That went fast

By wheremyfeetare on December 1, 2015 • ( 41 Comments )

 

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

November came and went in a blur. We hosted dinners, one with family, the other with friends, to show photos and share stories of our trip to South Africa. Bill pulled about 250 of the 2700 photos we both took and created a short slide show of highlights. He made vegetarian chili, I made butternut squash soup and escarole and beans for our first gathering. We lost a little steam in the kitchen and ordered a tray of eggplant parmesan for our next dinner.

kirstenbosch botanical gardens

Mid-month a group of us took a weekend trip into NYC to see a new musical, Invisible Thread,Off-Broadway. Jana is involved in the show so we were able to meet some of the actors before the performance at a reception and, again, after the show. We met Matt and Griffin last year, heard some of their music at a fundraiser; it was wonderful to see how Witness Uganda has morphed into the finished product of Invisible Thread. We loved it.

with Joanne and Jana in NYC

Mom flew up from Florida last week to spend Thanksgiving with us. It’s the one day during the year we’re all together and it means a lot to my mother. On the eve of Thanksgiving we had dinner with my sister, one of my brothers and his daughter, Bill and one of his daughters. On Thanksgiving Bill and Casey had dinner with his family and my other brother and sister in law joined the rest of the crew. We may have started a new tradition, we took a short walk after dinner. Usually we head straight for coffee and dessert, filling our lungs with the brisk afternoon air felt good and helped us digest our food before the next course of homemade cookies, pumpkin, pecan and fruit of the forest pies and ice cream. I’ve been watching my carbohydrate and sugar intake since finding out I’m borderline diabetic; I managed to get out for a 3 1/2 mile run in the morning and through the rest of the day and night with just a small slice of pecan pie and whipped cream. Not bad considering I would have sampled all three and a couple of cookies.

There was a yoga class to benefit the Veterans. I sat outside the Raven’s Wing yoga studio for half an hour, thinking I was early. When I finally went in, I realized I should have been down the street at the Raven’s Nest and ended up being half an hour late.

I expanded my blog post about my dad into an essay and submitted it to an online publication. They’re going to publish it but I’m not sure when. I’m working on another essay, too. It’s slow and steady; I’m writing when I can, jumping from essay to memoir to short story. I’m reading, too, with a list of books on deck.

Leaves were raked and bagged, deck furniture put away for the season, spring bulbs planted. I ran a little, hiked a little, got my teeth cleaned and blood drawn. I finished watching seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy on Netflix. All in all it was a very good month. Let’s see what December brings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Home, Musings, Travel

Tagged as: Busy month, Family, Invisible Thread, Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, NYC, Off-Broadway, South Africa, Thanksgiving, Witness Uganda, Writing