Well, October ended nicely with a day in Boston to finally meet my boss on the 30th. Then I was off for Samhain, and I decided last-minute to dress up and sit at the end of the driveway in case any kids came by (and texted the neighbors so they’d at least know). Both neighbors stopped by, as well as one little Spider-Man- I think he was about 4- whose parents were new and trying to figure out where to take him for his first time! It was so sweet, they took a photo of us and everything. Then came a van…with a tween Lord Farquaad. Dad who was driving said they stopped because they love my flag, and the kid said he was queer, and I said me too, and then he said “THERE'S NOTHING MORE HALLOWEEN THAN A QUEER WITCH ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD” which MADE MY ENTIRE LIFE. And then I thought, you know, that dad looked familiar…it turned out he was someone I’d loaned my copy of Gender Queer to a few years ago. Ohhhh the way my heart sang that I’d gotten to meet that brave kiddo with the affirming parents!!! Our final visitor was a local friend who’s always good to see. That many kids was enough that we’ll plan to set up by the street annually from now on!

I’m still trying to walk more often, and one of the most fun times I’ve had walking lately was my Tour de Holiday Fairs on November 15th! There were three on the same day: Trinitarian Congregational Church, the Norton High School girls’ volleyball team, and The Grand Chateau Owl. So I walked to TCC, then to NHS, then to TGCO, and it was a fun little day! Got some holiday shopping done, got some me shopping done, saw some friends, a lovely little time. Then I went to St. Mary’s on the 16th…but that one I drove to because it was a bit farther than I wanted to walk the day after such a big excursion.

The 15th was right in the middle of my two weeks off in November, which was VERY needed and quite excellent. Plenty of things got done and plenty of relaxing was had. Some of you may remember when I asked for living room suggestions, and loved the idea of built-in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace…well, TADA! Sam built, I painted, we installed, and they’re now starting to be filled with the decades of National Geographics that Grammy saved for me, knickknacks, and soon will host various holiday decorations.

I also gave up on painting my room myself and finally hired someone. Yaaaaaay. He got it done in 2 days and a tiny bit of change (only because the first was a half day) and I love it.

Plus I did a whole bunch of other stuff, including relaxing with both a “Scalp Detox” at Hair Therapy in Norwood and a “French Sea Detox” at Mirbeau Spa in Plymouth. Now I’ll tell you…I don’t believe in “detoxing” in that way, but I sure do believe in relaxation, and both of these experiences were absolutely blissful. Highly recommend.

AND then I went back to work for a few days and it was Thanksgiving…which we hosted…which somehow went flawlessly. I don’t really know how, having never hosted anything that big before, but it did! The food was great, seeing family was great, we hosted my sister and brother-in-law and niece from Weds-Fri, dad broke Grammy out of the nursing home for Thanksgiving, it was wonderful. Ellie went in the pool four times in the three days they were here, and while the indoor pool normally feels absurd, it’s great to be able to be such a fun destination for her.

Our final activity of November was rescuing an Amazon parrot that had been abandoned (he’s at the shelter, but he seems to love me, so may end up here) and now it is December! Somehow! We’ve started decorating for the holidays and everything feels cozy and I love it all, as usual. Still dancing, still ASL-class-ing (with a deaf instructor from The Learning Center for the Deaf), still volunteering.

Wishing everyone a lovely holiday season!

<3

Val