Category Archives: Diversions

The stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.

Thanksgiving week in photos

Monday

Poppy and her soccer team finished their season a few weeks ago, but they decided they still wanted to get together to play. They spent about an hour playing before we had to go. I spent most of the time in the car, because it was super cold.

soccerkids

Tuesday

Poppy and I got to see an advance screening of “Hidden Figures,” and I took this not-so-great selfie.

us

Wednesday

I made so much macaroni and cheese.

img_7662

Thursday

It’s nice having a big field nearby for those days when we try to pack 19 people into our smallish ’50s house.

img_7668

Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the day we put up our Christmas decorations. It’s also the day I put a Santa hat on Marsha T. Cat. She’s a very good sport.

img_7693

And apparently I didn’t take any pictures over the weekend.

Dreaming of more space

We’ve been feeling slightly claustrophobic in our house lately — and not only because we just hosted 19 people in our house for Thanksgiving. Our house was built in the mid-’50s. One of the bedrooms is pretty tiny, the kitchen is serviceable but cramped when more than one person is in there, and it would be nice if Rockford had a space he could use as an office.

The real estate market in our town would make it easy to sell our house, but it would also make it tough for us to find something with the space we’d like in an area we’d like that’s in our budget. So we’ve toyed around with moving, but I don’t think it’s in the cards.

We’re currently talking about the possibility of either building a tiny house or converting the garage, which of course means I’ve been googling “garage conversions” quite a bit. There are some really beautiful conversions at Houzz — including a few that were turned into kitchens! — and some helpful info at Garages.About.Com and Money Pit.

My current garage-conversion dream moves the kitchen out there, with a half-bath, a laundry room and a ginormous pantry. I’m still trying to figure out what we’d do with the current kitchen. A formal dining room? A den? Who knows!

I’m not sure if it’ll happen, but I’m feeling inspired.

The best Friday in recent memory

ggearly

And yet, I was up at 7am. I didn’t set my alarm or anything. I was just so congested from all the smoke in our air recently that I couldn’t sleep, so I begrudgingly figured I’d go ahead and start my day. And then I remembered that today was “Gilmore Girls” day, and all the begrudge went away!

finally-when-someone-asks-why-you-love-gilmore-girls-so-much

I finished the first episode before Rockford and the kids woke up, and I figured I’d need to take a break for at least a few hours before I could watch the second one. But then my dear, sweet husband told me to go to my room for a Gilmore marathon, which he then fueled with sweet tea and Thanksgiving leftovers.

I cried three times over the course of the first episode and maybe once an episode after that. Those infamous last four words left me certain that they’ll do a second season or a movie.

And then we went to see “Moana,” and we did a little Christmas shopping, and we put up the tree and the indoor decorations, and now I’m watching the “Winter” episode of “Gilmore Girls” again.

Today was not, perhaps, the most productive day I’ve ever had, but it was a rather fine day.