Random Catch Up - November

The first week of November found us cruising down the interstate on our long awaited trip to Eugene. Conner and Tegan both had colds that week which turned out to be a blessing since it didn't allow us to attend piano on Monday and Wednesday so we had more time to prepared for the trip and depart at 0540 on a Thursday morning. I made it out of the city without traffic and stopped near Fort Collins for my road trip chai latte. Just a little ways into Wyoming I got stopped by a cop and thought my trip was ruined before it had barely started, but he was very kind and gave me a warning for going 71 in a 65 mph zone. I was actually a bit confused as to why he pulled me over since I thought they usually didn't if you were going less than 10 mph over the limit. Plus, this section of road had just changed to 65 mph on Nov 1 - we were traveling on Nov 5. However, he informed me they are very strict about the winter speed limits, especially at that time because of the amount of animals crossing the freeway at that time of year. I was actually thankful for the warning as we averaged seeing a large dead animal (elk, deer or coyote) splayed across the road every 20 miles all the way across Wyoming. Occasionally, the animal had been removed and just a huge blood stain was left behind, but most often the animal was still in the middle of the lane. We stuck to the speed limit and pulled into Boise at 6:20pm, 12 hours and 40 minutes after we had left Denver. It was a long day, but the boys did great and I felt good as well. We had a nice evening with friends and hung out a bit in the morning with them as well. The last hour and a half of the trip was a bit torturous, but we made it. Coming over the McKenzie pass we had snow and the roads were slick, then it rained all the way into Eugene. The boys were done with their school and sick of their videos games so were quite loud and a bit obnoxious, so when they asked if I would put on some Ozzy Osbourne I was thrilled to oblige. They were shocked at my response, but he sure sounded better than the boys at that point. As we drove up to the first stoplight in Springfield I felt like I was returning home after a LONG trip. It was such a feeling of relief until I remembered I was not going to get to sleep in my own bed.

After arriving we started our visiting and had a great time floating from friend's house to friend's house. It was a week long slumber party for the boys as they were sleeping with different friends almost every night. It was so good to see everyone and get to visit individually with friends whom we miss so much. We made it to the coast for a day in the rain and also got to go visit our old CC group. It has grown a ton, but there were still many of our friends there. Andy flew in on Monday night and got to join us in the visiting for the end of our trip.

Sadly, I only pulled my camera out once. It felt so much like we were just hanging out at a friend's house for a play date where I sat and talked with my friends and the boys played (mostly video games) with their friends. I did pull it out at the coast and got some shots with one other family, but that was it. I went to take a picture the last day, but we were all so sick I just didn't do it.

Andy was supposed to fly home on Saturday morning at 6am, but he decided to drive with us at 11pm on Friday night. Thank goodness!!! At 3am Saturday I was at the emergency room with Tegan because he had he standard strep throat signs. We got him some antibiotics and got us back in bed, the Riley woke up feeling horrible so we hung around long enough to take him to urgent care at 9am. They didn't test him for strep, but just started the medicine because of Tegan. We finally got on the road at 10:30am with Andy driving. By noon I started feeling bad so I called my old Dr in Eugene and got a prescription called into a pharmacy in Burns, OR. We arrived in Boise around 8pm looking pretty haggard. Our friends took us in, fed us some wonderful soup and then I went to bed with the boys while Andy visited with them until 2am. The next day I drove the first 5 hours, until my Motrin wore off, then Andy drove the rest of the way home. It got down to 2 degrees going across Wyoming. Riley threw up in a rest stop bathroom - all over the floor and there were no paper towels so Andy just had to leave it. After Riley and I took 24 hours of antibiotics and didn't feel any better we stopped and decided we had the full blown flu. Tegan improved a bit with the antibiotics so we think he had strep on top of the flu - poor guy, but that's typical for him.

We arrived home in horrible shape, but it was a blessing of sorts because it made leaving Oregon a bit easier. There were no scenes of tears this time around. I am unsure of how many sick we left in our wake, but I do know of at least 4 and I feel so bad. It's not the best way to remember a visit with friends. We were down for most of the week after returning. We missed CC that week. I was so thankful I had bought Riley's birthday presents long ago because I was in no condition to go shopping and his birthday was the Thursday after returning. We made it through a nice day for him and all actually felt well enough to attend our end of semester CC dinner that night. By Friday, after arriving home Sunday night, I finally got to the grocery store and did some laundry. We cleaned the car and house Saturday, just in time for Mimmy and Croaker to arrive for the week of Thanksgiving.

We had Andy's mom's whole family here for the Thanksgiving feast! It was so much fun with all 15 of us. Mimmy took care of the salads, Aunt Sue did the turkey and ham, I cooked a few side dishes, Tegan made cheesecake, Riley made ice cream and Conner made the apple pie, he even pinched the edges just right. He loves using the apple peeler/corer/slicer and eating the peelings as he goes.

The guys played a "Turkey Bowl" game the morning of Thanksgiving. It was the old guys vs. the young guys. The final score was 36-48 with the young guys winning. Conner had a great interception which he ran back for a touchdown - quite a play! The old guys had some good plays as well, but were feeling all those plays the next day :).

Our neighborhood foxes were out to play on Thanksgiving and one made himself at home on our neighbors roof to lounge in the sun. We were able to sit everyone together for dinner and had quite a feast. Afterward Mimmy provided the gifts (compliments of cleaning out her house) for a fun game of Greed (White Elephant/Christmas Swap/etc). Conner got a beautiful nightgown and ski coat that belonged to his great-grandma. Michael got many Christmas decorations along with Nonny's lounging gown - perfect for Beth to wear on their honeymoon :). I think the two favorite gifts for our house were Tegan's box of chocolates and Riley's coffee maker. He makes tea in it several times a day. The day after Thanksgiving we packed up all the leftovers and headed to my dad's house to watch the Auburn vs. Alabama game (two alums in our house were not about to miss this game). It was a great afternoon with a good game and great left-overs.

Everyone except Beth and Michael (Andy's cousin and her fiance) left by Saturday morning. We had a nice relaxing day hanging out with them. We pretty much sat around and talked and ate all day, then topped it off with a game of Uno Attack with the boys and a grown-up movie after they got in bed. One last dinner on Sunday night where we met up with Aunt Sue and Uncle Bill at a pizza place and it was a great end to a long, fun holiday weekend.