Hi, friends! We are more than midway through October, and it feels like the right time to check in with a Friday Thoughts post. It’s a long one (no pressure to read until the end 😘).
Just a quick heads up: a lot of you have been asking, so I wanted to let you know that I’ll be posting my annual holiday gift guides on Friday, November 1, so stay tuned for those! This year’s game gift guide is SO GOOD.
Also, cookbooks and hoodies have been restocked for the holidays!
Halloween: Love or Hate?
Let’s just start out this Friday Thoughts post with a bang, shall we?
How do you feel about Halloween?
I must confess that I am not a Halloween fan. I hope we can still be friends.
I like the fun, yummy food traditions surrounding it, but that’s about it. I’m kind of a Halloween grinch. We don’t do elaborate family costumes (although I do greatly admire the effort many of you put into those!), but I will pull out my Viking beanie that my sister crocheted for me and wear it to church trunk-or-treat parties and football games around this time of year (it helps that our high school mascot is the Vikings). 😂
I’m dying to know your thoughts about Halloween. (Yes, my kids go trick-or-treating, but once they hit a certain age, they are on their own for costumes – I did my due diligence when they were younger coming up with creative costumes. I’m off the clock now!)
Tell me you’re 46 without telling me you’re 46
At the risk of sounding like I’m positively ANCIENT, the last few months have been hard on my middle-aged body.
There is nothing life threatening…rather, it’s all just annoying.
Since I’m at the age where conversation usually leads to physical ailments, the weather, or politics (and I am definitely not going there, haha), let me just go ahead and give you a bulleted list.
- threw out my back a few weeks ago and literally couldn’t move for days. There is no dramatic story, I JUST MOVED WRONG ☠️
- apparently I am now wearing house shoes FULL TIME because my feet scream without arch supports
- increasing hand pain and numbness was confirmed by a hand specialist as carpal tunnel syndrome (trying some splint/brace/supplement treatment in the hopes of avoiding immediate surgery, but goodness my hand hurts) 👋🏼
- finally scheduled a colonoscopy since I’m over 45; that fun event is happening next week 🥴
- sleeping terribly (thank you, hot flashes) and hormones all over the place (not letting my family chime in on the comments of this one 😜); seeing an integrative women’s health doctor next month
Behold, the joys of middle age! (To be fair, I actually love being in my 40’s – favorite decade so far for many reasons – just wish my body would be a bit nicer to me!)
Likes and Dislikes
A Few Updates + Favorites
My temperature blanket is coming along! It’s been stalled a bit because of the intense hand pain I’ve been having, but I’m plugging along and trying to get caught up (currently 60+ rows behind, IT’S FINE EVERYTHING IS FINE).
A few weeks ago, I hosted a Homecoming dinner for my son, his date, and their group. I’ve done a lot of “dance dinners” and usually they are pretty formal, but this time, we decided to change it up a bit.
Thanks to my connections knowing a guy with a printing company (ahem, Brian 😉), we printed a huge coloring page banner (found it on Etsy) to go down the length of the tables and put sets of crayons at each place setting. This ended up being a HUGE hit with the teens.
For the menu, my son helped brainstorm a fun diner theme. Each of the kids got a menu to fill out (designed it on Canva using one of their templates), and my adorable 10- and 12- year old servers gathered the menus and gave them to me and a few other moms, and we quickly filled the orders. I had everything cooked, prepped and staying warm in the ovens, so it was really easy to assemble them in these cute baskets.
It was such a fun and easy dinner! And totally worth giving up some of my precious huckleberries stashed in the freezer for their gourmet milkshakes. 😇
Last week I put on real pants, left my house (SHOCKER), and took a quick trip to Charleston, South Carolina, with my mom and sister to see my brother and his husband who live out that direction. It was an amazing trip! We only had about 1 1/2 days in Charleston, but we fit in a lot. Namely, we fit in a lot of food. 😜 I ate the best shrimp and grits of my life at the Charleston Crab House. And of course we had to get Jeni’s ice cream while we were there. I also ate at Boxcar Betty’s TWICE because I loved their chicken sandwiches so much.
In addition to the food, we took a carriage tour of downtown Charleston and did hours of walking and exploring the history in that area. It was so fascinating! And beautiful. The next day we spent the morning at the Boone Hall Plantation, and it was such a highlight for me. Humbling, intensely interesting, and the avenue of the oaks was stunning. Charleston, you did not disappoint!
Like I always say: if you made it to the end, you deserve an award! Thanks for being here, truly. 💗
What’s New with YOU??
We used to do this little thing at dinner time where we would go around the table and everyone would say what their ROSE and THORN was for the day. We haven’t done it in a while, but now that I’m typing it out here, I’m determined to bring it back into play with my family.
I’d love to know how YOU are doing.
If you feel keen on the idea, tell me in the comments what your ROSE (highlight/something good) and THORN (challenge/something less than good) is right now.
I’ll go first.
My ROSE: this space (truly, I love connecting with all of you) + watching my kids work hard and compete in the sports they love (my sophomore’s football season is ending, my senior’s wrestling season is beginning, and my 7th grader’s volleyball season ended a few weeks ago).
My THORN: some particularly tender worries about my kids + a new skin spot on my face that I am nearly certain is basal cell carcinoma (as you know, I’ve had two basal cell carcinoma spots on my face and subsequent MOHS surgeries already, and I’m really bummed out about this one; seeing a dermatologist next week).
And don’t forget to tell me your deep, dark or happy, joyful thoughts about Halloween. We’re all friends here. ALL OPINIONS WELCOME. 👻
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