Like the Movies

Have you ever watched one of those holiday movies where the family gathers, and you think wistfully for a day where you might live that moment? Today that moment was mine. It embodied everything that makes Thanksgiving my favorite holiday.

We started the day out with both boys and did the Turkey Day 5K.

This was both boys first 5K. O got to sit back and enjoy it via a stroller ride, but K had to run it. No shock that O took a leisurely nap throughout the whole thing. We started out running all four of us together ... K made it almost the whole first mile before he decided he needed to walk. We let D and O split from us and we conquered that last two miles. It was tough on K, he told me how much he hated it and hated me for making him do it. He got encouragement from me ... and random strangers. D met up with us again for the last quarter mile and helped me cheer K in to run it home. So proud of him, even if he didn't enjoy the whole thing. It was a perfect way to start out the holiday, with 15,000 other people who wanted to give it a go.

Then it was off to home and getting the meal prepped. My youngest sister and her husband arrived first, about an hour before we planned to put out noshy food. The boys love them, and like to hang out with them. They had a good time. As the rest of the family arrived, we got our "tide you over" butternut squash soup served. Then while we waited for the food to cook, we played a rousing game of Apples to Apples. K and I have wanted to play this game for a while, we've just never had enough other people available to play it. So, fun was had by all as we enjoyed the game.

The food was fantastic ... I'll try to remember to come back and add photos later. D gets to take credit for a lot of it. (We were up yesterday prepping, prepping, preppy) but it all turned out well. We had good conversation over dinner (no TV!) and just enjoyed each others company. It was so grown up, but there were young kids at the table, too.

 Between dinner and dessert, K had the family read this Thanksgiving play from school. And everyone but me (I had dish duty) participated. This kind of thing would not have happened in the past ... it was one of those movie-kind-of-moments. Just crazy good.

Then we had delicious cheesecake and pumpkin pie for dessert. The family rested, more conversation. It was just delightful. I asked K how he felt the day went, and he said it was fantastic, amazing, wonderful! I can only hope that all his Thanksgivings are this good!

A Night of Pinot

Last night was our last Wine Club outing of the year. December is just too packed for all of us, so we agreed to take the month off an start it back up in January.

I hosted ... and it was one of my favorite red wines: Pinot Noir.

Our spread

A French bleu cheese, Pecorino, Spanish Goat Cheese and a Cranberry Cheddar

Chips and Salsa Verde and Roasted Vegetable Salsa 

Nut Thins (We sort of joke, we always serve these :))

Cranberry Bruschetta (this is sooo good)

Mixed Nuts (roasted, with yummy Brazil nuts)

Smoked salmon - three ways (plain, peppered and Gravlax)

I forgot to take a picture of the dessert, but it was a yummy pumpkin parfait. The middle layer was sour cream, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice ... crazy how good it was.

For the wines ... we had six different wines that spanned the Old World, the New World, and the really New World of wine:

We started out with the old world and a French Burgundy. It was very mild, pleasant. For those who like bold wines, it was considered too week ... but I think it is a perfect wine when you have a lot of food and you aren't sure what to pair it with.

Our second wine, is what is considered a Bang for Your Buck. It's supposed to be reliable, cheap and drinkable. You've probably had it. 

Personally, I'd rather put my $10 toward a different bottle, but if you are in a pinch, it's a slightly bolder Pinot. 

The third wine was the second ringer. The Beaujolais Nouveau for the year. There's a lot of adieu about this wine. It is released the third Thursday of the year (so one week before Thanksgiving.) It's the fresh grapes of the year. It tends to be a bit sweet, and it's cheap. This year followed the same pattern. It's fun to have a wine tradition like this ... but definitely not one you'd bring as a hostess gift. 

The fourth one was my second favorite. And it was from the New New World of Wine. Frankly, I've just become a huge fan of South American wines (Malbec anyone?) so maybe I was partial since I knew it was from Chile. It had a slightly bolder finish, a nice aroma and was a good medium-bodied wine. Definitely one I would get again. 

The fifth wine was our other ringer. A good ol' Beaujolais that is not of the Nouveau variety. This was a pretty lively bottle. Went down smooth and represent the region well, while holding it's own against the Pinots. 

Our final wine is what I anticipated would be the favorite (and I was right) since it hailed from Oregon, and that region gets a lot of love for its Pinot. You can't go wrong when you go with a classic. 

Oh, Pinots, I still love you. But you are getting some tough company from some other reds.

Namaste, Groceries and Wine

I have waxed ecstatic already about my love for Bikram Yoga. There is something about the sweat pouring off your body, the small shakes as you hold a pose for as long as you can, and then the moment of relief when you let go of all your worries. Fortunately, for the rest of the year, I can get my hot yoga fix at least twice a week, instead of just on Sundays.

I have decided to take the brilliant action of taking every Friday off for the rest of the year. Mainly, because I have a lot of vacation banked and so I don't get too freaked out as I stress about finding holiday gifts, etc. Granted, my workaholic self will probably have a hard time with this, but I will work my way through it.

Anyway, today's class was small (since it's my first Friday class, not sure if this is normal or not) but it meant the yogi was able to ensure we all were posing optimally, etc. It was brutal, hot and delightful. I pushed myself in plank. I will look forward to starting out my Fridays like this for the rest of 2013.

After class, I met D and O at Target to do our grocery shopping. Of course, it wasn't a normal trip. We were buying our essentials for Thanksgiving and the stuff I need for Wine Club tomorrow (I'm hosting). So, I knew the bill would be bigger. But thanks to a lovely mobile coupon, Cartwheel and our frugal ways ... the pain wasn't as much as I was anticipating.

After that trip, I had to head over to Whole Foods to get the remaining items. I got to do this trip solo ... ahhh. I love grocery shopping. And I was able to find the Snickerdoodle and Pumpkin Pie Larabars. I have only tried Snickerdoodle so far ... and it is everything I could want in a delicious treat. Yum, yum. I enjoyed the solo trip (but it was so busy.) So busy, that I decided not to amble at any other area shops. I wanted to head home.

I did have to make two quick stops. Korean grocer and wine shop. Of course, I had to pick up my Beaujolais Nouveau. It will be the ringer for tomorrow. So excited to try it.

I hope the rest of my Fridays are as appealing as today was. If so, I will be ending 2013 on a high note. (P.s. it helps that I have great family, friends and co-workers who can make it all happen.)

Running Around for Two Good Reasons

I have been horrifically sick for the last week. As in, my voice sounded like Kathleen Turner after smoking a carton in one day, sick. Each day I forced myself to go to work and be productive. Hoping that playing a mental game of I will not let this get me down would work. After trying every form of medicine ... as a last attempt I tried herbal cold tea. And that is what worked the best. Oh, I am still sick, but I was "okay" enough to do this today:

Running the Unleash the SHE 5K to help fight against ovarian cancer.

My sister C ran the race with me. It was the first one she ran (and she did great, only 4 minutes behind me ... super awesome.) I did okay, not a PR, but considering I could hardly breathe, I am not disappointed in my performance. I just need to really up the ante if I plan to add longer distances in 2014.

It's hard to believe I only have two more races this year. D and I made the executive decision that the boys are going to do the Turkey Run with us. K is not so excited. O will be relaxing on a jogging stroller, so I am sure he will find it very enjoyable.

The afternoon, I ran with K to the U of M's annual Science and Math Family Fun Day. We've attended this event for a few years ... and attendance just continues to grow. This year, I think it really blew their expectations out of the water. K and I didn't get there until noon, and they were already having to break out their back-up activities on some of the more popular events.

K enjoyed it as he usually does, learning about science, but having fun and running into his best friend makes learning easy. Spending my afternoon with my little guy is always a treat and so I consider this a rather perfect day.

A Busy Few Weeks

The last few weeks have been full of a lot of love, fear, joy, angst ... so basically, they've been full of life.

My kid sister was married last weekend. The wedding events were far enough away that we stayed in a hotel for the weekend. It was kind of nice to get a weekend away with my boys, bunked out in a hotel room. It was a quaint little boutique hotel, with a nice little coffee shop (which was a huge win with D.)

The rehearsal was lovely. O was the ring bearer and we made him practice multiple times. I was reading the first scripture, so determined the route I would take to get to the microphone. We had a lovely dinner and mingled a bit. Getting the boys to bed at an at least somewhat reasonable time would be critical for the next day to be successful at all.

I started my Saturday with a lovely 4-mile run in sweet little Northfield. It was a perfect day for a run, I had a decent pace and was proud of myself for pushing to do a longer distance than I've done. The last mile was spent doing intervals, but at least it was pushing myself.

The wedding was lovely ... well, except for the part where O refused to do his duties as ring bearer. My sister has great friends and I think they all did a lovely job supporting her. I did my reading ... which was so long, and I shook quite a bit on my too high heels, but D said I did fine. My sister looked absolutely amazing, her groom looked good, too.

The food was good ... D and I had to switch entrees because the dish I ordered had breading on it so I couldn't eat it. But the fish I had was good. The cake was from Nadia's (gluten-free :)) and was great. I selfishly could have asked for another slice ... but I didn't.

The boys loved getting on the dance floor. And actually competed for the attention of the little girls on the dance floor. D and I couldn't believe what we were seeing. They just wanted to make sure they were the center of attention. It was a tad bit embarrassing. They even got the DJ to play "What does the fox say?" by Ylvis. The song d'jour. But still. They loved it. In their eyes, this wedding was the ultimate party.

About an hour or so into the dance, I was resting at our table and D brought my attention to my grandpa. He said he didn't look well. I looked over, and noticed people were surrounding him. Then I noticed the right side of his face was drooping. He was having a stroke. While I know this is the last thing anyone would want to happen at their wedding, it was fortunate that my sister did get married that night and that we were all together. It meant that he was with family when the stroke happened and we could get him medical attention quickly.

The man is the strongest fighter I know. In less than a week, he's had a good recovery. He's started to say a few words, he's getting mobility back in his right arm. I went to visit him in the hospital on Thursday. It's hard to see someone you love be so frustrated due to factors outside of their own control. He wants to talk ... but he only can form a few words right now. The frustration is so very clear in his face. I want to hold him and tell him it will be okay. The man has such a strong will. I think he's keeping up the good fight for my grandma. He doesn't want to leave her alone. I just wish for him as full a recovery as possible and that all of us do a better job giving him all the love he more than deserves.

Here's to both the joys and fears of life, may each step make us better.