Peak Fall

Last month when the boys had a four-day weekend, I got a bit nostalgic thinking about my beloved fall breaks in college.  For some reason, that was my favorite break of the year.  I think it was a combination of being in the sweet spot of the semester (so homework was manageable), the lovely fall foliage-filled drive home, and the prospect of seeing friends and family for what might be the first time that semester.  Good food, a comfortable bed, and a change of scenery for four days felt mighty good every time.  Thanksgiving was typically colder, and both Thanksgiving and Spring breaks tended to be heavier on the homework.  Thanksgiving was only about a week or two out from finals, and Spring break was a week long and I guess they figured it was too long to not have work to do.  Christmas and Summer were nice because of their duration and complete lack of homework, but that also meant the expectation was to get a job if possible.  So, fall break was really the best of the bunch, and I still get a little adrenaline rush thinking of my excitement packing up on those Friday afternoons in early-to-mid-October.  I was always worried about missing the best fall views in Geneseo, but thankfully I think plenty was still waiting for me upon my return.

All of that got me thinking about other fall traditions and memories, too.  I don't actually think I've dived into those here all together, though I've maybe referenced them in relevant posts.  Now, as we head into the darkest part of fall and all the golden, leaf-filled, Indian Summer days are past, I suppose it's time for a reminder that other parts of fall are the lovely trade-off for late fall's blahs.  So, let's do a deep dive.

Bazaars - One of my most enduring memories of fall is church bazaars.  I still purposely go home sometimes to make it to one or another.  Our old church's is a shell of its former self, but it still brings back memories and is a good chance to say hi to people or make the old ladies feel older...haha.  My mom's childhood church still does theirs as well, and I have fond memories of going there on Saturdays with my mom and grandma, browsing, and then eating lunch.  But my St. Matthew memories are the strongest.  It was in the church basement where we usually ate school lunch, so that Friday was always notable for eating lunch in our classroom and knowing there was fun to be had immediately after school.  My mom was usually working down there, so I could run down after school and start shopping.  My grandma (other one this time) ran the Green Thumb booth, and I always stopped there to say hi (and get slipped a $5 bill for my own shopping--she was the best!).  I'd usually buy a tiny plant from my grandma, stop at the candy stand, maybe shop the tchotchkes at the Sunday School bookstore booth, browse the attic treasures (think garage sale), and of course make a themed button at the button booth.  You'd decorate a paper circle--either color in a black and white Xerox copy of a picture, or add a sticker, and they'd put the plastic cover over and stamp it together.  I had so many over the years of favorite characters, and later school spirit ones to add to my cheerleading uniform.  It was one of those rare times as a kid where it was okay to roam and shop unattended, and the independence was downright intoxicating.  

Fall Leaves - Some of my best adult fall memories are from my fall hikes, some with Carter, some without.  I do remember going to Letchworth as a kid, and that was a memorable fall moment.  But mostly I remember playing in the leaves.  At our old house, I remember the thing to do with friends was make leaf "houses" by pushing the piles of leaves into outlines of "rooms".  Seems simplistic and I'm not even sure where we went with that once they were built (did we "play house?"), but it felt like the cool thing to do once you felt too old (no such thing, in reality) to jump into leaf piles.  But my hikes are probably my favorite, and I look back on my pictures fondly.

Letchworth when I was a kid

Baby Jacob's first time playing in leaves

From our last hike at Stony Brook in 2022

College - Speaking of Letchworth, I recall a Sunday evening back in my freshman year of college where we decided on a whim to go to Letchworth.  It was me, Mary, our friend Gina, her roommate Jill, and another dormmate, Lissa.  I think we were all itching for a good procrastination device, and Gina had a car.  So we hopped in, headed to the park, and got a couple pictures of the dam before it got too dark and we had to leave.  Of course, that wasn't my favorite college memory of Letchworth--that one was in the spring when I (stupidly, naively) went up on the railroad bridge with friends during a picnic and captured a very cool shot over the waterfall.  But that fall night felt like the epitome of college life--being independent and skipping studying in the best ways possible.  There was something oddly cozy about the fall semester at college.  Coming back to our room on a rainy afternoon and taking a nap, the rush of getting up at the crack of dawn to register for classes in-person, going to breakfast in the dark in December, and that fantastic feeling of finishing your last exam before going home for Christmas.  I always felt so at home in my dorm rooms, and fall was the best time to snuggle in.

The view of the dam from that night in college

My favorite spot for a cozy nap

Hockey - While it has been less of a thing lately, I have a lot of fall memories tied to hockey.  From training camp starting in mid-September, which I often went to with my cousin, to getting to my first Sabres game of the year sometime in the fall, to my very busy fall seasons when I worked for the Amerks, it will likely forever be tied to this season for me.  I fell in love with hockey in October nearly 35 years ago (wait, what?!), and one of my best memories was coming home from college to go to the Sabres' home opener in their new arena.  That was such an amazing experience, even if I was crushed the prior spring when the old one closed.  There was nothing quite like a crisp fall evening heading to the arena for a game.  I'm a little sad that working in sports took the edge off that feeling for me, but once in a while I can feel it again.    

While this picture was one of my most prized possessions, it's also a bit cringe because it was my fangirl self getting my picture taken with one of my favorite Sabres at training camp.  I thought he was SO hot.  But my cousin could drive us there, so that felt pretty darn cool.

Walking into the arena for the first game in 1996!

Halloween - Halloween as a kid was the best.  I always had creative and/or cobbled together costumes, usually from my grandma's craft stash or my mom's sewing machine, and there were few things more fun than our classroom parties, seeing everyone's costumes and eating treats.  Trick-or-treating was usually fun, but weather is always a factor around here!  I remember at least one rainy year, and being rather chilly.  I'm not sure anything compared to this year's cold, wind, and rain, though!  I've loved watching my kids go through Halloween, too.  I know we're coming down to the end of it, but I have good memories of fun costumes, creative jack o'lanterns, and cute baby pics with baby pumpkins.  Speaking of pumpkins, I feel like pumpkin patches were less of a thing when I was a kid--in fact, I only remember going to one when I was in Brownies.  But what I do remember was going to our local farmer's market, usually as part of a school field trip (where we walked probably a mile there and back!) to pick up classroom pumpkins, and sometimes we'd each get a small one of our own.  We'd also buy ingredients for a cooking project, like apple crisp or Stone Soup (per the children's book of the same name).  That was always so much fun.  I'm honestly not even sure where we got our pumpkins for home when I was a kid--maybe a separate trip to the market, or maybe a roadside stand somewhere?  Or maybe my mom picked one out without us?  But I do remember always carving our pumpkins as a family, and that's probably why I keep doing it despite less-than-participatory kids these days.  Oh, and two of my very favorite memories involve being a spectator!  The first year we owned a house, I was all excited to give out candy.  However, my grandma died right before Halloween, and I had to be in Buffalo that night.  I remember sitting on my parents' porch on a very mild night with my mom and brother as my mom gave out candy, and we watched the neighbor scare kids by popping out of a coffin on his porch.  A year or two later, on another really nice night, I sat outside and watched a neighbor at our house do the same thing.  It was hilarious!

My mom absolutely outdid herself that year!  I think I was four.

Craig's and my first trip to Stokoe Farm in 2007...and also one of the first pictures of me pregnant, although we didn't know it yet.

All-time favorite Halloween pic of the kids

Trips - Fall has been the time of a few really fun trips.  In addition to the late leaf peeping hikes I've done en route to Binghamton, there was my Chihuly trip a few days before I found out I was pregnant with Jacob, our trip to Atlanta when I was pregnant with Carter, and our fun Baltimore trip for lacrosse eight years ago.  The Chihuly trip to Pittsburgh was what officially launched my obsession, although another exhibit 10 Novembers earlier during a college Thanksgiving break was the actual beginning of my fandom.  I loved that trip but slept terribly and came home completely exhausted.  Who knew that was my first sign of pregnancy?  Finding out I was pregnant two days later and dealing with those first few weeks was a whole other type of fall memory--very bittersweet for a lot of reasons.  While we were thrilled, I was also terrified, nauseous, and hated living a double life before we felt comfortable telling people.  That had to be the longest November ever.  Atlanta was a somewhat impulsive trip to get Craig to see Chipper Jones before he retired. It was a pretty cool trip, between the zoo, the Cyclorama, a Braves game, exploring the Olympic park, and going to our first Legoland Discovery Center.  Baltimore was one of the first family trips where we actually felt functional despite the sibling rivalry and general behavior challenges we had back then.  We had a full day of fun before a long, cold lacrosse weekend--Camden Yards, Fort McHenry, the Inner Harbor, and the aquarium.  It was quite a day, and probably was the first the trip that gave me hope we could vacation peacefully again after a few really tough years.  Our first family Raptors game was in the fall, too, although very late--close enough to visit a Christmas market!  Technically, we did two fall Disney trips, too--but one was closer to summer and the other was closer to winter, so I won't count them!

A Chihuly in Pittsburgh

Jacob and (halfway pregnant) me in Atlanta

The boys at Camden Yards (look how tiny!)

The jellyfish I was obsessed with at the aquarium

At the Christmas market in the Distillery district

Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving is obviously a special kind of family time.  I miss the dinners with my aunt, uncle and grandma.  Some years we ate at our house, some at my uncle's, but all were delicious.  I still look back fondly on our early Thanksgivings with Craig's family, sharing what we were thankful for and cozying in for the evening to do some online Black Friday shopping.  Things have evolved and this year is a complete question mark on that side because of family dynamics and Craig's parents' move, so that's a bit of a bummer.  On my family's side, I think back to being a kid and hating that every Thanksgiving eve was spent at church (inexplicably still in my skirt from chapel day at school because my mom wouldn't let me change) because we needed to rehearse for the big service the next morning.  Thanksgiving morning's service was a production--from the food pantry donations being brought to the altar and the "Scenes of Thanks" slide show shown throughout the service with church and school pictures from the last year, to the giant flag backing the altar that was dramatically raised mid-service and the massive chorus on the altar at the end (all choirs, school included) being directed by the pastor from a special stand placed in the aisle.  It was a LOT, but it somehow worked.  This year Thanksgiving falls on what would have been my grandma's 101st birthday.  I've been thinking about her a lot.  Sometimes we'd celebrate her birthday on Thanksgiving eve with cake--just what we needed before a giant meal!  But when I was a teenager, I loved Thanksgiving eve because there was always a Sabres game!

Based on what I'm wearing, this was more than likely a Thanksgiving eve, complete with a couple cousins home from college

I know there's more memories buried in my brain and my photos, but these were some of the big ones from a lifetime of autumns.  It was fun to look back at some of these old pictures and think about things I haven't thought about in a while.  Life is changing and so much of what fall looks like now is so different from what made past ones special.  We're still making our own memories (World Series, anyone?), and they may feel a world away from some of these, but I'm grateful for each and every one.

Heavy

This week has felt so heavy.  I don't know if it's being compounded by the early sunset post-time change, or what, but I am just feeling everything so heavily this week.  My empath meter feels off the charts, and it's exhausting.

Election Day was Wednesday.  I decided to vote despite it being an off year because our town supervisor race was on the ballot and I felt pretty strongly that I didn't want one guy there.  The guy I voted for won, which was good, but the more interesting revelation from the day is that there was a giant, very clear Blue Wave, locally and across the country.  Just a year after a very strong Republican outing, Democrats dominated.  They took over areas that had been red for years.  Heck, even that town supervisor race marked the first time a democrat has won that position in over 100 years.  Maybe Republicans got complacent because they're content with what's happening right now, but this seemed like a very clear message that many people are NOT happy with the current state of affairs.  And even though that's not a surprise, I think seeing those results coming from so many areas made it all really hit home how bad people are feeling right now.  Even though we're generally okay, knowing so many others are struggling is hard.

The government is in the midst of its longest shutdown ever.  Republicans blame Democrats, saying they're doing it because they want to give illegal immigrants free healthcare.  Now, illegal immigrants aren't even eligible for free healthcare, so that's a lie.  Democrats say they're holding out because the Affordable Care Act subsidies are about to expire and premiums are going to be unaffordable, so they need to use this as a bargaining chip.  Meanwhile, government employees are not getting paid, SNAP funding has been cut off (despite court orders to fund it), people are being detained by ICE agents for no reason, and the White House has had one wing knocked down (without proper approvals) to build a $300 million dollar ballroom.  The rich get richer and the wealth gap increases.  People are facing down serious suffering, and at least one side doesn't seem to care very much.

I struggle because people I like and respect are on social media perpetuating easily debunked lies about the shutdown, or defending things that would have been unthinkable even 10 years ago.  The hypocrisy is staggering at times.  For example, there was so much criticism about President Biden's health being kept secret, but here we are with a President that has a perpetually bruised hand and swollen legs, seems to be wearing a catheter, and had a "routine" MRI (which isn't actually a thing).  He goes on social media rants that can only be described as incoherent rambling and falls asleep routinely during meetings, so many suspect dementia is hitting hard.  I take a lot of it with a grain of salt, but the evidence does seem to be mounting.  Or this week, California approved a proposition for redistricting, which was a direct response to Trump having Texas and a number of other states redistrict ahead of the midterms to increase Republican seats.  But of course, Trump called California's illegal and insinuated the elections there were fraudulent.  But he's literally telling red states to do the exact same thing.  Like...what?

I think what's been so mentally difficult for me is that it feels like we're constantly being gaslit.  Trump will talk about how prices are down and the economy is better under him, but the facts (and people's lived experience) don't support it.  Things are expensive and about to get worse because healthcare costs are skyrocketing for everyone, not just ACA folks.  They insist ICE is taking criminals off the streets, but there are so many stories about legal citizens being detained in horrible ways and that the actual percentage of criminals is low.  We're attacking and killing people on boats near South America, claiming that they're drug boats, but there's been no evidence presented of that.  There's an elected Congressperson who they're refusing to swear in because she represents the last vote needed to release the Epstein Files, which will incriminate the President and a number of other prominent folks on both sides.  It seems every day they say something that is a clear lie, and we're just supposed to accept it?  It's getting hard to not feel like you're going crazy when so many people are still supporting this administration despite so much damning evidence.  I have come to the conclusion that hardcore Republicans must be living a different reality thanks to Fox News and others, so they literally DO believe these lies.  That makes it hard to debate when they are told we're the ones making things up.  

The funny thing is that I was a lifelong Republican until Trump came along, and now I feel like the party is so unrecognizable that I'm not even sure where I would fall if things all went back to normal.  I feel like the Left pushes a lot of things way too far, but so much of what I'm seeing from the Right is so unfathomable that I feel like I can't get on board with that at all.  I feel like this week's Blue Wave is honestly less about policy and more about having a legitimate fear that any Republican candidate is a Trumper and shares the same extreme views.  If someone had a good platform and was an old-school Republican, I probably wouldn't hesitate to vote for them.  In fact, I'd love to scour the platforms of Republican candidates that have disavowed Trump to see what they have to offer.  But it's been so long since I've seen one that I have no idea whether it would resonate anymore, or whether my perspectives have changed so much that it would still feel too different.

The other funny thing is that most logical Americans, regardless of party, want the same thing.  I've seen some things that illustrate how we're all not that far off from each other, especially if we talk it through one-on-one, rather than lump everyone into a dehumanized stereotype.  The struggle is that we see very different routes to get to what we all want.  One side wants to bolster social programs, the other side wants to "teach a man to fish" so they can better help themselves.  One side wants common-sense gun laws to keep us safer, the other side talks about the Right to Bear Arms and how those weapons can make us safer.  Usually the best option for everybody is somewhere in between, but God forbid we figure out how to compromise.  We all want our country to thrive, but can't agree on how we do that.  

I've said many times that my problem with the current administration isn't so much WHAT it's doing (although sometimes it is), but rather HOW it's doing it.  Take the White House, for example.  I can absolutely see where a ballroom would be better than tents on the lawn, but making one that's so expensive and is nearly double the size of the rest of the White House, while tearing down a historical wing without proper approvals?  Ummm...no.  Illegal immigration has been an issue here, for sure, but ICE going into homes and schools like renegades and dragging people out, even if they have legal residency?  Or are actually citizens with the wrong skin color?  Or are children?  Or going to actual legal immigration hearings and violently detaining people who "did it the right way"?  That's just not the way to do it.  DOGE was supposed to cut wasteful spending, which is obviously something we should want, but the way they just went in and cut entire departments without understanding their purpose, or used their own flawed perceptions to say something wasn't needed (like anything related to DEI) is just thoughtless.  Research funding has been cut across the board because it was deemed wasteful, but some of those studies are extremely important to those suffering from diseases.  Studies that may not seem useful or relevant are actually building blocks for bigger-picture studies, but no one is taking the time to really dig into that.  There are unqualified, inexperienced people in roles they should never have, and it's showing.

It seems like every day there's a new news story or speech that boggles the mind.  I've tried explaining to my kids that almost every day, something happens that would have been career-ending for most politicians, but now people just shrug and make excuses.  You could go days or weeks without hearing from the President.  Not anymore.  It's turned into a total circus, and our foreign counterparts can't believe what they're seeing.  And as a Christian, I'm gutted by what Christian Nationalism has done to others' perception of religion.  Instead of being known for love and joy, outsiders see hate, exclusion, and illogical, cult-like devotion.  They see hypocrisy.  Jesus said to help the poor and immigrants, and this group claims faith while doing the exact opposite.  My brain just can't comprehend how we got here.  We're just so divided, and our own President (who they will defend and insist was put in place by God) has readily admitted to hating his enemies and only wants to govern for his own followers.  It's crazy.  I do think it's gotten so extreme that some are finally seeing the light (or at least questioning why prices haven't gone down), but it's probably not enough.  I hate to think how bad it will get before enough people realize how far off we've gone.

On a more personal note, part of the downside of the Blue Wave meant that Craig's brother lost his election to keep the Town Clerk spot he inherited when Craig's mom was named Town Supervisor.  He was very qualified for the position after working in the office for years, but the Democratic party turned on him and he had to run as a Republican, which likely hurt him in the end, in addition to some bad press and talks of nepotism.  He was also quite ill this week, so with that, the loss, and upcoming unknowns with his living situation when Craig's parents' new house is done in another month, it's a lot all at once.  I feel terribly for him.

Also this week, the daughter of a high school friend of mine has been hospitalized with sudden acute liver failure.  She's Jacob's age, healthy and about to be a D-I athlete, and suddenly is ill with a life-threatening condition that doctors took days to start gaining ground on.  She transferred to a hospital a few hours away to get better specialists.  It started to look like she'd need a transplant.  Thankfully living donors are typically easier to come by--and I did fill out the form--but after a biopsy determined that her liver is actually not that damaged, they think it's an infection and something called Wilson's disease.  They believe her liver will recover, but it's still going to be a long road, I think.  As a parent who's been through a few medical mysteries, a couple life-changing diagnoses, and enough anxiety to end up medicated, I'm just heartbroken because I can't imagine all that they're going through.  The sudden shock of something like that literally changes your brain chemistry, and I can't stop thinking about or praying for them.

After a couple weeks just feeling a bit down in the muck and very distracted, I vowed to myself that I needed to have a productive weekend.  I had so many things I'd been putting off or simply had to do (like open enrollment for our health insurance), and made my usual impossible-to-ignore to-do list heading into the weekend.  I forced myself to get a good head start Friday with a bunch of cleaning, laundry, and cleaning up piles and surfaces.  Today I had to do some running around with Jacob, but still managed to do the open enrollment, more laundry, and more cleaning.  Tomorrow I need to sort through the hand-me-downs to check for more clothes for Carter.  I have a couple more things I could work on, too, but that's the last big one.  It's progress, at least. 

Thanksgiving is in 2-1/2 weeks and I can't even begin to wrap my brain around decorating or present-buying.  People seem to be doing COVID-era early decorating again this year.  It's been more of a thing since then, but I feel like there is just a shameless push to decorate early this year.  As soon as Halloween was over, the trees were up.  It's probably because people are at a COVID-level of stress once again, due to all of the above, but it's giving me extra stress as a result.  Just thinking about dragging out all of my bins is tiring me out.  I love my decorations once they're up, but it's a lot of work.  I'm also worried about my tree, as the lights were starting to misbehave last year and I'm worried about what might happen when I pull it out this year.  Let's just say I'm savoring my turkey decor right now!

So, the beginning of November has been a lot, but on the bright side, I guess this usually-slow month is flying by already, so maybe I can't complain.  Although it is going to snow this week and there isn't even a hint of Indian Summer in the extended forecast, so I guess fall gave it up early and winter is taking over a little ahead of schedule.  Maybe it'll get me in the Christmas mood sooner then?  Just a couple more weeks before things get real...

The Rest of the Week

So...once we got back from Toronto at 4am, we had a nice "nap" before Craig had to go to work and I had to start cooking pork.  Even though I was going to go back to bed after I got it set up, I didn't, so it was a pretty sleepy Saturday.  Carter had his last game of the season in the early afternoon, which they won.  I'm so proud of how he played this season.  Now on to travel and hopefully Modified in the spring.

From there we went to Lori's house for our family Oktoberfest.  It was fun to see Honey after a week apart, and she was happy to see me.  Not quite a jump initially, but she did hop up on my leg when I bent down to pet her.  But it was funny how when Kevin and Lori walked someone out to their car, she immediately defaulted back to me as her person.  We had a nice time with family, even though it was cold and a bit drizzly, which left us stuck mostly inside.

Tuesday was my endoscopy.  I'd booked it a while back since I hadn't had one in quite a few years, and I know my reflux has been hanging in there.  I noticed it creep up after I started my Zoloft, and even though I've been taking omeprazole, lately I've had what they call globus sensation, where it feels like you have something stuck in your throat.  It's not so much as choking sensation as it is feeling like a piece of food getting caught on a flap of skin or something.  Water doesn't really help, but liquid antacid has, so I think it's some sort of acid-induced esophageal spasm.  I'd had something like that years ago, and while this feels different, I think it's similar in cause.  But since I know two people around my age who have been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer in the last few months, I wasn't about to mess around.  I had to stop eating at midnight and stop drinking after 6am, but my appointment wasn't until noon.  That made for a long morning.  I distracted myself with some work and then got ready.  It's a relatively quick procedure, but I did have to wait a while once I was back in the room.  By all accounts, they didn't see anything of concern, although I'm obviously still waiting for the pathology to come back.  But that was encouraging, at least.  Now if that issue would stop, that would be even better.  I had a very lazy rest of the day, though.  One long nap and a very chill evening, at least until I realized I only had 3,000 steps and had to get up to 6,000 because of my Walktober thing.  I hadn't missed a day yet, and I didn't want to start with just a few days left in the month.  So, I did a leisurely basement bike ride and secured my steps for the day.

I also realized late that night that my office Halloween was the following day.  I had thought about what I wanted to do, but the theme was weird and I got caught up in the Jays game and anticipating the endoscopy, and forgot to do anything about it.  I decided that I could maybe wear a black dress and run to Walmart in the morning to grab the materials to do the little Pinterest project I had been eyeballing.  I checked in the morning that what I needed was in stock, and headed out.  I got exactly what I needed (along with a couple things from home), and started working on it at my desk.  It was a little more complicated than I thought, but I got it done.  Elsewhere in the office, the committee had done their thing.  The theme was the Addams Family.  That was more complicated than the open-ended themes we'd had before (garden, under the sea), hence my hesitation on what to do.  But they did a great job.

As for me, my project was a Cousin Itt out of a Halloween bucket and lots of yarn.  I made the hat out of felt.  The sight of it cracked me up every time!

I also found some black gauze on my shopping trip and cut it up to drape on my arms and tie on my waist to extend my dress.  That made it look a bit creepier, at least.

On Thursday night I felt like I was running around like a maniac, and I had to carve our pumpkin late in the evening.  Luckily I knew what I wanted to do, and I was able to execute it pretty easily.  Appropriate, right?

Carter had been going back and forth about Halloween, and it intensified with the idea that the weather was going to be uncooperative.  We did try to go out and find a costume, but we wanted something that wasn't too expensive and would continue to fit Carter next year, as he wanted it for his Halloween concert next year (more on that in a minute), and I know he's going to grow.  We just couldn't find anything, but figured if he really wanted to go out, we could cobble something together.

In all the excitement about the Jays' game, I forgot to talk about Carter's concert the previous week.  It was a Halloween-themed concert with the 7th and 8th grade band and orchestra, as well as the high school band and orchestra, plus a couple specialty groups as well.  Everyone performed a song individually, and then they all came on stage to do one song at the end.  The songs were all sort of "creepy" themed, and the musicians could wear costumes!  I'd say at least half did, which was entertaining at times--like when the one conductor looked like Bills coach Sean McDermott, or the student in one of those inflatable t-rex costumes!  

The performances--especially the high school ones--were amazing, and when everyone was up there together (over 300 students!), it was so awesome.  It was similar to how I've felt about String Festival in the the spring with all the middle and elementary orchestras performing together.  The finale was "Thriller", and it was great!

Well, when Halloween arrived, the weather all day was awful.  Windy, rainy, and cold.  And it only got worse as the day went on.  Carter decided he didn't want to go out in that.  Since we had a little time to kill before trick-or-treaters, we decided to check out the new Boscov's store at the mall, which was on day 2 of its grand opening.  They had totally transformed the mall, essentially slicing it in two and replacing a third of the one wing with a store that went the width of what was once a hallway, center court, an anchor space, and probably close to a dozen storefronts.  I wasn't sure what to expect based on what I had seen from the outside, so it was so disorienting walking directly into a full, giant store.  It was even weirder peeking out the mall entrances (one that was extremely small) and realizing how much mall got taken over.  One side pretty much just has a Dick's, Barnes & Noble, and maybe four other spaces (plus an anchor space that houses a storage place--I don't even know if there's interior access to that one).  It was strange going to the other side that accesses the rest of the mall and seeing it essentially dead end with an anchor store entrance.  At least Auntie Anne's was saved!  And of course, Carter guilted me into getting him some since he wasn't going out that night.  But the store was cool, and we had fun doing a little Peanuts-themed scavenger hunt and getting some treats.  I actually bought Carter a pair of pants, a Christmas gift for Jacob, and some BOGO candy from their candy section.  Carter liked these guys in the toy section (as if we needed any more stuffies!).  

We also got to meet Snoopy!

We came out to an absolute monsoon of a night, which only solidified Carter's decision.  But, we did see some brave trick-or-treaters!

My mood exactly...

I was a little sad that Carter didn't go out for his sake, and it was a bit weird to not do it for the first time in 16 years(!), but I didn't want to go out in that either!  Carter said he was "redshirting", so he intends to go out next year.  We'll see, I guess.  Jacob missed his last year because he was waiting on a COVID test (back in the day where you didn't go out until you knew), and just decided not to do it the next year, so I suppose it would be oddly appropriate if this was how Carter's run ended.  The rest of the night was spent watching a disappointing Game Six, which the Jays lost to force a Game Seven.  Boo, indeed.

On Saturday morning we picked up Honey the dog for another few days since Lori and Kevin were going out of town to watch her niece play volleyball.  It was a lazy Saturday as a result--lots of cozy couch time.  But that night was stressful with Game Seven.  The Jays had the lead for most of the game, but after a handful of heartbreaking missteps and a couple extra innings, they lost.  We were SO bummed.  It really stung, especially after all the hope of Game One and all of the wonderful stories that should have come out of a Jays win, including our local Rochester native who was stellar in the playoffs and the rookie pitcher that broke all the records.  It was heartbreaking way to lose, to be so close--literally an inch in one case.  And poor Honey not only had to deal with our outbursts, but also had to nap on the couch way past her bedtime!

The rest of the weekend was a balance between lazy and productive.  Honey was with us through Monday, so I worked from home to stay with her.  At lunch time we went out for a bit in between rainstorms and she somehow managed to roll in poop.  Since it was in the backyard I'm assuming it was hers from last time, maybe from when we had her on the lead and maybe missed her going?  It was a different color than deer poop, at least.  I caught it quick but she still managed to get a bunch wedged under her collar.  I did my best to get her right in the house, rinse off the collar, and wipe her down, but apparently she still smelled like poop.  I tried, but I was not about to do a full bath, being completely inexperienced in pet bathing and in the middle of a work day.  Of course, she was not enjoying the cleanup and knew she was in trouble, so she kept trying to escape and hop on the bed or on the couch, which I obviously wanted to avoid.  It was even harder when I took the collar off because then I had nothing to grab!  She never went to those places without me, so I knew she knew she was in trouble!  Despite the smell, Carter managed to keep her happy when I went out for a couple hours to chauffeur Jacob around.  She had her second leash-twisting meeting of the day with Jack from around the corner (the feisty brother of Beethoven, who was a bit skittish last time), and while she wasn't immediately looking out the window for me when I left (I think she was still mad about the cleaning), she was looking for me when I came back.  Thankfully she got picked up before the crazy thunderstorms that night got too bad.  The first rumbles of thunder had her growling!  She was, of course, thrilled to see her people, and I was texted a picture of a wet dog shortly thereafter!

So, all's well (enough) and back to normal now.  Craig was gone for a couple days for work, we're all a bit sniffly, but it could be dog allergies, and Jacob's basketball coach got fired last week, so that's been an interesting wrinkle.  Obviously hoping whoever gets hired is a good fit.  More to come soon, but never a dull moment around here, that's for sure!

We did a thing...

As you may recall, back in the summer I really wanted to do something fun to close it out, but Carter's ulcerative colitis flare really put a damper on things.  Once the Toronto Blue Jays made the playoffs, and Carter was feeling better, Craig talked about taking him to a game.  But of course, playoff tickets are pricey and it honestly seemed a little over the top, so I encouraged him to let that idea go.  But once they made the World Series, it ramped up again, and I think he recalled saying to Carter at one point at the peak of his illness, "If the Jays make the World Series, we'll go."  Well...they did, in fact, make the World Series.  

He brought up to me the idea of taking him right around when tickets were going on sale, and I once again was like, "no way, that is going to be way too expensive."  But he really, really wanted to do this, and ended up buying a couple tickets via resale, since all of the official queues were hundreds of thousands of people long.  However, when Jacob found out they were going to Game 1, he felt a little slighted.  Not only would it be cool to go regardless, but he brought up that he had wanted to go to a Raptors game when they were in the playoffs (and ultimately won the championship), and we said it was too expensive.  And truthfully, they were probably cheaper than the Jays tickets at the time.  To be fair, our financial situation is a bit different now, and we did go up to try to get into Jurassic Park outside the arena during the conference finals.  He also got to go to the championship parade, although that wasn't the best experience, but it's not like we didn't try to do something for him.  But in his brain, this felt pretty unfair, which I get.  

Because the resale market was so strong, Craig figured he could resell the tickets he had for a small profit to offset some of the cost of buying an additional ticket.  But honestly, if the three of them were going to go,  I didn't really want to be left out.  I mean, I sacrifice a lot for my family, but if we're going to give the kids a core memory like this one, I sort of wanted to be there to experience it, too.  So Craig did resell his two to buy four.  It definitely cost more overall, but this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I just tried to let it go and look forward to it.

But in the subsequent days, going to the game felt a bit overwhelming.  Jacob had to miss some school because of appointments, and after Carter's infusion early in the week I hated for him to miss more school, but we really had to get going earlier in the day to account for traffic.  On top of it being crazy expensive and the logistics and costs overwhelming, there was a point where it looked like we'd be better off selling our two and just letting Craig and Carter go alone.

But then I got back to thinking about what an opportunity this truly was--none of us had ever been to a World Series game (and only Craig had gone to a playoff game), and this one was within driving distance AND featured Carter's favorite team (which was one of my faves growing up and the Buffalo Bisons' current parent team).  How often do you get an opportunity like that?  So, we pressed on, picked up the kids a bit early, and loaded up the car with snacks and some basic overnight bags in case we needed to sleep at my parents' on the way back.  I knew it would be a late night either way, but again, this was pretty much a one-time opportunity, so a little discomfort would hopefully be worth it.

We would have liked to leave earlier than we did and stay longer, but due to school and a Jacob appointment he didn't want to reschedule, as well as Craig needing to work Saturday and Carter's last baseball game, it was going to be a quick trip up and back.  We got on the road later than would have been ideal because of the appointment, but we were still within our window for getting there on time despite traffic.  I drove up, and for the most part, the first half was pretty decent.  We got a little stuck at the border behind a car that got detained, but otherwise, it wasn't bad until we hit Hamilton rush hour.  That was a bit slow, then it eased up when we got to the carpool lane past Burlington, then it got thick again.  As we got to the city, it diverted us off the highway on to Lakeshore Blvd., which was also very slow.  Things got a little heated with the GPS giving us some confusing directions and Craig getting a little uppity about me needing to change things or misunderstanding where to go.  I wasn't trusting the other drivers (because it's chaos there, city driving is different, and I'm still scarred from my accident), but he was clearly worried about not getting there on time.  We got through it, found our parking relatively easily (all things considered), and had a very short walk to the stadium (once we found each other, since they started walking out without me and I thought I knew how to meet back up with them from where I was--I was wrong, as there were apparently two elevators).

It was so exciting being at the stadium with so much excitement going on.  

And of course, there's nothing like that CN Tower view.  

It was cool to see the top of the TD Bank building lit up with a Blue Jays logo!

I had wanted to try to find the guy that plays the drums outside the stadium, as he's one of my favorite first Blue Jays memories and he's retiring now, but unfortunately we couldn't find him.  He wasn't where I last remembered him being, and it was so busy outside and the boys were in such a rush to get in (mostly for bathroom use) that we had to give up.  Once we got in, it was pretty jam-packed.  We did a bathroom run and thought about going to the team store, but we discovered that there was a line that went across the concourse and up multiple ramps just to get into the store.  We were about 40 minutes from gametime at that point and we definitely wanted to see the pregame festivities, plus we were all pretty hungry, so we opted to go up to our level, get food, and settle in.  We'd have to do the store later.  

On our way up, we saw the live TV broadcast setup, complete with David Ortiz and Derek Jeter (and Alex Rodriguez was probably there somewhere, too).  That was pretty cool, to be honest--even if I didn't like them much when they played (aside from when the Red Sox finally broke the curse).

On the way up, we caught this picture.  I realized later there were other hats in other concourses...should have grabbed one with the hat they were wearing that night!

Carter is wearing the World Series scarf we got at the gates, and holding the Jays rally towel.  Those were pretty good souvenirs on their own!  We found our section and got in a food line.  Carter got chicken fingers, Craig got a hot dog, and Jacob and I had poutine--safe for him and really good!  And appropriately Canadian, of course.

Getting to our seats was pretty surreal.  To see that World Series logo on the field and realize what was about to take place felt rather monumental and was a definite "pinch me" moment.  Knowing so many Jays fans and Canadians in general wanted to be there so bad was not lost on me--I tried to savor every second.

The pomp and circumstance of a World Series game was pretty cool.
 

The first pitch was thrown out by Cito Gaston, who managed the last Jays' World Series teams.  He looked pretty old, but then I realized I was in high school, younger than Jacob, when that happened, so...yeah, he's allowed.

The anthems were performed by a giant choir.  It was pretty impressive and the flags they created in the outfield were amazing. 

I'm not gonna lie, though--the Canadian one was much more stirring for me.  The whole country feels like it's behind this team, and honestly, with all of the politics and crap lately, I probably align with Canada far more than half of my own country.  So for that one night, I wanted to be an honorary Canadian, for sure.  You couldn't help but sing along with the anthem with that crowd, as into it as they were.

We were about three rows from the top of the stadium, but I loved those seats.  My first Jays game was in the first row of the upper deck behind home plate when I was around 11 or 12, and I was obsessed.  As a couple we'd had some rough experiences in the upper deck previously, after which Craig insisted he'd never sit up there again.  But, of course, this was a necessary exception and I actually loved the view from up there as a short person who could finally see everything, for a change.

I did rely on my real camera to zoom in on some details, though.  This is Trey Yesavage, the starting pitcher.  He started this season playing Single A ball, moved up to Double A, then played for the Bisons before getting called up in September.  And now he was rocking it in the World Series.  He pitched awesome in this game (and in Game 5) and broke a bunch of records--and not just rookie ones.

I caught Vladdy doing his writing thing that he always does.

And, of course, it was also notable to see maybe one of the best players that has ever played the game.  Right now I can't like him, but Shohei Ohtani is already a living legend and he's pretty impressive to watch.

Then there was Ernie Clement.  He's the Jays' third baseman, and he's originally from Rochester!  He's had an amazing playoff season, and it was so cool to see him do well (and have a Bills Zubaz pattern on the "Ern-Dogg" screen they'd put up for him).

The Dodgers got a couple runs early, but the Jays couldn't score when they had the bases loaded.  It got a little discouraging until Daulton Varsho hit a two-run homer to tie the game.  Watching it go out was a little nervewracking because we had realized that in those seats, the angle for gauging a homer vs. a standard fly ball was a bit confusing.  So when that one went, it seemed like it was going to go out, but we just couldn't be sure.  But when it hit the wall, the place went nuts!

After that, Carter and I headed out to get some water and had to do another photo op.

Then along came the sixth inning.  It started innocently enough, a man on, then a single, a hit batter, a walked-in run, another single, and then...bases loaded and Addison Barger came to the plate.  When he hit that ball and it sailed up and out for a grand slam, the entire place was bedlam!  

Everyone was high-fiving everyone--the guy in front of us and my seatmate were particularly excited.  It was absolute joy and complete pandemonium!  It felt like a dream at that point to be seeing such an amazing game.  And they weren't done yet.  Not long after, Vladdy got on base and Alejandro Kirk came up and hit a home run of his own!  Nine runs in one inning.  Crazy!  It was so exciting.

The crowd was so into it!  At one point, the whole crowd started singing "Hey Baby".

The energy was unreal and it felt so special to witness it.  After that big inning, the only really notable moment was Ohtani hitting a home run, which I guess was pleasantly historic to see, in some weird way, but thankfully we had enough of a lead that it didn't feel too scary.  It was still nervewracking for the pitchers to get through the remaining innings, but man, that last strikeout was exhilarating!

The line score was quite a sight with that 9!

It couldn't have been a better game or a better night.  Of course, that made me nervous that something stupid on the way home would ruin it (and indeed, there were a lot of deer), but at this point, it absolutely felt worth all the money and the stress.  Just an awesome core memory to make as a family, from start to finish.  

The mood in the concourse on the way down from our seats was so jovial--singing and chants and general joy. 

We snapped a couple pics on the way out, and then headed back to the store.

The line was still a mile long, but Craig wanted to get something for his mom and we'd otherwise just be sitting in traffic, so we waited.  It probably only took about 15-20 minutes to get in.  It was a little chaotic in there, but we finally found what we were looking for.  Once we got outside, Carter grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor (growing boy up about 20 pounds now) and we got waters to take into the car.  By this point it was after midnight, which wasn't really ideal, but again, worth it.  

The drive home was relatively smooth--very little traffic getting out of the city and smooth sailing on the QEW.  The boys dozed off pretty quickly and Craig drove like a champ, long into the night.  We had talked about stopping to sleep at my parents' house, but I kept forgetting to ask, and then once we were over the border I didn't have cell service and could only message my mom through Messenger.  She never saw it, and obviously we didn't want to show up at their house at 3am, so we just had to push through.  It was really only an extra hour, so not horrible, especially when it meant we wouldn't have an extra drive in the morning.  

I checked the GPS route as we got closer to the border and realized it was routing us to the Peace Bridge instead of the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.  I surmised that the same construction that rerouted us the previous year when it closed that route from the bridge to the QEW had shifted to the other side in the same spot this year.  When we got to the Peace Bridge around 3am, there was only one lane open and maybe eight cars backed up, and the line wasn't moving at all.  They opened another lane, but we were stuck in the slow one, and eventually they diverted that car off after about five cars had gone through the other lane.  We finally got through, and I took over driving about 45 minutes from home to give Craig a break.  It was a relief to get home, but boy, was that four hours of sleep not enough!  Craig had to get up to work bright and early, and I had to get up to put pork in the crock pot for pulled pork for our family Oktoberfest at Lori's that afternoon.  I'll get into that and the rest of the week soon.

As I was finishing typing this, the Dodgers won Game 6 to send the series to a Game 7 (after a fantastic Jays win the other night to take the series lead).  That was a bummer, but let's hope the Jays find that Game 1 spark once again in Game 7.  But what a fantastic experience that night was, and I hope we remember it forever.