L took these gorgeous photos from her university residence. She said the rainbow was so wide, it was a full arch, so she took 2 photos to try to capture it with her camera. The sunset's also wonderful.
It was lovely having L home for Thanksgiving weekend. I was not prepared for feeling so sad when she left on Monday. Yes, I was 'grieving' again. It felt like shortness of breath and a slight loss of appetite. Well, I missed lunch.
It was a busy weekend. L arrived a bit later than planned on Friday evening due to the traffic. K had been at an all-day inter-school tennis tournament. He didn't win but it was a good experience and he had fun.
L has settled well into university life. She has already joined a bunch of committees at school. She proclaims her roommates 'sisters'. I asked her how these 'sisters' are different than her high school friends. She said it's different when you live together. Her whole floor seems to be bonding well. Some of the kids sound really smart. I was happy to learn that they are offering flu shots in the coming weeks to the students by appointment.
L and I did some serious shopping on Saturday while K was at his tennis lesson. She needed new winter boots and wanted some new fall clothes. They had a lot of sales at the mall, so we were pleased with our purchases. Later on, K and I went to dinner with my mom and the cousins to celebrate the season. L stayed home with her dad because we didn't want my mom to catch her cold. M was helping to paint K's canoe paddle that he's been making for one of his classes. It turned out quite nicely using acrylic paint. I think K will varnish it in class.
L met a friend for a manicure/pedicure and dropped a birthday gift off at another friend's place on Sunday morning while M and I picked up some of the heavier groceries for her. We met my cousin and his wife at the grocery store by chance. I just casually asked how their recent multi-family Mexican vacation went, only to hear that it was a disaster. It seems a lot of the kids and some of the adults came down with diarrhea for 4 of the 7 days. They are suspecting the salads because they were all drinking bottled water.
Anyway, on Sunday evening we went to M's sister's place for their Thanksgiving dinner. It was a large gathering of the extended family and friends. There are 2 new babies on the way, so the gathering will only get larger with time. M's sister has installed a fabulous new solarium on her deck at an insanely reasonable price. The savings come when you can do the installation yourself, of course. They'll be able to stay outside for a few extra months.
On Monday, the kids did some homework and L finalized her packing. We realized she is one of those kids that always has a LOT of stuff. The girl we car pooled with had a couple of bags at both ends of her trip. L needs a moving dolly at the best of times to get her stuff into her room! Oh well!
