November updates

The past month has completely flown by. Although it seems like a lifetime ago, I never shared Abbie's Halloween picture from this year. Similar to last year, she went with the glam and gore theme, but, as you can see, her use of liquid latex was more elaborate this year. :) In case you aren't sure, she was the ghost of a woman who died in a fire, hence the semi-burnt face.

Here she is before school on Halloween day. There was a costume contest in the middle school with a number of different categories. Abbie took first place in the "scariest individual costume" category. I think she was pleased with the recognition, but as I recall, the prizes were a bit lame.

As for the month of November, Abbie was busy with projects and tests in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving break. Also, there was a break from run club, so Abbie was able to start attending the honors strings group that meets on Tuesday afternoons. Also before Thanksgiving, she participated in a one-day challenge in which she spent the entire day confined to a wheelchair. The kids that are interested in participating take turns with the challenge to learn about what it is like to be handicapped. After the day is over, they write a reflection piece about their experience. Perhaps needless to say, I think she found it difficult and tiring, but was glad that she did it.

By the time her week-long break arrived, I think Abbie was really looking forward to some downtime. She also took a couple of days over the break to spend time with her dear friend Eleanor, whom she knows from summer camp, but doesn't get to see very often. Apparently the girls had a blast watching all sorts of scary shows about hauntings, etc. :)

With roughly three weeks to go before Christmas break, we are gearing up for more "stuff" - Abbie has her fall ballet performance next week, and her winter orchestra concert next weekend. Meanwhile run club starts back up next week, culminating in another 5K in February. She has also started working on her Christmas shopping - putting lots of thought into what to get for her family. Given all the money that she makes from her dog jobs, she is really fixated on buying things with her own money this year, arguing that it doesn't really come from her if she doesn't pay for it!