30 Days of Thanks: Days 6-8 & Other Nice Things

Pair of Shoes, Scent, and Restaurant... those are the topics for days 6-8.  Um, yeah.  I'm going rogue.

Day 6:  Instead of a pair of shoes, I'm grateful to be wearing shoes at all after my foot surgery last December.  It's been almost a year, and I think things are almost back to normal.  I'm back to walking (not as much as I should be), and even though I probably won't ever wear heels again, and I definitely won't wear Danskos again, I'm back to regular shoes.

Day 7: Scent.  Instead of being thankful for a scent, I'll be thankful for what a scent means.  Yesterday we had an early Thanksgiving since Andrew & I will be with his son & daughter-in-law for actual Thanksgiving.  Matt came down on Friday night, and we all went to Cider House.  Holly was home by Saturday morning, and we had a nice morning cooking and getting ready.  Since we put the turkey on before we went to bed Friday night, the whole house smelled like delicious turkey when we got up.  YUM!  Dad, Alice, Dale, Matt, Holly, and Andrew's brother-in-law Jeff came over for the meal, and it was delightful.  Good food and good company... and good leftovers!  :)

Day 8: Restaurant.  Hm.  I like far too many restaurants for my own good, but today I was going through our honeymoon photos, and I found a picture from Seattle when we ate at a place called Ray's Boathouse.  This was my favorite meal of the trip because I love trying new things.  I tried a vegetable called broccoli romanesco.  I had only seen it in pictures until our trip when I saw it in person at Pike Place Market, and then I got to actually eat it when we went out with our friend James Gibson.  It was delicious, especially when paired with my seared fresh tuna and pistachio creme brulee for dessert!

The last exciting piece of news is that we're getting a puppy.  We chose her from the other girls in her litter on Saturday and I am so excited.  She's a miniature golden doodle, and her name is going to be Georgie.  We'll get her during the first week of December, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

November Gratitude #24

November 24: Today I'm grateful for the wonderful Thanksgiving Day I had. My brother Matt and his fiancee Omara came down to my dad's. There were 8 of us for dinner... Dad, Alice, Alice's cousin Mary Fran and her husband Tony, Matt, Omara, Andrew, and myself. It was a beautiful day filled with wonderful food. My stepmom's stuffing is a wonder of the world. Since Matt's birthday is Saturday, I baked him a brownie sheet cake like my mom & grandma used to make. He was happy. It was just a lovely time with love and laughter. I'm blessed.

Weekly Update

Random Thoughts for a Friday Night...

* I just saw a cat circus. I'm still processing it.

* We found out this morning our school district will be cutting the budget by $800,000 next school year. That means cuts everywhere, including teaching jobs. That thought alone is enough to make my ulcer flare up. No details yet. Instead, we get to fret about it for a few months. Sigh...

* I'm singing in a Broadway benefit concert at the Sondheim next weekend. What turned out as a small commitment has grown into something rather large, but it's for a great cause. The money will be split 1/3 to the Crisis Center which is a shelter for women and children in southeast Iowa, 1/3 to a local Jefferson County organization that helps needy people pay their electric bills in winter and also helps families during the holidays, and 1/3 to an organization helping children in Haiti. I'm sorry I don't know the specific names of these organizations, but the organizer of this benefit, Jonas Magram, has been doing this for many years. I feel lucky to be helping out this year.

* Andrew is narrating a very interesting Stravinsky piece at the Sondheim tomorrow night. It's called A Soldier's Tale, and it combines narration, acting, and a chamber ensemble of 7 instruments. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

* We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Dad, Alice, Matt, & Omara. Andrew survived his first holiday w/ my family. He lived to tell about it!

* My baby brother turned 36! Crazy!

* I was again reminded today why I love teaching middle school talented & gifted. After school, one of my students was telling me all about his research for his independent project. He chose to research viruses, and he was telling me all kinds of stuff that was way over my head about nucleotides, horizontal evolution, and experimental gene therapy. He has a very good grasp of all of these things. Pretty amazing. I proceeded to ask him what he wanted to be when he grows up, and he emphatically stated, "a geneticist." I smiled and nodded. He then added, "I want to grow new things with octopus tentacles on them." I love it.