We took this picture the day we crossed into South Carolina this summer. Allow it to stand in for a proper transition. (Yes, this WAS the best one.)

I lost a month somewhere during the flood, with a week off school followed by two weeks of late starts. We are getting back to normal, or as normal as possible. We had a couple of days where it felt like we might actually need a coat or two:

But don’t worry, that was short-lived. It’s been back in the 70’s and 80’s.

We have learned that our wardrobes are lacking or insensitive. Case in point: Jedediah had “Jersey Day” at school, and he didn’t have a jersey to wear. At all. *head-hanging-in-shame* It was followed the next Friday by “Camo Day” and he still didn’t have anything to wear, poor, deprived child. Also, one cannot innocently wear orange or maroon/garnet/crimson without heralding an onslaught of rivalry-fueled ribbing. It only gets worse when you reply, “Oh, I’m just wearing orange/ garnet. Not a fan.” #Southfail Here is a picture of him in his soccer jersey instead (which we did not have before jersey day):

Memphis’ choir had a concert and we loved every minute, minus the minutes where a certain third-grader kept whispering “I’m bored, can I play Minecraft on your phone?” Followed by my own hissing, “No, we’re here to enjoy the music!”

We went to the South Carolina State Fair and waited two hours to park to eat two hours of fair food and try to avoid being crushed by crowds clamoring for funnel cake and vinegar fries.

Our church hosted a small harvest festival, so we seized the opportunity to enjoy the fun with our little darlings, requiring all of them to participate. The active protesting only lasted about twenty-minutes— then we could barely drag them away.

While we were on lockdown during the flood, we painted our downstairs half bath from dark red to a light greige. I couldn’t talk everyone into pitching in to paint the main walls in the entry and upstairs hallways. The sissies. I’ll rope them into it this summer.

We actually had a dining room table and chairs arrive mid-October, finally, ending our months-long meals huddled around a tiny kitchen table. And Matt and I switched out the dining room light fixture. We both lived.

Matt’s folks came out and we had a great visit with them, during which I took no pictures for posterity, except for this apple pie— the first of the season. It is so nice to be back stateside where family and friends can call or visit. I just keep forgetting that I can call someone on the phone (so forgive me.)

There are still a few random boxes sitting in corners of rooms here— catchalls with no purpose. I think to myself, I’m just going to throw that thing away! But then I make the mistake of peering into and seeing a couple nice pens, a clock I’ve been meaning to clean and hang, along with a sparkly santa hat and heaven knows the minute I chunk that box in the trash, I will have a pressing need for a pen, clock, and santa hat. Maybe I’ll get them all unpacked by Christmas. #box goals

OH! Speaking of boxes, let me tell you about this little thing out in the front of my yard: it’s a mailbox and they bring the mail right to it every day but Sunday! Better yet, they put packages right on my doorstep! I don’t have to check to make sure it isn’t Wednesday or look online for the hundredth time to find the counter hours to check to see if my packages I ordered two weeks ago have arrived. Isn’t it glorious? (We are so so spoiled. Okinawa and all overseas friends, I salute you— persevere.)

Happy November, friends!