T-Day

Our little family has a tradition of eating out for Thanksgiving and then going out of town for the weekend. Last year we added the Tallahassee Turkey Trot to our routine. This seemed completely harmless because we had a 5 and 7 year old, so participating in the 1-mile Fun Run pretty much meant a stroll in the park. The kids upped the ante this year though. Ains actually made me run the Fun Run, and Hawthorne pulled Carter into the 5K. I'm a little worried about next year. Considering how horrible a runner I am, I should probably start training right now!

We had a great Turkey Day: Turkey Trot, Gumbo's turkey trot, lunch at Chez Pierre (my first vegetarian t-day), and goofing off around the house. We canceled our travel plans to put a dent in the work we need to do to move our bathroom reno along. (Oh, the bathroom reno. I forgot to tell you about that. Next time.) But today we'll play tennis and then head up to Thomasville, Georgia, to enjoy fried seafood and shopping for the perfect coffee table for our bedroom. It's actually more fun than it sounds because it's a cute little town with lots of interesting shops, a book store for Carter, a blingy store for Ains, and railroad tracks for Hawthorne.

Here are a few pics from the Turkey Trot. Notice the short sleeves! It's too damn hot for November.

Me and Ains lining up with the 1,055 1-milers.
More than 5,000 people participated in all the races.

We came in 421st and 422nd out of 1055. Not bad considering how far back in the pack we started.

We always look like giants when the kids take our picture.

I missed taking pictures of them warming up, so I made them do it again. Aren't they cute.

Carter and Hawthorne came in 1575th and 1576th out of 2,859. Not bad for HF's first 5K.
He said he's going to start training in May for next year.

The finish line. See Carter and HF?
The 5K winner was from University of Florida. He finished in 14 minutes. Wow!

Birds

On the way to school each morning we pass one of our favorite neighborhood lakes. It's a fun lake because it's full of turtles, has several families of Canadian Geese, and has a huge green field next to it that's perfect for playing ball (or was until Hawthorne started hitting so hard). In the spring we like to go there to feed all the fuzzy, chirpy baby geese, and the neighborhood association shoots fireworks off there on July 4, but the fall really is the most fun because that's when all the birds come. I stopped today to take pictures for y'all. They aren't the prettiest pics because the lake is low (no summer hurricanes) and it's seriously foggy today, but they'll give you the general idea of how cool the birds are.

They all look similar, but there are storks, great egrets, and at least one great blue heron mixed in there.
Around the curve to the left there were a bunch of Canadian geese and several different types of ducks.
The white birds were so impressive that I forgot to take a picture of all the others.

If you look carefully, you can see a flock of Canadian Geese flying overhead.
I wish I could add sound effects because they were really loud!
They're in the first picture too but are even harder to see because of the trees.

This hawk was circling the gray sky just above all the other birds. He was the cool loner.

The whole village thing.

When I was "deciding" to quit my job (quotes because I really had already decided, I just needed a little backup info to make it look like it wasn't an insane decision), I talked with a couple at-home moms about financial issues because giving up all that money was (insert your best Dracula voice here) very scary. I got the same thing from all of them: you clean your own house, you save money on clothes and dry cleaning and gas and lunches out and after school childcare, and you just figure it out as you go. I'm now spending more time with these women, and here's what I've discovered. They're either in denial or they're big fat liars. You want to know how they make it work? Money from their families. They get free trips, free furniture, gift certificates for their kids' school wardrobes, great hand-me-downs, and free babysitting. One of my friends even got a free car. Well, not totally free because the strings attached were two high-maintenance cats, but still. None of us do it alone. My sister-in-law just sent Ainsley a kick ass keyboard and some seriously cute skirts and my parents just brought me a packed-to-the-ceiling truck load of stuff. And when they brought the truckload, they stayed and took care of my kids and cooked and built new gates and stocked the kitchen and bought Halloween costume and party supplies and took me shopping! We can't do it alone. And it's not just a financial thing. Where would we be without our family and friends and all the volunteers that make our kids' schools work?

I'm a worrier. It's genetic, and it's worse without medication (which I recently stopped taking, why oh why). On top of that, emotions flow out of me like the Columbia River. Powerful and fast. I laugh a lot and cry a lot, and when I'm pissed, oh my god, stay out of the way. So when I get myself worked up about something, it takes some serious intervention to change the current. But here's what I know. I have a safety net. I know who to call if there's a medical emergency in the middle of the night and who would be there for me if something happened to Carter or if (how can I even type this) something happened to both me and Carter. But here's what I need: the friend to hang with. Because the ones who talked about how great it is to be an at-home mom are all going back to work. Damn it. So I must start building my village, which just sounds a little daunting.  Actually, it sounds downright painful.

You know those women's mag articles that talk about how you need all these different types of friends because no one person can be all that you need. You need the friend who can give you a kick in the ass when you need it, the one whose shoulder you can cry on... Mainly I need the one who is free for lunch, likes to shop, and can give good home decorating advice. Where does one find these people? Carter and I have joked about starting a church for non-church people, but seriously that's what I need. A place, like college and church and tennis leagues, where everyone already has at least one big thing in common. I'm guessing all these potential friends are going to be tied to the kids' school, but they aren't the obvious moms because those moms already have their friends: the other moms who spend all day helping at the school and then lead a girl scouts troop and participate in a zillion church activities in their free time. The moms I want are stealthy. I'm going to have to really seek them out. Yuck. But a village must be built because sexual favors will only get Carter into so many antique stores.

Sugar.

Here are the Halloween costumes and loot and an exhausted Gumbo (who spent hours guarding the house from all the creatures of the night). Ainsley was an ocean princess, but really all that meant to her was that she needed to have as much blue and green sparkly stuff on as possible. This is a really good thing because I suck at costumes, but I can so do glitter and jewels. Hawthorne was a baseball player—again. I couldn't even get him to wear his new baseball pants and belt. He insisted on the too-short and clay-stained baseball pants from last spring. I'm glad they were in the dark most of the time!

The kids had a blast walking the neighborhood with the Stults family and their friend, Erin, from next door. I stayed home and tried to hand out more candy than I ate, but Carter kind of set me up by buying caramel-filled Dove chocolates for the trick-or-treaters. How could I not eat those?! I was supposed to be detoxing after a beignet and lemon drop martini filled trip to New Orleans last weekend, but I just can't say no to chocolate. Actually, today's sugar hangover may go a long way to strengthening my resolve.

The New Orleans trip was our first non-kid weekend getaway ever. We were celebrating college friends' 40th birthday, and the invitation said no kids, so I was coerced. I thought I'd be super nervous, but I knew the kids were in good hands with my parents. I think what made it so easy for me was that the kids were in their element and we weren't getting on a plane. I always like the security of being the one behind the wheel. Never mind that I never know how to get where I'm going. That's why I have my handsome handy-dandy navigator riding shotgun or, in a pinch, a son who is obsessed with maps.

Even without the kids, our trip was very different than past New Orleans trips. Morning runs, no hangovers, more sophisticated food and drinks, happy hours spent exchanging family photos and stories. There's something to be said for getting older. We had such a blast, and it was so nice to spend time with old friends who knew us when we were just becoming "us." Maybe we should start planning our 40th birthday celebration. It really doesn't even seem painful that it's only 6 months away for Carter and 9 months for me. Wow! I think we should all meet at the beach!