Dear anybody and everybody else

Hey y'all,

Don't be sad if I didn't write you your very only letter on this blog.  I'll be happy to.  Just leave a comment, and I'll get right on it.

We had a sweet weekend full of nice moments and a bit of sadness too chez mooncrawl.  The boys were off from school on Thursday and Friday, and I decided not to work.  I had a very lovely time with them (that is, when they weren't in a fistfight and I wasn't screaming at them to stop). On Thursday, we went to the outlet mall in Johnson Creek to purchase some clothing.  Back-to-school shopping in October.  Why, you ask?  Well, I have decided that it's now too cold for One to continue to wear shorts, and he needs some proper pants that fit him.  Now he is outfitted with "skinny jeans", dark wash doncha know.  I am of the mindset not to argue with my children about what they wear to school.  As long as it doesn't have holes in it and is clean (enough), I let them wear what they want.  Anyhow, they twisted my arm to get them an ice cream cone from McDonalds in Lake Mills, and we meandered home on rural highways and byways from there.  We were in good moods and were being silly together on the drive home.  A simple moment, but one I cherish.

On Friday, we joined the rest of Madison to participate in the downtown halloween activities.  We met our friends down there (one of my best buddies and her three - all similar age to my three) for lunch, and then waited, impatiently, for the 2 pm start.  As soon as the clock struck 2 pm, My One and Two and L's One took off down the street, bopping into store after store grabbing candy.  Only problem was that they didn't get permission to go ahead AND they were going the wrong direction.  We decided to follow behind, hoping they would wait for us, but nope.  They were gone.  Vanished in the sea of thousands (probably hundreds, but for the sake of the story, let's stretch it).  My emotions went from worried to angry pretty quickly.  After 30 minutes or so, they found us.  I laid into my boys - threatened to not allow them to go trick or treating on Halloween if they pulled that stunt again - and we continued on.

That night, I met some ladies out for drinks and food.  Though here's the strange part, half of them didn't eat.  I was looking at this crowd - a group I don't regularly go out with - and I thought, "man, they are all very skinny.  Like model skinny.  Like unhealthy skinny."  So I suppose I wasn't that surprised when they didn't eat.  But really?  I don't get it.  Who goes out to have a drink and eat and then not eat?  Certainly not me.  By 9 pm, the non-eaters were done (probably too famished to stay awake any longer) so L and I went to a movie.  We saw One Day, which I had also read.  It was as I expected - good enough for the cheap theater.

Saturday, Two had a flag football tournament.  This is his team's third time in the tournament, and it's the third time they came in 2nd place.  I'm pleased to report that Two didn't seem bothered by this at all.  Sounds like all of the kids on the team were in good spirits about their second place status.  I wasn't there, however, as I was at my cousin's husband funeral.  I haven't mentioned this situation before.  He died unexpectedly, though he did have many health complications.  I am very sad for my cousin and their 17 year old daughter.  He died in September while visiting his parents in Washington, and his memorial service was here on Saturday.  It was lovely.  My cousin did a wonderful job pulling it together.  She had the musician from my grandmother's funeral perform, and he (as you may remember) is a very soulful and beautiful musician.  My little cousin's choir from her school also sang, and there were many sweet stories shared about S.  It was a beautiful tribute and I learned so much about S that I didn't know beforehand.  Just like I love a good obit, I also love a good funeral.  This one was good.

Last night, Bob and I had a date here at home.  The kids were here too, but we just decided to ignore them.  Well, actually, they were outside playing football in the dark, so we watched PBS American Masters - the one about The Troubadour and James Taylor and Carole King.  It was great.  (We were hoping to watch the Pearl Jam episode but that's not available yet online.  Love Pearl Jam.  Love, love, love.)  After a while, the kids wandered in and joined us and watched along with us, wondering how old these people are and are they still alive? and why does their music sound like that?   There was a comment in the episode about how the singer/songwriter phenomenon happened when it felt like the country was in a bit of an ugly standstill - stuck in a war they didn't like, bad economy, no new direction in music.  I looked at Bob and said, "sounds familiar."

Sunday, today, was cold and rainy and low key.  Two was sore from all of his football playing, so he didn't move much.  The Packers had a bye week, so we didn't really know what to do with ourselves.  Bob went outside to look at his newly completed yard projects (more on that later).  I folded the laundry.  We carved pumpkins.  Bob and Two had their date, and I took Three and One to Target to do some shopping, including buying another SD memory card.  Wondering why there haven't been photos lately?   That's what happens when you grab the memory card out of the slot and don't put it somewhere safe.

Off to bed now.  I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow.  Strike that, I'm looking forward to tomorrow, trick-or-treating, being over.  It's cold and nerve-wracking (who is going to run into the street in front of a car?) and there is so much expectation about getting all of this teeth rotting candy that there are bound to be tears at some point.