Winter Solstice and Charleston, SC . . . Christmas week

The Winter Solstice, which happened on December 21st, is the darkest time of year.
It's when traditions of the yule log and other celebrations and rituals take place to gather dark spirits before burning it to release negative energy and welcome in the sun's cleansing rays.  Yule log or not, it's a season to cleanse the mind and spirit and welcome in the promise of a new year.   In China the solstice also relates to the philosophy of yin and yang, with the return of the sun marking the strengthening of positive energy. 

In Houston we celebrated with the group "Revels Houston" which is a community-based performing arts organization.  Morris dances and a Mummers play are always included, and the first act of every performance ends with the cast and the audience joyously dancing their way out of the theater to The Lord of the Dance.  Heart pumping.

I just finished reading Pilgrim's Progress and picked up Christmas Pudding and Pigeon Pie both by Nancy Mitford - written in 1930's England (I want to go back . . .).  Compared to PP, these are very different takes on the spirit of the holiday season, these are a romp.

Here's a song from the 1970's era for the holidays: "The Sweetest Gift", sung by 3 of the best women vocalists of their generation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWEQDyrbphE

And speaking of Christmas, it was a lovely time in Charleston with Jake, Gina and Delilah:

Peace!

Las Vegas in December

Third time to Vegas this year (Feb, Aug, and Dec) which is not unusual in the insurance business, and I already expect to be back next February.  Luckily I've made my peace with the city and am no longer a Vegas hater but try to enjoy what's there which obviously is quite a lot.  I'm not a gambler but have had fun trying it (love those $5.00 blackjack tables at the Mirage).  Im not a big drinker but have had a blast at the bar "The Chandelier" inside the Cosmopolitan and "The Ice Bar" inside Mandalay Bay, and I'm not a huge shopper but I love the shops at Ceasar's Palace (where else would you buy Prada with you winnings?). And that fountain in front of The Bellagio, gorgeous, especially at Christmas time.  It is the place to see and do the less than everyday.  One very memorable trip was in Feb 2010 when I had gotten tickets to see "Love" and Sue and Sara drove from San Diego to meet me.  That was when Sara announced I was a great Aunt and I was like, "well thank you", and she says, "no I mean you're going to be a Great Aunt".  So cool.  Anyway it was a girls weekend and so much fun.  Hard to believe that was almost 5 years ago.

Three months and counting.  I was so excited last week to receive my invitation to Jake and Gina's wedding:

 

I'm so looking forward to our families being together. 

Christmas Parties and Holiday Open House

DePelchin Children's Center in Houston was first opened in 1890 by Kezia Payne DePelchin who was a 64 year old widow at the time, a teacher, nurse and social worker. She saw the need to help abandoned and unwanted children and opened a facility and herself began providing foster care.  By the 1950's DePelchin Center was offering mental help services as well, and by the 1960's they were specializing in finding adoptive homes for children with mental and physical diseases.  Over the past 124 years they have provided foster care and cared for many, many thousands.

 I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Center this weekend during their holiday party and jumped (no pun) at the chance.  I was assigned to the Bounce House which was exhausting but so much fun.   

 

There were around 150 kids that came through in the 4 hours that I was there ranging in age from 18 months to 13 years.  So many were wide-eyed at the idea of this fun house and couldn't wait to try it out.  They loved the attention and kept asking me to watch them.  I was impressed with how polite and thankful many of them were, and careful of the younger ones.  Throughout the day they came back again and again, it was a blast.

 

At the end I got to sit and chat with Santa and the other volunteers.  What a great day and thankful for the opportunity to spend time with these children.

The Shaw Christmas Party:  Friends Bill and Joanne Shaw have been hosting a Christmas Party (among other parties) in Houston for as long as most people can remember.  Lucky for me they live in the Montrose area these days which is quite nearby, so I've been able to attend for almost as many years as I've been living here.  They live in a swanky apartment complex overlooking Herman Park, taking up 3/4ths of the 17th, or top floor.  Their horseshoe view around the city of Houston is as amazing as the modern décor, artwork and furnishings in general.  This is an elegant, hard working and inspirational couple in their early 80's that I've gotten to know through the insurance business.  The food was over the top but my favorite was the white chocolate bread pudding, OMG good.

                                                                    
Then to top off this week I held a Holiday Open house of my very own - first time ever.  Actually it was over 2 days; Friday after work for my colleagues before they headed home to the suburbs, and then again Saturday afternoon for neighbors and friends.  I tried to keep it basic with primarily holiday cookies and punch and although a lot (way more than I'd bargained for in the day and a half I had to prep for it) of work it was fun to dress up the house and have company.       

 

I've been enjoying some of the carols of the season, these are my favorites so far this year:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_MGWio-vc
http://faithtap.com/2167/home-free-angels-we-have-heard-on-high/
    
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_MGWio-vc

Tis the season!!

Baltimore, MD and Charlotte, NC

Back on the road this week headed initially to Baltimore, traveling with my boss and boss's boss as this time of year is usually strategy and planning sessions for the upcoming year.  Good trip traveling with intelligent good people, then no matter how difficult things might become you can work it out together.  One of our "road" conversations usually turns to the joys of travel.  We saw an incident of arguing over the armrest on a flight so I was delighted to see the Soarigami (funny but for real) is set to debut sometime in 2015.

http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2014-12-01/soarigami-could-end-battle-for-airplane-armrest?adbid=10152946844548982&adbpl=fb&adbpr=21317493981&s_cid=social36556577

I like staying in the harbor area of Baltimore whenever I visit, so peaceful in the early morning.

And the hotel, love it, had a grand staircase and a library.

As an aside whenever I'm in Baltimore I try to imagine what it was like when my Grandparents Thelma and Bill lived there with my Dad and his brother Richie during the mid 1930's.  I looked for their house one time but it's an empty parking lot today.  They left Hartford, CT and moved to Baltimore for a short period of time and then moved back to Hartford, this is one of my ancestry mysteries I hope to solve one day. 

This week I started the 30 day plank challenge (thank you wedding support group).  I'm determined to get to the 5 minute mark although it may take me more than 30 days to get there.  It starts off deceptively simple:

12/3 - 20 seconds - Houston

12/4 - 20 seconds - Baltimore

12/5 - 30 seconds - Charlotte

12/6 - 30 seconds - Houston

12/7 - 40 seconds - Houston

I'll report progress . . .

And then on to Charlotte where the holiday spirit is alive and well there too which makes being on the road this time of year not so bad:

Back home in Houston, so proud of Johnson Space Center who's in the news this week as they successfully launched and landed the Orion spacecraft.  Upon landing on Friday one of our downtown restaurants, Reserve 101, had an exclusive viewing of Ardberg whiskey with a local company rep on hand to discuss their company’s first-of-its-kind experiment of sending some of it into space.  They discussed the effects of anti-gravity on aging whiskey.  Very cool event.


Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!





Visit from Sara and Wilmington, DE - Thanksgiving

I feel so fortunate my niece Sara has family in Houston because over the years I've gotten to see and spend more time with she and her family than I would otherwise normally get to.  Unfortunately her Grandma Betty passed away and that was the reason for her visit last week.  She died on my birthday so I feel I'll always have this additional connection of joy and loss with Sa (as her Mom has called her).

Then Thanksgiving was upon us and two of the people I've been missing and wanting to see, Tyler and Gabby, were standing in the Philadelphia airport waiting to take me to their home for the holiday.  Let me tell you, being a person that travels a great deal, having someone standing inside at the airport to meet you is priceless!

I love these two very much and am Thankful to have them in my life. 

They made every minute of my time with them interesting, warm, comfortable and full of love.  We had a delicious meal we prepared together, and one of their neighbors who lives alone and suffered a fire in her home a year ago, came over and joined us one evening.  She certainly gave testament to their generous spirit and friendship.

We talked, walked, shopped, watched movies, ate some more, and then went to Longwood Gardens the next day.

The gardens and decorations were beautiful and I loved experiencing the colder weather and seeing a bit of snow.  You couldn't help but feel the holiday spirit. 

 

Last day of my visit we went to get a Christmas tree which Ty & Gabby decided to pick out and have cut fresh which was super fun.

Raising and decorating the tree was a joint effort, and we may have started a tradition of Pizza delivery and Decorating.  Can't you just hear the fire crackling and carols playing in the background?

Happy Thanksgiving.  I look forward to seeing you again soon.

 

Hollywood, FL, Birthday, and I remember when

This week the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) held their annual meeting in Hollywood, FL.  It's NAILBA's 33rd meeting and my 22nd time attending.  I remember the first time I went in 1993.  I'd been hearing about this meeting from some of my

 colleagues and was so excited to go.  That year it was held in Chicago (which I had never been to previously), however it was the following year, 1994, that Jake and I went to Chicago to tour the town and see a Bears game.  That is the most memorable visit to that city for me.  It happened to be a Monday night game so it was being televised nationally, and it was also Halloween night.  We had a blast going to Nike Town, Uno's pizza, the top of the Sears Tower; we rode the El, then went to Soldier Field, in spite of the downpour of rain, wind and cool temperatures, and saw Dick Butkus and Gayle Sayers inducted in to the Bears Hall of Fame at half time.  Best trip to Chicago ever.

Back to present day, this NAILBA meeting gave me the chance to see many long time industry friends, including some of the SAGE members:

and of course spend several days in meetings, doing booth duty, and then drinking and eating.  It was a nice view from my room at the Diplomat Hotel in Hallendale Beach. 

I heard that I missed a serenade of Happy Birthday during the Charitable Foundation auction from the attendees.  Thank You to all.  That was super sweet.

Then the best thing of the entire week happened, I had mentioned to Joanne (soon to be co-Mother-in-Law) that I was in town and if she were free I'd love to get together for dinner.  Well turns out she was free and she brought Micaela along.  Then they treated me to a fabulous birthday dinner!  Thank you both for a great end to a long week and making my birthday special.


Final note about the week:  I used UBER car service for the first time on this trip.  I give it a 5 star rating.  So much cheaper than a taxi and friendly, professional people with clean cars. 

And then finally back home where the house maintenance project continues, the outside has been almost completely refinished and now has new coats of sealant and paint.  Much more to go on the inside but glad it's getting in shape.

Newport Beach, CA

Back to California this week literally in and out (not the burger place) the same day.  The only way to make that work with a 4 hour meeting in between is up way early and to bed late.  Back to back nights of 4 hours of sleep, but these meetings are an important part of job, and it was a productive meeting with a good customer I've known for close to 30 years.

While back in Houston I was able to catch Michael Cunningham, another gifted author who was in town as part of the Inprint Series that's held at the Cullen Theater downtown.  He was talking about his new book Snow Queen which sounds very interesting and am looking forward to reading. 







So I'm celebrating my 13th anniversary at American General Life Insurance Company this week.  Yes it's gone by fast in some ways, but I think of all the people that have come and gone in this period of time, and the struggles.  I've been lucky to be able to stick it out.  That's my office up there on the 35th floor of the 43 story tower.  The American General campus is on Allen Parkway which runs alongside of Buffalo Bayou which is a 124 acre park made up of beautiful scenery and downtown skyline views, as well as one of the city's iconic fountains.  It also has one of the best skate parks in the nation, and an extreme rarity for Houston, sloping terrain with a biking and jogging trail. In the "concrete jungle" it contributes beauty to one of the nicest auto routes in town.

I'm looking forward to biking this path again myself one of these days.