October Run

I can hardly believe it's November already - where did the days go? I guess that's what happens when I'm running to keep up with everything, and not quite making it (Run Jen, run!). Things like dates and calendars and a sense of balance fly out the window. Unbalanced though my life may be right now, it is never boring. And I am keeping up, albeit, but the tips of my fingernails.

Home construction is coming along without any major blips except the rain today. So we slogged through the mud to 'clean up' our construction site, tracking great clods of goo as we went. We collected and sorted cans, cardboard, stray nails and a variety of other things into piles and put the cases of unopened nails, caulk, and lumber under tarps. Now, even if it rains all weekend long, nothing should get damaged. I'm just hoping the wind doesn't kick up, or we could be tracking those tarps all the way to Montana. We also have a huge pile of stubby little pieces of lumber that we'll burn for a bonfire as soon as it dries out again. We don't have much light pollution here and at night, it's an amazing fresh air planetarium. I think it will be a lot of fun to roast marshmallows around a bonfire and get the kids excited about living there and then bank the fire and watch for meteorites. Right now, they just complain about the work (although not too loudly). But honestly, all in all, everything is going rather well. All the sub-contractors I've hired so far have been excellent. Our framers did a fantastic job on the basement and took extra pains to level the walls since the concrete slab wasn't. The next level should go up much more quickly.

Trevor threw his first official party last night. He has a really sharp group of friends and they came and hung out in the basement for five hours playing games and watching Nacho Libre and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They apparently find these movies hilarious, but I think they're beyond stupid. Maybe the combined effects of exhaustion and sugar alter teenage boy brains.

The other kids thought Halloween was a bit lame, but mostly because of the rain. They carved pumpkins and we put lightsticks in them so they glowed in different colors. Lindsey's owl pumpkin turned our really well. They all dressed up and we wen't to church for a one hour trunk or treat. It was cold. It was wet. Thank goodness it was short. Then those of us not included in the teenage boy party cave, sat in the living room and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Monster House scared Nathan too much). I thought the light sticks were a wonderful idea, no flame, no fire risk, cool colors. But they have a downside too. Nathan bit one and suffered chemical burns in his mouth. So I'm thinking my wonderful idea will have to wait until my kids stop taste testing every brightly colored thing thinking it's candy.