October was a good month overall! I got lots of granddaughter time, we settled even further into our new home, we became increasingly connected with our new community, and we finally found time to start branching out and exploring new activities and restaurants.
- First non-family entertaining event, a dinner party for our book club that included these Chipotle chicken kebobs with cilantro lime dipping sauce, this Southwest black bean and corn salad and this delicious Trader Joe's ready-made pumpkin cheesecake (I cheated and bought dessert because I ran out of time!).
- Cleared out 70 emails ( yep, even in retirement!), plus packed and prepped house for our trip tomorrow.
- Flew to Metro-DC to visit our granddaughter, arriving after her bedtime, boo hoo.
- Speaking of 'boo's' had a marvelous day with our girl visiting Burke Nursery Farm & Pumpkin Patch, taking their spooky hay wagon ride not once, but two times (our girl is so brave! 😊 )
- Our girl went to preschool today, so we snagged same day tickets to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC, followed by lunch with some visiting friends, Peter and Kathy, at one of Jose Andres' DC restaurants, Oyamel, where we enjoyed great food, but, unfortunately not great service.
- Took our girl to two more play parks, plus another pumpkin farm, because a tired-out toddler is a happy toddler!
- Apple picking at Great Country Farms in Bluemont, Virginia,
plus a little wine tasting for the adults at adjacent Bluemont Winery.
- Spiritual services in Mount Vernon which included lunch and a seminar on working to improve race relations, an unplanned, impossible-to-resist stop for new toys, then we watched our girl for the evening while mom and dad enjoyed a night out on the town in DC.
- Our girl again went to preschool, so we sat around all day and read on a rainy Autumn day.
- Took our girl to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD and had a BLAST!
- Our girl is 3 years old!!!
- Flew home, talking about our girl during the entire flight (😊), did grocery shopping, enjoyed wine in our backyard, then fell into bed exhausted at the ripe ole hour of 7:30 PM!
- Unpacked, did laundry, repacked, then left for a weekend couples retreat, nicely nearby at least.
- Wonderful day listening and learning about all things pertaining to coupleness.
- Home just in time to prepare slow cook pork ribs for an at-home dinner date with our oldest daughter, who sweetly brought cupcakes to celebrate my birthday, which occurred earlier this month while we were visiting the East Coast.
- Had custom roller shades installed on our view facing windows,
Now you see them . . .
then a very robust discussion with our non-fiction book club about this month's read, The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria.
. . . now you don't! - Early morning four mile race walk with hubby, lunch with my monthly ladies group, then a rockin' Halloween celebration with our fellow Ocean Institute volunteers .
- Gym and grocery shopping in the AM, then, woo hoo, a VIP reception at a yacht club to kick off the 2017/2018 season of the Dana Point Philharmonic - our season tickets were a modest $60, but if that gets us a VIP invite we'll take it!
I don't think I really realized how many boats are moored here! - New hairdo!
- Spanish class in the AM, then an afternoon shift at the Ocean Institute, where I discovered this enormous guy near one of our sailing ships.
- A pain-free four mile run in the morning, then I cooked myself silly getting ready for a dinner party we were hosting in the evening, including this brag-worthy lemon tart!
- A gorgeous coastal fall afternoon spent shadowing a docent at several Laguna and Newport Beach tidepools, which including some actual docent work myself, as my instructor gently handed over the ropes about midway through . . . scary!
- Puttered around the house sweeping, doing laundry and going through files, then off to a tidepool volunteer appreciation event in this gorgeous backyard on a balmy fall evening.
- Attended a class on Chinese Culture via my Lifelong Learning program, then an Oktoberfest event that involved pairing traditional German food with a variety of wines.
- Spent the morning practicing how to put together our new inflatable kayak - success!- then a stimulating lecture at Soka University titled 'Journalism Under Fire.'
- We took our kayak over to Dana Point Harbor, and yeah, it didn't sink!
- So, so tired and no clue why!
- A very foggy morning, late morning walk under blue skies, and then a Fall Harvest Festival at our spiritual congregation, featuring chili, baked potatoes and three kinds of corn muffins.
- Hiked the San Clemente Beach Trail with my girlfriend Mary under cloudy skies, followed by a farewell lunch (she's moving to Singapore!) at the fun and casual Ellie's Table , then a relaxing rest of the day at home before getting cleaned up for date night with my hubby at Tortilla Republic in Laguna Beach, including, yum, Passion Chipotle Sangria!
- New bed delivery for our second master bedroom, meaning we are officially open for overnight guests!
Lots of decorating still needs to be done, including sheets! - Second class on Chinese Culture at our Lifelong Learning program, a docent shift at one of our local tidepools where I discovered and happily watched a two spotted octopus for hours, then a Happy Halloween to the paltry two kiddos that came by the house!
The little slice of paradise where I volunteer!
