Asheville in June

We just returned from five days in the mountains with bill, liz, annabelle, ivy, and the 'rents. We also caught glimpses of Grandma, Aunt Barbara, and Uncle Dick. Time with our nieces can only be described as precious and we feel so blessed to have good friends in siblings in bill and liz. Surely our time together was too short.

Thanks to Carolyn and Chuck for hosting us, the good food, and good times. Finally, official congratulations to liz for clenching the victory in Settlers!

Enjoy the pictures by clicking the album cover below...

Dude

This post is for my dear friend, Kavita. Dude - I'm finally posting about your birthday and our adventure at the Muse. What I love most about Kavita is how she lives life with zest, intellect, curiosity, and love.

We celebrated Kavita's 31 years on the planet with some delicious Asian fusion, a movie at The Manor, and of course, Amelie's. A few weeks later, we ventured out to The Evening Muse to hear our buddy David Lutes perform. (David is on a roll musically these days and is currently touring the SE. It was such fun to spend a day with him... check him out at http://davidlutesmusic.com/)

Movie Moment

Class with students officially ended last Friday and between the transition from 5th to middle school, saying goodbye to my kiddos, and saying goodbye to partnering with Linda, it was emotional to say the least.

I did have a movie ending moment last Thursday when one of my students wrote me a note that made my heart smile. Our transcript follows:

C: Dear Mrs. R.,
Do you think I can be a writer?

Love,

C

Me: Dear C.,
I think you are a writer.

Love,

Mrs. R.

Sigh.

Here is a picture from the last day with some of our community's younger kiddos - the teachers wear middle school uniforms to be "nuts" so thus the chambray.

Hot Diggity

Two weekends ago, I journeyed to Atlanta to be with my girls from Wake Forest once again. 9 years and counting...what a sweet tradition spending this weekend together is. Not only did I learn a new game (Settlers!) and get to meet beautiful new babies, I also got to laugh until I cried and enjoyed the company of ten truly remarkable women. There is nothing sweeter than spending time with dear friends who know where you've been and love you anyway.

Here we are in 2001:

and 2010:


Thank you, girls, for your commitment to our yearly rendezvous. It is a gift in my life.

Best. Show. Ever.

For Christmas this year, Dave gave me tickets to Wicked - wrapped in a football, of course.



You should know that given the chance, I would sing show tunes all day long. I am a fan of jazz hands, large orchestra accompaniments, and over-the-top drama. The more "Broadway" the show, the better.

After many months of waiting, the show date finally arrived two weeks back. I haven't been that excited about a night in years. We had a lovely dinner at Fig Tree and then headed over to the theatre. Needless to say, I ADORED the show. I was beaming with wide eyes throughout the entire production - and on a school night, no less. I've been listening to the soundtrack ever since.

Thanks to David for giving me such a wonderful evening and experience. Here I am posing with my Playbill - I know, I know...