2009 November

Thanksgiving here and gone

It was a quiet Thanksgiving – no hosting of thousands or schlepping off to visit family. In fact, there was just the three of us (the boy – I’m sorry, I realize he’s nearly 20 but after all these years I can’t very well start referring to him as the man- opted to spend the holiday with the people I half-jokingly refer to as his in-laws, the allergist’s daughter and her family) that sat down to a whole turkey, two kinds of cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans and sweet potatoes. Later we ate pumpkin pie and yes, the whole town was aghast that I made only ONE pie. I’ve heard reports from hither and yon that many families enjoyed my perfect butterscotch pecan pie, a specialty I cranked out so many times this fall that I am confident I could now make in my sleep. My very own mother-in-law promises to relinquish her kitchen over Christmas and I shall attempt to make the pie in the field.

On Friday the husband and I met up with a friend from St. Louis visiting family here in Virginia for an afternoon of winery hopping.

The rest of the weekend was a restful blur with lots of reading, a little shopping and a few delicious naps. There’s been time for reflection and chats with long-distance sisters on the phone.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Charlottesville Blog of the Week: Vale of Evening Fog

Video from the Blog of the Week segment on CBS-19

Bonus: Video segment with Zoe Krylova

There are very few bloggers I know in the Charlottesville community that have been blogging as long, or longer than I have. Zoe Krylova’s personal blog, Vale of Evening Fog is one I’ve followed since I moved here four years ago. I’ve watched her daughter Tashi grow up on her blog. I’ve followed Zoe’s pregnancy with Tristan and the birth of that precious boy. I’ve gotten to know Zoe through her blog and feel as if I have another friend in this community because of that.

Zoe’s blog is just that: a personal blog of her journey through life, which sometimes includes travel stories, crafts she’s working on and lots and lots of chai (Zoe’s favorite drink). A recent post facinated me and I thought that new moms wondering how to work with a small baby in tow would benefit from it; Zoe knows how to do this and seeing that would help another mom figure it out, too.

I admire Zoe for continuing to write regularly, for her beautiful language and use of photography. I called her a “blogging celebrity” on TV because she is; I remember clearly the day I saw her with Tashi downtown (I was too shy to say hi) thinking, “Oh my gosh! Thas’t Zoe!”

I’m grateful to Zoe for sharing her life in this way, and for being the Charlottesville Blog of the Week.

Excerpts from my exchange with Zoe Krylova:

What inspired you to start a blog?

I had been keeping journals for years and thought I would start making use of this new form — the blog — as a way to maintain a writing habit. It was very slow going in the beginning, but when we decided to move from Ann Arbor to Charlottesville, I started writing more regularly as a way to share my observations of our new town. Once I had a digital camera the landscape of blogging really opened up for me. It is both a travelogue and a domestic record: A way to share my family, our adventures at home and on the road, our creativity, cooking and crafting, and the stunning pastoral surround of Albemarle county. Keeping a blog opens my eyes to the details, to the magic in both the exceptional and the mundane. I enjoy sharing those details with friends, family and community.

What has been the most significant experience related to the blog?

I have had a wonderful time meeting other bloggers — both online and in person, near and far — forming friendships with those people, but also learning from them and finding inspiration through what they too have to share.

Who reads your blog?

I’m not much of tracker, so I’m not entirely sure! Aside from friends and family, it seems like I might have a small audience of mothers and crafters who read my blog.

Are there any travels in your future?

My husband and I are pretty nomadic at heart, so I sure hope so! My brother-in-law is leaving for India soon to teach radio broadcasting to Tibetan youth in Dharamsala, where we once spent a year. Perhaps that will give us an excuse to visit, though we have a twelve year old daughter and a baby boy to consider! I was born in Cyprus and have family overseas, so surely we will pay them a visit at some point. In the meantime, we love to take weekend drives in beautiful Virginia!

Cville Blog of the Week: Dried Figs and Wooden Spools

I’m a new fan of this blog: http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/ and I think you will be, too. Here’s why.

Gillian Grimm proved a lovely subject for this week’s featured blog. Check out the segment’s teaser piece.

I asked Gillian to tell us a little bit about her blog:

“The blog came about as a way for me to keep track of my own projects. I’ve always loved writing and blogging offered a great outlet to get my writing willies out and chatter about my various projects. I had actually been writing it for a few months before I even told anyone about it. Originally I focused mostly on cooking but these days I also write about crafts and the renovation projects we are doing on our house. The best part is that, on top of allowing me to write what I love, it’s led to some great professional writing opportunities for me as well.

I have between 20 and 40 readers per day and try to post something at least three times a week, although I shoot for four or five. I’ve had some great feedback from readers. Several of them email me directly which has been fun, almost like having a modern day pen pal.

The next big projects around the house are creating a storage and work space for all the projects I’ve always got going and renovating the mudroom. I’ve got some Christmas recipes coming up including a cranberry stuffing and a type of gravy I learned to make when we lived in Ireland. I’m also getting ready to crack open my Christmas fruitcakes in a few weeks and have a whole series of winter crafts in the works. I’m working on a set of modern felt mini trees, a yarn ball wreath and an advent calendar.

As for how I do it all. Well, of course I don’t do it all, all the time. And I have a great family that tolerates all the crazy things I’ve always got going. I do like to keep busy and work best under pressure so I’m generally working on lots of things at once. I try to be organized and have places for everything (which doesn’t always work since we are in the middle of renovating) but as far as I can it helps to keep things going smoothly.”

Thanks again to Gillian for agreeing to be featured on BOTW and for being an inspiration for us all!

Planting Trees at My Favorite Airport

Disclaimer time: the Charlottesville Albemarle Airport is a client of ours at Standing Partnership, the firm where I work. /disclaimer

On Sunday I planted trees at CHO, along with 89 other volunteers from our community. I wrote about it on our company blog.

It was a lot of fun and I got to meet some really interesting and committed members of my community. I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to participate in something like this – I’ll post about the next activity in case you want to join the fun.

How Did You Do It?

The boy came home from work one day, and was getting ready to head out again to an evening class at his college. “Working and going to school is exhausting,” he said. “How did you do it?”

How did I do it?

I put my head down and blasted through for three years, working, going to school or doing homework with no breaks, no real vacations and no free time.

Once a year, I went with my closest friends for a weekend on the river where I blew off steam, acted like a wild Samoan and was able to recapture a bit of what I’d skipped by growing up too fast. I cherished those weekends.

Every day I looked at my doe-eyed son (from the time he was a toddler to a preschool kid) and knew that working and going to school was for him, as much as it was for me, and that by sticking with it and getting through it, I could help make a better future for him.

My dad had worked full time and gone to law school when my sisters were little — I figured if he had done it, so could I. Apparently we’ve both passed down a difficult legacy.

I absolutely lived for the day I’d graduate (and my son would attend, in his tiny clip-on tie) and with each semester, the light at the end of the tunnel got a little brighter.

It was exhausting. He’s right. But I got through it. And so will he.

The blogger and family, graduation day, 1995

STLWorkingMom

One working mom's survival guide, parental ponderings and frustrating failures.

Thanksgiving here and gone

Charlottesville Blog of the Week: Vale of Evening Fog

Cville Blog of the Week: Dried Figs and Wooden Spools

Planting Trees at My Favorite Airport

How Did You Do It?

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