In Which I Have A Birthday, Eat Fondue, Trunk Or Treat, And Paint A Few Walls

It's November first, and that means a full month of blogging is ahead. Last year, I made a goal to blog every day of November...and I did it! It was in keeping with BlogHer's National Blog Posting Month, and ended up being a chaotic, hectic, busy, enjoyable, instructive, rewarding experience. It helped make me a better blogger and writer. I'm sure all this is fascinating to the six of you who read these posts.

Well, a year has passed, and another November awaits my commentary. I should mention that I will try to blog every day, but I can't promise to actually blog every day. I have family coming into town for Thanksgiving, we are painting our downstairs, and our brand-new church building is opening to great fanfare. I'll try my best to chronicle all of it, but bear with me! If I can't manage every day, I'll at least try to make each post count.

As usual, our jam-packed October has rushed to a close. The last weekend contained a birthday, a home improvement project, a trunk or treat, and a sacrament meeting program (more on that tomorrow).

I turned 36 years old last Thursday. It's safe to say I can no longer think of myself as "young." Thirty-six sounds an awful lot like "mature" to me! Some would say this age means I'm in the "prime of life." Let's hope so.

I got my birthday present from Nathan one day early...it was something I'd hoped to obtain for many years now. My wonderful husband finally seized the opportunity.

It's the entire run of the Calvin And Hobbes comic strip, compiled into three large, finely printed (and heavy!) books. I spent much of Wednesday night reading. This strip (featuring the adventures of a hyperactive, imaginative little boy and his "pet" tiger) is one of my happiest childhood reading memories. I can't wait to share this with my kids (once they can hold these books without being crushed, that is).

I got my present the night before my birthday because on my actual birthday, I was attending primary meetings all day long. Whoopee! Our sacrament meeting program was merely days away, and we had to put together a little treat to congratulate the kids after they were done. We spent a few hours putting together marshmallow popcorn balls. They were dyed orange to look like little pumpkins, and then we stuck a small licorice stick in each one as the pumpkin's "stem." They were fairly easy to make, but we had so many to make that it took kind of a while. Later that evening, I attended a training for Primary leaders held by the Sahuarita Stake leadership. It was nice to see friends and get good advice on how to be a better leader, but it was not exactly a wild and crazy night befitting my newfound "maturity."

Thankfully, I was finally able to have my "birthday night out" one day late; Nathan and I went to dinner at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant that is very fun to visit on special occasions. Basically, you cook most of the meal yourself; there's a hot plate in the center of your table, and during the appetizer and main courses, there will be a small pot of something bubbling away on top of the plate. The appetizer is a cheese fondue of your choice, served with breads and vegetables. The main course is a broth/oil/seasonings combo, and you dip various meats into the mix to cook them. You are given a variety of sauces, a handful of tongs, and a bottomless plate of meat...hooray! (We didn't eat much more than was pictured above...we got filled up quickly!)

Then of course, dessert...chocolate/pecan fondue with a variety of sweet dippers (marshmallows, brownies, cake, etc.) We had to pay a little extra for the dessert...but it was totally worth it! It was a fun night out and we were quite filled up afterwards.

It was back to work with a vengeance the next day as we started our latest house-painting project. Since my sister Jocelyn and her family are coming to visit us this Thanksgiving (just three weeks away from this writing...eek!), Nathan and I decided to have the downstairs painted by the time they arrive. Well, mostly painted...there are a couple of long walls we've left white, but we'll give those walls a coat of "better" white sometime in the spring.

We've broken up the painting into small projects over the next few weekends. This last weekend, we had several "little" walls to paint, including the wall behind our television and the walls surrounding our bathroom and closet doors.

The girls were very keen on helping us this time around, so we thought giving them each little brushes wouldn't do much harm. They had a great time working on the "project," and they didn't make any big messes either! They were very careful.

Here's the finished product:

Not too bad for a weekend! Next weekend: our fireplace column. Also, we're going to start painting our kitchen (*shudder*)...a task I've been dreading since moving in, but which needs to happen!

We managed to finish our painting in time to take our kiddos to the church's trunk or treat, held in our church gym and parking lot. As usual, it was crowded, noisy, and flooded with sugar-addled children...but it was still enjoyable for all that.

Aurora was very nervous with all the noise in the gym, but she soon loosened up when she realized there was candy involved.

Here are all the girls in their Halloween costumes. Lorelai, in a dramatic departure from her usual style, went as a movie star...and looked pretty glamorous if I say so myself. Celeste borrowed a costume from a friend and went, in her own words, as a "witch fairy princess." Despite the "witch" part, she refused to wear a witch hat...go figure. Oh well, it's still my first witch after three daughters and eight Halloweens with children! Aurora, being the trooper she is, became the third daughter to wear the Grandma Barrett-made "Little Orphan Annie" costume. She looked adorable! However, she drew the line at wearing our (well-worn) red curly wig, because it was "too itchy." Oh well, a blond Annie is still adorable.

After gathering their candy, the girls took a break in the car to sample their loot:

Good times!

Well, after driving the girls home and putting them to bed, Nathan and I painted a little more--mostly touch-ups. Then, I made an appearance at an adults-only Halloween party dressed as...wait for it...a painter! Or, a "manual laborer," if you prefer...I wore Nathan's hat and brought along a clean paint roller. It was simultaneously my most lazy and honest Halloween costume. I had fun visiting with friends and playing Just Dance on the Wii at the party; Nathan stayed home to finish painting and to watch the girls. He had gone to this same party with me last year, and he didn't mind taking a break this time!

More Halloween stuff coming up tomorrow!