Sabbatical!

Posted by joy.the.curious on Jan 13, 2011 in Random | 3 comments

So sorry for the long lapse in my posts lately! Things got a little crazy around the New Year. We happened to be in Fargo for a wrestling tournament during that huge blizzard that caused a 100 car pile-up on I-94 heading west. When that happened, we were heading out of town on I-94 going east. Sheesh… it was bad. Very thankful we made it home safe and sound. As it turned out, the rest of the team (including all coaches and parents) got stuck in Fargo for another two days because they closed the freeway.

So, why were we in such a rush to get home, risking life and limb? Well! As I mentioned in my last post, we had a date with a crown roast for New Year’s Eve, and we were determined to get home and get our party on! We had four couples over for the big shin-dig, and we had a blast. Here are a few pictures:

The roast was absolutely delicious! If you can believe it, Ross even made the little paper hats for the top. I was running behind, so I asked him if he’d take the directions I’d found on Martha Stewart’s web site and go make them for me. He scoffed a bit, made himself a rum and coke, then disappeared into my office for a long while. When I finally went to check on him, here’s the sight I saw (I’m still laughing):

So, that was our New Year’s Eve. The next day, January 1, we celebrated our annual New Year’s Day tradition with Ross’s family – New Year’s Pancakes for about 100 people. Ross’s Grandma Martha turned 97 this year on December 27, and she’s held this tradition in her family ever since she was a child. The recipe is German… homemade buttermilk pancakes with diced apples and anise seed. So yummy!

The next day, January 2, we took the kids to St. Cloud to go “gift card shopping.” They each bought a new snowmobile jacket, and I bought myself a new Nook from Barnes & Noble (love it!). Not sure what Ross bought. Maybe some new socks… he loves SmartWool.

Then… on January 3… I officially started my two month SABBATICAL. My best friend and business partner, Betsy Bonnema, and I are celebrating our 20th year in business this year. (We started a small ad agency together just out of college – RedStar Creative.) Rather than the family cruise we had always talked about, we decided to give ourselves two months off (two months!) to not work and, instead, concentrate on our creative endeavors. Betsy is a very talented artist and spends a lot of time repurposing old furniture into beautiful and meaningful works of art. She’s also a talented writer and keeps a blog at betsybonnema.wordpress.com. Check out some of her amazing art, and don’t miss her Christmas post… it’s really special.

As for me… well… I haven’t actually had time to start my sabbatical yet. I’m busy trying to get a new web site launched for one of our clients, so I’ve been working on that for the past few weeks. Once that’s done, I’m hoping to do a lot more writing, including finishing-up some writing projects I’ve started over the years. Mostly though, I’m looking forward to just “being still” and catching up with this rolling snowball that’s become my life. I look forward to discovering new possibilities that might come my way if I just sit still long enough to pay attention.

And of course, I haven’t forgotten about my Love Letters! Rest assured, I’ll be back in the next day or two with the next chapter of my Love Letters story. Stay tuned…

In the meantime… back to work…

Next time

Love Letters, Chapter 6: Author Janet Dunning’s extraordinary glimpse into “the life Van Duyn”

3 Comments

1. Kim McGraw | January 13, 2011 at 10:52 am

   Happy New Year, Joy!

2. Kathy Alm... | January 13, 2011 at 1:25 pm

   Oh, that crown roast of pork looked like a work of art! Happy New Year!

3. Betsy Bonnema | January 16, 2011 at 3:38 pm

   Thanks again for the amazing evening and meal on New Year’s Eve. Another item to check off the bucket list! As for sabbatical, I’ve found that I’m not that good at being still. Maybe you will be better. But I am sure having fun. Hope you get to that part.
   Love and sabbatical blessings,
   Betsy