3 Years, 32 Weeks.
My, my! What a long, crazy, busy week! Where to begin, where to begin?
I guess from where we left off last time.
- Friday afternoon was the start of Thanksgiving break for Braelyn, so she and the rest of the school were dismissed at noon. The twins and I picked her up and then headed to the Science Center, for lunch and some fun play, dropping Maddy off at Tangie's office so she could take her to our pediatrician for a follow up appointment from her hospital visit the week prior. Everything turned out fine and we continued towards our weekend plans.
- Sabbath we went to church and attended Sabbath school. We headed home for lunch and then packed the kids up for their trip to Avon Park. Originally we had planned for my parents to come up for the weekend; they were going to watch them Sunday evening as we were joining the Grodacks to attend Florida Hospital's Golden Gala. The grandparents were also invited to come up and join them for Thanksgiving, so that would mean two trips to Orlando in less than a week. So rather than doing that, they were agreeable with the idea of taking the kids for a few days there in Avon Park, then coming up to spend the holiday here. We would work out the travel details as there were several vehicle exchanges that needed to happen. I drove the children down that afternoon and got them settled, leaving the minivan while I took Dad's car back to Orlando. Tangie had met up with Jennifer for dinner and then the two met up with Corey to see the new Hunger Games movie, me meanwhile met up with the respective husbands back at Duncan's to hang out and catch up.
- Sunday morning, instead of sleeping in like most parents would've done when they're without their children, we got up and started cleaning and doing some projects around the house. I had been invited by a group of CRNA's and orthopedic reps from Florida Hospital Waterman to join in their golf tournament at 11 that morning, held at Forest Lake, so really close by. Tangie went out to do some shopping, getting her nails done for the gala that evening. We headed over to the Grodacks at 5, where we had a quick photo session in their backyard before driving down to Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. This event is Florida Hospital's big annual fundraiser, and since it was a black tie event, everyone was dressed to the nines. I was particularly blown away by my amazing date who looked absolutely drop dead gorgeous and was a total knockout; I kept asking myself how I ended up snagging her! We saw many of our friends there, including the Zbaraschuks, Deiningers, Reiners, and Clarkes, and enjoyed the dinner and program, including entertainers Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight. And since this was a fundraiser, there was a lot, and I mean A LOT of money floating around, in both the silent and live auctions. I mean, $10K just to attend the Sunday at the Master's golf tournament?! Oh well, at least it was for charity. Certainly a fun time, we're thankful for the invitation from the Grodacks. But then the evening turned horribly wrong, and ended in devastation, as our Broncos, who were up 24-0 at halftime, gave up their lead and ended up losing to the Patriots in overtime. Since Corey is a die hard Pats fan, we had promised each other we would not look at score updates during the Gala, as we were going to watch the game together afterwards back at their place. So when we got back Tangie and I changed into our pj's and headed over, so I could spend the next 2 hours in euphoric frustration. By the time Brady brought his team back to take the lead I knew it was over, and politely excused myself home. It was a big blow, considering that I am unequivocally against everything that is Tom Brady. But thanks again to Papa Dave who, in his steadiness and calm, reminded me it was better to lose to them now than in the playoffs. I just hope the next time we meet will net a different result!
- Monday and Tuesday felt pretty weird with not having the kids at home. Eerie is the correct term, the house was so quiet! I kept thinking something was wrong! Anyway, I continued on our house projects: Christmas cards, decorations, mowing the lawn, weeding, installing curtain rods, etc. etc. It also gave me some time to work with my health coaching job in peace. Tangie worked a full day on Monday and half on Tuesday, dropping the KIA off for some maintenance, me picking her up and then running errands for Thanksgiving supplies and dinner together.
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| Finishing up our holiday cards to send out. |
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| Bringing out the holiday decorations. |
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Bumped into none other than Corey and her brood at Costco.
This is photographic proof that she does, in fact, go out and do this all by herself!
I, on the other hand, was kidless that day, so that in itself was kinda weird! |
Meanwhile, back in Avon Park:
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| Visiting a sandy beach at one of the lakes. |
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| Subway sandwiches picnic. |
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| Dinner with Ate Lyka visiting! Thanks for helping out! |
- Wednesday I drove the Pathfinder down to Avon Park to pick the kids and grandparents up for Thanksgiving. I was going to leave the Pathfinder so Lolo could get his guy to work on the thermostat as it was stuck on high; we wanted to get it squared away before putting her on the market. My uncle saw it and inquired about the price, and then told me he wanted to buy it! Awesome! I swung by to see some relatives, my grandparents and Zoe, before heading to my parents house. It was nice to see the old folks and chat with them as I hadn't been home in quite some time. The kids were very excited to see me and it was nice to see that they had enjoyed themselves while they were with my parents. It seemed as if both their height and vocabulary had grown since I last saw them...3 days ago! We packed up the van and piled in, driving back up to Orlando in time for supper and the start of Christmas decorating!
- Thanksgiving started with a traditional round of golf with the men, in blustery cold temperatures in what would be the coldest morning in the year so far. The group consisted of Duncan, Bruce, Jared, and myself, and we teed off at 7:45 amidst the fact that we couldn't feel our hands or faces. It turned out to become a gorgeous day, and the layers started peeling off after several holes in. After seeing how poorly we were playing individually, we decided to play best ball, cart vs. cart. It was a lot of fun, trash talking and putting pressure on the opposing teams, with Duncan and I prevailing in the end against Bruce and Jared. I think this will be how we'll play going forward, it was a quick round and we finished before noontime! Back home Tangie had a pancake breakfast with the kids and grandparents, the kids watching the Macy's Parade while Tangie and Lolo started looking through the Black Friday ads. After dropping Duncan back home and partaking of some eats that Corey and Jennifer were doling out the entire day, I headed home to put a turkey in the oven and start preparing our dishes for that evening's soiree. Jennifer had gotten 2 medium turkeys this year, as opposed to the 1 large one last year, and needed our oven to cook one while the other cooked at Corey's. Anyway, there was a lot of food choices and options when mealtime arrived at the Grodacks, which was good because there were a lot people in attendance: Isidro 5, Lolo and Lala, Grodack 6, Bergherm 4, Zbaraschuk 5, Ron and Elaine, Rick (Corey's brother) and Ana Brace, Chuck and Angie (Duncan's sister) Sailey. It was a wonderful gathering, with new and familiar faces alike, and the conversations warm and lively. We were the last family to leave, close to 9 pm, After putting the kids down for bed I drove out to start our Brown Thursday/Black Friday deal shopping, going to HHGregg and getting a new TV for the guest bedroom and a ROKU media streaming box for the house.
- Black Friday morning started very early, with me hitting up Home Depot and Lowe's first. They opened at 5 so I was there in line by 4:45, about 30 people in front of me, we all braving the chilly temperatures. Still very civil and organized, I made my big purchase of 12 poinsettias (at 99¢ apiece) and an outside weather display for $9. Woohoo! After returning back home at 6, Tangie headed out for her turn, a full day of 13 stores and driving in between: Old Time Pottery, Bed Bath & Beyond, Bealls, Joann's, Kohl's, Office Depot, Office Max, Michael's, Babies R Us, Sports Authority, World Market, Target, & Staples...whew! And she only came home once to drop some stuff off before heading out again! She did have a nostalgic moment at Babies R Us, when she realized we had outgrown the store and didn't need anything there, aka diapers/pull ups/baby clothes, and got a little sad. Meanwhile I continued with decorations and cleaning outside with the kids, we enjoying the sunshine and the start of the holiday season. We would have the Bergs and Grodacks over for a hotdog roast dinner to enjoy the open fire with the chilly evening.
Randoms:
Quote:
- Black Friday morning, in line at Home Depot, chatting with a husband and wife about what we were standing in line for that morning:
Wife: "I really want that fire pit that's $25."
Husband: "Yeah, and that Christmas tree that's $30. Used to be $80. Prelit.
How about you?"
Me: "Um...I just need to get a couple of zip ties..."
Ha!
Have a great weekend!
