Posts tagged ‘fun’

November 26th, 2011

Thankfulness & a Delicious Success

I hope you all had a tremendous Thanksgiving! I really love this holiday because, gluttony aside, it’s focused on gratitude, togetherness and is always a really positive day for me [see last year & two years ago].

The holiday started off the best way possible – at the Detroit Flyhouse. I’ve just started up my second series of classes & have been having a blast!

Thursday morning we attending the “Ypsi Turkey Trot” – a run I made up, then invited everyone to. It was a lovely 3.33 miles around Ypsi. Even Joel came along for what he claims to be the furthest he’s ever run in his life.

This year, Joel & I hosted for our families for the Thanksgiving meal – a total of 11 people were able to make it. Everyone pitched in & the day went amazingly well, not a single mishap! And, not exaggerating, we made the best turkey I have ever eaten. Ever. And the best cranberry sauce. And dressing. Basically it was all very, very good.

Things we made:
Turkey – a 24 apple brine, then butterflied, rubbed with butter & cooked for two hours
Gravy -  flavored with drippings after the turkey cooked
Dressing – with homemade cornbread & toasted pecans
Cranberry sauce
Buttermilk rolls 

Everyone else brought salad, green beans, mashed potatoes, banana & lemon bread, lots of wine &, of course, PIE.

Unfortunately we were too busy to take any decent photos, but here’s a quick shot I got with my cell phone when we sat down to eat [it's hard to capture 11 people in our dining room]!

All  yesterday we been snacked on mini sandwiches made from leftover rolls. For breakfast I had greek yogurt with cranberry sauce. We took a walk to the food coop & picked up ingredients for turkey curry & I baked a loaf of whole wheat buttermilk bread for more sandwiches. I’m a little disappointed our leftovers will be gone so soon!

Now it’s back to drinking coffee, dreaming about apron-front sinks & planning the mini apple strudels I’ll be making this afternoon…

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October 21st, 2011

13.1 & the circus

Last Sunday was The Day – my first half marathon.
And it was great! [I'm even pretty pleased with my time.]

My running companion was my coworker Devon [our Deputy Director] & it was nice to have someone to chat with along the way. I stole this photo from him, in which we both look awesomely goofy.

I had so much fun that I’ve already signed up for another half, the Rock CF Rivers Half Marathon in Grosse Ile – a run that raises awareness & research funds for cystic fibrosis.

Besides running, I’ve been taking classes at the Detroit Flyhouse for the past 2 months. They’re called “ariel yoga” classes, but it’s easier to tell people I go to circus class. It’s an amazing upper body workout [I have shoulder muscles!] & the most fun [as evidenced by my giant smile in all the pictures below]. I also got a hair cut.

I’m signed up for classes at the Flyhouse through January [& may stay on longer].

Next project  - building a pull up bar in the basement.

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October 10th, 2011

It Is Autumn, October

I love this season.

The weather has been incredible lately. We visited my mom this weekend & spent Saturday wandering around Frederik Meijer Gardens. Yesterday we had an awesome ride with Bike Ypsi – 20 miles of sunshine & gold leaves & friendly faces. Then we came home & made curried butternut & lentil soup, apple oatmeal yougurt bread & nachos.

Tomorrow I’m going to see Beirut in Royal Oak. [!!!!!]

Every fall, this poem runs through my mind.

October Fullness
Pablo Neruda

Little by little, and also in great leaps,
life happened to me,
and how insignificant this business is.
These veins carried
my blood, which i scarcely ever saw,
I breathed the air of so many places
without keeping a sample of any.
In the end, everyone is aware of this:
nobody keeps any of what he has,
and life is only a borrowing of bones.
The best thing was learning not to have too much
either of sorrow or of joy,
to hope for the chance of a last drop,
to ask more from honey and from twilight.

Perhaps it was my punishment.
Perhaps I was condemned to be happy.
Let it be known that nobody
crossed my path without sharing my being.
I plunged up to the neck
into adversities with were not mine,
into all the suffereings of others.
It wasn’t a question of applause or profit.
Much less. It was not being able
to live or breathe in this shadow,
the shadow of others like towers,
like bitter trees that bury you,
like cobblestones on the knees.

Our own wounds heal with weeping,
our own wounds heal with singing,
but in our own doorway lie bleeding
window, Indians, poor men, fishermen.
The miner’s child doesn’t know his father
amidst all the suffering.

So be it, but my business
was
the fullness of the spirit:
a cry of pleasure choking you,
a sigh from an uprooted plant,
the sum of all actions.

It pleased me to grow in the morning,
to bathe in the sun, in the great joy
of sun, salt, sea-light and wave,
and in the unwinding of the foam
my heart began to move,growing in the essential spasm,
and dying away as it seeped into the sand.

Sun Peering Through Autumn Leaves
BY-ND MichaelNPatternson

<3

 

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September 21st, 2011

Summer goals & Failure

I had two cups of hot apple cider today & Joel made butternut squash soup for dinner, so I guess it’s officially fall, so it’s probably time to reflect on my Summer Goals.

Guess what – I didn’t complete them all.
I was feeling a little bummed about that, because I really like completing lists, but our deputy director tweeted this article: Study Says Ambitious Goals Make People Happy & then I read this article: What If the Secret to Success is Failure  & then I felt a lot less bad [although let's not talk about how my "11,000 pages in 2011" reading goal is going...]

Completed:

Not completed:

Cool things I’ve done, but not on the original list:

Overall it was fun & motivated us to do things we normally don’t because they were “on the list.”

Goals for fall/winter?

Keep running. Stay happy.

It’s a rough time of year so the simpler, the better.

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June 29th, 2011

Summer 2011 Bucket List

Because I love lists & I can’t let the summer by without a few new adventures, a short bucket list of things to do, places to go:

Strangely, I realize a lot of these involve hanging out in Ann Arbor. Despite living in Ypsi for nearly 3 years, there’s a lot we haven’t done in AA.

What else should be on the list?

Cool things I’ve done, but not on the original list:

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