The kids are getting out of school in just a bit and I’m going to go get them and head straight to the orthodontist. We made it a whole nine days before Skyler put her retainer in a napkin at a restaurant and we found ourselves begging the management to let us search their trash. (Alas, the health code says no go and I wasn’t able to be Mary Steenburgen to Aron’s Steve Martin. IYKYK.) My friend tells me it’s a rite of passage.
It had been a good night before that—we watched Skyler play the piano in a winter concert and did some holiday singing-along-ing. This year’s season seems to be going especially fast, so it’s nice to have those moments when you’re compelled to just sit and soak it in.
Any fun plans Saturday or Sunday? We’ve found watching the World Cup to be a thrill, so we’re all looking forward to the final between Argentina and France on Sunday. Otherwise, it’s a surprisingly low-key weekend for one so close to Christmas. It seemed that everyone tried to fit things into that December 10/11 one this year. I’m looking forward to it.
The big news for me this week is that I finished the December issue of The Dirt! The community events calendar/newspaper I started publishing just before the pandemic went into hibernation mode for nearly three years. I wasn’t sure if I would be printing it again, but the City of Davis reached out about helping get things restarted with an arts & culture grant! So I started ramping things up again and we got it out in time for a December 1 issue!
I was definitely re-thinking things a bit when I realized that both the rush time for this month and next fall squarely over the holidays—definitely a bummer—but I think I’ll keep figuring out ways to get more done earlier in the month with practice. Or, at least… I hope.
If anyone is a local reader or is interested in what’s happening in Davis, please subscribe to get a digital copy in your inbox each month. When you sign up, you’ll get December’s issue. It’s also found all around town—the library or Avid Reader are always a good bet for finding a copy!
Speaking of emails and newsletters, I realized recently that everyone who had signed up to get Hither & Thither’s RSS feed delivered to their inbox was no longer getting those emails. And I neglected to grab the emails off feedburner before Google shuttered the service. So I’m going to try and figure out a way to make that an option again for those who are interested. Thank you to the readers who let me know. I can’t believe I lost all of those contacts for readers who’d subscribed over the past 10+ years. I’m trying not to think too hard about it—it’s too upsetting. If anyone knows of any way to remedy that, please reach out!
How was everyone’s Thanksgiving? Even though there was a lot of work to do, we had fun watching World Cup games and hanging with family and friends. Hudson, in his newly independent 6th grader-ness, basically biked off to play pickle ball every morning with a friend and then disappeared for lunches downtown and video games. Skyler was a little more stuck with us as I’d thought we’d be traveling and didn’t register for gym with her buddies. But fortunately she still thinks we’re pretty cool. Sawyer turned 10 over the break and taught us that his new senior stomach cannot tolerate birthday treats. Whoops.
Our garage is finished! Any favorite wall-organization finds? That’s next!
I watched all of the Friday and Monday deals come and go with some serious FOMO, (“How much more is Christmas going to cost if I miss that sale?!”) but just wasn’t able to really look it all over. Did you find anything good? Is everyone done shopping? Should I still at least try to pull together a favorite-things list?
Happy almost-holiday! Our plans had been to go to Lake Tahoe and then come back in time for dinner here, but we might stay home for the break after-all. Last weekend was full of travel and I’m ready to stay put for a bit. Plus, I have a lot of work today getting ready to relaunch The Davis Dirt. Plus, the volume of gift-guides and Black Friday news are giving me a bit of anxiety about how fast December is approaching. Maybe I’ll start enjoying it as I usually do and round up some favorites, but I’m definitely a not-before-Thanksgiving shopper.
I missed last Friday’s digest when we were in LA. We took the kids to Disneyland and then to see Harry Styles. It was so much fun! What a fun concert. I tried my hand at making reels (I might be hooked) if you’d like to see: Here’s one from California Adventure and one from Harry Styles. I’ll probably make one for Disneyland, too, and then try to cut myself off for a bit.
We are all registered for the Davis Turkey Trot tomorrow, but it turns out that Hudson’s AYSO team did well enough to play in a tournament tomorrow. A bittersweet prize, if I’m being honest! Aron is still going to run because his race is early enough, but I think the rest of us will need to pass. Still, I’ll look forward to seeing parts of it–Davis is looking lovely right now with all the leaves changing.
