31 for 21: The wrap up. Bullet style.

• How could it possibly be October 31?  I feel like my current schedule is causing days to slip by without my even being aware. Not my favorite thing.
• Down Syndrome Awareness Month… and I didn’t hit the things I really wanted to talk about.  Does that mean I really didn’t want to badly enough?  Or does it just mean that I didn’t set aside the time I needed to, TV-free and post-bedtime, to formulate properly the thoughts into orderly paragraphs?  For those of you who haven’t been around since the beginning, here’s a few links back to old posts that might be of interest to catch you up on me, us, and life at our house. 
  • The “first date” AKA crazy stalker guy from Montana, the proposal, finding out and telling family we were pregnant, ultrasounds and elevated risk, a day of labor, a special delivery.
  • The favorite of many… the snip/tuck saga.
  • Some hot topic posts… Prenatal testing, taking a stand (still missing it’s part 2) on abortion and follow-up epilogue.
  • A few posts about phraseology and terminology in the DS world, here, here, and here. Different slant than that of many, I admit.
• Back to October 31… it’s my mother-in-law’s birthday. She’s a good one. You should all be jealous. (Happy Birthday to Rainer, too!)
• Lastly about October 31, I’m so not a fan of Halloween.  I would love a dress-up-in-cute-costumes-and-have-fun-parties type of holiday without all the dark, scary elements. I do enjoy the fun that is picking cute costumes for the girls, of course. But the rest of the holiday… no thanks. I generally avoid the night of the 31st completely, just staying in.  We have gone to our church’s fall festival in the past few years, but this year, we skipped.  I don’t want KiKi having all the candy (or any, really), I definitely don’t want to have to be tempted by it, and Braska could not care less.  So home we stayed tonight.  And it was kind of nice.  I’m quite aware that it won’t always be that simple, and I’m not a total spoilsport, but while it’s not so much on their radar, I’m good to let it slide.
• I may take a few days off from posting, depending on what happens and if I have time without “making” time at 1am to do posts.  But you’ve got plenty of old links to check out up there if you’re new around here.  If you’re not new, leave a comment every time you come and don’t see new content… that would be fun!  Remember that if you sign up on the side for email subscription or join as a “member” over there, you won’t have to check back. Your snazzy computer will tell you when there’s something new to see.
• Speaking of leaving comments… are some of you having trouble? I have had this mentioned a few times, and I’m wondering if it is broader than I figure.  If you have a Google account, is it giving you problems to make a comment on this or Braska’s blog? In case you didn’t know, you can always use the “Name/URL” option, put your name in the box, leave the URL box empty, and comment that way.  It’s nicer than “anonymous” but still doesn’t require a login.  Just so ya know…
• Finally, I will be attending the memorial service of a 4-year-old girl on Sunday. I’ve been to literally dozens of funerals in my life in various capacities, but never one like this. It will be a celebration of her life, complete with lots of pink and popcorn, I hear.  It will be difficult to attend knowing the loss that has occurred, but so much farther beyond excruciatingly devastating for the loved ones there.  Please continue to pray for Maddie’s family, especially her mother.