Since November 5....

Oh my goodness...where have I been?  It has been nearly a MONTH since I last posted anything.  My poor dad must be going through withdraws for lack of pictures.  Of course, if he were on Facebook or Instagram or had a cellphone to which I could send him pictures of Eddie like *everyone else* then I wouldn't have to post anything here.

Except...I should post stuff here because while pictures 'tell a thousand words' I can't take a picture of my brain so you'd never know what I've got to say.  Someday I'd like to use one of those blog-to-photo-book services and order a hardcopy of this thing to keep foreverandever as a journal.  So blog I shall.

This will be short because I want to get some work done today.  I have a self-imposed deadline of 12/31 for submitting my second chapter to my professor.  For now I'll ignore the fact that he sent back revisions to the first chapter back in the summer and I've not made any changes to it yet.

Since November 5 when I last posted:

The dogs are obsessed with Nina Kitty. If you say "meow" or "kitty" around Taters then he BOLTS to attention (if he isn't already on kitty patrol) and runs to her room to see her. Her litter box and food are in the laundry room so she's in there a lot. I don't blame her since there are high places to keep away from the dogs and a sunny window sill with a blanket on it for napping.

I made 23 pints of roasted salsa verde using the zillions of green tomatoes from the garden. It's gooooooooooood.  And now there are only carrots and chard left in the garden.

Ruby got sick with bloody stool, vomiting, and no appetite for a week. After $700+ in vet bills she recovered on her own without intervention beyond antinauseau and antibiotic shots and lots of xrays. There was a blockage but we never figured out what it was.

I did a small honey harvest with John a few weeks ago. We only got 18 quarts this time.

Dave bought us a phone holder for the vent in the car. I LOVE IT. I used to set my phone behind the steering wheel so I could use speaker phone. But this is easier and I can take selfies! Haha.

I'm now the in-law driver, taking my MIL and FIL on the two hour drive to Santa Rosa for medical appointments and shopping. I took this picture on the way to pick up John for one such trip. Sometimes I feel a touch resentful that I have to spend my time doing this, but it IS one of the reasons we moved up here--someone has to step in to care for aging parents and there's no one else around to do it. And at the end of the day I am glad that person is me because I wouldn't want them to have to pay someone else to do it.  At least they buy me lunch and a Starbucks treats for the drive home!

Eddie had Veterans Day off of school and a few days later stayed home sick with a slight fever, body aches, no appetite, and sleepiness. Dave kept him home one day I stayed home the next to give him a healthy 24 hour buffer before returning to school.  It was nice to spend extra time with him, even if he was sick for most of it. Once he recovered, I took him to the park. It was about 50F outside and he still insisted on wearing shorts. I was amazed that I convinced him to wear a sweater. This picture commemorates his first Superman swing experience--my favorite as a kid.

Eddie wanted me to take him on a walk around the neighborhood to see the houses that are for sale. (Anyone want a $400k cottage or a $1.25m multilevel house both with ocean views?) He didn't want to walk so I suggested a stroller ride. He pointed out, "But I'm a BIG BOY and strollers are for babies!" So we settled on the wheelbarrow instead.

Notice his Hulk shirt. I got this for him as a surprise addition with one of Dave's recent Old Navy orders.  HE LOVES IT. For about two weeks, I washed that thing every other day for him. One night I promised to wash it when he went to bed. About 40 minutes after saying goodnight we could still hear him in his room singing, laughing, reading to himself. Dave and I were talking in the kitchen and we hear Eddie yell, "HEY GUYS! ARE YOU WASHING MY HULK SHIRT?!  AND KEEP IT DOWN IN THERE!  I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!"  It cracked us up.

On Monday, 11/18 we tried to get Eddie to ride the bus. He refused. But the next day he rode it like a champ. And has every day since then. WOOOOOOOOOO! I used to drive him to school at 7:45 am and would get back to Gualala at 8:30 am. Now he's on the bus at 7:15 am and I don't have to get to work until 8:30 am. I've spent that extra time eating a hot breakfast, going grocery shopping, or getting to work early.

The dogs are still obsessed with kitty.

Eddie had no school for Thanksgiving week so we took him to Disneyland for the first time. It was a looooooooooong drive but we survived. Don't worry--we were stopped in traffic at a light when I took the picture.

Our Costco Disney package included character dining passes so we had a special Thanksgiving lunch at Ariel's Grotto. Eddie wasn't too keen on the food, but seeing the princesses was a hit.  "Mama, are they REAL princesses?"  Of course, Eddie.  =)

For Thanksgiving dinner, we ordered pizza and salad room service and watched Kung Fu Panda. They boys are holding up teeny tiny Tabasco bottles that came with the pizza.

I realized that my 32nd Thanksgiving was the first ever without my mom--I'd had Thanksgiving with her every single year--throughout childhood (obviously), college, and grad school. She loved relaxing as much as she hated cooking so I'm sure she would  have approved of our room service decision. 

Eddie's favorite ride was Autotopia. I have NEVER seen him so happy in his entire life. 

When we got back from Disneyland, we started bringing Nina into our room at bedtime. She sleeps on a pillow near my head and LOVES the extra attention.

Well, she likes the human attention anyway...the dogs still love staring at her. She was purring loudly in this picture so I know the gawking dogs don't bother her much.

Annnnnnnnnnnd that's what we've been up to!  I'll  be back again soon...but maybe not until the end of month after I've emailed off this next chapter.