Ramp up to Christmas

We managed several Christmas milestones in the last seven days, including at least these.

1. First big snow (a foot last night, which doesn't stop runners or bikers)
2. First Yankee swap (aka White elephant) party with friends last night
3. First Christmas card received (grandma and grandpa Prudhon from Janesville, WI)
4. First desserts made (bread pudding using homemade corn bread)
5. First church party (a charity donation gathering on Wednesday with our fellow First Church Cambridge youth)
6. First seasonal decorations (Advent calendar and Menorah party last weekend)
7. Finished shopping, save stuff for local friends
8. Watched a movie planned for Christmas release (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, shh, sneak preview)

The snow's still coming down and we're ready to enjoy breakfast while the dulcet tones of snowblowers rumble from the street. We hope everything's equally festive where you are and that all your stockings get filled with fresh fruit!

Thanksgiving day 4-mile road race

We do a local run each Thanksgiving that starts from Davis Square, a lively nexus of college students close to our North Cambridge abode. Sunny's old running club, the Somerville Road Runners, puts on the event and the course (all city streets) measures about 4 miles (4.2, according to the MyMapRun tracker below).



No problems with the weather this year, as the high-30s chill didn't include wind or rain. Our friend Rosanna joined us with her dog Luna, who exuberantly dragged her up and down the course without minding the throngs a-clogging the roadways.

The clock read about 35:30 at the finish line, a healthy 8:24 mile time! Not bad for a race we didn't really train for.