I have no idea what time it is.  Absolutely no idea.  When I went to bed last night, the clock said 10:30 p.m.  I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. (actually, I set both the alarms on my clock for 4:00 a.m. - I have this totally cool alarm clock with dual alarms so it can wake two people up at two different times...the only problem is, I can't ever figure out which button goes with which alarm time, so I have to set them both.  So, what seems to be a cool gadget is actually a pain in the neck that causes me twice as much work as a plain old alarm clock would.  And, no, to answer your question, I have no idea how to program my VCR)  Anyway, I figured that was plenty of sleep and when the alarm went off at 4:00 a.m., it would really be 3:00 a.m. since the time turned back sometime between when I went to sleep and when I woke up.   That extra hour would give me the time I needed to finish up some work and do some dishes before we head out of town this morning.  Somehow, though, I didn't let Steve in on this plan.  I have a vague memory of him sitting on the bed sometime during the night and changing the time on the clock.   And evidently, when you change the time on the clock while the alarms are set it voids the alarms, so neither of the two alarms that I set went off.  So, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. today's time, which was 6:00 a.m. yesterday's time, so instead of gaining an hour of work, I lost two.  At least I think that's what happened.  I'm so confused right now, even though my little computer clock on the corner says 5:30 a.m. and I know that Windows is smarter than I am and updated itself for the end of Daylight Savings Time.  It will take me about a week to figure out what time it is when.   Really?  Who am I kidding?  It will probably take me until about the beginning of March to figure out what time it is and then it will be time to change it again.

And honestly, I feel like I've not only lost two hours this morning, but that I've lost much of the month of October.  My favorite month of the year is still my favorite month of the year, but this October was a really difficult one.  On the 11th, my dad was put in the hospital.  It has been a roller coaster of a ride...full of crazy loops, and frightening vertigo-inducing drops.  And more than three weeks and two hospital changes later, he's still admitted.  The girls and I have made two trips to Louisiana, once to my parents house to see him in the first hospital and once to downtown New Orleans (and, ummm, yeah, that was an adventure that needs a post all its own...trust me when I tell you that Abigail in downtown New Orleans is a sight that needs to be beheld) to see him at Tulane hospital.  All four of us are headed back to New Orleans later this morning to help transfer him here to Pensacola for some Physical Therapy Rehab.  

I am exhausted in a way that I haven't been in a lot of years.  Worry is draining (it's also a useless process..one of my favorite bible verses is Matthew 6:34 - "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.").  But, I'm also exhausted in a good sort of way.  Despite the trips to New Orleans and the worry about my dad and my mom and a little bit of worry about Steve changing jobs again (yes, again!  this will be his third job change since April, but I think one is the best move so far!), we've done some amazingly fun things this month.  We've had a handful of playdates with friends, we got to see my sister twice in a month (and Emmie once...and next weekend we'll get to see Ruby & Emmie), we've been to a  pumpkin patch and a corn maze, trunk or treating and trick or treating, a Halloween party with friends, and somehow, even with missing four days of school this month, Gracie is still doing fantastic in Kindergarten.  As I look back on October, it was full of hardship for sure, but the blessings outweigh the hardships, without a doubt.  I hope to catch up on blogging here in the next couple of weeks so I can remember some of the joys we had last month, but right now I need to go catch up on some of the two hours that  I lost this morning!

Here's a collage of pictures of the girls in the dresses I made them for their Halloween parties at school (Yep!  I carved out a little time to sew and got these dresses and their costumes made).  Abigail picked out the fabric (she said she wanted an Itsy Bitsy Spider dress) and the pattern is Caroline from Frog Legs and Ponytails (the same pattern I used for these dresses)



Oh, and guess what?  My alarm clock just went off...go figure!