Gobble Gobble Goo and Gobble Gobble Giggle

 

Nothing costs a nickel these days.  Gee whiz groceries have gotten pricey, but we still had a nice Thanksgiving feast at mom and dads complete with Family Feud and Pickle Ball.  Like usual, we tell ourselves not to eat too much, and like usual, none of us listen.  

Holidays are becoming more of a treat as we get older and empty spots are open at a once full table.  With three high school Seniors this year and Karson away at college, it feels a bit more emotional.  

We know our time is fleeting, and our kids are growing up fast.

Look at these kids, now grown, three official adults with Isaac turning 18 next month and Miles driving.  

 

I tried to pay attention to how I standing and not make our family picture awkward.  I feel like I look a little better this time.

We also got to spend time with Matt's family at the Warehouse at Mt. Victor.  It always a treat seeing all the extended family and yet again, stuffing our faces.

Miles landed his first job with our friends, the Vernon's who own and operate a tree farm (Bare Creek) this time of the year.  Thanksgiving week/weekend was pleasant, and Miles truly enjoyed being outside and part of the team.  We're thankful that he has been given this short term opportunity to gain some valuable work experience.  A little extra spending money is also nice around the holidays.

Because Miles had to be at work bright and early on Friday morning, I woke Karson up and asked if she wanted to brave Black Friday shopping with me.  I haven't done that in years, and COVID shut down a lot of in-person happenings (or people were simply concerned about getting out).  We found all kinds of great deals, mainly for her, but I loved it.  Felt good to get some shopping out of the way.  I still have quite a bit more to do, but it was start at least.

 

Debbie had invited us over for a birthday brunch/lunch on Saturday.  She and Matt round out the rest of the November celebrations.

Isaac and Matt enjoyed the extra chilly Titans vs. Bengals game on the 27th.

 

We celebrated Matt's actual birthday on Wednesday at El Mazatlan.  November is a major EATING-fest for our family with all the celebrating.

This is the second holiday puzzle I've worked.  We love us some puzzles, especially this time of the year.

 

Sure am loving Isaac's Senior pictures from the talented Erin Denny.  I'm hoping to have a few extra done - maybe some formal shots and some shots in the spring to round out the seasons.

 

We had the annual Pogue family Christmas yesterday with my dads side of the family.  We're so thankful Mamaw was able to join us and is currently recovering from hip surgery and her fall late last month.  She has been in a rehab facility fairly close to her house.  Please keep praying for her to be comfortable and recover quickly.

All clear for November - winter has arrived!

The cold weather definitely showed up this week, but overall it's been a fairly pleasant month outdoors. November has brought some happy moments but also some sad ones. Losing Poppy was hard this year especially during the month of October (with the birthday bunch - Poppy, Miles, Mike and Karson).  The sting was there.  Mom and I wanted to celebrate this month when Karson was able to be home for the weekend (Nov 5).  

We didn't get to see Karson on her actual birthday because of the golf banquet for Miles.  However, her friends spoiled her which made us happy!  One of her high school besties, Sydney Clayton, came to Louisville for a visit!

    

Her nursing checklist is quite long, and she has had a lot of things to complete before beginning her clinical rotations which will start in the spring.  She also got some news last week which was disappointing.  Her place of work - Cardinal Health - decided to shut down the office that she is currently employed at.  She was already sort of on the fence about her work schedule next semester while in nursing school.  In a way, it's sort of a blessing that the decision was made for her.  However, she was upset because Cardinal has been such a good place to work, very flexible, and she made some close friends there.  She's since made the decision to become a tutor for the school.  They'd reached out to her last semester about it, but she simply didn't have the time.  It's good pay and flexible as well.  I also think it looks good on a resume.  Her old boss and one of her professors wrote a letter of recommendation for her, and she will start soon.  She's a special young lady!

*Sidenote:  Karson is still going to see her orthopedic doctor almost monthly since her hip surgery in July which is a trek from Louisville to Brentwood, TN.  The appointments are usually during the week as well which makes it extra tough with work and school.  She was excited to learn that she would only have one more appointment in December before being cleared.  Her bone has completed fused back together.  She has done really well with her recovery and has been diligent with her physical therapy.  It's hard to believe how far she has come in four months.*

We celebrated the three-pack with a fiesta - a TACO BAR party for #16, #20, and #68. Our house was full along with our hearts and stomachs.  Too bad I didn't take many pictures, but we were having too much fun!!!

I got some of those cute straw balloons from Amazon - the kit included a two tacos, a sombrero, an avocado, some cacti and the letters that spelled Taco Bout a Party! 

 

I have decided that the older I get, the weirder my poses have become in pictures. Something is "off" about how I am standing in this picture or maybe it's just my scrunched up shirt.  I have no idea, but I need to work on my posing.

Miles's 16th birthday was not a happy one.  Those close to Miles know him + school + tests = a lot of stress.  More than anything, I wanted him to pass his permit test on his actual birthday.  He and Matt went downtown early afternoon on the 17th (a Monday).  He'd studied apps friends had suggested, and we had done some online tests to prepare.  I think he panicked.  He ended up missing two more than allowed and was crushed (and we were too for him).  The person at the DMV said he could come take the test again any day he wanted since all the paperwork was already done.  We convinced him to pick a place to eat and Cane's seemed to help. He and I committed to studying even harder.  We'd planned to go on Friday, but when he woke up on Thursday, I said come to work with me, and let's get it over with.  He agreed, and we made the trip back to the DMV.  I'm not sure who was more nervous me or him?!?!?  We went to the courthouse, and as I was sitting outside the testing center, with good eyes on him, one of the proctors asked me to move to the other side of the wall where he would come out.  I think it confuses them when someone is waiting outside the door since "waiting" testers sit there.  My heart sunk because I knew by looking at Miles's body language, I could tell how he was doing.  I reluctantly moved.  It felt like an eternity before he emerged from the testing room and was BEAMING.  He'd passed and only had missed two questions this time.  He said the test was way easier. 

 

Hooray!  We were both super excited and went over to the permit center.  He's been driving for about a month and doing well.  It helps our nerves a little that we've already been through the driving stages with the other two.

The boys were excited to have Karson home to carve pumpkins.  I told them we didn't have to carve pumpkins for Halloween and could do it when she came home.  They were pumped and all decided to go with the Goosebumps theme.  They're so goofy!  

 

 Our neighborhood is packed with trick or treaters which I LOVE.  It's such a treat seeing all the little ones dressed up and excited about the candy.  Matt and Isaac joined in the fun by dressing up.  They'd sometimes break out in dance when they felt the urge.

Miles closed his golf chapter for the year with his team.  The banquet was held at South in the courtyard between the schools.  After a nice meal, we congregate in the auditorium for recognitions and the end of the season video.  

 

We're proud of Miles and all of his accomplishments this season.  We learned the teams (both girls and boys golf) are getting a simulation room that is being built alongside the indoor batting cages and weight room on South's athletic complex.  Since the season ended, Miles has been working out again and hanging out with friends.  He's also picked up the guitar this year and purchased a nice Fender Stratocaster that should be arriving any day now.  We plan to redo his room at some point - fresh paint, mount his TV and get some music posters hung up.

Ever wonder how big Squishmallows can get?  This narwhal whopper is currently at Kroger.  

Isaac is continuing to look at colleges and has been working on applications and scholarships.  Not long after fall break, he did a tour of Louisville. Their business school is pretty cool and very appealing to him.  I wasn't able to go on the tour when Karson was considering UL due to Covid restrictions and my hurt achilles.  It was nice getting a real college-tour experience with Isaac.  He and Matt went the business colleges presentation which was super informational.  We might have another Card in our future.

Paul and Shannon got UL season basketball tickets - the crew enjoyed a game and night out eating the at the Old Louisville Tavern.

South Warren recently hosted a Seniors with Seniors luncheon; again, another first for our family since Covid took away many of the normal Senior events K would've gotten to experience.  We're thankful for loving, wonderful, supportive grandparents!

Speaking of grandparents, say a little extra prayer for my only living grandparent - Mamaw Pogue.  She took a spill two nights ago and broke her hip.  She's recovering in the hospital and has a long road ahead especially with the cooler weather.  Is it me or does everything simply hurt more in the winter?

She's the sweetest little human!  Hurts my heart to see her in pain! 

Missing Poppy Today but October is still SPECIAL

 Today would've marked his 95th birthday and I know exactly what he would've wished for....what he had wished for every year for the last few.  Life was painful, both physically and emotionally.  When Memaw passed, a big piece of his heart also hurt which made life extra hard each year.  We're thankful they moved to Bowling Green to be closer to us and will cherish the times we got to spend with him those last few years.

It's the time of year when the weather is gorgeous outside but I stay inside because my allergies are raging.  You wake up freezing and are never sure how to dress because there is a good chance it will be 30 degrees in the morning and 80 degrees in the afternoon.  Transition times are not too fun.  However, this is the last year that we will "fall backward" on our clocks.  I love the daylight savings is going away.  Something about that one hour change makes everyone (including myself) seem a little "off" for a period of time.  

Matt has a fantasy football team, and it's the most fun he's had watching games since we've met.  He gathers all the TV's in the house and has different games and highlights going on each of them.  He and the boys get in the zone.  Speaking of football (or not), Louisville's Family Day was a few weekends back.  We didn't go last year because we were at the beach and Karson had come with us for a couple days, and it seemed silly to go home early to drive to Louisville to see her when we'd been with her.  However, it didn't fall during our break this time but Karson didn't really want to go to the football game because it was scheduled for noon and tailgating would be early.  We were sort of on the fence as to whether or not we wanted to go but decided at the last minute to make the trip.  It was nice getting to spend time with her.  We hung out at her apartment, took her to lunch, did some grocery shopping before picking up Adam and taking them over to dinner with his family.  They were also going to Downs After Dark to hang out with friends.  It was a special Saturday.

Miles wrapped up golf season.  Region didn't go the way he'd hoped but he powered through, did his best and has MUCH to be proud of this season. There is a lot of pressure one you when you fill the #1 spot on the team, and he puts a lot of pressure on himself.  He maintained and average of 79 the whole season which is a wonderful improvement for him.  New clubs, new body type and simply adjusting takes some time.  I wish he could've finished strong and know he felt that way as well, but this is golf.  He's got a lot of game ahead of him and lots of practice time to continue to improve.

Miles's nana - his #1 fan!!!

We migrated South like the rest of Bowling Green for fall break this year.  Normally we go to the Crystal Beach area of Destin but decided to try something different this year and vacationed at 30-A in Santa Rosa.  I'm not sure that I prefer one to the other, but I will tell you the beach was absolutely GORGEOUS this year, and the weather was perfect every single day.  I think I liked the peacefulness of Santa Rosa.  A lot of families stay in that area, but it didn't feel crowded.  All of our units got complimentary beach service and got a $200 credit for the rental of gear (which we all choose bikes since there are lots of paths in that area).  Our condo was called Beachcrest.  Would I recommend it?  Yes.  Would I recommend our particular unit - 206 - NO!  Because we had six other families with us, we had access to all their rooms.  Our room was TOTALLY outdated which isn't the worst but the furniture was old and stained and not comfortable.  The mattresses were like sleeping on cardboard.  Both bathrooms needed major facelifts.  The boys bathroom towel bar was torn off and not functional and super tiny.  The blinds on the patio doors were those long blinds that rotate, many of them on the floor or torn which made them extra hard to use.  All the other units had nice big TV's mounted in their living areas, not ours.  There was a tiny TV in a cabinet in the living area.  The boys didn't even have one in their room which was odd. We had a nice one in our bedroom thankfully.  There weren't many dishes and Matt nearly cut his lip on a chipped glass which I later filleted my hand on cleaning it (which bled most of the week and required continual waterproof band-aiding).  It wasn't ideal and did put a slight damper on our experience.  However, it did not ruin it nor would we let it. 

It's always laugh trying to take pictures with friends.  In this picture, we were all trying to pull each others neck fat back like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

 

Loving our three special SENIORS!

Isaac and Evan enjoying some guitar playing and entertaining the moms.

 

John and Laura were vacationing right up the road in Panama City.  They came and spent some time with us one day which was a treat.

Some days you just need a break from the beach and for us that mean, MINI GOLF.  We found a place in Panama City called Goofy Golf which was goofy and fun and a nice change of pace for the day.

There was a really cool pier across the street from mini golf that we took a stroll on afterwards.  You could see lots of colorful sea life which mainly consisted of jellyfish.

L's up for our sweet Karson who couldn't join us this week.  We missed her!

Thinking about putting this on TikTok because the video version has them crashing - the Gilligan's Island theme song would be appropriate.

Matt's parents brought all of our golf clubs to the beach along with a nice kayak which got used a ton.  our group mainly stayed put for the most part.  Isaac visited his friends who were staying up the road a few times, and they rode bikes to Seaside some.  We ate at some fabulous restaurants - AJ's, Cafe Thirty-A, ate some big as your face pizzas from Angelina's, and got some Po Boys from The Big Chill's Duo's.  My friends provided me personally with Caramel Apple Sangrias daily which added to MUCH happiness to my life.  White wine of choice, apple cider, caramel vodka and chopped apples (a splash of Sprite or Ginger Ale is nice as well) is the BEST fall drink ever.

Getting back to normal life isn't much fun.  As soon as we crossed that Kentucky border, my allergies and runny nose immediately returned.  However, there's lot to celebrate which includes Miles turning 16 and Karson turning 20.  October and November are big birthday months for our family!

Karson has been trying out some of the local haunted houses in Louisville including Devil's Attic.

When she's not busy spooking herself out, she's working, doing PT/rehab and excelling in school.  She recently got her letter of acceptance into UL's nursing program.  We are super proud of her.