Hi Friends! Ok...how is it the end of October? I mean seriously?! Yikes..anyway...always love answering these questions each month so without further ado...
What We're Eating This Week
Monday Chicken Cutlets with Cherry Tomato Orzo and Salad
Tuesday Homemade Chipotle Burritos with Guac and Chips
Wednesday El Diablo Chicken with Rice and Salad
Thursday Pizza and Salad Night
Friday Happy Halloween! Jack O Lantern Joes
Find Shay's Recipe HERE
What I'm Reminiscing About
Halloweens of Past...seems like Eva was a little lobster just yesterday :(
What I'm Loving
The Senior Cheer Spotlights on the WHS VC IG Page...Diana was described as being "a determined teammate who keeps everyone motivated and always keeps working towards her goals; she is uplifting and brings great energy to the team!"
What We've Been Up To
We hosted the 15th Annual Blackout Cancer Week- this year was record breaking- not only financially (bringing in a whopping $70,000 + for pediatric cancer research funding) but we had the most awareness and student involvement yet with Blackout Games all week long! Grateful!
We have made it to #12 in T Mobile's Nationwide Contest to win a new stadium- we find out if we won by the end of the week- eek!
It has been a very special fall...grateful that Diana got to experience this during her senior year and we have gotten to experience it and celebrate it with some really great friends...Pre-gaming...FNL and all of the football games!
and it doesn't hurt that the Jaguars are having an incredible winning season too!
We have enjoyed Eva and her hockey...
We celebrated Robby B's Birthday
There have been hockey lessons in between practices
Walks on the Rail Trail
and a Crumbl Cookie or Two ;)
Diana and I loved "The Life of a Showgirl" and we all (except for Robby B) have been devouring the new album
I enjoyed Laura's Real Estate Appreciation Party with some Besties
and we enjoyed Suzy's Gala afterwards to benefit the Martorana Strong Foundation
where we also got to sneak in some snuggles with Sylvie Lynn!
I returned to the gym and enjoyed yoga...just need to make these visits more regular
Eva had a blast at her school's ice cream social- and it was our family's very last one- eek!
Diana and I jetted down to South Carolina so she could get a college experience and attend the Coastal Carolina Cheer Clinic- she had a blast!
and while we were gone, the grandparents rallied around Eva at hockey!
We celebrated Shannon turning 50!
and we worked for months to clean out our garage and paint (Robby B) so we could host Diana's Senior HOCO pics for the troops
I enjoyed watching Diana tumble and stunt during the 2025 Windham Cheer Showcase
Eva had a blast at her school's Monster Bash and carved a 6 7 pumpkin ;)
Diana and Cat went to a Halloween Party dressed as Subway Surfers
and Eva went to Screemfest with friends
We (Robby B and Papa) cut down a tree in the yard- another part of Project Homecoming
and we snuck out for a Date Night!
There has been more wrestling with Remi
A very successful WHS Cheer Fundraiser
and HOCO 25!
What I'm Dreading
Nothing at the Moment
What I'm Working On
Some new and creative Business Development Approaches
What I'm Excited About
Senior Day on Saturday at the Football Field!
What I'm Watching/Reading
Making my way through Gilmore Girls- on Season 2!
and my book for October was
Everyone Is Lying To You (A Thriller) by Jo Piazza
Lizzie and Bex were best friends in college. After graduation, Bex vanished, leaving Lizzie confused and devastated.
Fifteen
years later, Bex is now Rebecca Sommers, a “traditional” Instagram
influencer with millions of followers who salivate over her perfect life
on her ranch with her five children and handsome husband, Gray. Lizzie
is a struggling magazine writer, watching reels while her young children
demand her attention.
One night out of the blue, Bex calls
Lizzie with a career-making proposition—an exclusive interview with her
about her multimillion-dollar business venture and an invitation to
MomBomb, the high-profile influencing conference.
At the
conference, Bex goes missing and Gray is found brutally murdered on
their ranch. Lizzie finds herself plunged into the dark side of the
cutthroat world of social media that includes jealousy, sordid affairs,
swingers, and backstabbing. She must learn who her old friend has become
and who she has double-crossed to try to find her, clear her name, and
maybe even save her life.
I will never forget where I was when I read most of this book...in a Starbucks...waiting for Diana to finish up with her College Counselor...and at the same time learning that Charlie Kirk had died from his injuries from being shot..maybe that is why this book will always stay with me? Haunt me? but I will never forget it...it was a great read...so very interesting...though fiction, it nails the world of influencers...bloggers and social media on...the...head...and I get a pit in my stomach when I think about it and how I felt when Charlie died....
I am actually sneaking in an extra read this month too due to Book Club
Shannon will be hosting this week and she picked "The Book Club for Troublesome Women"
By 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan is living the American woman's dream. She has a husband, three children, a station wagon, and a home in Concordia--one of Northern Virginia's most exclusive and picturesque suburbs. She has a standing invitation to the neighborhood coffee klatch, and now, thanks to her husband, a new subscription to A Woman's Place--a magazine that tells housewives like Margaret exactly who to be and what to buy. On paper, she has it all. So why doesn't that feel like enough?
Margaret is thrown for a loop when she first meets Charlotte Gustafson, Concordia's newest and most intriguing resident. As an excuse to be in the mysterious Charlotte's orbit, Margaret concocts a book club get-together and invites two other neighborhood women--Bitsy and Viv--to the inaugural meeting. As the women share secrets, cocktails, and their honest reactions to the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique, they begin to discover that the American dream they'd been sold isn't all roses and sunshine--and that their secret longing for more is something they share. Nicknaming themselves the Bettys, after Betty Friedan, these four friends have no idea their impromptu club and the books they read together will become the glue that helps them hold fast through tears, triumphs, angst, and arguments--and what will prove to be the most consequential and freeing year of their lives.
I hope to finish this by the time we meet up...I may not but I am enjoying it so far and so grateful we live in the times that we do now!
What I'm Listening To
It is a mix of Diana's Senior Year Playlist...Taylor Swift's New Album "The Life Of A Showgirl" and Sabrina Carpenter's New Album "Man's Best Friend"
What I'm Wearing
Workout Clothes- Business Attire- Jagwear for the Games and Fun Outfits for Nights Out
What I'm Doing This Weekend
On Friday Night, Halloween Night, for the first time, in a long time, Rob and I are staying home to handout candy...really looking forward to it! I am also making us Jack O Lantern Joes for a festive dinner...Eva is heading out with friends Trick Or Treating in a nearby neighborhood and Diana is going to a party
Saturday is Senior Day at the Football Game so we will be honoring our senior Football Players, Cheerleaders and their Families...we have a special tailgate complete with Senior Collages....a special procession where we get to join Diana march onto the field and then at halftime each kid got to choose a teacher who has made the greatest impact on them and they will get to go onto the field with them!
We are celebrating at home afterwards with our family and close friends.
Sunday will be church, hockey and rest :)
What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month
Risotto Night (because we couldn't make it happen this month) and all of the Thanksgiving Weekend Traditions!
What Else Is New?
Patty and I are hosting Monthly Musings tomorrow and we are talking all things Halloween- hope to see you back here!
