Re-Cap and Updates

Well, I made it through. Thanksgiving is over and the one day of total overeating is done. I kept holding on to the thought, make smart choices. I took only the foods I love and that represent Thanksgiving to me, the sweet potato casserole, the stuffing, turkey, gravy etc... and left behind the foods I was rather impassioned about, the jello salad, the green beans in cream sauce with fried onions on top, and believe it or not, pumpkin pie. That tactic seemed to work for me, I walked away happy knowing I got a wonderful meal and didn't totally kill myself. We went to The Husband's family's house for dinner, with about 30 or so people, so there weren't any left overs to take, so I don't even have those in the fridge calling my name. Seems I got through this ok. Now all the holiday parties and gifts that start rolling into the office for the next month. Oh, lordy, lordy, lordy... help.

I'm obviously back from vacation. It was a week without any news, any phone calls, emails, TV, or really any contact from the outside world. I checked in only once to write a super short post, but other than that, nada, nothing, zilch. It was however a week of walks on the beach, reading books, relaxing, pool time, naps and total bliss. It was nice to just disconnect for a while.

While there, the fire here was burning and it was a bit weird not knowing what was happening. Were the friend that evacuated from their house still living at ours? Was my Mom and her husband's house still in tact or were they going to be heading home only to find themselves homeless? It felt a bit awkward to be living in two separate worlds. One full of only the decadence that vacations can bring and the other one of reality, the one we left behind. Luckily for us, those friend and family were safe. Others friends, not so.

The fire is out. The damage by the numbers is about 2000 acres burned and 230 homes lost. The area still smells like a burned out BBQ pit and the rain (!) that came on Wednesday caused many of the homeowners, who were lucky enough to escape that disaster, to be evacuated again, due to the fear of flash floods. What a couple of weeks for them and I wish them all well.