So, I'm back with my monthly sentences after an absence of a few months. It was a loooong summer, what with our ongoing yard construction, and as a result, I just didn't feel like blogging my daily activities because so many of them were affected by the stress of our project. Honestly, I was more focused on simply surviving what seemed to be the never-ending ordeal of finishing up our front and backyard without alienating everyone on the street . . . bright yellow outhouse anyone?
However, we are almost to the finish line and the outhouse is now long gone. I feel like I'm forward facing for the first time this year, and excited to be back on board with the Sentence A Day crew!
(And P.S. - Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to see who else is participating,
and to visit their blogs for additional Sentence A Day inspiration!)
October In A Sentence A Month
1. Started the month with a dreadful case of the blahs so accomplished pretty much nada.
2. Still had the blahs, so I curled up on the sofa and spent the day reading.
3. Enjoyed a group hike through the beaches of Dana Point, followed by lunch together at Coffee Importers in Dana Point Harbor . . . best bagels ever!
4. Termite inspection and spot treatment (a constant issue here along the coast), then a fun night out with some gal-pals enjoying the Laguna Beach First Thursday Art Walk, where I fell in love with this oil painting:
5. Couples retreat weekend, an annual event with our spiritual congregation.
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| The art gallery was closed, so I took a photo of the painting from outside. |
5. Couples retreat weekend, an annual event with our spiritual congregation.
6. Left the retreat to attend a daylong Sierra Club leadership training class, then dashed back afterward to rejoin hubby for the evening events.
7. Last day of the couples retreat, then returned home and enjoyed dinner together at Brick in San Clemente (check another off my Top 75 In OC list 
), with two thumbs up for the glasses of excellent Chianti we enjoyed along with our wood fired pizza.
), with two thumbs up for the glasses of excellent Chianti we enjoyed along with our wood fired pizza.
8. Seven mile ridge hike with my hubby, attended Spanish class, then a new book club meeting where we discussed In The Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea, a charming and poignant story about a group of teenage girls determined to bring back the men to their Mexican town.
9. Enjoyed a seven mile hilly hike with a new group of folk, including one 80 year old gal that hiked so fast I had to run to keep up, then a group lunch with everyone afterward, which we much enjoyed.
10. Attended a talk by the League of Women Voters, which went over all of the various propositions on our upcoming November California Ballots . . . there's a lot of them!
11. Appointments with our financial planner and our hairstylist, both in our old town, which after 15 months no longer feels like home, yeah!
12. Lunch with one of my favorite gal pals at her wonderful new home just steps from the beach in Corona Del Mar, plus lunch together at Rose Bakery Cafe including one of their unbelievably delicious mini-coconut cakes.
13. Did laundry, packed for our upcoming trip to Japan, made delicious stuffed portobello mushrooms for dinner, then headed out to attend the musical 'Beautiful,' the story of singer Carole King's life, only to experience the thrill of my life when she walked out onto the stage during the final curtain call, joining in on the encore song, I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet , and demonstrating that she still has her chops and then some!
14. Cooked my heart out for our quarterly book club dinner, being hosted here, positively swooning over these Barefoot Contessa raspberry & almond crumble bars, which I served with small glasses of Amaretto . . . yummy!
15. Our backyard staircase finally got delivered, plus hubby and I went on a seven mile hike, and I attended Spanish class.
16. We're off to Tokyo, Japan!
17. Landed late in the afternoon at Narita Airport, where our tour shuttle was waiting to whisk us off to our Tokyo hotel, the Keio Plaza, where we dropped our luggage and went for a walk before joining our fellow travelers for a beautiful Kaisaki welcome dinner.
18. Tokyo sightseeing, and there was so much to see - Shinjuku Temple, the Imperial Palace, Asakusa Kannon Temple, historic Nakamise and trendy Takeshita shopping promenades, and a trip up to the top of the Tokyo Observatory.
19. Drove toward Mt. Fuji, hidden behind clouds unfortunately, but a wonderful day was still had visiting the breathtaking Itchiku Kubota Kimono Art Museum, Hokone National Park's sulfur vents via gondola, and Lake Ashi by boat, before enjoying a rousing chorus of group Karoake on the way back.
20. Enjoyed the Tsukuji Fish Market, including samples of fresh ahi, a sushi making class, shopping and people watching in the glamorous Ginza District, then a tour through the very busy, but somewhat odd, Akihabra electronic district - think thousands of young men wandering in and out of gaming, anime and electronic stores in a bit of a glaze, not to mention the scantily dressed 'Kitty girls' waving to the crowds.
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| Made by hand . . . mine! |
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| Overlooking the thatched-roof village of Shirakawa. |
23. Another no-clothes (!) hot spa bath to start the day, then to the Takayama Morning market where we sampled raw beef sushi and sake-from-a-cedar-cup, before boarding another bullet train, this time bound for Kyoto.
24. Full day of Kyoto sightseeing, after which we about dropped dead of exhaustion - Kiyomizu Temple, Sannen-zaka and Ninen-zaka promenades, Kodai-ji Temple and Garden, a zen meditation lesson, a tea ceremony, and a visit to Heian Shrine.
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| Hubby with our zen teacher, a Buddhist monk of 10+ years. |
25. Another full day of Kyoto sightseeing, after which we did drop dead of exhaustion - Arashiyama bamboo forest, a ride on a rickshaw, Kinkaku Ji Temple, aka the Golden Pavilion, Ryoan-ji Temple, Nijo Castle, and Kimona dressing up at a traditional Kyoto-style home.
28. Slept 11 hours straight (!), unpacked, grocery shopped, then attended a performance of Dvorak's The New World Symphony by the Pacific Symphony, the same chosen by Neil Armstrong to take along on his voyage to the moon in 1969 on Apollo 11.
29. Awake until 3:30 AM (thank you jetlag!), so I slept in late, meaning I missed two before-lunch events, however I did manage to attend an evening training session to become a volunteer at a nearby cultural arts center.
30. First hike since returning home, seven miles of rolling hills, plus new boots and booties shopping!
31. Happy Halloween, which we celebrated at Laguna Beach's Pageant of the Monsters . . . so fun!
31. Happy Halloween, which we celebrated at Laguna Beach's Pageant of the Monsters . . . so fun!
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And so went the month of October! How did your month go? Please share your highlights (or lowlights!) below.
