Thankful Thursday, Busy weekend edition!

 I had a super busy weekend, and that was after I had to turn some things down. There always seems to be one weekend in October and one weekend in April where -everything- is scheduled. 

I'm thankful for:

1. Getting to watch a world series game at Dave and Busters with a friend on Friday night. I had never been there before, and it was surprisingly not crowded!

2. Camping with my girl scouts on Saturday- Sunday. These girls are so much fun, love to sing, and love to be outside. It was fun to see them try archery and enjoy being outside without technology. Also we did a scavenger hunt and the only thing they did not find was a squirrel. This makes me laugh so hard because we were THAT loud that we scared off all the squirrels in a mile radius.

3. We made it through the night. JEEPERS it was cold. I had multiple layers of clothes on and was in my mummy bag and I was still cold. I'm so proud of my girls for making it too!

4. Awesome adults from other scout troops. Everyone in our service unit is really nice, and one leader not only gave me some tips to make our cabin warmer in the future on cold nights, but also checked on one of my kiddos in the night when they were upset.

5. I was able to go to the last day of Ren Faire on Sunday. It was really fun to see some of my favorite bands. The Hooligans had some great sets, a collab with Pohemia, and an epic Rattlin' Bog. Ship Shape had a hilarious last song where one of the members had broken 2 guitar strings and they ran with it, making another member break character for a minute because she was laughing so hard. The Bards also broke a string in their lats song of the last set, which as they said, was somehow poetic. And the last dance with Piper Jones was super fun and the line dance turned into complete chaos- I somehow wound up in 4 different lines, one of which was a circle?? 

6. Monday off. It's not great long term to be working part time, but it was nice to be able to sleep in and recover from my weekend.

7. Dinner with a good friend from high school and my high school choir teacher- so awesome to catch up with her!

8. A great place to work. EGPAF had a fancy reception tonight to kick off a new advocacy campaign to eliminate pediatric HIV. It was great to see colleagues from all over the world and hear the organization's future plans.

9. Mom had a good day on Friday and we had a deeper conversation that normal. <3 

Thankful Thursday, Ren Faire Edition

 I doubled up on Ren Faire last weekend which was really fun and also exhausting!

I'm thankful for:

1. My villager pass to Ren Faire. It's meant I can go multiple times this fall and it's been easy to get tickets.

2. Lunch with Bec on Friday since they were in town for faire!

3. Ren faire. I love the music and the generally joy of faire. Saturday I wandered with my friends all day and Sunday I went by myself and just listened to music all day (and one Shakespeare performance). The weather was lovely- 60s and dry! I'm also really enjoying putting costumes together. Saturday was a peasant/Heidi look, and Sunday was my witchy look again (Temperance gave me another sinner clothespin because I threatened her with my wand.)

4. Skirt hikes and safety pins. I bought a dress online and the zipper broke the first time I wore it at faire. Luckily a vendor had safety pins they gave me for free to prevent a wardrobe malfunction, and then I bought skirt hikes later to cover the gap. 

5. Productivity! I've been hard at work on a bunch of paperwork I need to do for financial and medical stuff for mom, plus a bunch of girl scout paperwork and online trainings. It's so nice to check things off my to-do list!

6. An amazing book- 'An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography' by Paul Rusesabagina. He's the man the movie 'Hotel Rwanda' was based off of. Hard to read at times, but an amazing story of what one person can do, and how dangerous hateful rhetoric can be. 5/5 stars.

Thankful Thursday, October edition

 Somehow in the middle of October it was 85 degrees yesterday and now it's 62. Welcome to Maryland?

This week I'm thankful for:

1. Refurbished bells! Our church bell choir has been ringing the same bells for 30+ years and they were in desperate need of refurbishing- new handles, polish, tightening screwed, fixing worn parts. We finally got them back after my friends Carol and David drove 8 hours round trip last Friday to pick them up. They sound so nice, and they are so shiny!

2. I had a lovely rainy day of raining in my pjs on Sunday. It's fun to run around and be with friends, and its also lovely to nest with snacks and good books.

3. I've found the children's series Dear America this year, and have been picking up several at the library. I'm not sure how I missed this series as a kid, but I'm enjoying some easy reading but good stories. This week's reads were the (fictional) diaries of a 12 year old girl during the revolutionary war and a 12 year old girl that was the first to integrate a white school in Virginia in 1954. I love historical fiction and its really different to read it through the eyes of a teen/preteen.

4. I found a local fabric store yesterday and got some cheap fabric for my ren faire costume. 

5. I did some organizing on Monday and have a functional guest room again!

6. I had tea with a friend Tulie on Monday and she gave me a lovely painting she did of Luna. 

7. All of my reports are in for work for a while! It's nice to have a break from chasing people to send in their parts of multiple reports.

8. I was able to help my cousins move boxes into a pod being shipped to their house across the country. And everything fit, WOO!

Thankful Saturday, Music Edition

 It's been a fun week with a lot of music!

I'm grateful for:

1. I temporarily joined the church choir of the church 2 churches down from my home church, because they are singing Mozart's Coronation Mass in November. I miss singing big choral works like the Blacksburg Master Chorale does, and I've really enjoyed the first 2 rehearsals.

2. I found my high school chorus teacher! She goes to this close by church and sings in the choir. I literally haven't seen her in 25 years and hope to get coffee with her sometime soon.

3. My church had a fun bonfire last night at Butler's Orchard. We went on a hayride and made s'mores and had at least 50 people there. Fred brought his guitar and a bunch of us sang campfire songs for an hour or so. Singing around a campfire has to be one of my favorite things of all time.

4. I went to a picnic today with a blogger I love, Kristen from The Frugal Girl. One of her followers organizes this annual gathering and it's the second time I've been. It's kind of like meeting a celebrity, except that Kristen is so down to earth it's more like a gathering of a group of online friends. Super fun.

5. Mom had a good day yesterday- I went to see her for dinner and she had already eaten (huzzah). She was in a good mood and chatty, and somehow stuck on the idea that someone is moving to North Carolina. I finally managed to distract her by talking about the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1955 World Series, and she could name 7/9 of the starting line up!

6. Ella and Charles came over for a game night tonight and we played trivia and ate pizza for several hours.

Thankful Monday, Cooler Weather Edition

 It was a bit of a cray week at work, but it's lovely October weather!

I'm thankful for:

1. One set of work reports are submitted. One down, one to go!

2. Breakfast with a good friend in from out of town this morning

3. Cooler temperatures

4. I was able to give away dog food and dog treats to a neighbor this afternoon

5. Fun (and loud) girl scout meeting yesterday

6. My Halloween decorations are up

7. That I did not actually have a heart attack when I found a raccoon in my trashcan last night (although it was close)

8. I got to visit my Uncle Charlie on Friday

Happy Fall, how was summer?

 I meant to check in on my summer bucket list on the fall solstice, but how about on the first day of October?

My Summer 2026 Bucket List:

1. Go kayaking 2-3 times- I did this! Kate and I went to Fletchers Cove on my birthday, and then I kayaked twice in PA at the lake with Elisa.

2. Virginia Renaissance Faire- I did this! 

3. Go swimming- I swam at the lake!

4. See a movie- I did not see one in the theaters, but I watched several at the lake with friends. 

5. Eat down my freezer- I did throw a bunch of old stuff away, but I have not eaten it down. 1/2 a point.

6. Take a writing class- I did this, and it was really fun and interesting!

7. Read 5 books- Check!

8. Read in my hammock- Many times check!

9. Eat a giant ice cream sandwich- I did this with my cousins in June :)

10. Go to an outdoor concert- I'm counting the ones at the VA ren faire, check!

11. Go white water rafting- Nope

12. Wander a museum I haven't been to before- yes, I did this with Babs in September (it was before the solstice, it counts haha)

13. Hike 2-3 times- At least 5 I think, check!

14. Host a game night with friends- Wound up doing several as friends came to visit Luna.

15. Grill burgers- Somehow I did not! 

16. Do an escape room- Nope

17. Catch a firefly- Yup!

18. Eat a popsicle- Several!

19. Back up my photos on my computer- Nope

20. See fireworks- Are we counting my neighbor's shenanigans in August? 1/2 a point.

15/20?

Bonus points?

1. Went to the lake with friends!

2. Visited family on Edisto

3. Visited friends in Minneapolis 

4. Visited the Minnesota State Fair

5. Visited the Minnesota Ren Faire

All things considered, it was a great summer of fun activities, minus the heartbreak of saying goodbye to Luna. The few things on my list that I didn't get to do, are more than made up for by my August/September travels.

Onto fall adventures!

Thankful Tuesday, Nor'Easter Edition

 This has been a fun week, and I spent a lot of it outside, even with a nor'easter that came through over the weekend. I'm thankful for:

1. I got to hike before the storm on Friday. I went to Patuxent State Park, which is a lovely little park to hike 4 miles and change near a creek. It's very buggy in the summer, so its nicer in the fall/winter.

2. I went to Ren Faire again, this time for Celtic weekend! The rain held off until about 2:30, and then it was very swampy. 

3. There's something wonderful about dancing in the rain. I had a full change of clothes packed for ren faire, so I didn't mind getting soaked.

4. I had fun looking for some ren faire garb on the spur of the moment last week. I wound up getting some things at Target of all places!

5. My church had an amazing rally for Christian Men and Christian Women's Fellowship (CWF/CMF), with 600+ people in our parking lot for worship and a singing competition. It was a little rainy and gusty, but everyone stayed mostly dry and was fed, and the day was wonderful.

6. I got to spend some time with my cousin Kate yesterday as she was helping her dad in northern Virginia.