August was a gut punch. There is no other way to describe it.
Kirk and Meki left and my week at the lake began. One good thing about the constant extensions and closing date set-backs was that I got my full week at the lake which I wouldn't have had otherwise. So there's that. Not that it was a week of fun in the sun but there were some glimmering moments here and there.
The day that Kirk and family headed back to Utah; we had to be in Spokane. Tyler was conducting at church and some of the bishopric were out of town so there was no avoiding it. Ailey went to church with him. Bryn caught another cold so I kept her at home and I took a mental health day. It was much needed. I watched Sacrament Meeting online.
After church Tyler and I decided that with all of the chaos and stress of the last week; we needed some serious down time. Only he and I returned to the lake. The quiet was needed. I needed an opportunity to be in stillness. We stayed out at the lake by ourselves for several days. There was still a lot of work and cleaning to be done but we took some time every morning and evening to enjoy the water and and the peace.
One morning while sitting out on the dock by myself; I saw a sight that made the otter seem quite normal! A nun in full habit and wimple came paddling by! That is definitely a first!
While we were at the lake the buyer had an appraisal scheduled and we had to vacate for a few hours. Thank goodness the appraisal came in nice and high and backed up our asking price just like we knew it would and despite my sisters insistence that it would not.
Tyler and I brought our boat out. Every night we went on a sunset cruise. It was relaxing, peaceful, and nice after long hot work days. The weather was once again in the 100s, humid (ugh), and smoky.
Mid-week we picked up the girls. Bryn was feeling better by then and Ailey finally had a day off of work. Reilly met us and we had an incredible day with our girls swimming, laughing, boating, tubing, and then a perfect golden evening.
Ailey and I enjoying a moment of calm!
Reilly on a giant parrot! We had two of these. They were the only floats left at the store in town so we floated on those two crazy parrots and a giant flamingo for two weeks! Ha ha!
Ailey wanted Reilly to take some *faux* senior pictures for her out at the lake. They turned out really cute. These will be very special for her to have. I thought about scheduling family pictures on our week but it felt weird to do it without Kameron.
We played all that day and into the night. Due to the smoke everything was a golden pink. We enjoyed every single minute even after it got dark. This was Ailey and Bryn's last night at the lake house.
Ailey and Bryn waving to Grandma Vic in my mom's cove. There is actually a for sale sign on the cliffs above the cove. The girls laughed that even Grandma Vic is getting out of here. LOL.
The movie On Golden Pond and its soundtrack has a lot of special significance for our family. My mom loved it. There are even loons on our lake and I am always saying to Tyler, "Look Norman! The loons!" It is one of my all-time favorite movies. This night was so perfectly golden and beautiful that we made the mistake of playing the On Golden Pond theme song. Cue the sobbing. As I sat on the dock literally sobbing my eyes out with the theme song playing...one lone duck dropped out of the sky directly in front of me. Like literally dropped out of nowhere! So much so that we all jumped! The duck swam directly to me, faced me, and stared at me for about five minutes straight. No joke. It got as close to me as it could without touching me and stared at me until I stopped crying.
See!
Then that duck went around our dock to each of us and did the same. One-by-one. The girls were like, "Grandma?" LOL. The funny part was that when they said that... the duck would go right over to them. They called that duck several times and each time the duck would go to the person that had said "Grandma." The duck then swam around the boat like it was checking it out and then swam up and down the shore line of the property checking things out. Then that duck came over to each of us again, one-by-one, looked at us very intently, and then swam right over to my mom's cove. My mom always did say that she wanted to be reincarnated! LOL. This was but one of several weird things that occurred during the last two weeks there.
After the duck incident everyone did one last tubing run in the gold. Round and round the lake we went soaking it all in; then Reilly had to leave. She came out two days later for her last time at the lake house. After she left, the girls came in from the water, and helped clean. When it was time for them to go there were definite tears. They literally hugged the house goodbye.
I was glad that a day that could've been only sadness was actually a day of gratitude and good memory making.
We drove the girls back home for the night. (Reilly had picked up Ailey and brought her out with her.) Tyler and I planned to go back to the lake after taking the girls home. When we got to Spokane it was around 11pm. We dropped them off and were heading back to the car to return to the lake when we saw a homeless looking guy walking down our street. (Not a normal sight we see.) He looked drugged out of his mind. He crossed the street and came right toward us but then went and sat on the ground in our next door neighbor's driveway. (They were out of town.) We went back into the house to tell the girls that we weren't leaving just yet.
We waited a bit and then went back out to see if he was still there. He was. While we were looking at him... he got up and walked down our neighbor's drive way and into their back yard. Tyler went onto our deck to see what he was doing. I got in the car to watch and see if he would come out of their yard on the other side of the house. The guy went up onto our neighbor's deck and sat down. Then he went under their deck and tried to open their basement sliding glass door. That's when Tyler called the police. The police said that they would come check things out. While waiting for the police to arrive the guy passed out on their lawn. We waited and waited for the police to arrive. It took them forever and eventually we all fell asleep. Tyler woke up in the middle of the night, did a search, and didn't see the guy he so assumed that the police must have come and taken care of the situation. So we headed back to the lake. When we left the lake... the windows were all open and the fans were going to try to cool the house down. We thought it was just going to be a quick trip into Spokane. We didn't dare leave the lake house unattended all night. So we had the girls sleep in our bedroom with our bedroom door locked as an extra precaution. When we drove away there was no sign of the guy anywhere.
The next morning the temps had drastically dropped and it was pouring rain. Ailey called on her way to work to say that there was still no sign of the guy. Tyler and I did some work at the lake house and then took a load of stuff to Goodwill. After that, since it was still raining, we decided to go into to CDA for lunch. We went to Woops Bakery for our favorite brie, apple, and arugula croissant sandwiches and some macarons.
While eating lunch Bryn called to say that the guy had been spotted again. He was back on our neighbor's deck. Obviously the police had never come and the guy had never left. While Bryn was talking to us on the phone; she saw out of the window that the neighbor on the other side of Doug and Terri's house was mowing his lawn. He had just started mowing when he saw the guy under our next door neighbor's deck. Bryn said that he stared at the guy, stopped mowing his lawn, and went directly inside the house. We told Bryn to stay inside and that he was probably calling the police. Maybe they would finally come and check things out with two reports!! Bryn stayed on the phone with us and sure enough they did. The police had to physically drag the guy out from under our next door neighbor's deck. Then he sat on the curb while the police questioned him. Eventually four police cars, a fire truck, and ambulance all arrived and they took the guy away. It was quite the happening on our street.
That same day I got the release of interest form from Stacey so that I could FINALLY sell the cargo trailer. The buyer was still patiently waiting nearly a month later. So ridiculous. Also the same day that I got it, I was dealing with attorneys, realtors, and the title company ALL DAY. It was awful. That night the sunset cruise and night swim with Tyler was definitely needed!! What a 24 hours.
While it was still my week at the lake Tyler and I drove back up to Sandpoint (an hour away) and waited another 2 hours to get Bonner County to clear the title for the cargo trailer and then had to make arrangements to meet the guy who was buying it. While at the DMV we found out that the guy who was buying the lake house needed a THIRD extension due to the appraiser! This was after the buyer paid almost $4k for a "quick" appraisal. Appraisers are the WORST. Once again our closing date was postponed but the walk thru that was scheduled for Monday after my week was still happening on the same day. That meant that literally everything had to be out of the lake house and Lilac Lodge and off of the property. Everything had to be gone by my last day at the lake. That news required a trip to the Pie Hut in Sandpoint to deal with the stress of it all! Holy Moly. The last vestiges of crap left in homes when you are trying to move out seems to multiply every time you leave the room. So much left over crap. It was overwhelming.
That afternoon Reilly came out to have her last day at the lake and so we had the emotionality of that too. Supporting our children through this type of change...especially one who currently lives in Minnesota...hasn't been easy but they have been TROOPERS. Their emotional maturity puts their aunts to shame. I am so proud of our kids!
Throughout the remaining days of my week; Tyler and I worked our butts off. The week continued to be filled with attorney issues and unpleasant emails and texts from sisters while we did the work that they should have done and fixed the things that they damaged. Boating and dock time were imperative to decompress. It was hard enough emotionally to close up this place for good without being the scapegoat and punching bag for their misplaced anger and guilt. We had many moonlight swims and late night talks on the dock with our feet trailing in the silky water as we gazed up at the stars. One night we took the boat out after dark with the lights on and floated in darkness and starlight.
As the end of the week neared the finality set in. It was good that it was just Tyler and I out there. It wouldn't have been a good environment for our kids. I was truly at a breaking point and so was he. We fought A LOT. I cried A LOT. We were so burnt out with all that had been left on our shoulders. We were absolutely wiped emotionally. How much can a person take?! We were annoyed and angry at being left with everything!! We were tired of everything and everyone including each other.
The last day at the lake I was there by myself for most of it. I didn't sleep well the night before. I woke up that morning in the house alone and sad. I thought, "This is the last morning that I will ever wake up at the lake." Tyler had gone into Spokane super early that morning because he had meetings he had to attend and was conducting at church and blah blah blah.... it was a good thing though. I don't think our marriage could've have survived that last day. Not even joking. Most things were done by this point except for the final clean before leaving. I had all day to be by myself. The day was bizarrely cold. Barely 50 degrees. There was fog on the lake all day.
So I sat and I remembered and I felt all the things. This last day experience will have to be its own post. It was a day I won't forget.
On the paranormal front...the 2 weeks prior, including the week that Kirk was here, were very active. I don't know exactly what I believe about ghosts and the paranormal but things happened here and have happened for as long as I can remember. Kirk, Tyler, and I all had some crazy experiences over the last two weeks. While I was there alone on the last day things happened that are unexplainable. Change is hard I guess even for ghosts. I'll have to do a post about all of the paranormal events that are a part of this property just so I have it for this journal/family history blog. I am so curious about what will happen when the new owner moves in. Thus far our ghosts are very protective of us and the property. I wonder what they will make of him. Yes, I hear it. I know that I sound like an insane person but...
There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
I'll include one strange experience here. On the last day, Tyler came back out to the lake that night after he was done with all of his church duties and dealing with the kids. He brought me dinner. I had asked him to stop at the store and get some white flowers (our tradition) to float on the lake for Mom before we left for good. He forgot and I was upset. That night we pulled the boat out and did our final walk through of the house. Before we left we went out on the dock. It was late and dark and cold. In the moonlight you could see the fog rising on the lake. It had been there all day. Tyler had his headlamp on and we were looking out at the fog when we saw something in the water. It was floating toward us. One long stemmed white flower.
It came floating toward us out of the darkness and fog from the direction of my mom's cove. It gives me chills just thinking about it. We couldn't believe our eyes. Here I was going to send flowers to my mom and I guess she sent one to me instead.
We left the lake at around 10:30 pm. It was heartbreaking. I sobbed the whole way home. Tyler cried too. This wasn't just goodbye to a lake house. It was goodbye to everything. My mom, family, the past, childhood, relationships, innocence, what was, and what can never be again. Even though heartbroken; I was glad to do it. It was time.
The month didn't end there. It felt like it should have but unfortunately it didn't. The rest of the month continued to be awful filled with attorneys, realtors, title companies, and notaries. Sisters not signing documents. Sisters not returning documents and delaying documents. Sisters harassing the title company, realtor, and us. I don't understand being unkind to people who are just trying to do their jobs...like title company employees. Let's just say that my sisters (two in particular) are not well liked...or even liked at all.
During the buyer's agent's walk through of the property there was a crawl space type thing in one of the garages that still had items that the junk company, hired by Kirk and I, had left behind that the buyer wanted removed. Plus back behind a giant raspberry patch there is an old outhouse that is basically hidden from view by the giant raspberry patch. We had forgotten about it. The inside of the old outhouse was filled with tons of gardening stuff and junk (newspapers, bottles, garbage) of my grandparents. The buyer wanted it all out immediately. I literally had to lie on the floor and breath deeply. This house was being purchased "as-is" and Kirk and I had already paid $3000 out of our own pockets for a junk company to come and remove items from the seven garages and that was AFTER Tyler and I had already emptied several of the garages completely by ourselves.
Upon hearing this news...my sisters threw an absolute fit! They demanded that Kirk and I come back out and remove all of it (after an entire summer of doing it ALL ourselves) all while stating that they had "removed the majority of the items" from the lake house themselves. Outright lies. They threatened us with their lawyer. It was too much. Our realtor was done with them. She told us that Kirk and I weren't going to do one more thing on that property or have to deal with our sisters again. Janna (our realtor), her husband, and daughter came out and removed all that was left THEMSELVES (including cleaning out an old outhouse!) They did this literally out of the kindness of their hearts! Kirk and I were completely shocked and incredibly grateful. I cried. Janna has been an incredible support. We couldn't have picked a better realtor!!
Next up was Girls Camp. Ailey's work and dance team schedule made it too difficult for her to go but it was Bryn's first year and she was SUPER excited! Our stake was doing a modified Girls Camp due to COVID's continuing presence. The older girls were supposed to go for the first 3 days and then the younger girls were to go for the last three days.
Cutest little 1st year!!
My friend Amy texted me this cute picture of Bryn and her BFFs! They were having a blast!
Girls Camp started off great! The older girls got their three days in and all went well. They came home the same day that the younger girls left for camp. The little girls got one glorious 24 hour period before the smoke rolled in from a forest fire that made the air quality hazardous and they all had to come back home. The stake did the best that they could and tried to continue some of their activities at the stake center. They were bussed there directly and had a bunch of things planned for them including a big dance party. One of the stake leaders had all of the first years go to her house for a slumber party. Then they all came back to the stake center the next day for another day of *camp* events. So while disappointing...Bryn still had fun and made the best of everything. Hats off to the stake girls camp leaders and their ability to pivot!!
Tyler also got the PLEASURE of performing in not one but two skits at Girls Camp this year! Ha ha! He and the bishopric did a "Dads Olympics" skit that was pretty hilarious and quite a hit! His outfit alone was sheer perfection! LOL. Bryn filmed it for me and wow...yeah...wow. Ha ha!! He is still being recognized in public by girls from our stake for his performance!
A picture that Tyler took at Girls Camp. Not too shabby! This camp is on the Pend Oreille River in North Idaho.
Then it was onto Farm Chicks. This nearly did it. This was the thing that almost finished the job on my sanity this month. Farm Chicks in the biggest and most well-known vintage and antiques show in the western states. It is a HUGE production every year. It requires a HUGE amount of effort from its curators. The show promoter has very HIGH standards and expectations and while fun it is very stressful in a good year. This was not a good year.
The last Farm Chicks show that I participated in was June 2019. (It is a once-a-year show.) My mom, Stacey, and I all did it together. The 2020 show was cancelled due to COVID. The 2021 show was up in the air for most of the year but was eventually scheduled... although postponed until August. (Of course!) I wouldn't have done this show but I was required to pay in 2019 for the 2020 show and this is a very expensive show. The money wouldn't have been refunded to me so it was either do the show or lose the money. Tyler did not want me to do it and was like "Forget the money! It's been gone since 2019!" Let's add to the mix that Stacey was also planning to do the show and would have a booth space right next to me. Double don't do it! But I had made a commitment to do the show in 2019. The show promoter is a friend and I didn't want to let her down...many curators were cancelling and doing just that...and I had already invested a large sum of money. So against my better judgement; I recommitted to participate. All while my booth at the store was selling out and my inventory was super limited since I was spending all of my time and effort dealing with the damn lake house. Cue the nervous breakdown.
In the two weeks between vacating the lake house and the show... I found, painted, crafted, and curated literally everything in my booth. Those were NOT fun weeks on top of many previous not fun weeks. Those two weeks are an awful blur. Feeling stressed was an understatement. Then my friend, the show promoter, called me. She had been contacted by Stacey who was up to her usual tricks and full of her usual BS. She will stop at NOTHING to drag me through the mud. Luckily...the show promoter is a very supportive friend!!
During the two weeks of Farm Chicks prep madness... I was still dealing with attorneys, realtors, siblings, title companies etc etc etc... and the closing date kept getting delayed and then delayed again and then delayed once more. AND... I had to speak in Sacrament Meeting in another ward in my stake. I don't know how I made it through and got everything done but I did. Meanwhile we are all back in masks at church because the Delta Variant is taking off and going nuts. Ailey has to wear a mask at work again despite being vaccinated. School is supposed to start at the end of the month and no one knows if the kids will even be going back. Let's just say this month was AWFUL. And...Tyler's company who was going to have employees return in September decided against that and a return date to the office is unknown.
Some good news was that the week before Farm Chicks we got our suburban back! One month after hitting the deer. It looks fantastic! I was so glad that it arrived in the nick of time. We also had to sign one more extension on the closing date...Kirk and I were barely hanging on... Janna had her work cut out for her! But this same week we got the news that we would most likely close on or around Farm Chicks. This same week Kirk had some stressful things going on in his extended family and then all hell broke loose in Afghanistan. Unbelievable. We had to have a family video chat discussion with all of our kids who were trying to process what was happening over there and explain what is barely explainable. Heartbreaking sadness and worry for the innocent people there.
Finally Farm Chicks rolled around. On the day leading up to it Tyler requested that I go to bed at 7:30pm. I don't blame him. I was not a peach. Tyler and the girls were champs and loaded the trailer and organized the storage unit and did a lot of things so that I didn't have to be involved and could concentrate on the lake house issues that were never ending.
I was dreading set-up day. This is a stressful day on its own because you have to unload and set up your booth space within a specific amount of time. I am always setting up down to the last minute. THEN... throw in that Stacey (and Kelley who she had helping her) had a booth space right behind me. Good times. Thank goodness Stacey was moved BEHIND me. Tyler, the girls, and I got there early and set up my back drop and perimeter hours before they even arrived. It blocked their booth completely from view.
As I was unloading items from my bins hours later; Stacey's husband walked past me and made a rude comment. I just waved at him. He walked past me again and said something else rude and I just ignored him. I don't have to respond to behavior like that. Stacey and her daughter ignored me all day. Kelley came over and gave me, Tyler, and the girls a hug. Elle was with her. It was really nice to see Elle. Bryn was THRILLED! I guess Stacey's daughter wasn't allowed to talk to any of our family. So she didn't. That was sad. I love my nieces and nephews.
Then while still setting up their booth they knocked over and broke several things in my booth. No apologies. No nothing. So many vendors came over to talk to me about that incident over the weekend. They were incredulous! But right at the height of my anger with them I got a phone call from the title company. All documents were in and we were closing! I grabbed my laptop and signed all of the documentation while sitting at the checkout in my booth. I was talking to Kirk on the phone while he did the same. We weren't *officially* closed but we were *unofficially* closed. All we were waiting for was the money to fund. Hallelujah!
I am so grateful for Tyler and the kids who were such amazing helpers!!
Here are a few pictures of my Farm Chicks booth this year. I had two booth spaces side by side.
From one side...
From the other...
Both days of the Farm Chicks show were a HUGE success! Whew! I was worried but it all worked out.
When your husband helps out in the booth...Ha ha!
By the day of the actual show all of the cousins were allowed to hang out together. Thank goodness. My girls had a great time with their cousins who they love and miss. I have some very cute pictures of the four of them but I don't feel comfortable posting them here. I occasionally exchanged words with Kelley and Ailey and Bryn said that she was nice to them. Stacey didn't speak to me except huffing something one morning as she walked past me. Oh well. That was to be expected.
The unfortunate news was that they had quite a lot to say about me to longtime customers and friends. Nothing good. Much of it was relayed to me by many of those longtime customers and friends. That is disappointing. I said nothing negative about them and even sent customers in their direction.
They like to claim that Kirk and I have *sold the family legacy* yet they were LITERALLY selling sentimental family items at the show like this sign that has my great-grandpa's handwriting and was in his store. Some customer posted it on Instagram in a "Farm Chicks Finds" post and I saw it. Very recognizable. It's been in the mudroom at the lake house for years. Their hypocrisy is off the charts.
On the second day of show...about an hour after it started... we heard a big CRASH! People went running. A man (shopper) an aisle over from me had a grand mal seizure. He grabbed onto a display that was filled with glass and pulled it down on himself as he collapsed. He was cut all over his face. There was blood everywhere. One of our booth neighbors was a nurse. She ran over to help and sent her husband running to the car for her medical bag. The man had stopped breathing (totally blue) and she had to intubate him while waiting (for what seemed a very long time) for the paramedics to arrive. It was terrifying. Customers and vendors were all praying. We did find out at the end of the day that he was okay and that our booth neighbor had saved his life. What a terrible moment.
But the biggest gut punch also occurred on the last day of the show. My good friends (who have also been Farm Chicks vendors) came to my booth to chat and were talking about how amazing it is that the new medical clinic in Sandpoint, Idaho is going to be named after my mom. This was news to me. I was completely blindsided. It turns out that my sisters have known about this for over a YEAR AND A HALF and purposefully kept this information from me and Kirk. A YEAR AND A HALF!! Jordin has been working for the very group that is building it and still felt justified in not telling two of my mom's kids about this. Just when I think they cannot go lower they go so incredibly low that I am stunned and truly aghast. To try to keep two of my mom's children, their spouses, and eight of her grandchildren from knowing about and being present at an event (there is to be a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony) that is in honor of her incredible career is truly beyond words. Cry all you want on Facebook and Instagram about the injustice of you not being gifted a vacation home and demanding that you are owed one. Spare me. This is the kind of stuff that relationships don't come back from. It has taken me weeks to recover from this level of cruelty to even focus on the incredible honor this is to my mom and her career.
This is the rendering of what will be called The Victoria McClellan King Memorial Clinic.
Kirk called the guy who now has my mom's position to get all of the details. It sounds like it should be completed mid-December right around her birthday. He also called my sister who was completely defensive and nonapologetic.
We officially closed on the lake house on August 24th, 2021.
Kirk and his family (in SLC) and my family here in Spokane all got sushi that night to note "THE END". I cannot even tell you the relief it was when Janna called me to tell me the news. She was like, "Kristin, you can take a deep breath now and relax. You no longer own the lake house." I wondered what I would feel when I heard those words...sadness, regret, panic, happiness? I felt sadness and immense relief. Overwhelming relief. I still do.
We also did something that might have become an *unfortunate* new tradition. Double dessert. After the sushi we needed a little something more. We took the girls to Huckleberry's to pick out a dessert. They asked if they could have two desserts since it was a unique occasion...happiness that there was an *end* to some of the stress and sadness that there was an *end.* So we did. Then they requested to do it again a few days later on the first day of school. Double dessert from Huckleberry's...one dessert to celebrate the first day of school and one dessert to deal with the *sadness* that summer is over. We let them but this cannot become a habit. LOL.
In other news...The Spokane Mission President asked that all of the members residing in the mission to pray on our knees every day at 5pm for the missionaries for the foreseeable future. Interesting. We have been doing it and including Kam and his companion and all of the Minneapolis Minnesota missionaries too.
WA reinstated the mask mandate. Masks must be worn in all public buildings again. We have been doing this in church for a few weeks and you can't believe the drama it has caused. I am baffled by it. It's two hours out of your life or you can watch church online. Do whatever you want with the rest of your week... if you must... but why would people not want to protect primary kids (who can get COVID and can't get vaccinated) and others who are vulnerable. It's two hours. Make your *stand* against masks and the government elsewhere.
After I recovered from Farm Chicks...the girls gave me one day...then I had to jump right into back-to-school shopping mode! We had a whirlwind clothes shopping day but for their school supplies I just gave them my card and sent them to Target. Best idea ever. They had multiple Back-to-School BBQs and parties and we were off and running again.
Bryn had 7th Grade orientation and was very excited for school to start.
Kameron is doing well and enjoying mission life! One morning I awoke to a picture of him in a COWBOY hat! Epic! That's a first.
He and his district have taken up golf on their P-days and went to Goodwill to find *golf clothes.* Ha ha!
Church wise.... my calling has been slower this month. Thank goodness! Despite having to speak in another ward; I was able to attend my own ward. I am occasionally needed to help in Primary which is fine by me. One Sunday we had another Linger Longer with fruit pizza, fruit and dip, and some savory snacks. Don't get in the way of my ward and food! LOL. Bryn and I brought dinner to the sister missionaries one night which was fun. We love have the best sister missionaries right now!! Tyler and I attended the baptism of a new family. That was exciting! They are a great new addition to our ward.
Ailey got her *official* senior pictures taken. I can't wait to see how they turn out. My friend Amy took her pictures and Ailey requested pictures down by the Spokane river. She had three outfit changes. LOL. Reilly came over the night before her pictures and did another eyelash lift on Ailey and Bryn. Everyone got haircuts and hair appointments including me. We are starting September fresh! This month brought out the haggard side in all of us!
We did squeeze a little friend time in here and there. My friends have been incredibly supportive and even showed up at Farm Chicks in droves. LOL. Then we made plans to get together with Naomi and Kevin in September which we are looking forward to. I also finally got to attend book club! Yay! A night around a bonfire in my friend's yard was just what I needed. Tyler and I did several night walks when we were in town. Not nearly enough to qualify as exercise though. One night we saw a big owl. Very cool. We have also really gotten into stargazing. I can now identify some of the less well known constellations. That's been fun.
This month was a hard one. I'm glad to see it go.
