I thought I would share with you some of the sights of my holiday season. Enjoy!
Here is a gingerbread man gallery. I have had my friends, their children, and my co-workers decorate these little foam designs to hang in my office. I enjoy their company, even if some are peering over my shoulder.
I am thankful for so many people, experiences, and things I have in my life that it would be impossible to capture them all in one post. What I can capture is my deep fondness for the beloved hand turkey.
You drew them in elementary school (and I drew them in high school…) Decked out in glitter glue, feathers, pipe cleaners, beads, googly eyes, and anything else found in the decorating drawer, these are pieces of art and testaments to the season. At a potluck last Thursday, I supplied some of those crafty items and diners provided the creativity. Below is the result. A big shout out to my friends who participated, thank you! If you have drawn a hand turkey this season and would like to share, I would be happy to post a picture.
And if you want to learn how to make your very own hand turkey, eHow has you covered: LINK!
Alicia, one of my best friends, my Big Sister in fact, came to visit me last weekend, and we had a marvelous time!
It took no small feat to get her here – after having to reschedule around a prior commitment, then a day-of delay at the airport causing her to have to change flights. Thankfully good fortune prevailed and we were reunited after 10 months of being apart!
Our first agenda item: Fall Crawl 2012. The afternoon was filled with friends, laughter, music, and drink, as any good bar crawl should be. I enjoyed introducing Alicia to many of my closest friends while we both pretended to be back in college. It was fun and carefree and ended with a delicious slice of pizza. How could we go wrong?
Ever ambitious, we rode the bus home to prepare for a Halloween party with my friends from graduate school. I went in my standby penguin costume while Alicia dawned a sheet to be my iceberg. (Apologies! No pictures were taken.) We enjoyed a brief time at the party, and Alicia met more of the people who shaped my time at Clemson. However, the crawl crawled up on us, and by nine, we were both ready to sleep.
The next day can be described by a single gerund: walking. After a tasty homemade breakfast, we made for campus. While others slept, we went on an extensive walking tour.
Alicia commented several times on the abundance of Tiger Paws and the Clemson name. I let her know this is the norm, we are a Clemson Family, and we take that commitment seriously. From years of Solid Orange and One Clemson, I have come to assume this is the standard on all college campuses. Having Alicia comment on it allowed me to realize that this is a special quality and not one to take trivially. As I write, I feel my Clemson Pride stir, something I will always cherish. Go Tigers!
Our next stop was Greenville. We thought we had a respectable Sunday lunch at 1 PM only to learn after that my car clock tricked us with the time change! With plenty of time, we took off on foot to explore Greenville. We saw Falls Park, open artist studies, many little shops , all the while chatting and catching up as though we did this every Sunday.
Eventually, we felt we had seen what was available, but still had some time left, so with spontaneous glee, we took off for the zoo. With childish excitement, we both shouted “Elephant!” as we approached the first exhibit. Then remembering our age, we took on an ever so slightly more restrained demeanor. Cats and primates and reptiles, oh my! My favorite exhibit was the giraffes where we could see baby Kiko, born less than a 14 days ago, on October 22.
We concluded the visit with a delicious treat at Spill the Beans and a short ride to the airport.
I miss you already Sis! Unicorns!
