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November 19, 2003
November 19, 2004
O.k., I had no idea so much time had gone by since my last entry. A MONTH?! No wonder no one reads this thing, LOL.
I had planned on writing about why I love the fall so much, but that doesn’t really make sense at this point. We weren’t able to do a road trip to see the fall colors like we did last year, but we DID drive up to Tarry Town/Sleepy Hollow (as in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”) to go to a Pumpkin Patch a few days before Halloween, so I almost got my fill of fresh air and brilliant leaves then. We also trekked up to Central Park to try and get some pics of Aidan like we did last year, but a) we went 2 weeks later than last year, and there were far less leaves on the trees and b) we went WAY too late in the day and it got dark before we could get any good pictures. I know this may sound crazy, but seeing the trees turn such brilliant colors, and feeling the crisp air of the fall after sweltering through the summer, it speaks to my SOUL. You can’t wipe the smile off my face when I can step outside and don’t feel like I’m going to sweat or freeze to death. It’s part of the reason why I would love to be due when it’s cool or cold outside … I feel SO GOOD in the fall and winter!
Halloween 2004
As I mentioned before, a few days before Halloween, we made a trip up to Sleepy Hollow to pick some pumpkins and TRY to see some fall colors before it was too late. Courtney and H. came with us, and we all piled into our friends the S.’s minivan, which they were kind enough to let us borrow. The trip up was quick and easy, and we saw downtown Yonkers, which I have always wondered about after seeing the play “Lost in Yonkers” when I was in High School. Anyhow, after grabbing lunch in Sleepy Hollow, which I would LOVE to see on Halloween when Aidan gets older (the town goes ALL OUT b/c of the historic link to the famous spooky book), we got directions to a local Pumpkin Patch. It turned out to be a really nice place, even if the pumpkins were pretty picked through and not the right size for carving easily. Still, we got some REALLY cute pictures of Aidan and H. on piles of pumpkins and bales of hay, as well as some really nice ones of Toby and I with Aidan in a wheelbarrow (the background of a farm and blazing trees was perfect).
This particular Pumpkin Patch is also an apple orchard where you can go out and pick apples, so we’d like to go back again and try that out sometime. Who knows? Maybe I’ll try and make an apple pie. Bwahahahaha! Ahem. They had a huge produce store with tons of fresh apples and pumpkin products, as well as fresh homemade apple cider and doughnuts, so after picking out our pumpkins, we sat down to munch and sip on our yummy treats before heading home. It was perfect, despite the freakishly large rooster that was eyeing our doughnuts from two feet away. It was creeping Toby and Courtney out, but I thought the rooster was beautiful with its black and white feathers. It DID have huge claws though, so I understand why they were nervous, especially with the kids so close to him.
[On a side note: I’ve never read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, but I just looked it up on the Internet, and it’s REALLY cool to read about Tarry Town, where the book is set, after having been through the beautiful, quaint little town two years in a row right before Halloween. The author of the book, Washington Irving was from the area I guess, or at least was VERY familiar with the area, as even the little bit I wrote mentions the Hudson River and other geographical sites in the area. It seems to be a short book, so I’ll have to read it sometime, and like I said before, the town goes absolutely crazy for Halloween, with pirate ships and floating ghosts on the river and even the headless horseman being played out exactly as it’s written in the book. Fascinating, I think. And FREAKY!]
This year, Aidan was a bumble bee for Halloween. It took me FOREVER to decide, not because I didn’t start looking early enough, but b/ c I couldn’t find anything I thought he would like. We WANTED to find him a horse costume, b/c of his recent obsession with all things equestrian, but nothing was cheap enough or looked comfortable enough to wear for a couple of hours. My SIL finally helped me decide when she decided to make H. a ladybug. I knew there were TONS of bumble bee costumes out there, and thought our two little bugs would look cute together. My mom ended up shipping the costume out to us, and it turned out great. Aidan fussed while we put him in it until he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and then he was quite taken with himself (vanity, thy name is Aidan!).
Halloween day was pretty busy, as we had church in the morning, which doesn’t get out until late by the time we’re all finished breaking everything down and loading the vans up (we meet in a local Middle School, so we have to set up and take down every week).
The day was even MORE busy b/c Toby and I decided to host the 1st Annual Kurth Pumpkin Carving Contest after church. We ordered pizza and invited all of our friends from church over to hang out and carve pumpkins. There were about 20+ people, and we had a BLAST. Our church is full of VERY gifted artistic people (lots of musicians studying at Juilliard and more than a few artists and clothing designers), so the pumpkins turned out pretty amazing, I thought. It was great to spend more time with our church family, and we’re DEFINITELY going to do it again next year.
After everyone left, we hopped on the subway (where we got some cute pics of Aidan in his costume in his stroller while careening through the “tube”), and got to Courtney and J-P’s place in time for the Halloween party their building was throwing. H. thought Aidan looked great in his costume, and I somehow snapped a picture that captured her adoring her big cousin perfectly. Aidan immediately chowed down on a candy treat and we hung out for a little bit chatting with their neighbors before heading upstairs to get some pictures of the cousins together and sip a glass of wine while the kids played and ate a few more pieces of candy. While I wished we had had the time to take Aidan door-to-door, so that he could REALLY trick-or-treat (he totally knew what to do this year, after all!), it was a pretty fun day and it makes me look forward to next year all the more.
Getting Ready for Company …
The day after tomorrow, some of our best friends from San Diego are arriving for a much-anticipated visit. Jamie and I were pg at the same time, and her daughter Jada was probably Aidan’s first real friend. We’ve been asking them since we moved last year to come and see us, and this past summer Benjie called and asked if it would be o.k. for them to come over Thanksgiving. We couldn’t say YES fast enough, and both of our families have been on countdown ever since. It’s going to be GREAT to have them with us for Thanksgiving, and it’s an awesome time for them to see NYC, as the City really pulls out the stops for the Holidays.
Anyhow, I decided a while ago to use their arrival as the deadline for FINALLY getting our downstairs room in order. (I should mention that this 500 sq. ft. room functions as our bedroom, as well as Aidan’s and has a semi-walk-in closet, half-bath and laundry room attached to it). Our closet has been an absolute disaster forever, and I knew there was no way to keep it off limits for a whole week. Besides, I was so sick of living in clutter and disorder and I was finally ready to take this monstrous task on. So, for the past month I’ve been cleaning and organizing our bedroom, little by little.
I have to say, it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be. Going through all of our clothes and deciding what to keep, what to put away in storage for warmer weather and what to give to the Salvation Army has been really time consuming for sure, but not as frustrating as I had expected. At the end of it all, we’ve come away with two large trash bags FULL of clothes (mostly mine), and one bag of barely-used shoes to donate. It will be SO great to finally be cleansed of all that EXCESS that we don’t need and haven’t worn in ages.
Still, you know how things get waaay worse before they get better when you’re cleaning/organizing? That has definitely been the case here, and it’s almost driven me batty at times. I’ve had a mantra of “It’s going to get better. You’re making progress” running through my head this month. Toby has also been especially kind, helping me out when he can and telling me how great everything looks, which isn’t true but will be as of tomorrow.
The house is still pretty darn messy as I type this, but all of the organizing is almost completely finished, and tomorrow will be dedicated to finally deep-cleaning everything before our guests arrival. I have the feeling we’ll be working all day tomorrow and into the night, but it will get done, come hell or high water! And for once, we won’t be throwing everything into the closets/desk drawers/oven/cabinets and hoping nothing falls out and our guests don’t look too closely. FINALLY, everything will be in it’s rightful, PERMANENT place. Except for our upstairs closet. But that’s next month’s project. =)
Looking forward to Thanksgiving …
So, what are your plans for Thanksgiving? I hope you’ll let me know on my TTM board. We’re going to spend it with our friends the W.’s, at Court and J-P and my niece, H’s BEAUTIFUL new apartment. They now live directly across the street from the Park in a great neighborhood and lovely building. I won’t bore you with all the details of their new home, but my two favorite things are the bathrooms, which remind me of a really nice Hotel, and their ROOFTOP! It has a full view of the Park in one direction, and in the other direction is the Manhattan skyline. It is to die for, I tell you. Beautiful!
Anyhow, we’ll be with the W’s and my SIL’s family for Thanksgiving day, and the evening before our church is also having a Thanksgiving meal at our senior pastor’s home. I think it will be great to spend time together with our church family and enjoy a delicious meal together before everyone head’s off to their homes. Courtney commented that a turkey dinner two night’s in a row might be too much, but I can never get enough mashed potatoes and gravy or stuffing! Besides, I don’t like turkey very much (gasp!), so I won’t eat any on Wednesday. More room for pie! I’m still trying to figure out how to transport the food that Toby and I are going to prepare for Thursday from our place to theirs (the thought of taking it on the subway kind of grosses me out), so I’m sure I’ll have quite a story to share about THAT next time. ;)
One thing we might do with the W.’s, depending on how late we stay at the church dinner, is go to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloons get blown up. It’s an exciting annual tradition for many NY families, with kids of all ages lining the streets, clutching hot chocolate or warm cider to watch the balloons slowly take shape right outside the Museum of Natural History across the street from Central Park. We wanted to go last year, but our place on Long Island was too far away. I’m hoping we can catch some of it this year, especially because all of the kids will be old enough to really get a kick out of it, myself included!
I’m not exactly sure what else we’re going to do with the W’s while they’re here, but I know it’s going to be fun! I guess it’s obvious that I love NYC, and one of my favorite things to do is show friends and family around our new City. There’s so much to do, and so much to see and so much to EAT! So, combine my love for showing this City to friends with the fact that Thanksgiving is my very favorite Holiday of the year, and I’ve got an awesome, spectacular, delicious, special, heart-warming, jump-up-and-down-I-can’t-hardly-wait week up ahead of me. Yippee!! =)
God bless all of you and your dear families, and may you have a blessed and very HAPPY Thanksgiving.
Very Thankfully Yours,
Rebekah and family
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