Thankfulness Thursday

Happy November! I wanted to put something up here today on my blog since it's a new month. A few years ago I wrote a blog every day of November telling about things I am thankful for. I could do that again, and every month, but I thought maybe this year I'll have "Thankful Thursdays" for all of the Thursdays in November (and maybe I'll continue to do it after the month is over).


Today I'm thankful for:

• Daniel's college applications being completed and submitted (oh wait, there's that one last essay-- well, then I'm thankful that the applications are almost all finished).
• A nice, relaxing weekend in Destin last weekend with some dear friends. It was great weather and we had fun just doing whatever was restful (reading, watching the sunset, finding yard sales).
• Generous friends who include me in activities like the one last week.
• Our continuing Fall season in Nashville. When I returned from Florida, it was cooler and the leaves were still somewhat on the trees.
• A family who lives close by and who likes to get together on the spur of the moment.
• My son who makes me laugh (usually not at my expense, but sometimes I am the reason we're laughing).

I'd also like to invite you to add your own thanksgivings in the comments. Don't be shy and don't worry if you don't have a Google account. I have made it so you can comment as "anonymous" if you want.

So . . . what are you thankful for today?

Conflicted October

I love October. It's really been one of my favorite months for a long time. I love the changing colors of the leaves (especially when I view them through my sunglasses--the colors really pop!). I like the fact that the weather is cooler. It's also a month when there are fun activities planned and people gather together, and I always like that.

I don't like October, though, because it makes me sad. I was married in October (by choice, because I love this time of year), but ironically, my divorce was final in October, too. And my dad passed away six days before his birthday in October last year.

I was dreading October this year, mainly because of the first anniversary of my dad's death. I wasn't sure what it "should" look like and feel like and what we should do. I didn't want to ignore the day and the memories of last year, but I also wanted to celebrate my dad's life and the life we live now and the fact that he's with his Savior for eternity. I wanted to be with my mom and sister and be together in whatever ways we needed, but I also wanted to be alone to process my grief (or truth be told, to try to ignore it sometimes).

This October has been a busy month in our lives, with it being "crunch time" for Daniel and his college applications. We took a trip to Knoxville to tour the UT campus, with neither of us having very high expectations of it being the place for Daniel. We were proven wrong and he actually came away (we both did) with a great impression of the campus and of the music program. This was a surprising twist to Daniel's pursuit and desire to only apply to Belmont University and their School of Music.

On the drive home, it hit me that while I want Daniel to go to whichever school the Lord wills and guides him to, there is some conflict in my heart about the fact that Belmont is in our backyard, so to speak, and UT is two and a half hours away. I know that I don't have much room to talk, since I went over a thousand miles away from my home when I left for college. And with today's technology, it will be a lot easier to stay in touch with Daniel if he ends up at UT. Not that I'd pester him with daily texts or anything. Give me some credit here!

So, there are some of my thoughts from this month. I've been quiet on the blog, but I haven't been in the doldrums all month and have had some fun times with friends and family this month. In fact, I am getting ready to go on a fun trip to Florida and get some R&R on the beach. Not a bad way to end the month, although I do hope that the colorful leaves will still be on the trees in Nashville when I return so I can look at them through my sunglasses and stand in awe again of God's wonderful creation.

Friday Favorites: Apples

I think if I had to choose only one favorite food, it would be apples. I love many other foods and types of foods, but there is just something about a nice, crisp, tart/sweet apple that makes me go, "mmm!" And then there are all of the apple by-products:  apple pie, apple butter, applesauce, and my mom's apple cake. YUM!

A couple of weeks ago, I took my nieces to an apple orchard, mainly to buy some local apples and some apple butter. Sometime, I'll take them to actually pick apples, because that can be fun, too. I also remember going with Daniel's kindergarten class on a field trip to that same apple orchard. You haven't really lived until you have gone on a field trip with a bus load of five-year-olds. We had so much fun that year going on eight different field trips!

Last night I decided to cook up some leftover apple slices that I had in the fridge. I probably could have figured out out on my own, but I got out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and got the right time for microwaving them. I only added cinnamon and once they were cooked, they were just the right thing for my fall taste buds. Of course, a little vanilla ice cream would have put them over the top, but those apples were just fine by themselves.

I could probably go on and on about my love for apples and how I used to decorate my house with apple-y things. We had some friends in Virginia who lived in a farm house and they had a red-and-white checkered floor in their kitchen. I loved that idea and dreamed of decorating my kitchen that way when I grew up. Miss Lenora probably made one of the best apple pies that I've ever tasted, too, except for my own grandmother's pie.

And speaking of apple pie (and then I'll stop, I promise): my Maw-Maw even made me an apple pie for my birthday when I was five years old. She knew how much I loved apple pie and I may have even requested it. We have a picture somewhere of me standing in front of her refrigerator holding my birthday pie with five candles in it.

So, now you want some apples, right? They shouldn't be too hard to find, so go on out and get some!

Sister Saturday: Happy Fall, Ya'll!

I know I'm a couple of days late for a "Sister Saturday" post, but the picture was taken on Saturday! And it was the first day of Fall!

I got to spend the weekend with these sweet girls and one of the things we did together (along with Grandma) was take a little trip down to an apple orchard. I did not have expectations for us to pick apples, only to buy some apples and some apple butter and to enjoy the late afternoon drive. I think those expectations were met and we got to see some pumpkins as a bonus!

I'm usually a "wait until October to get excited about Fall" kind of person, but since the weather has given us a little teaser, I've loosened up on my "rule" and have started drinking pumpkin spiced beverages and hung a Fall wreath on my front door.

In case you can't tell, I love Fall!

A Trip Home: Old Favorites and New Experiences

Happy Friday! Can you believe that I have posted almost every day this week??!! But, sadly, I don't know by the comments whether anything was read. I know this isn't Facebook, but . . . just sayin' (and hinting).

To wind up my posts about my awesome Labor Day trip to NJ/NY, I just wanted to post some random pics of things that I felt compelled to take a picture of for sentimentality's sake. Also, I actually got to do something I had never done before in NY:  I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge! So cool, even with the construction that was being done on the bridge. I highly recommend it if you're ever visiting NYC.

And speaking of visiting NYC, I could easily be swayed/bribed to take small groups of people at a time for personalized tours. I mean, think about it:  how often are you able to go visit a city with someone who grew up there and knows people who are even more familiar with the area? It would be fun!

This is a chain restaurant known for ice cream. The wattmelon roll is significant in our memories, because our friend Lara C. loves watermelon sherbet w/ chocolate sprinkles.

I had to get a pretzel from a street vendor. I had already shared and eaten some of it by the time I took the pic. I don't do mustard on my pretzel.

No trip to NJ is complete without a trip to a diner. We at breakfast at this one in Nutley on Labor Day. I had never been to that one before, but used to frequent diners w/ friends back in high school. I got some yummy French toast.

The beautiful Brooklyn Bridge (looking toward Manhattan).

This is the place in Brooklyn where we ate lunch (pizza) out in that courtyard. Didn't get the name of the place nor did I get pics of the pizza. It was good, though, and we had plenty to take home for supper!

Got to ride the subway several times. Not all of the cars have this, but it's a nice addition to be shown/told what the next stop will be. Helps me look like I know what I'm doing without having to look at the map!

A Trip Home: Remembering Dad

One of the reasons I felt like I "needed" to go to NJ and NY was to help me remember my Dad. It was his job, his calling to ministry in the city and to planting churches, that moved us there. Dad was the one who introduced me to the hustle and bustle of the city and helped me to be able to say, "I "heart" NY."

On Saturday morning of my weekend up there, I got on the DeCamp #33 bus on Broad Street in Bloomfield and rode into Manhattan to meet Randel, my uncle and my dad's youngest brother. The emotions I felt as I rode the bus along Route 3 (up there we pronounce it, "root" not "rowt") and saw the Manhattan skyline and went through the Lincoln Tunnel were very mixed. I was excited, sad, a little nervous. I kept thinking of how my dad would ride the bus almost every weekday to get to and from his office on W. 72nd Street. While I was on the bus, I had the epiphany that one of the reasons I felt so compelled to go to NJ was that I was "looking for" my Dad. That was where I remembered him being young and active and unhindered by Parkinson's Disease. I also realized as I rode into the city that my Dad is not there. But memories of him are all over that place and that made me happy and comforted my heart and soul.

View of the Manhattan skyline from the bus, coming back out of the Lincoln Tunnel

My uncle moved to NY in 1982 to pursue a career in music and while he has had several career changes since then, he has become a New Yorker. When I turned 16, I was allowed to ride the bus into the Port Authority, where Randel was given instructions to meet me as soon as I got off the bus (or got into the main terminal). When Randel and I were talking on the phone prior to my trip, he suggested that we meet at the statue near the ticketing windows that was our old meeting place. And for the record, Randel was about a half hour late, just like he used to be when I was a teenager. It was just like old times!

The meeting place:  these statues have been there for as long as I can remember.

I had asked Randel to take me on the subway to go see where my Dad worked, at the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association. I told myself I'd be content to just walk by the building, but it was very special that we were able to go inside and get a quick tour to see the recent renovations to the six-story building. It was great to be able to reminisce about where my Dad's offices were (for the first few years, his office was a glass cubicle on the 2nd floor and then later he moved up to the 5th floor, to an office with walls and a door and a view of 72nd street).

Street view of the MNYBA building

In the renovated chapel at the MNYBA building, there are canvas prints on two walls with this verse written in the various languages represented at churches in the association.

After we visited the MNYBA building, Randel and I walked around that neighborhood and I quickly saw that things had changed a lot since I was a kid. The Royale Bakery, where my Dad would buy us special "bakery" cookies, is no longer there. The "green grocer" on the corner of 72nd and Broadway is now a several-story building with a Trader Joe's store on the street level. They have added a new subway station at that corner, although the old one is still standing and is in operation.

The "old" subway station at 72nd and Broadway

We walked up Columbus Avenue and onto another side street and found a restaurant with a side-walk cafe where we ate a nice brunch. Then we walked off our frittata and omelet (and potatoes) by going up to W. 80th Street to a specialty grocery store called "Zabar's" that is fun to walk through (very "New York"). We didn't really intend to keep walking all the way back down to the Port Authority at 42nd St. and 8th Ave., but that's what we did. And it was awesome to just walk in the city. It was fun for me to dodge the people on the sidewalk and to see things I remembered and new things that have been built over the years. It was great to just hang out with Randel in the city, like we used to do, and to talk about Dad and remember him together.

Randel bought me a pink New York baseball cap at a souvenir shop near the Port Authority and then took me back to my bus terminal and waited with me until the 4:00 bus got ready to board. As I rode the bus back to NJ and back to my friend's house, I realized that the day had been exactly what I had wanted it to be. And I was happy and content.

A Trip Home: Seeing friends

As I mentioned yesterday, after seven years, it was time for me to take a trip back to where I grew up. Thankfully, several of my friends still live in the general area and we have stayed connected or have reconnected via Facebook. One of the reasons for the trip, and one of the highlights of the trip, was to get to have a mini-reunion with some of these friends.

Friends since 5th grade

My friend Nicolette and I met in homeroom in the fifth grade. My last name, Ryals, was right before hers, Salerno, on the roll, so we essentially sat next to each other for most of the next eight years in class. We were in the marching band together. We endured some of the same classes and teachers and homework and the joys and heartaches of growing up. After we went to college and got married, we ended up having baby boys just a couple of months apart.

Elizabeth, Nicolette and Ryan

Nicolette, Bill, Ryan and Elizabeth live about three miles from the house where I grew up. Their backyard borders a large park where we'd go for picnics and to play. A block away from their house is an ice cream and confectioners shop where my dad would buy treats to bring home to us on special holidays. It was so cool to be able to stay at their house and to be so close to many familiar things from my childhood.

The house where I grew up

On Sunday while I was there, Nicolette and I drove out to western New Jersey to the home of another friend from high school (and middle school), Deborah. She and her family welcomed us into their home and it was fun to meet her husband and four kids and to sit around their table reminiscing about our years together in the 80s and catching up on what we'd been doing since graduation. I hadn't seen Deb since 1985.

Sue, Me, Deborah, and Nicolette

Also with us on Sunday was Sue, my very first friend in Glen Ridge. We moved there in March of my first grade year, so everyone pretty much had formed friendships and knew each other. Sue and a guy named Sean, came up to me on the playground at Central School and offered to be my friend. I remember that we were pretty much the "three muskateers" for the remainder of elementary school. We drifted apart through the years, but through Facebook, Sue and I reconnected and it's been great to hear about her daughters and to see what life has been for us over the years.

Elaine, Me and Nicolette

One more friend we reconnected with was Elaine, who lives in Brooklyn and is a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge after we visited the 9-11 memorial and got to spend a few hours catching up with Elaine. Again, I hadn't seen her since high school graduation.

There were some other friends who it would have been nice to see, but it didn't work out for this trip. That just means that I'll need to make another trip up there, hopefully sooner than seven years from now!