The Saturday 7

1. I had my follow-up hearing test this week. It's been over a year since my last one, and they just want to keep checking annually to make sure my hearing isn't declining at an alarming rate. Good news: I can hear just as well (or as badly) as last year! Still mild to moderate hearing loss that doesn't completely necessitate hearing aids, although I'd certainly benefit from them. More good news: there was no one named Katie in the waiting room.

In case you're confused, that's a reference to what happened last year at my hearing test . . .

2. Justin had his final hurrah with his soccer team this week - a 3 day tournament in Ohio. The strange thing is that it was from Wednesday to Friday - for high school kids! Shouldn't they be in school?? Not to mention all the coaches and parents who had to take off of work! Thankfully Justin's job is flexible, and he was able to get the time off. And we survived in his absence for a few days. I can tell that I've come a long way on the anxiety front, because it didn't bother me at all to be in the house without him at night. Thank you, Zoloft!

3. I'm still struggling through my history class this semester. I told you about my curmudgeon of a professor, right? He told us on the first day that he never wanted to teach an online class but they're making him. Then he made us read a 4 page document of his teaching pet peeves. We've only had one assignment so far this year (aside from reading the textbook and scrolling through his old powerpoint presentations), and he didn't grade it for weeks. So when he posted a second assignment this week, I didn't have any idea how he grades or what specifically he's looking for. The assignment was "Watch the posted video about the War of 1812, then answer these 11 questions." I searched and searched for the video, but could not find it. Finally, I emailed him and asked if I was just missing it or if it didn't post. He never responded. The assignment was due on Wednesday, and I figured if any professor was not going to be understanding about missing the due date, it'd be him. So I stayed up til midnight on Tuesday searching my textbook and the internet for answers to the questions. I turned it in just before midnight and headed downstairs to go to bed. As I was changing into my pajamas, I got a notification that the professor had posted an announcement saying that the video hadn't posted and he'd work on it in the morning. The next day, we got this announcement:

🤦 Seriously? Don't scare us with your pet peeves and extremely specific directions about how to submit assignments, then fault us for being concerned about due dates! Also, I read all of the pet peeves and directions thoroughly and don't remember any such assurances about due dates.

4. Yesterday was my parents' 40th anniversary! We intend to do a weekend away with the whole family at some point after Christmas, but we're having a hard time finding a place big enough to accommodate everyone (9 bedrooms), at a price we can afford. Not to mention, finding a date that we're all available! Haha. In the meantime, we had a mini celebration this morning at Hilltop Donuts. We planned to meet at 9:30, so I set my alarm for 8:45. But then Levi woke up before my alarm and I handed him my phone so I could sleep a little longer. Of course, he turned off my alarm before I even heard it go off, and the rest of us in this fam enjoy our sleep. So we didn't wake up until Lena appeared next to my bed whispering, "Mommy? It's 9:10." Oopsies! Haha. Anyway, I texted my sisters to save me a twist donut, so I wouldn't meet the same dramatic fate as last time, and they said, "Mom just asked them to make a fresh batch." Haha. So not only did I get my twist, I got it hot out of the fryer! 🤤🤤🤤

Some of the gang was missing, but this is a good chunk.

Dad and Ty twinning

5. I heard something on the radio recently that said, "The way you interact in your family is what your kids will know as normal. The way you treat your spouse is what they'll expect of marriage. The way you treat your kids and other people is how they'll expect to treat others and be treated." The older I get the more I realize how true this is. My parents have always been huge proponents of kindness and service. They've taught us always to "be the better person," to help out without being recognized, to avoid unnecessary conflict, and to do our best to be kind to everyone all the time. I never remember seeing them fight or demean each other. That was a huge gift to us as kids. And it set the stage for how my siblings and I interact with our spouses. To this day, I'm still surprised at how unkind people can be - because I was raised to believe kindness was the default, and anything outside that was an anomaly. If only that were true!! If you want to read more of my gushing about my amazing parents and the legacy they've built, check out this entry and thank me later. 😉😜

6. Since Halloween is on a Sunday this year, there were some events going on in town today, so we get to spread the Halloween fun out over two days. We met up with some of the cousin crew to get candy from a few businesses, then games and fun at the park.

Before Libby and her kids arrived

The cutest little Beanie Baby ever!

Unicorn Nova and Cheetah Lena

The Nash firefighter and Saylor dalmatian

Just missing Ruby and Casper :-( Hopefully they'll be able to join us tomorrow for the main event!

After the excitement, we went home for naps (me), screen time (kids), and the MI/MI State game (Justin). Then Justin left for a soccer game (to watch this time, not coach), and the kids started relentlessly begging me to help them carve pumpkins. Justin and I both hate messy projects, and the kids have been begging for weeks, but we kept putting them off. I finally bit the bullet tonight while he was gone (and then told him when he got home, "I did the pumpkin carving, so you get to do the dishes that have been piling up all weekend! 😁). Levi immediately said, "This is not as fun as I expected" and left me to finish his. Lol. (And parents everywhere said, "This is why we hate this tradition!") But Lena did hers all by herself! (Lucy couldn't be bothered to join us.)

Before

My workout for the day

Going after those guts

After. This is his new smile now. 🤦

Ta da! (It's a panda?)

7. Just a couple more pictures from this week.

One of the parents livestreamed some of the tournament games, and Levi sat like this for a long time watching (and looking for daddy on the sidelines).