What I Learned in November

And just like that, we're to the last month of the year! WHEW! :) November was the month in which I met myself coming and going, but I managed to squeeze in a wee bit of learning on the side! Here are my thoughts from the merry, merry month of November!

1. Painting classes should be kept on the small side.

I treated my friend to a canvas class for her birthday, and while we both had a blast at the thing, we decided 35 students to 1 teacher was not a great ratio. The class took almost three hours, which was no big deal for us, because we had no other plans, but some ladies were quite antsy by the end. And though the teacher did her very best to get to all of us, she struggled to get around to everyone quickly. We decided maybe the class should have been about half that size to be manageable.


2. I will never grow up.

Mom needed some jammie pants for her knee rehab, and I was nominated to go purchase them. So I did. And then I packed them in a Victoria's Secret bag and took them to the hospital. She said, "I hope they're not from Virginia's Secret." LOL!! The next day, when I went to the hospital, I  met her nurse, who said, "Oh! Nice to meet you! Are you the one with the Victoria's Secret bag?" Yes. Yes that would be me.

3. Celebrating grandparents is fun!

One of my grandparents died before I was born, and the other three all died in my junior high and high school years. One of the beautiful bonuses I received in marrying Ryan was a whole new group of grandparents. This month, Ryan's Grandpa turned 88 and his Grandma turned 90! (In full disclosure, these two are not married to each other; one is maternal and one is paternal. Let's not start rumors!) Both of them are just delightful and I don't think either one looks their age. It was a joy to celebrate both of them.

4. I am unashamed about my planning (overplanning?) nature.

This month happened as smoothly as it did ONLY because I had been planning ahead on some activities for months, some for weeks, and some for days. I take a lot of ribbing for my fat day planner and my color coded calendars, but let the record show, I made it to Mom's doctor appointments, several therapy sessions and more while juggling church meetings, Christmas prep, hosting Thanksgiving, writing, and podcasting because I'm strict in my planning. Sure, my blood pressure went up a little now and then, but overall was very calm, because I had a plan. 

5. Hosting Thanksgiving is not as hard as I feared!

I had hosted Thanksgiving before, back in my single days, but I believe I cooked about one thing and the rest of the family brought the rest of the food. In truth, I was merely a landing point. So when Ryan and I inherited Thanksgiving, rather at the last minute this year, I wasn't sure if I could successfully pull off a good feast! It helped that we didn't have many people, so I didn't have to cook tons and tons of food. But it wasn't as stressful as I thought. My sisters pitched in with sides and desserts, and we did it! Thanksgiving success!  

6. We're going to be a regular aunt and uncle (again) in addition to being a great aunt and uncle!  

Ryan's sister has made it social-media-official, so we can tell you that she announced this month she'll be having a baby next summer! (He has lots of siblings, so if you've lost track, this is the sister that got married this past summer.) So I guess 2018 will be the year of the babies in our family. My niece is having her first baby, and Ryan's sister is having her first baby! 

 So how about you? Did you learn anything?