Annual tree hunt

Yesterday we made our annual trek to pick out our Christmas tree. We've been going to the same lot for years and love it there. It felt weird this year, though, as we were in tees and jeans...no parkas and gloves and hats and boots and everything else. :) Weirdly, the beautiful weather coincided with a year when we were able to decide on a tree almost right away, rather than wandering and debating and arguing while we all stand around freezing, lol. Oh well. :)

While we were there, we also managed to take some pictures testing out my new selfie stick. ;) Noah's aghast and thinks we're insane, but I really love my new toy! I've historically had trouble taking selfies due to my shorter arms and this is awesome. :) See?

In any case, we took our tree home and Noah and Nathan got it off the van and set up inside:

(We did end up needing to cut almost a foot off for it to fit in our front room, lol.) So, the tree is up but not yet decorated. We'll get to that. :)

Meanwhile, traditionally, the boys end up having a snowball fight when we get home from getting our tree. Without any snow (and apparently still with the need to do *something*), they grabbed Nerf guns and had at each other in the front yard. (I don't think they even realized that this has become a tradition, lol.) I made them stop for this picture:

We ended up outside for quite awhile...doing some winter watering of pines, letting boys play, putting up a minimal outside Christmas lighting situation (we're unwilling this year to reinstall the hundreds of hooks for hanging our lights that got removed when they painted the house so are opting for way simple, lol). Eventually, the boys biked over to the neighborhood park to play, and I walked over after a bit to make sure they came home before dark. All in all, a good day!

Change of pace

My "bookends" (yes, I call them bookends...it's easier/quicker than saying both their names, lol) had their third JOAD tournament of the season on Saturday. It was down in Colorado Springs. As it was Nathan's turn to make that trip, Asher and I stayed in Fort Collins and enjoyed the day together as our monthly "one on one" time (since we won't be able to do so on Wednesday when we'd normally do it...thanks, braces, lol). 

As per Nathan's reports, Noah once again *almost* set a new personal record, dropping points with his last arrow of the first round to end up one point shy of his personal best. Yeah. He was miffed and, unsurprisingly, didn't shoot as well during his second round. As luck would have it, though, he still managed to place third in his division...the first time he's ever placed! Nathan made sure to get a picture of Noah with his coach to commemorate the occasion:

Meanwhile, Micah shot decently, not setting any personal records but managing more consistency at this distance than his previous two tournaments...so that was okay. :) And, for the first time in the 20 tournaments he's shot in, Micah didn't place in the top three...which was slightly disappointing to him but a good reminder that he's got tougher competition these days.

(Honestly, we hadn't expected him to place at all during this first season at the longer distance. The fact that he managed to do so during the first two tournaments had somewhat skewed his expectations, so this is good for his motivation and goal setting.) 

So. A different outcome than we're used to and another tournament under our belts. Whew. :)

Thanksgiving, catching up

Um, I just realized I never really said anything about Thanksgiving. :) Oops.

We just had a nice quiet Thanksgiving here. I started the day doing the Fort Collins Thanksgiving Day Run thing with a friend from boot camp:

We just did a brisk walk together, enjoying the day and all the people. (I'd never done this run/walk before and was quite impressed with how many people participate.) Along the way, we ran into other boot campers and just generally had fun.

After Kathy dropped me back at home, the boys and Nathan and I just chilled...eventually warming up and enjoying the pre-cooked meal we'd purchased from Whole Foods along with some homemade deviled eggs and mac and cheese (for Asher, lol). We watched some shows and did some family reading and ate some more. Lazy and lovely.

The next day we met up with my brother and his family amid the Black Friday shopping (they were heading into the throngs). We had lunch (well, we did...they kept messing up my brother's order such that they ended up just cancelling their order altogether and eating elsewhere later...argh) and visited and I made folks pose for at least a few pictures:

And that was pretty much that. Nathan and I did participate in some Black Friday shopping, though we stuck with the online variety for the most part. (Nathan got some stuff for work and I started some Christmas shopping.) 

Yup. ;)

Four on Friday

1. Why do I always talk myself into trying to still do schoolwork during December? You'd really think I'd know better by now, having homeschooled for almost a decade. ;) Ugh. Nothing in particular, but I feel like I'm swimming in to-do lists and schoolwork is falling short. (And, for the record, I *did* deliberately schedule less schoolwork this month, knowing it would get busy. And. I know I should still do something because I know my boys well enough to know that a really long break isn't the best route for us. Still. Bleh.)

2. So, Asher's officially a "go" for getting braces on Wednesday. (We had one last appointment earlier this week to verify dental hygiene issues had been resolved and checked out with a thumbs up.) They told him he could bring his iPod and listen to music for the braces appointment...so I asked him if he wanted to do that. His response? "But then I'd want to dance!" So, yeah, no music apparently, lol. ;)

3. Please restore my faith in people and tell me stories of businesses and organizations who actually return your calls and emails promptly and recognize the value of keeping you in the loop if they're going to be late and realize that *your* time is also important. Ugh. Just irritated lately with multiple contractors not returning emails and then not showing up (and not bothering to tell you they're not going to show up, though you spent the day waiting for them) and people thinking it's okay to leave things to the very last minute even though they've had at least a month to set up an appointment with you and then assuming that you'll be available because you have to be.

(That last one is directed at Noah's advisor...who has yet to schedule a meeting with us to select classes for spring semester--even though Noah only has five days of this semester left and even though we were told he'd schedule the appointment with us before Thanksgiving "for sure" and even though I emailed him about it two weeks ago and he hasn't replied and even though I also tried calling. I'm trying very hard to be all zen about it but am offended, if you want the truth. I may go to the building and start stalking him. True story.)

Anyhow. What is it with people?! And, is it coincidence that all of these people I'm irritated with are men?

4. Amid the Black Friday sales, I snagged myself a FitBit (the Charge version, if you're curious). I'm finding it difficult to reach 10,000 steps each day and am much more aware of how inactive I am most of the day. But. I'm enjoying the extra motivation. If you have one and want to challenge each other, let me know. :)

Okay, off to call CEC, meet with yet another contractor (though this one actually has been returning my emails so I'm hopeful), tackle some schoolwork, run a couple errands and then get boys to karate. Here's to productivity, right? ;)

65

Today, my dad would have been 65. It's crazy that he's been gone more than seven years now. I miss him still and wish he were here. Please go hug your loved ones. :)

If you'd like to read more about my dad, please visit this link. I continue to tell my boys his story. :)