I survived my time as a single mom.  Every time I have to do solo parenting, I am always in awe of the people that do that full time.  They are some strong women and men.  While Aaron was gone, I took Bronwyn (and Bertram) to a Scout Pack meeting.  I don't know if it's just our troop, but pack meetings are run poorly, and are generally very dull.  Normally, I would have just skipped it, since Aaron does all the scouting stuff.  But Bronwyn was getting an award, so I wanted her to be there for that.  But then she always gets upset that she didn't win all the awards.  We stayed from 6:30-7:30 and then they'd (and I'd) had enough fun.  

We went to the Fall Outrageous Outgrowns.  (We being Aaron and me).  We often bring the kids with us, so they can choose books, and maybe a toy.  And usually the event is in one big room.  But this time it was in a lot of little rooms.  Some places were hard to navigate with just us two, let alone if we'd brought the kids too.  We got some jackets, and books, and a couple pairs of shoes.  It was a decent haul, considering the set up was not great.  Hopefully in Spring, it'll be in a different building.

I went to Aaron's cousin's baby shower.  She has PCOS and some other issues, so she wasn't sure she'd ever have a baby.  And she got a surprise.  So I'm very happy for her.  Her shower was lovely.  Parties are just difficult for me, I'm fine mostly listening, and chiming in occasionally, but I am not good at small talk.  So, events like that are always exhausting more me.  I don't know when this social anxiety because what it is today, but it's really annoying.  I wish I was more normal.

Bronwyn had a mini IEP meeting last week.  Just so it would be documented that she gets to keep her 1 on 1 aide for the duration of the school year.  Aaron went to that one.  It was right after school drop off, and lasted less than 10 minutes.  So I didn't miss too much. 

Aaron and I realized that we both know her PE teacher.  I went to high school with him, he was a grade or two above me.  He is one of Aaron's friends; friend.  He said Bronwyn is a sweet kid.  Which is good to hear, since at school (at least in her previous class) she's usually a terror.

Friday we went to the Trunk or Treat at Presentation.  It's relatively small, so the kids (specifically Bron) don't get too overwhelmed.  They had fun, and got a good amount of candy to boot.  There are a lot of good costumes now a days.

Bert was Foxy from Five Nights at Freddy's

Bron was a princess.

Saturday was a busy day.  It started out with Bertram's first chess class.  He was all excited til it was actually time to go, then I practically had to drag him there.   While he was in class, I walked around the field track at the community center.  He had a good time (of course) but has trouble understanding the teacher, who has a Russian accent.  After that, it was time for a Bertram and mom date.  I think Bert has been feeling a little left out, because Bronwyn has been needing more attention lately.  So I suggested that I take Bert out this Saturday, and Aaron could do next.  I asked Bert what he wanted to do, and he said mini-golf and IHOP.  Mini golf was fun, it was a nice day, and the course wasn't too crowded.  Plus the big group that was there, let us go ahead of them.  Afterwards, we went across the street to IHOP and there was not a single parking space available in the whole lot.  I asked what his second choice was.  He chose Denny's.  Denny's was also busy, but we were able to park and get a table.  The service was slow, as I'm pretty sure they were understaffed.  But he and I had a nice lunch.  

Aaron and Bron were supposed to do something fun too.  But she opted for Macca's and television instead.  Bron and I napped that afternoon.  She'd been up for a long time (I'm not sure what time, but it was early).  We both had to be woken for the church Trunk or Treat.   She was ,understandably, grumpy.  She never quite recovered.  When we went in, she wore her headphones, which helped some.  But she wouldn't eat anything (not too surprising).  And before the actual Trunk or Treating had started, she had Aaron take her and I home.  (For the record, I was dressed at Totoro, and Aaron was a banana).  

Sunday was one of the few times a year I attend church with the family: the primary program.  Bertram was balking before we even left the house.  He has long declared himself an atheist.  Which is fine with me, I'm 90% there myself.  Aaron still makes him go to church.  Anyway, he said he couldn't participate because it would be lying.  I can understand, and am even proud of his scruples, but the day of was not the time to decide that.  I told him the time to dissent was when they were practicing.  I also told him that some times it's ok to tell a little lie, if it makes someone else happy.  But he was not budging. So he sat by me the whole time.  Aaron got Bronwyn to go up to the front, and he stayed with her.  At one point she started crying, and they left.  He came back with her in her headphones.  (We keep a pair in the car, at home, and at school).  Then she participated.  She read both of her parts, and at the end also sang with the kids.

There isn't too much else on the horizon right now.  I'm looking forward to Daylight Saving Time ending next week.  The sun doesn't come up til after 7:30 these days.  In the next 2 weeks, Bron starts gymnastics, and soccer.  I'm anxious about how that will go.  She is quite the wildcard.  Bertram will be doing a ceramics class in December.  And I'm excited because in the new year, there are actually classes for people my age!  There used to be adult classes, but recently, it has been only kids and old people.  There are a couple or art classes and some fitness classes.  So I'll be signing up for something  once the registration period opens.

Hello Fall

 It finally feels like fall.  We had a decent amount of hot days through half of October.  But now it's finally in the 60's during the days.  Aaron took all the window fans down today.  And we've started using the heat.

Both of my parents had surgery on October 27th.  Both went well.  Mom's was quick, everything went as it should, there were no surprises.  Now we're just waiting for the biopsy results.  Dad's proctectomy went well, too.  He's having a much harder recovery.  Issues with his stomach, issues peeing.  He got to go home on Monday, but he's not feeling great.  Even though it was laparoscopic it's still major surgery.  

On the Friday before Halloween the high school near our house hosted a Trunk or Treat for the neighbourhood.  The kids enjoyed that.  Usually the school in just a bother (it's a very expensive private girls' high school), but this is probably the best event they've hosted.

The church was having its Trunk or Treat on Saturday, but it was the same time as Michael's birthday.  Aaron was pretty bummed, as the chili cookoff returned for the first time since the pandemic.  I was bummed too.  That's like the one thing I like attending at the church.  I think the kids' program is coming up, so I'll probably have to go to that.  The birthday party was fine.  The kids had fun, which is the important thing.

On Sunday we got a new tv.  Target had a pretty good sale on a bigger tv than our current one.  And it was time to replace it.  $200 later we were set up..

Monday was Halloween.  Bert was a crewmate from Among Us (some video game), and Bron was a unicorn (for the second time).  First we had the halloween parade at Bronwyn's school, then we went to Bert's school and watched his parade. In the afternoon, I volunteered in Bertram's class while they decorated cookies and pumpkins.  We went Trick or Treating fairly early, 5:30 or so.  Aaron was grumpy that we were the first one's out, I'm not sure why.  Bronwyn just did our street, Bertram went a little further.  They got plenty of candy.  We handed out some, there weren't a ton of kids.  We left the bowl on the porch at the end of the night, and it was empty in the morning, which was fine.  We had plenty of candy without it.

Bertram's school picture came back too

On Wednesday, I got my covid booster.  No issues, a quick appointment.  Except my appointment was actually on Tuesday, but they weren't busy, so it wasn't an issue. In the afternoon, Bronwyn had her dance recital.  She was so cute, I was tearing up watching her.  She's not a great dancer, but she enjoyed herself and did her best.

Today I had my long awaited dentist appointment.  I have been having a sporadic toothache for a couple of weeks.  I assumed I'd need a root canal, because that is often the answer.  But the dentist poked, tapped, and x-rayed, and found nothing.  So I'll just live with it, he sad if it gets worse to come back, and he'd look again.  I suppose if it continues, I could go to the doctor and see if they see anything.
The booster really hit me today.  I didn't have any side effects with my other shots, but I'm wiped out, sore, and tired.  It'll be an early night for me.

November

Aaron's arm finally got better.  It seems like it took a long time, but it's back to normal now.  He starts a new position on Monday.  It's mostly a lateral move (but he loses his office, and is back in cube land).  But there are more opportunities for advancement in the new position.  I think he's a trainer, it's hard to tell, all jobs within the county seem the same to me.

My mom has been here for a week.  I love when she visits. 

We went to the aquarium at the beginning of the week.  This was the first time that Bronwyn was interested in the fish.  It was a good trip.  We were all tired by the end of the day.  And the kids slept a good bit of the drive home.

We had a good Halloween.  Bertie was dressed as Tracker from Paw Patrol and Bron was a flamingo.  And Aaron was Gandalf.  I didn't dress up this year.  We had a trunk or treat at church on the Friday before, and the kids went trick or treating on Wednesday.  We bought a bunch of candy, but only had about 30 kids come by.

 
Bertram has been doing pretty well at school.  He had been having some separation anxiety, but seems to be doing well lately.  He's made some friends.  He was upset at one point, because there was a "new kid".  Then, he made friends with the new kid, Kunal.  Now, his friends are Kunal, Mayson and Millie.  I still can't get a ton of information about what he does at school, but he's always happy at the end of the day.  His writing is really improving.  And he is really loving reading.  He reads on his own a lot now, as well as being read to.

Bronwyn is getting into reading too.  She likes lift the flap books.  Tonight she had Aaron read her a book (Where is Spot?), then she brought it to me to read, then my mom.  But, she loves to get books off the shelf and look at all the pictures.  She is repeating more words.  Her current vocabulary is: mama, dada, ball, dog, hi, bye, num num, up, down. Pretty good for 15 months.  She is walking all the time.  She loves carbonated water.  Tonight she started climbing, and standing on a little chair.  Then she'd smile, in a very cheeky fashion.

My sister is running a half marathon next week (her first).  She inspired me to do the same.  I signed up for the Silicon Valley Half Marathon in April.  I've read that 6 months is enough time to train (from 0).  I found a training program to follow.    I start on Monday.  I'm nervous about failing.  I'm nervous about my stamina.  But I'm glad about being proactive for my health.  And I've paid the fee, so I'm committed.

Not all sunshine

You have to take the good with the bad.  There is no other choice.

It's been a rough week.  Aaron's been sick, and working a lot (by a lot, I mean a lot of nights).  Bertie has been really bad about napping, which means no break for mama.  The house looks terrible most of the time.  We had some unexpected financial difficulties (that I won't go into).  My depression is creeping back.  I've got a lot of weird rashes, and have yet to call the dermatologist. Aaron and I spent most of the day bickering.  And, of course, there's Julius; the world's worst cat.

But within all of this crap, there have been a couple rays of sunshine.  Like Bertie and I going on a long walk yesterday and stopping to share a plain frozen yogurt (no toppings).  I wasn't sure he'd like it, since he's only so-so on normal plain yogurt; and because of this (and that it was close to dinner time) I didn't get too much.  He loved it, and probably would have eaten it all, if I'd let him.

We did quite a bit of walking this week.  I'm starting to jog a little too, since I've all but given up on the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge this time around.  (Maybe I'll pick it up again, who knows?)  There are 3 parks near the house (within 0-1.5 miles).  Lately, when we pass one, I'll stop.  Bertie will drink a little out of my water bottle, and we go on the swings.  Two of the three parks have swings like this:

Meant for disabled kids, I think.  But it works well putting him on my lap.  He likes that a lot better than the baby swings.  See?

That's about the happiest he's ever looked on a swing.  Usually he looks depressed.  Anyway, I keep trying, because someday (I assume) he'll love it.

Other goodness: my new fitbit arrived this week.  My old one (that I got for Christmas last year) just died one day.  It wouldn't reset or charge.  But since it was under a year old, Fitbit sent a new one for free.  I didn't even have to return the old one!

Today I had the brilliant idea of a family trip to the pumpkin patch.  Bertie hadn't really napped, and fell asleep on the way there.  But I really wanted to get a couple pictures and get a pumpkin.  So I got him out of the carseat, assuming he'd wake up, but he didn't. 

I took one, Aaron took the other, and we got none with him.

And we didn't get a pumpkin.  Maybe we'll try again next week.