A Taste of Scotland & Ireland

One of my passions in life is to travel and see the world. Last month, I had a wonderful opportunity to visit Scotland and Ireland with a good friend of mine. 

We toured Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Yacht Britannia, the Isle of Skye, the Titanic Belfast and the Cliffs of Moher. 


One the many highlights of our trip was a medieval-style feast at 15th century Bunratty Castle. 

Every day was filled with majestic highland scenery and a history lesson of battles fought and the preservation of old castles. 

We even enjoyed a "wee dram" whiskey tasting at Blair Athol Distillery and a ghost tour through the city of Edinburgh. I'll always treasure these memories and the 26 friends I made on the tour.  

Experiencing Joy

This Thanksgiving I experienced the joy of being a guest. At first I thought it would be awkward not hosting Thanksgiving dinner for my family, but my children have grown up and have lives of their own. Only one of my sons was able to visit me this year so we accepted an invitation to spend Thanksgiving dinner at my neighbor's house.

Instead of laboring over a roasted turkey, sausage stuffing and perfecting my gravy, my son and I prepared two side dishes, Holiday Green Beans and Winter Fruit Salad. I really enjoyed having the extra time to spend with him instead of huffing and puffing in the kitchen to put on an entire Thanksgiving spread.

After preparing the fruit salad Wednesday afternoon, we decided to drive into town to watch the 3D version of the movie Gravity. Wow! What a riveting movie. I was on the edge of my seat watching the three dimensional effects of Sandra Bullock and George Clooney lost in space. So glad to find a movie that both of us enjoyed. We followed the movie with dinner at Garduno's which was packed with folks seeking refuge from all the Thanksgiving prep.

Thanksgiving morning was relaxing as we spent an hour visiting with friends and enjoying an excellent cup of coffee and homemade banana bread. Afterwards, we walked back to the house making tracks in the snow to videoconference, via FaceTime, with my family in California. What fun we had sharing stories and comparing Thanksgiving recipes.

Next, we snapped green beans and made our healthy version of the traditional green bean casserole while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Afterwards, we put on clean clothes and loaded up the car. When we arrived at the neighbor's house, my son was delighted to hear the sound of back-to-back football games blaring from the family room television. I ventured into the kitchen where the inevitable Thanksgiving chaos was unfolding. We all pitched in to bring dinner to the table. What a relief it was not to carry the stress of hosting Thanksgiving this year. For the first time, I experienced the joy of being a guest.