Thanksgiving in Vermont

We hope that this note finds you all well - and FULL - this Thanksgiving weekend!

We arrived in Dorset, VT with grandma in tow on Wednesday night, and made sure that Thursday consisted of nothing but food, food, family and food. I'm shocked not one of us thought to turn on the TV to watch the parade or football, but we had fun! The night ended with a few slide reels of old McClarran family photos, and as I type this, we're continuing to make our way through the boxes the next night.

Gary and I got up for a five-mile hike at Lye Brook Falls this morning. An easy one for Bromley in his arthritic old age, yet a very rewarding destination point at the waterfalls. Had the new camera in tow the whole way!

We met the fam - Mom, Grandma & Aunt Cheryl - up at a craft fair in Poultney after that, and later returned for some shopping in Manchester Center. I know I've written about the Northshire Bookstore before, but I uber-highly recommend it to anyone traveling through.

Meanwhile... My parents made it to New Mexico for Thanksgiving in the RV, and are currently already in Arizona. Sounds like they're having the same weather we're having up here in the mountains - spits of snow and brrrr!

Happy Holidays & Leftovers to all!

Gobble Gobble

Well well well... I seem to have survived the latest work marathon, and yet am still at the computer. I hope this time that someone actually read the work I did today, but that's just part of the biz if they didn't.

Yep, Sunday s t u n k . But I had an incredible Saturday day-trip up to Vermont for a farmer's market, a hike through Jamaica State Park, and a fabulous dinner at L.A. Burdicks in Walpole, NH. The day was spent in the wonderful company of my colleague and friend, Jessica, her husband Gordon, their dog Porter, and my new friends Michaela and pup Atlas. That's the kind of day that gets you through the week prior and then helps you cope with a 18-hour work day on Sunday. Thanks guys!

Gary wasn't with us, but he did provide me a present to come home to at 1am:

Tub #2 at the Hedman household has officially been torn out. Very exciting, since our tubs were various shades of pinks and caulked together with all the skill of a blind pastry chef. He has many big plans for winter home/yard improvements, so who knows when we'll have another tub installed, but we're both just happier not to see it there.

So this week is Thanksgiving! Hard to believe it, but since the snow has been kicking in and the ski hats are out, I'm kind of excited for winter. We'll soon be gliding down the slopes of Bromley and Sugarbush, and hopefully beyond!

We're off to Vermont to enjoy time with family. Wherever you find yourself, have a very happy Gobble Gobble!

Till next time.

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Red Cup Season

So we had a great weekend with my parents, spending time together and celebrating the holidays. They’re officially off on their adventure and will even be attempting to BLOG about it!

It was actually quite festive and hilarious to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas when no one else was. I decked myself out in red and green, and we even played Christmas tunes. Not to mention we got to eat turkey, stuffing and cranberry bread – among other things – two weeks early!

The day before, we drove out to Chatham to check out the storm damage from Hurricane Noel and visit an awesome antique map store called Maps of Antiquity. If you’re ever looking for an old map of anywhere in the world, call them up. My dad, being a seventh-generation Cape Codder, got to find his family name all over the Sandwich maps from the early 1800s. Gary and I have an old nautical map of our favorite area around Sandy Neck and Barnstable Harbor on our wall at home.

In the rest of life, it sounds like cousin/honorary sister Kate is pushing through vet school with stellar grades, and we’re psyched for her to have her boyfriend and mom as guests lately. It will be great to have her back in the States for the holidays! Gary’s starting to think about winterizing the boat, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries rinsing it off in the ocean one more time this weekend. We’re also heading off for a day in Vermont – some much needed hiking and outdoors time for me, and some good food and photography with new friends!

Lastly, a whopping big CONGRATS goes out to Nancy and Brian who just welcomed a baby boy, Patrick Sean, into their lives this weekend! Pete and Ashley will be meeting their baby girl tomorrow hopefully! We wish you the very best in these exciting miracles!

It's Christmas!

Okay, so for most of you, it's not. But for us... this weekend is going to go something like this:

Friday night: last-minute Christmas shopping for a few more essentials, wouldn't be Christmas otherwise

Saturday: Christmas Eve, time with family, we're actually planning to head out to Chatham and Brewster

Sunday: Thanksgiving followed by Christmas

Yep, that's the way it goes when Ma & Pa Foster decide to take off for a three-month RV trip around the country! Very exciting for them... the end goal is that they're going to decorate the floats for the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, CA in January. Let's see if we can get them to blog about it!

(Now if only Starbucks could start serving with red cups sooner...)

In other exciting news... here's a photo of my folks watching Gary saw down what was left of the beloved weeping willow tree after the big storm hit the Cape this weekend: