weekending

we started the weekend off hosting a couple of friends for dinner.  some good catching up.  shortly before they left, the little one hit a wall and a nasty cough set in.  this, after (I thought) working towards wellness following a couple days feeling low the week before.  she was exhausted, and sounded terrible- like a barking seal.  that rang a bell, but I thought croup was for littler ones?  who knows.  she barked all night, felt quite warm, and there was little sleep.  no ballet Saturday, then.  no Christmas parade (they do it early so they can air it on the local news channel on Thanksgiving morning) in Asheville either, then.  that one was harder to let go because we had such fun last year and because papa marches (in his kilt) with the FD Pipes and Drums band.  not something I really want to miss, right there.  plus it was a glorious day.  but ah well.  instead we stayed in our pjs and stoked the fire all day long and read books and watched two fantastic movies.  The Muppet Christmas Carol, and Microcosmos.  add to that a hearty helping of mullein infusion, elderberry syrup, vitamin C, and some other herbs and she was on her road to feeling better once more.  a friend who was at the parade sent a dozen or so pictures over the phone and then dropped off two jars of homemade soup after.  thankyouthankyouthankyou.

and then her cough was gone and we slept, waking to a rainy Sunday.  I went out for a run when papa got home and rather enjoyed the drizzly, forty degree weather.  this is new to me, the running.  new since middle and high school, anyway.  and seeing as how that was 20+ years ago, I think calling it new is accurate.  so, I'm trying.  mostly it's finding the time to do so, really, as Claire isn't in school.  so I went to the park and ran a loop in the woods and a greenway section and back, totaling somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles.  it felt good.  it felt great.  that isn't a great distance, but I felt accomplished.  and, um.... does everyone's mouth fill with saliva rather frequently while running on a cool morning?  I felt all sorts of runny.  noticed I need to work on my spitting-whilst-running technique.  at one point I laughed at myself thinking maybe I looked like a St. Bernard, all drooly after a less-than-successful attempt.  I wiped at my face and thought "well, hopefully minus the floppy jowls, anyway."  we're not there yet.

home again to french toast and then a solo outing to pick up our turkey, some cranberries.  a bit of puttering about the kitchen.  yummy citrus-cinnamon-clove mix simmering on the back burner.  that will be going until New Years', I'm sure.

sauerkraut.  

picking out a pie for Thursday.

I'm getting excited about the season.  ready to deck the halls and gather with loved ones, drink warm drinks and spend more time in the kitchen.


today, Monday, came soft and sunny.  a gentle, encouraging start to the week.
tea, toast, Madeleine Peyroux crooning away on Pandora.
ah, yes.

wishing everyone a happy week ahead~
weekending with Karen