It has been months since I have posted anything new to my blog.  Summer has come and gone along with gardening, visiting relatives and a major home remodel project.  Fall is in its final throes, the patio furniture and grill have been carted in, the awning is down and with lake effect snow forecast for tonight, winter is making its way make into western New York.

A wise person once said, life is about choices.  So what did I choose instead of blogging?  Well, there was that great trip to Quebec City to visit a Florida friend who spends summer in her native Canada.  And of course there was the crash audio course in French ahead of time.  Quebec City is wonderful and charming and I am so glad Del speaks French fluently because despite the crash course once we got beyond Bon Jour, I struggled.  The funny thing was that when entering a restaurant or other venue, we would both say Bon Jour so the wait staff would assume we both spoke French - NOT.  As soon as I opened my mouth they would quickly switch to English.   The most fun was the St. John Baptiste Day celebration which seemed to be akin to New Year's Eve in Time Square, a rock concert in the park, an old fashioned street dance and just plain good old fun! And I might note that even when young Canadians are falling down drunk, they are civilized.

Well that was back in June, what happened to the rest of the summer?  Well the remodel project began in July and I was overrun with carpenters - 4 Amish men and a boy who framed in the addition and walked along the beams with as mucy grace and skill as a tightrope walker.  Then there were plumbers, electricians, painters, inspectors, heating and cooling specialist, excavators and then people who brough in new dirt and then there were new shrubs and watering that darn new grass every single night.  But the addition is a wow.  So that was all good.

Before and after and during the remodel, I was also serving as campaign manager for a countywide Family Court Judge candidate.  So that meant organizing a committee, planning the announcement, getting signatures on petitions, driving people to the polls on primary day, raising money, attending fund raising events, political debates, putting up signs, urging people to vote,  sending out campaign alerts etc. etc.  Election day is not until next week so only time will tell but I am confident Judge Claire will be re-elected.  If you want to learn more about her candidacy or programs go to www.reelectjudgeclaire.com.

September brough a new interim assignment - something I said I wasn't going to do again.  It seems at least once a year one organization or another is without an executive director and so I step in for 4-6 months.  All interim assignments are challenging and this one is no exception.

October was family fun with visiting son and  4 year old grandson, then one of my brothers and sister-in-law.  They all heard about a new guest room and something about visitors being welcome, so wanted to take advantage of the new quarters.

Would I have traded any of this for a blog or two, probably not.  So are there some lessons from any of this that I can pass along to those who read the blog.  Well, yes........

It's easier to listen to French than it is to speak it.

Some contractors actually deliver what they promise - Thank you Iucalano Construction

A laundry room can be a beautiful thing.

Politics is fascinating, but it is a lot of hard work - especially for the candidate.

Campaign meetings which were de rigueur the last time I was involved in a political campaign are not necessary because of e-mail.  Everyone can be instantly connected or contacted or coordinated via the Internet.

Every interim assign brings new challenges, surprises and frustrations!

Four year olds talk a lot, ask a lot of questions and say Grandma over and over and over and they give you wet kisses and fill the house with a special magic.

I have many nonprofit topics I want to write about, so I am going to try to get back to a more regular blogging schedule.  It's interesting that even though I haven't written in months, my old posts are being read.  The statistics page indicated there were 2750 article views during the past week.  It boggles my mind but warms my heart.

Until next time,
Pat