Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A Word (or two) About November

Brutal. November was just brutal. BRU-TAL. Have I mentioned that November was brutal? -Because it was. I am usually a glass half full kind of a gal. Seriously, I am a perpetual look on the bright side person; I cannot help it. It was a really tough month though, and I am here to tell you that there were a few days when the glass was just half empty.

'Why was it so hard?' you ask. In addition to the crazy call schedule and the 80 hour work week, Chris was spending all of his extra time with my arch nemesis, The Grant. The Grant, is a big thing that he was writing in order to get some more funding for some pretty amazing research that he is working on. Really, the research is great and exciting. -Truth be told, I love that Chris is such a 'Go Getter', and that he is so involved despite being a resident. He is able to balance family life, work and keep his foot in the door in research without getting stressed out or overwhelmed with all that he has on his plate. This is honestly something that I admire as I cannot balance that many things myself. The only thing is that all of this involvement, at times, means a lot more work for me. More work that I can handle for a few weeks at a time. After a while it just gets hard. That is what November was for me this year. Hard.

So, as I was looking back at pictures in order to get all caught up with the good 'ol blog, I saw only a handful them. My initial thought was, 'Where are all of the pictures from November?' Then I remembered. 'Oh yeah, that was the month of The Grant.' Fortunately, Chris has defeated and submitted my arch nemesis and is significantly less busy. One good thing about The Grant, is that it made me realize that the 80 hr. work week is really not so bad. Do-able in fact.

Here are a few written highlights from November, and a token picture to remember that there were, in fact, smiles in the Runyan house in November.

1.) We took a day trip to Columbus, OH to visit the temple.

2.) We celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents, Chris's parents and my brother and his family. The girls had the entire week of Thanksgiving off, which was really nice. We headed out to Grandma's house a few days early for some rest, relaxation, and some good 'ol fashioned spoiling from Grandma & Grandpa and Great Grandmother. Chris was on call the day before Thanksgiving, and was thus post-call on Thanksgiving Day. My dad and brother drove all the way to our house (2+ hours one way) that morning to pick Chris up and bring him out to celebrate with us. This was done so that he could sleep and that we would not have two cars at Grandma's house. It was so nice of them to make that sacrifice for our family. Chris slept and woke up in time for the feast. I braved a few stores with my parents and Chris's mom on Black Friday, and had a nice time. All in all it was a lovely visit.

3.) I discovered that I LOVE to sew. I picked up sewing again in early Fall, but started in earnest November. The more I sew, the more I love it.

4.) We made it through the month. May not sound like much, but I was oh-so-glad to be on the other side of the month.

Kate discovered the drawer under the oven where I keep my pots and pans. She loves to climb inside if the drawer is open, pans in the way or not. (Is it just me, or does she have the pinchiest nose you ever did see?)