Jigging, Emailing and Worrying

It was a fun night at the Wine Room, which was filled to the brim with happy, loud, dancing people. The Irish Fiddling band was tight and the room, with its wooden floors, loved my bass. It just rang out. I climbed into bed by 9:30 but Michael sat in the garage and shared a sipping bourbon with our neighbor Mike until midnight. Mike's wife was out with girlfriends for the evening so the boys had some time to chat. So good for both of them.

Today, I have several chores on my list. The simple one is to clean out all my shoes, donate the gently used ones and toss the others. I will also organize my closet, again.

The difficult chore will be writing a group email to mom, my brother and his wife, my sister and her husband, and my niece and her husband confirming the changes we are beginning this holiday season. No Thanksgiving or Christmas together. No long drives in bad holiday traffic. No stress of having to prepare several meals (lunch and dinner). No gift giving, except to mom as she wants to continue to give money for us to buy our own gifts from her. This email will also propose that we chose a date in October to meet in a town, half way for everyone, for a nice lunch on a weekend. No extra holiday traffic. No stress. Just being together for a few hours. Everyone is on board except my sister. Michael approached her during my niece's wedding but, as the first born, she has a hard time with any changes in traditions.

I will write the draft and work with Michael to insure it has the right tone. A bit nervous about it. I need to send this before I book the AirB&B for our post-Christmas celebration in Palm Springs.

My friend Christien has been worried about her elderly step-father on the West coast of Florida. He is not right on the water and he did not leave before the planes stopped flying. He is not capable to drive his way out. She wishes she had flown in several days ago to fly them back to her house in No. Carolina. Too late. My hope is that she has talked him into going to a shelter but I know he can be stubborn. This is just one story of thousands. Millions. I think the entire country is holding its breath waiting for this huge hurricane to make landfall. Sadly, it is going to be ugly.