October 31

Between drop-offs, the Halloween parade at school, Isaac's class party, and the mailing of Box Tops, it was a busy morning. A giant spider on the living room ceiling and a broken front door lock added to the excitement, too. But this evening saw the craziness settle into a sweet level of comfort as we suited up and hit the streets for trick-or-treat time.

In case it's not clear, we have Luigi, a Colonial Girl --who became Bo Peep when someone made the suggestion--, and a Ninjago dude. I made a very late-game decision to be a Crazy Cat Lady, but a dearth of stuffed cats and a bounty of stuffed canines meant I was a Crazy Dog Lady instead. Go figure. But I digress.

As we walked, Adam and I did as we sometimes do on special occasions: we remembered. And in this case, we remembered the six different Halloween costumes Logan wore during his time here with us, from a pumpkin at the tender age of three months to Finn McMissile at five years. And as we watched his siblings go from house to house and listened to the chorus of well-mannered trick-or-treats and thank-yous, we smiled at the memories we're blessed to hold in our hearts -- and over the ones that have yet to be made.

October 30

This evening, we did as we do every year and carved the pumpkins we picked at Pastorino's. It's a tradition for Adam and the kiddos to hunker down on the newspaper-covered kitchen floor, listening to music as they use Sharpies to draw their designs. As is our recent custom, the Little Boys drew their faces and Adam carved them, while Abby took on the entire task solo. (My involvement is generally limited to taking photos and laughing over the sillier moments.)

I feel like I've repeated myself quite a lot lately; probably because after nearly five years, it's hard to come up with fresh moments or observations to share. But I still feel like sharing the truth, and the truth here is that family traditions --all off them-- are blessings. So during this custom-rich time of year, there are many reasons for me to be thankful -- as long as my eyes are open to the truth.

October 29

My goofy girl decided that she wanted to freeze the remnants of her cup of lemonade this afternoon, and the result this evening was pretty darn funny.

Somehow, she hadn't expected that the super-sour part of the drink would settle at the bottom around the straw, so her face as she gave it a first vigorous lick was hilarious. She then embarked upon a monologue about the experience that had both of us snickering.

A lot of life isn't funny at all, so the moments that are... those are the ones to deliberately remember.

October 28

I was transcribing data from a receipt earlier today when something unusual happened. I rarely look at anything other than the total and date, but somehow, the extra text on this one caught my eye:

Given numerous recent situations that have arisen in my life of late, these words from Hebrews were incredibly --amazingly-- apropos.

Much easier said than done, of course, but the reminder was as needed as it was flagrant.

October 27

I first met Nikki four years ago when Brady and her oldest son were in preschool together. I realized earlier today --after I took this picture following our walk-the-park/coffee get-together-- that I'm not sure I've ever written about her. And that truth is utterly ridiculous because at some point along the way, she became one of my closest friends. So here we go.

What can I say? I like and appreciate so many things about this girl. Though I don't love that she's actually younger than me (unlike almost all of my other friends), she's faced some tough challenges, so she's something of an old soul. She's also funny and self-deprecating, which as a fellow self-deprecator who likes to think she has a decent sense of humor, I find totally amusing. And she's a checker-in'er. I was telling her just the other day that I know that she'll text me to ask how I'm doing if she knows something big is happening or if she feels like something may be off; not a lot of people do that for me, so I'm always grateful to hear that ping.

I'm sure she's probably all kinds of embarrassed about now, but it all needed to be said, especially since her birthday is tomorrow and she's been a gift to me. Happy slightly early birthday, Nikki! Love you!

October 26

This is literally the only photo I took today so it's my winner by default. Fortunately --as weird as it seems even to me-- it works!

This is the inside of my favorite Starbucks; the one where they know my name and get my drink ready for me as soon as I walk in the door. (Yeah, I know.) It opened today after a 10-day renovation, so needless to say, it looked nothing like this 10 days ago.

I'm really not someone who likes change very much. At all, really, especially when it's change for the sake of change (and not for any practical reason). So I was kind of surprised when I wasn't immediately repulsed by the changes; in fact, I kind of like it.

It's good to be adaptable, because change is guaranteed in human life. So for my unexpected burst of flexibility, I'm thankful.

October 25

I've been thinking about perspective a lot lately. I know that's something of an amorphous topic but stay with me for a sec while I (try to) tease it out.

These are my glasses:

Aside from improving my vision (a little bit), they literally change the way I view the world: people, situations, pretty much everything looks different when I wear them.

These glasses may make everything clearer for me, but they do nothing for Abby because she has an entirely different prescription. So what's my point here? It's this: just because something seems entirely clear to me doesn't mean that it's clear to someone else. I know I forget that all the time; I'll interpret an action (or lack of action) to mean one thing, when it reality, it was intended to mean something else entirely. So, to sum it up, it's incredibly important to remember that because we all have different prescriptions, we also must be full of grace -- and willing to extend it when we don't see eye to eye with someone else.