Archives - Weekly Update

As I write this newsletter on Wednesday morning, the wind is blowing and the snow is falling. Christmas weather for Thanksgiving! We come to you a couple of days early so the staff may enjoy a much-deserved long weekend. I am very grateful for all of them.

Cory is coming home tonight for the holiday; we have not seen him since September, thus I am looking forward to this! He texted last week that he has “a new radical haircut.” The only other thing I have heard about it is that it’s “very short.” I hope I recognize him! His being home means the vibe around the house goes way up as he and his friends meander around. I am looking forward to it and hope that the weather does not mar these plans or those of any of you who are traveling for turkey. We once again have a fresh-killed turkey for Thanksgiving, which Greg picked up last weekend.

Thanksgiving has crept on me; I am way behind prepping for the eat-athon. I know it’s the SAME time every year (the fourth Thursday), but somehow this year I am glad that there is a time-honored menu for this dinner, as I am lacking in time for jogging my imagination on what to make. We test-drove butternut squash ravioli with sage butter sauce, which will be an appetizer. I will be perusing some cookbooks this weekend, and the plan is to get the dreaded grocery shopping done before the rush of next week. Wegmans had an amazing orange cranberry bread last year that I must get my hands on again.

This week, I spent time with old friends. Back in 1995, when we were conceptualizing the company that would become The Book Report Network, I met two people who also had fledgling sites on AOL who became my friends for life. One was Gene Carr, who at the time ran Culture Finder and now runs Patron Technology and Patron Manager. His company offers ticketing, subscriptions, fundraising, email marketing and staff collaboration technology for arts organizations. Our newsletters are powered by PatronMail, and what makes me smile is that Gene reads the newsletter each week to keep up with what is going on with me. Thus, when we meet, he is way up to speed on my life.

Last Saturday, I drove down to Toms River for a terrific book group event hosted by the Ocean County Library System. It was pouring rain on the drive down and back. As I was heading down the Parkway, I was wondering if the weather would hurt attendance, thus I was really happy to walk into a very full room of readers. I did not know anyone there, but at check-in, I met a woman named Sue who suggested we sit together. We immediately fell into conversation, chatting about books and life, and ended up eagerly chatting with the other women at our table. I was rattling off book suggestions as I dropped into “book concierge” mode. The program was chock full of information and book group suggestions. We played a lively game of Book Trivia (our table scored 8 out of 10), and for an added bonus, I had the pleasure of meeting Betty, one of our readers, which was really lovely.