Month: November 2017

TGIF, friends! Of course, I do work on Saturday mornings so my weekend doesn’t start until about 1 o’clock tomorrow afternoon, but the feeling is still there. All I can say is… What. A. Week! 

I am probably happiest about something work-related, and that is the result of Tuesday’s elections. The funding proposal for the library passed for the first time ever! We finally have a stable base. Voters overwhelmingly showed their support, and while no one ever wants their taxes to go up, clearly they see the value in the library and what we are doing for the community. It’s been a long road, and you’re not going to be interested in the details behind it all, but it is a huge victory for us.

It was a lucky week for me personally, too. I won two amazing prizes in the election day raffle. First, I won this beautiful basket, handmade by a co-worker’s father. It is so rustic and gorgeous, and I can’t wait to fill it with different items depending on the season!

The other item I won is a pick-your-own Christmas tree from one of the local farms! Oh, I cannot express my excitement. I did put a ton of tickets in for it, trying to increase my chances, LOL! I can only remember one time when I was young that we had a live tree. And our current artificial tree is really looking sad — we wanted a new tree last year, but couldn’t make it happen. I was not really looking forward to putting it up this year, so now I am really happy to have a beautiful, fresh tree for the holidays!

Also, my friend was visiting family down in S. Carolina and had just heard about my Rae Dunn obsession. She brought this platter back for me (after she sneakily texted me a pic and told me it was more than I would spend!):

So yeah, it has been a really good week. The weather has turned very cold. VERY cold. Frankly, I am happy to be wearing sweaters and lighting up the wood stove. It’s time.

Well, it’s just about time to eat dinner and then I have to head back to work for a lecture tonight. Between you and me, I’d much rather be home in my cozy PJs ;-). 

Ah, November! I looooove this time of year. I love the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. I love the coziness. I love candles and twinkle lights and blankets and fuzzy socks. I love making soups, and roasts, and hearty casseroles. It’s my season.

So a lot has happened in the last two weeks. I had a birthday! Yes, I turned 42. Kind of crazy to see the numbers in print, but there it is. I had a full, busy, lovely day. I wore my favorite shoes and went out of my fashion comfort zone by wearing leggings and a shirt dress. I think I actually pulled off the look!

A group of library patrons sang to me at a lunch & learn lecture we presented. I got lots of cards and texts and Facebook birthday wishes. I had tacos and Boston cream pie and totally conked out at the end of the day.

Isn’t that mug so cute? I have totally jumped on board the Rae Dunn train. I’ve admired her stuff for quite a while and decided that I wanted to start collecting it, so as a birthday present to myself, I set out searching for goodies. I got very lucky on my first day out! I wanted a canister and actually found one!

I figure I will just add pieces as I find them. I have no plans to over pay online. I would like to get a couple more canisters, a few more of those oval plates with different sayings (I’d love to find “Nibble”) and add some more cereal bowls and mugs, but I want it to be stuff I really love.

And of course there was Halloween! It’s so different now that the kids are getting older, but it is still fun. The boys had a party at Boy Scouts, and then we went Trunk or Treating on Saturday night (Noah was a magician, Laura was a witch, and Jake was Kurt Cobain). Seems some people have issues with the whole Trunk or Treating trend, that it waters down Halloween or whatever. I don’t really get that. For us, it is an additional event, and it’s a great community event! A local church hosts it and we see so many people and then gather in the youth center afterwards for great food, games, and just chit chat. We cannot trick-or-treat on our street unless I literally drive the kids from driveway to driveway. It is dark, rural, and essentially a one-lane road. This works for our little town.

We still do trick-or-treating, though. We drive into the village of Rhinebeck and the kids all see their friends and it’s a great time. This year, since Laura is in 3rd grade, it was her turn to visit her pumpkin at the Beekman Arms. Every year the Inn donates pumpkins and the third grade classes carve Jack-o-Lanterns. Then, they get a hayride into town, deliver their pumpkins, and enjoys treats. It’s such a sweet tradition, and this is our last time to enjoy one of our little ones participating.

Laura decided to be practical and wear an astronaut costume to school instead of her witch costume. It was much easier to put on/take off, and play in!

And that brings us up to today! I had a work meeting in Poughkeepsie, ran a few errands, went back to the library for a bit, then got home, did some computer work, made chicken noodle soup…. and I still have to finish laundry, unload the dishwasher, handwash a bunch of pots. Oh, it never ends, does it? LOL! I’m going to get back to it so I don’t have too much to do tonight and I can just relax (hopefully) and we can finish up the last two episodes of “Stranger Things.” Not loving this season quite as much as the first season, but it’s still really good. 

Have a great evening!