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| A farm right by my house. |
Since coming home, I have been so busy it's been hard to go through the normal period of post-vacation blues. Berkeley inspired me and I have been working diligently on my MFA applications. I've also been writing up a storm for the Observer, though I have to say, that has not been with quite the same enthusiasm. The cold weather has made me think it's holiday time and that makes me think "vacation - no work!" Alas, I never get a week off from my many columns, which are really the tiresome part because I quite enjoy the stories.
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| The fields of gold in Ballantyne. |
I've also been spending a lot of time with some new friends - Rachel and Tim. Rachel recently moved down to Charlotte from Ohio and found me through CouchSurfing. She is a nurse on the same floor with my friend Bethany and lives in the same building on the same floor as my friend Amanda! Such a small world. Anyway, she also reached out to a couple other CouchSurfers including Tim who is an engineer and lives in Belmont. She thought we'd get along well, so we all cooked dinner and played games one night at her house and she was right. They are both such fun and interesting people and their presence in my life since returning from Ca. has been so bright and cheerful. Rachel actually took a silk aerial class with me and really enjoyed it so she has signed up to start taking classes too. That made me super happy! ;) A week or so ago, Tim and I went to go see "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at Theater Charlotte (a live performance) which was quite impressive. The actors really imitated all the weird quirks of the mad-house patients and it was just very well done.
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| Nicole and Matthew having a leaf fight. |
Also since I've been back, I helped lead a dance club at Quail Hollow Middle School through my church. Each month, we go to the school (which is a high-poverty school) and feed any students and families that come dinner, then offer clubs for the kids, day care for younger siblings and classes for the parents (on things like finances or computers etc.). The dance club is being co-lead by a former Bobcat girl and me. The kids really enjoyed it and said they wished we had it every week. Next semester, we'll move to twice a month instead of once. I shared my love for salsa with 35 sixth through eight graders and they were all very receptive to the lesson.
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| Matthew is trying to climb a tree...in socks. |
The fall colors have really been amazing in Charlotte the past couple weeks. I have literally pulled over on the side of the road to photograph some of the scenes around me. A couple days ago, as I drove through Ballantyne, I noticed all these trees with bright yellow leaves. The trees were still yellow, but the ground also had a good dose of gold and I thought "what a fabulous place to take pictures!" Of course at the time I was on my way to somewhere else and couldn't stop. I thought "next year." But this weekend I'm babysitting for a family who lives in the Ballantyne area (I've been watching them since the girl was 1 and the boy was not yet born and now they are 12 and 14!!!). So anyway, the kids and I are driving through Ballantyne and about to get lunch and I decide we are going to have an alfresco lunch under the gold trees! (I should mention, they were not exactly thrilled about this prospect, as it was a high of 50 today). However, once we got there, their minds were changed. We took our Panera food and perched under a tree and Matthew was like "I've never eaten under a tree before." I told him, "Then this should be the most memorable lunch you've ever had!" It was sort of like a treasure trove in the middle of the city - truly feeling like a magical world.
After eating, the kids and I took many photos playing in the leaves and had a right good time. I should do spontaneous things like such more often.
Thanksgiving is in a few days, and I'm very happy - it is my favorite holiday I think. You have all the decorations of Christmas (well, many people do), you have Christmas music on the radio, amazing food and the whole family gets together. It is the one holiday where big family dinners are a must-have. Christmas always ends up being just the nuclear family, and maybe a somewhat larger gathering later. But Thanksgiving, there is no choice. All relatives in a nearby vicinity (and sometimes not) must gather. This year, the show "Brothers and Sisters" was canceled. But I think my family should try out for a real-life version. Family dinners with my family are loud, laughing, raucous events where everyone is eating delicious food, kids are running and playing, jokes are being relayed; and after dinner, we bust out the board games. It just doesn't get better than that! The only sad part about this Thanksgiving is that I won't get to see any of my Bailey side of the family. Uncle David and Aunt Margie will be up in Williamsburg with their youngest sons, and the older two are staying in Florida, as is Grandma Bailey, Uncle John, Uncle Ben and Uncle Andy. We used to always go down to Tallahassee for Thanksgiving, so I miss that.
I guess I should get back to work on applications since the kids are playing with friends. I have five more to submit and then I have to send in paper components for some of them, but I'm close to done!
The fall colors have really been amazing in Charlotte the past couple weeks. I have literally pulled over on the side of the road to photograph some of the scenes around me. A couple days ago, as I drove through Ballantyne, I noticed all these trees with bright yellow leaves. The trees were still yellow, but the ground also had a good dose of gold and I thought "what a fabulous place to take pictures!" Of course at the time I was on my way to somewhere else and couldn't stop. I thought "next year." But this weekend I'm babysitting for a family who lives in the Ballantyne area (I've been watching them since the girl was 1 and the boy was not yet born and now they are 12 and 14!!!). So anyway, the kids and I are driving through Ballantyne and about to get lunch and I decide we are going to have an alfresco lunch under the gold trees! (I should mention, they were not exactly thrilled about this prospect, as it was a high of 50 today). However, once we got there, their minds were changed. We took our Panera food and perched under a tree and Matthew was like "I've never eaten under a tree before." I told him, "Then this should be the most memorable lunch you've ever had!" It was sort of like a treasure trove in the middle of the city - truly feeling like a magical world. 
Thanksgiving is in a few days, and I'm very happy - it is my favorite holiday I think. You have all the decorations of Christmas (well, many people do), you have Christmas music on the radio, amazing food and the whole family gets together. It is the one holiday where big family dinners are a must-have. Christmas always ends up being just the nuclear family, and maybe a somewhat larger gathering later. But Thanksgiving, there is no choice. All relatives in a nearby vicinity (and sometimes not) must gather. This year, the show "Brothers and Sisters" was canceled. But I think my family should try out for a real-life version. Family dinners with my family are loud, laughing, raucous events where everyone is eating delicious food, kids are running and playing, jokes are being relayed; and after dinner, we bust out the board games. It just doesn't get better than that! The only sad part about this Thanksgiving is that I won't get to see any of my Bailey side of the family. Uncle David and Aunt Margie will be up in Williamsburg with their youngest sons, and the older two are staying in Florida, as is Grandma Bailey, Uncle John, Uncle Ben and Uncle Andy. We used to always go down to Tallahassee for Thanksgiving, so I miss that. 
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