As 2017 comes to a close...

There are so very many reasons to celebrate our good life---despite what is happening in Washington D.C.
We are blessed to have family both near and far.  Thank goodness the far-away family feels much closer through Skype and FaceTime.
Another blessing is our many friends!  We feel blessed to have regular opportunities to share coffee, breakfast, bike rides, dinners, etc. with friends!
I belong to three different bike clubs.  Great Plains Bicycling Club is the largest and oldest group with over 250 members.  They do a wonderful job of providing weekly group rides throughout the warmer months.

Great Plain Bicycle Club Christmas party

Every year this group has a New Year's Day breakfast, followed by a ceremonial ride.  The forecast for this year is -18.  I think I'll skip the ride!

The weather was still warm on Dec. 3

And on Dec. 18

Eventually, winter arrived.

I put lights on the deck.

and lights on the front porch.

There was a fabulous sale on Chesapeake Bay oysters, so I bought a dozen.

Rusty adjusted the blade on a knife and shucked the oysters

Man they were delicious!

My annual Christmas Tea with friends was a bit smaller than usual, but a sumptuous, lovely time with friends.  We even had a nice phone call from Kathie, who was not able to attend the tea.  It has become a tradition for us to wear hats to the tea.

Di, Linda, Lorraine, Chris

Lorraine, our hostess, with a beautiful table and tree.

Lorraine and Linda doing cleanup in the kitchen.

Prairie Plate Restaurant is a farm-to-table restaurant located in the country northeast of Lincoln.  We like to visit at least once a year with friends.  It is especially lovely on a moon-lit, chilly evening.

Kerry, Deb, Rusty, Di, Karen, Ray, Susan, Clayton

We invited the Starks and the Nelsons to a simple pasta dinner.  We always have a great time with these life-long friends.

Appetizers and cocktails

Rusty shares puns of Christmas carols with the group.

We played a Christmas trivia game.

Greg was the winner of the Hilary nutcracker.

We drove to K.C. to have an early Christmas with Olivia, Pierce, and Reece.  We enjoyed the beautiful Christmas lights at the old train station and then rode the new trolley to the Power and Light District for dinner at Cleaver and Cork.

Rusty and Di in front of the train station's grand hall.

Pierce Olivia, Reece

Yours truly

Later that night, we opened presents.  In November we all drew names and purchased socks.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

The boys were pretty excited with their keraoke machine.

How about a little "Pretty Woman"...

Rusty brought his clarinet so that he and Pierce could play something together.

Rusty and Pierce assembling the instrument.

Pierce has been playing clarinet for only about 3 months.

This is mini-Chad--facial expression, body posture, everything.

We also had a Christmas with the Hastings family.

Celeste does the honors for the family gift.

Xavier, Lindsay (wearing her poncho), Jeff and Celeste.

We had a nice snow on Christmas Eve, so I was able to x-country ski.

On Christmas Day we went with our friend, Lorraine, to Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  We bought premium seats that are extra large recliners and can be heated.  Rusty had a beer with his popcorn.  Very comfy!
After dinner we imitated A Christmas Story and ate at a Chinese Restaurant.

Remember this scene?

The food at The Asian Buffet was incredibly good!

Lorraine, Rusty, Di

Gretchen is not a fan of the cold and always keeps one foot lifted out of the snow.

This was the year of the poncho.  I made a poncho for myself which I really liked, with a black and white herringbone on one side and a red plaid on the other.  Unfortunately the weave of the fabric was so loose it almost fell apart faster than I could make it.

I switched to fleece fabric and it was way more successful.  I made a black, red and gray poncho for Lindsay.

And a tan, gray, multi tone poncho for Anna.

And I made a brown-green/ecru checked one for Felicia for her birthday, which is the day after Christmas.

Rusty and I will spend a quiet New Year's Eve in front of the fireplace while sipping Grand Marnier and eating my Boozy Christmas Cake.  (I refuse to call it fruitcake because it's way better!)
I might even get Rusty to play some  cribbage with me.

Happy New Year to all!

A Time For Gathering With Friends

In early November Rusty and I attended "Don Pasquale" the opera presented at UNL.  This one was hilarious!  UNL does two operas each year.  They do an excellent job of making the opera accessible to all; digitized transcripts are projected above the stage to provide language translation, although the acting is good enough that the plot is understandable even without the translation.  Tickets are very inexpensive.  Go if you have the chance!

Operation Christmas Child is a program that asks volunteers to fill shoeboxes with goodies for children in third world countries.  My neighbor hosted an event where we filled 15 boxes with personal hygiene items, school supplies, underwear, t-shirts and toys.  Southeast Nebraska filled 14, 705 boxes!

Kids assembled the boxes.

filling the boxes

Amber, the organizer, second from left.

I'm still riding...

Cheers from the Roca bar.

In an afternoon ride to Eagle, we welcomed our newest "retiree rider," Annette.

I attended the annual meeting for Great Plains Bicycle Club.  We host 3 big rides each year and keep an active website with weekly rides all year round.

Randy gives the annual report on club activities.

Pat sports this year's biking hat.

Rusty's daughters usually have holiday dinners with their mom, so we hosted an early Thanksgiving gathering.

Jeff, Rusty, Anna, Celeste, Lindsay

Celeste and Gretchen are having a conversation.

I had a minor eye surgery the day before Thanksgiving.  I had to ice my eyes every couple of hours.

Rusty said I look like a giant fly.

Olivia and Reece joined us for a couple days after Thanksgiving.

We had lunch at The Mill on Innovation Campus.

Great quote by MLK on Innovation Campus

Olivia adds her encouraging words to the kiosk.

Then we spent a little time at the State Capitol.

Reece and GiGi

Reece touches the top!

Gretchen and I tried out the new dog run at Roper Park near our home.

We had a lovely dinner at the new home of our friends Karen and David.  Karen's sister, Aimee, was also with us.  Both Karen and Aimee are former students of mine.  

David cleaned up dishes while we soaked in the hot tub.

Our Christmas party for the Just Sayin' Bike Group was held at a new craft beer bar called The Happy Raven.  It has wonderful selections!  Their website tells you when each keg was opened and how much is left.

Marni chats up Rusty and me.

Clayton, Kristi, Steve, Topher and Ray

Our riding friends.

After the bike party Rusty and I attended the Big Band Jazz Concert at UNL.  It is amazing how good those students can play!

The Christmas party and the jazz concert were both downtown and only separated by a few blocks.  Rusty suggested we park on the top (8th) floor of the parking garage.  As we parked, we observed a gorgeous sunset and a big rising moon.
After the evening's events, we walked up al 144 stairs.  It was a very fun evening!

We made it!