The Day of the Dead
Sunday November 2 is All Soul's Day, or the Day of the Dead. In the evening I met Todd, Kimberlee and Ivan downtown to watch Missoula's Day of the Dead Parade. It was marvelous! People were dressed to celebrate the memories of our ancestors. I think my favorite part of the parade was all the dancing. There were several groups dancing up Higgins...even one group that was doing the dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" the whole way! The parade ended in Caras Park in the rain. The dance groups, music performers and fire dancers lead the celebration...I enjoyed being there but then I headed home before they were "done".
The Women's Club
This fall was not good for my workout schedule. I had been running and hiking so much in Boulder and then after having the flu in October I just let me routine and my physicality just fall by the wayside. I think part of the reason I don't like runing in Missoula is that the front yards are so small. When I step out my door to go for a run I can see my neighbors eating breakfast. And I don't drive to go running. So I decided to check in to joining a gym.
(Eek!) I had never joined a gym before unless you count the climbing gym. I found the Women's Club, which is a few blocks from home and insanely convenient and a great facility. I also checked into the University gym but it is a two mile walk and the pool is in a different building from the rest of the gym so I would have to have two lockers. Plus, I'd risk running into students and I don't think that would have worked for me or for them. :) So I'm splurging on the Women's Club and trying to make the most of it. I vary my workouts, take occasional classes, lift weights, sit in the hot tub, float in the pool, bake in the sauna... Oh! I almost forgot about my favorite thing in the pool room...the tapestries! They were made by a female artist but they depict mermaids with tatoos, which I totally identify with when I'm swimming because when I swim I just float and do somersaults and pretend to be a mermaid. (Laps are too intense for me.)
Obama's Election
On November 4th we elected Barack Obama as our next president. For fear of our bad luck (every time we've watched the votes pour in our candidate has lost), Mike and I turned off the news until long after the polls closed. Oh but when we checked in and saw that Senator Obama won we were thrilled!
More Painting
I painted the dining room. As usual, the preparation took the longest. In this case, I laid to trimboards, built shelves to display Mike's tea pots (he continues his insane interest in the Tao of Tea; note that the shelves are not square or identical so the process was complicated), ripped our a shelf inside the built-in to prepare to make a tea humidor, and textured the walls.
Another New Friend
The night before flying to Michigan I had a date with a new friend. Kelly is the director of the Writing Center at the University and has been helping me design my writing assignments for my Probability and Statistics students. We met at the Depot for drinks and spent a few hours chatting.
Paul's Wedding
Mid-month I made a trip to Michigan to celebrate Paul's wedding. Paul had come to my wedding in Grand Cayman, that and the fact that he is one of my oldest and dearest friends made it impossible for me to miss the big event. I got off the airplane and went directly to the rehearsal dinner where I met Paul's fiancee, Mary and caught up with Paul's family. The wedding was held at Martha Mary's Chapel in Greenfield Village and the a lovely reception followed at Meadowbrook Country Club. I don't want to take the liberty of airing all the details about their wedding celebration but I have to share two things. First, I was able to reconnect with very old friends from my high school days. It was awesome to see everyone all grown up and still as interesting and kind as ever. Second, the highlight of the night was to see Paul sing. He had sang at my wedding too - I have pictures of him accompanying the pianist. But his serenade to Mary was over the top and wonderful. The lead singer handed Paul the microphone and he sang "You're some kind of wonderful" to Mary...complete with two backup singers and a band! It was joyous and everyone was all smiles.
The day after the wedding I invited Janice and Andrea over to Nichole's place to hang out. It was snowing like mad and we ordered a pizza delivered and just hung out. After spending some time with them I went over to my parents' house for the rest of the day. We had dinner with Nichole and Dave and watched Surf's Up.
While I was in Michigan celebrating with Paul and Mary and their familes, Mike was working at a conference in Austin, Texas where, in addition to chairing a session, he spent his evenings enjoying Texas-style bbq. Mmmm...yummy.
Dinner at Todd and Kimberlee's
Todd and Kimberlee had us over for a yummy lasagna dinner. Generally, it was another night of fun with our new friends. Specifically, we learned a new vegetarian lasagna recipe (sage, butternut squash, and mushrooms) and a new card game called Sheepshead.
Congratulations Pat and Amelia
Two weeks after Paul and Mary's wedding was another wedding celebration. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage two trips to Michigan so I didn't attend Pat and Amelia's celebration. Never-the-less, congratulations are in order for the happy couple.
I met Pat during my freshman year at Michigan State University. We had three of four classes together and he lived on the brotherfloor of Holmes Hall (3East). So in addition to studying together, he was, for all intents and purposes, the social leader of the floor and I met dozens of people through Pat. I am sorry that I couldn't attend my dear friend's wedding but I am honored to have received an invitation.
Thanksgiving
We were invited to Jim and Teresa Jacobs house to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a relatively small gathering: Jim, Teresa, their son Conor, Jen, Honey, Teresa's cousin Theresa and her boyfriend Daniel, and us. Mike made two pies, pumpkin and pecan, as well as cranberries. When we arrived there were two things waiting. First, Teresa ushered us in and said, "Look Mike, I have it ready for you." as she pointed to a section of valuable counterspace in the kitchen that was equipped with Martini-fixins. But before he could settled into his traditional role as bartender, Mike had to fix a loose floorboard for Jim. So, with our nailgun in tow, he followed Jim through the hallway to tack in a couple boards that had been taunting Jim for years. We had a delicious meal and then sat together in the living room to digest while playing a new game.
The new fabulous game was about writing limericks. Each person took a sheet of paper and wrote the first line of a limerick. Then we all tossed our papers into a hat and mixed them up and pulled out a piece of paper (one we hadn't already written on). We wrote the next line of the limerick and returned the paper to the hat. We did this until we had written as many limericks as there were people playing and then we read our limericks out loud. It was great fun! I will definitely be suggesting it as the party game at future gatherings.
New Drawers
I have been looking for a coffee table with storage for the past year. Nothing has enough storage to keep our CDs, of which we have hundred. So I have designed a modular coffee table that has four pieces. Each piece has two drawers and each of those drawers holds ~75 CDs. I completed the first unit and I think it turned out pretty good! (See pictures on my picasa page.)
Farewell Aretha
We finally sold the black Oldsmobile. We had named her Aretha and she was a fabulous ski-mobile while we lived in Colorado. However, living in Missoula we walk to work and have a had time spending a tank of gas in a timely way for one car, let alone two cars. So it was time for her to become someone else's ski-mobile. We took our profits and turned them into a new leather couch and chair. They replace the la-z-boy and loveseat that were hand-me-downs from Mike's parents' cottage.
Media
Book
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
Internet
The #1 Song on the day I was born: Best of My Love by The Emotions
THE beer song
Film
God and Buddha: A Dialogue featuring Deepak Chopra and Robert Thurman
