Yule Time and Tide

Well, here we are in the last month of the year!  It's been a while since the last post.  How've you been?  Everything going well?  I've been filling my time away from the computer with work, sleep, friend dates, helping Mom at one of her craft shows, and trying to go to the gym two or three times a week.  A busy month that will only get busier as the holidays approach.  But it will be a festive kind of busy, which is better.

I went ice skating a couple weeks ago for the first time in a while.  Mom and Dad gave me a new pair of skates for my birthday and I had been wearing them around the apartment to break in the stiff boots, and I finally took them to get sharpened in mid-November.  Once they were all ready to go, I loaded up the old skate bag and headed north for a Monday night free-skate public skating session at the Kirkwood Rec Center.

It felt so good to be back on the ice.  Going fast and feeling like you're flying was always my favorite part of skating, which was a little difficult this time around with the new skates and all, but after a few wobbly loops around the rink, and one fall on a too-fast three-turn to go backwards, it was back to second nature.

I was planning to get the blades re-sharpened today (I surmised that the high school dudes who work at the rink didn't do the best job; shocking, I know) at this figure skating shop in Webster but they're closed on Mondays.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll swing over there after work.  The rink upped their weekly evening public skating sessions so I'd like to have them ready for this next weekend.  Stay tuned.

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  Taylor and the Nashvillians were in Japan so Mom, Dad, and I represented the fam over at Jacky and Elly's house.  The decor was a festive mix of Ikea and World Market, and the food selection was delicious.

Taylor returned stateside the following day and the weekend was devoted to his birthday.  We celebrated with a dinner at Dewey's and drinks on the fire patio at Billie Jean's on the day of, then had presents and a round of Chronology at home the day after.

And now we're on to Christmas!  I'm ahead of the shopping curve this year, which I have to say is quite a lot nicer than my usual running around last minute.  Who would've thought?  I'm putting up my holiday decorations today and we're picking out the tree for Mom and Dad's house on Wednesday, so the glad tidings are raring to go.  Christmas Eve is only three weeks away, after all.

(photos by e.hunt)