Kayaking in January?
Well yes, as a matter of fact! Given the mild weather that we have been enjoying through the winter (so far), almost all things water related are still possible in eastern NC. It has been awesome to still be out of doors on some days in shorts and flip flops, absorbing the air, wind, sun and as it happens, floating on the New River. My husband Tim spent New Year’s Day (afternoon) kayaking with a friend, who had never kayaked before. What a treat! And, you know what they say – whatever you choose to be doing on New Year’s Day will at least be a sign of what you will be doing for the rest of the year. You can’t make a better choice than paddling and skimming peacefully and reflectively along cool calm waters. Some modifications are surely required to be on the water in January even if
Afternoon Delight
Usually having all three of my teenagers under the roof at one time assures a boisterous commotion on even a good day. Since Kass has been mostly away for the last 1 1/2 years at art school, such opportunities have been slim, especially now that they are older, more mobile, moving in and out of the house swiftly. Kass is luckily still at home for the holiday break and the other two, Lydia and Austin resumed school this week, leaving Kass and me a little quiet bonding time (once she wakes up, that is!). Some really cold weather finally arrived and we have stayed inside snug as bugs, sipping on hot chocolate, hot tea and coffee and still sampling a few left over holiday sweets and treats. It struck me one chilly afternoon when the tempo was quite mellow amongst the three that it is still kind of nice to
Getting Back To Hectic Normal
In our family, celebrations and holidays begin in September. From September through mid-January we have several birthdays and anniversaries and all the holidays packed into that four month period. Because all my family live so closely, these events always turn into a huge family gathering so I feel we have had a non-stop food fest since September. We have had dinners ranging from full blown Christmas dinner to informal oyster roasts and everything in between. Therefore, starting the first week of January, we will be getting back to our normal eating habits and normal schedule. But, what about those thousands of home- made cookies in the pantry and the chocolate cake in the refrigerator. At least all the pies have been eaten so they will not tempt us anymore and the last of our Christmas leftovers are finally gone. I see our future with lots and lots of salads on
New Year, Old Friends
Great tidings! Happy New Year! It is 2012 – amazing. It seems just a flash ago that we celebrated the new millennium. We usually don’t plan too much in the way of New Year’s celebrations, preferring to be cozy and safe at home, as in, off the roadways. The year 2000 however, was an exception in that we traveled up to our hometown Greenville to celebrate with old school mate friends of mine at a party in a big barn at their house out in the countryside. The kids were small then and were snug at the farmhouse with grandparents while we adults stepped out. Twelve years later they are teenagers on the move and with New Year’s plans of their own, oh boy! A pile of teen girls planned an enormous party, apparently well attended by close to 100 of them. It was supervised by a group of brave
No Christmas World Tour in 2011
Last year at this time I wrote a blog post about our annual “Christmas World Tour.” Ever since we moved to North Carolina, about 12 years ago, we have traveled every Christmas. Boy, have we traveled! Every single year we have gone to Georgia and Michigan. They’re not exactly near one another, so that meant we spent a lot of hours on the road or in the air, or both. When we started the tradition of the “world tour” at Christmas, the girls were tiny. That first Christmas we had to convince the girls that Santa would know where to find them in Georgia to bring their gifts. We also had to make sure all those Santa gifts were transported to Georgia…and then back. We’re talking about big stuff here…Barbie Jeeps and foosball tables, and guitars. It was quite a trick to make it all happen. As time has passed,
