Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful I took a risk and changed my life dramatically. I am thankful for greater happiness and confidence. I am thankful for my family, especially Mom and Dad, for supporting me. I am thankful for the good friends I have met here, and for those I miss back home.

I am thankful for my friend Leti, who insisted we have a mini-Thanksgiving dinner. I waivered a bit wanting to celebrate--well, not so much in wanting to celebrate but in thinking that I had time. It truly was a busy day. I taught at 8 a.m. After that, I had my Spanish class and then a work training. During the afternoon I went on a Spanish student excursion to Barrio Italia, which was chic and lovely. There were students from Brazil, Germany, and the U.S. The German guy treated us to gourmet chocolate ice cream, which was swoon-worthy. (The ice cream, not the treating us part.)

I taught English from 6:30 to 8, and then hustle-walked back to my place where Leti was waiting, her bike loaded with a roast chicken, wine, and banana bread. She had really wanted to make a pumpkin pie but couldn´t find canned pumpkin.



We moved around my little kitchen with the ease of old friends to assemble this pretty little meal. We even found half-burnt tea lights and pulled out the plates with the gold trim.

I am thankful for such a day.

Belle and Books

I had a great weekend. There's nothing like having a friend visit to make you explore the city you live in. Oh, and seeing the friend is good too.


The weekend was H.O.T. As my dad would say, "Hotter than a fox in a forest fire." Yup, that's accurate. That didn't keep us inside, nor poolside. On Saturday we walked to Eastern Market. We meandered among the vendors, nabbing samples of fruit and looking over the doodahs. I went a little crazy buying five zany headbands. Of course I was ridiculously indecisive about which to buy, but I think I got some good ones--nice and zany and girly.


At lunch we sat down at a table with a group of ladies from Tennessee. Love that accent. Moving down south-ish, I've met people from a bunch of new states, like Arkansas and South Dakota. People even say "Yes, ma'am" to me. Happened twice today. Huh.


We went to the Library of Congress. Amazing place. The inside reminds me of Europe. I love the quotes on the wall and the paintings. What really got me, though, was the view of the main reading room from above. I know my eyes widened. The place is a reader's dream, this reader's dream anyway. When I saw the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, one word popped into my head: home. 

The lowest set of arches is where the bookshelves are. They even had those rolley ladders. You know the type that Belle slides across in Beauty in the Beast. I never realized until the other day how much I've always wanted to do that.