Summer’s been a busy one for me and the family. The girls—me, Laura, Kayla, Kat, Sarah, celebrated Kat’s birthday with a two-day shopping spree, ending at Saks with our pals there.
Our group and the Saks team.
Nobody left empty handed—and we all had plenty of pretty new things to take on our upcoming vacations. *
Sarah and her family were heading to England to see the Black Sabbath concert, tour around London, head to Stonehenge. Laura and her husband flew off for England, Scotland, Ireland—and Mark had a side trip to Belgium.
Whew!!
We had about two and a half weeks in Ireland. Fun, lovely, wonderful in every way. And my daily travelogues are here for anyone who missed them. **
Days after our return, BW and I hosted our annual summer party. We couldn’t have pulled it off without Kat, Jason, Kayla, JR, Logan, Colt. We also got lucky with the weather, and the forecasted rain never showed up. So a full, busy, happy day.
Almost on the heels of that, it was girl time again with our annual week at The Greenbrier. A little work, lots of fun, and plenty of ghosts to make it interesting. ***
Home again to a house and garden, and dogs, who needed some attention.
I’ve had and am having, my usual battle with deer. They got my lilies, again, but I saved my hostas. Although I think maybe our newest member of the garden family helps with that.
Last fall we needed to take down a significant number of trees. Some dead, some learners—and too close to the house and/or lane. We’d had a couple of big ones come down in storms, so needed to deal with it.
BW had the idea to leave one of the stumps standing, at a pretty significant height, in the area across from our water feature where we have hostas and shade plants and pots. His idea: Commission a chainsaw artist to carve something.
This was an idea I could get behind. I wanted a dragon, and found an image I liked. Our clever manager at Gifts, Natoma, knows area artists, and put us in touch with Jason Stoner. One look at his website told me we’d found just the right artist.
He carved the dragon head and body in ONE day, right down to the fine details. After, he ran a torch over it—to strengthen the wood and give it character. Sealed it. And we have a dragon. For the wings, he created them in his shop—one day—came back and installed.
What a talent. This beauty grabs me every time I take a walk. And maybe, his size and fierceness convinces the deer they really don’t like the taste of hostas anyway.
Photo by BW.
At least for now.
Today, I spent some time out there weeding, deadheading. And trying to ignore deer damage. Everything’s blooming and spreading and spilling. All my pots have filled in. The basil which looked very sad when I left for Ireland (so much rain here in May) has not just rebounded but is tall and happy. I have cardinal flowers that self-sowed all over. And I said: Go right ahead, mix it up!
I’m as happy as my basil. I finished a book Thursday, so I’ve had time to take a breath—garden, tidy up and pack.
It’s off again, with the whole family, for a week at Nemacolin—and the last trip of the summer.
Nora
Some details from Laura:
*We also learned about orchids!
** Start here for Nora’s trip. Start here for mine. And Sarah was sad about his passing, but so happy she and her guys were at Ozzy Osbourne’s last show.
*** We had our usual fun time. On the work front, Nora wrote several mornings. We also spent a day filming content: The Q&A for the next season of In Death In Depth as well as one for The Seven Rings, the last book in The Lost Brides trilogy.
Speaking of the trilogy, I’ve been greatly remiss on a follow-up post. I mentioned a mirror at The Greenbrier several times, but on this trip I realized I meant the FRAME of a painting which contains 3-D depictions of implements of war. For some reason, Nora’s idea of snarling animals around the frame of a mirror is much more comforting.
Nora choosing a room service option under the watchful eyes of the boy with war stuff.
We also played with glass. This year we did glass fusion instead of glass blowing. And Griffin was old enough to join in.
The glass creations. Upper row, from L: Nora, Sara and JoAnne. Lower row: Griffin, Kat, Kayla and Laura
Ready for our annual steak dinner.
And in other news: Kat finished that dratted mermaid puzzle from March!
Last Christmas Sarah gave Nora a puzzle that made for a much happier experience at The Greenbrier.
And finally, the happy Black-Eyed Susans greeted us when we returned from The Greenbrier.
Some housekeeping notes: Nora and I divided the 2024 summer travel stories. I’ll handle Greenbrier, while she’ll send a recap of the family trip to Hatteras in the next few weeks.
There is no overseas travel this year due to a ton of stateside family events. We’ll resume the longer travelogues in 2025 when Nora and family head back to Ireland. More to come on that trip when we get closer.
For now, here’s my interpretation of our week at The Greenbrier:
We had an easier ride down this year — with no sudden moves to the shoulder of the road to avoid being hit by a semi. OK, it was smooth for me since I was a passenger and could look away from the busy I-81.
The first stop was to collect our good friend JoAnne . It was so good to see her since she’d missed Girls Spa during May. Sarah met us halfway, then Kat and Griffin came down a couple hours later.* Kayla had tickets to a concert on Saturday night, so she arrived on Sunday.
Check in was smooth as our concierge, Bonnie, and the team at the front door were ready and waiting. The suite felt fresh and renewed when we walked in. We quickly learned the HVAC was upgraded, some of the rooms were repainted and several sofas recushioned. And since the forecast was for up and down weather all week it was important to feel comfortable inside.
We all unpacked, then met on the patio for a toast to our 8th trip to Greenbrier and being together. Once we finished the first bottle — ok so it was more than ONE toast — I put together our outdoor centerpiece, something we’ve done since 2017. The hydrangea in an empty bottle of Veuve Cliquot marks the official start to the trip.
The perfect reuse for the empty bottle.
On our first full day we settled into routines. I discovered coffee is served at 6 am in the upper lobby of the main hotel. Honestly, it made my early mornings to find that coffee station. Sarah was grateful as well. While a big rainstorm was forecast for Sunday afternoon, the morning was lovely so Kat and Griffin took off for some pool time. Nora and Jo got in a workout.
I set up my work space in the card room. (Wish I had a photo for you.) Our first year, we played Euchre with Ruth Langan in the card room every evening and stayed away from the Red Room. As the visits stacked up, I’ve taken over the room and use the desk for morning work.
Nora put in a solid 3 hours of work — on the last book in the Lost Bride Trilogy, since I know people will ask.
Kayla arrived before the storm — and the very large group taking over the hotel for the week. We had Bonnie on call for the arrival time, but since she’s so familiar with the place, Kayla found her way to the suite by way of the patio. I was sitting outside painting when I heard a “Hi, Laura!” and watched Kayla walk through the patio entrance — a good 20 minutes before her ETA. She’d figured that someone would be outside or at least the door would be open and she could walk in.
While Kayla was absolutely right about both, that would change as the week went on.
Kat examined the daily schedule and realized there was a brand new theme to one of the escape rooms on property. Nora, Sarah and Kayla were all for it.
Blog family, you know how I feel about games, right? Escape rooms, to me, are just games in 3D. I declined. JoAnne did too, so we hung out with Griffin in the Red Room. We took our time and put about 30 pieces in the Girl Book puzzle Nora brought. I think that ended up being our entire contribution.
Finished puzzle. Photo by Laura
The Escapees returned pretty quickly — in spite of Kat’s stunned look. They learned that one of the two rooms changes every year so they have plans for 2025.
The escapees. Photo from Kat’s phone.
Before escaping, Kat, Griffin, Kayla and Nora went over to the arcade for what would become their daily stop (I passed up the Arcade in favor of the spa — what can I say? Games). Word from the quartet was Nana kicked some butt. And Kat had photo proof.
Nana, kicking butt in the arcade. Photo by Kat.
Then, as on most rainy afternoons, we settled in to read and chat.
Rainy afternoon means a group hangout in the red room. See that mirror on the far wall? I’ll talk about that later this fall. Photo by Laura.
Glass blowing has been a Greenbrier highlight over the years. This year, Mike, the owner of the glass studio requested that we break our sessions into two days because of heat and requests from the big group. Kat and Kayla took the first shift on Tuesday.
Kat had a vision of creating a piece that looked like twisted yarn or rope. Kayla wanted to make an ornament. After a reminder of all the safety rules involved, Mike helped them work toward those goals.
Kayla finishing off her ornament. Photo by Kat.
In the meantime, Nora, Griffin and JoAnne hung out in the Red Room, puzzling and playing Games. I went to the spa with Sarah.
Griffin playing a game with JoAnne while his Nana puzzles in the distance. Photo by Kat
Kat had arranged for a surprise joint birthday cake to be delivered on Tuesday night. My birthday was the day before we arrived, Kayla’s was two days after our return. As always, the bakers at The Greenbrier rose to the occasion.
And then, my friends, we played Hearts. Even me since it’s tradition.
The next morning, Nora, Sarah and I headed to the glass studio. I wanted to make a paperweight, Nora wanted a paperweight more like an obelish while Sarah was thinking a teardrop shape. It’s always fun to get back into that creative mode. Plus, this time Mike let us all experience handling the blob of hot glass in the furnace. Roll with all 10 fingers and don’t stop is the best advice.
After glass blowing, we went our separate ways until it was time to dress for our annual steak dinner at Prime 44.
All dressed up for dinner.
Of course, once dinner was over, half of us got back into comfy clothes, while the other half went down to try the Casino. After all Kayla’s nearly 22, so she wanted to give it a go.
There was a promise of a sunset, so I sat in my favorite place on the patio, alone. I was texting my husband and scrolling a bit, when I saw movement to the right out of the corner of my eye. Thought it was one of the others coming back from a different part of the property. But no.
It was a baby bear.
Six feet from me. And less than 6 feet from going through the open door.
I popped out of my chair, yelling. I was so quiet and my white sweater blended with the white furniture, it never saw me. Seriously. I scared it as much as it scared me. It took a step toward me in panic, then backed up and headed to the wall. With me telling it to leave.
As I yelled at it, my brain said, ‘take a photo!!!!’
I actually said “wait!!” to a fleeing bear. Then I hit the selfie lens on my phone and saw my very surprised face. So I never got a photo. And I didn’t take the selfie
Ran inside to tell the others, and we unanimously decided to keep the door shut from now on. The next morning, I shared my adventure with Bonnie. She listened, laughed, and said she was worried I’d say it was the family of skunks who played on the patio this spring. Honestly, I told her, I think we’d have handled skunks better.
Mainly, I was just grateful Mama Bear didn’t follow her baby onto the patio.
After we left, Bonnie sent me this photo from her backyard (!!) and yes, the little guy to the left was just about the size of my friend.
Usually Nora and I have some kind of media work to do during Greenbrier week. This year I took it as an opportunity to film Nora answering some In Death questions that I’ll put to good use to celebrate Bonded in Death (#60 and out in February). and we did a Facebook Live. (I tell the bear story there as well.
On Friday, we changed some things up. It was a sticky afternoon so most of us were hanging in the Red Room, reading. For some reason, I decided to check the Peacock app on my phone about the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, and when it came on, there was Lady Gaga beginning her song along the steps of the Seine! It’s a Gaga group, so I ran into the Green room (below) to turn on the TV. And we all found a comfortable spot to watch the extravaganza unfold.
The Green Room. photo by Laura
Everyone – except me – hasn’t felt comfortable spirit wise in that room. I know why: it screams sporty men’s club! (I get a sense of racing forms and bourbon scattered about when I walk in there.) Plus the AC just roars in that room so you are either talking or shouting. But the spirits relaxed once I put the Olympics on.
When it was time for bed, I apologized to the spirit gang when I turned the TV off, and promised I’d put it back on the next morning.**
It was probably the most used it’s been since we started staying in the suite in 2017. On the first full day of events, we watched events all day – leaving the TV on for them even if we had to leave the room.
And then, all of a sudden, it was time to leave. We spent Saturday packing up everything scattered about, getting some last-minute patio time and making plans for our ninth visit in 2025. As always, it was a wonderful week.
Lots of color. Photo by Laura.
Laura
*While we waited for Kat and Griffin, we moved from the patio into the Red Room. Nora, JoAnne, Sarah and I heard some soft voices down the hall. Nora went to greet Kat and Griffin, but no one was there. Absolutely no one. Our first meeting with the spirits, done and dusted.
**Kat went back downstairs about 30 minutes later and the tv was back on. I spoke sternly to the spirits the next night and promised I’d get the tv on so the could see Simone Biles early on Sunday. I kept that promise and peace reigned.
It’s been a little quiet here since the travelogue finished. I mean, how can you match Nora relaxing with family in Cozumel?
So I’ll start from the end of the trip.
Nora arrived home and immediately dove into prep for the first family barbequue since 2019. She had a few days of her at-home routine before the annual trip to Greenbrier followed by the family spa trip – which she keeps private. (She can’t share everything.)
In the meantime, I visited my surgeon and decided to go for a right knee replacement the last week of August (to match my new hip from January 2022). That meant three trips in quick order to clear the deck for recovering in September.
In short, we each had much to occupy our time outside of work.
Nora finished the In Death she worked on while in Cozumel. Title and more info to come. Now she’s begun the first draft of the second book in The Lost Bride Trilogy. We’ll have to wait a lot longer for that update.
I dealt with the pre-op checklist those moments I was home.
Then suddenly it was time to depart for the girls + Griffin trip to Greenbrier. We had a fairly easy trip down. I caravaned with Nora, Kayla and JoAnne since I had to leave a day early for family events up in NY and NJ. Traffic flowed pretty well, except for a five mile slow down. We all kept a sedate pace, then suddenly cars ahead of us slammed on the brakes.
I braked so as not to hit Nora then looked in the rearview mirror and the semi behind me was still coming. I swerved onto the shoulder, pausing for a nanosecond to not clip Nora, and somehow we all survived. (The car behind the semi also swerved to the shoulder). The margin for error was small since there was a hill down from the shoulder.
Talk about adrenaline! Nora said later she thought I’d be rear-ended. I saw it more as pancaked. Fortunately, it was the most adrenaline-fueled portion of the trip.
First sunset was a beauty. Photo by Laura.
The first order of business was to toast our arrival, then continue with the tradition of a huge hydrangia bloom in the used bottle for the outdoor decor.
One of the nicest things about our stays Greenbrier is that everyone spends the day as they please: Nora and JoAnne worked out each morning before Nora worked a bit more on that In Death. Sarah and I compared notes about books then went back to reading. Kat and Griffin headed to the pool or adventures in the arcade with Kayla.
A little moonshine. Photo by Laura
We all met up again for dinner out on the patio followed by puzzle time and the occasional game of hearts. (Yes, I played Hearts.)
The finished puzzle. Photo by JoAnne.
Overall, a relaxing week with one day of media work along with the annual Facebook Live — which you can watch here: https://fb.watch/mrj_tZ94qu/
Yes, I like to take photos of this exterior in the evening. Photo by Laura
As mentioned in the video — and in Nora’s letter about the Lost Bride Trilogy — we usually have a full complement of spirits on this trip. Most are happy and entertained to have the rooms full. But we decided before arriving this year to keep one door in the suite closed as the spirit in that room was rather unfriendly in 2022.
But that spirit may have been a little annoyed by the exclusion.
It happened the second evening as we headed up to bed. Now, full disclaimer, there may have been some champagne consumed but we have this on record.
My room is at the top of the stairs, then there’s a hallway and a left turn to another hallway. Nora and JoAnne slept in rooms off that second hall. Oh, and the locked door is down the hall too.
JoAnne and I were talking when we heard Nora say, “Why is there a table in the middle of the hallway? And why is there one spent match on it?”
This is exactly how she found it, blocking off the way into her room and beyond to JoAnne’s on the left and the locked door on the right. (Jo took this photo as evidence.) Much discussion ensued, until finally I moved it to the wall and walked JoAnne to her room.
The next morning we asked the concierge and housekeeping, who all reported no staff had been in the suite on Saturday evening. Kayla didn’t see it when she went to bed earlier than the rest of us — her room faces that hall and she’d have noticed. We also learned that room service no longer uses that type of table. The mystery remained unsolved. Especially the spent match part of it all.
But after that, it was quiet.
Not a mystery is how much we continue to love the glass blowing classes at Greenbrier. We spent a very satisfying Monday afternoon creating with Mike the new owner of the studio.
Kayla adding color.
Nora concentrating on the color as well.
Shaping her bowl.
Red hot bowl
The very interesting sculpture made from glass pieces we gave Nora as a thank you.
The variety of finished work.
And since it’s a time to explore creative stuff, I chose to paint some watercolors in the afternoons.
My interpretation of the Hydrangea in a bottle in my very pink room
Just before we headed home, it was time to celebrate Kayla’s 21st birthday a few days early.
The gang with the cake.
I left a day early to start the my next trip (up to NY/NJ) which included throwing a baby shower for my son and DIL who are due in October. Here’s the amazing cake we found for our little girl.
Nora and family had an action-packed week at the spa which included the annual paint night. I love seeing how everyone interprets the subject.
And that’s pretty much the update from here.
What’s next? I’ll do the In Death teasers forPayback in Deatha little earlier than usual before my surgery, so look for them — in bulk — this weekend. Then I’ll open the discussion thread on September 5.
How have you fared during the dog days of summer? Or the depths of winter, depending on your hemisphere? Nora’s currently with family at the spa while I thought it was time to get a regular summer cold. (Forgot how little fun they are.)
But before either of those things happened, we had some time together at The Greenbrier.
Previously, the resort was such an oasis of cooler weather I’d taken to calling it Brigadoon. Unfortunately the magical properties of Greenbrier weather were no match for the current US summer reality. While we didn’t scorch, we had three solid days of rain along with late afternoons showers on two other days, so patio time was limited severely to a couple hours on arrival day and the last two days. That was a bit sad since we’ve mainly stayed outside/eaten dinner on the patio every visit.
However, the space is big enough that we made our own fun. And there was no thunder and lightning with the rain so Kat and Griffin spent hours at the pool each morning.
A couple days before we headed to the resort, JoAnne sent out a report of filming a Christmas movie at The Greenbrier (rumor is it will be titled Christmas at The Greenbrier).
As we turned on the main drive, there were all the trappings of a traditional Christmas — set among the mid-summer begonias, coleus and hosta.
Just a small glimpse of decorations.
The main building was decked out for a traditional Christmas, including the ice rink that Greenbrier has November through January (we’re summer visitors, who knew???). We think they are going to CGI the ice.
Skating rink amid summer green.
Pause for a second and consider any bride who dreamed of getting married at The Greenbrier — in the summer — arriving to find it decked for Christmas. Guests were not given a pre-arrival heads up. But plenty of creative families got their holiday card photos taken against the gorgeous Christmas in July set ups.
There was filming in the lobby on our first full day. A couple of us went down to watch for a bit. We didn’t recognize the actors so I’ve taken to checking IMBD for a cast list
The hero and heroine. We heard it was a second-chance love story.
The sound guys must be brilliant because they had to deal with a kid screeching in a stroller as his parents — not extras — walked through the lobby off set. Then there was a family coming down the hall, with someone giving instructions that echoed around the tiled lobbby, followed by a yelped “Oh S#*T!” when he saw the crew.
We stayed for three takes. And now we have something to watch in December. The staff didn’t know if it would be Hallmark or Lifetime, so once I know, I’ll share.
The holiday decorations made for lovely evenings, even when it was cloudy.
The evening the purple sky competed with Christmas.
On the whole, the Greenbrier stay isn’t one to lend itself to daily travelogues. Nora and JoAnne worked out every morning. I went for walks or the gym. Everyone had books to read. Nora got a little work done. Kayla instructed me and Sarah on Instagram looks. The usual.
Mainly it lends itself to photos.
The best way to recycle.
We had three wonderful sessions with Max at the glassblowing studio. He plans to move on from rural West Virginia this winter so we made the most of our glass time.
Kayla, hot glass and Max.
I wish all my days included blowtorches.
Nora applying color to her glass.
Finished work
Sarah organized trips to the two escape rooms on the property. I declined because it felt too much like a dreaded game.
First day, Alice in Wonderland escape room crew: Kat, Sarah, Nora and Kayla.
Second day, Bunker escape room crew: Kat, Nora and Sarah.
Though I get credit for playing hearts.
The dread deck.
JoAnne was Chief Griffin Companion while the gang escaped from rooms. She was prepared to chase and hide and play, but both times, he opted to deal with his mother’s absence by napping in place.
There was a puzzle. Not as bad as the cupcakes from March, but a hard one. Nora and JoAnne completed it the last day.
Bright colors, big square.
Kayla turned 20 while we were there.
Crowned after 2 decades.
Ice cream cake for DAYS.
There was ghostly activity to entertain everyone. The keys stopped working daily. Nora, Kayla, JoAnne and Kat saw presences in the card room. I did my morning work in there for most of the trip. One morning I heard someone go down the hall to the kitchen. As she came back, Nora said, “Oh, good. A real person.”
Sarah had it the worst as a ghostly presence kept invading her room at night. She finished the trip sleeping in my room after our sensible Kat went into the room and reported whatever was in there wasn’t nice. Housekeeping confirmed there was something in that room that didn’t play well with others.
I slept extremely well. I think the fact I sleep in Wallis Simpson’s old room scares them all away.
Ghosts are afraid of her too.
Nora and I filmed our regular July Facebook live on Saturday afternoon. It was our first one since October 2021 and we were due for a catchup. Really hope this link works: https://fb.watch/eLKJQfU5mf/
We all dressed up for a fabulous dinner at Prime 44 (the steakhouse down the hall).
From l: Sarah, Nora, JoAnne, Kayla, Laura and Kat
And in our final tradition, we’ve already booked our trip for 2023.
Nora may or may not have a spa trip update. Once she’s home, she stays put until NYC in October. In the meantime, I’ll head to the OBX to work by the ocean for a bit.
Hope the rest of your August is a good one. Here’s to cooler/warmer days in the weeks ahead!
Laura
Once Nora readjusted to East Coast time after Italy, she recorded an interview for the LifeExcellence with Brian Bartes podcast.
Well, it’s been a long while since Nora or I posted here — as a worried Sue King mentioned in an email yesterday. While life has handed out a few surprises in August, we’re both fine. I think the slow, hot and humid days have made time blur even more than it did in the winter. Or at least that’s how it feels to me.
We were able to take our annual trip to The Greenbrier in the middle of July. Our little group drove down on a Sunday with two cars packed high — though admittedly with far less stuff than our May trip to the spa.
Ahhhh.
The Windsor Club concierge team greeted us at the lobby door, then walked us over to The Presidential Suite. One step in and I swear everyone (including the ghosts) took a deep breath and just let go of any tension. I’d emailed in our dinner order so first night was a matter of unpacking, then sitting on the patio sipping champagne.
A tradition.
[It’s important to mention here that the first half of this post is very Laura-centric because on our first full day at The Greenbrier, I turned 60.]
Bright and early Monday morning, I headed to the concierge to go over a quick list of things before I stopped work for 24 hours (I gave everyone three hours, then would be off until Tuesday). I finished my list and then she said, “Are you the person I spoke to about the special order…”
I held up my hand and said, “I’m the birthday girl, you want to talk to someone else.” I felt a little guilty about it later, but in the moment I was very clear.
I was the only one with a treatment that day (because: birthday) so I headed to the spa area around 11:15. As I limped over (first milestone of 60 looks to be a hip replacement in early 2022) I decided to add a soak in a sulphur bath to help relieve the pain. Texted Sarah (who was playing Laura that day) to say I’d be back for sandals between treatments.
After the 90 minute session, I was relaxed and ready to soak. As I headed up the lawn to the suite’s patio entrance, I idly wondered what everyone was up to.
Opened the door and there were Nora, Kat, Sarah, Kayla and Joanne waiting for me in a wonderland of balloons and Happy Birthday signs, a glass of champagne at the ready. (There are no photos of the moment, but these will do.)
That arch and my name in silver.
The Dining Room
Once I recovered from the surprise, I heard about all the strategies to make this happen. Apparently they were on tenterhooks until I left, but didn’t let down their guard until they knew I was truly gone. Nora and Sarah watched me from the dining room until I disappeared into the main doors.
On Sunday, they’d smuggled the supplies into the spare bedroom and monitored my every movement closely so I wouldn’t inadvertently walk in that room. Which meant when I kept heading down that hall to make sure the hotel tech fixed the lock on JoAnne’s bedroom door, I ratcheted up their tension a thousand-fold.
On Monday, once I was gone, they sprang into action: Kat built the balloon arch, JoAnne created paper flowers, then herded Griffin away from the balloons. Nora, Kayla and Sarah blew up more balloons, hung up more signs. A frenzied 90 minutes for them. A calm one for me. <g>
I sipped champagne in the equally festive dining room and opened my gifts — my gorgeous crown came first. Accepted the love, thanked them all, congratulated them on the fabulous strategies and results. Sarah and Kat said the decorations weren’t what the concierge meant earlier. That was coming.
I decreed we had to dress up that evening, then went back for a soak followed by a nap, before the birthday dinner. The big surprise was a cake made with a recipe from my favorite childhood bakery in Brooklyn, NY (the now defunct Ebinger’s) — yellow cake with a mocha frosting. And it was perfect. Our superstar concierge, Lane, made that one happen when the kitchen initially balked.
After dinner, we drank – a lot. Finally I turned on a Spotify playlist and we danced for over an hour (which helped with Hangover Tuesday). And so I turned 60.
From left: JoAnne, Kayla, Laura, Griffin, Kat, Sarah, Nora
Hangover Tuesday was quiet, but we did start the card games. When my daughter Clare called on Monday, I put her on speaker so everyone could catch up. Just as the called closed, she said “You know, my mom keeps it a secret, but she LOVES games.”
I’ve disowned her. Stupid games.
Sigh,
We traditionally have one day of work at Greenbrier, usually the Wednesday. On the line up this year was an interview with the German podcast Eat, Read, Sleep, filming a video Q&A for Little Brown UK, a photo shoot for new social media pictures and our traditional Facebook Live. I was director and cameraman, the rest of the Smart Girls helped with hair and makeup, and we completed the tasks before our one dinner out in a restaurant. (The rest were on our patio.)
The remainder of the week fell into the tried and true pattern: workouts for Nora and JoAnne, some pool time for Kat and Griffin, reading and puzzles, champagne and conversation for all.
A kiss from Griffin.
The non-birthday highlight came at the end of the week: glassblowing with the amazing Max Clair at the Virtu studio. We divided into two session with Kayla and Nora going on Saturday; Kat, Sara and I went on Sunday. Kayla wanted to make a paperweight this year. Since she made a paperweight last year, Nora wanted to try blowing a small vase. Kat and Sarah wanted to do some more complex vases this year and I opted for a small pitcher.
Nora blowing hard while Max keeps a close eye on the glass.
Kat rolling through all the colors.
You know how things flow when you have a good teacher? I’d say each of us found that flow as Max gave us confidence to build on what we’d done last year. Glassblowing remains a group favorite and stays at the top of our must-do Greenbrier activities going forward.
We finished the week on a different birthday note: ice cream cake for Kayla who would turn 19 after we returned home. Next year, she turns 20 when we’re at Greenbrier. We’ll see what strategies and planning bring for her surprise.
Then it was time for the party to end and head north.
Balloons down.
We tend to keep things positive here, but in recapping the summer I have to talk about the good and the bad.
Reality resumed on the way home from Greenbrier. JoAnne is Nora’s lifelong friend and business manager. While driving back they came to the decision for Nora and BW to announce a vaccine mandate for all their Boonsboro businesses. While some employees quickly got their shots this spring, others were hesitant. Watching the numbers increase over the summer, Nora and JoAnne felt a mandate was the best course of action.*
When the announcement came, some employees felt differently. Several abruptly resigned and left in the middle of a shift. Which meant the first week of August was a scramble to find replacements and new hires with JoAnne in the lead on the interview and schedule front.
That Greenbrier Ahhhhh? A thing of the past.
Things seemed to be steady when Nora and BW left for the family week at Nemacolin at the start of the second full week of August. Within 24 hours they received word of a two-alarm fire at Vesta. While the restaurant was closed on a Monday, a crew was in for cleaning in the morning. The fire broke out around 3:30 pm. Two of the residents in the apartments upstairs were home, but got out safely.
The fire has been deemed suspicious and remains under investigation at this point in time. Nora and Bruce have offered a $5,000 reward for anyone giving information that leads to the identity and apprehension of the person or persons responsible for the fire.
While the scene is cleared for repairs, there is no reopen date.
And there you have it FITS family: a rather fun and celebratory July. A nose-to-the-grindstone August.
What’s up going forward here on the blog? We shake off the late summer doldrums next week with teasers for Forgotten in Death followed by the excerpt from The Becoming over Labor Day weekend.
So stay tuned.
We’ll talk soon, Laura
*Please note: Comments are not open to debate about vaccine. Nora and I have clearly shown support for them all along. Any arguments against will be deleted.
