Our Week - The One with Halloween, the School Tailgate, and the Georgia vs. Tennessee Game

Our weeks keep getting busier and busier as we approach the holiday season, but we’re busy with all fun stuff, so I definitely can’t complain.  Last week was no exception – IT WAS NUTS! – and I’m hoping this week I’ll finally have a chance to stop and catch my breath!  Whew!  Here’s the recap from last week…

Monday, October 31

Monday was Halloween, so I dropped the kids off at school in their costumes, and then I hung around for the school-wide trunk-or-treat.  We started this tradition just a couple of years ago and it’s one of our favorite things!  Our school has babies through high school, so we have kids of all ages there. 

The entire school is involved for the trunk-or-treat, so everyone in the whole school gets to dress up if they choose.  The highschoolers decorate their cars/trunks (or tables if they don’t have cars), and then the rest of the school (babies – 8th graders) get to walk around in costume and visit each of the cars/tables to get candy. 

Our highschoolers go all out, and some of the themes this year were just great!  I ended up walking around once with Olivia and then I walked around again with Jacob.  I wasn’t sure he’d want me to be there since he’s in middle school now, but surprisingly, he did!  I know these days are probably numbered, so I wasn’t going to turn that down!  I did refrain from taking too many pictures of him and his friends, though… I didn’t want to be that mom.  Lol.

After trunk-or-treat was over, my friend, Becky, and I rummaged around the storage shed at the school to make sure that all of our props were still available for the Reindeer Run that we’re planning for the school in December, and then I had to run a couple of quick errands before heading home to eat a quick lunch with Brian.  The word of the day on Friday was “quick” because I had soooo much to squeeze in!

After lunch, I quickly finished my blog post for Tuesday (nothing like waiting ‘til the last minute!  Ha!) and then I started prepping for Halloween dinner.  Time FLEW by and before I knew it, it was time to pick up the kids from school.

They were both all hyped up on too much sugar when I picked them up, and thankfully, their teachers hadn’t assigned either of them any homework.  Jacob’s piano lesson had been rescheduled for the holiday, and we let Olivia skip dance that evening, so we could put all of our focus on Halloween.

As soon as we got home, I got right to making our annual Halloween dinner.  We always keep it simple with mummy dogs, apple/marshmallow teeth, Halloween Pirate’s Booty, baby carrots (they’re orange!), grapes, and candy corn.  I managed to get it all on the table right after our guests arrived.

My friend, Khristina, and her husband, and their son all came over to eat with us and then trick-or-treat.  My parents usually join us, too, but my poor momma was still testing positive for Covid, so that was a no-go.  My father-in-law did stop by briefly to give the kids some Halloween treats, though.

As we were leaving to trick-or-treat, Olivia’s friend Ally, from dance, and her mom (my old friend from high school) walked over to our house to trick-or-treat with us.  They live in our neighborhood, so it worked out perfectly!

The kids trick-or-treated for a good couple of hours, and they even went in the creepy haunted house that our neighbors had set up, and they both came home with a boatload of candy.  Brian and I were even able to partake in an adult treat, as one of our neighbors was handing out Jello shots for the adults.  ;o)  And don’t worry, we know them… we didn’t just take it from a random stranger.  Hahahaha.

We made it home just after dark, and everyone was beat!  We said goodbye to our friends, and then the kids ate some candy before jumping in the shower really quickly.  We ended the night with our annual viewing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and then the kids headed off to bed.

It was another great Halloween, indeed!

Tuesday, November 1

Tuesday morning, we were all on the struggle bus, but I’m sure most people are the morning after Halloween.  I had a lot on my plate again for Tuesday, so I hit the ground running.

First up, was Publix to grab groceries since I wasn’t able to go Monday like I usually do.  I had just enough time to get the groceries home and put the cold stuff away before I had to leave to be back at the school/church for All Saint’s Day Mass with Olivia. 

After Mass, I hightailed it home, started on a blog post, and then I had to leave again to eat lunch with an old coworker/friend.  Thankfully, he works not too far from my house, so we were able to meet at a spot that’s only five minutes from my house.  It was nice to not have to waste a bunch of transit time.

Once that was over, I headed back home to finish my blog post and then head back out again to grab the kids.  Whew.

The kids had just enough time to knock out homework, and then we all headed out to take Olivia to dance class.  Jacob and I came home to start cooking dinner, and then B grabbed Olivia on the way home from work.

We ate dinner and then I got in an arms and abs workout afterward.  There wasn’t much time to watch anything with the kids, so we all just hung out for a bit, and then once they were in bed, B and I watched an episode of Vampire Diaries before calling it quits for the night.

Wednesday, November 2

Wednesday, Maui had her annual checkup at the vet, so I dropped the kids at school and then dropped her, and then I had to run to Target and UPS, and then to my aunt and uncle’s house to drop off some chairs for our tailgate in Athens on Saturday.

Back at home, it was laundry and blog work, catching up on emails, and catching up on blog reading.  The day flew by yet again, and before I knew it, I was back in the car line.

We had nowhere to be Wednesday evening, so the kids grabbed Maui from the vet and then headed home for the evening to get some stuff done.  They worked on homework and getting all of their Halloween candy sorted, and I caught up on some housework and cooked dinner.

After dinner, I walked/jogged three miles, and then after everyone was ready for bed, we watched an episode of The Amazing Race.  After the kiddos went to bed, B and I watched another episode of Vampire Diaries.

Thursday, November 3

Thursday morning, I had a Home and School Advisory Board meeting right after dropoff, and then I had to go drop something off that our friends had left at our house on Halloween.  The rest of the day was spent blogging blogging blogging (I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants, and I hate it!), and then after lunch I headed off to donate blood.

Back in September, I tried to donate, and I was turned down for the first time ever because my iron was too low.  Thankfully, this time it was normal, so I was able to donate again!

After that was done, I had a few minutes to run back home and get a couple more things done, and then I had to be back at the school to pick up the kids.

We flew home, dropped our stuff, and grabbed snacks, and then Olivia and I headed off to voice lessons.  Brian had played in a golf tournament that morning for work, so he was home Thursday afternoon which meant that Jacob didn’t have to get dragged along to voice lessons. 

Once those were over, Olivia and I headed home, and then we made breakfast for dinner.  I’m always wiped out after donating blood (it always makes me feel tired and weak), so I lay down on the couch for a bit after dinner while B and the kids played basketball.  I mustered just enough energy to get the Halloween decorations down after that, and then I worked on my puzzle for a bit while the kids got ready for bed.

Once they were ready for bed, we watched another episode of The Amazing Race with them, and then B and I watched some football.  I didn’t want to start any shows because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay awake.  We ended up turning in early, and I got a nice long night of sleep!

Friday, November 4

Friday morning, I had more errands to run – Walmart, Target (again), and Publix (again), and then I was able to stay home for the rest of the day getting stuff done.  I finished my blog post for Monday, worked on a couple of others, and then I had to prep for the all-school tailgate Friday night as well as the Georgia game on Saturday.  

After school, the kids and I headed home for a bit to tie up some loose ends, and then the three of us and Brian all headed back to the school to tailgate before the game.  But first, Mexican food and margs!

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with friends at the kids’ school, tailgating, and watching the game.  Our boys whooped the other team, clinching the title of region champions!!  And I didn't take a single picture all night.  Whoops.  Lol.

We ended up leaving the game a little early to beat the traffic out, and by the time we got home it was late, but the kids still had to shower and get ready for bed.  Once they were in bed, B and I watched some football and then we went to bed a little earlier than usual for a Friday because we had to be up early for the Georgia game on Saturday.

Saturday, November 5

Saturday was the Georgia vs. Tennessee game in Athens, and we’ve never been so grateful in our lives to have season tickets to the games, because they were going for $600+ on the secondary market.  I read somewhere that they set a record for the most expensive regular season game tickets ever.  Don’t know how true that is, but I do know people were paying premium prices for those tickets. 

Tennessee was ranked #1 in the College Football Playoff poll and we were ranked #1 in the AP poll so it was a HUGE, important game.  Basically, if Georgia lost, we would have been out of the running to make it to the National Championship game.

We knew Athens was going to be absolutely packed very early on because ESPN College GameDay was going to be there filming at 9 AM, so we wanted to get there as early as possible.  We dropped the kiddos at Nana and Poppies (my MIL and step-FIL’s) bright and early, and then B and I hit the road.  We do take the kids to games sometimes, but this game was so important that I didn’t want to take them because I didn’t want to have to take nine million bathroom and snack breaks during the game.  Lol.

On the way, we were treated to this beautiful sunrise!

We watched College GameDay on the way there, and we made it to Athens by 10:30 AM.  Thankfully, there were parking spots available downtown, so we parked there per usual and then headed to my aunt and uncle’s tailgate. 

The next few hours were spent hanging out with them and eating all the good tailgate foods, drinking, and watching the end of College GameDay and the noon football games.  My cousin works for the football team, and he was able to get some VIP passes to College GameDay, but nobody ended up using them.  It would have been cool to go and see Luke Bryan since he was the guest picker, though!!!!

We cleaned up the tailgate just before 2, grabbed drinks for the road, and then we headed for the stadium.  We had to part ways from my aunt, uncle, and cousins right by the stadium as we sit on opposite sides, so we said our goodbyes, and then headed into the stadium.

The game ended up being INSAAAAANNNNE, y’all – one of my favorite games we’ve ever been to (and we’ve been to a ton) – and Georgia ended up winning.  We had some rain midway through the third quarter that lasted midway through the fourth quarter, but that didn’t slow anybody down.  That place stayed packed and loud and crazy until the very end!  It was, by far, the loudest game we’ve ever been to… so loud that Tennessee had seven false starts.  Prior to the game, an old Tennessee football player had talked some junk about our stadium not being very loud, so our fans showed up and showed out, and we showed him!  ;o)

We ended up staying until the end and getting out of the stadium was the craziest it’s ever been since it stayed packed until the end.  We were squished in like sardines and moving at a snail’s pace all the way out, but it was so much fun because everyone was shouting our Georgia chants and songs the whole way out. 

My gosh, I love college football, y’all.

B and I had almost made it back to our car when we walked by one of my old friends from high school who I haven’t seen in 22 years!  I hugged his neck and we chatted for a few minutes, and then B and I finally hit the road.  (And don't mind my picture below... we'd all been rained on all evening by that point, so it's definitely not my best look.  Haha.)

 

Traffic was a bit rough getting out of downtown, but it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be, and we made it to my MIL’s to pick up the kids before 11.  We had considered having them spend the night, but we figured that we’d just pick them up and get them home since the time changed Saturday night and we gained an hour.

We flipped back and forth between the Bama vs. LSU game and the Notre Dame vs. Clemson game all the way home, and we got home just in time to see the end of the Bama vs. LSU game in OT.  It was CRAZY.

When we got home, the kiddos collapsed into bed (they were exhausted) and then B and I stayed up for a bit longer to watch more football, and then he and I headed off to bed (also exhausted, but happy!) around midnight.

Nana and Poppie had kept the kids busy all day baking and decorating cookies, playing games, playing outside, watching the game, and watching movies, and Nana sent us a couple of pictures from their day as well...

Sunday, November 6

Sunday morning, I slept until almost 9 the old time, but since the time had changed, it was really like I was up before 8.  I know a lot of people hate when daylight savings time ends, but I LOVE IT.  I love being back on regular time, I love feeling like I’m waking up later, I love the extra hour on Sunday, and I love that the kids are actually tired when bedtime rolls around.  It’s just winning every way you look at it, in my opinion!  I’m not a huge fan of the fact that it gets dark earlier – only because then I can’t do my outdoor evening jogs anymore – but I do like that it makes the evenings feel so much cozier.

The time change could not have come at a more appropriate time for us either!  It was perfect since we’d had such an exhausting, long, late day on Saturday.

Since we’d been gone all night Friday night and all day Saturday, I had a million things to do Sunday, so I hit the ground running while everyone else was still asleep.  By the time the kids got up, I had already unpacked everything from our trip, I’d tidied the whole downstairs, I’d unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, I’d handwashed several dishes, and I’d baked some cinnamon rolls. 

We ended up having to get Olivia up at 8:45 (which was the old 9:45!!), and then we all had breakfast together.  Jacob was sad he’d missed ESPN College GameDay since it had been in Athens, so we replayed the beginning for them + the picks since Luke Bryan was the guest picker.  We all love us some Luke!  Such a good ol’ Georgia boy!

After that, we watched an episode of Nailed It, and then we started on all of the weekend chores – laundry, housecleaning, etc.

We had a light lunch at home, and then I got ready for the day.  The rest of the afternoon was spent prepping some blog posts for the week, prepping lunches and everything else for the week ahead, and getting the last of everything put away from our trip.

My mom FINALLYYYY tested negative earlier in the week, so we were back on for Sunday dinner for the first time since the end of September.  I mean, gracious!!  First, I had Covid, then my dad got it, then my mom got it, and it just dragged on and on and on for the whole month of October.  We hadn’t been able to see my Mama Cass since September 30 or my parents since our trip to the mountains and I have missssed them all so much!! 

My momma made a yummy dinner and a pound cake that was so delicious, and it was great to be back with all of my people!  Sundays just aren’t the same without them!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!