Hi, this is Monica Packer from About Progress, and you're listening to The Messy Middle,

a monthly series where I share some of my own messy middle, so you can see what progress looks like

for a real woman in real time.

Hello, and welcome to November.

We always start this episode with the segment, what's happening.

So let me tell you what's been happening around the Packer household.

October was a very fun month.

The first half was extremely busy because we still had baseball going on, but I'll get to that in just a moment. And then the second half felt like a little

release because we finally had fewer activities for extracurricular, like the rec sports

ended and the comp league for baseball ended. So it's felt like a good contrast

and a little bit more rest is happening. But overall, we had a lot of activities as a family.

One of my favorite is my kids' school has this harvest festival each fall that I look forward to.

And so do they. I always save my pennies because I like to get some beautiful pieces of jewelry

there. I got a necklace that I love with beads from Ghana, and I always get, always meaning

the second year in a row. I've gotten some rings from this woman who specializes in like stones.

And anyway, it's fun because I,

we really get to support the school and the kids each have been saving their money too. And

and they get to get some unique goods as well. And I got to volunteer with the school too,

which is always good. And, you know, beyond that, we've just been finally getting to into the

group for the school year.

And as part of this month, my fourth child, our six-year-old, got to join Brad.

Brad travels out back to San Francisco occasionally for work and will need to happen more often now.

...