Chunky kitten has decided he likes my bag. He even tries to get inside of it.

Today was a day where it felt like the time flew by. Work was productive. The evening was pleasant. C had practice and dance. The temperatures were cooler and the days are shorter.

C and a couple of her girlfriends went and had their nails done this morning. She is liking her long nails. All the times she was climbing she had to keep her nails short and now that she isn’t climbing she has been letting them grow out. The only trick is taking her contacts out.

The kittens are growing. The baby is catching up to Mango.

My headache was gone this morning and stayed away.

I went grocery shopping. C went with me to one store. Willie had football on – of course – is it Sunday if there isn’t football on?

We got some house cleaning completed today and Willie and I went in to one of the local building supply stores to price out windows and a patio door.

Midafternoon a headache came on hard and fast. It made me throw up quite a few times before finally settling down around 7pm. I went to bed early. This is only the third time I can remember having a headache make me throw up – the headache didn’t even seem “bad”, but it was uncomfortable. Thankful it finally resolved itself after using an ice pack behind my neck and a towel with ice in it on my forehead. The cold seemed to really help. A DigestZen tablet finally calmed my stomach.

Nik left this morning.

This evening C and I went out for a mom/girl’s night over a friend’s house. She has been wanting tacos all week and finally got them tonight. We had a fun evening playing games – she was in her element playing speed games. She was having a blast and I thought it was pretty enjoyable too. Thankful for all the friendships we have here – definitely makes moving from everything we knew easier.

The leaves are continuing to change colors. Some trees have lost all their leaves and others are just beginning to change.

This morning Willie and Nik prepped barbacoa.

The brothers had a great day visiting and we had a delicious dinner.

The rice and beans are not in the picture.

We love when people come to visit!

Willie’s oldest brother arrived this afternoon. Of course before he arrived we scrambled to fold all the laundry and do some cleaning.

Willie had physical therapy today. His shoulder mobility is improving.

Before dinner Willie and Nik went to sell another of the grills and then they went to a local Mexican grocery store to grab ingredients for tomorrow’s dinner. They said the place was authentic! It even had bars on the windows. They walked in and all of a sudden it was quiet. They think the folks were worried that they were ICE. Nik mentioned something about being from California and the group was immediately at ease. Only one person spoke a little English and Willie said things were priced in pesos! They had a great time and came home with bags of dried peppers and a few other items.

We had a pleasant evening visiting.

Race day!

For many runners on Cs team today was their last race. The coach had told the varsity runners to treat it just like a workout and not push it too much since Sections is next week. The boys didn’t exactly listen, but the girls did. C was the third runner on her team in. We had to laugh out loud as we were leaving when her one teammate that she ran most of the race with said that she let C beat her. C had a better kick at the end.

The weather was amazing! Definitely warm for an October day, but we all loved it.

Running in sync.

Cheering C on.

En route to the finish.

It was a great afternoon/evening.

This morning I had to drive over to Lacrosse to get my work card updated. It is just over an hour drive away. Willie would have come with me but he had an appointment with his new dentist. The fall colors were nice and the drive was pleasant.

When I arrived home I still couldn’t get into my work computer. I spent some time helping C with her cross country captain application. It ended up being a family project as Willie helped give ideas and edited too. It was due today by 9pm, but C wanted to hand it over to her coach in person. We had it ready to go in time for practice, after I had to fuss with the printer. It gets a little finicky. I had considered posting her application here, but I’m not sure how she feels about that.

While she was at dance class and Willie was watching the 49ers, I went to an informational meeting for the cross country ski team. C has expressed interest – not necessarily in the racing portion, but in the skiing regularly and being with her friends. It will be good winter exercise.

I got home around half time and the game was going well. We ended up staying up really late as we watched the rest of the game together, which was quite stressful during the second half. Our bedtime here is becoming way later than it ever was back in Alaska.

On our way to hang out with friends for the afternoon we passed by two siblings out selling cookies, hot chocolate, and apple cider. The wind was blowing quite fiercely and yet they were out there. The girl was holding a sign that was flapping in the wind and the boy was on his knees animatedly trying to get people to stop. We decided to turn around and C and Willie went to buy cookies. They thought the two children were hilarious.

We continued on our way and had a great afternoon eating yummy food, visiting, and playing games – Tellestrations, Flip 7s, Exploding Kittens, and Bubble Talk.

C is now working on her Captain’s application.

Willie had an eye doctor appointment yesterday. They continue to make sure he doesn’t have GVHD of the eyes developing. His eyes look healthy, but they don’t produce oils as much as they should so he does need to help them do that by wearing a warm compress before bed or in the morning.

My Papa called from Stanford’s campus in Palo Alto and Willie and I got to have a virtual tour. That was an enjoyable 20 minutes.

C had a movie night with some of the girls from Cross Country. They also spent time writing down their goals for the next few meets. Tuesday is the last regular season meet. Sections is the following week and State is the next week. Their team has never made it to State, but the girls have been running really strong this season. We felt Cs confidence was a little low at the beginning of the season, but I think it has come back with a force. Excited to see her run over the next few weeks.

Today Willie and I drove east to drop off the first grill he sold. Afterward we went and picked up our half of beef. We now have a fill freezer.

Willie taught C how to install new windshield wipers. They also filled her tires because there was a low tire pressure message going off, but Willie thinks it is a bad sensor.

C and I spent a good portion of the afternoon working on her application for becoming a team captain of the cross country team next year. Tomorrow she will type it up and refine it. Today’s focus was getting our thoughts down on paper.

C and her friends had a barn dance this evening. She isn’t home yet, but I am guessing she had a great time.