Holidays are coming and plans are being made. Lots of pulling schedules together trying to see lots of family.

Bryn suggested the family do a Thanksgiving/Turkey Trot run. Bryn just got cleared to run again by her trainer and is itching to get out there. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in Indy, so with Meg's help we found the FitLivin' Thanksgiving Run in Noblesville nearby. Jeff decided he is going to go with the older kids and has been training. It was so nice today that Paige, Jeff and I went out the Bugline Trail: Jeff and Paige to get a run in and I decided to walk Theo, 11 years old today. Theo started out strong, but puked 7 times during our 3-mile walk making the last mile pretty slow for the old guy. I though I was treating him to a day outdoors with lots of new smells to enjoy, but instead I feel like I tortured him. He's resting comfortably in his dogloo now with plenty of water.

My freelance and contract work got super slow the past two weeks. Luckily a new freelance project came in to fill some of my time, but my steady freelance client just lost 2 key personnel who push work my way. I spoke to that client and they asked what my comfort level was with taking over some of the organizational/communication tasks required to pull the project details together (typically done by someone else before forwarding the job my way), and I welcomed the opportunity. It'll get me working again and help them out until they have their new hirees in place. I'll start those new tasks on Monday.

In the meantime, my parents came to stay with us — twice— in those past two weeks. The first time was for a few days on their way back from Florida and the second was just for a night before a company retiree luncheon for my Dad. The timing couldn't have been better as I could spare the extra time to visit with them.

I'm also proud to say that I'm also done clearing everything off my old iMac so that it may be recycled. I've archived to disk all my freelance files and am still working to burn all my iPhoto libraries to disk. If any of you know me well, this burning photos to disks is a task of epic proportions. I average about 1200 pictures/year and like to organize them into yearly albums per kid (Abby_UWL Senior, Bryn_CarrollFreshman, Paige_11thGrade, etc.) My little old iMac has been working diligently for just over a week on this.

Jeff's annual hunting weekend with his college buddies in Waubeno was the first weekend in November. It wasn't as well attended as other years, just 7 guys, 2 of their sons and 3 dogs. Jeff was able to go up early on Friday to get an extra day of hunting in and had a great time. He always comments on how he can hear the mice running around in the cabin when they go to bed. Only one guy shot a bird, and as directed, ate it up at the cabin.

Jeff and I attended our high school's Scholarship Auction a couple Fridays ago. Always a good time. The buffet dinner that the Hilton Garden put out was stupendous and the company at our table was so fun. During the evening, there are several auctions to partake of: a Silent Auction around the entire room, 50/50 raffles that are action participatory, several large ticket item (iPad, sports event tickets, big screen TV, etc.) raffles, and a live auction for really large ticket items (Bucks game booth, resort weekends, sailing excursions, etc.) Jeff and I came home with a MSOE sweatshirt and a round of golf for 4 at Ironwood.

I'm archiving projects back to the company server and blogging in between.

Work has been busy for me juggling working from home and going in to Rockwell with less than 24 hours' notice. But the money is nice and I like the work so enough of that.

October 6th we took our seats in the stands at Titan Stadium and cheered on our nephew Mitch at the UW-Oshkosh football game. Mitchell has quite a fan base and we were happy to join in. We did not enjoy the unexpected cold snap that weekend, so we made a couple visits to the concession stand for hot chocolate. Mitchell even scored a touchdown for us. Paige received her first college acceptance letter, to UW-O, soon afterward so it was cool she got to see a little of the campus social life.

Jeff and I were able to take a weekend away in October and headed out to Spring Green for their Fall Art Tour. The weather was great and we had beautiful drives between artist studios where we could chat with the artists and watch them work. It's really a cool event. And we were amazed at the talent! Next time we go, we're hoping we can make an investment in one of the artists' works! We stayed at a bed and breakfast which was super quiet and in the middle of nowhere. But then again, everything was in the middle of nowhere! The room was nice and we were treated to the most spectacular breakfasts!

And of course, the weekend we go away, Abby comes home for the weekend. She didn't realize she got a 4-day weekend. So she chilled with Theo and Paige, visited Bryn and Kristin, and we got to see her Sunday night/Monday morning. I hope many of you have been able to watch Abby's Story. Isn't she a great speaker and writer? Poor Abby just returned from her 3rd funeral in 3 months. Her best friend, Amy's, grandpa just died. Before that it was a friend/student from UW-L and another friend's dad. Luckily she has many weddings to look forward to.

Bryn was home the weekend before for Carroll's Fall Break. A disappointed athlete, she hasn't been able to participate in Cross Country since the beginning of Oct due to her hip injury. She still goes with the team to all the meets to help out with timing and cheer on her teammates. Bryn declared a 2nd major along with Chemistry: Politics-Philosophy-Economics. She's investigating what it means to work in Ethics, so I hooked her up with the Hospital Ethicist at Columbia St. Mary's and she's set up to meet with him over her winter break.

Homecoming was the same weekend Bryn was home. Bryn and her friend Ashley even made the trip in on Wednesday night to watch Paige play in the Powderpuff game. Ashley, Bryn and AJ all made custom signs to hold up in the stands for Paige. Paige did score a touchdown, but it was called back by a penalty. Saturday night was the dance and here's your chance to see Paige's entire ensemble from the La Crosse runway. Dinner beforehand was pizza at a neighbor's home—refreshing to see them all so relaxed and not spending all that cash.

We celebrated Jeff's 50th birthday by going to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert and boy, that is definitely going to be a repeat event. Yummy! We couldn't make it happen on his actual birthday because Paige worked, so we went the following Sunday.

I went in to the doctor late September complaining of back pain, although the x-rays said my back was in alignment. So the doctor sent me off for 4 weeks of physical therapy, which was much-needed. My therapist agreed that the main reason for my pain is my poor posture and at-home office conditions. Once we evaluate what my business owes in taxes for 2012, I'll be investing in a good office chair and desk. Here I think I'm so good doing my yoga and going to the Y, yet couldn't bend over to tie my shoe for weeks! All the daily exercises prescribed by the therapist, sleeping position recommendations and constant posture checks have helped immensely.