So, as is usual for this time of year, lots has happened. And, as is also usual for this time of year, I'm not going to go into great detail about all of it. Mostly since I would have to start back in October!! But I will, as always, cover the highlights.

Ethan and I participated in some of our very favorite Halloween traditions this year. We took our yearly pilgrimage to Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm with Grandma Glore. I swear, that just gets more fun every year! They have a straw and a corn maze, a pumpkin eating dinosaur, YUMMY treats to eat and a petting zoo, just to name a few. Plus we so rarely get Grandma all to ourselves that we relish the time we get where we don't have to share her. After the pumpkin farm, we then get Granddad all to ourselves as we craft our pumpkin works of art for the year. Make sure to check out our most excellent efforts! We also attended Crystal Lake Park District's Truck or Treat at main beach. Every year, they assemble a different grouping of trucks and the kids get to sit in the driver's seats and honk all the horns and push all the buttons. We didn't stay nearly as long as we have in years past and it may be that this is one tradition we have outgrown.

One of the biggest highlights involved a home visit for us from the principle and vice principle of Ethan's school. All the children in the school put their names into a hat and one child was drawn at random to win. They picked ETHAN! He got to invite kids from his class and Mr, Jacobson and Mrs. Gott read them several books. Honestly, it was like having Bono come over. The kids were very well behaved and had a great time. Plus Ethan got to keep the last book as a souvenir! What a fun program and a great way to encourage the kids to read.

We spent Thanksgiving in Michigan with relatives and Christmas (which I somehow ended up with NO pictures of!) in IL. We took two vacations, one to Albuquerque and one to Florida. The weather was SO beautiful both times and it was a welcome break from the cold and monotony of daily life. We celebrated Ethan turning 7 at Chuck E Cheese with friends. And we constructed (and then deconstructed in one sitting!) our annual Gingerbread House. I realized this year how much I enjoy having some of the same things to look forward to every year. They are not extravagant or complicated. Most of them are just things that we have created as a family. But they are times and memories that I would not trade for the world and am very grateful for the encouragement I got early on to create things that Ethan would remember after he grew up.

Ethan is absolutely huge. He is tall and lean (like you would expect) and stands about a head above all the other children in his class. He is really enjoying school and reports that gym and music are his favorite subjects. He excels in math and really enjoys the real life problems I throw at him on a daily basis. He tells me that he'd rather be playing all the time rather than have to be in school, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find another first grader that doesn't feel the exact same way. I recently talked him into reading/recording one of my favorite books entitled Lunch for Greedy Cat. He's down three teeth now but won't put them under his pillow for reasons I still don't understand. He seems to think that it's just not time and, since it doesn't matter one way or the other to me, I'm not in any hurry. Ethan still takes Karate and just signed up for his third season of baseball. He's just growing up so fast! It's hard to remember sometimes to just enjoy him exactly how he is today. It all goes by in the blink of an eye - I can hardly believe he's seven already - and he'll be grown before I know it.

I'm guessing that Ethan will become a lawyer or judge or police office someday. He's a BIG fan of the rules and becomes incensed when things appear not to be fair. He also has the tendency, if given any leeway at all, to argue his side of things until told it's time to stop. He knows by now that whining and begging get him nowhere with Mommy. So he's started employing other, more creative tactics. Like the day I made it clear that I expected him to remain seated through the whole dinner meal. For those of you who don't know Ethan that well, he really needs to put his mind to sitting for any length of time. There is always something in the kitchen that needs his attention. Or he has to run to his room for something. Or he needs to get up to demonstrate something. Needless to say, it's really something to ask him to sit for a whole meal. So, after making sure that he understood that his bottom was to remain in the chair for the duration of the meal, Ethan decided to get up anyway. I excused him from the table and he launched immediately into his best arguments of why it shouldn't count and why it was unfair or a stupid rule, etc. He tried everything to get me to cave! As his arguments wound down, he started grasping at straws. My personal favorite, saved for the very end, was "You care more about rules than you do about nutrition". Believe me, I had an extremely hard time stifling my laughter. After that didn't work, he just gave up. And now, here it the part that I just love about my boy. He has such a great mind! First thing at dinner the next day, he requested that I duct tape him to his chair. Good for him, for recognizing that he was going to need some help to make it through the meal and coming up with a solution that would work very well! We made some minor adjustments to his plan (using my robe tie as a reminder but not an actual restraining device). And that was the last night we had that particular problem. It's so much fun to see how he uses his mind to solve problems and I'm continually amazed by his creative and ingenious solutions.

Since my last FOG, I've survived two layoffs at our company. The last was as recent as last week. I spent most of Wednesday evening not really knowing how things were going to end up and was amazingly calm about the whole thing. I think the shake up last year really helped me put it all into perspective. It's a job and it's not the company I really love anymore. So if I get laid off then that would be alright. I know that I'll land on my feet regardless what happens to me. And, having said all that, I'm still extremely grateful to have a job in this particular market. My skill set is about a decade old (if not older) and it's hard to think about voluntarily looking for work as the sole provider for my household while I am still employed. So what I've started to do is update my skill set and start really working with newer technologies so that if, one day, I find myself without a job, I don't have to tailor my search to the very limited market looking for a Delphi programmer. It's been an extremely hard time at PL, both for the people who are being laid off and for the people who are left. We've had to say goodbye to quite a number of very talented people, some that I've worked with for over 10 years. All of them were people that I really enjoyed and respected. Our department, which had 16 employees last October is down to 6 today. While the loss of staff would have been in and of itself totally demoralizing, some of the decisions that are being made regarding the future of our product and the company give me more than a moment's pause. And, not knowing what the future holds, it seems to have settled down enough for me to get back to the business of showing up for work and doing my best at whatever they throw at me. I'll keep you posted as things develop.

Lastly, everyone I've talked to since the last FOG wants to know what happened with "the guy". The answer honestly is that I'm not totally sure. Things started out very promising and then fizzled quickly. However, the one thing that I am certain about is that it's all for the best. There were some wonderful things about Royce but we had problems communicating from the beginning and that makes for a pretty rough road. I am SO done with relationships that are all hard work! I started e-mailing with someone new in early December (his name is Jim) and we've been out a number of times now. We get along very well and have a great time laughing together. Once again, it's impossible for me to predict how things will be the next time I write. But for the meantime, it's been great to have someone that I really enjoy spending time with.

Until next time...