. . . turn to ice skating.

I have just spent several minutes investigating my ice skating options around here. I must say, the evening ice hours seem to be pretty pathetic. And I can't seem to find anything about women's hockey, although I think that must be because I'm not looking hard enough . . . but I did note with extreme pleasure that Washington Park (sadly lacking much of a web presence) offers noon skating three days a week. I am very excited about this! Ann Arbor discontinued their noon skate at Buhr last year, and I was very disappointed. Of course, part of my disappointment stems from the fact that I used to go and be the only one there; in retrospect, I can see that it wasn't cost-effective, no matter how pleasant it was . . . It's nice to think that I will recover the noontime skate. Even nicer to realize that I will be able to go as often as I like next semester because I'm teaching all those online courses . . . and everything is so close together that heck, I could ride my bike from LCC to Washington Park, no problem . . .

In other news, this Thursday is Thanksgiving. (A reminder for those of you who are Not of This Continent . . . ) We're going to journey down to Youngstown for the day on Thursday, possibly spending the night and returning on Friday, but more likely coming back on Thursday (since we have these nocturnal offspring who will be up all night staring at the walls if we force them to stay). Uncle Carl and Aunt Betty are very much looking forward to seeing us, Kathy says; I'm sorry to say that we have been extremely remiss in terms of making visits down there this summer and fall.

I can't say I'm exactly looking forward to this visit. This year, it's more of a duty than a pleasure; I would really have preferred to cook turkey in our new house and visit with cheerful people instead of comforting the depressed. But you do what you have to do, I guess. I know that sound selfish of me, but I feel as if I've been through the wringer over the past few months, myself. Nothing compared with being old and losing two brothers in six months, to be sure . . .

I miss the old Thanksgivings. Somehow, it slipped my notice that the children would grow up and everything would change.

Oh, well. We're like horses changing leads, these days; a new pattern will emerge but it isn't here yet.

That sounds more dismal than I'm feeling, really. All in all, I'm feeling pretty content today. The semester is winding down, which is a relief. Em and I met with an advisor today and she's now got a good idea of what she needs to do to reach her goal of getting her degree and transferring to Eastern, which also feels good. And tonight Charlie called her to ask her if she wanted a ride to Ann Arbor, which cheered me greatly; they haven't exactly been close in recent years, so it's nice to think that might be changing. So there are good things happening, too; it's not all car crashes around here . . . :)