thatcher's new job, basement project, homecoming

 last monday was thatcher's first day at his new job. he had 7 weeks between jobs which was so wonderful with our move, but he was more than ready to get back to it. :) his office is in downtown minneapolis, so he takes the bus. he will be in the office most days (by choice). his boss flew up from chicago and they spent the day together getting him onboarded and went out for dinner that night. he's excited to jump into the consulting world and i think they are so lucky to have him. 

tuesday morning i met a friend from high school (jess) who just moved back here from maryland with her husband and daughters at the beginning of summer. since there was no school on tuesday for rosh hashannah, azalea watched her two girls (8 and 6) while we were out, it was perfect. i love reconnecting with people in our new old life here. ashford had zoom piano with his teacher in the evening. 

wednesday afternoon my mom called from a goodwill to tell me she found some nearly perfect stools for our breakfast bar in the kitchen. so i drove over and met her and we took them home. love a great find and a great deal!

next up is replacing those pendants

in the evening, i had my annual work gathering for current and former employees. perhaps we will do it more than once a year now! it was a small but fun group. utepils has such a great patio and it was a beautiful night for it. i also got sesame chicken from a food truck in the parking lot for dinner. 

thursday we had contractors at the house to finish waterproofing the basement. this was a project that the sellers started before closing and got passed onto us. not really a fun thing to spend money on, but important. it was really loud, so i left for a walk around lake harriet, which i haven't done since before we closed on the house. i listened to a taylor swift playlist while i walked and it was the most beautiful morning for it. i feel like my appreciation for places i used to take for granted when i lived here before is off the charts now.

azalea had tech crew for theater after school multiple times during the week. in the evening, i headed to curriculum night at ashford's school (thatcher needed to stay around til the contractors finished). it was fun to go through his schedule and i saw some parents i went to high school with (not in my grade) who have kids in ashford's classes. minneapolis feels like a small town in this way and i love it after being gone. 

friday the contractors were at our house for another half day until they finished. now it's on us to get the basement (guest room) back to a useable state, with real walls and flooring. it could be a while.

 in the afternoon i walked over to a street near the high school to watch the homecoming parade. it's made up of the band, cheerleaders, and floats for sports teams and clubs and lasts about 10 minutes. i remember it being so fun when i went there and it's surreal to have a kid old enough to go there now. azalea was watching with classmates and no i did not go find her. ;) 

in the evening, the kids and i attended the homecoming football game. well, the first half of it. ashford had never been to a high school football game before and azalea had only been to one for ballard. this was much smaller scale, but i love the neighborhood community feel of it here. ashford and i sat with my friend caitlin and some other moms she knows. azalea went off to find some familiar faces and i was so proud of her. 

saturday morning thatcher headed out to join his friend nick at the u of m gopher football game. he hadn't been to one since before our kids were born, so i was excited for him. he was gone for most of the day. 

the kids and i walked over to the toy store in our neighborhood to get a birthday present for cousin gracie's first birthday. then we headed to the annual (50th actually!) fall festival at the park. they had food vendors, kid activities, and other tents. we got food from the food trucks for lunch and said hi to some friends we saw. my kids were too big for most of the stuff, so we didn't stay for very long. 

the kids and i went to 'spirit halloween' in the afternoon and made dinner with thatcher back home. the homecoming dance at azalea's school was that night but she opted not to go. i don't blame her, it's hard being new.

sunday morning i headed downtown to meet a group of friends at 'crave' for a wicked-themed drag brunch. i've always wanted to go to one and it did not disappoint. it was such a fun, positive, family-friendly environment and lots of kids were in attendance. and getting to spend time with these friends (two of whom i hadn't seen since before we moved to seattle) was simply the best. 

i actually had to head out a little before it ended to get to gracie's 1st birthday party at austin and abby's. i *love* that we get to be a part of things like this now. i always hated missing family things when we were in seattle. 1st birthdays are the cutest - she loved the cake (especially the frosting) and her presents. 

the rest of the day was grocery shopping, homework (my kids have been getting a lot here), grilling dinner, and a little reading for me. 

i've already mentioned this, but i feel like our weekends are so packed now between house stuff and seeing family and friends. i love all the fun things we are doing, but it makes the weeks fly by and hate that. i guess that's the price i have to pay!