turkey bowl report

vI forgot to mention, by the way, that it SNOWED at the cottage. We were all bundled up in layers of fleece and wool and mittens and hats at the annual Cottager's Turkey Bowl (where the cottagers from the north end of the lake play touch football with those from the south end). We on the sidelines spend most of the game chatting and sipping hot chocolate or Mike's Hard Lemonade; I often see some of these other cottagers only once or twice a year, sometimes only at the Turkey Bowl. The game used to be more competitive with hotter tempers, but these days the players seem to be more easygoing, possibly because little kids are allowed to play now, and no one wants to accidentally land on one.

The game ended in a tie. Fortunately, there were no injuries this year (last year, someone had to be taken to the hospital with a very badly sprained finger). After more social chat, the cottagers drift apart in family groups, each getting into motorboats and chugging off to various cottagers around the lake, each with a turkey in the oven, just about ready for the dinner table.

Brittany and Olivia helped me gather autumn leaves to decorate the table and the dining room; Garrison helped by drooling quietly in the corner and supervising (from time to time I'd wander over to pick him up for a quick cuddle and to smell his head).

Today's top blatherpic: Case (Jeff's brother), Ginny (Jeff's mom), and Jeff at the Turkey Bowl. Jeff and Case are wearing the team shirts.

post-turkey musings

Two Thanksgiving dinners later, I am back in Philadelphia. It was somewhat of a more chaotic Thanksgiving weekend than usual, partly because I had to work for part of it, partly because a large portion of it was spent travelling. Travelling from Philly to Toronto, travelling from Toronto to the cottage, and back again. I am bone-weary and am yearning for a real vacation. My dream vacation right now...several days in a row in which I am not travelling, in which I can stay in a place that is clean and quiet, somewhere with good lighting and food and Jeff nearby, where I can read and sleep all day if I wanted to. I will dream of adventure vacations when I am not so tired; for now, I yearn only for a little peace and quiet.

Had some quality time with my four nieces and one nephew, almost all of whom were sick to some degree. Jeff came back from the cottage with a cold; I am crossing my fingers very hard and hoping I've escaped. But even if I came back with a bug, it was worth it. :-) Most relaxing point of the weekend...holding my six-month old nephew Garrison, and smelling his head. I kid you not. There's something incredibly therapeutic about the smell of a baby's head. I wish I could bottle up that smell and take it with me to Philadelphia. Am I weird, or are there parents out there who know what I'm talking about?

Quote of the weekend...showing up at my sister's place to find Annie, clad in her blue Cinderella dress, in tears by the front door...

ME: "What's wrong, Annie?"

ANNIE: "I'm nervous."

ME: "Nervous about what?"

ANNIE: "I'm nervous about Thanksgiving."

Today's blatherpic:
My nieces Olivia and Brittany, carving a pumpkin.

thanksgiving, eh?

My editor at Writer's Digest Books says my book is going to the printer on Friday, and asked me for a brief bio to put on the back cover, max two paragraphs.

I stared at a blank computer screen, wondering what to write. How to summarize my life in two paragraphs? After typing and erasing and typing and erasing, I finally tapped out a rather dull but informative two paragraphs and e-mailed them to my editor. I hope people can read between the lines. :-)

Going back to Toronto tomorrow, for Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. People at work asked me what Canadian Thanksgiving was for. I confessed I had no idea...for all I knew, it was just an imitation of the American holiday, but scheduled earlier so we could be first. :-)

So I went online and found a Web site about Canadian Thanksgiving. According to this resource, the Canadian holiday is simply a thanks for a successful harvest. Hm.

I'm still suspicious. Would we still have a Thanksgiving holiday if the U.S. didn't have one? The Canadian Parliament didn't establish an official Canadian Thanksgiving holiday until 1957. I would love to have been a fly on the wall of the room where they decided to establish the holiday.

But heck, I'm not going to complain. I'll eat my turkey, play with my nieces and nephew, take a dip in the clear waters of Canoe Lake one last time before winter comes. And I'll be thankful for the opportunity. :-)

Today's blatherpic: Cory visits during Word on the Street.

birthdays and puzzlenews

Today is Allison's birthday! Sunday was Jodi's and John Hall's birthday, and Saturday was Alisa's birthday.

Many congrats to Puzzlebox, who were recently invited to be Guests of Honor at FilkContinental in Germany, 2001! For more info, please visit their newly-revamped website at http://www.puzzlebox.net/. (as Debbie starts scheming how she could justify a trip to Germany next fall...)

Today's blatherpic: Allison and John, visiting my booth at Word on the Street.

rachmaninoff days

So Jeff went back to Toronto this morning. :-(

Then I went to work, found out that two people I really liked there are gone...one fired, one resigned.

On days like this, the harp is a godsend. I lose myself in the music, as clichéd as that may sound, putting all my focus into remembering the fingering, the technique, the melody struggling to get out from beneath my fumbling fingers. I resorted to something similar when I practised piano, though I was more competent on that instrument...I could focus on more than technique. Rachmaninoff was the best...it was wonderfully therapeutic, pounding out enormous chords that thundered their way down the length of the keyboard as the floorboards shook.

I've retuned my harp...from C to Bb. Takes more concentration now to flip the levers to the right key, but at least now I can play in F and Bb now (which matters terribly).

Then I called Allison. She's gotten used to this now, I think, me calling out of the blue to talk about nothing in particular. "I'm making dinner," I tell her. "What are you making?" she asks patiently. Then tries very hard not to laugh when I discover that I don't have a working can opener, or that I've somehow managed to burn my dinner while standing less than a foot away from it. :-)

Today's blatherpic: Jeff, Scott, and Brian, a couple of weekends ago. I quite like this picture.