Shockwave

When I was growing up, my mom took the four of us kids to Six Flags in Arlington every single summer. We'd arrive when the gates opened at 10 am and then stay until they kicked us out at closing time, and we'd ride everything. My brother John Caleb and I usually paired up to hit all the best roller coasters, and by the end of the day, we had usually discovered one or two coasters that met the magical requirements of being a fun ride but also having a reasonably short line. I remember one year hitting the jackpot on the Shockwave; I don't remember if it was just late in the day or if there were too many other Batman-themed rides stealing all the attention, but there was no one in line for the Shockwave, and JC and I must've ridden it ten times before we had to leave the park. Good times.

The trouble with roller coasters, though - and especially the ones that have a quick wait - is that they are over so fast! You hardly have time to open your eyes and enjoy the thrills before you are being yanked to a halting stop in front of the next crowd of eager passengers. 

And that's exactly what the last few months have felt like for me: we are flying through time and space, screaming for joy and smiling so hard it hurts and then bam another month is gone! How is this happening? 

Don't get me wrong - we've had a really blessed October and November: church campout, a long weekend at Gram and Paps', Halloween with a muscle-y Spiderman and a beautiful Fairy Princess, baby showers for a new niece and for a church friend's much-prayed-for baby girl, a birthday for P, a few fancy-attire business events (hello, shopping spree!), two shows at Casa Manana, one expensive trip to IKEA, a really good cold snap, hours and hours of hanging pictures and cleaning carpets in anticipation of Thanksgiving at our house, Thanksgiving at our house, and, crowning it all, the birth of Ava Lee, my beautiful niece. In fact, it was as I was walking back to my car in the Denton Regional Medical Center parking lot, sometime near midnight on Thanksgiving day, after finally getting to hold that sweet bundle of new life, that I realized that I had not felt this exhausted in ages. Can't string words into a proper sentence exhausted. What a month exhausted. What a day exhausted. What a wonderful life exhausted...

Southside Church Campout at Lake Mineral Wells State Park

Dora, the Pirate Adventure at Casa Manana
(Favorite character: still Diego)

Fall is here!
(And I splurged on some mums, in spite of my previous avowals to do no such thing.) 

Haa-wo-weeeen!!!

...and the crazy things that holiday makes us do!
[FYI: Paps enlisted me for his North St. Youth ghost walk. Scary, eh?]

Good times at Gram and Paps' farm

Let them eat cake!
And receive lots of new neckties!

cold snap = always helping someone put on gloves or hats or mittens

Aunt Cadeeya, Mom, Me, & Caroline at her lovely baby shower

I would like to think that December won't "coast" on through, leaving me whiplashed and adreniline-sore on New Year's, but I'm not totally naive on this point at least - this is the fastest ride of the year, after all! But I am determined to be on it, screaming for joy in every second.