It's the most wonderful time of the year

 

Actually it's the busiest time of the year. SO busy. And I don't even have a kid in high school marching band anymore. THANK GOD; I have no idea how we'd get everyone where they needed to be when they needed to be there if that was going on.

September kind of flew by. I had a birthday and my brother came into town for it, which was swell. My big gift from P and the kids was a programmable electric pressure cooker and HOLY BALLS, I am sick in love with this thing. I've only made three things in it, but they were amazing, and I cannot get over how fast stuff cooks. Last night I made lamb stew in less than an hour and the meat was several degrees of magnitude more tender than it ever is when I cook it on the stovetop, even if I let it simmer for hours. LOVE.

C and his doctor increased his Abilify just a bit in September and since then he's been able to hang out with real live people in a variety of settings for extended periods of time, which is AMAZING and just so wonderful; I almost feel like crying when I compare how he was doing this time last year vs. now. It's been an incredible change. He's also been SUPER musical lately, I've noticed, and if you or someone you love might benefit from head meds but are afraid of taking them for fear of emotional flatlining and loss of passion/creativity, I can only tell you that with my specific kid and the specific dosages of the specific meds he's taking (10 mg each of Lexapro and Abilify per day), that has not at all been our experience. It's almost like the opposite has been our experience, because his brain isn't in constant fight-or-flight mode anymore and can actually devote time/energy to creating and experiencing (without fear) so many things. So yeah.

H is super incredibly busy with school and extracurriculars, all things she decided to take on herself, because her focus right now is scholarships. She knows she'll need them if she wants to go to school out of state, and she is MOTIVATED, boy howdy. She transferred from grade-level English to pre-AP (much harder with much more homework) a couple of weeks after school started, and she auditioned for and earned a role in the school musical, and she's TRYING to do American Sign Language Club but unfortunately it conflicts with both her rehearsals and meetings of the Thespian Society, which she's also in. She'll be heading to the state convention again this year and she is SO excited, and we are so grateful that she's been invited to attend two years in a row.

Tomorrow P and I will have been married 20 years, holy crap. I shall celebrate by getting my annual physical and blood work, because that's how we old folks like to party. WITH NEEDLES. I imagine P will celebrate by working another 16-hour day, needles optional, but don't worry -- we have a little weekend getaway planned later this month. And then I'm taking a little propofol vacay for a couple of hours (everything's fine, and I am NOT getting plastic surgery)(BECAUSE I KNOW AT LEAST ONE OF YOU WAS THINKING THAT) and then it'll be Halloween, I guess?

Yeesh. Yeah. Happy October, everybody.