Well I am still recuperating from our Rotary club's Italian dinner and fund-raiser for 300 people. Wow, what an evening! Our very small Rotary club of 27 people managed to pull this off and raise over $44,000 in one evening. After expenses we have netted about $35,000, which is just fabulous! We are doing some great things with that money that will benefit our community and beyond. Here's a picture of me welcoming the guests for the evening.

Our club is now onto our next fund-raising project; two pancake breakfasts at two shopping malls and a variety of community stops with a fabulously decorated cement truck (12,000 lights) throughout December, all to raise funds for the Comox Valley Volunteer Paramedic Bike Squad. My, we are an ambitious group! Our target is $5000 and I bet we meet it. We have purchased eight sets of Gortex raingear specially made for the Paramedic bike squad and that is the price tag that comes with them. They are beautiful. See for yourself in the photo.

I also had my 12th annual women's w/e here at our house this fall. There were nine of us together for the w/e and what fun we had. We ate some fabulous food, got caught up on our lives, sipped many a glass of wine and even had a fire in our new outdoor fire pit. It was delightful as always and is a yearly treat that is so very special to me. It was amazingly quiet in the house after they all left. Quiet in a good way and an opportunity for me to reflect on how much these women mean to me in my life.

We had a wonderful albeit short visit with Brad, Tania and Cohen a few weeks ago. Cohen has grown so much and is such a sweet boy. Here's a picture of Cohen and Grandma getting ready for a toast. We did also get to Vancouver to see our daughters although forgot the camera so no pictures of them. Unfortunately our youngest grandson TJ was at his other grandma's house the day we were in town. :~( Hopefully we'll see him next visit which we plan to have in December sometime.

I recently worked a with a business team for a three day offsite and had the time of my life. They were a fabulous, fun and hard-working group. One thing that stood out for me in the offsite was an unforgettable discussion on what someone tagged as "organizational courage". Not sure why I mention it in my personal reflections other than it has stayed with me now for more than a month and I continue to ponder over what that means in my business life and my clients lives. I think too it brings up some interesting thoughts on what "personal courage" might mean. We had talked about having the courage for the organization/team/leader to step out and take a stand on what they believe and value in their lives and in their work inside their organization. There are so many times my clients give me gifts that are so intangible and so generous and don't even know they have. I am so thankful to this team and my clients for the many gifts they unknowingly give me on a daily basis.

Now, here is another first for me. I have been running THREE times in the past week! Can you believe it! I can't. I haven't run for almost 38 years so this is a big something or other. I have a running partner at the moment, Jenny, who has egged me on to join her for a run and so I have. Jenny is one of our guests at Village Hideaway. See? Another gift when you least expect it. We are off for our first nighttime run this evening. It'll be interesting to see how that goes in the dark. Wish me well.

 - Cumberland Chronicles

Speaking of Village Hideaway we still have our most lovely guests staying with us now for their third month. Remember I mentioned them in my last newsletter? Rurik, Jenny and 5 yr. old Luke. Here's a pic of Luke and our cat Molly who he "babysat" while we went to Vancouver. They are an absolute delight to have with us. We spend a great deal of time with Luke and it's like having a third grandson and one who lives in the same Village as us. A real treat. They are house hunting so I expect in another month or so they will have moved to a new home, hopefully in Cumberland.

There has been the development of the Village Square in downtown Cumberland. It is being beautifully landscaped and will be dedicated on Dec. 21 just before the Christmas parade. I purchased the spring bulbs in the Square as a thank you to my Rotary club for all of their hard work on the Italian dinner. We all look forward to Spring as they bloom and we can really "see" what I bought. My hope is that this will spark interest in others to purchase shrubs, trees or benches in memory of someone or as a gift to their family or the Village. If I can, I will take a picture when we have the ribbon-cutting next month.

The wee Village will be bustling soon with lots of craft fairs in preparation for Christmas and the holidays. The shops are already starting to decorate, as is the Village. Last year at this time we had a huge snowfall that was stunningly beautiful. Maybe this w/e it will re-visit just in time for the beginning of the festive season and the first craft faire. I promise that if it does, I'll have my camera ready.

I think the last bear has now gone to hibernation. The apples were plentiful this Fall, which kept the bears around longer than usual. They were delightful to watch and now they must rest up for cherry season next Summer.

And on that note, I too must rest.

Take very good care and if we don't "speak" before the holidays I wish all of you the very best of everything you hold dear and wrapped in the love of those in your lives.