Once upon a time I had a blog. Then November happened.

So, Wow. November was fast.  I have been saying for a few years that November has become the new December as far as busy-ness. At least it is that way in the Summy home. But then, December is still December so really I guess that makes no sense and was just my attempt at an excuse for going MIA for an entire month.

That entire last paragraph was written sort of apologetically to all my readers, but at this point I am pretty sure I am talking to myself (which is a shameful admission that I read my own blog. Is that weird?) which is fine really since I pointed out in the beginning of my blogging days that my number one reason for writing is so when my mind leaves me for Dementia (which I truly believe will happen the way most hypochondriacs do) I will be able to go back and read about my exciting day to day life.

November really was crazy. Good crazy, but still. Most of the month was devoted to Amelia's school play. I gushed like a super proud stage mom here when she scored the lead role in Annie Jr and it was everything we expected and more! It was a tough few months of rehearsals and memorizing and that was evident by the dip in grades on her report card and the rise of the numbers on my bathroom scale. But we made it and the show was spectacular. Here are a few pics from my favorite moments.

We moved straight from play week into Thanksgiving week with no chance to catch our breath. It's okay because holiday season is my jam. I LOVE it! We celebrated Thanksgiving at my sister's new home which is only 10 mins away so it was really like a special gift just for our little family. For the first time in years, we were able to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and still make it for the family lunch. We were then back home and in our pjs by the time the sun went down. That's my kind of holiday.

The Christmas music has been flowing in this house for a full month and we aren't slowing down any time soon. As soon as Thanksgiving was over, it was time to pack up the pumpkins and get the house ready for Christmas decoration explosion (that word sounds a bit contrary to the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas. But I assure you we are thinking of Jesus' birth the whole time!).  As we cleaned the house in preparation for the usual Christmas decor (I couldn't bear the thought of putting tons of greenery on top of already dusty furniture) I kept thinking it was a picture of rebuilding and preparing the temple and for the coming of the Messiah. Okay, maybe comparing my house to the temple of our Lord is a stretch, but it still gave the cleaning process a little more meaning and therefore gave me a little extra motivation. (I need any and all motivation for cleaning these days. Momming is hard.)

And with the cleaning done it was time to select that most important of Christmas symbols (no not a stupid tie with the Santa Clauses on it... thank you Audrey Griswold) the Summy family Christmas tree. We do it up real nice and drive all the way to the nearest Lowes and select one of the prettiest 6-7ft frasier firs they have in stock. Because we are fancy like that.

Lou walked right up to this itty bitty tree and said
"Look guys! I found the perfect tree!"

Those are the November highlights. And these are a few of the other things I've been obsessing over this month.

I love a good Christmas album. And this beautiful one from Christy Nockels does not disappoint.

Ok yall. I am sure you have heard people mention The Crown on Netflix. But I need to give my 2 cents because it is so wonderful. I am desperately trying to pace myself so that I don't finish season one too quickly and then fall into a deep depression. I love everything about British royalty and The King's Speech is on of my most favorite movies. This seems like a perfect sequel to that beautiful movie. Beautiful is the best word for it. The costumes, the scenery, the score. I love it all. So much that I can watch an episode while running 4 miles on the treadmill and be blissfully happy the entire time. (if you know my hatred for running, you know that is saying a lot!)

Have you heard of this little thing called the Gilmore Girls revival? Obviously this is all anyone has talked about for the last week. I was all in. I have always loved these GGirls and therefore watched these back to back until the wee hours of the morning. It was so lovely to see all my old friends again and it gave me all of the comfort feelings of the past. I was not super happy with how it all shook out in the end, but it was very well done and entertaining.

So that about covers November. Looking forward to all that December has to offer! It really is the most wonderful time of year!!



FACEBOOK FROM THE PAST
November 2011
I just realized that I have unintentionally and unknowingly cut red meat out of my diet. Now if only I could accidentally quit eating sugar.