Autumnal Happenings

November 10, 2019

Autumnal Happenings

Dear blog,

Even though you are sorely neglected, I still find a lot of value in updating you. Please don't take my silence personally. My job keeps me on a computer for 8 hours every day. And usually on the weekends, when I used to blog regularly, I do not feel like opening my computer up to do something that feels, more or less, like work.

But I am here now, and even though blog general updates are not very interesting content, I like to still have some sort of record of my life. That way, when I am feeling sad, I can look back at all these good and beautiful moments and recognize all the things I have to be grateful for.

Here are some of the autumnal happenings so far this season

1. My parents came to visit! At the beginning of Oct, Mom and Dad came out to hang out with us, as well as to build some things for us. My dad is a master builder after all.

They brought me a box of tomatoes from my brother in Illinois. (They also brought us canned applesauce and green beans from their bounty in North Carolina).

Mom came to visit me at work and then spent the afternoon tying a comforter. I joined her for the last hour.

My Dad helped me with a lot of odds and ends, including taking stuff to the scrap metal year, (which I was really intimidated to do myself). We actually had a hilarious time.

Once my parents found out there was a Menards in Wichita, we went on what they called a "double date" and got supplies before going to eat Vietnamese food.

When they were here, Mom told me that my great-grandparents are buried nearby. I had no idea. So we went go find their grave on a windy Sunday afternoon.

One of the shelves set my Dad built

The other one.

Dad also redesigned our closets and built me a garden box. Mom washed the windows and they both helped us figure out where to hang photos. They definitely helped this space feel more like a home. I am really grateful they made the long journey to Kansas.

2. Puppies: Levent's boss breeds puppies. Every once in awhile he'll bring one to work to transfer to whomever is buying it. Levent let me know when there will puppies at Sherwin and I went over to play with them. It was the vest mental health break.

3. Levent's parents came to visit: So this one was not what any one was excepting. Originally, Levent's parents were going to come out here to visit in Mid-Oct. However, Levent's grandpa took a turn for the worst when Wilbur and Shirley were driving down here. They were able to get to the hospital in time to be with Perry in his last hour, which was amazing. So instead of a weekend of hanging out, it was a weekend being together but also attending the funeral.

Levent's brother, Blake, was also able to fly out. The funeral was on a Sunday, so on Saturday after we picked Blake up from the airport, we hung out in Wichita a little bit. We visited Leslie Coffee Company (which is my new favorite Wichita coffee shop), visited the Keeper of the Plains and then visited the Wichita Art Museum, which is free on Saturdays. (The Museum was showing a light show by artist Kumi Yamashita. It was incredible and somewhat haunting. Afterwards, they took us all out for dinner at Public at the Brickyard. The circumstances were not great, but it was nice to be together.

Wilbur and Shirley stayed in Hutch the rest of the week and then came over the following Friday evening. Before dinner, we took them (with their dog Sienna) on a walk to the dog park and then to the Blue Sky sculpture.

4. Kitten Yoga!: This past Saturday, I had signed up for a yoga class that was a fundraiser for the humane society. Brilliant fundraiser idea. It was not the hardest work out ever but it was fun to play with the kittens. If they do it again, I will definitely sign up.