Sign Time VOTING time- Fall 2025

Our house on Newark-Granville Road has a nice corner.  For years during election time people ask us to place a sign in our yard.  Joe and I have created frameworks for our decision on who/what sign appears here (you can read past blog posts about it).  

Here is this year's approach!

If we have a relationship- meaning we know you, you've attended Derby party, we have conversations, we can discuss issues, we've served together, etc...and you are running for office, we're grateful you are willing to run and serve...we'll say yes to the sign.  

Issues- similar- if the person advocating for the tax levy knows us, has a relationship with us, we'll say yes to the sign.

What the sign doesn't mean- this is the way this house is voting.  (Yes, reality is some times we vote differently.)  It would be interesting to poll people on what a sign in a yard means to them. Should one assume it is how a person votes? An important life lesson- never assume!

What does sign placement in our yard mean: let's talk! Let's talk about the candidate we know and why we did say yes to a sign. Let us tell you about the conversations had with Len Hubert at community events for YEARS, serving with William Hoekstra on a Board, debates with Ben Barton and his care during our Derby parties. Matthew George is a fair and impartial judge a known entity seeking reelection. Joe values Kim's service so much on CURRENT COUNCIL and Diane Marshall's thoughtful work and time to understand the important impact she can have for our village.  Stephanie Mollica's commitment to Mental Health & Recovery for Licking and Knox counties and the renewal levy is inspiring.

 And most of all our Lucy...she has the message for us all..VOTE..but really know the issues, know the candidates...don't assume...say thank you to those willing to serve and put themselves in this position!

Our son Peter was asked by a friend how we vote, his answer which we love was "It's about the person, not the party". Life on Newark-Granville Road is Grateful for our local public servants and those that support them (staff), volunteers, donors and our citizens that engage and are active as it makes Life on Newark-Granville Road and beyond beautiful and safe. 

PS- https://www.boe.ohio.gov/licking/  get info here- Early Voting starts Oct 7th!  Find sample ballots too! 

 

Sharing Good Things...Sales...Invest..Ask!

 I found my career path early, but I didn't know it.  When people ask how long I've been in my role, sometimes I say- I've been raising money for Denison since my senior year...Class gift for 1990! I kept volunteering and then turned it into a full time role with focus on philanthropy directly for Denison in 2015. I love the fact that my first role was loaned executive for the United Way of Southeast Michigan in 1990..Federal Mogul knew I was  fundraiser before I did!  I've never stopped asking...

This week it is the CABI ask...amazing clothes, presented in a home or with personal consultant.  Last night's show was fun! The show prior to that at Katy's was a hoot and I can't wait for future friends shows. I have fond memories at Vicki's and Sue's...Anne's...making memories.  We were reflecting last night on my Just Ducky shows and the friends that met there!!

Update- my CABI show will close tomorrow- 9/17- if you want assistance/to order- contact Roanne Gotttshalk at 740 404 9718 rgotts1752@gmail.com  She is AWESOME!

No pressure- just me sharing what works for me and others..helping another woman at work too!

And next up to sell/offer/ask....PEO NUT SALE 2025!

Promoting Women's Education through Scholarships and Grants- PEO is a women's philanthropic organization and I'm a proud but not very active member of Chapter AB in Granville.  Mom and Myra inspired me and I'm grateful to Jan, Leda and others that keep me connected!  A great fundraiser for us is offering the amazing KREMA nut and mixes....I'm happy to send you the order form if you are interested!! They do make great gifts.  Thanks for thinking about it!

Orders due Oct 9th!

And while I'm at it...why not...Denison Ways to Give!  Every dollar and donor matters! Denison has a big beautiful campus. Denison shapes amazing lives and supports students, employees, alums and the community in amazing ways and we count on philanthropy...thanks for considering investing!  Want to know more, let's talk, have coffee. I'd love to share more about the impact each gift makes to our students and beyond.

So much good on Newark-Granville Road to share...

Heads-up- Correct Email and Transitions in the E/Cyber world....in LONGR!

 I'm trying to move this Blogger Account for Blog updates to a different email.

I'm having difficulities with an old email that I don't use- the roadrunner email.  íf you are communicating me via roadrunner it is being or has been forwarded to gmail.  Please call me, find me, contact me, I like and value our commuication.  Some times we don't know what we are not receiving.

This blog site may transition...stay tuned via personal interaction. THAK YOU for reading.

Update- I'm able to now use gmail account to access this blogger account...fingers crossed I've made things smoother in my cyber life on Newark-Granville Road!  Thanks for helping with the email address use!

Monday Monday Gathering in September 2025

 Coming up- CABI party at my house 6 to 8 pm MONDAY September 15, 2025 Join us!

CABI info- great clothes, fun trying on and being with women who support one another as they shop! Thank you to our great CABI rep Roanne Gottshalk!  Let me know if you can attend please!!

Monday September 8th was BOOK CLUB selection night...I do love how we gather to select our books for the year.  Life on Newark-Granville Road loves hosting this at our table. We love the treats friends bring- cookies, dips, bars, chocolates, fruit, chocolate...yum...we can cook and procure well!

We also reflected on the complete list of past reads...since 2004- when we started documenting this way we have 239 reads! One duplicate- Huckleberry Finn!  Twenty one years of selecting, reading/listening, discussing, gathering...most of it at Cherry Valley Hotel in the lobby or on the verenda- thank you CVH!

Lists:

25-26 To Read & Discuss:

 

Oct 6	Grandma Gatewood's Walk	B. Mongomery
Nov 3	The Wealth of the Shadows	G. Moore
Dec 1	Jane Austin's Bookshelf	R. Romney
Jan 5	Secret Agent Man	M. Singer
Feb 2	The Egnima Girls	C. Fleming
March 2	Remains of the Day	K. Ishiguro
Aprl 6	Everthing is Tuberculosis	J Green
May 4	The House of Fragile Things	J. McAuley
June 1	Another Country	James Baldwin
July 6	The Girl with the Louding Voice	Abi Dare
Aug 3	Fighting Words	Kimberly B Bradley

Have Read & Discussed:

 

Title	Author
All Over But the Shoutin	Bragg, Rick
Bel Canto	Patchett, Ann
Bury Me Standing	Fonseca, Isabel
Golden Compass	Pullman, Phillip
Ishmael	Quinn, Daniel
Me Talk Pretty Some Day	Sedaris, Davis
One Thousand White Women	Fergus, Jim
Persuasion	Austin, Jane
The Book of Salt	Tryong, Monique
The Way the Crow Flies	MacDonald, Anne Marie
A Million Little Pieces	Frey, James
Huckleberry Finn	Twain, Mark
My Sisters Keeper	Picoult, Jodi
Prayer for Owen Meaning	Irving, John
Silent to the Bone	Konigsburg, EL
Someone Not Really Her Mother	Chessman, Harriet Scott
The Bluest Eye	Morrison, Toni
The Kite Runner	Hosseini, Khaled
The Other Boylen Girl	Gregory, Phillippa
The Plot Against America	Roth, Philip
Trans-Sister Radio	Bohajalin, Chris
Truth and Beauty	Patchett, Ann
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	Smith, Betty
Consider This, Senora	Doerr, Harriett
Fortune Rocks	Shreve, Anita
Garlic and Sapphires	Reichl, Ruth
Monique and the Mango Rains	Holloway, Kris
On Beauty	Smith, Zadie
The Eye, The Ear and The Arm	Farmer, Ruth
The Glass Castle	Walls, Jeanette
The World is Flat	Friedman, Thomas
Tipping Point	Gladwell, Malcolm
To Kill A Mockingbird	Lee, Harper
A Walk Two Moons	Creech, Sharon
A Wrinkle in Time	L'Engle, Madeline
Ana Karenina	Tolstoy, Leo
Echo Maker	Powers, Richard
How Reading Changed My Life	Quindlen, Anna
If You Lived Here I'd Know Your Name	Lende, Heather
Omnivore's Dilemma, A Natural History of Four Meals	Pollen, Michael
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan	See, Lisa
Suite Francaise	Nemirovsky, Irene
The Book Thief	Zusak, Markus
The Girls	Lansens, Lori
Water for Elephants	Gruen, Sara
Infidel	Ali, Ayaan Hirsi
Loving Frank	Horan, Nancy
Mr. Pip	Jones, Lloyd
Room with a View	Forster, E.M.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian	Alexie, Sherman
The Country of Pointed Firs	Jewett, Sarah Orne
The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding	Ranya Idlib,Suzanne Oliver, & Priscilla Warner
The Painted Drum	Erdrich, Louise
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel	Setterfield, Diane
The Winters Tale	Helprin, Mark
Thread of Grace	Russell, Mary Doria
Distant Land of My Father	Caldwell, Bo
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society	Schaffer, Mary Ann & Barrow, Annie
Hunger Games	Collins, Suzanne
Last Chinese Chef	Mones, Nicole
Last Town on Earth	Mullen, Thomas
Mrs. Dalloway	Woolf, Virginia
My Life in France	Child, Julia
My Stroke of Insight	Bolte Taylor, Jill
The Black Book of Secrets	Higggins, FE
The Elegance of the Hedgehog	Barberry, Muriel & Anderson, Alison
The Help	Stockett, Kathryn
The Maytrees	Dillard, Annie
The Middle Place	Corrigan, Kelly
The Space Between Us	Umriger, Thirty
A Reliable Wife	Goolick, Robert
Glenapp Castle	Rosenberg, Tina
Great Expectations	Dickens, Charles
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet	Ford, Jamie
Let the Great World Spin	McCamm, Colum
Marcelo in the Real World	Stark, Francisco
Olive Kittredge	Strout, Elizabeth
Prisoner of Tehran: One Woman's Story of Survivial Inside an Iranian Prison	Nemat, Marina
Telex from Cuba	Kuschner, Rachel
The Children's Book	Byatt, A.S.
The Magicians	Grossman, Lev
Those that Save Us	Blum, Jenna
A Dog's Purpose	Cameron, W. Bruce
Light in August	Faulkner, William
Love and Summer	Trevor, William
Murder on The Orient Express	Christie, Agatha
Okay for Now	Schmidt, Gary D.
People of The Book	Brooks, Geraldine
Revolution	Donnelly, Jennifer
Room: A Novel	Donoghue, Emma
Someone Knows My Name	Hill, Lawrence
The Moment I Knew	Nelson, Terri Spar
Year in Provence	Mayle, Peter
Behind the Beautiful Forevers	Boo, Katherine
Everybody Matters: A Memoir	Robinson, Mary
Out of Africa	Dinesen, Isak
Outliers	Gladwell, Malcolm
River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey	Millard, Candice
She Walks in Beauty	Kennedy, Caroline
The Fault in Our Stars	Green, John
The Master	Tóibín, Colm
The Shadow of the Wind	Zafón, Carlos Ruiz
The Tempest	Shakespeare, William
Vaclav and Lena	Tanner, Haley
A Fort of Nine Towers	Omar, Qais Akbar
Brothers Karamazov	Dostoevsky, Fydor
Code Name Verity	Wein, Elizabeth
Empire of the Summer Moon	Gwynne, SC
Little Bookstore in Big Stone Gap	Welch, Wendy
Me Before You	Moyes, JoJo
Moloka'i	Brenert, Alan
Orphan Master's Son	Johnson, Adam
Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes	Chamberlain, Diane
Setting the Table	Meyer, Danny
The Snow Child	Ivey, Eowyn
My Antonia	Willa Cather
The Good Lord Bird	James McBride
Landline	Rainbow Rowell
Independent People	Halldór Laxness
The Homestead	Rosina Lippi
Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia	Janet Wallach
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell	Nadia Hashimi
Outlander	Diana Gabaldon
We Were Liars	E. Lockhart
Orphan Train: A Novel	Christina Baker Kline
The War that Saved My Life	Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Brain Rules	John Medina
The Organied Mind	David Levitin
Three-Eight Charlie	Jerrie Mock
So Long a Letter	Mariama Ba
Lila	Marilynne Robinson
Americanah	Chimamanda Ngoi Adichie
All theLight We Cannot See	Anthony Doerr
Half the Sky	Nicholas Kristof
	Sheryl WuDunn
Longbourn	Jo Baker
The Bookman's Tale	Charles C Lovett
The Things They Carried	Tom O'Brien
Counting by 7s YA	Holly Goldberg Sloan
Hillbilly Elegy	J. D. Vance
Offshore: A novel	Penlope Fitzgerald
Man Called Ove	Fredrik Backman
The Ghost Map	Steven Berlin Johnson
Secret River	Kate Grenville
Boys In the Boat	Daniel James Brown
Salt of the Sea	Ruta Sepetys
Short Stories	Anton Chkfov
The One in a Million Boy	Monica Wood
Our Souls at Night	Kent Haruf
The Age of Innocence	Edith Wharton
Dreamland	Neil Hellegers
The True Tale of America's Opiod Epidemic	Sam Quinones
Bad Feminist: Essays	Roxanne Gay
Beneath a Marblerd Sky	John Shors
Underground Railroad	Colson Whitehead
Underground Fugue	Margot Singer
Rent Collector	Cameron Wright
Small Great Things	Jodi Picout
The Hate U Give	Angie Thomas
Dispatches from Pluto	Richard Grant
Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta
The Girl in Hyacith Blue	Susan Vreeland
Marin Marten	Brian Doyle
Killers of the Flower Moon…	David Grann
Born a Crime	Trevor Noah
Fifth Business	Robertson Davies
The Warmth of other Suns	Isabella Wilkerson
What is the What	Dave Eggers
The Great Alone	Kristin Hannah
The Last Days of Night	Graham Moore
The Miseducation of Cameron Post	Emily Danforth
Southernmost	Silas House
A Place for Us	Fatima Mirza
An American Marriage	Tayari Jones
Little Fires Everywhere	Celeste Ng
Gentleman in Moscow	Amor Towles
The Overstory	Richard Story
Educated	Tara Westover
Beloved	Tori Morrison
The Woman Who Smashed Codes	Jason Fagone
Shape of Water	Spollen
Before We Were Yours	Lisa Wingate
Lilac Girls	Martha Hally Kelly
The Little Paris Bookshop	Nina George
Rebecca	Daphne Du Maurier
Have you Seen Luis Velez	Catherine Ryan Hyde
The Dutch House	Ann Patchett
Talking with Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know	Malcom Gladwell
The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild	Lawrence Anthony
My Beloved World	Sonia Sotomayor
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter	Erika Sanchez
The Vanishing Half	Brit Bennett
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane	Lisa See
The Night Watchman	Louis Erdrich
Letters to a Young Poet	Rainer Maria Rilke
Caste	Isabel Wilkerson
Broken	Jenny Lawson
Such a Fun Age	Kiley Reid
Beyond the River	Ann Hagedorn
Pregnant Girl	NicoleLynn Lewis
The Wife Between Us	Sarah Pekkanen
When We Were Still Alive	Keith McWalter
The Memory Keepers Daughter	Kim Edwards
In Pursuit of Disobediant Women	Dionne Searcey
The Four Winds	Kirstin Hannah
Mother Trucker	Amy Butcher
News of the World	Paulette Jiles
How the Word Passed	Clint Smith
Fountains of Silence	Ruta Sepetys
Human Kind: A Hopeful History	Bregman et al
Bit Flip	Mike Trigg
Bad Ass Libraians of Timbuktu	Joshua Hammer
Crying in Hmart	Michelle Zauner
Invisible Life of Addie Larue	VE Schwab
A Woman of No Importance	Sonia Purnell
Stoner	John Williams
Hey, Kiddo	Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Destiny of the Republic	Candice Millard
Taste	Stanley Tucci
Firekeeper's Daughter	Angeline Boulley
How to Be Perfect	Michael Schur
Personal Librarian	Heather Terrell &
Good for a Girl	Lauren Fleshman
Horse	Geraldine Brooks
Midnight's Children	Salman Rushdie
The Island of Sea Women	Lisa See
Demon Copperhead	Barbara Kingsolver
The Haunting of Hill House	Shirley Jackson
Bazooka Charlie, The Unbelievable Story of Major Charles Carpenter and Rosie the Rocketer	James P Busha with Carol Apacki
Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain
James	Percival Evertt
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew	Emmanuel Acho and Noa Tishby
Dinners with Ruth	Nina Totenberg
The Beast of Extraordinary Circumstance: A Novel	Ruth Emmie Lang
Independence Day- retirement	Steven Lopes P'25
Tom Lake	Ann Patchett
The Shell Seekers	Rosamunde Pilcher
The Lost Year	Katherine Marsh

August Gratitude...an open window...

This post has been brewing in my head for some time and it just didn't have shape. So I'll offer gratitude, an open window the foundation and start...

There was an open window in a house in my view when the Newark-Granville Symphony performed on a Sunday evening in August at Robbins Hunter museum.  It really was a wonderful evening. There are too many people to thank for this, but those close to me or I know....Sue Larson, Joleen Minton, Ben Shirley, the Butlers next door....Joe, the home owner with the open window that caught my attention. This window evokes such lovely memories and thoughts..life on Newark-Granville Road, or Mulford, or Forrest Drive....why I love the screened in porch. Windows share breeze sand fresh air in such special ways and sounds! Ease dropping or messages sent from the universe, or the opportunity to be in that moment with a bird, or a passing car, or the splash from rain....to be in the room with that window hearing the symphony that evening...oh....

I'm opening my windows more often these days- ahhh- car windows too...sitting outside when I can at work, riding the Vespa...ahhhhh wind in my hair, yes I get teary when listening to Ben's composition or the temps are cool...and sharing my thoughts on the blog while sitting on the porch.

Let me know if you want to see the photo I snapped of the open window...

Dancing..Joe and I have danced a few nights away in August...we can say we dance like on one is watching...but people did share a video, we saw some pics...so we know...and we don't care..we love to dance and feel the music, and smile and let the music take over...it was the Cure, it wasn't Friday in Love but something else that indeed motivated Joe out there with me.  Dear beautiful Morgan and Carter's wedding also had me non stop on the dance floor. Grandmother Sandy thanked me at brunch for dancing with her...ha...thank you Sandy for dancing with me...what an honor to share such a special, amazing, beautiful day when time stood still. Nothing else mattered but an afternoon and evening in Columbus celebrating love, commitment, friendship and family!  Town and County's event the next week was similar- Joe and I embraced time at the Villa for a in-town get-away and to experience our club with a different perspective.  Picturesque is the word I use for Licking Springs/Trout Club/Horns Hill area and it is apprapro! Being their first thing in the morning affirms this. Want to know more about staying in a villa let me know!

Denison's year is launched with many events that are meaningful- football welcome, sports move-in, inducition, recruting FLC members, Strawberries on the lawn and first faculty meeting, retreats, drinks at the Inn...such good, smart people, committed to education and our community. Thank you Denison, thank you all that make it so and unite and connect and share.

The Works'Bella Vista event- Summer party was a success. THANK YOU- dear friends that attended, dear community supporters I don't see enough but you were there...it brought back incredible memories of work and partnership that has shaped this life on Newark-Granville Road and others. One special friend could not attend but Venmoed a generous donations- thank you, thank you, thank you- you know who you are and I have such gratitude for you and your beautiful energy and care.

And we said farewell to really important people. Myra Gallant's service was wonderful, hugs to the Price family, Amanda and family's beloved Popa and others not coming to mind at this moment.I've commented or liked anniversaries of passings. These are a time to reflect, feel and remember with gratitude. Lives are legacies. The retirements and new jobs are launching new relationships and journeys, I'm grateful for the reflections and feelings, conversations and connections.

That is enough for this morning moment of Gratitude in August. Of course there is more, thank you to those chatting with me and in the know, those experiencing it live and in person and you reading today. Life on Newark-Granville loved August and all it provided and embraces the transition time of summer to fall September holds.

Phases, Chapters & Transitions

Although not directly in a transition time I feel like I'm swimming in the visnity. I type today waiting on Clare to arrive home from DC, in mid move to Indianapolis, Indiana!
Sally is wrapping up at camp, oh what a treat to see her thriving there. I took my Mom down for a quick visit and to treat Sally to a day away at The Greenbrier- my happy place all the happier sharing with loved ones! She will be home Sunday and then we'll deliver her to DePauw for pre-season field hockey next week!
Peter is settling in- starting new work this week with sports communications and then his graduate school the following week! He is at SEMO in Cape Girdeau, Missouri, Higher Education Management degree!

Joe's work is going well- Denison grad new hire, Denison student intern- and one partner's new baby is checking off key milestones fast!

We even have two new pups on the block!! And congratulations Scott and Ann Leithauser with their move...ch-ch-changes...cue the music....

As I put this in writing I realize these transitions all are accompanied by beautiful growth and development! Joe's business, Sally's confidence, Clare's maturity, Peter's independance- they are all handling important, serious things- loans, firearms, budgets, yards, and navigating change, alone time, boredom, pride, contentness, and parents that want to be in the know!
My own work is steeped in transition and change, supporting families as they launch their children and embrace the new role they have and a new community. I spent the summer welcoming the Class of 2029 up and down the east coast and in Chicago & Columbus. Colleagues have and are moving and retiring. Seniors becoming alums, current parents becoming past parents....it is all part of the land I traverse. And why the quote and mantra I embraced years ago at The Works had to share today:

Sit Loosely In the Saddle of Life, Louis Stevenson   

Life on Newark-Granville Road, I'm happy to be home this month- August- other than the day trips to help with delivery to the new apartment for Clare and Caroline and Sally's sorority house! It is the month students arrive in Granville- football next week, a few days later the other fall sports, then the first years, all the while other campus leaders and programs, with school starting on August 28th!

Oh yes and I'm golfing- transitions there too- new course- red/orange locatinos for tee boxes- learning how to put on slopes, learning how to use the Spark app- yay to pairings- summer love, summer love...it all works out..Licking Springs is lovely. We miss MCC and the quick jaunt over there, but change is good, change is good, it is inevidible so we must sit loosely...

July's transition was travel- here there and everywhere! I posted about the birthday fun with vacation time in MD. I took a week at home to launch the fiscal year then headed east again! NYU hosted our Parent Fundraising Conference, it was accenuated by having two colleagues attend with me! I trained down to Maryland for family time, and a summer welcome reception in DC! This was the opportunity to road trip with my Mom to WVA to see Sally! A plane to Charlotte for another reception and quality meetings with key volunteers and donors in NC! I came home for a weekend, then packed my bag that included Joe and went to Massachusetts. We had two special receptions with President Adam Weinberg, dear colleagues and incredible Denisonians. Yes- lucky my- I recognize that work that happens on the cape and MV makes me extremely blessed. Denison's events and meetings that connect, introduce, inspire, share, update and entertain all happen because of relationships and you can't build relationships if you don't engage, in person. This trip was important and a part of my understanding and reminder how I'm where I am suppose to be, this is the saddle and the path here on Newark-Granville Road, here at Denison and here to support and welcome home and help launch others navigating phases,chapters and transitions.

MV West Chop 2025

Charlotte NC Denisonians

New Happy Place- LSCC

Denisonians- Hosting Class of 2029

Nana's visit to see Sally- WV

Family Time in MD- YAY

Clare and Caroline apartment hunting

Peter's new home -Missouri

A Luxurious Fourth of July and Birthday 2025

Happy Birthday to me and oh what a week celebrating and vacationing. It is such a good time to get away. With Fiscal Year End and a holiday when our constuients really don’t want to engage….and a great time to “go home”.    Putting this post in themes:

Books- reading in the surf is an all-time favorite thing…and I really enjoyed what I was reading. It was our book club’s “classic”   The Shell Seekers by Rosemunde Pilcher. For me it was a treat to visit England, explore family tensions, a walk back in time , connection to art, and I found the writing truly lovely. I look forward to our discussion! I’m not really sure it is a “classic” but that lends itself to discussion for our club!

I bought the next book- The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth! It is such a fun beach shop…it seems silly but a true highlight of any vacation is spending time in an independent book store finding the next read…FYI this was is in the middle read section…it is our YA book.

I’m lucky I can read in the car and will enjoy wrapping up vacation lost in this tale of history and family.

Family time and Beach Time-Mom and Michael hosted us so well- dinner party with their friends, hard shell crabs on the porch, soaking at a friends’ pool, Peter helped with some yard work, dog cuddles and play time, such a lovely setting!

Sarah hosted us part 2- what a treat to go to the beach with family. Once upon a time this was a regular part of summer, I’ve missed it.  Of course not the same without Matthew and his girls but that makes us want to be more deliberate in our planning for the future.  Mom took a room on the boardwalk as we were out of room at Sarahs.  It made it easy to remember fond memories of childhood trips to this area and we made new ones.  I’ve been told how crowded it is over the holiday there and they’re right – I might recommend September for our next visit. But I loved it…the morning stroll and as I said above…being on the beach is a treat- talking.  The day prior we were in Delaware at a lovely cove/jetty with a picnic- heaven!

We wrapped up with DC time and Clare and Caroline time. For my actual birthday we were in DC for the Nats game and soaked up time together. We missed our Sally-camp duty calls – proud of her.  Praying for the devastating news from Texas and the flash floods, it is just horrible. Life is so fragile, the continuum of nature’s wrath, beauty, nurture and destruction has saddened me so much.

Golf!! VACATION- ahhh- we played the beautiful and special FHCC to kick things off – meeting Mom there on Sunday.  Joe and I found the links in Delaware on our way to see Sarah. It is fun to try new courses, be out with Joe and delight in progress.

Food! Of course…crabs…great restaurants..Nicoboli…..cocktail hour and appetizers…being around the table together…Oysters a few times… We wrapped up the trip with breakfast at Callyourmother in DC- picnic table, perfect temp…and family dinner next door when we returned!

Friends- the week started around a beautiful outdoor table with delicious food, dear friends and transitioned to many cheers floating and catching up…Thank you April and Amanda for donating a party for mission, pivoting it to summer fun and all that came and spoiled me.

Social media makes bdays all the more fun- the messages and posts were such a treat. AS were phone calls (SALLY) and texts…I’m richer than rich….luxury…..the book has a beautiful discussion about luxury and what it truly is and my birthday week certainly defines my understanding of mine….to have so many memories connected to so many good people in gorgeous places and be able to feel it like the beauty of a cool soft pool, floating carefree, the smell and taste of the ocean at the beach or slurping an oyster…this is luxury and using all of the senses is a key component Rosemunde!!

This is a great week, not only because of birthdays, mine, our countries, celebrations but work is at a place where disconnecting a bit easier…The week has lessons and reminders, delights and conversations that matter.

Now on to 57, to a new year, to the rest of summer. Pictures below inspired by the highlights above…

.