Month in Review: November 2022

Main Events

Happy belated Thanksgiving! We celebrated with my parents, Taylor’s parents, and Taylor’s brother and his family at our house. For various reasons, we decided to order a ham dinner from Fresh Market this year instead of cooking everything ourselves. It was a great decision. Highly recommend. I did make a pumpkin pie, and our family brought many other desserts. I set the table with the good china and felt like our 100-year-old house was happy to be hosting a formal holiday.

The best part of Thanksgiving was that C took his first steps, and all of his grandparents were there to see it! <3 He’s been cruising for a long time and walking with support for a few weeks, but he finally took a few independent steps from my mom to me in the kitchen. Not sure if it was a fluke, we brought him out to the living room, where he successfully walked back and forth between loved ones multiple times. It was so special! He’s still not roaming around on his own, but he’s on his way!

We celebrated Taylor’s birthday at the Grizzlies game. My FIL watched the baby so Taylor and I could go to the game together (a now-rare occurrence), and my MIL upgraded our seats. I felt bad that we didn’t do something more exciting, but he seemed content.

My in-laws had a 45th anniversary party at The Medicine Factory, a very cool space that I’d never been to. I forgot to take any actual pictures of them because it was a little chaotic, but I loved the Heather Howle exhibit in the gallery area, especially this piece.

On Saturday and Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, Debra and my nieces came to town for a Three Generations Girls Weekend with my mom. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, shopped for new outfits, and my mom got a second hole pierced in her ears like Debra and I did last month.

On Sunday, we all went to Nut Remix at the Cannon Center, which I love and have seen about eight times. My mom and I wish we could take the girls every year. Fifoo was very into it, while E (my middle niece) spent the whole show requesting snacks. Regardless, we had fun!

After the show, the cousins spent some time together back at our house.

Reading

The Measure by Nikki Erlick (4 stars) A sci-fi novel about what happens after everyone over 22 receives a string indicating how long their lives will be.

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez (4 stars) You can always count on Abby Jimenez to deliver a smart, realistic romance. This one concerns a Minneapolis doctor pressured by her family’s legacy and a much younger small-town B&B owner.

Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature by Zibby Owens (3 stars) This was advertised as a memoir in books, but that part only consisted of a tossed-off list of what Owens was reading at that time in her life. I was also confused by the gaps in her story (like meeting her current husband without mentioning her divorce from her first husband, with whom she had an infant at the time). Whatev.

My Body by Emily Ratajkowski (3.5 stars) This essay collection has a lot of interesting things to say about bodies and feminism and objectification of women. But it’s not a light or fun read.

Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change by Maggie Smith (3 stars) This collection of poems and essays would have been life-changing for me years ago, but now it’s just kind of an appreciative nod.

Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon (3.5 stars) Another romance about a Seattle meteorologist, the sports reporter at her station, and the feuding bosses who bring them together.

Forward: A Memoir by Abby Wambach (3 stars) I saw this book at thrift and wanted to learn more about Mrs. Glennon Doyle. If you’re a soccer fan, you’ll love it. I appreciated her real talk about the many faces of addiction, but it also kind of bummed me out.

Listening

Still rocking out constantly to Midnights. Thanks to the persistence of my sister’s best friend Erin, the three of us are going to the Eras Tour in Nashville next May!!!

Good November podcast episodes: Radiolab, Butt Stuff (this is about our sizing system and how the “ideal” body was determined); Good Inside, Reclaim the Holidays for You; Prophetic Imagination Station, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Watching

Taylor asked me to watch The White Lotus with him (I didn’t see the first season) and now I’m hooked. The cast is amazing. We’re also almost finished with Blockbuster on Netflix, a Superstore-esque comedy about the last Blockbuster. It’s pretty silly but there are a few LOL lines.

Around Town

I took C to his first Grizzlies game (with my MIL’s help)! He watched with great enthusiasm and we were able to stay through the third quarter. I was just trying to make it to halftime, so I was pleased and impressed.

Another night, we took him to a Tigers game in my company’s box. The box situation was GREAT for him. He could run around freely and got lots of attention.

My mom has kept C overnight a couple of times since coming home from Miami early this month. I am very appreciative. Once when we went out to pick him up, we all went to IHOP, and it was a hit.

At Home

We got our Christmas tree! I grew up with a fake tree and have continued that in my adulthood, but this is the second year that Taylor has wanted a real tree. I have to say this one is beautiful. The limbs and overall shape are just right.

Eating

Our wedding lemon tree produced one lemon this growing cycle. We picked it this month and I baked a copycat Starbucks lemon loaf, which we ate on Thanksgiving. I’m very careful and precise with my lemon-tree baking because there are no do-overs. This cake was truly worthy of the lemon and I’ll probably make it again!

Wearing

After looking at white sneakers here and there for months, I finally found the Reeboks for me on clearance at DSW! They’re really comfortable and look right on me, unlike a lot of the Adidas I tried on. I weatherproofed them thoroughly before wearing, so we’ll see how the white holds up.

I also treated myself to a Girlfriend Collective matching set to celebrate/reward myself for my 100th Peloton ride (which I’m planning to take live on Friday)! I got the Tommy cropped bra and the high-rise bike shorts in plum. They were 40% off at the time and are still 35% off at this writing. I’m a big Girlfriend fan and am still wearing the crap out of the maternity leggings. (I can technically get into my pre-pregnancy ones now, but they’re a lot less comfortable.)

I wore a merino wool-type jumpsuit to my in-laws’ anniversary party. I got it in our last clothing swap at church, which is the best way to try new things. It is so comfortable, warm, and easy to dress up or down. I’m sure it’ll make an appearance at other winter events!

Wellness

The second half of November passed in a blur for me, because I got the flu. I started feeling bad on a Monday and shrugged it off at first. Covid test was negative. By Tuesday morning I knew exactly what I had. I hobbled into CVS the next day and got the test to confirm. I worked when I could, but spent most of the week in bed and couldn’t even drop off or pick up C from school. I was tired for most of the following week and still have a slight lingering cough. I can also confirm, having had the flu from hell ten years ago, that it is much easier with a vaccine than without. Thankfully, somehow, neither C nor Taylor caught it from me. We are now in a rare moment of health, which I am praying continues through the holidays. One or more of us has been sick since July (#daycarelife) and WE NEED A BREAK.

Your Monthly Rufus

On Thanksgiving, someone left a door open on the part of the console table under the TV where we keep throw blankets. Rufus hopped up and made himself at home the whole day. It was a smart way for him to be part of the social scene yet still feel safe.