Year 6, October 1st-3rd, 2021: Is It Finally Fall?

 I'm not sure it's Fall, y'all? Because my weather app says it's not. 80 degrees on the first day of October? When lots of friends post the Anne of Green Gables quote about "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."? And that's just not PEI friends either. We definitely haven't had any of our trees change color yet. In fact, Justin mowed Grandpa's yard again today. The grass is still bright green. I wore shorts to park day today. It did feel fine in the shade, thankfully. And the evening cooled off quickly. Keturah put away the pool and splash pad thing away for me without asking, which was sweet. I just haven't had energy and time and ability to do it yet. Today was nearly a total waste again schoolwise. We'll have to tackle it all tomorrow like it's a regular school day while Daddy is at church doing the e2 conference thing until 3pm. Keturah worked for Renae from 12-2pm so Abishai and I tried to unsuccessfully drop off recycling again and then picked up books from the library. And park day was at 2 of course. I had to take Abishai to karate since Daddy was occupied. And by the time I pulled myself together, Abishai had spread out his blanket and the pillows on the living room floor or more snuggling, so I could have resisted that. I couldn't, not after the rough night I had. So, yup, I said, forget it, let's do a do-over again tomorrow. Another week of only 4 days of paperwork with Abishai. I'll never have a 5 day paperwork week with Abishai. It's just not possible with our current schedule. 

We had three new families at park day and just three of us regulars so that was interesting. Just getting people plugged in. The kids played well together as usual though, which was good. We went home on time. Scrounged for supper after a quick lay down to stretch out my sore body. The boys got some screen time. Then I took Abishai to karate. The class was only boys tonight and they were a bit hyper. They must have been pretty cooped up all week at school and none of them seemed to really want to listen to parents that were calling out to them from the sidelines (who were all tired and exasperated themselves) or Miss Tess. Even Abishai, who was looking right at Miss Dana, didn't obey at one point. But he wasn't flopping around and talking over the teachers like the others. I felt bad for all the adults. And the kids. These boys needed to move. They needed the class, but they also needed just some free time. Poor things. Ugh. I'm kind of ready for Abishai to move up into a regular class with more concentrated instruction, if he decides that's what he still wants to do. At least he will have older boys and guys (and gals I would assume) to look up to and model after. He did look much more older and well behaved out there than the last time I had to take him. We got a little side tracked on the way home because one route was blocked off by a couple of cops, whoops, which reminds me that Beech Grove can be a little shady on a Friday night. So it's best to be careful over there. Eek. And then we based Hanna's Haunted Acres on the way home, too, and I explained how I didn't like that, either.

Yeah, I had my Facebook page full of Anne of Green Gables fans and Happy Fall and then I get to Beech Grove or I look around at the neighborhood and I'm reminded of it's Halloween month. And I heard it come from the boys' mouths as well, "It's Halloween month! What are you going to dress up as?" Oh my goodness. Don't start that. I just want to enjoy my harvest season thank you. Go away. I'll crawl back to my friends where that doesn't come up at all. Blech, blech, blech. Pumpkin patch and harvest. That's it. Bonfires. Go away from me you black cats, witches, and spiders. Yuck on you haunted houses and death. Hasn't there been enough death and evil in our world? Blech, blech, blech. 

Jared just got home at 10pm and poor little guy stayed awake long enough for him to put him to bed. And I'm going to bed with Jared, too. I need to catch up on sleep. Jared has to get up early to go open up the church for the breakfast crew for the e2 conference/retreat. Oh the fun stuff. I just don't want to shuffle through my days and feel lethargic. And I'm in pain and I don't want to think about that anymore today either. I don't want to push on the knots myself. Somebody else give me the massage. I'm so totally over it all. I need to rest.

The Anne of Green Gables vibe was going strong today from all corners of North America.

This is after we just had national daughter's day and national son's day. These extra holidays are just too much for me, too.

Laying on the floor on Abishai's bed comforter at just the right time of the day, we caught the rainbows that come in via the door glass.

Too warm for October.

That's more like it. PEI knows what it should be.

Certainly Abishai and I. I'm laying there watching Abishai wander off and exploring.

Absolutely true about me. That's why I think I fit in this category.

Not sure what tree this is, but Jared sent me this photo.

At least one of our trees is starting to turn. The days are hot but the nights definitely have turned colder.

Pretty perfect maple leaf at the park.

I posted this on the other blog post but this was Abishai's cry for help on his workbook page on Wednesday.

And this is Keturah's cry for help on her math page today. Now I know the kids didn't teach other to do this, but somehow, it's just in their nature, to write "help" on their paper when I'm literally in the same room with them or just a room over. Not sure why they can't just get up and ask. Or why they can't just circle the problem. But now the writing down off the word "help" has been passed down from sister to brother. It must run in families or something.

It was a rainy Saturday, and we had to do school because Mommy had two very off days and her and Abishai's part didn't get done on Thursday and Friday.  Abishai was very confused because it really should have been play day.  But Daddy wasn't even around because he had to work an e2 retreat at church until 4pm anyway. But we all worked hard and got it all done. Everybody's school got done and checked. Even extra chores like putting Wednesday night's groceries that go in the pantry finally got put away and the back of the car got vacuumed from bringing the dog to the vet on Tuesday and Abishai getting graham crackers in it on Wednesday. Finally, everyone got settled into their screens and I finally laid down. I've been hurting for some time and today was no exception. There's not much I can do except try to rest when I can. And some days, I can find no time time to rest. And my whole body has been flaring a lot lately. It's just been hard. I can barely catch my breathe and then another day is upon me with more demands. And then I'm supposed to keep it all together. Not a good way to live.

And then on Sunday, more rain. Jared asked that I go to the 9am service with him, so I did. But my stomach wasn't thrilled about it. I don't know what to do about that arrangement. Because then I spent the next nearly 2 hrs in the car by myself waiting for others to be done because I had nothing else to do at church. I needed to rest so I could try to get through the afternoon at Brickworld. I know that was a bit selfish, but I didn't want to spend two hours having surface level conversations with people while I was already in pain and really tired. We had been anticipating Brickworld for 18 months as it was. It had been postponed from March 21st, 2020, to November 2020, to March 2021, to now October 2021. I still had the original printed tickets from March 2020. So, I tried to rest the best I could. Then we had lunch with Leah as usual. Benaiah was tired from house and doing sitting and he was trying to clean out some clothes. I took it too personal and tried to intervene in his t-shirt sorting process and he barely let me look through them. Thankfully, Justin did want a few of them. But that exchange certainly didn't put me in any better of a mood for the day, especially considering the amount of physical pain I've been in for the last few days.

I just can't shake this fibromyalgia flare because of the weather and I ran out of some CBD oral medication and lack of sleep, etc. And I've got yet another busy week and lots of expectations to drop my regular goals to take care of once in awhile things during my normal working hours. Nope, no can do. I'm not like you. It will have to wait. I just want to sleep! But if I do, I know that this blog won't get done and I'll just get fruther and fruther behind and it's a busy week with no foreseeable time to catch up. So, let's see what else we got up to.

Brickworld was a little sparse. Everything was spread out nicely but the crowd was definitely thinner than I had seen it before. We are used to going on Saturday as well. Some of the same vendors and exhibitors were there though. And we got to see the marble track, and the Indiana Sailors and Soldiers Monument that we saw at the Indiana State Library, and all the usual suspects. Justin got to talk to the owner of It's A Block Party and gave him his email and phone number and name and found that they are actually moving in the next two weeks to Southport Rd. We don't know where though. So, this could be a good or bad thing. But they need more space. That part is a great thing. They need more space. We just don't know if it will actually be closer to us or further from us. And for me, transportation to and from might interrupt my afternoon way worse than it already is. I didn't have to do that with Benaiah because Jared or Leah would pick him up from school and take him directly to school. I wasn't involved at all. So, this could be quite interesting to navigate. And again, me going in and out of the house severely interrupts my work flow and my brain and I literally can't play chauffeur. Ugh. So many moving parts and unknowns still. But at least he made better contact with the owner this time.

Justin also got some inspiration again, so he started to clean off the Lego table in his room a bit more. I helped him buy an Overwatch set so I think that also helped him. Lots of retailers of buy/sell/trade, especially with minifigures. So, hopefully Justin got some ideas as to who he can plug into and look up to ask questions of. Like local clubs and such. Not that he's going to have anytime to pursue this right now. But now knows.

Then we got home and did chores, ate some food, and had some building time. I tired to rest and then moved forward for the evening but it's been slow going. The pain is too great and my mind is too slow. It's not fun and I'm on the brink of losing it again. Lord, help me.

I just happened that this alternative high school that started in the basement of a church I attended in my middle school years which was during those same years was turning 30! How cool! Way to go! It's not easy to keep going when you are small and stay small on purpose. The principal is still the same principal and the goals are the same goals and it's still a wonderful school serving a segment of the population that gets overlooked, kids that just don't fit the mold of mainstream high school. I love them so much!

We used to buy our maple syrup direct from them! It was original the pet project of our pastor's oldest son and since has continued on every year for the students at the high school. It's how I fell in love with real maple syrup and never looked back. The original sugar shack from my childhood. Gorgeous! I drink this stuff straight up!

Brickworld seemed a little sparse this year. I don't think there were ass many vendors or displays and the crowds were certainly not there. Maybe it's because we went at the tail end of it (middle of Sunday afternoon) instead of our usual time, right after Saturday lunch. It wasn't disappointing by any means. In fact, it made it more pleasant overall because we didn't have to fight any crowds. And the displays of course were amazing. And I'm sure Jared was relieved to not be so close to everyone. It was highly encouraged to wear masks, and for Jared's sake, we all did, not only for Covid, but for all viruses. By the end, my ears hurt and I just took it off. I could have taken it off way sooner. There was plenty of room to social distance.

This was a long skinny display, all original design, which I appreciate the most. I think it's a little bit cheating when people use the sets that Lego creates to just make a scene out of them. This guy did hide the Ninjago figures in them and Abishai found a few of them. Loads of details in this one and he's spent lots of years on it. That's a true Master right there.

A real working loom!

A catapult!

One of the Ninjago guys! What I loved about this year was that Abishai was tall enough to see lots of things on his own and he was short enough that he could notice all the things in the caves and such. The last time we were at Brickworld, he was in a stroller.

Jumping on a ed.

Gorgeous garden.

A red Ninjago guy and a weeping willow back there.

Bob and Larry.

I believe this lighthouse and cabin, as well as the other shack in the back are regular Lego sets, but I still like them a lot.

Detroit buildings. Definitely original builds.

Lots of original builds here to make an original theme park similar to one in Michigan.

There were a few of the Lego theme parks sets mixed in, but a ton of original builds as well. Some twinkling lights and lots of moving parts.

The red track roller coaster and the ferris wheel are recent Lego sets. But what's with all the Banana guys going to work?

Back of the Detroit bbuildings.

Not sure if these are original modules or not, but I LOVED that this guy had fall colors on his tree. The triple decker bus is from Harry Potter.

Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.

An older Lego series about artic exploration with an original build of an oil rig.

An orca.

Dog sled and huskies!

Some light bricks made this one sparkle.

Gingerbread house Candyland? So unique!

The GCPD! Gotham City Police Department! Batman!

This is neat! At first, you want to bypass this because it looks old and scrubby, but then, you want to take a second look at it. It's a math puzzle!

Can't go wrong with microfighters!

Airport terminal for Jared using 3 different sets combined.

That's a rarity now.

I bet this is a unique build. So cool!

A city park complete with disc golf, Benaiah's new favorite sport to play!

Made with real Lego bricks! Not knock offs! Dr. Who, Pokemon, all kinds of things!

Even historical things!

What a great idea!

The middles and I saw this one, the Sailors and Soldiers Monument, at the Indiana State Library a couple of years ago at the Homeschool Day at the Capital, but Abishai and Jared hadn't seen it. Jared was slightly impressed but was trying to handle Abishai.

Minions and Dr. Who Tardis.

I liked how this guy put the Carousel, which we saw a few times in other displays so it's a regular Lego set, under a glass roof. And he had these signs to make the display more interactive and make you linger longer.

I also loved how he made the waves 3D.

Made it home to make personal pizzas with Daddy. Abishai loved it!

If only he liked eating it as much as he did making it. It was too "spicy" for him. So Daddy ended up eating it.

So, as mentioned above, both Brickworld and the Michael W. Smith concert where supposed to happen in March 2020. Then the pandemic postponed both them to Oct/Nov 2020. Then they got postponed again to March 2021, and finally again until now October 2021. Brickworld just happened on October 2nd and 3rd, and the Michael W. Smith concert has been slated for October 16th. The title of the tour has been changed to just "Michael W. Smith Live" and the set list has been changed to reflect more of the new album "Worship Forever" rather than focusing on the old pop songs, although he's probably going to through a few of them in like he always does. Those of us who bought the tickets two years ago are disappointed that we won't get out pop songs and those that are just now buying tickets are disappointing that an orchestra is touring with them based on the new album. Nobody wins here. But at least I will still have front row for the second time in my life and my money isn't wasted.

Ending the weekend with a rainbow, yeah! And in two days we get to see the Ark Encounter (from the outside) before we get to go into the theater to see the new Courageous Legacy movie and I get to see the new Rainbow entrance. I can't wait!

What happens when the date of your concert changes literally 4 times!

Pizza is done!

Time to cut it!

Teen girl got herself a new Lego set, too, as Brickworld. So did teen boy, but I didn't get a pic of him doing it. He now owns everything but two of the Overwatch sets. Benaiah owns the biggest set and then there's a $15 set he doesn't own. Nice! Keturah got a set that is no longer being made that she's wanted for a while so she's happy. She compared prices and knew it was a good price point so and she had some money with her and gave me the rest when we got home. We both knew she had it at home, so no worries.

The End