Various bits and pieces

Well, it has been a while since I've written in here, so I have some catching up to do! The Merry Widow was great fun and I really enjoyed being in the can-can and getting to ham it up. My stepdaughter got a particular kick out of my performance. I have some digital pictures but haven't managed to put any online somewhere I could link to.On the writing front, I've reread a short story a few times intending to edit it, but haven't really gotten started.Stephan and I had Thanksgiving dinner on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving with his three kids, and I cooked poached flounder (in white wine, veggie broth, and a bit of cranberry juice), green beans, acorn squash stuffed with water chestnuts and shallots, roasted potatoes with rosemary, and a pineapple upside down cake. Dan made a tasty salad with cabbage, carrots, and a dressing that involved lime juice, cilantro, and shallots.For the actual Thanksgiving holiday, Stephan and I spent a couple nights in New Harmony, Indiana, which is a wonderful place to relax and unwind. The historic town, founded in 1814 by a Lutheran communal living group, is beautifully restored and well kept, with little plaques with insightful quotes and statues sprinkled about. More information about the town here: New Harmony History. It is a place I would like to visit again. I treated myself to a massage and we wandered the sites, including walking a labyrinth, visiting the roofless church, and walking around the ponds. We also had a delightful Thanksgiving buffet (after spending the morning exercising to work it off in advance!) and managed to catch the new Harry Potter movie.Yesterday I had a strange experience which involved stolen mail. Details behind the cut. On Monday, I put out two envelopes for the mail carrier, containing checks for the mortgage and for the recycling service. I assumed that they had been picked up by the mail carrier, until I got a phone call on Tuesday morning from someone identifying himself as "Pastor Fred" and claimimg to have some "bills" that he claimed he had picked up off the sidewalk. He was somewhat confusing to understand and at first I thought he must have the wrong number. Then, I gradually figured out that he must have the two envelopes from the day before. He wanted to know when we would be home so he could bring them back, and it became clear that he expected a reward for this. I wasn't sure what to make of this - I mean, do you encourage someone to steal mail and give it back for a fee? Especially considering he must have opened the envelopes to get the phone number off the check So I said as politely as I could, thanks for letting us know, we will stop payment on the checks.After I hung up he called back and spoke to my husband twice. Angry words were exchanged, including the point that tampering with mail is a federal offence. Now, it is certainly possible that this man had good intentions and honestly thought he was doing us a favor and we should do him a favor in return, but I am not going to pay someone to give back what they shouldn't have taken and opened in the first place. Needless to say, we canceled the checks and wrote new ones.If indeed the envelopes had blown away onto the sidewalk, I am grateful to "Pastor Fred" for alerting us to this so that we wouldn't get another bill wondering where our payment was. However, I'm thinking this is a person I would rather not have doing me any more favors!That's all for now!