wishing our loved ones all the best in 2024!
here's what happened in 2023, in short!
january
recovering from covid took more time than I anticipated it would. and returning to work right away probably wasn't the best choice, but it was necessary. luckily I had the option of taking the train, so that lightened the load of the emotional toll that driving takes on me, especially in the horrible winter weather we had. Janet and I had a rollicking good time watching The Play That Goes Wrong. and I went to see a fellow cast mate from 1776 playing my part in Assassins! as part of my "recovery" of staying in and resting, I watched several webinars on historical subjects from the White House and Capitol Historical Societies. and, to start off our garden right, I planted a Disneyland Rose tree to enhance our back yard.
february
unpacking netted me some of my favorite cooking tools, so I amped up my food prep activities to the next level. kind of like our favorite shuffle chef who made it to the top in the Chef Gordon Next Level competition!
march
wild weather, but luckily our home withstood the barrage. driving in it for work however was terrifying. and it didn't help that my car battery died when I was on the road home with a load of cold groceries. luckily I got the best tow truck driver ever, and the dealership didn't try to rob me when making the repair. I went to see the historical rock opera SIX in San Francisco! it was fantastic!! I did a lot of fancy cooking, twice with shuffle chefs, and once when I pulled out my Julia Child books and made her mustard leg of lamb. at work it was the end of an era when the last of the three founders passed away. on my weekly trip to headquarters, I made special effort to wander the halls and museum, and take memento pictures of his legacy.
april
started the month driving into the city to see one of my Grand Hotel cast mates in another show I've performed in, Merrily We Roll Along. made major progress in upgrading the backyard by installing a raised bed garden around the perimeter, and a putting green across the rest of the space. the Disneyland Rose was in full bud, and would be blooming very soon! Easter weekend we spent hours planting lots of flowering plants and fruit and veggies. for Easter, we splurged and got a spiral cut ham from that famous vendor who has a shop a couple miles from our home! did a cooking class with our favorite shuffle chef, and with our cafe chef at work! I can pick up ingredients from the cafe before the class, or source myself. while Craig was golfing, I went to the movie theater to see a new movie, Chevalier, which was such an epic historical production. for our admins day surprise, our CEO popped into our site gathering for a short inspirational talk and selfies. good thing I drove to headquarters instead of watching from home!
may
our garden managed to survive a hailstorm that hit when Craig was home but I was driving home from the Folsom office! nothing like driving around with lightning, thunder and blinding hail with people who don't know how to drive in it! my usual first Saturday in May activity was boosted by having a coronation occur earlier in the day. I got up at 1:30, so I could shower, dress up, and make my Buckingham Palace cuppa tea before the hours-long, once in a lifetime event! and the race honored the Big Red horse that made history 50 years before; it was a pretty epic day! the next day I went to see a production of Newsies, helmed by one of "my kids" from our theater, all grown up and leading the next theater generation. we had lunch afterward with his fiancee and talked over old times and all the shows we did together. managed to catch a bug somewhere in my travels - luckily not covid - but it knocked me out for several days before and right into mothers day. luckily Craig had already planned to cook dinner, and made leg of lamb. during Craig's annual Palm Springs boys golf outing, I went to see Riverdance at the beautiful theater in Modesto! then I saw the current touring company production of 1776 in the big Center in San Jose. on this same trip to the bay area I stayed over and watched Janet play in her string ensemble and our band's concert. we added more plants to our garden, and trellises to train the climbing produce; it's coming along quite nicely and we see changes every day! for admins day/week my team gave me a substantial gift certificate to a restaurant I wanted to try. we decided to use it for our anniversary dinner. it is upscale soul food fusion casual to fine dining, and we loved it! our hostess seated us in the best seat in the house, right next to the kitchen window where Chef prepares and puts finishing touches on everything going out. we will be returning.
june
we were able to start harvesting produce from the garden for our meals! at work, I was able to watch the live-cast of the memorial service for our founder. I had been at headquarters the day before and took pictures of the setup going on in the courtyard. one of my colleagues tapped me to use my voice talent for her two training videos for one of her projects! I cooked a LOT, some old favorites - Nana s'ghetti - and new ones using recipes I've found online. I also cooked two more meals with our shuffle chefs. I got the sad news that one of our director friends from our theater had passed away from complications after surgery. sadness.
july
Craig and I went to the theater during the Fourth weekend to see the latest and final Indy movie, in 4DX. then we had a late lunch/early dinner along the river at Crawdads. Lots more fun cooking including shawarma from scratch, another shuffle class, and trying out more new recipes. I drove to the bay area and stayed overnight to attend the memorial for our friend Ted. the venue was packed with over 100 of his theater family, co-workers and his siblings. it was heart-wrenching and still cathartic. during the month I discovered an audition opportunity, and was cast, and ended the month doing the table-read for a local production of Pride & Prejudice. After 3-1/2 years, I'll be back on stage again!
august
my voice talents were noticed again, and I did another voiceover for another colleague's legal training video. rehearsals started for P&P, and since my part is so small, I volunteered to help with costumes. I got them to sign up as a recipient in our volunteer hour matching program at work, so that all my hours in rehearsals, back stage and on stage are matched with monetary donations. my rehearsal schedule didn't crimp my time in the kitchen, and I did two shuffle classes, as well as recreated a couple of restaurant recipes I've always loved. I even took on a two week process of making corned beef from scratch, including making the pickling spice from scratch! that way I can omit the flavors that I don't like or can't eat. I attended a quilt faire and saw lots of projects that I would love to create! rehearsals were over and we loaded into the theater, ready for performances to start in September.
september
even though my part is small - 5 minutes on stage in the 2nd Act - I volunteered to help with all quick changes for the sisters on stage right, which kept me hopping through most of the show! our Lizzie complimented me by calling me the MVP for this effort! two of my former co-producers from many shows at our theater came to see the show, and surprised me when we made our post-show lobby call. it was wonderful to see them, and I was glad they enjoyed our production.
october
birthday month and boy how I celebrated! Craig and I went to see our friend "Elvis" perform on the USS Potomac - first time for him and third time for me. I cooked for the potluck cast party for P&P, and even got a gift card thanking me for my help with costumes and quick changes. we harvested all the sunflower seeds from our 12 plants, and I roasted them with Tapatio and with Truffle flavoring for Craig and Janet. Craig made dill pickles while I was on my birthday vacation trip to Victoria, BC, so I followed up by making bread & butter sweet pickles when I returned. I saw Janet on Halloween day when I took the train to headquarters, and gave her a jar since sweet pickles were always her favorite, plus her truffle sunflower seeds and a bottle of cider from Canada.
the birthday trip
despite having near catastrophic car troubles, I was able to continue my birthday road trip to Canada, the first time I've been back in 50 years! I'd been planning my various bucket list destinations since April, which was good since I needed military precision planning to do all the things I wanted. and the weather needed to be factored in even more, since the forecast was for rain most of the week I was in Victoria.
day ONE I drove to Ashland and watched Twelfth Night at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
day TWO I drove to and stopped briefly at what had been the Canyonville Bible Academy where my grandparents taught many years ago. I got to my Aunt's home and spent the rest of the day, staying overnight, and enjoying leisurely morning coffee with her and several of my cousins - so wonderful catching up with these loved ones!
day THREE it was on to Washington with a stop at the family graveyard where many of our ancestors rest. I stayed overnight at the worst motel, but the next morning,
day FOUR I boarded the ferry and sailed across the sound and into Canada! the annual marathon was blocking our exit from the terminal, but we eventually drove through breaks in the runners, and I went to the other side of the city to Beacon Hill Park to see the Tallest Totem Pole in the world. I met incredibly generous people there and at brunch - Canadians are stellar humans! in the afternoon I checked in at Janet's timeshare, unpacked, then went to have birthday duck dinner at the restaurant next door.
day FIVE was Canadian Thanksgiving so most things were closed. I did a little grocery shopping for the timeshare kitchen - mostly breakfast foods - and just tried to stay out of the wet weather. glad I packed epic raingear!
day SIX I went to the Art Gallery during the rainy morning, a quick walkabout around the parliament buildings during a lull in the rain, then had a lovely tea at a restored Victorian inn and tea house!
day SEVEN I drove up to a cider farm and tasting room and had a lovely lunch and flight of 6 ciders. after a quick stop at a pumpkin farm, I continued on to a Fort and lighthouse, since the weather had cleared by the afternoon.
day EIGHT, the only day that was going to be completely rain-free, I knew I had to return to Butchart Gardens, which was one of our destinations 50 years ago. it was everything I remembered, and I took hundreds of beautiful pictures. I had lunch at the Blue's Bayou Cafe, and spent the afternoon at the Butterfly Gardens where I found possibly the only flamingo on the island - of course!
day NINE was castles day, and I visited the gardens of one while the weather held, and the inside tour of the other when the rain came in. I finished the evening at Fisherman's Wharf having fish & chips and ale.
day TEN I spent around the timeshare, resting, doing the laundry, resting, and then walked back to the Wharf for dinner again, this time enjoying Onolicious Prawns and ale.
day ELEVEN was the return ferry trip in the afternoon, but first I attended two morning services at the beautiful Anglican church in town. the short sail back to the US was uneventful, but the drive to my motel for the night was a harrowing drive through darkness, rain, and unfamiliar terrain through the forest. and don't get me started on the bad drivers! nope, not in Canada any more.
day TWELVE I slept in then fueled up for the drive back to Portland and another day with Aunt & Company :-) across the two days I got to see four of my six cousins. how I miss these people, who were such a big part of my childhood when we moved from Florida to California.
day THIRTEEN, my final bucket list destination was the Evergreen Air & Space Museums, the permanent home of the Spruce Goose! I spent several hours here, and didn't get back to Ashland as I had hoped, so spent my last overnight in Roseburg.
day FOURTEEN was the 7+ hour drive back home, to get a little rest before a 12 hour day in the office in Folsom. no rest for this weary girl! but it was a wonderful, memorable birthday trip!!
november
the month of thanksgiving and we have much to be grateful for, despite the loss of another dear friend and my car still giving me fits. I did two truffle classes, sourcing one and getting their sourced box for the other. we celebrated my birthday together at our favorite soul food restaurant, and enjoyed different foods from the last time - working our way through the menu! I went to see two of my P&P cast mates in a spectacular production of 20,000 Leagues. while much of the produce was winding down in our garden, our tomatoes were still overproducing, so I made a big pot of green tomato beef chili to use a bunch of those. and for Thanksgiving dinner I made caviar and cucumber appetizers, duck a l'orange, steamed asparagus, and roasted root veggies, and Craig got an apple pie for dessert. at work, many hours were spent at both locations with moving - I hate moving!
december
we decorated for and celebrated both Christmas and Hanukah. I even took my hanukiah on the road so I could light my candles on my four day/three night trip to headquarters. there we had a team lunch, team dinner, and all-division party. plus I got to see Janet, and bring her the pickle present I made for her - pickling spice, ripple cut knife and recipe card. oh and I went to her string ensemble concert, but the band concert had to be postponed. lots of good food was cooked, and baking happened too. my shuffle class was both cheese and chocolate souffles - an advanced cooking session but I got multiple shout-outs from Chef Jeremy! I even tried my hand at dill pickle potato chips! Craig took over cooking for Christmas and New Years, making surf & turf for both. easy but exceptional!
by clicking the Older Posts link below you can see pictures and read more details of this past year.
we hope that your year has been filled with happy times,
creating great memories with people you love.
we wish you all the best in 2024.
creating great memories with people you love.
we wish you all the best in 2024.
