Progress, Pumpkins, and a Party

Today's stories are brought to you by the letter P...

Progress

I can hardly believe it, but Taylor turned 20 on Friday!

We talked on the phone that afternoon, and she and Ahlina are doing well up in Connecticut, but she was also having a bit of a meltdown:

The week prior, her boss added some extra hours to her schedule but didn't bother to give Taylor a heads up. So she didn't show up for work, since she had no idea she was on the schedule.

So this week her boss only gave her 8 hours. And Taylor was obviously upset about that because she didn't know if that was "punishment" for the week before.

But either way, how can anyone make ends meet on 8 hours a week??? The girls recently got an apartment together and have really stepped up to try making it on their own.

The one car they had between the two of them is basically dead though. So Taylor also realized recently that the money Ahlina has been shelling out to have an Uber take Taylor to and from work for every shift, is coming out to more than half of what Taylor's bringing in at her job anyway. So obviously that was quite a blow to her as well.

But I told her to keep looking for something better (while continuing to stick it out at the Dollar Store in the meantime). And the girls are trying to get Taylor in as a dog groomer where Ahlina works, since there seems to be more room for growth there and they might be able to save on commute costs if they can get similar schedules.

Popcorn

There was a really bad fire on the turnpike on my way home that afternoon.

The engine of a pickup truck was fully engulfed in flames, and it was alarmingly hot to drive past even three lanes away with my windows up!

It sounded like popcorn popping!!

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

I wanted to pick up a few things at BJs when I finally got back in our area. And we had already planned to do Domino's for dinner.

So I texted Kevin when I was close, to ask him to come down and help me carry everything upstairs.

There were two young women talking to our neighbor Keith at our building's front door. We thought they were just delivering food or something, until Kevin walked past them just as they finished with Keith:

He arrived at my car mumbling about Jehovah's Witnesses. And even after we gathered everything together and turned to head back to our door, we saw that they were still standing in the same place!

Now what??

They checked their clipboard and looked up at us:

Kevin shrugged:

Kevin never misses an opportunity to pin the tail on Ruth. (Or on "Barnyard", as he usually calls her.)

But that certainly got the girls moving along to the next door so we could get inside ours and head upstairs to eat dinner while it was still warm :)

Pizza

We enjoyed our pizza, and then we decided to try out a card game called Joking Hazard that we bought back in the spring and we've just never gotten around to playing.

Kevin looked out the window to see if "the Witnesses" were still around so we could invite them up for some good clean family fun.

No luck.

Joking Hazard calls for a revolving player to act as "the Judge" for every round: The Judge draws a card from the deck, then uses a card from his or her hand to create a two paneled scenario.

Then the other players use their best card to complete the scenario in a way they hope the Judge will select as his or her favorite.

Kevin was the Judge for this round, so he played the first two cards:

...And Riley played a much funnier card than I was able to, so she won the round.

Pumpkins

Saturday we stopped by the Fairless Hills Garden Center to grab some carrot and radish seeds. (Kevin is planning to rip out our tomato plants soon, and we figured we might as well have something growing in their place).

Then we headed over to the pumpkin patch to meet Kelly, Steve, and the girls!

First, a short wagon ride up to the top of the patch:

And then it was hunting time.

Kevin found one almost immediately!

But then Liv dragged Riley off to help her find "the perfect pumpkin", which she insisted was one that she was able to lift and carry by herself.

And even though she probably found a dozen that she picked up and held without issue, she would promptly put each one back down (usually body-slamming them, as she just carelessly discarded them to run on to the next one).

Meanwhile Hannah did a great job as well:

Kevin had to find another pumpkin after his "talking sunglasses" one escaped:

Hannah decided to go live amongst the pumpkins, like Mowgli with the wolves in The Jungle Book:

And finally after a couple more pictures, it was time to go:

Party

Then we went back to Catherine and Ron's to celebrate Hannah's 2nd birthday!

We ordered dinner from Taormina's and had cupcakes and ice cream for dessert:

Then it was time for presents.

We're saving ours until the girls' combined birthday party next month. But Hannah still made out like a bandit regardless:

I was having trouble getting both girls to look at me at the same time so I could get a picture.

But Kevin said that was an easy fix, and he just pulled up "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" on his phone and positioned it right over my head: