What can I say? Tempus fugit! Especialy when you're having fun.
The remainder October was filled with the routine of life on the central coast. We had a Womenade potluck meeting/dinner with over 30 women in attendance. We each contributed our $35 and also brought cooking oil for families in need, children's books and the always needed diapers. I have finally been able to talk 4 great Womenaders to host one of the quarterly potlucks at their homes. This has always been the hardest part of organizing these events. We originally did it in one of the community rooms but attendance dropped off pretty quickly perhaps because those rooms are not particularly comfy.
On October 26 I participated in the American Cancer Society walk against cancer.
my team - I'm not in the picture because, duh, I took the picture. Our team raised about $1,500.
Between my last post and today we have had 9 "Ladies Who Lunch" lunches at the golf club pro shop with between 4 and 14 ladies gathering for lunch each week. I organized this over 4 years ago as a way to meet some of the neighbors. It's turned into a great social gathering for new people to meet existing residents.
The October senior luncheon at the church drew our biggest crowd yet - nearly 60 attendees. The menu was coq au vin with potatoes, fruit salad, garlic bread and brownies. It's interesting that the largest crowds seem to come for the "foreign meals". I don't know if that is a coincidence or that they prefer something a little different.
On November 23 T and I attended the San Luis Obispo first Bacon Fest. The event was sold out and they ran out! There were all things bacon served - bacon vodka, beer, cupcakes, donuts, etc. Yummy.
We had very successful food distributions in November and December. In November we had our usual food for 180 families to pack and distribute but and additional "12 emergency bags" and we ran out of all of it half an hour before the end of the program. In December we upped our numbers to 192 (always in cases of 1 dozen) plus we got another 12 emergency bags. It worked out perfectly!
Thanksgiving was a great gathering at cousin P and S's place. The food was delicious and it was fun to see the adult kids home for the holidays. On Saturday after Thanksgiving we had a mini thanksgiving of our own so we would have some turkey leftovers.
Now it's December. I made 4 fruitcakes for us and my siblings. T really loves his mother's fruitcake and I've been making it almost every Christmas over the years. My mother used to send the siblings a Collins Street bakery fruitcake every year but I never got one. I didn't know if they like it or not. One year my older brother was visiting, and we still had some fruitcake left, and we shared it. Turns out that he really likes fruitcake, and I agreed to make one for him the next year. Then the next year my sister heard that I had sent my brother one and she professed that she "loved" fruitcake and so did her family. So I promised to make her one. You can see where this is going. That year my younger brother was at my sister's house when she had the fruitcake out and asked where she got it from. She said I had made it and sent it to her. Wouldn't you know, he claims he really like fruitcake too. I'm not sure if that's true or one of those sibling things where you don't want to be the one left out. So now you know why I make them for all 4 of us. In addition, I finished the common family Christmas gift - handmade aprons from shirts and blouses to be used as splatter guards to protect clothing. Last year at Chinese New Year when everyone was helping to carve the Peking ducks and get food on the table, I lent people aprons to protect their party clothes. When I suggested taking them off when we went to sit down, almost everyone said they wanted to keep it on to protect their shirt/blouse/dress from food splashes etc. That was my inspiration for the Christmas gifts this year.
Of course I went to the post office yesterday to mail the packages and quickly discovered it was the busiest day of the year to mail packages. It was fun hanging out with the Christmas crazed crowds as I do so little of that anymore.
We are now looking forward to Christmas where we will gather with cousins and their families.
my team - I'm not in the picture because, duh, I took the picture. Our team raised about $1,500.
Between my last post and today we have had 9 "Ladies Who Lunch" lunches at the golf club pro shop with between 4 and 14 ladies gathering for lunch each week. I organized this over 4 years ago as a way to meet some of the neighbors. It's turned into a great social gathering for new people to meet existing residents.
The October senior luncheon at the church drew our biggest crowd yet - nearly 60 attendees. The menu was coq au vin with potatoes, fruit salad, garlic bread and brownies. It's interesting that the largest crowds seem to come for the "foreign meals". I don't know if that is a coincidence or that they prefer something a little different.
On November 23 T and I attended the San Luis Obispo first Bacon Fest. The event was sold out and they ran out! There were all things bacon served - bacon vodka, beer, cupcakes, donuts, etc. Yummy.
We had very successful food distributions in November and December. In November we had our usual food for 180 families to pack and distribute but and additional "12 emergency bags" and we ran out of all of it half an hour before the end of the program. In December we upped our numbers to 192 (always in cases of 1 dozen) plus we got another 12 emergency bags. It worked out perfectly! 
Thanksgiving was a great gathering at cousin P and S's place. The food was delicious and it was fun to see the adult kids home for the holidays. On Saturday after Thanksgiving we had a mini thanksgiving of our own so we would have some turkey leftovers.
Now it's December. I made 4 fruitcakes for us and my siblings. T really loves his mother's fruitcake and I've been making it almost every Christmas over the years. My mother used to send the siblings a Collins Street bakery fruitcake every year but I never got one. I didn't know if they like it or not. One year my older brother was visiting, and we still had some fruitcake left, and we shared it. Turns out that he really likes fruitcake, and I agreed to make one for him the next year. Then the next year my sister heard that I had sent my brother one and she professed that she "loved" fruitcake and so did her family. So I promised to make her one. You can see where this is going. That year my younger brother was at my sister's house when she had the fruitcake out and asked where she got it from. She said I had made it and sent it to her. Wouldn't you know, he claims he really like fruitcake too. I'm not sure if that's true or one of those sibling things where you don't want to be the one left out. So now you know why I make them for all 4 of us. In addition, I finished the common family Christmas gift - handmade aprons from shirts and blouses to be used as splatter guards to protect clothing. Last year at Chinese New Year when everyone was helping to carve the Peking ducks and get food on the table, I lent people aprons to protect their party clothes. When I suggested taking them off when we went to sit down, almost everyone said they wanted to keep it on to protect their shirt/blouse/dress from food splashes etc. That was my inspiration for the Christmas gifts this year. 
Of course I went to the post office yesterday to mail the packages and quickly discovered it was the busiest day of the year to mail packages. It was fun hanging out with the Christmas crazed crowds as I do so little of that anymore.
We are now looking forward to Christmas where we will gather with cousins and their families.
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