Life Lately | November 2023

Hark! The Christmas season is upon us! Having a full week of November after Thanksgiving really got festive things going a little early, IMO. I'm not mad about it though. 

The month started firmly rooted in fall though, and that felt nice to have the season stretched out a tad longer. It was relatively warm, I thought. Look, we were still at the beach at the beginning of the month!

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I always go on a November shopping trip with the ladies in Ryan's family that first weekend in November and this year, I squeezed in a lunch with my best girlfriends before the family stuff started. We had a good conversation about how easily social media makes it feel like we're in regular contact with each other, and I think this is true to an extent, but the truth is that I haven't physically seen these gals in more than a year. In the best way, everything changes but nothing changes, and we slipped into our normal chatting habits seamlessly. 

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Since we're going on seven years of me complaining about Duke's sleeping patterns, I figure you know what you're getting when you're here. Let's just jump right in. I was raised in a pseudo serious Christian home, where my parents made me go to church every week and used The Lord to keep me from things like Halloween movies or wearing earrings, but only when it suited them. So things were a bit wishy-washy but one thing I've carried from Sunday School is that God would not give me any struggles that I could not bear. I guess God has decided that I'm a gal who can carry on without much sleep. I accept that my cross to bear is small when compared to others, so I shoulder it, but not without complaining. November with her Daylight Savings bullshit put bowling balls on my cross like the earrings I wasn't allowed to wear, weighing that thing down and making the struggle a little harder. That is to say, Duke flatly refuses to sleep past 5am. 

I could carrying on this with metaphor and tell you I'm in hell, like I probably deserve, but instead I'll say that it gives us many dark morning hours to appreciate how cozy and warm our house is. I light candles and do my best to get the fire roaring (50% success rate) and get the coffee pot going. It's not all bad. I get tons of laundry done. 

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I love a good puzzle project and usually these suckers take me a solid week to complete. In preparation for the week off I took for Thanksgiving, I bought myself a holiday puzzle, neglecting to read the BIG letters on the box proclaiming "300 PIECES." I set up shop one morning, looking forward to several days of joyful frustration. Things progressed quickly which was a little more instant gratification than I expected, but I enjoyed myself. 

As a side note, this is a puzzle "series" I suppose, in which there are several puzzles available featuring this specific house in various forms of holiday dress. I have the Christmas, Halloween, and Fall versions and I enjoy them immensely, as if decorating my own home for each seasonal festivity. 

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Thanksgiving did not go as planned, but that is not to say that it did not go well. It did! We had a lovely dinner with Ryan's mom, ending the evening with us all piled on the couch to watch both Home Alone movies back to back. 

We set up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving and decorated the house in the days that followed. Every year, I'm worried that it might be the last year that Duke *believes* and I'm thinking the jig is nearly up with that Elf on the Shelf, but as long as he's pretending, so am I. 

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Other nice things -

Handsome pups on a holiday road trip. They're the worst in the car honestly. George takes offense to delivery trucks stemming, I'm sure, from the PTSD of seeing them cruise up to our house and walk straight up to the front door somewhat regularly. Even on the highway, he feels compelled to protect his property from those criminals. 

I take back suggesting Jack isn't great. He is. He just sleeps. 

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Family year books arrived. I patted myself heartily on the back for completing them so early in the year. 

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This is a banger recipe that I'm loathe to share because I'm trying to make it my signature. I'll say it's a good pumpkin bread recipe, mixed up trifle style with cream cheese frosting and candied pecans. It is so freaking good. 

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Ryan was in Chicago for a week right before Thanksgiving, leaving Duke and I to our own dinner devices. As you can see, I'm taking my 2023 health resolutions very seriously still, this in the Sunday of the year. 

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We now have a full dusting of snow on the ground and we're off to the first tree lighting and parade of the season tonight. I expect Duke to wake up absurdly early through the remainder of the year as Christmas excitement sets in. It really is the most wonderful time of the year and I'm committed to leaning into it hard this time. I've whined endlessly in years past that I'm too wound up with responsibilities to get into the cheer, but as Duke casually fishes with statements like "maybe Santa isn't real, mom" - I am aware that the childhood christmases is winding down. 

As with all things I've had to learn in my parenting journey, I expect the next phase will be fun in it's own way, but I'm also sadly aware that as a parent of one, I don't get a second round. 

These are pangs I didn't expect, honestly. I remember when I was a kid, my mom lamenting things like "my youngest is off to kindergarten" and with so many kids in our family, all I could think was what's the problem? Now, as a mother myself who has to lament my only is off to kindergarten, and my only has lost his last tooth, and eventually, my only is done with Santa, I understand the problem profoundly. 

It's hard to close chapters that won't be reopened, or even come with a season 2 with another child. But I will say that, so far, I've found the next phase to be as good and sometimes better than the last, and so whatever comes next, I know it's going to be good. But that doesn't stop me from savoring hard, the Santa magic we get to have for another season. 

Happy December friends! Wishing us all the merriest season yet!