october update part 2 of 2:

Second half of October, with pictures in reverse chronological order again.  I tried to select them in reverse, but they still uploaded this way.  So we'll start with Halloween.  I don't know if it's ironic or not that we had our pastor and his wife over the morning of Halloween.  It didn't seem so.  It's the first time we've hosted anyone since the shelter in place began, although we had them in our open garage and at a distance.  I also served the food, which made it not easy to get seconds, but that's what we were comfortable doing.  After they left, I went to drop off our abundance of dairy goods with a family with six foster children.  We are mostly lactose intolerant here, and the district gave a lot of food (though now they appear to have cut back).  They also live in our same city, but farther away from the pickup locations.  Then it was time for some Covid-modified Halloween fun.  I thought Halloween would be cancelled this year, and it more or less was, but I told Isaac if he wanted to dress up, we could just go for a walk around the neighborhood with his costume on.  I've changed my tune about Halloween over the years.  It's whatever we make of it, and I find it fun to see and talk to neighbors, wear a costume (I didn't this year), and walk around in the evening.  On the other hand, I didn't expect Halloween to become my kids' favorite holiday.  Yes, I took them to the annual Harvest Festivals and trick-or-treating, but it wasn't something I really promoted.  If anything, I've always made a bigger deal of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, maybe even New Year's and Valentine's.  

Holidays have been hard for me emotionally in recent years.  I've been struggling with mild depression.  When I have to stay up for Nacho's seizures, for example, the lack of sleep makes it worse.  Plus with everyone at home for the last eight months, I'm just serving and interacting all day, and it's hard to find downtime for myself.  I'm doing the best I can to squeeze in a few minutes here and there, but most days I barely have enough time for a quick shower.  The kids aren't at ages where they play with each other anymore, and most of their interactions are with me.  There was one week I felt rather triggered and exhausted.  Manny took me out to eat the weekend after he met up with a coworker at a park he hadn't seen all these months. We went to a fancy burger place.  I had a bone marrow burger for the first time, which was pretty good.  Then my friend who'd recently received a meal herself after a rough week said she was paying it forward and sent our family a huge meal from a local Mexican restaurant!  I couldn't believe her generosity doing something for me from halfway across the country.  So I told her I would pay it forward as well, and we sent a meal to a family from our church who just welcomed a new addition.  

In between those two special blessings, I saw the weather was good for hiking and asked Lucas if he wanted to go, just him and me.  I listed off some of the many hikes we've done, and he said no to all of them.  Took me a minute to figure out he wanted to go someplace new, and so I looked for one in the AllTrails app that would be open and challenging.  We ended up taking an 8-mile hike which was moderate, with a steady incline for a large part of the hike.  I was pooped, but Lucas did really well, running for several stretches of it, even though he had a wound on his foot.  He didn't complain and just kept going.  I think he was happy, although the big difference between him and Isaac is that Isaac talks the entire time we're walking while Lucas doesn't want any chit-chat on our walks or hikes at all.  I think it was a great memory for us, and it was good for my soul to get out and see some nature while the weather permitted.  There was a lot of poison oak, which usually bothers Lucas, but the trails were mostly wide enough we didn't have to worry.  I guess it took us about 3.5 hours total with almost no stops except a couple water breaks.

Making the drumsticks we got from the school district using my friend's mom's Chinese chicken recipe.

Mummy dogs, eyeball pasta, and Halloween Oreos, and Halloween snacks.  I meant for Naomi to paint that white pumpkin, but she hasn't, so we'll see if it can last and become a Thanksgiving decoration.

Naomi and her friend K in K's backyard.  I thought their photo shoot was pretty funny.

They dressed up as a biker gang, but I didn't get a good photo of Naomi.

There were definitely fewer houses decorated this year, but some still had some pretty cool lights and things.

Treat bags you could grab.

This station had hand sanitizer, though we still cleaned all the candy when we got home.

After Isaac grabbed a Playdoh, a group of teens came by and took half the Playdoh off the table.

Candy taped to the tree to grab.

Isaac decided at the last minute he wanted to be a construction worker, which was really easy.  The face mask goes right with it.

Nacho was dressed up as Nacho Libre (for a little while--he didn't like wearing the mask for too long).

Eggs, quiche, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, steak, and ham.

Fruit salad.

Setting up for brunch with our pastor and his wife in our garage.

Bacon and spinach quiche.  I haven't made quiche in our new oven before, so I need to figure out the timing better.

Bought a mix of candy primarily for Lucas, who wouldn't be going trick-or-treating this year.  He and Manny stayed home and played games.

Annual tradition - thin French apple tart.

Pork tenderloin, veggies, and air-fried potatoes.

Nacho after his annual appointment.

Manny just joined the A/V team at church.

Homemade chai toffee chip ice cream, a favorite.

Nacho and his veggie pizza, one of the few dog toys he hasn't torn apart yet.

Enjoying flan and tacos from my friend.

A huge meal sent over by my friend S. in Chicago after a rough week.

Potatoes au gratin

Steak, leftover curry, edamame, pineapples, zucchini, and pumpkin cheesecake bars.

I'm afraid of bugs!

They had these one way routes, but this sigh was followed by the one above warning of bees and wasps.  No thanks.  We just took the regular route (plus I knew nothing about this route and didn't want to get lost or go too long).

Nice to see a few creeks now.

Those are Lucas's bangs blowing in the wind!  He hasn't wanted to cut them till the end of the pandemic, but I think we're just going to have to do it.

Beautiful view on Windy Hill.

View of our county.

Heading toward the trailhead (about one mile in).

We kept our masks on except when there was clearly no one around.  I think Lucas actually enjoyed that.  We just said hi to passersby and it felt like any other hike.

Burger time!

I forgot the name of this drink, but it was some kind of non-alcoholic ginger lime soda.

october update part 1:

Lots to update for October, so splitting it in two parts.  My photos uploaded backwards again, so it'll be a literal rewind:

Each year I participate in a charity 5K walk for the National Alliance on Mental Illness and in honor of my friend's late brother who lost his battle with mental illness.  This year we all walked separately but together in spirit.  The keynote speaker was a black pastor of a church who took this open door of opportunity with current racial tensions to bring together these topics of mental illness, racial injustice, and pointing all of that toward hope in Jesus.  This was huge, as I don't recall them ever inviting a person of faith as a main speaker.  I was really encouraged by that.  I walked to a large building, though I won't say which to keep my location private, and just reflected on my life.  Manny called me along the way.  I myself was battling some low feelings at the time, and the walk was helpful, as was meeting with our pastor and also beginning some food deliveries to a foster family.  More on that later.  I have been through a lot more than most people know, but God always picks me up and tells me to keep going with what He calls me to do.

I also went out to dinner for the first time with a friend for this entire pandemic.  I've visited people outside, but not actually gone out.  It was for my friend's birthday.  We tried one mall with outdoor dining, and the waits were 2 and 3 hours.  So we headed to a different mall, and it worked out.  We got the table all the way at the end by itself, and we kept our masks on when we weren't eating and wanting to talk.  It was awkward, but not a big deal.  Really, to me it's more about consideration than rights.  I have the right to cough in my friend's food, but instead I cover my mouth.  I totally get that some people may have medical issues barring them, but I have lung issues and wheezing, so I have breathing problems and not only wear a mask, which means it's not easy, but I appreciate those who wear them so that someone like me doesn't end up getting it.  I know it's still risky to go out, so generally I still don't, but I do also have to balance that with mental health or building up relationships.

I had two Pampered Chef parties in October that were fairly successful.  I would like to do two a month, but it's hard to get hosts.  I don't want to keep asking people, but maybe every few months I will.  When I don't have them, I take the time to catch up on some classes I'm doing for fun and enrichment, including work training.  Since we get so much food from the district, PC has come in handy for quicker and easier prep.  I usually don't bake, and I think more like a Chinese cook, but had to switch gears at times.  Last night I switched back to Asian cooking, and it felt more relaxing.

Virtual 5K for NAMI 

Pumpkin cake with broiled pecans.

Happy birthday to one of my bffs.

When I'm feeling down, Nacho just knows.

Out on a walk with Isaac.

He is my favorite person to walk with, hands down.

Heading out for a sunset walk when the weather warmed up again.

Shrimp, fried rice, edamame, tofu, kale salad, and honeydew.

Corn pudding to use up the sour cream, butter, and corn we received from the district.  I loved it, but no one else in the family did.

Carrot cake from scratch, to use up the five lbs of carrots we had from the district.  Delicious!  I'm not a baker, but they're turning me into one!

Return of the smoky air.

Lots of apples from the district = homemade applesauce!