So Much to be Thankful For

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration, and I am so grateful and happy about it. Everyone arrived safely and in good spirits. My MIL came up midday Wednesday, and Erin arrived a few hours later. Scott and Becky decided to drive up after working on Wed, so they arrived in the wee early morning hours (to a monkey-decorated room and a malfunctioning smoke detector.) Two little dogs, plenty of wine, good food, talkative relatives, quiet relatives, chats with friends, a slide show and euchre were all in the mix.

Not enough time to talk to everyone, some last minute shopping, hugs and goodbyes, text messages...and now a quiet house. It was delightful and fun and I think we should do it again next year. Here's a link to the best pictures. I hope your T Day was wonderful, too.

If you have free time...

Here's something fun. I found out that the moon was waxing gibbous on the day I was born, and also that I'm incredibly old - 18,238 days old, in fact.

Also - it's one month til Christmas. Just pointing that out...

Catching Up

It's been a wild couple of weeks, what with the Islamic Studies search kicking into high gear. We had our first candidate on campus last week, and all went smoothly, so I guess all the hard work, sleepless nights and fretting over details paid off. We have a little breather since this is a holiday week, and then the next candidate comes Dec. 2-4. The final one arrives late on the 7th and leaves early on the 10th. And then I hope to focus on Christmas.

But what a fun weekend I had! Kevin was up north, right smack in the middle of nowhere, near Fifield. Actually, you can't even see nowhere from there. :) He left on Thursday and came back this afternoon. I planned to knuckle down and get some cleaning and organizing done, and maybe even paint the craft room. (Remember that? I bought the paint late in the summer. It's lovely - the wall color is called October Skies, which is the best Van reference on paint that I've ever seen, or expect to. But I digress.) Anyway - I played pretty much all weekend. Judy and I had a little slumber party, stayed up late, watched movies and played around with paper and ink. We went to 2 church craft sales, and I got a few little things. Then Pam and I did some shopping at some very fun new stores in Middleton, and I got a few more little things, some very fun ones for the holidays. We had dinner at Fitzgerald's and even saw Drew on the way home. Church, and a little more shopping today, and then I played around more with paper and ink. I came up with a totally different card that some of you may see soon in the mail, so just act surprised, or tell me now if you'd rather get a different one. :)

Have a good (short) week! I'm very excited about having Thanksgiving here, and all the fam.

Weekend in the Twin Cities

We're back (well, actually we got back last night) from our trip to the Twin Cities to visit Erin. We had a wonderful time, of course - great eating, plenty of good coffee, so many interesting things to do and see, and (the main reason for our trip) lots of time to catch up with our daughter.

On the drive up, we took the interstate as far as LaCrosse, and from there, 35 north. We do this often, even though it does add an hour or so to the trip. We think it's worth it because being alongside the river is so relaxing, and there are so many interesting stops (too many, according to Erin.) But she was glad we stopped in Maiden Rock at the Smiling Pelican Bake Shop, where we picked up Cranberry-Wild Rice bread, a heavy whole grain bread, and a half dozen Lavender-Ginger Sugar cookies. Mmmmm.

We stayed at the very lovely Grand Hotel, which we'd recommend highly. They have very cushy beds, a great fitness center which we never used :) , and the priciest Pringles I've ever seen.

Well, this could get long if I ramble on about everything, so I'll do the brief highlight version. Dinner at Longfellow Grill, then off to Prairie Home Companion Friday night - wow! Fantastic, wonderful music - nearly 3 hours of it. Got Erin back home, got stuck in what turned out not to be our parking ramp (or garage, as they are known outside of Madison), eventually got to bed at midnight.

Beautiful, wild and windy visit to Minnehaha Falls on Sat morning. Impressive falls, lovely park (see pic), and plenty of birds. Here's a vid of one of our friends bathing.

Coffee to warm up, (shout out to Molly whom we met at Spyhouse Coffee), visits to the Basilica of St. Mary, the Cathedral of St. Paul, and the Vatican Splendors exhibit at the Minnesota History Center. The latter was very crowded and also lighter on "splendor" and heavier on "bling" than I expected, though interesting nonetheless. The Basilica was the most awe-inducing, I felt. Gorgeous architecture.

Buzzed past the giant spoon bridge, stopped briefly at Crafty Planet and a vintage clothing store, bought Surly beer for Drew, and then had dinner at the Red Stag with Andy and Kristina. Really wonderful food! Excellent company, too. Adjourned for coffee at the Wilde Roast (as in Oscar...).

Quick greasy spoon breakfast at the Ideal Diner, goodbye hugs, and back on the road again. Yes, we took 35 on the way home too. Stopped again at the Smiling Pelican and got a pie for Thanksgiving. Eagles, hawks, herons, and even 4 tundra swans.

I posted several pictures on Facebook, and you can see them here. A wonderful visit, and the only thing I'd change next time is to bring a GPS.

Embracing November

November started off beautifully, almost as if it were September. Sunny, breezy, temps in the 70s...what a delight! The only clue that it wasn't September was that the trees were increasingly bare.

Today, November arrived. Sunrise was beautiful, a pink and blue sky. Piles of yellow- gold maple leaves covered the deck, glowing in the rosy light. And then in a moment, the colors faded as gray clouds moved in. By the time I got to work it was raining.

But that's the November that I know, and that I've come to love over the years. When I was young, the rain, the cold and the bare trees threw me into a sadness that sometimes bordered on depression. Usually it peaked around Thanksgiving (how ironic is that?) and then improved as we moved into the Christmas season.

I'm glad to say that years ago I started to feel differently about November. For one thing, being old enough to do some of the Thanksgiving cooking (or hosting!) has helped. Enjoying time with family, having our traditions (food and other), makes a big difference. Recognizing the beauty of the bare landscape helped too. Feeling the rhythms of seasons, knowing that the bare fields signify a harvest brought in, seeing turkeys, deer and pheasants...these are all pleasures I didn't know as a child, and I can revel in now as an adult.

And one of my winter-months guilty pleasures - getting in pajamas right after dinner! That's a treat I reserve just for these darker and chilly months. A cup of something warm, my robe and a book...what could be cozier! I embrace November, and it embraces me.

Can you spot the difference?

Here's the card I made the other day, with one addition. I finally got them mailed! And next up for November is the background or technique of our choice, which will be so much easier.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow!