It's been a great holiday -- spent some time with several of A's highschool friends and their wives (as well as a wife-to-be), got to see my friend M and her adorable new baby Little T, and had plenty of family time too. Plus lots of pie. The weather has been surprisingly nice: I was able to wander around the Washington Monument, the new WWII Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial yesterday afternoon, and today we all went to play disc golf at a local course. I played better this year than last, but still got beaten by all the boys…including a sixty-five year old Russian! Oh well. Can’t have everything. We fly home tomorrow, hopefully getting back with enough time to finish grading papers and clean house at least a little.
I’m getting excited for our multi-purpose party in a few weeks, celebrating my birthday and various other winter holiday events. It will be the second semi-annual (as in, happens every few years, not twice a year – is there a term for that?) and it was great fun the first time. I insist that everyone gets dressed up, and A is even thinking about wearing his tux! I am trying to decide between several little black dresses.....
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Thanksgiving
It's a grey and rainy day here in Virginia, just like Thanksgiving should be (or at least how it usually was in Oregon!) The turkey is in the oven, A and his dad are off at the gym, his mom is doing some last-minute shopping, and I have the house to myself. I’m glad I brought my computer! (Although my new book, The Way the Crow Flies, by Ann-Marie MacDonald, is really quite good.) This is the first year I will be making a significant contribution to Thanksgiving dinner – I’m making pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes, neither of which were on the table last year. I wonder if it has anything to do with being officially a part of the family, now that I’m married…. probably not. It’s more likely that it’s the first time I’ve expressed a preference and offered to help, instead of just secretly wishing! (Next I’ll have to ask for a bottle of good red wine!) Anyway, I found my Moosewood pumpkin pie recipe online (thank heavens for Google), and I hope everyone here likes it as much as my family always did. We’ll be having three pies (apple and chocolate mousse as well as pumpkin), but you just can’t have too much pie! We’re still not sure who all will be here for dinner – A’s brother is staying in Vegas, and some of the Russians are driving down from New York, but my in-laws still haven’t heard from everyone they invited, so we’ll see what we get! Hopefully there will be leftovers……
Monday, November 20, 2006
Clothing exchanges and crossword puzzles
Clothing exchanges are a great idea -- an incentive to clean out your closet, and a chance to come home with great new finds. I've been to two in the last few days!
The first was a "no men, no meat" exchange hosted by a group of women who get together annually. I went with a friend who knew a friend of the host. It was held in a beautiful house (vaulted ceilings with great beams, tile floors -- I'd love to live in a house like it someday). There were maybe thirty women scattered about, some munching on the delicious vegetarian potluck items, some digging through the piles of clothing with a glass of wine in one hand, some stripping to their bras to try on a new find! Lots of women brought their daughters, rangin from four years old to probably twenty-five. It was great to see their interactions -- made me wish I'd brought my mom! Most of us didn't know each other, but that didn't stop us from laughing a lot, changing clothes in front of each other, and giving effusive compliments. ("Oh, that looks so much better on you than it used to look on me!" one woman told me.) Of course, you had to watch what you said, knowing that the ridiculous outfit you just pulled out of the pile may have belonged to someone standing nearby...
The second exchange was put on by the PTA at my school. It wasn't quite as silly (no wine, of course) but it was a kick to see all my teacher friends "shopping", and people brought in some pretty good stuff, although it tended to be buried under the terrible things (an overall dress, a Tweety Bird sweater, etc). We found a couple of things to save for the Shakespeare Festival in the spring, and a few items for ourselves, too.
In other news, A and I watched Wordplay Saturday night, and it inspired me to start doing crosswords! We had a copy of last week's Sunday paper lying around, and spent most of the day working on the NY Times crossword......a dangerous hobby, obviously, although it helps me stretch out my novels over a few more days! My favorite clue was ":-) :-) :-)". Answer? "Smileys". I did take a break to go to a play that my friend Nancy was performing in: The Bad Seed, a creepy (if not particularly professional) production involving a psychopathic nine-year-old who is incapable of feeling remorse and kills several people in order to get what she wants (a penmanship trophy, for instance). Bizarre. The little girl playing the part did a good job, although Nancy said she became increasingly irritating and overbearing as the play went on! Method acting?
The first was a "no men, no meat" exchange hosted by a group of women who get together annually. I went with a friend who knew a friend of the host. It was held in a beautiful house (vaulted ceilings with great beams, tile floors -- I'd love to live in a house like it someday). There were maybe thirty women scattered about, some munching on the delicious vegetarian potluck items, some digging through the piles of clothing with a glass of wine in one hand, some stripping to their bras to try on a new find! Lots of women brought their daughters, rangin from four years old to probably twenty-five. It was great to see their interactions -- made me wish I'd brought my mom! Most of us didn't know each other, but that didn't stop us from laughing a lot, changing clothes in front of each other, and giving effusive compliments. ("Oh, that looks so much better on you than it used to look on me!" one woman told me.) Of course, you had to watch what you said, knowing that the ridiculous outfit you just pulled out of the pile may have belonged to someone standing nearby...
The second exchange was put on by the PTA at my school. It wasn't quite as silly (no wine, of course) but it was a kick to see all my teacher friends "shopping", and people brought in some pretty good stuff, although it tended to be buried under the terrible things (an overall dress, a Tweety Bird sweater, etc). We found a couple of things to save for the Shakespeare Festival in the spring, and a few items for ourselves, too.
In other news, A and I watched Wordplay Saturday night, and it inspired me to start doing crosswords! We had a copy of last week's Sunday paper lying around, and spent most of the day working on the NY Times crossword......a dangerous hobby, obviously, although it helps me stretch out my novels over a few more days! My favorite clue was ":-) :-) :-)". Answer? "Smileys". I did take a break to go to a play that my friend Nancy was performing in: The Bad Seed, a creepy (if not particularly professional) production involving a psychopathic nine-year-old who is incapable of feeling remorse and kills several people in order to get what she wants (a penmanship trophy, for instance). Bizarre. The little girl playing the part did a good job, although Nancy said she became increasingly irritating and overbearing as the play went on! Method acting?
Saturday, November 18, 2006
And life continues...
It's another weekend, and I have finished another book (A Family Daughter, by Maile Meloy -- good, but indefinably odd). I am reluctant to start a new one just yet, and even more reluctant to do more of the homework sitting on my dining room table (spelling tests to be graded), so I turn to my newly created blog.
A is downstairs watching football -- we had a big outing today to replace his front license plate holder at the Infiniti dealer down south, and stopped at our favorite pho place for lunch. We haven't been there since our Intro to Judaism class ended last spring, and it tasted even better than I remembered. Perhaps it will cure the miserable cold and cough I have had all week. It is difficult to teach when you need to stop for five minutes to indulge your hacking. It somehow interrupts the flow -- plus students look at you strangely. It was a strange week anyway, full of special events designed to disrupt the calm order of a regular week. Science Fair takes over the school with judging, displaying and presenting boards, award-giving.....it seemed unending. And next week is only two days, due to Thanksgiving -- and then barely three weeks before holidays again. We just get into the groove before there are new distractions! In any case, fall just flies by, and then spring seems to take so long.
A and I are off to Virginia on Wednesday to have Thanksgiving with his parents and various Russians. W is going home for dinner with the whole clan, all the families we celebrated with when I was little. I am a little jealous -- I've missed out on that for a few years now -- but balancing the whole in-law thing is important, and I definitely won't give up Christmas in Mexico with my parents, so that means having Thanksgiving back East with his. Of course, A might not come to Mexico after all, so so much for balancing holidays! Maybe next year I'll go home.....mmm, pumpkin pie and walks around the block in the rain.
Speaking of rain, it's been insanely wet in Oregon and Washington lately, or so I hear. A big section of Hwy 35, from Hood River up to Mount Hood, has been totally destroyed. I guess no one will make it up skiing for a while -- I hope the resort will manange to survive.
No skiing for us yet, although all the major resorts are open now. Maybe we'll head up after Thanksgiving and get a day in before I head south and start surfing! Now there's a thought to look forward to...... At least it's been steadily sunny here, if only forty or fifty degrees. Days like today remind me why I moved to Colorado.
A is downstairs watching football -- we had a big outing today to replace his front license plate holder at the Infiniti dealer down south, and stopped at our favorite pho place for lunch. We haven't been there since our Intro to Judaism class ended last spring, and it tasted even better than I remembered. Perhaps it will cure the miserable cold and cough I have had all week. It is difficult to teach when you need to stop for five minutes to indulge your hacking. It somehow interrupts the flow -- plus students look at you strangely. It was a strange week anyway, full of special events designed to disrupt the calm order of a regular week. Science Fair takes over the school with judging, displaying and presenting boards, award-giving.....it seemed unending. And next week is only two days, due to Thanksgiving -- and then barely three weeks before holidays again. We just get into the groove before there are new distractions! In any case, fall just flies by, and then spring seems to take so long.
A and I are off to Virginia on Wednesday to have Thanksgiving with his parents and various Russians. W is going home for dinner with the whole clan, all the families we celebrated with when I was little. I am a little jealous -- I've missed out on that for a few years now -- but balancing the whole in-law thing is important, and I definitely won't give up Christmas in Mexico with my parents, so that means having Thanksgiving back East with his. Of course, A might not come to Mexico after all, so so much for balancing holidays! Maybe next year I'll go home.....mmm, pumpkin pie and walks around the block in the rain.
Speaking of rain, it's been insanely wet in Oregon and Washington lately, or so I hear. A big section of Hwy 35, from Hood River up to Mount Hood, has been totally destroyed. I guess no one will make it up skiing for a while -- I hope the resort will manange to survive.
No skiing for us yet, although all the major resorts are open now. Maybe we'll head up after Thanksgiving and get a day in before I head south and start surfing! Now there's a thought to look forward to...... At least it's been steadily sunny here, if only forty or fifty degrees. Days like today remind me why I moved to Colorado.
Monday, November 13, 2006
The beginning
I have been inspired to give this a try. We'll see how often I write or how eloquent I can be. I am just now back from a visit with two of my college roommates, both now living in the Northwest. It was lovely to see them and brought back great memories. V's art show was a highlight of the trip, as was pressing apple cider in M's backyard, with a hand-built ciderpress. Only wish I could have taken some on the plane as contraband.
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