The End of November

The end of November just about ended me. If I was the sort of person who kept a calendar (or who wrote down anything at all other than what I write on this blog), I would have had "x" marks through every plan and appointment on my calendar page. We started the change-of-plans trend in early November by canceling a trip to Franklin to celebrate Matt's birthday two weekends in a row. Little did we know that an extended time at home with no travel craziness would be just what we needed to make it through the last half of the month.

The major change of plans began on Saturday the 14th when we got the call that my Aunt Jan would probably not live more than a couple of days. Aunt Jan passed away on Sunday night, not long after my parents arrived to be with her. Though we were very sad for our loss, we are so thankful that she is no longer suffering, and we know that for her it was truly a homecoming.

We left soon after for Birmingham, and thus the craziness began. The miles logged and stories that could be told of the next two weeks are many. Most stories, however, are better left unwritten, though one can imagine the possibilities of two off-kilter kids, one hormonal in-her-third-trimester mother, one over-scheduled trying-to-keep-the-peace dad, a slew of extended family, and at least five long car trips in less than two weeks!

Highlights that can be mentioned while still protecting the innocent (and in some cases, the guilty)...

• My son wearing a leash at my aunt's funeral. Let's just say I desperately needed Patti-Grams' help, and sometimes her help comes in the form of a leash...
• Will (at least 36-37 pounds, maybe more by now) having to wear a newborn diaper. Yes, I forgot to give Aunt Pammie the diaper bag...
• Sophie repeatedly telling my mom "Happy Grave Yard Day" because Aunt Jan's funeral fell on Mom's birthday...
• Matt and Derek's exciting discoveries of the treasures of the way-extended family...
• Will spilling I'm-not-sure-how-many pounds of powdered sugar all over Mee-Maw's carpet.
• My dad deciding to clean out my car. (Number one, the car is actually owned by him. Number two, just think Martha Stewart meets an episode of Hoarders...)
• Driving back to Atlanta to stay less than 24 hours all because I signed up to bring the stinking turkey to Sophie's Thanksgiving feast!
• Chicken - lots and lots of chicken
• "Only God"
• Being locked out of my own home with my mom and two kids (while my husband and dad were tucked cozy in Franklin), until 2:30 a.m., watching a wonderfully friendly locksmith (that I feel quite sure had never successfully picked a lock) work for hours until he finally called in reinforcements, having conversations with my children from 1:30-2:30 a.m. in our driveway about why we couldn't go in our home, texting my sister repeatedly and laughing hysterically because the only other option was crying hysterically. Oh, the list from this one night could on and on...
• After a very few hours of sleep, stopping by Heavenly Ham to pick up said turkey for Sophie's 11 a.m. feast, only to find out that the store doesn't open until 11 a.m.
• Very nearly going into labor during the Iron Bowl...
• My children seeing Santa for the first time this year on Black Friday at Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World somewhere off I-20. I could not have predicted that one as any store with Bass or Outdoor in the title is an unlikely destination for the Roden family.
• And my personal favorite, while decorating for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving, finding not one, but two keys to our house hidden outside our home. Boy, those keys were hidden well... (Matt and I still can't think about this one without getting nauseous.)

Amazingly, the highlights don't even scratch the surface of all the events of the last two weeks. We did wind up the month celebrating Thanksgiving as a family, remembering all the many things we have to be grateful for. God's goodness to us is overwhelming. And added to my long list of blessings this year, I'm grateful that we survived the end of November and that tomorrow November will end.

I'm sure December will be as peaceful as that night in Bethlehem...