as usual there was space for downtime too. I finished my “Quilt Barn” 1,000-piece puzzle (pictured). This took some effort toward the end as I faced down about 150 pieces of nearly identical orange leaves. But I persevered. I also read another 30 pages or so in the Janet Browne 600-page Darwin biography. I am intrigued that this is condensed from a larger two volume biography but I think 600 pages of Darwin is probably enough for me. He’s about to get the invite to go on his famous voyage so, exciting times.
On Friday night my husband and I did a “date” of sorts to go to the gym together. I ran two miles and lifted and he probably did something similar. Then we made pizza at home with our 15-year-old (the 17-year-old was out somewhere and the little boys had eaten with our babysitter).
On Saturday I got up to go to a rehearsal for our All Saints Sunday music — my church choir sang Eleanor Daley’s Requiem, which is a truly lovely piece. You can hear us singing it at this livestream link (scattered through the service, but starting about 25 minutes into the livestream) which will be up for a day or two. Usually those are then archived so you can listen to the Nov 1 service if you’d like. I’m in the front row in front of the organ 🙂
Anyway, we rehearsed until about 11, and then I went home and took the 6-year-old to a Halloween/birthday party at a local playground. This is one of my favorite sorts of parties on a nice day. Very chill. The kids were mostly in costume but the adults were a mixed bag. However I was totally impressed by one dad who was in a full Tin Man costume. Head to toe – amazing.
Meanwhile my husband was doing his 12-mile long run to prep for an upcoming race. When he got home I went for a much shorter run on a nearby nature trail (3.5 miles). Then he took our two little boys to a batting cage to practice, which I think paid off for their games the next day.
I took the 15-year-old to meet some friends, and the 17-year-old drove off to meet up with some of his. Then after dinner my husband and I took the two little boys out. The 11-year-old was a giant inflatable dinosaur, which is always a great costume. Everyone remarked on it. He did have to dis-inflate and then re-inflate after we got in and out of the car each time. We hit a few neighborhoods that are good for trick-or-treating (ours is not, alas. Up the hill, dead end road, houses set back…). We even saw the 15-year-old while we were out, and said hello to various folks. It was a good time. Then we came home and relaxed and watched more of that BBC Evolution show with popcorn. I fell asleep at like 10:30.
The clocks fell back and so I got a ridiculous amount of sleep Saturday night. I got up and went to church and sang the requiem. No one else was with me as there were various other things going on — a birthday party, a double-header flag football game. Then it was our usual Sunday show of activities: tennis lessons, plus two baseball games. I took the 6-year-old to his, which was really cute. He’s gotten much better at hitting the ball. One of the coaches had arranged for walk-up music, so when every kid approached the plate the “announcer” would say their name and number and then my son’s music was that “Jump Around” song from House of Pain. I think that was appropriate after the amount of candy he had eaten in the previous 24 hours.
And then it was dark at 5 p.m. So there’s that. The 17-year-old and 11-year-old went to Scouts together. The 11-year-old was starting to feel it at this point (tennis lesson, then a full baseball game) but I did point out that he had two hours between baseball and scouts to just sit there and play video games. It was not a short amount of time.
Anyway, it is November! I think this is an under-rated month. We start with peak autumn color here. That will likely be gone by two weeks in, but then you start the coziness of the holidays, when it’s all still anticipatory and fun. I have a few things I’m looking forward to.
First up is Best Laid Plans Live! Sarah started this conference back in 2023, and I enjoyed it so much I started co-hosting with her the next year. We’ll be bigger (more attendees!) and better (we are more experienced) than ever this year. Plus it’s fun to see some repeat attendees year to year. I’m looking forward to getting started on my goals list for 2027.
I also plan to attend an Olivia Rodrigo concert in Philly and with any luck make it to the Philadelphia Miniatures Show too. I’m trying to make a list of things I might “need” for my miniature scenes (ha) so I don’t go overboard. Both the nursery and the library could use some building out.
I’ll give a speech in Atlanta (I always love in person speeches!) and I hope to finish the manuscript of Golden Hours by the end of the month.
I will most likely get to see two old friends from college — one is coming to visit me while she’s at a conference in Philly and then I’ll see the other while visiting NY.
Speaking of which, I’ll spend a few days in NY with my 19-year-old who wants to go there while he’s back for Thanksgiving (he’s home for about 10 days so it works). I’ll eat at Her Place Supper Club with my husband and two older boys. And hopefully will start on the holiday fun list.
As for annoying tasks on my November list…I need to get a new mattress. Truly, it is time.
What are you looking forward to?
November is a big month here. Both my husband and I have out birthdays in November and we typically plan a nice dinner out in NYC for one of the weekends near our birthdays (usually closer to mine since I have been at BLP Live over his birthday the last few years). My college kid will be home for the first time over Thanksgiving and I know we are all looking forward to that. And while he is home we will make out annual pilgrimage to see NYC Ballet dance The Nutcracker, so definitely kicking off the holiday season.