October Recap & Pass the Book

A bit (well, maybe more) about what’s been happening here. The first weekend of October, Tracy and I were in Lake Placid along with our good friends. Tracy and Bob did some hiking (more about that), and Cathy and I enjoyed some time in the shops in the area. It was a cold, rainy weekend, but beautiful, nonetheless.

The following Wednesday, I began a class on learning how to use Lightroom 3, taught by one of the professional photographers and gallery partners at Image City. My friend, Nancy, and I attend their monthly photo critiques at the gallery. We’ve now had three classes (the last is this week), and I’m beginning to feel comfortable with the program. I had tried to teach myself how to use Lightroom 2, but got all confused about the catalog and how to import the photos. Now I have that mastered and must say it is a very powerful editing program, and much more affordable than full Photoshop. With Lightroom and PSE, I know I’ve got all I’ll ever need in the way of software.

I’ve prepared dinner for Interfaith Hospitality guests at our church, we’ve signed new wills (and taken our children to the lawyers to sign notary documents), attended two meetings in my role as chair of a Presbytery committee (two more to go before the end of the month), crafted with my friends and on my own, had lunch with college friends, attended an Arts & Lectures presentation, and moved back into the kitchen (though it is still not done & there will be more about that later as well.) Tracy and I redid our guest room. Tracy repainted it, and I chose the new bed linens, curtains, and decorations. We also spent a day in Ithaca, visiting our favorite Farmer’s Market, and hiking in Buttermilk Falls State Park.

But the best part of the month was that both Sarah and Matt arrived on the 15th for a visit. Matt was here a week, and has returned (safely) to Denver. While he was here we spent a lot of time with Betsy and Skylar as well. It was so much fun to have everyone here. Sarah could barely keep her hands off Skylar. On the 16th, I hosted a baby shower for Sarah who is expecting a little boy in early January. It was a lovely event (more about that later). Our friends were so happy to have a chance to see her (as well as Matt), and it was lots of fun to have everyone together. I made the favors, a banner, and have started a scrapbook about the event. Sarah and I have spent quite a bit of time in baby stores, and I’ve had a lovely time picking up some special things for this new addition to our family.

(Love this photo of my two kids and Skylar)

Adam arrived from Virginia on Thursday where he had been presenting at a conference at Union Seminary. We went out for a family dinner on Thursday night (Skylar slept through the whole meal), and got our family photo for the Christmas cards. Sarah and Adam drove to New Jersey (and back) Saturday for a wedding, and took off for California late this afternoon. They will be there for just two more weeks, as they are moving to Ashland, Oregon where Adam has accepted a position as Associate Pastor for Christian Education at the Presbyterian church. We’ll be going out next month to help them unpack & organize and attend Adam’s ordination back in Livermore after Thanksgiving.

And over the weekend we went on our annual trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake with our good friends, Karen and Mike. We dined, we visited some favorite and new wineries, and saw a fabulous production of My Fair Lady at the Shaw Festival.

If you skimmed through the above, I certainly don’t blame you, but I’ve had a couple of emails about things going on here so I thought I’d do a recap. Somehow there wasn’t time to blog about it as it happened. But here’s the big news: the new recipient of Sharing Your Story.

Deb, I’ve got your address, and the book will be on its way tomorrow!