What's Been On My November Calendar

I decided that Rhythm would be my WOTY and one way I'm trying to establish a rhythm is by keeping a very brief daily diary, to watch for daily and weekly patterns to develop and to be intentional about keeping the good ones going. I attempted to keep this month's wrap-up post short, but it took on a life of its own!

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We turned the page into November while on a short vacation. My parents were here visiting during the last couple weeks of October, and we wrapped up their visit by taking them to Maryland to visit the kids there for a few days. So we kicked off November with some special family time that included playing games, cooking and baking, and just enjoying each other's company. My mom and I made kjielkje (noodles, very much like spaetzle) and rullkuchen (sort of like beignets) and it was a special treat to have my granddaughter helping us! Where age-appropriate, of course!

November 3rd - We said our goodbyes to the Maryland family and drove up to Buffalo with Mum and Dad. We crossed into Ontario just long enough to meet up with the friends my parents were staying with there until their flight back home, then hubby and I drove back to Columbus. Traffic was heavy and thanks to one unintentional detour the drive took longer than expected, but we made it home and got a a decent night's sleep before getting back to our usual rhythms and routines starting Monday morning. 

The first full week of November was pretty ordinary. Regular workdays and our usual weekly activities including my chorus rehearsal on Monday night, and Dinner + Discipleship at church on Wednesday night. The exception was that Tuesday was Election Day, so I voted first thing in the morning and arrived at work a little late, and watched election results livestreams all evening. I enjoy following politics and find it very entertaining, and we were very happy with the results, as it happened! We spent other evenings relaxing at home, and binge-watching Only Murders In The Building.

On the weekend we slept late on Saturday and did a little housework, then met up with our son and his family for a day trip to Yellow Springs where we visited Youngs Dairy, hiked at Glen Helen and had barbecue for dinner.

Week Two started off with us both on worship team at church, and then lunch out with our 55+ dinner club friends. The weekdays fell into that familiar rhythm of work, chorus, Dinner+Discipleship, and quiet evenings at home. On Saturday, I went to get my hair cut and particularly enjoyed driving through the little towns just outside of Columbus that I wish we could live in. 

Week Three also began with worship team and church on Sunday morning, but with a little different twist. Our worship director was away so I was helping to lead the team and we were hit with a few technical issues that literally disrupted our rhythm! It's hard for a band to play and sing together when some of us couldn't properly hear our in-ear monitors for some of the time! We powered through it though. In the afternoon one of my chorus friends hosted an impromptu choreo session so I got together with those ladies to work on our rhythm learning some moves ahead of the full rehearsal. Then I met up with hubby and the kids for dinner and to watch some of hubby's hockey game. Then another busy but rather ordinary workweek followed. We did get our first snow of the season on Thursday morning, and Thursday evening we went to the hockey game. On Friday evening I had a personal voice instruction session, and on Saturday we enjoyed a rather lazy day, although we did our big pre-Thanksgiving grocery shop. And I made hubby the chocolate cheesecake he likes for his birthday, a couple days early, so we could share with the kids for Sunday dinner. 

We had a fun, busy Sunday to get Week Four started. After church, our son and his family came over for a late lunch and some birthday cheesecake, and then we went to the New Albany tree lighting together. We stuck around until the tree lighting, which was followed by a holiday drone show. Have you seen one of these yet? It's an interesting alternative to fireworks - perhaps not as exciting, but creative, and without the loud noises that bother pets and many children! We enjoyed it! Following that, I went to our church Friendsgiving dinner by myself since hubby had a hockey game.

The week was a full one, and the rhythms were a bit different from the usual. The beginning of the week was normal, but on Wednesday morning I left home really early so I could get to my Smash 'n Flash appointment before work. I left work a little early as well, to give myself enough time to get home and changed to go to the hockey game. This was a special one because my husband's favorite team, the Montreal Canadiens, were the visitors, and it was his birthday. Thursday was Thanksgiving! And an unusual one for us, since it was the first time ever that it was just the two of us, no kids! We did the turkey on the grill/smoker for the first time and it turned out really well. It was a little odd cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner, setting the table with the china and all of it, just for the two of us, but it was good. I thought I might get weepy, but I made it through. Oh, and another change to our rhythm - we are dog-sitting this weekend while our son and his family are away for Thanksgiving. On Friday hubby and I both worked a half day and went to the afternoon hockey game. This time it was my team, the Calgary Flames, visiting, and although it was a good game, my team did not come away with the win. We will end the month with an easy rhythm Saturday, decorating for the holidays (finally!). 

Gratitude and being thankful for our blessings should be part of the daily rhythms of life, so I'm concluding with a sampling of the things I was specifically grateful for during the past month:

-family that enjoys spending time together

-my parents' example and friendship

-the ability to travel safely and for GPS

-the right to vote in a nation that is not perfect, but is still great

-music, harmony, and the ability to sing

-opportunities to make music with others that love it

-coffee and comfy chairs

-being healthy and fit enough to go on explores

-so many hiking and walking trails for exploring!

-friendships

-the veterans that have served their country

-sunsets

-pleasant surprises

-a phone, and the ease of calling without long distance charges!

-comfort food

-small towns

-Christmas music

-well-stocked grocery stores

-books and free libraries with well-stocked shelves

-sleeping late

-snow

-hockey

-pets

-birthdays

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 Rhythm is my Word of The Year for 2024 because I realized I'd need to adjust my routines and work on my time management as I started a full time work schedule, and I couldn't be striving or fighting all the time - I need to establish a healthy, balanced rhythm to my days and weeks. And additionally, in the last part of 2023, I felt like God had really been speaking to me about the subject of Sabbath, and that he was inviting me to be more intentional about practicing and celebrating a Sabbath rhythm in my life. Here's my WOTY post to explain: WQ - Rhythm Inspires

 

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